#(poor Jiang Cheng is the one who has to clean it up) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sillygoofyqueer · 15 days

Text

The Untamed review: episode two!!

Yes, Wei Wuxian, Little Apple IS a picky eater, because he deserves only the best and KNOWS IT

Bro's complaining about a donkey to a donkey, what a guy

"You're like MY master"

"Yo, there's a well!" Wei Wuxian immediately moves out of the way, what a gentleman

HE'S JUST TALKING TO THEM, WOAHHHH

Wei Wuxian helplessly listening to them argue over his inventions is so funny to me

"IS WEI YOUR DAD?!??" "HE'S MY IDOL!!"

The way that Wei Wuxian just gives up and peaces out

Fighting with a donkey now

Take the fucking apple, you dumbass

How old is this woman? She looks about twenty five

IT'S JUST LIKE IN MINECRAFT

Push her off, it'd be so funny and no one would know

Yo, what is Yan doing?? She's busting some moves

Does he just flick any random person?

Ohhhh, I see

Got killed by the mist, that's an embarrassing way to go

Bro is dead, goddamn. Poor lass has no soul

This woman has been through so much, she doesn't deserve it

Someone's catching humans, cannibals in every universe

JIN LING!!! <3

Laughing at the richness of people

"Naur, stay up there. See you later xoxo"

How is this woman here????

LITTLE APPLE BEHAVE YOURSELF

It's fine, he's wearing a mask that covers his eyes

"It's you?" Aw shit, the guy who was a baby when you were around is onto you

Joking, he knows Mo Xuanyu

Mock him and see how it ends up

BRO JUST INSULTED HIM BECAUSE HE'S MOTHERLESS

Stop trying to get up, jesusss

Nice throw

He looks so done with people's shit

STOP FUCKING MOCKING HIM, WEI WUXIAN

Oh, hey Jiang Cheng, you're baby girling quite hard today

No need to crush it

"break his legs? No, feed him to your dog, kiddo"

His boyfriend has come to rescue him

"I'm so unlucky today", on the contrary, I think you're very lucky, these characters are key to the plot and you didn't even have to go looking for them!!

I like the music that plays when the Lan Clan is around

Lan Jingyi stepping up for his father- teacher

Lan Sizhui, how do you know so much

HE CAST THE SILENCE SPELL, I LOVE HIM

He says it like a slur hahahaha

Lan Wangji is too busy mewing, don't break his streak!!

"If you don't get that spirit, don't come back to me!!" Jin Ling was never seen again 😔

He's like a grumpy toddler, I love him so

"Don't worry, we'll pay for the nets we broke!" "Nuh uh!!" Lan Sizhui, you're an angel, don't listen to him

HIS MEWING STREAK NOOOOO

Nice voice though

"I thought I saw my boyfriend 😔"

There are spirits in the lake, I wouldn't suggest drinking from it

Jiang Yanli 😭😭😭

Stop smiling, you're hallucinating

Slander my boy and sees what happens

Slap yourself, go on, like the books

Don't put the blame all on him!!!

Nice, like the books

Feel the shame

That cannot be comfortable, those are literal rocks

LITTLE APPLE!!

He's like they're little leader

That's a fast old man

Lan Jingyi's first instinct is to point a sword at an old man, lmaaoooo

"anything strange here?" "Duh"

Leaving him alone while he's trying to give important plot information, rude

Glowing grass, what the fuck

I think you should eat some

He just wants to clean, leave him alone

WEN QING!!!!!!

Flashbacks lmao

Where'd the old man go

Dirty

No way is that naturally formed

Lan Jingyi, you're surprisingly knowledgeable..I didn't know you could read

Jin Ling and his group of people

AAAAAHH WHAT THE FUCK

"what's up baby girls"

Ugh, it's been moving for a while now

Maybe you should, I don't know, LISTEN TO THE GUY WHO KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING??

Also, y'all ditched him, minus points

"We're out" "fuck, y'all are gonna soooo be punished"

The look he gave, as if this isn't like, a sixteen seventeen year old. No, wait, he's probably eighteen...how old was he before Wei Wuxian's death? ANYWAY

Criticising the Lan education system while you're at it

"wait, you can't be crazy, because that makes sense!!" Lan Jingyi my beloved

Shit, my cover as a crazy person has been blown

Are they having a mewing contest or what?

Well done, Lan Jingyi

WHERE'S MY NEPHEW

I swear it wasn't that big before

Y'all are doing a shit job at running from something this slow

Nice attack, it's still stone though

Dude, listen to Lan Sizhui

"Hey, my sword 🥺😔"

Considering this flute playing is supposed to be shit, it's not too bad

"ugh, you're playing the flute this bad? You must be crazy" Lan Jingyi, make up your mind

STOOOOOP JIN LING

Nice kick, it's still stone though

WEN NING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE'S HERE TO KICK SOME ASS FOR YOU!!!!

They both look mildly terrified

Dude killed it so easy, well done. Naur, it's just an illusion.

"y'all, no need to be scared, the Yiling Patriarch ain't here" he's standing over there, wearing a mask

I THOUGHT THE LANS WERE BETTER THAN THIS

Luring him over with shitty flute playing

LET GO OF THE COMEDIC RELIEF

His robes are even blowing, just for you

Me leading my next snack away from the bag

Walk faster, goddamn

"hey bbg, it's been a while"

Listen guys, I know you're in love but there's a corpse there

He flew away, like Jesus

So...how is everyone surprised when they do turn out to be gay???

DON'T PIN THE BLAME ON HIM. MY MAN'S IS GUILTY BUT PRETTY

Uhh uh oh. Mom and dad are fighting again

Lan Wangji already looks so bored

The fucking GLARE I CAN'T

"Take off the mask!!!" "Nuh uh, I'm too handsome"

Lan Jingyi needs to stop being smart, it's scaring me

Stoooop, he didn't kill his brother

Okay, so he did, but he didn't want to!!!

He passed out, okay man

Answer the stupid call

FAMILY!!!!!!!

They're so happy 😔

Give him what he wants, it's SYMBOLISM

Lecturing him better than Lan Qiren

You lost him already, not very good at this, ey?

Alcoholic

Of course he will, it's Wei Wuxian

They're so happy :(

#four being a dumbass #Four's live review #mo dao zu shi #cql #the untamed #the untamed spoilers #wei wuxian #lan jingyi #lan sizhui #lan wangji #jin ling #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #little apple #wen qing mentioned!!

13 notes · View notes

extraordinarilyextreme · 4 months

Text

queer rep in 《鸣龙少年》 The Hope (2023)

i just finished bingeing all 30 episodes last night and i thought i was over this, but i'm really not.

Yu Yang (禹洋) is a shy senior in Class 11 with a stammer. in ep. 5, we learn that due to health issues, he took an extended leave from school and thus had to repeat his second year, so he's a year older than his peers. his mother is well-meaning but overbearing, and he was made the target of quite egregious bullying before he joined Lei Ming's (雷鸣) class. throughout the show, we see him become more and more willing to voice his own opinions and set boundaries, esp. with his mother.

(a side point, but i absolutely adore how the show did not pathologize his stammer as a bad thing he had to be "cured" of; it's through unconditional acceptance and encouragement from the adults in his life and his friends that we see him naturally come out of his shell.)

unlike his four friends in Class 11, he doesn't seem to be embroiled in any of their tangled 感情线 / "love" lines, nor does he seem to have one at all—until ep. 21.

on new year's day, the Class 11 CPs are a mess. Jiang Qinglang (江晴朗) confesses to Cheng Yushan (程雨杉), leaving poor Bian Xiaoxiao (边晓晓) who likes JQL and Li Ran (李燃) who likes CYS behind.

so when the fireworks go off, JQL and CYS are togther, whereas BXX and LR are together—contrary to how the show has been pairing them thus far.

then we cut to YY, who is watching the fireworks alone, but about to text someone.

that's a name we haven't seen before! Wu Fan (吴凡), i wonder who that is?

importantly, we see him delete the "I" and instead wish this person "happy new year."

the entirety of ep. 21 was about confessions, crushes, dating/breaking up/moving on, and the innocent and pure feelings we experience in our 青春 / youth.

so it's truly not that big of a stretch for me to think that what YY may originally have been intending to write was “我喜欢你” / "I like you."

then, in ep. 24, Lei Ming takes his class on a trip to Qingbei University in Beijing. and it's there we finally learn who the mysterious WF is.

four years ago in 2015, an older student once stood up for the bullied YY and ended up with quite a nasty beating.

as YY quietly cleans his savior's injuries, they have a brief exchange:

Yu Yang: I'm sorry. Wu Fan: You haven't done anything wrong. What are you apologizing for? In the future, raise your voice when you speak and build up your muscles; I guarantee no one will dare to mistreat you. If that really doesn't work, let's enroll in the same university later on. In the future, I'll continue to protect you.

in the present (2019), YY is waiting outside WF's university. originally overjoyed to see WF, YY's expression drops when he sees his xuezhang with a girlfriend. nevertheless, this might be one of the only times in this entire show we see YY don such a sweet open-mouthed smile.

they grab milk tea together and catch up, reminiscing about their earlier years. unfortunately, whereas YY has never forgotten their first meeting, WF remarks that he would've forgotten about it entirely if not for YY mentioning it now.

then YY asks what will happen after WF graduates.

the camera cuts to a shot of the milk tea brand: 心意 / the intentions of my heart.

this milk tea shop is a recurring setting throughout this drama. it's where one of the main CPs (Li Ran & Yu Chengshan) had one of their earliest interactions in ep. 3, and it has consistently been romantically coded (e.g., a boy treating his crush to a cup of milk tea).

so, effectively, as WF tosses away his empty cup, that is also signaling the short lifespan of his current relationship.

finally, WF encourages YY. only...

Wu Fan: I promised my mom I'll return home to take the civil service exam. After I graduate next year, I'll immediately go back to Xingzhou.

and then, once again, as YY sadly watches WF walk away, the camera cuts to the milk tea cup in his own hands.

in the end, Yu Yang never got to express his 心意 for his xuezhang, and he can only keep it to himself.

but as their Chinese teacher Tan Xiaozhou (谭小舟) remarked earlier in ep. 21 during their class on love poems:

Love is not only in the present tense or future tense, but also in the past tense. Having loved before doesn't mean that the current love isn't real. Loving now doesn't mean you won't love again in the future. If you didn't obtain it, or you broke up—without longing, without resentment—silently remembering the beautiful parts—bidding "Take care" in a cool demeanor: this, also, is love. [...] To me, the most important thing about love is that I can respect your independent nature, protect your lonely soul, and defend your right not to love me.

and so concludes our Class 11 xuezhang's 感情线. for a gaokao-prep cdrama that aired on CCTV8, i honestly cannot believe we got any of this.

here are two more small instances of queer acknowledgment:

in ep. 13, school psychologist Sang Xia (桑夏) leads a lecture on sexual harassment: what it looks like, how to prevent it, how to keep yourself safe. right from the start, she emphasizes that boys can be victims as well—and also that harassment can occur between same-sex individuals.

in ep. 21, when the school runs amok with dating rumors among the teachers, Sang Xia questions why everyone defaults to thinking that it must be a male teacher confessing to a female teacher.

overall, i seriously cannot recommend this show enough. it tackles so many themes (e.g., the premature grief of losing a loved one to Alzheimer's; the importance of destigmatizing depression and mental health overall; the hugely significant role that family/home life has on students' ability to perform well in school; that parents are not infallible and can be controlling/manipulative/abusive, even if unintentionally; that SES so greatly impacts the trajectory of a student's life; how damaging bullying/cyberbullying can be; and that though society is rife with inequity and injustice, it is the responsibility of adults—as best as they can—to create a more just and safer world for all children), and in both a realistic and gently heartwarming way.

#the hope #鸣龙少年 #cdrama ramblings #the episodes on depression also hit especially hard for me #esp as someone who is training to be a psychologist #rly like how Sang Xia put it: psychologists are both teachers and doctors #this show really humanized these students and god i wish such compassion and empathy could always be extended to people with depression

23 notes · View notes

merakilyy · 4 years

Text

Dire Straits

19. One person stopping a kiss to ask “Do you want to do this?”, only to have the other person answer with a deeper, more passionate kiss.

Hello there! I got a bit excited and this ended up 1700 words. Whoops. But here you go!

It says a lot about how dire Wei Wuxian’s situation is when he is going to Jiang Cheng for relationship advice. In which Wei Wuxian wants a kiss, Lan Wangji is happy to indulge, and Jiang Cheng needs more coffee.

Tags: Modern au, Wwx learns emotions, JC is traumatized by Wangxian, accidental third wheel JC

Send me a kiss prompt~~

~~~

“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian wails as he dramatically throws himself into Jiang Cheng’s lap.

He wasn’t aiming for Jiang Cheng’s lap. Wei Wuxian had intended to throw himself onto their stained, tacky floral couch to lament his sorrows. Jiang Cheng just happened to be in the way.

“Get off!” Jiang Cheng snaps, jabbing his elbow into Wei Wuxian’s back without care. “You’re about to owe me a month’s worth of coffee!”

“Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian whines again, burrowing his face into the armrest of their ratty old couch and barely avoiding a mysterious brown stain of dubious origin that had always been there.

(Nie Huaisang thinks the stain is fermented semen leftover from an ill-fated rendezvous between a 70s TV starlet and her married manager. Wen Ning says it’s probably just spilled soy sauce that someone had waited too long to clean up. Mianmian is convinced that Wei Wuxian spilled his ink pot on the cough and is too embarrassed to admit it.

Wen Qing simply threatens to have the couch declared a biohazard to be chemically exterminated and permanently expunged.)

Their couch is probably older than both of them combined, dated by its blindingly ugly floral print that saw its last usage in the 70s. They had picked it up beside a literal dumpster when they had been moving into their apartment, thinking it would be a temporary fix until they got around to buying a proper couch.

That had been before they began their first year of university and now, three and a half years later, they still have not replaced the couch.

Despite the potential health and safety violations, the couch has served them well.

“Wei Wuxian! I was this close! Only the last turn was left!” Jiang Cheng roars, throwing his controller on the low coffee table and shoving Wei Wuxian off his lap.

Landing with a loud thump on the ground, Wei Wuxian turns so he is lying on his stomach, limbs sprawled out all over their cheap laminate flooring.

The floor is long overdue for some thorough sweeping, but Wei Wuxian is preoccupied with his life falling apart.

“Jiang Cheng, how can you care about Rainbow Road at a time like this!? My life is over!” Wei Wuxian continues wailing, voice muffled by the floral cushion Jiang Cheng had ripped off the couch and was doing his best to suffocate Wei Wuxian with.

“Good!” Jiang Cheng moves so he is sitting cross-legged on Wei Wuxian’s back. “Because I’ll be the one ending it! Do you know how close I was to winning our bet!? One turn! I had one turn left on Rainbow Road and then you sabotaged me!”

“But it’s an emergency! Lan Zhan still hasn’t kissed me,” Wei Wuxian says, cheeks puffed out in a petulant pout that Jiang Cheng wanted to smack off his face.

“So you kiss him!” Jiang Cheng snaps from his vantage point on Wei Wuxian’s back. It was so very tempting, to simply reach over and smack some sense into Wei Wuxian, but they had promised Jiang Yanli that they would behave.

“I can’t do that! What if Lan Zhan doesn’t like me enough to kiss me?”

Deadpan, Jiang Cheng says flatly, “You’ve been together for five months.”

Rolling over and dislodging Jiang Cheng from his back and the cushion from his face, Wei Wuxian looks up from where he is still sprawled on the ground but now from his back. “Does it count if I didn’t know the first two weeks were supposed to be dates?”

“Literally everyone knew you were dating. Most people think you’ve been dating for years. Everyone thought Nie Huaisang’s party last month was going to be your engagement party.”

“What? Why?”

“You’ve spent the last three years introducing Lan Wangji to everyone as your boyfriend.”

“As a joke!”

Growling, Jiang Cheng can’t hold back the punch he lands on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. Ignoring the yelps of pain, Jiang Cheng says, “And you do realize that Lan Wangji let you introduce him to literally everyone as your boyfriend for three. Whole. Years!?”

(There is also the way Lan Wangji looks at Wei Wuxian, as if Wei Wuxian hung the sun in the sky and everyone else only exists in the periphery of Wei Wuxian’s brightness. But Jiang Cheng isn’t about to wax poetic about how his brother’s boyfriend looks at his brother.)

“Hmm,” Wei Wuxian pauses thoughtfully, brow furrowing in thought. The hand that had been rubbing his shoulder where Jiang Cheng punched him stills. “I guess that’s true…”

Before Jiang Cheng can celebrate having smoothed out his idiot brother’s relationship woes, Wei Wuxian opens his mouth again. “But Lan Zhan still hasn’t kissed me.”

“He literally kissed you this morning,” Jiang Cheng says, rubbing his temples. He knows because Jiang Cheng saw them this morning, as he does every morning, when Lan Wangji stops by their apartment to walk Wei Wuxian to class and greets him with a forehead kiss.

At this rate, he is going to have an aneurysm at the ripe old age of 22 and it will be all Wei Wuxian’s fault.

“But he hasn’t kissed my lips yet! Jiang Cheng, I still haven’t had my first kiss!”

“How are you this stupid.” The words form a question but Jiang Cheng says it as a statement. “If you want to kiss Lan Wangji so badly, just go kiss him first.”

Pushing himself off the ground in a seated position, Wei Wuxian peruses Jiang Cheng’s words.

“Great. Problem solved,” Jiang Cheng sighs a lot more aggressively than necessary. “So you owe me coffee.”

“I do not! The deal was only if you win Rainbow Road without falling off. And you fell off,” Wei Wuxian adds, as if he is not the cause of Jiang Cheng’s toad cart running off the track in the first place.

Jiang Cheng reaches out to throttle Wei Wuxian with his own bare hands, but Wei Wuxian dances off into his bedroom and locks the door behind him before Jiang Cheng can do anything.

“I’m very busy, Jiang Cheng! I have a boyfriend to seduce!” Wei Wuxian’s voice rings out from behind his bedroom door.

If Wei Wuxian had been someone reasonable, Jiang Cheng may have yelled something about how a kiss on the lips is not even close to a seduction.

Instead, Jiang Cheng simply throws another cushion at Wei Wuxian’s locked door.

~~~

That evening, five minutes before 7, a crisp knock comes from their door.

“Coming, Lan Zhan! I’m here!” Wei Wuxian yells, stumbling out of his room and bumping into no less than three pieces of furniture before making it to the door.

From his vantage point on their couch, Jiang Cheng watches as his brother rips open the door. Both Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji wince at the consequent rattling as the door rebounds off the wall, but Wei Wuxian is unperturbed.

With his single track mind, Wei Wuxian throws his arms around Lan Wangji and is already bringing his boyfriend down the precious few centimetres so that their lips can meet.

As Wei Wuxian is dragging Lan Wangji down, Jiang Cheng watches as Lan Wangji catches up to what is happening and wraps his arms around We Wuxian’s waist and pulls him in close. With Lan Wangji’s hands on his hips, Wei Wuxian’s waist is dwarfed by Lan Wangji’s long fingers.

At the last minute, Wei Wuxian seems to lose his bluster and suddenly slows down. Instead of the brazenly inappropriate make out session Jiang Cheng was prepared to interrupt, Wei Wuxian’s trajectory slows until all he does is leave a brief peck against Lan Wangji’s mouth.

Their lips just barely brush against one another.

A shame, because Jiang Cheng has already placed an entire bowl of loquats in his lap, ready for interrupting annoying brothers and shameless boyfriends.

Since there is nothing to interrupt, Jiang Cheng stares at the loquat in his hand before bringing it to his mouth.

Taking a generous bite from his loquat, Jiang Cheng watches Wei Wuxian blush, already flustered even though that display barely even counts as a kiss.

“Hi,” Wei Wuxian whispers, a shy smile on his lips.

“Hello, Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji returns. One of his hands leaves Wei Wuxian’s waist to brush back a stray lock of hair and settles on his cheek. The corner of his mouth is curved up in what even Jiang Cheng can recognize is a smile.

