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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years

Note

Prompt: a continuation of you NMJ/WWX ficlet. LWJ chaperones their courtship meetings while desperately pining, torn between proposing to WWX himself and not wanting to jeopardize WWX and the Wen's chance for safety. Either NHS or NMJ are well aware of his crush. Thank you for writing for this rarepair! I love all your stuff

continuation of this fic

Lan Wangji knew that duty sometimes – often, even – called for sacrifice. Personal sacrifice. It was something he had long ago accepted: to be good, sometimes one had to suffer.

And oh – how he was suffering.

He’d been at Qinghe when Jiang Cheng had arrived with his proposal, visiting alongside his brother in a way he tended not to do if the visits were to Koi Tower instead of the Unclean Realm; he’d waited outside while they’d had a discussion between sect leaders, more than happy to absent himself from the trouble –

His brother had explained it all, after, and had asked him if he would consider acting as a chaperone.

A chaperone to Wei Wuxian, who would be marrying – Nie Mingjue.

“He’s not a cutsleeve,” Lan Wangji had blurted out, then checked; the expression of those around him indicated that his tone had remained indifferent and above it all, stating a mere fact that didn’t relate to him, and only his brother’s eyes started to widen a little.

His brother had always understood him too well.

“He’s not not a cutsleeve, anyway,” Jiang Cheng had said with a shrug. “He indicated he was willing – and it’s better than the alternative. My Jiang Sect can’t defend him right now…it would be very good if you would agree to be chaperone, Hanguang-jun. Not only is your reputation flawless, you would add the implicit support of the Lan sect; it would give it additional legitimacy.”

“I’m not sure –” Lan Xichen had started to say, but Lan Wangji had known that he was only refusing because he’d just realized that Lan Wangji wouldn’t be happy to see Wei Wuxian marry another, that he’d wanted – that he’d –

“I’d be happy to go,” Lan Wangji had said at once.

“I wouldn’t have anyone else,” Nie Mingjue had said, and that had been that, no matter how Lan Xichen tried to talk to him about it later.

He hadn’t wanted to talk.

There was nothing to talk about. The Lan sect was still rebuilding the Cloud Recesses – they, like the Jiang Sect, couldn’t afford to shield someone so inconvenient as Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Patriarch.

Inconvenient. It was a good word for Wei Wuxian: he was very inconvenient. Inconveniently appearing in Lan Wangji’s thoughts, in his dreams, in his heart –

It didn’t matter. The Lan sect couldn’t stand against the entire cultivation world for him, and so even if Lan Wangji were willing to do so, it wasn’t a good match. And that was that.

And now he was here, at Yiling, and Wei Wuxian kept talking about it.

About – him.

Nie Mingjue.

Lan Wangji sincerely respected the man: he was a brilliant cultivator, an awe-inspiring swordsman, an effective and admired sect leader, a just and upright man with solid principles that he never backed down from. He was skilled in virtually all of the six arts – music excluded, as he couldn’t play an instrument to save his life, but it really wasn’t fair to hold being born half-tone-deaf against him.

Wei Wuxian didn’t talk about any of that. No. That would be too easy – Lan Wangji would agree with him, and that would be fine.

No, what Wei Wuxian wanted to talk about, apparently, was the man’s body.

“– and his arms. Did you see his arms?”

“En.” Lan Wangji hoped his admission that he had, in fact, observed that Nie Mingjue had arms would be enough to forestall Wei Wuxian.

It was not.

“Magnificent, aren’t they? Big as a tree branch. He went out for saber training earlier in that outfit, didn’t he, the tight one without armor to cover them up; maybe he’ll swing by this way on his way back and we’ll see them again…”

Lan Wangji wanted to die.

“I never knew I liked arms so much before, you know? I’ve only been noticing lately – you have excellent arms yourself, actually – huh! These robes really cover a lot, don’t they? But in fact your arms are quite sturdy –”

Wei Wuxian was touching him. Lan Wangji pulled away as quickly as he could, which was probably not as quickly as someone else could.

“Oh, Lan Zhan, why do you always ruin my fun? It wasn’t as if I was stripping you down, I was just feeling them through the robes; even you can’t object…object to…”

Wei Wuxian trailed off, staring at something over Lan Wangji’s shoulder.

Lan Wangji turned.

Nie Mingjue had, in fact, taken this route back from his training. However, he was no longer wearing the tight robes – old ones, clearly designed for use during training – and was, in fact, not wearing anything on the top half of his body at all, the robes bunched up on his arm and clearly messy with mud and dirt; someone must have played a prank or something, to judge by the irritated look on his face.