“I missed you,” Wei Wuxian says softly, just barely above a whisper.

Their apartment is tiny and Jiang Cheng can hear every word perfectly clearly. Still, he resists the urge to point out that Wei Wuxian literally saw Lan Wangji a few hours ago when Lan Wangji walked him home.

“Is that why you are so enthusiastic?” Lan Wangji responds just as softly. His words lead Wei Wuxian’s cheeks to flush.

“Lan Zhan is so mean,” Wei Wuxian pouts, “teasing me so ruthlessly.”

The moment is so tender that Jiang Cheng physically cannot bring himself to interrupt it. His limbs are frozen, eyes fixed on the scene before him.

“Would Wei Ying like me to fix it?” Lan Wangji’s grip on Wei Wuxian’s waist tightens as he strokes Wei Wuxian’s cheek.

With wide eyes, Wei Wuxian asks, “Do you want to do this?”

Instead of speaking, Lan Wangji simply dips his head again and touches his lips to Wei Wuxian’s. Unlike their first, chaste peck that just barely meets the standards of a kiss, this kiss has clear intentions as their mouths move together and any residual shyness either of them may have had is long forgotten.

As soon as he sees a flash of Lan Wangji’s tongue brushing against Wei Wuxian’s lower lip, Jiang Cheng’s limbs all unfreeze. Throwing his half eaten loquat in Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s general direction, Jiang Cheng jumps off the couch and flees into his room before he sees Lan Wangji defile Wei Wuxian any more than he already has.

He doesn’t bother to find out where his half eaten loquat lands.

Nothing matters so long as he never has to see Lan Wangji’s tongue again.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #(the loquat hits the wall behind wwx)#(no one notices)#(poor Jiang Cheng is the one who has to clean it up)#my writing

32 notes · View notes

pumpkinpaix · 3 years

Note

Pleeeeeeease get into the class one at some point because I very much want to understand the class dynamics happening in the story but I have yet to find a meta that dives into it

god anon you want me dead don’t you alsjdfljks

referring to this post

okay, so -- my specific salt about class interpretations in mdzs are very targeted. I can’t pretend to have a deep understanding of how class works in mdzs generally because uhhhhh yeah i don’t think i have that. i’m just not familiar enough with the genre and/or the particulars of chinese class systems. but! i can talk in general terms as to why I feel a certain way about the class dynamics that I do think I understand and how I think they relate to the themes of the novel! i’m gonna talk about wei wuxian, the daozhangs, xue yang, and 3zun with, I’m sure, a bunch of digressions along the way.

the usual disclaimers: i do not think you are a bad person if you hold opinions contrary to my own. i may disagree with you very strongly, but like. this isn’t a moral judgment, fandom is transformative and interpretive etc. etc. and i may change my mind. who knows what the future will bring!

OKAY so let’s begin!

here’s the thing about wei wuxian: he’s not poor. I think because characters use “son of a servant” kind of often when they’re trying to insult him, a lot of people latch onto that and think that it’s a much stronger indication of his societal status than it actually is. iirc, most of the insults that fall along the “son of a servant” line come after wei wuxian starts breaking severely from tradition. it’s a convenient thing to attack him for, but doesn’t actually indicate anything about his wealth. (exception: yu ziyuan, but that’s a personal familial issue) this is in direct contrast to jin guangyao who is constantly mocked for his family line, publicly and privately, no matter what he does.

so this, coupled with all the jokes about wwx never having any money (wei wuqian, sizhui’s “i’ve long since known you had no money” etc.), plus his like, rough years on the street as a child ends up producing this interpretation of wei wuxian, especially in modern aus, as someone who is very class conscious and “eat the rich”. but the fact of the matter is, wei wuxian IS rich. aside from the years in his childhood and the last two years of his life in yiling, like -- wei wuxian had money and status. he is gentry. he is respected as gentry. he is treated as a son by the sect leader of yunmeng jiang -- he does not have the jiang name, but it is so very clear that jiang fengmian favors him. wei wuxian is ranked fourth of all the eligible young masters in the cultivation world -- that is not a ranking he could have attained without being accepted into the upper class.

wei wuxian’s poverty does not affect him in the way that it affects jin guangyao or xue yang. he is of low-ish birth (still the son of jiang fengmian’s right hand man though! ok sure, “son of a servant” but like. >_> whatever anyways), but for most of his life he had money. he, jiang cheng, and their sect brothers go into town and steal lotus pods with the understanding that “jiang-shushu will pay for it”. this is a regular thing! that’s fucking rich kid behavior!!! wei wuxian is careless with money because he doesn’t have to worry about it. he still has almost all the benefits of being upper class: education, food security, respect, recognition etc. I think there may also be a misconception that wei wuxian was always on the verge of being kicked out by yu ziyuan, or that he was constantly walking on eggshells around her for fear of being disowned, but that is just textually untrue. i could provide receipts, but I admittedly don’t really feel like digging them up just now ;;

even in his last years in yiling, he was not the one who was dealing with the acute knowledge of poverty: wen qing is the one managing the money, and as far as we know, wei wuxian did little to no management of daily life during the burial mounds days -- mostly, he’s described as hiding in his cave for days on end, working on his inventions, running around like a force of chaos, frivolously making a mess of things -- it’s very very cute that he buries a’yuan in the dirt, but in classic wei wuxian fashion, he did Not think about the practical consequences of it -- that A’Yuan has no other clean clothes, and now he’s gotten this set dirty and has no intention of washing them. is this a personality thing? yeah, but I think it’s also indicative of his lack of concern over the logistics of everyday survival, re: wealth.

furthermore, i think it is important to remember that wei wuxian, when he is protecting the wen remnants, is not protecting common folk: he is still protecting gentry. fallen gentry, yes! but gentry nonetheless. wen qing was favored by wen ruohan, and wen ning himself says that he has a retinue of people under his command (the remnants, essentially). their branch of the family do not have the experience of living and growing in poverty -- they are impoverished and persecuted in their last years, but that’s a very different thing from being impoverished your whole life. (sidenote: I do not believe wei wuxian’s primary motivation for defending the wen remnants was justice -- i believe he did it because he felt he owed wen ning and wen qing a life debt, and once he was there, he wasn’t going to stand around and let the work camps go on. yes, he is concerned about justice and doing the right thing, but that’s not why he went in the first place. anyways, that’s another meta)

after wei wuxian returns, he then marries back into gentry, and very wealthy gentry at that. lwj provides him all the money he could ever want, he is never worried about going homeless, starving, being denied opportunities based on his class and accompanying disadvantages. who would dare? and neither wei wuxian nor lan wangji seem to have much interest in shaking up the order of things, except in little things like the way they teach the juniors. they live in gusu, under the auspices of the lan, and they live a happy, domestic life.

were his years on the street traumatizing? yes, of course they were, there’s so much delicious character exploration to be done re: wei wuxian’s relationship to food, his relationship to his own needs, and his relationship to the people he loves. it’s all important and good! but I feel very strongly that that experience, while it was formative for him, did not impart any true understanding of poverty and the common person’s everyday struggles, nor do I think he ever really gains that understanding. he is observant and canny and aware of class and blood, certainly, but not in a way that makes it his primary hill to die on (badum-tss).

this is in very stark contrast to characters like jin guangyao and xue yang, and to some extent, xiao xingchen and song lan. I’ll start with the daozhangs, because I think they’re the simplest (??).

I think both xiao xingchen and song lan have class consciousness, but in a very simplified, broad-strokes kind of way (at least, given the information we know about them). we know that the two of them share similar values and want to one day form their own sect that gives no weight to the nobility of your lineage and has no concern with your wealth. we also know that they both disdain intersect politics and are more concerned with ideals and principles rather than status. but, I think because of that, this actually somewhat limits their perception and understanding of how status is used to oppress. as far as we know, neither of them participated on any side in sunshot and they demonstrate much more interest in relating to the commoners. honestly, i hc that they were flitting around trying to help decimated towns, protecting defenseless villages etc. I ALSO think this has a lot of interesting potential in terms of xiao xingchen and wei wuxian’s relationship, if xiao xingchen is ever revived. regardless of whether you’re in CQL or novel verse, xiao xingchen really doesn’t know wei wuxian at all, other than knowing that he’s his shijie’s son. he knows that cangse-sanren met with a tragic end, like yanling-daoren before her, and that he wants to be different. but here is cangse-sanren’s son, laying waste to entire cities, desecrating the dead. I would very much like to get into xiao xingchen’s head during that period of time (and i think, if i do it right, i can write some of it into the songxiao fixit), but that’s neither here nor there, because i’ve wandered off from my point again.

i would posit that song lan is used to an ascetic lifestyle, and xiao xingchen probably is too -- but that’s different from poverty because there’s an element of choice to it. I also think that neither of them is particularly worldly, xiao xingchen especially. he lived on an isolated mountain until he was like, seventeen, and he came down full of ideals and naivete about how the world worked. I think that both of them see inequality, that they are angered by it, and that they want to do something about it -- but their solution is neither to topple the sects, nor is it to reform the system. rather, it seems to be more about withdrawing and creating their own removed world. I think that the daozhangs embody a kind of utopianism that isn’t present in the minds of any of the other characters, not even wangxian. honestly, baoshan-sanren’s mountain is a utopian ideal, but one that is not described. it exists outside of and beyond the world. i have a lot of jumbled, vague thoughts about utopianism generally, mostly informed by china miéville and ursula k. le guin, and I don’t think i have the ability to articulate them here, but i wanted to. hm. say something? there is something about the inherent dystopianism contained within every utopia, that utopias are necessary, but also reflections of the existence of terrible things in their conception. idk. there’s something in there, I know it!! but i suppose what I want to say is -- i do not think the daozhangs understand class and social hierarchy very deeply because they don’t see a need to examine it deeply. for their goals, the details aren’t the point. they’re not looking to reform within the system, they’re looking to build something outside of it. I think they spend a lot of time concerned with alleviating the symptoms of social oppression, and their values reflect the injustices they witness there.

regardless, even if their story ends in tragedy and there is a certain amount of critique re: the utopian approach, i think the text still emphasizes that xiao xingchen left a utopia and that he thought that people mattered enough for him to try, and that was an incredibly honorable, kind, and human thing to do.

YEAH SURE THE DAOZHANGS ARE THE SIMPLEST ok ok RETURNING to class and moving forward: xue yang.

i also don’t think xue yang has class consciousness lol, or not in any way that really matters, but I do think poverty impacted him in a much stronger way than it impacted wei wuxian. wei wuxian spent some years on the street as a child. xue yang grew up on the streets. chang ci’an’s horrific treatment of him was directly due to his class and social standing: chang ci’an is a nobleman and xue yang is not even worth the dirt beneath the wheels of his cart. what I think is the seminal point though, is that this does not make xue yang think particularly deeply about systemic injustice, because xue yang is so self-centered, self-driven, and individualistic. he is not even slightly concerned about how poverty and class might affect other people -- they’re other people. what he takes away from his experience is not an anger at being wrongfully cheated by a system, but an anger at being wrongfully cheated by a specific man.

xue yang is not particularly concerned with the politics of the aristocracy -- he has no obvious ambitions other than, “i want to eat sweets whenever i please”, “i want to hurt anyone who wrongs me”, and “i want to be so strong that no one can hurt me”. like, he just doesn’t care -- it’s not the kind of power he wants. he sneers at people for like, personal reasons, not class reasons -- “you think you’re better than me” re: xiao xingchen and song lan. to him, all people -- poor, wealthy, noble, common -- are essentially equal, and they are all beneath him. after all, what does he care what family someone comes from, how much money they have? everyone bleeds when you cut them. some of them might be harder to get to than others, but xue yang does not fear that sort of thing. it’s just another obstacle he needs to vault on his way to getting revenge and/or a pastry.

ANYWAYS onto jin guangyao (wow this is hm. getting rather long ahaha oh dear): I would argue that the two characters with the most acute understanding of class/societal politics and the injustice of them are jin guangyao and lan xichen. i’ll start with jin guangyao for obvious reasons.

where xue yang took the damaging effects of poverty as personal slights, I think jin guangyao is painfully aware that there is nothing personal about them, which is, in some ways, much worse. why are two sons, born on the same day to the same father, treated so differently? just because.

he watched his mother struggle and starve and work herself to the bone in a profession where she was constantly disrespected and abused for almost nothing in return, while his father could have lifted her out of poverty with the wave of a finger. why didn’t he? because he didn’t like her? no -- because he didn’t care, and the structures of the society they live in protect that kind of blase treatment of the lower class.

“so my mother couldn’t choose her own fate, is that her fault?” jin guangyao demands. he knows that he is unbelievably talented, that he has ambition, that he has potential, and that all of it is beyond his grasp just because his father didn’t want to bother with it. his mother’s life was destroyed, and his own opportunities were crippled with that negligence. it isn’t personal. that’s just the way things are. your individual identity is meaningless, your humanity does not exist. when he’s kicked down the steps of jinlin tai, it’s just more confirmation that no matter how talented or hardworking he is, no one will give him the time of day unless he finds a way to take it himself and become someone who “matters”.

jin guangyao’s cultivation is weak because he had a poor foundation, and he had a poor foundation because he was denied access to a good one. he copies others because that’s all he can do at this point, and he copies so well that he can hold his own against some of the strongest cultivators of his generation. he’s disparaged for copying and “stealing” techniques, but -- he never would have had to if only he had been born/accepted into the upper class. the fact is that i really do think jin guangyao was the most promising cultivator of his generation that we meet, including the twin jades and wei wuxian: he had natural talent, ambition, creativity, determination and cunning in spades. in some ways, I think that’s one of the overlooked tragedies of jin guangyao: the loss of not just the good man he could have been, but the powerful one too. imagine what he could have done.

jin guangyao spends his entire time in the world of the aristocracy feeling unsteady and terrified because he knows exactly how precarious his position is. he knows how easy it is to lose power, especially for someone like him. he’s working against so many disadvantages, and every scrap of honor he gets is a vicious battle. jin guangyao fears, and I think that’s something that’s lacking in xue yang, wei wuxian and the daozhangs’ experiences/understandings of poverty. i think it’s precisely that fear that emphasizes jin guangyao’s understanding of class and blood. jin guangyao exhibits an anxiety that neither wei wuxian nor xue yang do, and it’s because he truly knows how little he is worth in the eyes of society and how little there is he can do to change that. to me, it very much feels related to the anxiety of not knowing if tomorrow you’ll have something to eat, if tomorrow you’ll still have a home, if tomorrow someone will destroy you and never have to answer for it. it’s the anxiety of knowing helplessness intimately.

moreover, jin guangyao is the only person shown to use the wealth and power at his disposal to take concrete steps to actually help the common people typically ignored by the powerful -- the watchtowers. they’re described in chapter 42. it’s a system that is designed to cover remote areas that most cultivators are reluctant to go due to their inconvenience and the lack of means of the people who live there. the watchtowers assign cultivators to different posts, give aid to those previously forgotten, and if the people are too poor to pay what the cultivators demand, the lanling jin sect pays for it. jin guangyao worked on this for five years and burned a lot of bridges over it. people were strongly opposed to it, thinking that it was some kind of ploy for lanling jin’s personal benefit. but the thing is -- it worked. they were effective. people were helped.

i believe CQL frames the watchtowers as an allegory for a surveillance state/centralized control (i think?? it’s been a minute -- that’s the hazy impression i remember, something like a parallel to the wen supervisory offices?), but I personally don’t think that was the intent in the novel. the watchtowers are a public good. lanling jin doesn’t staff them with their own sect members -- they get nearby sects to staff them. it’s a warning network that they fund that’s supposed to benefit everyone, even those that everyone had considered expendable.

(did jin guangyao do terrible things to achieve this goal? yeah lol. it’s not confirmed, but his son sure did die... suspiciously...... at the hands of an outspoken critic of the watchtowers........ whom he then executed....... so like, maybe just a convenient coincidence for jin guangyao, two birds one stone, but. it seems. Unlikely.)

lan xichen is the only member of the gentry that ever shows serious compassion for and nuanced understanding of jin guangyao’s circumstances. lan xichen treats him as his equal regardless of jin guangyao’s current status -- even when he was meng yao, lan xichen treated him as a human being worthy of respect, as someone with great merits, as someone he would choose as a friend, but he did so knowing full well the delicate position meng yao occupied. this is in direct contrast to nie mingjue, who also believed that meng yao was worthy of respect as a human being, but was completely unable to comprehend the complexities of his circumstances and unwilling to grant him any grace. you know, the difference between “i acknowledge that your birth and status have had effects upon you, but I don’t think less of you for it” and “i don’t consider your birth and status at all when i interact with you because i think it is irrelevant” (“i don’t see color” anyone?)

to illustrate, from chapter 48:

大抵是觉得娼妓之子身上说不定也带着什么不干净的东西，这几名修士接过他双手奉上来的茶盏后，并不饮下，而是放到一边，还取出雪白的手巾，很难受似的，有意无意反复擦拭刚才碰过茶盏的手指。聂明玦并非细致之人，未曾注意到这种细节，魏无羡却用眼角余光扫到了这些。孟瑶视若未见，笑容不坠半分，继续奉茶。蓝曦臣接过茶盏之时，抬眸看他一眼，微笑道：“多谢。”

旋即低头饮了一口，这才继续与聂明玦交谈。旁的修士见了，有些不自在起来。

rough tl:

Probably because they believed that the son of a prostitute might also carry some unclean things upon his person, after these few cultivators took the teacups offered from [Meng Yao’s] two hands, they did not drink, but instead put them to one side, and furthermore brought out snow white handkerchiefs. Quite uncomfortably, and whether they were aware of it or not, they repeatedly wiped the fingers they had just used to touch the teacups. Nie Mingjue was not a detail-oriented person and never took note of such particulars, but Wei Wuxian caught these in the corner of his eye. Meng Yao appeared as if he had not seen, his smile unwavering in the slightest, and continued to serve tea. When Lan Xichen took the teacup, he glanced up at him and, smiling, said, “Thank you.”

He immediately dipped his head to take a sip, and only then continued to converse with Nie Mingjue. Seeing this, the nearby cultivators began to feel somewhat uneasy.

all right, since we’re in full cyan-rampaging-through-the-weeds mode at this point, i’m going to talk about how this is one of my favorite 3zun moments in the entire novel for characterization purposes because it really highlights how they all relate to one another, and to what degree each of them is aware of their own position in relation to the others and society as a whole.

1. nie mingjue, who is a forthright and blunt person, sets meng yao to serving tea and is done with it. he notices nothing wrong or inappropriate about the reactions of the people in the room because it’s not the sort of thing he considers important.

2. meng yao, knowing that his only avenue is to take it lying down with a smile, masks perfectly.