Not that Lan Wangji was spending a lot of time looking at the man’s face.

Not when there was so much else to look at: sloped shoulders, a collarbone, rich supple flesh glistening with the slightest sheen of sweat –

Wei Wuxian was right about Nie Mingjue’s body being very nice, he found himself thinking to his horror – why was he thinking about this, he’d gotten over this years ago – and he shook his head and turned back to Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian, who was staring at him with a growing grin.

That was not good.

“You like him!” Wei Wuxian declared and no, no, this was not happening. “You think he’s attractive.”

“No,” Lan Wangji said firmly, and sat down, determined to ignore Wei Wuxian.

Predictably, it went about as well as any of his previous resolutions to ignore Wei Wuxian.

“How long has this been going on? When did you first start noticing him?”

“No.”

“Tell me! When did it start? How long has this gone on?”

I was six, he picked me up with one arm and told me I was a good boy and later that night I asked Brother if I could marry him and Brother thought I was joking but I wasn’t and then when I got older I had spring dreams about him right up until I met you.

“No,” Lan Wangji said again.

“‘No’ isn’t ‘I don’t’,” Wei Wuxian crowed, far too delighted by this revelation of Lan Wangji’s inappropriate interest in Wei Wuxian’s future husband. “You have to tell me, please. I’m dying of curiosity. You of all people had a crush! On Nie Mingjue! I have to know everything! Please, you have to tell me, I’ll do anything!”

“What is anything?” Lan Wangji asked, because his voice was a traitor that did things without consulting his mind, and anyway this would be just like that time in the cold spring where Wei Wuxian had offered him ‘benefits’ and it turned out he meant that he’d introduce him to girls…

The next thing Lan Wangji knew, Wei Wuxian had thrown himself into his arms, disregarding all propriety. “I don’t have anything you want,” he wailed, and that was the most wrong thing that had ever come out of Wei Wuxian’s mouth. “You have to give me a hint, I can’t live without knowing, Lan Zhan…!”

That, of course, was when Nie Mingjue walked in.

Lan Wangji froze at once. This was horrifically inappropriate – not merely as a breach of etiquette, but of principle. He’d known from the beginning that he was the wrong man to stand chaperone for Wei Wuxian, but he’d agreed regardless, thinking that he could force himself to be righteous; he’d even convinced Lan Xichen that it would be better for him to feel the sting of the loss all at once, from close by. And what was he doing instead?

Allowing Wei Wuxian to clamber all over his lap as if he were an especially affectionate monkey.

In front of his future husband.

He opened his mouth to say – something. Anything.

Nothing came to mind.

“Huh,” Nie Mingjue said, his voice low and amused. “Huaisang has been handling the details of all of this, but he really should have mentioned it if I was going to be marrying both of you.”

Lan Wangji blinked.

“…no?” he said. It was both hesitant and a question, neither of which he meant for it to be.

“I think you mean yes,” Wei Wuxian said, looking as though it were his birthday and New Years all at once and he’d just been given every present he’d ever dreamt of as a child. Lan Wangji could very nearly sympathize with the feeling. “That’s a wonderful idea!”

It was a terrible idea.

For…reasons.

None of which were coming to mind right now, but Lan Wangji was certain they existed.

Didn’t they?

#mdzs #lan wangji #wei wuxian #nie mingjue #jiang cheng #lan xichen #my fic #my fics #everyone in this fic is so thirsty #wangxian #lan wangji/wei wuxian/nie mingjue #mostly lan wangji/suffering #notdexterousatall #pasttime with good company

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stiltonbasket · 4 years

Text

chancellor of the morning sun: defense (reconstruction)

In which Lan Xichen throws hands and introduces her family to the second Maiden Lan; or, part 4 of the nielan au that has completely taken over my brain.

Part 1 | Part 2: Lesson (Youth) | Part 3: First Meeting, Mingjue (Childhood) | Part 4: First Meeting, Xichen (Childhood) | AO3

Jin Guangyao spends a great deal of time trying not to get on the wrong side of his stepmother's temper.