3. lan xichen, noticing all this, uses his own reputation to achieve two things at once: pointedly shame the other cultivators in attendance, and show meng yao that regardless of others’ opinions, he considers him an equal and does not endorse such behavior--and he does it while taking care that no fallout will come down on meng yao’s head.

is this yet another installment of cyan’s endless lxc defense thesis? why yes it is! no one is surprised! but this is my whole point: both meng yao and lan xichen understand the respective hierarchy and power dynamics within the room, while nie mingjue very much does not. this is not because nie mingjue is a bad person or because nie mingjue is stupid--it’s a combination of personality and upbringing. nie mingjue is straightforward and has no patience for such games. but then again, he can afford not to play because he was born into such a high position: that’s a privilege.

to break it down: meng yao knows that he is the lowest-ranked person in the room, sees the way people are subtly disrespecting him in full view of his general who is doing nothing about it. in some ways, this is good -- nie mingjue’s style of dealing with conflict is very direct and not at all suited to delicate political maneuvering. after all, the way he promoted meng yao was actually quite dangerous to meng yao: he essentially guaranteed that his men would bear meng yao a grudge and that their disrespect for him would only be compounded by their bitterness at being punished on his behalf. (it’s like, why often getting parents or teachers to intervene ineffectively in bullying can just be an incitement to more bullying -- same concept) meng yao’s reaction during that scene shows that he’s pretty painfully aware of this and is trying to defuse the situation to no avail. nie mingjue gives him a bootstrap speech (rip nie mingjue i love u so much but. sir) and then promotes him, which is pretty much the only saving grace of that entire exchange, for meng yao at least.

lan xichen, on the other hand, understands both that meng yao is the lowest-ranked person in the room and that any direct attempt to chastise the other cultivators in the room will only serve to hurt meng yao in the long run. he knows that if this were brought to nie mingjue’s attention, he would be outraged and not shy about it -- also bad for meng yao. so he uses what he has: his immaculate reputation. by acting contrary to the other cultivators’ behavior, he demonstrates that he finds their actions unacceptable but with the plausible deniability that it wasn’t directed at them, that this is just zewu-jun being his usual generous self. this means that the other cultivators have no one to blame but themselves, nothing to do but question their own actions. there is nowhere to cast off their discomfort. meng yao didn’t do anything. lan xichen didn’t do anything -- he just thanked meng yao and drank his tea, isn’t that what it’s there for? he doesn’t disrupt the peace, he doesn’t attack anyone and put them on the defensive, but he does make his position very clear.

i know this is a really small thing and i’m probably beating it to death, but I really think this shows just how cognizant lan xichen is of politics and emotional cause and effect in such situations. certainly, out of context I think the scene reads kind of cliche, but within the greater narrative of the story and within the arc of these characters specifically, I think it was a really smart scene to include. it also showcases lan xichen’s style of action: that he moves around and with a problematic situation as opposed to moving straight through.

not to be salty on main again, but this is why it’s very frustrating to me when I see people call lan xichen passive when he is anything but. his actions just don’t look like traditional “actions”, especially to an american audience. it’s easy to understand lan wangji and wei wuxian’s style of problem-solving: taking a stand, moving through, staying strong. lan xichen is juggling an inconceivable number of factors in any given situation, weighing his responsibilities in one role against those in another, and then trying to find the path through the thicket that will cause the least harm, both to himself and the thicket. lan wangji and wei wuxian are not particularly good at considering the far-reaching consequences of their actions -- again, not because they are bad people, but because of a combination of personality and upbringing. they’d just hack through the thicket, not thinking about the creatures that live in it. that is not a terrible thing! it isn’t. it’s a different way of approaching a problem, and it has different priorities. that’s okay. there are advantages and disadvantages on both sides, and where you come down is going to depend on your personal values.

okay we’ve spiraled far and away from my original point, but let’s circle back: i was talking about class.

I think it’s undeniable that class, birthright, fate etc. are some of the driving forces of thematic conflict in mdzs, and the way each character interacts with those forces reveals a lot about themselves and also about the larger themes of fate, chance, and what it means to be righteous and good and how that is and isn’t rewarded. a lot of the tragedy of mdzs (the tragedy that isn’t caused by direct aggression on the part of one group or another) stems from the injustices and slights that people suffered due to their lot in life. it isn’t fair. none of it is fair! we sympathize with jin guangyao because we recognize that what he suffered was unconscionable, even if we don’t excuse him. i sympathize A Lot with xue yang as well for similar reasons, though I understand that’s a harder sell. this is a story focused on the mistakes of an entrenched, aging gentry and the effects that those mistakes had on their children, and a lot of it has to do with prejudice based in class and birth status. whether the prejudice was the true reason or whether it was just a convenient excuse, the fact remains that the systems in place rewarded and protected the people in power who used it to cling to that power. mdzs is also a story of how the circumstances of one’s life can offer you impossible choices that you cannot abstain from, and it asks us to be compassionate to the people who made terrible choices in terrible times. it’s about the inherent complexity in all things! that sometimes, there are no good choices, and i don’t know, i’d like to think that people would show me compassion if I had to make the choices some of these characters did. not just wei wuxian, mind you, every single one of them. except jin guangshan because I Do Hate Him sorry. and i guess wen ruohan. i think that’s it.

good. GOD this is clocking in at //checks notes -- just over 5k. 8′D *stuffs some weeds into my mouth like the clown i am*

(ko-fi? :’D *lies down*)

2K notes · View notes

robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

Text

Polyphonic

Chapter 3 ao3 (alt: tumblr pt 1, pt 2)

Lan Qiren wanted to speak to Wei Wuxian about everything they needed to do, but it would have to wait: the moment they arrived, they were immediately swept up into the political mess that Jin Zixun’s ill-fated ambush had caused.

Jin Guangshan was there in the blink of an eye, despite normally taking his time in seeing anyone, and Lan Qiren didn’t like the way he started making excuses for his nephew’s behavior from the very start. It was to a certain degree understandable, as everyone would first incline towards defending their family, but the haste with which Jin Guangshan sought to sweep it all under the rug was disconcerting, and Lan Qiren thought it was almost suggestive of some level of premeditation. Even more distasteful, however, was how he sought to twist the entire event into being yet another reason Wei Wuxian ought to surrender the Stygian Tiger Seal to the Jin sect: for his own good, of course, in order to avoid being made into a target on account of the disdain of the cultivation world –

“Sect Leader Jin, your words are in poor taste,” Lan Qiren said sharply.

He could hear Jiang Cheng, who ought to be defending Wei Wuxian and was trying his stuttering best to do so, starting to waver; the boy had a pleasant rippling melody by nature, forced into a fierce allegro by his parents’ endless disputes and his later tragedies, and the weak foundation meant that he was too easily buffeted by uncertainty and doubt, as Jin Guangshan undoubtedly knew.

“Let us not speak in abstraction,” he continued. “It was your sect, your nephew, who launched this particular ambush. You ought to be making a formal apology to Wei Wuxian and thinking of reparations to repair the injury to your sect’s reputation, not acting like a thief complaining to the magistrate that his victim failed to hand over his property quickly enough to prevent violence!”

Jin Guangshan’s eyes narrowed in irritation, though he fought to keep the expression off his face as if it could disguise the swell of bitter rotten music that accompanied him wherever he went. “Teacher Lan,” he said, striving for composed and charming but mostly coming off as stiff and wooden. “Come now, I must be misunderstanding you. Surely you are not accusing me of being a thief.”

Historically, as Jin Guangshan well knew, this was when Lan Qiren backed down, mindful of his position as interim sect leader – his sect granted him much of the responsibility but not the full measure of power that typically accorded with the title, and he was conscious, always, that his role was to ensure there was something preserved for his nephews to inherit.

Perhaps Jin Guangshan had forgotten that Lan Qiren was no longer interim sect leader.

“I am describing the facts as I see them,” he said icily, straightening his back and levelling his best teacher’s glare, refined by years of troublesome students. “And they are this: by the agreement of the cultivation world and through his own powers, Wei Wuxian was inviolate and unbothered as long as he remained in the Burial Mounds. Despite this, he willingly chose to emerge in response to an invitation issued by your sect, only to be attacked by your sect – and when he comes to you for justice, rather than grant it to him, you suggest that he hand over his most prized possession to prevent any similar attacks in the future. Unfamiliarity may require me to consult my sect’s texts to be sure, Sect Leader Jin, but only to determine if I should be calling it extortion, blackmail, or outright thievery!”

“Teacher Lan!” one of the smaller sect leaders gasped, even as Jin Guangshan went utterly florid with rage. “You’re not suggesting that Jin-gongzi was involved in the ambush!”

Lan Qiren had been Jin Zixuan’s teacher and knew him well – he had been a shy, introverted boy whose awkwardness came off as aloofness, and would never have done anything like this. Even less so would Lan Qiren suspect such a thing of the man who had been steadied by war and responsibility into an adult with a firm moral foundation.

“No,” he said, and met Jin Guangshan’s eyes directly. “I believe Jin-gongzi’s invitation to have been wholly sincere.”

For a moment, Lan Qiren thought Jin Guangshan was actually going to strike him, his aura lashing out violently like a clash of cymbals, discordant and biting, and he braced himself, but in the last moment etiquette prevailed and Jin Guangshan refrained, although his fists were clenched so tightly that his veins stood out from the backs of his hands.

That was when Wei Wuxian opened his mouth.

Lan Qiren silenced him with the muting spell before he could get out a single syllable.

Jiang Cheng sent him a thankful glance and cleared his throat. “This is a serious matter,” he said. “It requires a full investigation; we won’t be able to solve it all talking now. Both Wei Wuxian and Teacher Lan have traveled a long way – I have no doubt that they need some time to rest and refresh themselves.”

A convenient way to stop anyone from starting a fight, and implicitly excusing Lan Qiren’s rudeness as a mere symptom of exhaustion, resolving the whole thing without losing any more face for anyone. The Jiang sect’s boy was picking up this whole politics business quite well, the poor child.

“I concur,” Jin Guangshan said, recovering a little of his poise. “There are rooms ready for you both.”

Lan Qiren inclined his head as well. “An excellent idea,” he said, and then, because he could now, added, “We can discuss reparations for the ambush later.”

“And what about the curse?” Jin Zixun hissed, clearly done with holding his tongue the way everyone had been so obviously instructing him with their eyes. “Am I to simply suffer while that criminal walks free and unharmed?”

“When I said there would be an investigation, I meant it!” Jiang Cheng snapped. “I doubt your curse is so advanced that it can’t wait another day, and if it is, then you should have brought it up earlier!”

“Why you –“

“Sect Leader Jiang has spoken,” Jin Zixuan interrupted, his voice hard. “Zixun, don’t forget that you must also answer to me as to what you did to my guest in my name without my permission. I think it might benefit you to ‘rest and refresh’ as well. One of the servants can take you to see a doctor.”

Jin Guangshan seemed on the verge of objecting, but Jin Zixuan seemed not to get the hint, already turning his face away.

“In the meantime,” he said, saluting politely, “Sect Leader Jiang, Wei-gongzi, would you come with me? A-Li is waiting to see you both.”

Lan Qiren allowed himself to be whisked off in a different direction to settle down, which in all honesty he did need to do. He hadn’t flown such a distance in years, had been in better health when he’d done so, and he had been tired even before all this excitement; some rest would do wonders for him, even if it did make him feel a bit like he’d become a doddering old man or an invalid. Before he could settle down, though, he heard a sound approaching – a little uneven, sometimes too fast, sometimes too slow – and despite the fact that Jin Guangyao had never been anything but polite to him, he felt his back tense up at the reminder of why he was here in the first place.

“Honored teacher,” Jin Guangyao said, smiling and saluting deeply – more than he should, really, given that Lan Qiren was neither a sect leader nor had ever been his teacher. “Welcome to Jinlin Tower. I regret that your arrival was marred by such unpleasantness, and hope that the remainder of your visit is calmer.”

It’s not Jin Guangyao’s fault that Lan Xichen likes him, Lan Qiren reminded himself. Your suspicions, and your family’s terrible luck at love, are your own burdens to bear. They should not be put onto others.

He nodded to Jin Guangyao.

“It would be good to see a peaceable resolution to today’s events,” he said neutrally. “I appreciate that you have come to check on me personally. It is truly going above and beyond the call of duty.”

“Your nephew is my sworn brother, Teacher Lan. How could I fail to honor you as my elder?” Jin Guangyao said smoothly. “Let me know if there’s anything we can do to make you more comfortable.”

“A bath before dinner would be nice. Has my nephew arrived yet?” Lan Qiren privately hoped that he hadn’t, and was relieved when Jin Guangyao shook his head, confirming it. “Let me know when he does.”

“Of course,” Jin Guangyao said, and saluted again. “I’ll inform the servants; a bath will be made ready for you by afternoon.”

The moment Jin Guangyao left the room, Lan Qiren traced the pattern along the hem of his robes that shook off the dust of the road, returning them to being as clean and pristine as always – not a long-term solution to laundry, but very effective in the short-run, and one that he’d only refrained from doing earlier in order to drive home the point regarding how he had also been victimized by Jin Zixun’s ambush.

It was a profound relief to be clean again.

Once he could no longer hear Jin Guangyao’s familiar chords, he relaxed, which unfortunately these days meant coughing. He rubbed his chest when he was done, sighing, and settled down with his guqin to start playing a little, hoping to ease his nerves. Lan Xichen would be on his way already, he knew, and would probably move even faster once he got word regarding Lan Qiren’s presence. He’d made rather a lot of trouble for his nephew…

The door slammed open, and only years of experience with troublesome children, along with the warning echo of a song free and clear, full of shining righteousness, allowed Lan Qiren to remain unmoved by the cacophonous crash.

“So I have questions,” Wei Wuxian said. “Many, many questions, and I’m going to want answers to…uh, are you all right?”

Lan Qiren ignored Wei Wuxian’s rush, finishing the stanza he was playing and letting his hands still over the guqin. “Sit, and I will answer your questions to the best of my ability.”

Wei Wuxian closed the door behind him and put up a talisman for privacy, like the ones they used to use during the war, before coming to sit across the table from Lan Qiren. He was frowning. “Honored Teacher Lan, your lips are red,” he said cautiously. “Were you coughing up blood just now?”

“An old injury from the war,” Lan Qiren said, unable to resist recalling the memory of Wen Xu’s wild smirk as he’d deliberately smashed his ribs into pieces, grinding his palm against Lan Qiren’s chest to force the broken pieces to pierce his lungs. Nie Mingjue had executed Wen Xu only a few months later, a matter that had greatly eased his nightmares…truly Lan Qiren had to get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible; once Lan Xichen’s name was cleared, he could focus on trying to devise a solution to cleanse Nie Mingjue of the spiritual poison. “It can be aggravated by excess choler. Do not concern yourself about it.”

Wei Wuxian looked like he was concerning himself about it. “But you nearly –” Lan Qiren glared until he dropped the volume of his voice significantly. “You nearly got into a fight with dozens of cultivators back at the Qiongqi Path on my behalf! Wouldn’t that have aggravated it even worse than just getting angry?”

“Much worse,” Lan Qiren agreed peaceably. “My talents in battle are not especially notable, although better with the guqin than the sword. Regardless, the effort expended would almost certainly result in a severe backlash later.”

Wei Wuxian gaped at him. “Then why did you do it?”

“Was there an alternative?”

Wei Wuxian’s mouth opened and closed a few more times.

“How are your shijie and shizi?” Lan Qiren asked when it appeared that Wei Wuxian was not going to force any words out of his mouth any time soon. He folded his hands together in an appropriate manner – he, at least, knew his etiquette, and would continue to model it in the hope that Wei Wuxian might one day catch a hint. “Well, I trust?”

“Uh, yeah, they’re great. Jin Ling is perfect, shijie is wonderful, the peacock doesn’t deserve either of them, though he’s gotten better, I guess,” Wei Wuxian said, then shook his head as if to clear it. “And I wouldn’t have been able to see either of them if not for you.”

Personally, Lan Qiren didn’t think one Jin Zixun and any number of his friends would actually be able to stop Wei Wuxian, preplanned ambush or no, so he just hummed noncommittally. “You said you had questions?”

“Yeah, and now I have even more,” Wei Wuxian grumbled, but he seemed to settle down a little. “Let’s start with the fact that you said you needed help on a musical issue, but that it is also somehow an attempted murder. What’s that about?”

Lan Qiren grimaced. “Serve tea,” he instructed Wei Wuxian, and waited until he was midway through the process – and thus not staring straight at Lan Qiren – to start talking. “I have reason to believe that Nie Mingjue has been poisoned with spiritual poison.”

Wei Wuxian nearly spilled the tea, but managed to stop himself in time. “Chifeng-zun? Impossible!” Then he frowned. “I’d heard his temper was getting far worse, of late. Just mentions of it in passing…you think it’s because of that?”

“It may be. The Nie sect is prone to encountering qi deviations; a spiritual poison, especially one that specifically targets choleric feelings such as irritation and rage, would be particularly insidious when aimed against them. Should he die, everyone might be inclined to assume that the cause was hereditary rather than external.”

“A perfect murder. What type of poison?” Wei Wuxian’s eyebrows went up. “Wait – you think – musical poison?”

“My sect is renowned for using musical cultivation as healing techniques,” Lan Qiren pointed out, not sure why it seemed to come as such a shock to Wei Wuxian. “Antidotes grow alongside poisons, and all that can heal can also hurt – anyway, isn’t what you do a type of musical cultivation as well?”

“Good point,” Wei Wuxian said ruefully. “All right, that makes sense. That definitely seems like a real problem…but why do you need my help?”

“My health is poor, and I do not know what such an investigation will require,” Lan Qiren said. “And I cannot ask anyone in my sect to assist me.”

“Why not?”

“Because the primary suspect,” Lan Qiren said heavily, “is Xichen.”

Wei Wuxian stared.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a few long moments of blank gawping. “Please forgive me, honored teacher, but I think I misheard you. Are you saying that you think Zewu-jun is poisoning Chifeng-zun?”

“I hope dearly that he is not, of course,” Lan Qiren said. “In fact, part of the reason for my desire to investigate privately is to assist in clearing him of suspicion –”

“No, no, hold on, don’t move on just yet,” Wei Wuxian said, holding up his hands. “You think Zewu-jun – Lan Xichen! – might be capable of poisoning his sworn brother and, as far as I know, best friend? Your nephew?”

“Yes.”

“You really think he’s capable of something like that?”

“I have done my best to raise him to be the sort of man who would not be,” Lan Qiren said, and thought suddenly of his own brother – their father had treasured him, cared for him, valued him above all else. Would he have ever imagined that he would do what he had done and end up living out his life in seclusion, only to die pointlessly at the hands of the Wen sect? “And yet, who’s to say?”

“Uh, me? All the cultivation world? It’s Zewu-jun! He’s one of the most upright people I’ve ever met! You might as well suspect Lan Zhan – you don’t, do you?”

“No,” Lan Qiren said. He appreciated the righteous crescendo in Wei Wuxian’s voice, particularly when Lan Wangji was mentioned – unfortunate as it might be to find that Lan Wangji’s seemingly hopeless affection might actually be requited, since it remained a terrible idea – but it was a little inconvenient at the moment. “But equally I cannot burden him with the duty to suspect his brother. It would only hurt him.”

Wei Wuxian quieted down at that. “I can see that,” he said, grimacing. “But…why would you suspect Zewu-jun?”

“The evidence is – suggestive.” Lan Qiren shook his head. “To be clear, while I will of course value the truth above all else, I am not looking for evidence of Lan Xichen’s guilt. I am hoping to exculpate him.”

Wei Wuxian leaned forward, now frowning in earnest. “All right,” he said. “I still don’t really believe it, but other people might, and that’s bad enough. Even unfounded rumors can make for real trouble. Tell me what you know about it.”

“My nephew has been helping Nie Mingjue to ease the symptoms of his familial tendency towards qi deviations by playing him one of the strongest and most secret Lan sect healing songs,” Lan Qiren explained. “The spiritual poison I have observed in Nie Mingjue’s body is precisely a variation on that healing song – only instead of the pure version, which is designed to calm and heal disrupted qi, it is intermixed with another song that deliberately encourages spiritual turmoil.”

“All right. I suppose playing for Chifeng-zun gives Zewu-jun opportunity, but that doesn’t mean he’s the only one who could’ve applied the poison song.”

“The Song of Turmoil is a rare import, hidden away in one of sect’s forbidden books. Only very few people have access to that part of our collection.”

Wei Wuxian arched his eyebrows. “And yet you can immediately recognize it?”

“I enjoy studying obscure musical texts as an aid in composition,” Lan Qiren said, mild censure in his voice. “Would you dare claim you do not do the same?”

“…fine, fine, good point.” Wei Wuxian waved his hand. “Okay, fine…still, I’m not convinced. Even if the only source of the song is the Lan sect’s library, there was a lot of chaos these past few years. Someone else could have picked it up, couldn’t they?”

“It’s possible,” Lan Qiren admitted. “Unfortunately, the tune had the same starts and stops that are characteristic of Xichen’s playing.”

As a musical cultivator, even Wei Wuxian had to concede that the unique quirks of playing style were difficult, although not impossible, to replicate, and moreover that one would have to wonder why anyone else would bother doing so, especially in a spiritual poison they presumably hoped would go entirely undetected. He rubbed his forehead, clearly thinking it over. “So, wait, are you saying you heard this musical poison getting played? Were you affected by it? Why didn’t you interrupt in order to stop it or to find out who was responsible?”

Lan Qiren shook his head. “I did not hear the playing, only the effects.”

Wei Wuxian frowned. “I don’t understand. If you didn’t hear it get played, how do you know that the playing had Zewu-jun’s idiosyncratic characteristics?”

“I’m very familiar with how Xichen plays. How would I not notice it? Even if I only heard it intermixed with Nie Mingjue’s own base tone, the sound is distinctive enough to recognize.”

Wei Wuxian was staring at him, looking blank again. A moment later his brow furrowed as if he’d just had a thought that seemed strange to him. He said, “Honored teacher, a question. When I said I wasn’t the one who cast the curse on Jin Zixun, you said that the person who cast it played the guqin, not the flute. I’d been wondering…how did you know that?”

“The curse has the sound of a breaking guqin string, which does not accord with Jin Zixun’s own music,” Lan Qiren explained. “The person who cast it was moderately powerful and very well-trained, although this represents an overreach on their part. I think it is likely that they incurred a backlash due to the casting –”

“You just heard it?” Wei Wuxian interrupted. It was rather rude, but Lan Qiren supposed he’d signed up for that. “You just looked at him and heard the curse that had been placed on him?”

Lan Qiren nodded.

“You can hear what people’s spiritual energy sounds like?” Wei Wuxian was growing pale.

“Not spiritual energy directly,” Lan Qiren said, a little puzzled by what seemed like an outsized reaction. Not only was Wei Wuxian’s face pale, his fists clenched, but his song, normally so free and clear, had become suppressed, tense, tightly strung. “More in the nature of the sound of a person’s spirit itself. Your Ghost General, for instance; he has a very gentle melody, very soft, but the underlying base is harsh, jagged, thick with resentment, less playing than dying – he needs to learn to marry those two parts of his spirit together, or else he’ll have trouble finding peace. That’s why I offered to take him as a student.”

“What about me?” Wei Wuxian asked. He was almost vibrating with the need to know. “What about my music? Has it – changed?”

“It’s gotten a little more sober, which is not uncommon with tragedy,” Lan Qiren said, and felt as though he were on the edge of some terrible revelation. “But no, fundamentally you remain the same person you always were.”

Wei Wuxian exhaled, hard. A trill of relief.

“Something happened that made you think it would change,” Lan Qiren deduced, reaching up to stroke his beard thoughtfully. He watched as Wei Wuxian’s eyes flickered one way, then another. “Wei Wuxian.”

Wei Wuxian looked at him.

“Are you unwilling to return to orthodox cultivation – or unable?”

There was a world of difference between the two: one was arrogance, relentless and unrestrained, looking down at the truths the cultivators of the world and their ancestors had worked so hard to unearth, the other merely a depressing practicality – who wouldn’t choose to cultivate something if the alternative was nothing at all?

And yet…how could it be?

And why would Wei Wuxian be so terrified of letting others discover it?

“That’s none of your business,” Wei Wuxian said, teeth set in a bitter smile that was more of a grimace than anything else. “I agreed to help you, Honored Teacher, but my business is my own.”

“But –”

“Another question,” Wei Wuxian said. “Different subject: I know you don’t lie, and earlier you said…what you said. So tell me, what Lan sect girl has her heart so set on me that you decided to come tell me in person that I wasn’t allowed marry her?”

Lan Qiren blinked. “I only meant to advise you that it was a poor match for you both; it was not meant as an insult to you,” he objected, a little offended. “If you and Wangji insist, I will not stand in your way.”

He shook his head and sighed a little, regretful; he would not pursue the matter Wei Wuxian was hiding any further. He wanted to help, curiosity itching at him, but Wei Wuxian was right – it was none of his business.

“As long as your reliance on demonic cultivation does not impede your assistance in my investigation, I will not bring it up again,” he concluded. “How do you propose we begin?”

“…Lan Zhan?”

Lan Qiren frowned. “I already explained to you why I do not wish to involve Wangji, and that I do not suspect him. Why would we start with him?”

“Not for the investigation,” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, his face bright red. “About the – marriage!”

#mdzs #lan qiren #wei wuxian #jin guangshan #jin zixuan #jin guangyao #my fic #my fics #polyphonic

204 notes · View notes

ibijau · 3 years

Text

Futures Past pt8 / On AO3

Meng Yao's future is dealt with.

To say that Lan Qiren was disappointed in his nephew for helping Nie Huaisang escape into Yunping City would have been an understatement. It was made quite clear to Lan Xichen that he would face punishment of his own for this misbehaviour. Real punishment, too, not just copying texts as had become standards for small infractions. Still, Lan Qiren listened to that tale of a corrupt merchant scamming people with fake manuals, which greatly irritated him, and thus forced sect leader Huang to care as well and deal with it immediately.

It was wrong to think maliciously of anyone without proof, and even more so if the person was an elder. Yet as they all walked toward the market Lan Xichen couldn’t shake the feeling that had he been alone when news of that crooked merchant reached him, Huang Quiling might not have cared enough to do anything about it. After all, he hadn’t asked Lan Xichen for any details about this business, and instead appeared intent on continuing his conversation with Jiang Fengmian about borders and trade.

Lives were on the line, Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao’s futures depended on this day, and nobody cared.

They didn't care because they couldn't know, of course, but logic wasn't helping Lan Xichen's ever growing anxiety. He only calmed down when they all reached the place where the others were waiting, and found that everyone of any importance was still where he had left them.

While Lan Xichen was gone, things had changed a little in the market. Most of the earlier crowd had dispersed, tired of waiting for more entertainment, and the market street was almost back to normal. Those few curious folks who remained were trying to inconspicuously listen in as Nie Huaisang chatted with, or rather at poor Meng Shi. The unfortunate woman looked deeply uncomfortable, but didn't dare openly disrespect the young master who had confirmed her son's potential for cultivation by walking away.

She couldn't leave yet, anyway, not until she'd gotten her money back for those fake cultivation manuals. From what Lan Xichen could see, Jiang Cheng and Meng Yao were taking care of that, the two of them counting money with that crooked merchant. Here and there Meng Yao would glance at Nie Huaisang, as if something he said attracted his attention, but each time Jiang Cheng brought his attention back to the task at hand.

When Lan Xichen and his elders came close enough to hear, the distress made sense: Nie Huaisang, after all this time, was still discussing the many failings of Jin Guangshan. Lan Xichen wished he were surprised, but there really was that much gossip going around about that man. Most people just didn't usually discuss all of it at once out of respect for a sect leader.

“And then, da-ge said that Jin zongzhu brought in dancers,” Nie Huaisang was saying to a rapt audience, insensitive to the discomfort of Meng Shi next to him. “Da-ge said it was getting embarrassing to watch when Jin Furen arrived, and she made such a scene because apparently her husband had promised to consult her about all the entertainments at the banquet but he brought the dancers without tell her. So then, she… oh, already?”

Nie Huaisang, so cheerful while telling his story, turned a little pale at the sight of Lan Qiren. He looked around for something to hide him from his teacher’s angry glare, and had to settle for slipping behind poor Meng Shi. Lan Xichen refrained from rolling his eyes, and directed his elders' attention where it was actually needed.

“Here is the man,” Lan Xichen announced, motioning toward the merchant. “He has been selling fake cultivation manuals to people.”

“Fake talismans as well,” Jiang Cheng said, lifting a few before crumbling them in his hand. “And he has been doing this for a while. How long, did you say?”

“We started buying from him last year,” Meng Yao explained with a polite bow toward the older cultivators. “But he started coming to the market the year before that, and already offered the same wares. We assumed he had received permission to sell those items, since...”

Meng Yao trailed off, glancing toward sect leader Huang before bowing deeper as if in apology.

Strictly speaking, no sect could be expected to be aware of and to deal with every crook that operated in their territory, so Huang Quiling couldn't be blamed for that situation. At the same time, it would be considered shameful for any sect to have someone selling fakes in its own hometown of all places, and for so long. It spoke of unreliability on their part if people would rather go to a nobody on the market, or else it meant that they priced their services much too high for common people. It also meant they didn't care about commoners, who surely had to have complained about that merchant before. Either way, it wasn't a good look for Huang Quiling, and he would have to act properly to clean this stain on his reputation.

But instead of scolding the merchant or threatening him, Huang Quiling only had eyes for Meng Shi, who was glaring at him defiantly.

“So it's you again,” sect leader Huang muttered. “Meng Shi! Haven’t I told you to stop bothering cultivators?” he turned to the other two sect leaders and gave a small apologetic bow. “I’m sorry that your boys got caught up in this. Meng Shi is just a local whore who’s convinced herself that her bastard has what it takes to be a cultivator. Completely delusional, the boy will never amount to anything. You can't judge that merchant's wares just because the bastard of a whore didn't become an immortal from reading it. I'm unsure the boy can even read.”

Meng Shi, proud as a queen until then, went pale. Lan Xichen felt her shock and horror as if they were his own. He turned to glance at his uncle, worried he might side with Huang Quiling, but to his relief Lan Qiren instead appeared annoyed at the sect leader. It was probably only the coarse language that he disapproved of, and the public nature of this confrontation which he must feel stained all their reputations, yet Lan Xichen felt emboldened anyway.

“Huang zongzhu, have you tested Meng gongzi?” he asked. “We checked on him, and found he has potential.”

“What would mere boys know about these things?” Huang Quiling snapped at him. “Which one of you tested him?”

Lan Xichen hesitated, and glanced at the other boys. He hadn’t come anywhere near Meng Yao yet, and couldn’t lie about that. But if he said it was Nie Huaisang who had checked on Meng Yao, and after his horrible performance at the Night Hunt the day before, it wouldn’t be much of an endorsement. Lan Xichen himself only trusted Nie Huaisang’s assessment because he knew from that other future what sort of cultivation genius Meng Yao was.

“I’m the one who checked on him,” Jiang Cheng boldly lied. Or perhaps he really had checked, dubious as well of Nie Huaisang's assessment, because he continued: “For someone not born from gentry, his potential is not to be dismissed. It might be on par with Yunmeng Jiang's first disciple, if he were just taught properly.”

Huang Quiling, so disdainful a moment before, lost all of his confidence. He glanced at Jiang Fengmian whose face showed no particular expression, except perhaps mild curiosity now that Wei Wuxian had been mentioned. Lan Xichen wasn't sure what to make of that. He hadn’t often been near Jiang Fengmian except at the occasional discussion conference, and of course in the other future they had never gotten to work together as sect leaders. According to gossip, Jiang Fengmian was something of a pushover, who loved quiet and peace more than he cared about justice, but on occasion he could show strength of character if the mood hit him.

"What does his skill matter, with a mother like that?" Huang Quiling claimed, refusing to admit defeat. "No self respecting sect would knowingly take in the son of a whore. It'd be like teaching a pig to walk on two legs, dressing it in silk, and calling it human."

"People ought to be judged on their actions rather than their origins," Lan Xichen retorted, which caused sect leader Huang to glare at him with bulging eyes, his face dark with a rage so strong it robbed him of his words. Even without looking, Lan Xichen knew that his uncle too had to be shocked, that there would be hell to pay for this later. But then, if he was going to be punished, he might as well go all the way. "Just because you don't have the talent to teach someone,” he said, “don't assume a skilled teacher can't do it either."

Huang Quiling looked on the verge of having a Qi deviation, gaping and frothing at the mere boy who dared to insult him so openly. He wasn't the only one to stare, either. Nie Huaisang, the Jiangs, the Mengs, and above all Lan Qiren were looking at Lan Xichen as if he'd suddenly grown a second head.

A very rude second head, at that.

Lan Xichen just couldn't help it. Back in that awful future, the man he would have become had also been enraged and saddened at the unfairness of the world, particularly with regards to Meng Yao. If people hadn't judged him so harshly for something he had no control over, if instead they had taken notice of his skill, of his hard working personality, of his determination…

In that future, Lan Xichen had never dared to speak up, believing in the virtues of inaction and of leading by example, the way he'd been taught to behave. So far in this current life his attempts at being more active hadn't really worked so well, only ensuring that Nie Huaisang made a terrible friend in Su She and started hating Lan Xichen much earlier, but maybe this time, just maybe...

“Lan-xiansheng, your nephew is rather opinionated for a boy his age,” Huang Quiling complained. “I have heard a great deal how well behaved the young heir to Gusu Lan is, but it appears some reputations are undeserved.”

“My nephew will be dealt with,” Lan Qiren calmly replied, which dampened Lan Xichen's moment of rebellion more than anger could have. “And he will present excuses to you. Right now, Xichen.”

“But Lan gongzi's right!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed, coming out from his hiding place being Meng Shi. Under Lan Qiren's glare he shivered, but didn't give up. “I mean, he's right at least to ask if Meng gongzi was tested,” he mumbled. “And he's right to say it's not fair if nobody will teach him just because of his family! I've read our histories, you know. I know people didn't want to teach some butcher any cultivation because it's unclean work, and now we're a big sect. Isn't it the same? And it's not just us, right?”

His eyes darted toward Jiang Fengmian, who smiled at the unsaid accusation.

The official history said that Yunmeng Jiang had been founded by a group of rogue cultivators. They had tired of wandering, and established themselves in a small port which soon thrived thanks to their presence and influence. As far as founding stories went, it was a very respectable one.

The less official story was that their founder had been the leader of a band of thieves who had picked up a trick or two and figured that cultivation paid better than robbery. Lan Xichen had never been interested enough in the subject to do any research, but he had a cousin with a taste for history who swore that annals from that period corroborated the second version more than the first. If so, it wasn't much better than being descended from a prostitute, though enough time had passed that it didn't matter so much anymore.

“I see my nephew won't be the only one who needs to be dealt with,” Lan Qiren remarked in an icy voice. Nie Huaisang, having used up all of his courage in standing up to his teacher, hid again behind Meng Shi, trying to make himself small.

“Boys must stand for something, it's what youth is for,” Jiang Fengmian replied with good humour, before gesturing toward Meng Yao. “Come here, boy. Let's see what all the fuss is about.”

“Jiang zongzhu, you're not serious!” Huang Quiling exploded. “That boy is just...”

“I'm only curious. If his proximity is intolerable, then perhaps you might help my son check those manuals to see if they are real or fake. Jiang Cheng, help Huang zongzhu while we deal with this side of the problem.”

Huang Quiling went pale from rage at being ordered around in that manner, but with Yunmeng Jiang the larger and more respectable sect, he still obeyed. He stomped toward the merchant's stall in a manner Lan Xichen found lacking in the dignity to be expected of a sect leader. Meng Yao, for his part, hesitated to obey Jiang Fengmian's order until Jiang Cheng pushed him forward. Huang Quiling radiated hatred when Meng Yao passed by him on his way to the other sect leaders. He looked as if he might have tried something, or said some other insults, but Meng Yao wisely made sure to leave as much space as possible between the two of them, which wasn't easy in a crowded market street.

“Come closer, child,” Jiang Fengmian requested when Meng Yao hesitantly stopped a few steps away from him. “I am going to put my hand on you to check your meridians. It might feel a little odd... but if my son tested you, you know that already, hm?”

Meng Yao nervously nodded glancing back toward his mother who smiled encouragingly. He only shivered a little when Jiang Fengmian put one hand over his heart, and even less so when Lan Qiren did the same after being invited to do so by Jiang Fengmian.

“I suppose the children have a point,” Lan Qiren conceded, his expression turning somewhat warmer. “How old are you, boy?”

“I'm sixteen, Lan-xiansheng.”

Instantly, Lan Qiren's expression darkened again.

“Too old then. If you'd been two or three years younger... and even then it would have been difficult. It's best to start young.”

Meng Yao's shoulders slumped down at the news, while all of Lan Xichen's hopes were crushed. He knew that his sect preferred younger disciples, though he suspected it had less to do with actual cultivation, and more with the fact that children took to discipline better than teenagers. Still, he had hoped that Meng Yao, with his potential... but Lan Qiren's word was final in these matters, with only their sect leader having a right to contradict him. Meng Yao couldn't be brought into Gusu Lan.

Which meant another option would have to be considered.

With dread curling in his guts and a choking sensation tightening his throat, Lan Xichen looked at Nie Huaisang still half hidden behind Meng Shi, and found the other boy staring right back at him. Nie Huaisang no longer appeared as furious at him as he had been before, but that might have been because he was preparing his own move, ready to ruin all of Lan Xichen's efforts. Nie Huaisang opened his mouth, surely to offer again that Meng Yao be sent to Qinghe, but missed his chance to speak.

“Yunmeng Jiang has never looked down on older disciples,” Jiang Fengmian said with a pleasant smile. “It can be a challenge to learn cultivation with a late start, but anyone who cannot take a challenge has no place teaching in the Lotus Pier. Sixteen... it could be worse. One of my own shidi was in his thirties when he joined us, and still did well enough for himself.”

Lan Xichen shivered, his body tensing further at this proposition.

Perhaps it was because he knew already, but the resemblance between Meng Yao and his father, between him and his half-brother also, was quite striking to him. It was possible that Jiang Fengmian hadn’t noticed, but unlikely when he often dealt with Jin Guangshan. Even if he really saw nothing, his wife was well known to be a very close friend to Madam Jin. There was no way Madam Yu wouldn’t notice that their newest disciple resembled Jin Guangshan, and since she was said to be a tyrant and the true ruler of Yunmeng Jiang…

“Are you sure this is wise?” Lan Qiren asked. “Even if that boy can be taught, his family…”

“His mother taught him well enough that he would take the defence of a stranger even in a fight he couldn’t win,” Jiang Fengmian said. “Or so your nephew said before. A good heart is what matters.”

“But half of Yunping City could be his father,” Huang Quiling argued, who'd paid more attention to their conversation than to the cultivation manuals he was meant to inspect. “From the lowest beggar to any drunk merchant with too much money to waste.”

“His father is a cultivator,” Meng Shi said, striding to come at her son's side. “He said he would return for A-Yao, but…” She glanced at Nie Huaisang who had followed her to hide again behind her. He had shared so much gossip earlier, it would have been hard for her to keep her hopes up. She sighed. “I only want for my son to live up to his potential. If he can be a cultivator, then that’s... good enough.”

“Is your son under any contractual obligation?” Jiang Fengmian asked.

“He's not,” Meng Shi vehemently decried. “He's free.”

“That will make things easier. If that is fine with you, I will accompany you two to your place of residence. We can talk about certain details while your son packs, and then he will come to Yunmeng with me. Would that satisfy you?”

Meng Shi, speechless, could only bow deeply before her son's new master. Meng Yao did the same a few times, before hugging his mother, both of them too stunned by this good fortune to even smile. As they held each other's hands tightly, Jiang Fengmian gave his son a few things to do while he was busy.

Huang Quiling too appeared quite stunned by this turn of events, and a good deal less pleased than the Mengs, but he wisely kept quiet about it. Lan Qiren's refusal to teach Meng Yao on account of his age would save Huang Quiling some face, since he could now pretend he had the same issue, but it wouldn't surprise Lan Xichen is the relationship because Yunmeng Jiang and Yunping Huang remained tense for a while.

Lan Xichen couldn't quite feel sorry for it. He didn't like people who thought they were allowed to be rude to their inferiors, and hoped that sect leader Huang would learn something from this experience.

Then, having given his son instructions, Jiang Fengmian walked back to Lan Qiren to bid him goodbye, explaining he expected his schedule for the day to be so changed that they might as well separate for good right then. Lan Qiren agreed, but frowned as he glanced toward Meng Yao.

“That boy's father, with his looks...” he said in a voice low enough the Mengs might not hear, but still clear enough for a cultivator's ears.

Eavesdropping was forbidden, but Lan Xichen found he couldn't help himself. Neither could Nie Huaisang, who leaned toward the two men to hear better.

“Probably. I'll have his mother confirm it,” Jiang Fengmian said in a similar tone. “but it won't change things. Even if my wife doesn't like it, I would be a fool to pass a chance to teach a boy of such potential. And Jin zongzhu would never admit any relation, so it'll all be fine.”

Lan Xichen let out a deep breath, relieved that things had worked out so well after all. He would have preferred to have Meng Yao in the Cloud Recesses, where he could have watched him closely and made sure he didn't go again down the same path as before, but the Lotus Pier wasn't an awful option either. They'd managed to turn someone like Wei Wuxian into an honest enough man, so they might know how to deal with Meng Yao as well.