This is not a recent development, of course; she was so enraged when Jin Guangshan legitimized him that she beat him with her spiritual flail twice in the first week, and her beatings only grew longer and more frequent after her husband’s death. Jin Guangyao hardly grudges her for it now, of course; after all, he did kill his father, by slipping trace amounts of medicine into his tea for three straight months until he died during a visit to one of his mistresses—and then it was found that the young woman was only fifteen when the affair began, and sixteen when she had a child with him, and Jin Zixuan was so horrified by the revelation that he brought the Second Mistress of Mo to the Jinlintai and gave her a separate wing of her own, so she could raise her son in peace with all the advantages that befitted the half-brother of a sect leader.

(Jiang Yanli had been so pleased that Jin-gongzi was doing right by his baby brother that the news of Jin Guangshan’s death was almost immediately followed by word of Jin Zixuan’s renewed engagement, which pacified Madam Jin for a while—but not for long, because the gossip about Jin Guangshan seducing a maiden who was little more than a child infuriated her to the point where she began beating Jin Guangyao again the moment Jin Zixuan went to Yunmeng with Maiden Jiang’s betrothal gifts.)

And as luck would have it, this particular beating occurred the day before Jin Guangyao was supposed to journey to the Cloud Recesses to visit Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue, and his weak golden core ensured that by the next morning, he was not yet well enough to go.

He sent word to Lan Xichen—or to his Da-jie, now, since he swore brotherhood with her and then with Nie Mingjue after the war—and shut himself up in his room to wait for his wounds to heal, already wondering if he could reschedule his duties for the next week in time to make a visit to Gusu then. But the wounds proved slower to heal than he thought, and the next two days’ worth of work had to be put off, too—which is why Jin Guangyao is currently lying on his stomach in bed and fretting, because Jin Zixuan is almost certain to write and ask if he wouldn’t mind covering him for a little longer so he can spend more time with Maiden Jiang. But then he won’t be able to go next week, either, and then his plans to visit Gusu will probably have to be delayed until the next month, so Da-jie can have her little one in peace and recover before any guests arrive.

“Did she know I was going to leave for Gusu this afternoon?” he sighs, trying to stretch and wincing at the searing twinge in his back. “I wouldn’t put it past her to beat me worse on purpose, if she did.”

But his thoughts are interrupted a moment later by one of the disciples, who taps on the door and announces that someone has come to visit him. “Who?” Jin Guangyao asks blearily, raising his head and promptly regretting the attempt. “Tell them to give me five minutes. I’ll come receive them in the Fragrance Hall the moment I’m dressed.”

“Ah—they won’t wait five minutes, Lianfang-zun,” the disciple squeaks. “They wouldn’t even let me announce them to her ladyship, they’re already with me in the hallw—”

And then the door flies straight off its hinges, followed by a dark black cloud and a fresh-smelling white one storming into his bedroom before the white one cries out in shock.

“A-Yao!”

Jin Guangyao scrambles upright, completely ignoring the pain in his back as he fumbles for a quilt and pulls it over his shoulders. “Da-ge, da-jie!” he gasps, as Nie Mingjue glances back at the broken door and throws a pouch full of money at the poor junior standing behind him. “What on earth are you two doing here? Da-jie shouldn’t even be getting out of bed, in her state!”

“Which is why you’ve been talking of nothing but visiting me for weeks!” Lan Xichen cries, her eyes widening in horror as she sees the crusted bloodstains on the sheets and the used bandages littering the floor. “I knew there was something wrong when we got your letter, so Mingjue-xiong and I came here as fast as I could. Pass me my healing kit, A-Jue—and for heaven’s sake get that blanket off your shoulders, A-Yao!”

She rummages in the bag Nie Mingjue hands her and pulls out a few glass jars full of clear salve, which she smooths over Jin Guangyao’s wounds (one tincture for pain, one to ward off infection, and one to prevent scarring, apparently) before taking out Liebing to begin healing the gashes with spiritual energy.

“Ah, da-jie,” Jin Guangyao protests, looking desperately at Nie Mingjue—who is looking back at him in turn, his brows drawn together in a frown as the Lan sect master tends to each bruise and cut with murder in her eyes. “Should—should you really be wasting your spiritual energy on me, just now? This isn’t the first time I’ve been beaten, and I’ll get well soon enough with just the salve.”

“It isn’t the first time?” Lan Xichen repeats, so angry now that Jin Guangyao can feel the wrath rolling off her golden core in waves. “Who would do such a thing to you, now that Jin Guangshan is dead? Jin Zixun is still weak after the Hundred Holes, he couldn’t even have lifted a weapon like this—and if it was anyone on his side of the family, just tell me who it was and I’ll—”

“Isn’t it obvious, Xichen?” Nie Mingjue says, speaking for the first time as his eyes track the pattern of the wounds scattered across Jin Guangyao’s pale back—to identify the height of the person who gave them to him, as he understands a moment later with a sinking weight in the pit of his stomach. “Look at his wounds.”