Even when Lan Qiren reminded his nephew and Nie Huaisang that they would both be harshly punished for their bad behaviour, Lan Xichen found that he didn't mind, not when there was a good chance they had saved Nie Mingjue's life.

#xisang #nie huaisang #lan xichen #jin guangyao #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #double time travel #I am... finally done with Yunping City...#This took so much longer than I wanted it to take...

35 notes · View notes

bloody-bee-tea · 4 years

Text

BeeTober 2020 Day 27

Rice - Fright

Day 27 of BeeTober brings some arachnophobia for poor Jiang Cheng, but luckily he has the best neighbours because NMJ is simply the best da-ge to everyone and NHS knows exactly how JC feels.

When Jiang Cheng’s rice cooker goes out with a bang—or rather a very small twitch—Jiang Cheng takes a moment to simply stare at his ceiling.

Of course the rice cooker would decide to give out today, when Jiang Cheng is alone at home and no one is bound to come over either.

And that means, he has to go into the basement on his own.

Jiang Cheng knows that there’s a new rice cooker just waiting for him—Jiang Yanli has prophesised that his would die on him sooner or later and she wanted him to be prepared—but what’s also waiting for him down there are spiders.

Lots and lots of spiders.

The last time Jiang Cheng went into the basement he couldn’t finish repotting his plants because a rather huge spider came crawling out of the depth of hell, giving Jiang Cheng the fright of his life, and he had fled his own cellar without a second thought, abandoning his plants in the process as well.

In the end Wei Wuxian had repotted his plants, but he had made quite the mess of it, as he very willingly admitted, and Jiang Cheng still did not muster up the courage to clean up after him.

Now he has two reasons to go into the basement—three, he realizes as he eyes the empty cartons he’s been collecting, always putting it off to bring them down into the basement—so at least it would be worth it, and Jiang Cheng retrieves his hand-held vacuum cleaner. He just hopes that Jiang Yanli did not bury the rice cooker under boxes of other stuff, because Jiang Cheng is not going to overhaul his whole basement in search for it.

The chance to encounter a spider is way too high after all, and he wants to come out of this as unscathed as he can.

Jiang Cheng takes a few deep breaths to steel himself before he even leaves his own apartment, and of course he immediately runs into Nie Huaisang.

“What are you doing?” he wants to know and Jiang Cheng looks down at himself.

He’s wearing a hooded sweater, hood already pulled up, so that nothing can touch his hair, and he wears the thickest boots he owns, vacuum cleaner in one hand and balancing boxes on the other.

Jiang Cheng is aware that he’s going overboard, but there are spiders in the basement. He thinks he can be excused, even though he’s certain he makes quite the picture.

“I have to get a new rice cooker,” Jiang Cheng says and Nie Huaisang frowns.

“Like this? I’m not sure they will let you into a shop like this.”

“Oh no, I’m going into the basement,” Jiang Cheng clarifies, though he doubts that makes it better. “I have a second one, because Yanli is a worrywart,” he explains and Nie Huaisang nods, because clearly that makes a lot more sense.

“Well, I hope you survive then,” Nie Huaisang says and Jiang Cheng sees him shudder.

Nie Huaisang hates spiders just as much as Jiang Cheng does, and he always sends Nie Mingjue into the basement, because Nie Mingjue has never encountered anything that frightened him.

“Thank you,” Jiang Cheng grits out and then steels himself again.

He’s really damn hungry and he will get that stupid rice cooker.

Jiang Cheng hesitates in front of the stairs that lead down into the basement but he knows that he has to do it eventually. He will not simply turn back and admit defeat, especially not with how hungry he is.

So he makes his way down the stairs, deliberately keeping his gaze on the stairs instead of looking around, because he does not want to see any spiders before he even enters his own cellar.

When he reaches the door to his cellar, he puts the empty boxes down to get out his keys and then he’s in the cellar.

He freezes in the door, because when Wei Wuxian said he made a bit of a mess, he did not mention that half the plant earth is on the ground instead of inside of the bag where it should be.

“Fuck me,” Jiang Cheng groans because it looks like this won’t be a quick in-and-out like he hoped. “I’m going to kill him,” Jiang Cheng decides, but then he steps into the cellar.

He still keeps his eyes on the ground, surveying the mess there, as he ponders the best course of action.

It’s probably smarter to vacuum first before he moves all the stuff on the shelves, because he’s bound to disturb a lot more spiders there.

Mind made up, Jiang Cheng puts the boxes down and gets ready with the vacuum cleaner.

Everything is fine, at least for like two minutes, before Jiang Cheng realizes that not all black spots on the ground is dirt. And he realizes that because one of the black spots starts to move towards him.

And it’s fast.

“Aaaaaahhhhhh,” Jiang Cheng yells, stumbling backwards and pointing the vacuum cleaner at the spider.

He manages to suck it up with the vacuum, but Jiang Cheng curses the design of his vacuum because the container is see-through and Jiang Cheng can tell very well that the spider did not die.

Jiang Cheng drops the vacuum in his shock and stumbles back, right into the shelve behind him. A few boxes tumble out and hit Jiang Cheng, but he barely notices it, his eyes glued to the vacuum, his heart racing in his chest, and he feels a bit faint.

The spider crawls around in the container and Jiang Cheng knows he can never pick it up again, because who knows when the spider will find a way out of there.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Jiang Cheng mutters again and again, unsure what he should do now.

He’s trembling slightly, the tremors spreading out over his whole body, and he’s frozen to the spot.

Jiang Cheng is just as afraid of spiders as Wei Wuxian is of dogs—even though he did not go through any traumatic incident with them—and just like Wei Wuxian he never learned to overcome his fear.

It’s usually not a problem, since he avoids the basement as best as he can, but of course the one time he ventures down here it all goes to hell.

The spider is still crawling in the container, clearly looking for a way out and Jiang Cheng feels close to tears.

If he has to touch the vacuum cleaner to get rid of the spider, then he will—eventually—but he will scream inside his head the whole time and he’ll probably cry too, just for good measure.

Jiang Cheng is getting ready to take a step towards the vacuum cleaner when he hears a noise outside. He’s not thinking clearly, but the first thought that comes into his mind is that it’s another spider, before he realizes how stupid that is and he recognizes the sounds as someone coming down the stairs.

“Huaisang?” he calls out, because Nie Huaisang is at least home, Jiang Cheng knows that much.

He also knows that Nie Huaisang will be of absolutely no help to him, because they are both equally scared, but Jiang Cheng finds himself thinking that this whole horrible situation would be easier to deal with if someone else was there.

“Wanyin?” a voice calls back and that is most definitely not Nie Huaisang.

Jiang Cheng has half a mind diving behind the shelves just to hide from Nie Mingjue, but when he twitches his eyes fall on the spider in the vacuum cleaner again and he freezes in fear.

Diving behind the shelves would be a bad move as well, after all, because it’s bound to be infested with spiders.

“Fuck,” Jiang Cheng mutters yet again because he does not want Nie Mingjue to see him like this, but he also very much needs help.

“Mingjue, help,” Jiang Cheng gets out and it’s not long before Nie Mingjue steps into the cellar, surveying everything with a critical eye.

“What’s wrong?” he asks and Jiang Cheng has to bite back a sob, because Nie Mingjue’s voice is very steady and very calm and Jiang Cheng feels anything but.

“There’s—,” Jiang Cheng starts and it’s enough to make the tears flow. “There’s a spider in the vacuum,” he finally gets out, beyond mortified, but Nie Mingjue keeps calm.

“I see,” Nie Mingjue says, and steps even closer. “What did you need from down here?”

“Rice cooker,” Jiang Cheng presses out and jumps when the spider in the container suddenly moves quickly.

“Alright,” Nie Mingjue nods and pats Jiang Cheng’s head, before he makes a strange movement with the same hand. “I’ll get it for you.”

Nie Mingjue is not usually someone to pet someone’s head and just as that thought crosses his mind Jiang Cheng goes ice cold as the implication of what Nie Mingjue just did hit him, and he’s almost too scared to ask, but he needs to know.

“There was a spider on my head, right?” he asks, his voice very small and very shaky and Nie Mingjue nods reluctantly.

Disgust and fear roll in waves over Jiang Cheng and he has to get out of the basement right this second.

“I have to—I can’t—,” he stumbles over his words, but he can’t manage to form a complete sentence and in the end he simply runs away.

He almost falls a few times on his way up the stairs, and instead of running back into his own spider-free apartment he runs outside.

And the first thing he does there is to take off his sweater, because clearly after his stumble into the shelves it’s no longer free of spiders.

As soon as he gets it off he throws it onto the ground, not daring to look to closely if anything comes crawling out of it, because that’s a nightmare he doesn’t need on top of everything else that happened today.

Jiang Cheng takes a few steps back from the sweater and then simply stands in the cold, with nothing more than his shirt, and he almost prefers the shivers caused from the cold to those out of fear.

He slings his arms around his middle, trying to hide just how badly his hands shake, and then he takes a few deep breaths, though they hardly do anything to calm him down.

Jiang Cheng knows that he’ll think about this for days to come, and he already knows that he won’t get much sleep this night.

By the time there’s a sound behind him, he mostly stopped crying, but he still startles badly when Nie Mingjue comes out of the house, the vacuum cleaner in his hand.

“Turn around,” he gently instructs Jiang Cheng, who obeys him before he can catch a sight of the spider still trapped inside.

Normally Jiang Cheng would freak out even more now, because he can’t see the spider anymore, but he trusts Nie Mingjue to have this handled in a way that does the least harm to Jiang Cheng’s very frail mental health right now.

Jiang Cheng hears him working on the vacuum cleaner, presumably throwing the contents and the spider into the garbage bin, and then Nie Mingjue steps up next to him.

“It’s all dealt with,” Nie Mingjue reassures him. “I cleaned up, stacked the boxes again and got your rice cooker.”

Jiang Cheng is entirely beyond feeling embarrassed when a sob breaks free at that.

“Thank you,” he gets out and his heart races for entirely different reasons when Nie Mingjue smiles at him.

Jiang Cheng is in no way equipped to deal with this onslaught of emotions and he sways slightly on his feet.

“Anything else you need?” Nie Mingjue asks him, his voice still low and clearly concerned and it’s enough to make Jiang Cheng blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

“A hug would be nice,” he says and Nie Mingjue is very quick to open his arms for him.

It’s not difficult at all to step forward and Jiang Cheng doubts there’s a better feeling than being embraced by Nie Mingjue. His smell is very comforting and his arms are secure and strong around him and for just a moment Jiang Cheng can forget this horrible, no good afternoon.

“Thank you,” Jiang Cheng says again and Nie Mingjue starts to stroke his hands up and down Jiang Cheng’s back, making him almost melt into the embrace.

“No problem,” Nie Mingjue says and his voice makes a very nice rumbling sound. “I’m quite used to dealing with something like this,” he goes on and Jiang Cheng feels a little less mortified by the whole ordeal when he remembers that he heard Nie Huaisang scream for Nie Mingjue more than once already.

“In fact, why don’t you join us for dinner tonight?” Nie Mingjue suddenly asks and cups the back of Jiang Cheng’s head when he wants to pull away.

It seems like the hug is not yet over.

“Huaisang doesn’t like being alone after there was an incident and I’m sure he’d be thrilled to have you over. You can even sleep at our place, since Wei Wuxian is not coming home today, right?”

Jiang Cheng goes hot all over when those kind words bring tears to his eyes again and he doesn’t trust his voice to hold out, so he simply nods.

“Alright,” Nie Mingjue says. “We’ll grab your things and then get started on dinner. You must be hungry.”

“Starved,” Jiang Cheng admits and this time when he tries to pull away, Nie Mingjue lets him. “My rice cooker died on me, that started this whole mess.”

“Then we’ll have to whip up something quickly,” Nie Mingjue tells him and then seems to hesitate. “Will you be alright if I hand you the vacuum?”

“You promise there’s no spider in there anymore?” Jiang Cheng asks, the first tendrils of fear already setting in again, but Nie Mingjue nods.

“I checked it over and cleaned it out personally, there’s nothing in there at all.”

He sounds completely sure, and Jiang Cheng has no reason not to trust him, so he takes one last deep breath and then holds out his hand.

“Okay.”

He still startles slightly when Nie Mingjue puts the vacuum in his hand, but it’s not as bad as it would have been if Jiang Cheng had to deal with it on his own.

Nie Mingjue picks the rice cooker and Jiang Cheng’s discarded sweater up and then he follows Jiang Cheng to his own apartment.

Jiang Cheng would feel coddled, but he’s actually really grateful that he doesn’t have to do this alone, because after a scare like this he sees spiders everywhere, even though he logically knows that it’s unlikely that there are spiders all over his apartment.

Still, he’s quick to gather his things and before he can so much as blink, they are inside Nie Mingjue’s apartment.

“Da-ge?” Nie Huaisang calls out. “What took you so long?”

“We have a guest tonight,” Nie Mingjue calls back and winks at Jiang Cheng. “There was an incident in the basement.”

“An inci—oh,” Nie Huaisang says when he comes out into the living room and his gaze falls on Jiang Cheng. “Fuck, one of those incidents, huh?”

Jiang Cheng is aware that he must still look like a wreck; he couldn’t bring himself to pick up his sweater, even though Nie Mingjue promised him he shook it out as well, and his eyes must still be red-rimmed from the tears earlier.

“One of those incidents,” Nie Mingjue agrees and shoos Nie Huaisang into the kitchen. “He’s going to take a shower, and he’ll room with you tonight.”

“Pushy,” Nie Huaisang says with a wrinkled nose at his brother, but before Jiang Cheng can offer to simply go back to his own apartment, Nie Huaisang already bounded over to him.

“Of course you’re rooming with me, tonight,” he tells Jiang Cheng. “Incidents are the worst and it’s not good to be alone afterwards.”

Jiang Cheng feels choked up all over again at his words and his eyes burn.

“Come on, a good shower will help and da-ge makes the best comfort food,” Nie Huaisang says as he drags Jiang Cheng over to the bathroom.

“Want me to check it with you?” Nie Huaisang asks, because clearly he understands that Jiang Cheng will see spiders everywhere right now, and Jiang Cheng can only nod.

They do a check of the bathroom—completely spider-free, much to Jiang Cheng’s relief—and then Nie Huaisang leaves him to shower.

Jiang Cheng still feels unsettled, and he still jumps at every dark spot he sees, but with the delicious smell wafting into the bathroom, and Nie Huaisang’s and Nie Mingjue’s voices filling the silence, he finds that it’s not as bad as it usually is.

Maybe this day won’t be a complete disaster after all.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

#bt writes #beetober 2020 #untamed fall fest #the untamed #mdzs #jiang cheng #nie mingjue #nie huaisang #arachnophobia #hurt/comfort #modern au #hugs #something very close to a panic attack #but nmj is the best da-ge #for everyone

170 notes · View notes

thebiscuiteternal · 3 years

Text

“A Safe Place To Die” Madwoman In The Attic, Forced Seclusion, Slow Death By Misplaced Kindness, Nie Huaisang tried to tell Lan Xichen his suspicions about his brother’s death and it Did Not Go Well, Not-Quite-Sangcheng.

__________

Three times, Jiang Cheng has informed the servants that he only wants a pot and some cups, and yet when he arrives at the door of the tiny house at the edge of the Cloud Recesses, there is a maid waiting with a fully-made tea tray. Well aware that he is already treading on thin ice with having demanded this visit, he bites back the acrid comment that threatens to bubble up behind his teeth and focuses his ire on the wards of the door instead.

Inside, Nie Huaisang sits on a cushion on an otherwise empty floor and doesn't so much as turn his head away from the window at the intrusion.

Jiang Cheng waves the maid over to put the tray down, then scowls thunderously when she putters at it for too long.

Point taken, she flees.

Once he's well and sure she's gone, he picks up the teapot, walks over to the window, and unceremoniously dumps the contents onto the bushes outside. Nie Huaisang hasn't moved, but Jiang Cheng is well aware that he's being watched as he takes a cloth from what he assumes is the bathing area and thoroughly wipes out the pot. He refills it with new water and presses a heating talisman to the ceramic, then sets it down and fetches another cloth. Settling himself onto the floor across from the other man, he begins wiping down the cups as well.

"I brought some of that spice tea from the southwest that you like," he says a little too roughly to be purely conversational. The cups now clean and clearly safe, he pulls a pouch from his sleeve and begins producing small, tightly wrapped packages to lay between them. "Nie Hengbai insisted I bring you these as well."

That finally makes Nie Huaisang turn his head a little, rather than observing him from the corner of his eye or through his eyelashes.

Good.

That's good.

He takes out the box of loose tea and opens the lid so that the other man can observe it for himself, setting it close enough that he won't have to lean too far to peer in.

"I actually had to explain all this to Sect Leader Lan, you know." Nie Huaisang blinks up at him, expression still unreadable. "Apparently the concept that you would fear being poisoned by the same people who locked you up for insisting your brother had been murdered never once occurred to him."

That earns him a snort, followed by a weak and rasping huff of not-quite-laughter that is both encouraging and a little unnerving. Apparently satisfied by his efforts, Nie Huaisang reaches out of the blanket he has cocooned himself in and gently pushes the box back.

Jiang Cheng focuses on the prep work of measuring and brewing the tea and adding the honey he has also brought. Focusing on that keeps his mind from dwelling on the thought that he could count the bones in his friend's wrist, or that the hollows of the other man's cheeks remind him uncomfortably of-

"How are they?"

The faded crackle of the other man's voice brings him out of his focus. "Who... the disciples?" he asks hesitantly. At the small nod he gets in return, some of the tension in his back eases. "They're... pretty pissed about all this. Nie Hengbai only took the leadership position three days ago after literally no one else would accept, and he's insisting he's only an interim leader."

Nie Huaisang blinks at him, confusion written all over his face. "Why?"

"Well, they're not happy with the elders rolling over for Lanling Jin and Gusu Lan, that's for sure, but mostly they want you back."

"Why?"

Jiang Cheng offers a teacup, keeping his hands around Nie Huaisang's when the other man's fingers tremble trying to hold it. "Is it so hard to believe?" he asks as he carefully helps his friend drink. "They know you. They know you'd watch over them no matter how much you complained about it."

Nie Huaisang swallows the last mouthful, then hesitates for a moment before letting him have the cup back. "And you?" he asks, so very softly and cautiously. "What do you know?"

"That you lie about things like hiding junk food from Grandmaster Lan, not about another sect scheming for your brother's life." He takes a deep breath, then picks up the pot and refills the cup. "I voted against the seclusion," he says quietly. "Even if you were losing your mind the way the others believed, and I don't think you were, being locked up alone wasn't going to do a damn thing to help."

"Oh, I have regular visitors," Nie Huaisang murmurs, and gods above, Jiang Cheng is glad to hear the sarcasm in it. He bites back the briefest smile before he picks up the cup and holds it to the other man's mouth again.

"When the vote passed, I offered..." He swallows hard. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not angry. Not at you, at any rate."

"You should be," he argues, but Nie Huaisang gently pushes back the cup so he can shake his head.

"It's not your fault. Not when you have to share Ling-er."

They fall into silence then, not quite companionable but not uncomfortable either, until the second cup is empty. Then Jiang Cheng opens the first of the little bundles sent from Qinghe. The sight of several rice flour balls, clearly made by an expert and caring hand, draws a broken little sob from his friend that makes his own chest tighten. Partially to give Nie Huaisang what laughably little privacy is available and partially to keep from breaking down himself, he turns away to examine their surroundings with a more critical eye.

The first thing he notices is that there is no bed frame. Several extra pallet mattresses have been added to make up for some of the lost height, but that's all the bed is. Pallets and a few pillows.

In fact, there isn't anything sturdy in the room. He'd picked up on the lack of a table, but now he sees that there are no shelves or a wardrobe; he sees a few boxes made of layered paper that might contain books and robes, but that's all. There's no tub, nor a privacy screen to go with it. The cloths are cut so small that they'd be useless for tying together. There is nothing remotely sharp to be seen anywhere.