“What about them?” Lan Xichen glances back at her husband in confusion before noticing that the gashes near the top of Jin Guangyao’s shoulders were made while he was kneeling, while the ones slightly lower down were dealt by surprise while he was in a standing position, and then the realization dawns on her face so quickly that Jin Guangyao feels a split-second’s worth of sympathy for Madam Jin.

“That—Jin-furen,” she hisses, pouring spiritual energy into his wounds so quickly that they finish knitting closed within the next minute, leaving nothing but irregular patches of new pink skin to prove that they were ever there. “First it was—oh, that woman!”

“Da-jie, you musn’t,” he entreats her, turning around as she stows Liebing back into her robes and marches towards the door with every inch of her body threatening consequences—and this even though she is with child, because she still carries Shuoyue at her waist and wears the horned silver crown of her rank pinned into her hair, and walks with the demeanor and bearing of a general even two years after the Sunshot Campaign.

Suddenly, Jin Guangyao remembers that this is the woman who took Wen Xu’s head during the war after driving him from the Cloud Recesses almost single-handedly, and the woman who stood in front of Jin Guangshan on the stairs of the Jinlintai nearly a decade ago, when he ordered his illegitimate son thrown down to keep him from offending his wife, and called him every name under the sun before securing the young Meng Yao a place in her intended’s household.

“Mingjue-xiong is rough-mannered with his men, but he is kind, and places their welfare far above his own,” she told him, holding his small, fine hands in her sword-calloused ones while they waited for Nie-zongzhu to find his way to her guest quarters. “You will be well-looked after as one of his disciples, I promise.”

“But he can’t—he cannot keep an eye on everyone, not every minute,” Meng Yao had whimpered, fighting the impulse to bury his face in Lan-guniang’s soft lap and cry because no one had been so gentle with him since his mother’s untimely passing. “I will never forget this, Maiden Lan, but please—my mother promised that my father would welcome me if I presented the pearl brooch he gave her, but the guards said—they said many women came with their babies, with just such a pearl brooch, and…”

“I am Nie-zongzhu’s betrothed,” Lan Xichen said peacefully, before patting his head so very carefully that he gave up and let his cheek rest against her knee. “He has made it clear that as the future lady of his household and his sect, his disciples are to honor my every command as they would honor his. If they mistreat you, you have only to tell me, and they will never do so again. And I will visit as often as I can, and expect letters telling me how you are faring when I cannot.”

“Why would you—I don’t understand, you…”

He meant to ask why a wealthy young mistress would go so far out of her way to protect a nameless nobody who had earned the disdain of a sect leader, and even promise him a place in a cultivation sect because she was so certain of her betrothed’s affections for her—but Lan Xichen seemed to read the question in his face, back then, and laid a finger across her lips before he could voice it.

“I am a woman, Meng-gongzi,” she said, suddenly sounding both very old and very tired as a couple of early lines appeared in her forehead. “I have had to fight for every inch of ground I wanted since I was old enough to walk. First I fought to remain with my uncle and brother, and then for the right to sit in on council meetings as my father’s first heir, and then to have the courtesy name my father wanted for me. I fought to have my wedding delayed until I was twenty-five, because the elders wanted me married away from Gusu Lan as soon as I came of age, and then I fought for my inheritance, the sect leader’s seat, and won it only this past winter.

“The cruelty of one’s birth forever weighing down one’s fate is not unknown to me, though my fate has never been cruel to me, only inconvenient,” the young girl sighed. “Being born a woman is not the same thing as being born a courtesan’s child, but I do not wish I was a man, and nor do you wish you were born to any mother but yours—is that not so?”

“It is,” Meng Yao whispered back. “I loved my A-Niang more than anything.”

What was it that Da-jie told him, after that?

“Then you understand that your circumstances are not your fault, or hers? Your father is a vile worm, Meng Yao, and none of his family have much claim to virtue, either. You will be much happier in Qinghe Nie, and if you find it does not suit you, ask Mingjue-xiong to send you east to Gusu Lan, and I will look after you myself.”

“What are you thinking about?” Mingjue asks him now, as Jin Guangyao finally clambers off the bed and pulls on some decent robes. “You’ve been awfully quiet, Guangyao.”