This is, he realizes, a room entirely designed to keep the occupant from having anything they could use for a suicide attempt.

He inhales, keeping his breathing deep and slow, in order to swallow back the sudden and intense urge to vomit. He's not entirely surprised; Nie Huaisang has been painted as having gone mad and Sect Leader Lan genuinely seems to believe it. Of course he would want to keep his dearest friend's little brother safe after losing said friend to a violent madness of his own.

But this place is a nightmare cloaked in kindness.

Hell, if they'd locked him in here by himself, he probably would have been trying to tear down the walls after the first few days.

"Jiang-xiong?"

Another deep breath, then he turns back to find that Huaisang has finished the first of his gifts, his eyes red but the tears dried.

"I'm sorry, but I can't get the knots open," he says, looking somewhere between dejected and deeply embarrassed as he indicates another of the bundles. Trembling fingertips are red from his attempts to do just that. Just a few months ago, Jiang Cheng would have rolled his eyes and called him lazy. Here and now, he simply nods and picks it up, and the irony is thick enough to choke on.

"I'm going to meet with Nie Hengbai as soon as I leave," he mutters as he pulls apart the strings. At the questioning head tilt, he continues. "We're going to get you a cook from Qinghe or Yunmeng. Someone we'll both vet. They'll handle all your meals and the delivery of them. And the Lans are going to accept them whether they like it or not."

"Are you sure that's-"

"I'm going to visit more often. I should have been visiting already."

"I told you, I don't blame-"

He takes a piece out of the pile of spiced and dried lamb in the package and pops it into Nie Huaisang's mouth, then grins when the other man sulks at him while chewing. "There you are. I was worried you wouldn't come back."

Nie Huaisang rolls his eyes and swallows, then sinks in to rest his head against Jiang Cheng's shoulder. "You're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?"

"I am."

"You might get in trouble, too."

"Might not be so bad if they throw us in together."

It's a joke of incredibly poor taste, considering their situations, but at least it gets Nie Huaisang to actually laugh.

#mdzs #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #sangcheng #fanfic

78 notes · View notes

fightingbymoonlight · 3 years

Text

MXTX Hunger Games Day 1

"Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, Jin Guangyao, and Qi rong away from the Cornucopia."

I like to imagine that Wangxian are just holding hands the whole time XD.

"Mobei-Jun retrieves a trident from inside the cornucopia"

Honey, you have Ice powers, just freeze the river.

"Wen Qing grabs a backpack and retreats."

Smart woman

"Song Lan rips a mace out of Lan Xichen's hands."

5 seconds in and Song Lan chooses violence, I am both surprised and approve.

"Ling Wen grabs a backpack, not realizing it is empty."

Oh my God, XD. You already suffer enough in canon with the mountains of paperwork.

"Xiao Xingchen runs into the cornucopia and hides."

You know, this is my fault for putting a blind man in the Hunger Games.

"Mu Qing,Hua Cheng, Shi Qingxuan, Liu Qingge, Sha Hualing, Feng Xin, Jin Ling, Ning Yingying, Pei Ming, and Nie Huaisang all run away from the Cornucopia."

This all feels canon in a very "fuck this shit, I'm out" way. (Except for Hua Cheng, he's just finding a nice place for him and Xie Lian to rest and plan things out.)

"Xue Yang finds a canteen full of water."

I'm very proud of Xue Yang for not committing murder the second it became allowed. That shows a lot of restraint on his part. XD

"Jiang Yanli finds a bow, some arrows, and a quiver."

"Liu Mingyan finds a bag full of explosives."

Goddam the women are going to grab up all the tools, men, step up your game.

"Yue Qingyuan snatches a bottle of alcohol and a rag."

Meanwhile, sugar-gege is going to spend his last days getting white- girl-wasted.

"Luo Binghe, Jun Wu, and Shang Qinghua get into a fight. Luo Binghe triumphantly kills them both."

First of all, Luo Binghe deciding that he will kill everyone, so no one would hurt his shizun is somehow the most in character decision this simulator could come up with. Second of all, Jun Wu, it's what you deserve. And GODDAMN POOR HAMSTER COULDN'T EVEN LAST A SECOND. XD. Death to the author has a whole new meaning.

"Wen Ning grabs a shovel."

Poor Wen Ning, just trying to clean up the slaughter he just witnessed.

"He Xuan and Xie Lian retrieve a trident from inside the cornucopia."

Given how many tridents are being handed out I'm assuming they're near an ocean.

"Shen Qingqiu snaps Shen Jiu's neck."

I shouldn't find this as funny as I do, the husbands who murder together stay together. (Given that Shen Yuan wanted to castrate Shen Jiu, for abusing Luo Binghe, when he was reading PIDW I shouldn't be surprised.)

"Jiang Cheng, Nie Mingjue, Lan Sizhui, and Mianmian run away from the Cornucopia."

#the hunger games #svsss #scumbag system #mo dao zu shi #tian guan ci fu #crossover

8 notes · View notes

franniebanana · 3 years

Text

CQL Rewatch - Ep 14

Hey, I’m getting all my screencaps from Netflix now, because I finally figured out how lol. That means I’m also getting the subtitles from there (and I’ve seen a lot of Netflix haters, but at lease we won’t get “Wei Ying, clam down” and other ridiculous errors). This is just for your reference. I hope the quality of the images will be a little bit better. So I’m both looking forward to and dreading this episode. On the plus side, the first half or so is wangxian, on the downside, the rest is not. And it marks the beginning of the Lan Wangji Drought™, and subsequently my least favorite part in the entire series (not counting the Yi City arc, which, as you may recall, I have not watched yet). But let’s get started, shall we?

We left our heroes in the Xuanyu Cave. Lan Wangji was asleep and Wei Wuxian as being thoughtful and adorable. Now they are both awake and hatching a plan to defeat the Tortoise of Slaughter. Wei Wuxian is talking about the fame and glory that they’ll receive if they defeat it, but on the other hand, if they are killed by the monster, that’s not a bad way to go. Again, even though Lan Wangji’s leg is doing better, even though they survived the first brushes with death with both the Wens and the mythical monster, here they are, about to face death again. But they have no choice, right? It’s either fight the Tortoise of Slaughter or starve. The crux of this whole arc for me is that it changes their relationship forever. You don’t almost die together and not have that change you and the relationship you have with that other person. And I think that’s what makes their reunion after several months so much harder and so much sadder (I’m itching to get to that scene, which is so far from here, ughhh).

Arts and crafts project with bae! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I kind of love this scene, though, for what it is: the two of them quietly working together, each with his own task. There’s something kind of domestic about it, even in this dire situation. Also Lan Wangji is doing most of the work. It’s fucking hard to string/unstring a bow.

And when they’re picking up all the bows and arrows, I’m always thinking that the others made such a mess! They just chucked the arrows everywhere, dropped their bows. But why are there so many arrows on the ground? You’d think they’d mostly be in the water, as that’s where the Tortoise of Slaughter was. You know? I’m not gonna think to hard about this.

Imagine that instead of the bowstring, it’s actually one of those sticky hand things that you can swing around and stick to walls.

I spent too much time on that, I’m sorry.

Again, Lan Wangji is reminded that he’s injured and can’t be a ton of help in this situation. And I think he’s bothered by this quite a bit—not because he wants to play hero and save Wei Wuxian, but I think because he doesn’t want Wei Wuxian to bear too great a burden alone. And I think Wei Wuxian is coming from a place of caring and kindness when he points all that out. It’s not as if he wants glory either: he realizes that he is their best chance of survival, and he also knows he can count on Lan Wangji to be there for him.

This smile is so warm, so kind, so loving. Yeah, it is loving. And I do think that this sort of relationship is a big deal in the context of this story. You have two people from different clans, who have vastly different upbringings (although there are similarities with their parents’ deaths), able to come together and genuinely feel friendship for one another. This kind of thing is not that common, seemingly, in this world. It happens, right? It happens for political reasons (sworn brothers, etc.), it happens when there are marriages between clans—but we know that it isn’t common to have this particular kind of friendship, because the script literally pointed it out to us: Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan. They are different—they are close, they are soulmates, even (in a platonic way). And Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are held up to them as a direct comparison (“Lan Zhan and I went on a night hunt together”). And wangxian isn’t a friendship of convenience—they weren’t forced here together and then they have to tough it out—this was all chosen. And I think this is where the whole “soulmate” conversation becomes important, in that them coming together and forming that bond in the Cloud Recesses was driven by some kind of fate. That initial meeting, those subsequent experiences they had—if those things hadn’t happened, they probably wouldn’t be in this cave together right now. That being said, the fact that they are in this cave together right now is definitely not fate. This was a choice—or a series of choices—made by the two of them. Had there been no friendship or love between these two, Lan Wangji would have left the cave with the others. Maybe Jiang Cheng would have stayed behind, or maybe someone else would have, or possibly no one! I like to think Lan Wangji would have stayed regardless of any feelings he has towards Wei Wuxian, simply because he’s that kind of person. He stands up for Mianmian because it’s the right thing to do, for example. But as things are, it’s important that Lan Wangji stayed because of Wei Wuxian—because of his feelings for him, because of their friendship, because they have this connection to each other. And I think it’s vital that Lan Wangji is the one to first see what the Yin Iron can do to a person, specifically the person he loves.

So I thought this whole little section here was just Wei Wuxian monologuing in his head the first time I watched this. And then he’s suddenly having a conversation with Lan Wangji, and I was like, “huh?” I am pretty sure I had to rewind and rewatch just so I could understand it with the newly-acquired knowledge that Wei Wuxian was actually talking to Lan Wangji. I’m find being a little confused, but would it have killed them to make Lan Wangji say, “Now we can communicate while you’re inside” or something to that extent, after using his little powers?

Anyhow, fuck, it’s horrible in there! I feel like the smell is visceral, even though I’m watching it on my laptop, it’s like I can feel the damp, air, thick with the smell of death and decay. Credit to Xiao Zhan for just really selling me on what it feels like to be in there. Also I’m so curious what they’ve got him walking through. I wish there were some BTS on that scene. I can imagine (because this is how my mind works) how difficult it was to clean his costume after that. Like that crap must have gotten into every tiny little nook and cranny of his shoes, and just YUCK! They were like, “Just throw them out. We have another pair.”

Since Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are in a sense psychically linked here, does that mean that Lan Wangji can feel the energy that Wei Wuxian feels from the sword? He’s definitely reacting to something going on, but then I think Wei Wuxian talks about it later as if Lan Wangji doesn’t know. The romantic in me says that Lan Wangji is reacting because they are so spiritually connected that he can feel when something is wrong.

And now we have this very long action sequence where Lan Wangji does a lot of flying around and Wei Wuxian clings to that sword like Harry Potter on that bucking broomstick in the first movie. I’m sorry, that’s all I think about, and that thought will never leave my mind. What’s kind of cool is that they remind us immediately that Lan Wangji is still injured, by showing us his bloody leg right at the start of this sequence. So he’s flying around, using everything he’s got left, while still being gravely injured—it shows you just how powerful Lan Wangji is. He’s no weakling.

Another cool detail is that you can actually see the staining on Wei Wuxian’s boots from the muck he was walking around in! Nice continuity!

I can’t help it, anytime Lan Wangji yells out, “Wei Ying!” I melt into a puddle on the floor. There’s something about how little he does talk that when he does, it’s important and meaningful and impactful. And, yes, most of his lines are yelling out Wei Ying’s name, but that doesn’t make it any less meaningful when he does it. Every time he says it, it’s a reminder that there is a strong relationship there. As I’ve said before, even Jiang Cheng doesn’t call him by his given name. This is not just an everyday friendship here—it’s more than that—it’s a bond that can’t be broken even in death. That might sound silly and dramatic, but it doesn’t make it any less true. And that’s why when I hear him say, “Wei Ying!” it draws to the surface all of these other feelings. It’s not just a name, it’s not just a line—it’s something so much more.

Also, I want to point out that as soon as Lan Wangji figures out something is indeed very wrong with Wei Wuxian, he goes into overdrive. His hands are bleeding from the bowstring in his hand, his teeth are gritted, he somehow reaches into himself for even more power to defeat this monster.

Seriously? How dare you interrupt my wangxian scene with this garbage? I could not care less about anything going on in this scene. Just fuck off. The worst cut ever. What a stupid cut.

So, as if the Tortoise of Slaughter wasn’t bad enough, this poor kid (because he is just a kid) is now traumatized by the voices coming out of that sword. The pain, the fear, the negative energy—all of it was coursing through him, and worst of all, perhaps, he was even able to use that energy to defeat the monster. And I think, now that he’s felt it and seen it and used it, there’s really no going back. Dangerous? Yes, it’s dangerous, but it’s also powerful, and it saved their lives.

This part kills me every time, though, no matter how many times I see it. Wei Wuxian is just a husk of the person he was ten minutes ago. Where’s that cocky, smirking smartass? Where’s the Wei Wuxian we all know and love? But the reality is, part of him is lost. And throughout the scene, he’s clutching that sword, as if his life still depended on it. He won’t let that thing go, and I also find that hard to watch. And Lan Wangji here is out of his mind, desperate to help him. He runs into the water so fast, as if there is no leg injury at all. And, of course, that’s adrenaline for you, but it’s also just a testament to his strength and resolve and his willingness to go into a literal hell for Wei Wuxian.

And even in his feverish state, Wei Wuxian can’t help but tease Lan Wangji a little, pointing out that he never expected Second Master Lan to be this concerned about him. But it’s interesting that he uses that formal title there, as if he’s putting distance between them. Wei Wuxian is just Wei Wuxian—Wei Ying—and Lan Wangji is Second Master Lan. Whether it’s intentional or not, he’s drawing attention to this hierarchical difference between them, and I don’t think it’s a self-worth issue at all, because I think Wei Wuxian is okay with who his is—I don’t think he has qualms about that really. It’s more driving home the point of we shouldn’t be this close. Or isn’t it funny that we are this close? And he later draws a parallel to Jiang Cheng (again) by saying that at least Jiang Cheng wouldn’t be a boring companion (EDIT: Okay, he doesn’t say that—maybe in the book?). Ironic, because their stay in Xuanwu cave has been anything but boring. But I also think Jiang Cheng would not have been able to maintain his cool at all in that cave. No, I think that Wei Wuxian needed Lan Wangji to survive. He needed someone a little cold, logical, quick-witted, but desperate.

OMG, ALSO! Can I point out the lovely, beautiful, haunting cello music that’s playing this whole time? Not on the OST, which is a damn shame. So you’ll have to watch the episode to hear it, but it’s just so beautiful.

And pause for the clip show that will also make you cry!

“Wangxian.” Yes, yes, the greatest mystery of this whole series—the name of the song and how Lan Wangji immediately recognized Wei Wuxian in the second episode. So I don’t think they ever actually tell you the name of the song, right? It’s like this fun little thing for the fans of the book, and maybe they couldn’t say it because of censorship (because of what it implies, you know?). I’m not a great lip reader, but it looks like “Wangxian” to me. And if he’s saying something else, I don’t care—it is going to be Wangxian to me, regardless.

Man, this scene, though. I can never really hear the humming because you have to turn up the volume so damn loud, and even then it’s hard to hear. Maybe it’s just me. The first time I watched it, I was like, is he actually humming? I don’t hear anything. I was, again, confused. But anyway, it’s good that we see all those scenes with Lan Wangji, because guess what? You’re not going to see him for three or four episodes, FML. FML. FML.

FML.

Can you tell I’m not excited about these upcoming parts? Honestly it’s so tempting to skip it, but that’s not the point of this rewatch. I likely won’t have a ton to say, though, so maybe I’ll do more than one a week (don’t count on it, though).

Okay, guys. Here we go. If you think Jiang Cheng is a kind, gentle soul with a rough exterior, then you may not want to read the next few episodes. I like Jiang Cheng. I do. However, he is an asshole. A complete and total asshole with the occasional kind word thrown someone’s way. I think he cares about Wei Wuxian, as I’ve said before, but that he cares about himself far more. He is the antithesis to Lan Wangji. And that’s definitely on purpose. So, feel free to send me asks or whatever (and that goes for anyone, by the way—I don’t bite and I like to chat with people), but you’re not going to be able to convince me even that CQL Jiang Cheng is a good guy. I think you could try and read him that way, but you’d be ignoring some key things in his behavior and his character.

All right. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s start anew. It fucking sucks that the first people Wei Wuxian sees upon waking up are Jin Zixuan and Jiang Cheng, both of which essentially scold him immediately, as if he didn’t fucking save their lives back there. I’m sorry, that guy right there—yeah, him—he was read to sacrifice himself to save you. Jin Zixuan, “I didn’t do it for you.” Then why? You did it for Lan Wangji? Or you did it because it would be politically advantageous to you because you were engaged to Jiang Yanli? I’m just saying, be nicer to the man who was willing to die for you, okay?

Oh, my god, as if that weren’t enough, Jiang Cheng actually gets angry that Wei Wuxian doesn’t thank him! And this isn’t some macho guy thing where he just can’t show that he cares about him—this is just who Jiang Cheng is. He thinks of himself first and others second. Period.

So aside from those two being assholes, we do at least get some information here. The clans are now all resolved to fight against the Wen Clan. They all know what’s going on and they’re finally ready to stand up against it. The Cloud Recesses is trashed and Lan Wangji left on his own to go back, presumably to take it back from the Wens. I would have loved a heartfelt scene of them getting out together, but that isn’t even in the book, so CQL isn’t going to add that kind of nice stuff, I guess. But they did add this scene, which is mostly just showcasing that Jin Zixuan and Wei Wuxian still don’t like each other, Jiang Cheng is an asshole, and the world is generally fucked up right now.

A reminder that even though he’s in the bright sunlight, Wei Wuxian still has this darkness. It’s permeated him now. He can’t turn away from it. It’s part of him. And it’s something he can’t really share with anyone else—Lan Wangji to a point, but even he doesn’t get to know everything. However, he is, I think, the only one who would have listened.

Cute detail from the book, that Wei Wuxian had carved this into his headboard. What a romantic lol. I don’t have anything special to say other than, y’know, those two could be both guys.

It’s hard to even know what to say here. So much is going on, so many emotions, so many accusations—and Wei Wuxian is caught up in all of this. Madam Yu starts by chastising him for making trouble when he didn’t need to (she thought it better to let the Jins and Lans handle things, no need for the Jiangs to get involved), and then it spirals into this horrible tirade about Jiang Fengmian being hung up on Wei Wuxian’s mother, and in turn favoring Wei Wuxian over his own son because of it. There is so much jealousy and hatred and guilt wrapped up in all of this, it’s hard to even comment. I can’t imagine growing up the way Jiang Cheng did, feeling second best in everything by someone who’s not even your actual brother, feeling like your own father doesn’t really love you as much as he loves someone else. And now throw in that your father doesn’t love your mother because he had an affair with another woman. I can’t imagine how awful that would be. And despite what people might say, it’s hard to really, truly, break away from your parents, especially in a culture like this. It’s important to honor your parents in everything, so standing up to them is a definite no-no. And Jiang Cheng probably feels like the only parent who really loves him is his mother, even though she is the worst person ever. This doesn’t excuse his behavior, but it does help explain a bit of why he does the things he does to Wei Wuxian. I think he’s itching to feel superior over him, and that he’s been extremely jealous of him for a long, long time.

And then, god, what Wei Wuxian is feeling here! He’s the first one to always take the hit for Jiang Cheng. He’s always going to do whatever he can to make him feel better. He makes the sacrifices. That’s part of who Wei Wuxian is—he’s very selfless and courageous. I also can’t imagine how he feels, to be stuck in the middle of this very personal, very private family argument. The kind of raw emotion that’s on display in this scene is hard for me to watch. It’s awkward, it’s ugly, it’s a dark side to family dynamics that a lot of us thankfully never have to experience. It’s horrible to think that even when Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were basically awaiting death in that cave, it was quite peaceful, though the landscape was harsh. And now that he’s back in this peaceful setting of Lotus Pier, he’s faced with another monster in the form of his adoptive family.