“Nothing,” he murmurs, smiling slightly. “I was remembering the day I first met you and Xichen-jie, that’s all.”

“And what a day that was,” his friend grumbles, crossing his arms before reaching out and handing Jin Guangyao his black velvet hat. “I was just thinking that the only good thing about being made a sect leader at eighteen was not having to sit with Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun, and the next thing I knew, all the Jin disciples were running into the banquet hall to tell me that they had to stop my intended from tearing Jin Guangshan to pieces over some village boy.”

“You shouldn’t have brought her here, you know,” Jin Guangyao says abruptly. “Madam Jin—she can be cruel, and journeying all the way from Gusu by sword, in da-jie’s condition—”

Nie Mingjue snorts. “As a faithful disciple of the Gusu Lan clan, it is my duty to acquiesce to my sect leader’s wishes,” he intones, mirth dancing in his eyes as Jin Guangyao huffs and turns away. “And as a husband, it is my honor to accompany my wife on all her ventures, no matter what they might be. There has been bad blood between A-Huan and Jin-furen since she and I were children, and whatever passes between them today, A-Huan will emerge the victor.”

“Bad blood? With Xichen-jie?”

“Oh, I never told you that story, did I? Well, the first time Zixuan laid eyes on Xichen—and he was only a foolish little boy, so it never meant anything at all—he decided that he wanted to marry her instead of Maiden Jiang. Madam Jin was angered by that, of course, what with Jin Guangshan being the pig he was, and she scolded Zixuan for it, but then she decided that Xichen was at fault and that her precious son would not have said such a thing unless Xichen had invited it.”

“When—how old was she when it happ—”

“Ten,” Nie Mingjue drones. “Jin-furen heard a mindless remark from a boy not yet nine years old, and then decided that Xichen, a child of only ten, was in the same class as your father’s women—that is, she decided that Zixuan might fall prey to her wiles and leave Maiden Jiang in Jin-furen’s own place, someday. And she never treated A-Huan well after that until she was forced to, when A-Huan became Lan-zongzhu eight years later.”

He frowns. “But then there was that business of Mo-guniang, so who knows how many young girls there were before...well, before. Such crimes are punishable by death in Qinghe.”

It is at that juncture that Lan Xichen reappears, sweeping into the room with one hand tucked behind her back and her head held high before dismissing the poor junior disciple who must have been forced to witness her encounter with Madam Jin. Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao both spring to their feet at the sight of her, Nie Mingjue to help his wife to a chair and Jin Guangyao to take Shuoyue; but she waves them both off and elects to remain standing instead, cooling her face with a borrowed fan from Nie Huaisang’s collection before laying a hand on Jin Guangyao’s cheek.

“She will never mistreat you again,” Xichen sighs. “I have ensured it, A-Yao. Forgive me for taking so long to notice that you were being so ill-used here.”

“Da-jie, you shouldn’t have! What if she treats you even worse than she did when we were young, now?”

“What could she possibly do to me? I am the master of one great sect, and the mistress of another,” she says dryly. “At least until A-Jue officially gives up his position to Huaisang, but that’s beside the point. I didn’t lead a third of the Sunshot Campaign to balk at the prospect of defending a friend, so let us say no more about it.”

“But what did you do?”

“Jin-furen loves Zixuan above all things,” Xichen shrugs. “I spoke to her about her conduct, and then I told her that I would give her son and future daughter-in-law a full account of your suffering at her hands if she dared lay a finger on you again. She went as white as milk so I said that last, so she knew my threats were not idle ones. Especially now that Zixuan dotes on little Mo Yu so much, and wants to make certain that any other half-siblings of his are at least well provided for.”

Jin Guangyao gapes at her. “Da-jie!”

“Get over it,” Nie Mingjue advises him. “Xichen decided she was going to protect you when she was sixteen, so that’s what she’s going to do. Thank her, and then come back to the Cloud Recesses with us—we want you to be there when the little one arrives, so Jin Zixuan can stop handing off his duties to you and put his courtship with Jiang-guniang on hold for a month or two.”

“You want me with you when the baby comes?” Jin Guangyao repeats, his throat feeling suspiciously thick at the prospect. “But I’m not—I mean, I helped with a handful of births when I still lived in the brothel, but I have no great skill in—”

“I want you there as my sworn brother, and my friend,” Lan Xichen says gently. “And neither of you are allowed into the birthing chamber, anyway. You’ll make me too nervous to concentrate, with how much you both worry.”