Of course Wei Wuxian knows that Jiang Fengmian doesn’t love him more—he’s harsher with Jiang Cheng because he’s the heir and he needs to be tougher, he needs to be able to lead this clan. I’m curious if Jiang Fengmian actually did have an affair, but if anything, it was probably emotional. I don’t think that Wei Wuxian is his love child or anything. But at the end of the day, the way I read this is just that the man has trouble being there for his son on an emotional level, and he feels bad for Wei Wuxian and overcompensates for that by giving him more attention. The thing is, while I don’t agree with it, I think he’s harder on his son because Jiang Cheng needs to someday lead. All Wei Wuxian needs to do is support that. And he does. He always supports Jiang Cheng. Always, that is, until Wei Wuxian finally starts to think about what he wants to do with his life, and he doesn’t want to spend it torturing people who don’t deserve it.

The Twin Prides of Yunmeng. It’s a nice idea, but it relies on Wei Wuxian submitting himself to Jiang Cheng at all times for the rest of their lives. It makes Wei Wuxian give up his agency. It makes him give up his dream to do what’s right and always have a clear conscience. If he had followed Jiang Cheng into fire, he would have had to lose himself in the process. So this is a promise that Wei Wuxian could never hope to keep. Although it’s a nice promise, it was said to make Jiang Cheng feel better.

Other episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |

#wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #cql #the untamed #jiang cheng #jin zixuan #jiang fengmian #madam yu #wwx #lwj #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #cql rewatch

17 notes · View notes

chilassa · 4 years

Text

Happy Bloody Birthday

@bloody-bee-tea There. Have fun.

After Party

Summary: There's a surprise waiting for Jiang Cheng the morning after his and Lan Xichen’s engagement party. Warnings: It’s just a slightly bloody crack fic with a sidedish of murder. Don’t read it.

The morning after their engagement feast, a shrill scream startles Jiang Cheng awake and he groans. What is it now? Can’t he just have one quiet day for fuck’s sake. Jiang Cheng’s head is killing him. He definitely had too much to drink last night. Lan Xichen, the bastard, had at least as much, but stayed completely unaffected. Even now, while Jiang Cheng is battling a massive hangover, Lan Xichen is fully awake and softly smiling at him. Jiang Cheng ignores Lan Xichen and his disgustingly cheerful mood and forces himself out of bed, cursing loudly under his breath. A panicked servant enters their chambers and apologizes for disturbing them, before stuttering incomprehensibly about Wei Wuxian and blood and a body. Jiang Cheng stops the servant from talking with a wave of his hand and pinches his nose in irritation. What has his idiot of a brother done now? Lan Xichen places a calming hand on the servant’s shoulder and asks her to show them what happened. She bows hastily and leads them towards the scene of the crime. Jiang Cheng is truly happy to have Lan Xichen by his side. He still can’t believe the man agreed to marry him. Without him he probably would’ve ended up shouting at the poor girl for waking him up so early after a long night celebrating and then spent the rest of the day feeling awful about it. Lan Xichen takes his hand and smiles reassuringly at Jiang Cheng, who has to suppress a blush. Right, they’re engaged now. Getting caught doing such a casual show of affection won’t have any big consequences except for a little bit of embarrassment and Jiang Cheng decides to indulge himself. It’s not every day you get to experience being freshly engaged. With Lan Xichen occupying his every thought, he nearly misses the mangled body of Sect Leader Yao lying in a pool of his own blood right in front of him. Luckily Lan Xichen stops Jiang Cheng from stepping into the mess and dirtying his shoes and clothes. Jiang Cheng looks up from the body in disgust and his eyes fall on Wei Wuxian, who is also drenched in blood and being held upright by Lan Wangji. “Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng calls out annoyed and then sighs. “What did you do now?”

They just finished replacing the floor two months ago and now they’ll have to do it all over again. No point in trying to clean that much blood off the floor. Wei Wuxian throws his hands up in the air, clearly still drunk and Lan Wangji wipes some of the blood from Wei Wuxian’s face, seemingly unbothered by the circumstances. His body, however, is clearly ready to defend Wei Wuxian if the need arises. “I swear, I didn’t do it this time. I just tripped over him and fell into the blood.” Wei Wuxian explains and Lan Wangji gives a sign of confirmation, as if that means anything to anyone. All of them know that Lan Wangji would say and do anything to protect Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng gives him a sceptic look, but doesn’t push the matter any further and neither does the rest of the crowd, consisting of members and leaders from various clans, that gathered around them. Sect Leader Yao truly wasn’t the most well liked. In fact he was one of Jiang Cheng’s and many others' biggest annoyances and Jiang Cheng is secretly very pleased to be rid of him.

Over the last year Sect Leader Yao has sent Jiang Cheng dozens of marriage proposals, which rejections the man never accepted even after Jiang Cheng’s engagement was announced.

If Jiang Cheng had heard one more snide comment during the party yesterday about what a bad match Lan Xichen was for him, he would’ve likely killed Sect Leader Yao himself.

Jiang Cheng sighs in relief. With Sect Leader Yao dead, the actual marriage ceremony will go over much more smoothly. Simply imagining the man trying to stop the wedding and convince Jiang Cheng to marry him instead makes him shudder. Yes, good riddance he’s dead now. Nie Huaisang walks through the crowd and scrutinizes Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng for a long couple of seconds. Then he closes his fan with a smile and addresses the crowd. “Well, I guess this one’s unsolvable. Let’s just all agree he died of natural causes to avoid any more political conflict and call it a day.” Murmurs of agreement fill the room and Jiang Cheng shrugs as well. Sounds good to him. More time to spend with Lan Xichen. However, some of Sect Leader Yao’s clan members start to look a bit troubled. They clearly don’t know what to do now that their leader passed away on such short notice. Lan Xichen squeezes Jiang Cheng’s hand. “You are not alone in these trying times. I’m sure my fiance will accept anyone who just lost their leader into his sect.” Jiang Cheng squeezes back and everyone cheers. Some even go so far as to shout out their excitement.“Hell yeah!” “Thank you!” “I always liked Lotus Pier much more anyway!” “Finally a hot leader!” It’s actually a bit embarrassing for Jiang Cheng, but he can’t say he isn’t happy to enlarge his family by taking in people in need. Suddenly the cheers stop and the corpse moves. “I’m not dead.” The body gurgles and lifts a bloody hand up, pointing in Lan Xichen’s direction. “He-” Whatever Sect Leader Yao wanted to say next is cut off by Jiang Cheng swiftly kicking his head and snapping the neck in the process. Coincidentally, everyone happened to look the other way at the same time taking great interest in the ceiling and the walls and no one saw anything. The cheering starts anew. “Everyone, gather in the throne room for the initiation ceremony! We’ll deal with the body later.” Jiang Cheng announces and the crowd slowly scatters off. He takes Lan Xichen’s arm and leans against him. This is nice. “Thank you again for the dagger. It’s truly a piece of art and incredible marksmanship.” Lan Xichen says and pulls Jiang Cheng even closer. “I take it you already tried it out then?” Jiang Cheng asks and wraps his arms around Lan Xichen’s neck, who hums in confirmation. “I hope you liked your engagement present as well.” Lan Xichen asks back and closes what little distance they had left between them. “I loved it.” Jiang Cheng replies and kisses Lan Xichen with a smile. His headache finally disappeared.

#I swear I wrote this before you published the engagement fic yesterday #I laughed so hard when I saw it and realised what it's about #its basically a weird sequel to that one #and yes i added like one sentence to the fic cause of our conversation yesterday #i had to

65 notes · View notes

the-water-nixie · 4 years

Text

Fic: Bundle

I somehow managed to finish a (short) fic for the first time in years.

Read on AO3.

Happy Birthday, Lan Xichen!

It is not a grand revelation which brings Lan Xichen out of his self-imposed seclusion. His grief does not dry up overnight, nor does his guilt stop eating at him like flies on too-ripe fruit. All of those things remain, and he still continues to feel lessened and unworthy of his place, of his titles.

As it turns out, what brings Lan Xichen out of seclusion is a child.

It is still early when he hears heavy footfalls outside. He ignores them at first and stares blankly into his tea. He hasn’t been tasting it, not really, everything has been consumed perfunctorily and only because he promised Wangji he would look after himself—it is the very same promise he had procured from Wangji during his own seclusion, when he was being eaten by his own guilt and grief. He cannot ignore, however, the rapid-fire knocks against the door or the call of his own name. He sighs.

“Zewu-jun! I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to bother you. Lan Zhan said not to, but it’s an emergency.”

The word emergency sets him on his feet. Images of his own father refusing to leave his seclusion while the Cloud Recesses burned around him flash through Xichen’s mind. He opens the door to find Wei Wuxian about to knock a second time. The sheepish expression that paints his face is relieving; there is obviously no true emergency. As Xichen studies him before permitting his entrance, Wei Wuxian shifts around nervously on the porch and readjusts the bundle of blankets he has nestled in his arms.

Xichen raises an eyebrow in question.

“Lan Zhan is away with the junior disciples and normally I would go with them, but I was away doing a thing with Jin Ling and I got back later than I was expecting and—anyway. I need a second pair of hands, you know? Because, it’s a bit complicated. I mean, more complicated than anything I’ve dealt with before. And with Lan Zhan gone, and the kids… Well, there is no one left here who likes me besides the baby Lan disciples. And I think their hands are probably too small to help.”

Wei Wuxian punctuates his spiel with a self-conscious laugh and rubs a finger over his nose. “Not that you, uh, like me. But I thought you might still help.”

His words break Xichen’s resolve to send him away to find help elsewhere. He wonders how Wangji would feel, knowing his husband considers himself so wholly disliked in the place where they make their home. He knows his brother, and he would likely pack up and leave the Cloud Recesses with his husband in tow. No ones wants that, least of all Xichen.

“I like you just fine, Wei-gongzi,” he says, and he finds nothing but truth in his statement. He steps to the side, allowing his brother-in-law entrance to his home.

Before he can close the door behind them, a golden Jin messenger butterfly flutters inside and up to Wei Wuxian. A lump lodges itself in Xichen’s throat. That is not something he had expected to see in the Cloud Recesses again, nor had he wanted to.

Wei Wuxian smiles and it looks like an apology. “Oh, there’s Jin Ling now,” he says. He struggles with the bundle in his arms, looking from the butterfly to the bundle and back again. The butterfly is getting insistent, fluttering against Wei Wuxian’s face. “These stupid butterflies,” he mutters. “They’ll bash themselves into the side of your head until you acknowledge the damn things.” He looks down at the bundle again and then nods decisively. “Um, here.” And he leans forward and hands off the bundle to Xichen.

Xichen nearly drops it in shock. The blankets part and a tiny face pokes out. It coos up at him and blows a spit bubble. “Wei-gongzi! This is—This is a child.”

Wei Wuxian ignores his panic. “Ah, that Jin Ling. Always pretends to be so tough but he’s already checking on me to see if I got back all right. So much like Jiang Cheng. Is that a case of nature or nurture, do you think? Like say with Sizhui—he’s so polite and kind and thoughtful. Would he have always been that way, or did he turn out so great because he was raised by Lan Zhan? And you as well, Zewu-jun. He told me he spent a lot of time with you as a child.”

Wei Wuxian smiles at him.

“Wei-gongzi!”

“Hmm?”

Xichen lifts the baby minutely and widens his eyes. “This child?”

“Oh, right. She’s mine! I gave birth to her.” He laughs at his own joke but his laughter peters off quickly at Xichen’s narrowed eyes. “Aiya, you didn’t fall for that like Lan Zhan, huh? Fine, fine. Well, I kind of found her? We were interviewing the locals about a nearby haunting and she was living with a midwife there. Poor thing—both parents dead. Her father died before she was born and then her mother giving birth to her. The midwife was struggling, what with her own duties and children. And I thought, Lan Zhan loves babies. He should have as many babies as he wants, you know? So I said I would take her. Once I told the midwife my husband is Hanguang-jun she practically threw the baby at me. If I was even more shameless than I am I would namedrop Hanguang-jun far more often. People give me so much free stuff. Wine and food and little trinkets—”

“And babies?”

Wei Wuxian lets out a breathless laugh like it surprises him. “Ah, Zewu-jun. You and Lan Zhan are both so funny. Who knew Lans could be so funny?”

Xichen ignores him to focus on the problem at hand. In his hands. Currently. He should probably give it back to Wei Wuxian because it’s starting to wriggle and squawk at him. He knows nothing about babies. How is he meant to help? Even the smallest disciples with their tiny hands would be better than him. “What about a wet nurse? You can’t just bring her here without…”

“Oh, she can eat solid food. Also, milk. So, um, we have a goat now.” He looks sheepish again. “Apparently I am determined to populate the Cloud Recesses with all sorts of animals. Haha, but look, she has some itty little teeth.”

He pulls the child from the blanket swaddle and lifts her so she is facing Xichen. She stops her irritated squawks and stares at him, mouth open and big, dark eyes blinking slowly. And then she smiles. She is the most adorable thing Xichen has seen since he was presented with his own tiny brother. “Cute, right?” Wei Wuxian says. “Lan Zhan is going to melt into a sappy puddle of goo.”

Melting into a puddle a goo is exactly what Xichen feels as though he himself is doing. He reaches out to take the child again. Wei Wuxian had said he needed an extra pair of hands after all. “Let me. You must be tired from carrying her all this way.”

The smile Wei Wuxian gives him is pleased. He places the baby in Xichen’s arms and then wipes the drool from her mouth with one of the blankets. Inside her mouth Xichen can see that she does in fact have several tiny teeth. They bite into the fabric of the blanket and she grumbles. It almost sounds like a kitten’s growls. “Be careful with your fingers near her mouth. The midwife said she’s teething. She bites.”

“Oh dear,” Xichen says. Is it normal for babies to bite? Is there something wrong with this one?

“Aiya, it’s fine, it’s fine,” Wei Wuxian says. He waves his hand in the air. “Her little teeth aren’t so sharp.” As if that clears everything up. “And as soon as Lan Zhan gets here, he will make her stop. They all just listen to what he says the first time he tells them.”

Xichen is amused and gratified by Wei Wuxian’s faith in Wangji’s abilities, but even Wangji has never dealt with so small a child. Babies probably don’t follow rules.

The baby grumbles and starts smacking one tiny fist against Xichen’s shoulder.

“Okay, you’re hungry again, I get it,” Wei Wuxian tells her. “No need to clobber your poor bobo. He’s only just met you, give him a better first impression.” Wei Wuxian shakes his head at the baby. He looks up at Xichen and sighs mournfully. “She eats all the time,” he says. “And barely ever sleeps. Barely ever.”

Then he plops himself down at the low table and begins removing a multitude of small dishes from the bag he has slung over his shoulder.

Bobo. Even Lan Sizhui had rarely called him by the name when he was small. But every time he had, Xichen had felt a spark of warmth in his chest. He had always wished Sizhui had been comfortable enough to continue with the title. But alas, once he had started training with the other disciples he had stopped calling Xichen bobo altogether.

This time he will insist on it, he decides, looking down at his new niece as she gags herself on the corner of her blanket. He pulls it from her mouth with a cringe and she squawks at him, her brow furrowed. “Sorry little one,” he says in a quiet voice. “You are going to hurt yourself.” She blows another spit bubble.

“What’s her name?”

Wei Wuxian continues to mix food in the dishes. “She doesn’t have one yet. The midwife gave her a milk name, but she said she didn’t feel right naming her when she knew she couldn’t actually raise her. I’ll let Lan Zhan do it. He’ll pick something good.” He holds up a small bamboo spoon with a smile. “Do you want to feed her? You don’t have to—she gets the whole room messy when she eats, so I can—”

“I will do it.” Xichen sits her up in his lap and reaches for the spoon.

She does in fact get food everywhere. Maybe Xichen should care about the indignity of a sect leader with clumps of congee drying in his hair and spit and milk on his robes, but he can’t seem to stop smiling.

Wei Wuxian laughs as he cleans the food from the downy hair’s of the baby’s eyebrows. “Little one, you are a mess,” he says. Her eyes blink slowly up at them. “Thank the gods, she’s getting sleepy.”

She falls asleep in Xichen’s arms. He rocks her slowly, humming a song his mother used to sing to him when he was a child. He runs a hand over her soft cheeks. He can’t recall when he last felt so content, so at peace. He almost wishes Wei Wuxian would leave her here, but he knows he will soon want to head back to the jingshi and await Wangji’s return. When Xichen looks up from the baby to ask him, he finds Wei Wuxian himself fast asleep, curled up by the table and snoring quietly.

~0~

The next time Xichen sees his niece, she is with Wangji.

“I know you have met her already, and I am sorry for disrupting your seclusion, Xiongzhang. It felt right to introduce you formally, as she is your niece.”

Xichen smiles. “You’ve chosen a name then?”

“Mm.” Wangji runs his fingertips softly over the baby’s dark hair. “Lan Xing.”

“A good name. You must have been surprised to find her with Wei-gongzi when you returned home.”

The corners of Wangji’s mouth turn up; his eyes are soft and happy. It makes Xichen’s heart glad. He must remember to thank Wei Wuxian for this and many other things.

“Wei Ying is very good at surprises,” Wangji says. He leans forward and kisses the baby on the forehead. “Would you like to hold her?”

Xichen does. They sit in the quiet for awhile, watching as she snoozes in his arms.

“Your happiness is a balm to my soul, Wangji,” Xichen says as Wangji readies himself to take his leave. And for the first time in many years, Wangji reaches out and grasps Xichen’s hand.

“You will get there, Xiongzhang. I once thought I would never— It will be better.”

Xichen squeezes his brother’s hand and thinks perhaps.

~0~

A week later Wei Wuxian comes back to see Xichen with little Lan Xing is tow. His entire countenance screams desperation.

“Do you think you could maybe watch her? Just for an hour. Well, let’s say two or three hours. At least.” He holds the baby out towards Xichen. “If I don’t spend some alone time with Lan Zhan I’m going to kill myself.”

Xichen takes the baby. She giggles and immediately starts babbling and gnawing on her fist.

“Don’t tell Lan Zhan I said that. Gods, I should know better than to make that joke. It makes him so upset.” Wei Wuxian scrubs a hand over his face and forces a laugh. “Who knew orgasms were the only thing keeping me sane? Too bad I didn’t figure that out in my last life, right? Hahaha, I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”

Xichen decides he should probably save his poor brother-in-law from himself. “Wei-gongzi, it’s fine. Please go spend some time with Wangji. I will watch A-Xing.”

Wei Wuxian falls all over himself thanking him, then bows deeply and books it out of the door. “No running in Cloud Recesses.” Xichen calls after him in a teasing voice.

He props the baby up on his arm and walks her around the room. “And what should we get up to, little one?” he asks. He receives a gurgle in response.

What Xichen finds is that little A-Xing, more than anything, enjoys simply being spoken to, regardless of the subject matter. He goes through half a volume of poetry and recites hundreds of Lan Clan disciplines (the ones he finds most important, though he would never tell his uncle that he considers some rules more important than others). She is even happy when he threatens to add a new discipline to the wall in her honour (thou shalt not bite bobo).

When she finally falls asleep after a meal of mashed vegetables and rice, Xichen realizes he hasn’t had a single negative thought since Wei Wuxian brought her to him. He rests his eyes, her small, warm body against his chest, the two of them breathing in tandem.

Wangji comes to retrieve his daughter after several hours. The tips of his ears are flushed and there is an angry red mark under his jaw that looks vaguely mouth-shaped.

“Apologies, Xiongzhang,” he says. “Wei Ying should not have disrupted your seclusion. He won’t do it again.”

“Wangji, I—” He looks down at the sleeping baby in his arms. “I really don’t mind. I find it peaceful, having her here.”

Wangji watches him for a moment. “Do you want me to bring her more often?”

Xichen turns the idea over in his head, and finds it pleasing rather than stressful. “If it wouldn’t be any trouble for you. I don’t wish to keep her from you.”

“I have meetings every morning while Wei Ying teaches basic talismans to the novices. Would that be too often?”

Xichen feels a wide smile break across his face at the prospect of a daily visit. For the first time since he returned from Yunping, it doesn’t cause him even the slightest pain.