“But, A-Huan…”

“You’ll thank me for it later, my A-Jue. Just wait.”

* * *

Three weeks later, Jin Guangyao discovers first-hand that waiting outside a healer’s ward with Nie Mingjue, Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian is very, very different from helping carry water and sponging women’s faces back in the Chrysanthemum House when he was a child, because the mother behind those bolted doors is his dearest friend, and the father sweating like a salted da bai cai by his side is his own sworn brother.

(Jin Guangyao refuses to think of what he did with the Song of Turmoil, and what nearly happened before he came to his senses and stopped playing it for Nie Mingjue, and who had nearly been killed during that last horrible qi deviation, leaping into the fray in attempt to protect a terrified Nie Huaisang.)

“Why won’t she let us in?” Nie Mingjue says now, shaking Jin Guangyao out of his dark musings as he stares at the door with wild eyes. “If anything goes wrong—I can’t be here, when she’s in there!”

But the only man Lan Xichen permitted into her room was, unsurprisingly, Lan Qiren, who managed to gather himself well enough to hold her hand through the pains even when she let out a string of curses that shocked every Lan in the vicinity past the point of speech.

“Where did Xichen-jie learn all those words?” Wei Wuxian murmurs, supporting his husband by his elbow as Lan Wangji sways dangerously towards the floor. He looks even more terrified than Nie Mingjue, for some reason, and every noise from Xichen’s room drains a little more color out of his face. “They’re very good.”

“My disciples never knew when to shut up when A-Huan was around,” Nie Mingjue groans. “I ought to have had them beaten for it, but I can’t blame them if their foul tongues are of some help to her now. “

But then, before anyone can try to distract Mingjue or Lan Wangji, or even convince them to sit down and stop pacing—a loud, strong cry rings out from behind the door, followed by a cacophony of shouted instructions from the attending healers and a sob from Lan Qiren.

All four men freeze in their tracks, and Lan Wangji looks as if he might be sick. “A-Jie—” he says hoarsely, starting towards the next room on unsteady, stumbling feet. “Jie!”

And a moment later, Maiden Jiang lets herself out into the hallway, and bows once in Nie Mingjue’s direction before smiling so widely that he plunges straight down onto the floor and stays there.

“A-Huan,” he begs. “Tell me, is she—”

“You have a daughter, Chifeng-zun, and mother and child are well,” she assures him, her own lips trembling slightly as Nie Mingjue bows his head and bursts into tears. “She kept herself safe the whole way through with her own healing cultivation, if you will believe it! The physicians are tending her now, and you and Wangji can come in to see them both as soon as Lan-zongzhu has had a sponge-bath and something to eat. But there is still much to be done in the first half-hour or so, so she has requested that you have something to drink and break your fast before entering.”

With that, she goes back into the healing ward and shuts the door behind her, and Jin Guangyao and Lan Wangji find themselves weeping, as well; though Lan Wangji weeps silently, pressing his face into Wei Wuxian’s shoulder and letting the tears wet his gown while his husband rocks him back and forth.

“I’m a father,” Nie Mingjue says, dazed. “A-Yao, I have a daughter!”

“So you do,” Jin Guangyao laughs wetly, as a disciple comes in with some food on a tray before fleeing as quickly as he can. “Who do you think she will look like?”

The answer—when the doors finally open, to reveal a room that had been thoroughly cleaned, a sobbing uncle, and a beaming Lan Xichen—proves to be that little Lan Jueying, who refuses to be parted from Xichen even for a moment without shrieking at the top of her lungs (unless she is being held by her father, of course, who bawls like a baby himself when Xichen first adjusts his arms around the child’s tiny pink body) looks exactly like her mother, and is just as beautiful.

Jin Guangyao adores her from the moment he first sees her, and as for Lan Wangji…

“A-Jie,” he sobs, cradling the grumpy, wriggling bundle to his chest as his sister strokes his hair with such a loving look in her eyes that Lan Qiren starts crying again. “A-Jie, she’s perfect.”

#nielan #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #lan xichen #nie mingjue #my fic #chancellor of the morning sun #nielan arranged marriage au

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crossdressingdeath · 4 years

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1/10 While looking for some posts about JFM's parenting style, I somehow stumbled across a JC support post, and it made me so angry that I just need to rant about it haha. Obviously people can have their own opinions, but this thing was just denying like every ounce of evidence we're given in the novel about certain events, that I just couldn't help myself. For instance, they talk about how poor JC had to deal with his father's favourtism, which, alright, every JC stan seems to use

2/? that as their primary argument. But then apparently JYL ALSO favours WWX over JC, which we see NO evidence of in the novel! They tried to say that there was NO DOUBT that WWX's actions had caused the fall of Lotus Pier despite JC HIMSELF ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THE WENS WOULD HAVE ATTACKED ANYWAY. They literally tried to say that JC never mistreated WWX growing up, despite the constant jealousy we see in the novel. How is that not mistreatment? And I'm actually laughing at this part -

3/10 they tried to say that maybe JC had tortured the demonic cultivators but it had never actually stated that he'd killed them. So what, they think that's a better alternative? Also, they claimed the book was from WWX's perspective and he probably just thought the worst of JC anyway, despite the fact that a) that's a very out of character thing for WWX to do and b) JC's OWN NEPHEW says that he did these things! Once again they try to argue that JC was in the right to get mad at WWX and

4/? LWJ for entering the ancestral hall, because, guess what? Apparently WWX defended LWJ and that's why the Wens attacked the Jiangs. Completely ignoring how he ALSO defended JZX, his sisters future husband, but JC doesn't seem to have a lifelong grudge against HIM. They tried to argue that JC had no choice but to lead the Siege - nevermind that he did NOT have to lead it (he didn't just participate, he LEAD the damn thing) and he was also one of the only people, other than the Jins, who had

5/? some idea of who was living there thanks to A-Yuan. What, he couldn't have just spoken up about it? How does that make him any better than the Jins? If you know something horrific has happened, and you can't even open your mouth to tell people about it - we're not actively asking him to take a stand, where telling him to BACK UP WWX'S CLAIMS since he's seen them with HIS OWN EYES - but no, apparently that's too much for poor JC to do. And okay this is getting so long but...I need to get

6/? this out of my system. They tried to argue that WWX's supposed arrogance was the reason for all of the problems in JC's life - well how about we look at some of those problems, hmm? WWX spoke up in the cave to protect JZX and LWJ; had he just left them to die, because surely the Wens would've overpowered them if it had led to a fight since there were so many of them, and word got back to the Lan & Jin sects that everyone had just stood around and WATCH their heirs die - do you honestly

7/? think there'd be no repercussions? Especially from the Jins? Not to mention, you cannot seriously commend behaviour where someone stands by and WATCHES people be attacked/killed and not do anything - has no one heard about the bystander effect? And if both LWJ and JZX were totally fine with speaking out against WC, you can't really use the argument that JC wasn't in a position to help, because they're both heirs of their sect too, and in JZX's case, he's the future sect leader.

8/? We've already discussed the fall of Lotus Pier, and I've seen plenty of discussion about the core transfer on here already. WWX protecting the Wens? Well he was obviously paying back a life debt, but on top of that, let’s not stand around and criticise him for protecting innocent people when the alternative would be letting them die, and defend the guy who was okay with letting them die. Like...JC saw a child in the burial mounds, and he's still totally fine with him dying.

9/? Apparently we're going to pretend that HE'S the victim here, and not the non-cultivators who were in a labour camp. WWX took the effort to separate himself from the Jiang Sect to protect their reputation, and from the looks of it, they really didn't suffer much. It was NOTHING compared to what he went through, at any rate. And...I'm not even going to justify listening to the 'WWX abandoned JC' argument, because I've heard it way too many times and...we know the answer to that one. But

10: basically the cherry on top of that whole post, at the end of this post they actually tried to say that WWX's fans saw him as someone who never did anything wrong, and...just the IRONY of it. JC fans basically rewrite his entire history, and I just found that really funny. And the whole thing got me worked up, so I had to vent for a bit haha

...

...........

There are no words for the level of bullshit. Literally the only thing they have any actual point in is saying JC has a right to get mad at WWX letting LWJ into the ancestral hall... But that’s because LWJ is an outsider to the Jiang sect, and even then, as I’ve mentioned, JC was following them through Lotus Pier like a goddamn creep and could easily have stopped them before they went in. Also, asked them to leave politely like a fucking sect leader instead of mocking and attacking them. That’s genuinely all I can say to this, you have covered pretty much everything. But the fucking... the lack of awareness in suggesting that WWX’s fans say WWX never did anything wrong (when I’ve yet to see a WWX fan who doesn’t acknowledge that the whole pledge conference thing was deeply fucked up even when it’s being argued as justified) in the same breath as that is... wow.