~0~

Five months go by like this, A-XIng being left by Wangji or Wei Wuxian every morning, a few hours that brighten all of Xichen’s days. She grows in front of his eyes, begins to scoot around the hanshi on her bottom and destroy anything he isn’t quick enough to remove from her ever-widening reach. Xichen holds her hands and helps her practise walking until his back aches from stooping over and he loves every minute of it.

One morning Wei Wuxian says, “She took her first steps without us holding her, right into Lan Zhan’s arms!” And Xichen feels pride, yes, but also disappointment. He wasn’t there to see. He should have been there to cheer her on. “And then,” he continues with a laugh, “she took off running right at Sizhui. We are all in so much trouble now!”

With a wish of good luck, Wei Wuxian leaves A-Xing in Xichen’s care. She is already struggling to get down from his arms.

A-Xing runs the length of the hanshi, back and forth, back and forth. And then she does it all over again. Xichen tires just watching her.

It must be a bit of a bore for her, just Xichen’s rooms instead of the world outside. She would probably much rather run in the forest or pester Wangji’s poor rabbits. Just as Xichen is contemplating taking her to the garden behind the hanshi, A-Xing bumps into the sword rack and falls on her behind.

Her lip pops out and begins to quiver—a sure sign of an impending meltdown. Xichen rushes over. “You’re fine, little one. All fine.”

“Bobo,” she says and then wails, lifting up her chubby little arms towards him.

Xichen scoops her up, staring into her watery eyes. “What did you say, Xingxing?”

A-Xing sniffles at him, her crying stopped, and then shoves her face under his chin to wipe her tears and snot on his neck.

She had said it though, there is no way he misheard. His niece had said his name. And if she had spoken a coherent word before that surely one of her fathers would have told him about it. Xichen turns to tell someone, anyone, that his baby niece just said her first word, but there is no one to tell. He is alone with A-Xing as he has been every day for months, preluded by months of no one but himself. It feels wrong, suddenly. He feels trapped, smothered, impotent. And he wants to bring the news to his brother himself. He wants to tell Wangji and Wei Wuxian. And Sizhui and Shufu and—

He kisses the top of A-Xing’s head and leaves the hanshi for the first time in more than a year.

As he walks through the Cloud Recesses he receives bows and smiles mixed with incredulous looks. He must appear half-crazed, thin and hollow in his plainest robes. He hadn’t even put his hair up properly—it is simply tied half back with a small ribbon, no guan to be seen. He hasn’t worn it out in public in such a way since he was still a child.

No one comments on his hair or his sudden appearance when he bursts into Wangji’s office and hurriedly closes the door on the stares he can feel at his back.

“Xichen?” Wangji stands from behind his desk.

Wei Wuxian is closer. He reaches Xichen first and looks his daughter over as if for an injury.

“She is fine,” Xichen says. “She took a little tumble, but she is unharmed. But she—she spoke.”

Wei Wuxian laughs. “Sometimes her noises sound like words, but nothing real yet.”

“No, she did this time. She said—” Xichen looks down at A-Xing. She has a fist full of his hair and is moments away from shoving it into her mouth. “Who am I, Xingxing?” He points to himself.

She grins and bites on his hair. Xichen tsks at her and pulls the hair from her grasp. Her brow furrows. “Bobo,” she whines, and makes another grab for his hair.

He lets her take it, barely noticing when she tugs too hard. He is too busy watching for Wangji and Wei Wuxian’s reactions.

They do not disappoint.

Wangji rushes over with a delighted smile on his face. Wei Wuxian claps his hands together. “I guess we know who your favourite is, ah, little one?”

Her favourite, Xichen thinks. At the back of his mind a voice that sounds like Shufu says, “do not be prideful.” Today, just today, Xichen decides he is going to ignore that voice. Today, for a moment, he will allow himself. Today as he is surrounded by his family. Today as his little brother smiles at him, full of what looks like relief, and leans a head against his shoulder. Today, as Xichen leans back against him.

“Bobo,” A-Xing says again, and she tries to shove her parents away.

Today he is A-Xing’s favourite.

#waternix fic #untamed fall fest #day 8: lan xichen #the untamed #lan xichen #wei wuxian #lan wangji #accidental baby acquisition #uncle lan xichen

51 notes · View notes

veliseraptor · 4 years

Note

wait so, Wei Wuxian is older than Jiang Cheng? I keep getting major younger-brother vibes from WWX.

Guess who took forever to get to this because I needed actual brainspace and have thoughts about this, it’s this blogger! And actually I feel like first off I need to link to this post by @neuxue about how characters cope with competence, and specifically the bits about how Wei Wuxian does. I’ll get into that more in a minute (with quotes? maybe! it was a good post and very relevant to this).

So, yes: Wei Wuxian is older than Jiang Cheng (and Jiang Yanli is older than them both). But the dynamic here is...weird, for a few different reasons but mostly because Wei Wuxian’s position is a little weird. He’s technically not Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli’s brother - he’s a sect brother, but not quite a part of their family (while also simultaneously being very much a part of the family). Like. He only ever calls Jiang Yanli “shijie” where Jiang Cheng calls her “a-jie.” And I thiiiink? I read some meta where the word that gets translated as “brother” (as in “let’s be brothers again in the next life”) is “shidi” and not, say, “didi.”

And here’s where I’m going to quote that linked post:

As the elder, Wei Wuxian should protect his younger brother. But as an adopted son (Jiang Cheng is the heir, as far as I can tell?), he should not overshadow or challenge him. And Jiang Cheng seems to have a great deal of insecurity, especially around his position in this world.

Meanwhile Wei Wuxian seems incredibly protective of his siblings, and I wonder if some of this deflection of attention away from his own competence, painting himself as an easy and obnoxious target, is a way of protecting Jiang Cheng by making sure people don’t compare the two of them in Wei Wuxian’s favour.

I do think there’s aspects of this that are just...Wei Wuxian as a person is brash and loud and unrestrained, open and no-holds-barred in his approach to the world. That’s a matter of personality, same as Jiang Cheng’s personality is just...well, it’s what it is. (I love him! I do! but god.) But I do think that some of that dynamic does also become deliberate.

There’s a line in a book completely unrelated to this show (it’s Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett, yes I am bringing the Lymond Chronicles into a post about The Untamed), where an (older, in this case) brother is musing on the favoritism he experienced vis a vis his prodigy sibling, who was actively sabotaged by their father: “The steeples were being cut down so the chimney could aspire.”

The dynamic between that pair is very different, but I do wonder if there’s some of Wei Wuxian making himself less threatening in order to try to mitigate the degree to which he’s potentially a threat to Jiang Cheng’s authority, both for the sake of any onlookers who might want ways to undermine Jiang Cheng, and for Jiang Cheng’s own sake because Wei Wuxian is keenly aware of his insecurities and quick to want to allay them.

(See: the “Twin Prides” conversation, which I do not have on hand to quote but very much involves Wei Wuxian putting himself deliberately in the subordinate position, underlining that in response to Madame Yu’s emotional assassination project as aided and abetted by Jiang Fengmian’s bad parenting.)

Short version, I guess: to some extent Wei Wuxian gives off the younger sibling vibes because he just has a certain feckless irresponsibility, at least on the surface (that gets, uh, complicated later) and Jiang Cheng has the older ‘I always have to clean up your messes’ vibe because that’s just kind of who he is as a more grounded person very aware of his reputation and responsibilities and stressed about both all the time.

But also some of that is, I think, intentional - Wei Wuxian playing up certain aspects of his personality because he’s aware that he could be perceived as a threat - and, actually, in some ways, is, by Madame Yu. And he can’t cut down his own competence, or won’t, because he is proud and he isn’t willing to pretend to not be as good as he is - but he can undercut it to a certain extent. It’s the same sort of thing, I think, as his “always smiling” thing. The name of the Wei Wuxian game is obfuscation, obfuscation, obfuscation.

Jiang Yanli, meanwhile, has the oldest sibling “I am substitute parenting my siblings because no one else apparently has the emotional intelligence in this family to do that” vibe. Lord love her. Poor fucking Jiang Yanli.

You see the older sibling vibes from Wei Wuxian w/r/t Jiang Cheng mostly in the ways that Wei Wuxian steps in to guard and protect Jiang Cheng, often, unfortunately, in ways that undermine Jiang Cheng himself.

#thelightofthingshopedfor #conversating #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #who's scared of posting this it's me #aggressively headcanons #the sad queer cultivators show

133 notes · View notes

honibee-arts · 4 years

Note

Princess nie huaisang and her guard jiang cheng? Both wlw

Tw: genderbending

Huaisang stormed out of the throne room, enraged that her sister had picked her another idiot of a suitor. Da jie didn't want to marry, to the people it was because she wanted to remain pure, but Huaisang knew of her affair with a mountain fae princess she has met in her travels.

"Huaisang! Get back here!" Da jie barked.

Huaisang grit her teeth and gripped her fan tightly, continuing to walk briskly down the winding halls of the castle. She lifted her skirts and ran up the stairs, trying to ignore the tears in her eyes.

Da jie only wanted the best for her, Huaisang knew this and knew it well, but they both knew they could not continue the bloodline if they both had secret lovers. Members of the court would wrestle and bicker over who would take their place after they died, and that was a headache they both wanted to avoid.

"Princess!"

Huaisang stiffened, stopping in her tracks as she turned to see her guard walking toward her.

Oh A-Cheng, you beautiful sweet soul. If only I could call you my wife rather than be wed to these pigs in ugly clothes.

"Princess! You can't just run off like that." Jiang Cheng scolded as she caught up with her. She was panting a little, running around in heavy armour all day would do that to you.

"I'm a woman with free will I can damn well do whatever I want." Huaisang shot back.

"You can't keep rejecting suitors because they're not me." Jiang Cheng said quietly, her purplish grey eyes boring into Huaisang's soft burnished gold ones.

She blinked and looked away, feeling the tears flood her eyes and holding back a sob. As much as she hated it, it was true. Jiang Chengs family were nobles yes, but not very honoured. There were many rumours about her family and even if Huaisang knew the truth, the shame that marrying her would bring upon the family... It would be too much.

That's what Jiang Cheng would always tell her, anyway. She would always take Huaisang's hands and kiss them gently, telling her she can't let her do that to herself. Can't let her marry into a family where her father was said to be a cruel man who could weild lighting from his fingertips, or that her mother had given birth to another child from another man and pretended to adopt her into the family to hide her infidelity, the endless rumours of her poor sweet brother after Lady Jin had publicly rejected him, only to marry him a few years later, that Jiang Cheng's adopted sister was a wicked sorceress who held a fae princess prisoner and sucked marrow from the bones of her enemies.

"You have a duty, princess."

"I do not want to bear children! Men make my skin crawl, I do not wish to be anywhere near one, let alone share my bed and bear a child with one!" she protested.

"Sometimes we have a duty-"

"Screw duty! To hell with honour! Why can't I marry you!"

"A-Sang, we have discussed this in the past."

"Those rumours will die once you are by my side."

"The rumours of Wei Wuxian will never die, A-Sang. Even if my sister proved her goodness to the people they would never believe it. Could you imagine what the people would say if you married me? A woman who's mother cared so little about her she does not inherit any titles or land? From the family that I am from? A-Sang it is already difficult enough as it is with what people say about your parentage."

Huaisang sighed in defeat, tears spilling down her cheeks as Jiang Cheng reached out a gloved hand to gently wipe them away, the worn leather soft against her skin. She hugged herself, her fingers twisting in her sleeves as she hiccuped quietly. Jiang Cheng took her into her arms, her cheek resting against the polished steel of her chest plate.

"I'm sorry A-Sang, I truly am."

"You're not the one who should be asking for forgiveness." Huaisang mumbled, slowly calming down.

"Come on princess, perhaps you need a ride to clear your head?"

"Will you accompany me?"

"Always. Who else will be there to help you if you fall of your horse again?"

"Aiya, you!"

Huaisang gently ran her fingertip over the scar running along the dip between Jiang Chengs shoulder and bicep. Jiang Cheng never talked about her scars. All Huaisang knew is they were a physical representation of all her hard work and strife over her many years as a Knight. The arm around her waist pulled her a little closer, feeling the carefully trained muscles under tanned skin flex against her bare back.

The grass tickled against her bare skin, the only thing maintaining their modesty in this wide, empty forest clearing being the deep violet cloth of Jiang Chengs cloak. Huaisang pressed a kiss to Jiang Chengs shoulder, earning a happy little him as a sleepy smile spread onto her sharp features, her hair spilling against the grass in soft waves, curled slightly from days in that tight braid that ran down her strong back.

Huaisang lived for times like this, the simplicity of her and her lover amongst nature as one. She was just Huaisang, and Jiang Cheng was Jiang Cheng, and together they were just people. Two people who lived and loved, shared passion and tenderness for only the trees around them and the walls of Huaisang's bedchambers to see.

Huaisang dropped kisses along Jiang Chengs shoulder to her collarbone and up to her neck, along the sharp lines of her jaw and finally, her soft, sweet lips. They kissed like that, slow and sweet, unhurried in the peaceful silence of the clearing. She allowed herself to be pulled back into Jiang Chengs lap, leaning down and kissing her lovingly as the rough, sword worn skin of Jiang Cheng's hands lightly squeezed at the supple softness of her hips.

"Stay by my side." Huaisang pleaded, gasping against Jiang Chengs lips. "Stay by my side, as my protector and my companion, and even if the moon and stars will only know of our love, then that is enough for me."

"A-Sang, are you proposing to me?"

"Is your answer a yes?"

"I already warned you..."

"I don't care about that. I just want you."

"And your da jie? What will she say?"

"Can we please not talk about da jie right now?"

"Mm. Fine. Later" Jiang Cheng agreed, pushing up to kiss her.

"Da jie. I want to marry Lady Jiang." Huaisang demanded, gripping her fan tightly.

"About damn time, Huaisang." Da jie snorted, cleaning her saber methodically.

"I'm sorry?"

"What I mean is finally. Do you know how exhausting it was to keep finding suitors?"

"But her family..."

"To hell with that. We're Nies, we've done worse. Mother had two husbands, marrying another woman from a noble family with a complicated history isn't anything new in our family."

"But... The heir..."

"Princess Xichen and I have our ways."

"Did you get your girlfriend magically pregnant?"

"No! Of course not. I hadn't considered that actually... I might bring that up with her next time I see her..."

"Da jie! Gross!"

"Anyway. Lady Jiang is a good woman, a proud and honourable Knight who has built her reputation on merit alone. The two of you had my blessing for years."

"And you never told me? What was a the point of all the gross men?"

"I was trying to bait you into admitting it to me. You and Lady Jiang aren't subtle in your affairs. The stable boy has seen things."

"Da jie!" Huaisang screeched, flushing read and storming had her sister, smacking her arm with her fan. The iron backing clanged against the steel plating of her armour.

Da jie just chuckled, amused at her little sisters plight. Sometimes Da jie can tease too.

#sangcheng #nie huaisang #nie mingjue #nielan #jiang wanyin #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #the untamed #mo dai zu shi #mo dao zhu shi #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #Cql #cheng qing ling #Genderbend #tw genderbend #ship prompts #my shitty writing

61 notes · View notes

oneiriad · 4 years

Note

For the crossovers: how would the leverage gang get along with the mdzs fam?

Hmmm.

1. The target of the week is some sort of big hotel owner asshole. I have absolutely no idea what a capitalist hotel owner of bad repute, possibly in Las Vegas, might have done to earn the ire of Leverage. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter.

2. What matters is that there is a big conference - private event, lasts several days, workshops and shared meals and networking time - scheduled at the hotel and the Leverage crew decide that this “Bidecennial Cultivation Conference” is the perfect infiltration spot. So, Hardison hacks the hotel and inserts an extra “sect” - farmers really have some weird organization concepts these days - in the list.

3. A few details become very apparent very quickly when they actually arrive at the conference. Like the fact that whatever these guys are, farmers are - probably not it (though there is this fellow, Mr. Wei, who will happily chat with Elliot about radishes and potatoes for half an hour). Or the fact that, while it’s not like they are the only white or black faces, about 80% of the attendants are definitely of Asian extraction. Dress code leans toward very old school, and Hardison is convinced they’ve stumbled upon an hitherto unknown to him nerd subculture (he - is not entirely wrong?)

4. They soldier on, because they are good at improvising when required. The conference is very varied, and some of the lectures are downright - weird? And the hotel gym, which has martial arts facilities, is getting used for demonstration sword fighting like something out of certain Chinese monasteries (Elliot: “It’s a very distinctive style, but I can’t put my finger on it.”), and the food is delicious, even if Elliot’s new friend Mr. Wei complains that it’s too bland and talks a waiter into bringing an entire bowl of extra chili sauce.

5. The musical entertainment of the evening is a Chinese gentleman in white playing an antique string instrument and Parker might be about to choke, because a guqin in that condiition? Extremely valuable.

6. Of course, then there’s the detail the Leverage crew miss: that the cultivation world knows its own and nobody’s really fooled by this “Portland sect”. They are curious, though, and not particularly threatened, especially as several Immortals - including the famous Hanguang-Jun, the notorious Yiling Laozu, why even the Ghost General and Sandu Shengshou and others - have decided to attend this particular conference.

7. I am not saying that said Immortal cultivators deduce that the Leverage crew are Robin Hood conmen and decide to help them out. Okay, so NHS is still around somehow and deduce it. Everybody knows that that Nie is the sneakiest person anywhere he goes.

8. Wei Wuxian somehow makes friends with Elliot, despite his atrocious, downright offensive opinions about spices. Lan Wangji allows Parker to approach him, while Jiang Cheng pulls a “very important sect leader” to have Sophie attach herself to his arm, while Wen Ning sits down next to Hardison and asks about whatever nerdy merchandise he brought along, because you know. NHS, of course, is an utterly useless good-for-nothing spilling his drink all over Nate.

9. The cultivators observe and deduce and eventually realize the team’s actual target. They might even help out a little or let themselves get conveniently distracted.

10. Alas, the target of the week turns out to have considerably more resources and wherewithal than most targets, and possibly extremely unpleasant friends. As in, he turns the tables on the Leverage crew for real and things are looking very bleak - for them and the couple of poor, innocent cultivators that’s gotten stuck in the middle. There are guns and probably somebody has already died - some poor third party people.

11. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Jiang Cheng interrupts halfway through the villain monologuing his way towards a gangster style mass execution, because one massive hostage situation with a pscyho is enough for several millennia, thank you. And then Zidian comes out, and sweet, harmless, nerdy Wen Ning’s eyes go black and he roars to freeze the blood in everybody’s veins.

12. A bit later, a couple of Lans - don’t you just love those nice, strong arms - rip a door off its hinges, and in walks the Yiling Laozu, lowering Chenqing and blinking sheepishly. “What took you so long?” Jiang Cheng barks as he sweeps out.

13. (Wei Wuxian had been making out with his husband in a cupboard, on the general principle that a hotel conference requires at least one round of making out in a cupboard. He is not the least bit embarrassed about that, but he still gets stuck with clean-up duty.)

14. Clean-up duty mostly involves the bad guys getting back up and walking out to a cheery tune. Possibly a Disney tune.

15. Leverage crew are - mildly put shocked and definitely not used to their cases devolving into quite as much bloodshed. Also Elliot is standing in front of the lot of them in defensive posture, because he just saw Wen Ning take an unknown number of bullets without even slowing down and throw a desk that should have taken four men to lift, but he’ll be damned if he’s going to let these people - who obviously have secrets, big secrets, and no hesitation in killing - get to his friends without a fight.

16. “So,” says Nie Huaisang, walking in and daintily sidestepping a blood pool, “this is an awful mess, isn’t it?”

“Yes...”

(Possibly, very politely phrased mutual blackmail ensues. Well, mostly NHS basically threatening to have the entire mess pinned on the group of known felons hanging around at the hotel, infiltrating a cultural conference, and oh, he’s got this particular Interpol fellow on speed dial, funny that. Unless, that is, I mean, we’re all friends here, and it’s already such a terrible mess, nobody’d want any of this to get messier, would they? What happens in Vegas and all that, yes?)

#leverage #mo dao zu shi

50 notes · View notes