#what even....#mdzs #cql #grapehate #anon #asks

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AWE Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Nine Serenities Ghost Domain! Bai Xiaochun’s scalp tingled in fear, and his eyes went wide. A pale hand reached out, belonging to a young girl in a white dress. She wore a ferocious, enigmatic smile on her face. Her face was half covered by her long black hair, making her look even more terrifying than she might have normally. An aura of death pulsed off of her, transforming into something that looked like vipers seeking to bore into Bai Xiaochun’s eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and even his pores. However, just when the hand was about to touch him, his nine spiritual seas erupted with a Heaven-Dao aura, and the aura of death collapsed. The hissing snakes were wiped away, and the girl’s hand withered, revealing dead skin and sticky, dripping blood. It was terrifying to the extreme. The girl let out a begrudging howl that echoed out into the air. At the same time, the teleportation power surrounding Bai Xiaochun exploded out with full force, and he vanished from the Fallen Sword World. After all of the disciples from the four sects were gone, the Fallen Sword World continued to collapse. But then, something else happened. Massive amounts of hazy gray mist billowed out and began to fill the world. It was rife with an aura of death, and smelled like rot. Even the four powerful teleportation formations crumbled into ruins because of the rotting aura. In the blink of an eye, the entire world… became a domain of ghosts. Howls rose up from within the mists. Apparently, all of the banesouls which had existed in the world were now beginning to awaken. Strangely, the huge sword stopped crumbling! In the outside world, Ouyang Jie and the others saw the sword cease crumbling, and watched as black mist begin to pulse out of it. They exchanged dismayed glances. However, a moment later, they tried once again to enter the sword, and this time had no problem doing so. As they entered, they could still sense a fading holy aura. “That aura….” “Heavenstring energy!!! That’s heavenstring energy!!” Even as their faces flickered with shock, the sinister voice of a young girl rose up from the mists below…. It sounded bizarre and cruel, and filled the entire world. “The heavenstring energy hath been harvested by your disciples. Henceforth, this place shall be called… the Nine Serenities Ghost Domain. In the future, do not set foot in this place. Any who violate this prescript will have their entire sect exterminated!” As soon as the voice rang out, Ouyang Jie and the others coughed up mouthfuls of blood. The voice crashed in their ears like thunder as they were forcefully ejected from the world. “Banespirit!!” they cried in alarm. The pressure they felt was something that exceeded the Nascent Soul stage. Trembling, hearts battered by waves of shock, they retreated at full speed, simultaneously sending word back to their sects. “The Fallen Sword World has been transformed into the Nine Serenities Ghost Domain. Furthermore… one of the banesouls awakened and became a banespirit!!” “The heavenstring energy was taken away? Who? Which disciple of which sect got it? Does that mean… someone reached Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment!?!?” Even as they fled, the former Fallen Sword World, which was now the Nine Serenties Ghost Domain, filled up with mist. Standing in the mist was a girl in a white dress, holding a skinless, shrunken version of Lei Shan. At first she was looking up into the sky, but then she lowered her eyes to gaze at the tens of thousands of banesouls in the area. All of them… were prostrating themselves to her! Not a single sound could be heard. As for Lei Shan, his eyes were filled with incredible terror and pain. Standing next to the girl in the white dress was a pretty young woman with expressionless eyes, a puppet. She was none other than… Gongsun Wan’er. There was no poison upon her any more, nor any centipedes. The human-faced spider had transformed into mist and vanished. She was now completely clean and empty, inside and out…. “Aw, you don’t want to stay and play with me, big bro…?” the girl said, her voice sinister and bizarre. “Well, that’s fine. I’ll be able to leave this place soon, then I can come find you. I’ll show you how pretty this new dress of mine is.” The girl chuckled and looked over at Gongsun Wan’er. The fact that the Fallen Sword World had been transformed into the Nine Serenities Ghost Domain was a major event in the eastern Lower Reaches of the cultivation world. What had once been a Foundation Establishment Holy Land was now a domain of terror! Furthermore, one of the banesouls had awakened and turned into a terrifying, sentient banespirit. Even the elders of the four sects were left jumpy at the thought of it. However, there was nothing that could be done about the matter. Although the matter would influence the four sects to some degree, it wasn’t a huge loss. Furthermore, it was a joint loss to all four sects. What was most astonishing of all was the information confirmed by the voice of the girl… the heavenstring energy had been taken. That meant someone must have reached Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment. “Who was it…. Which sect and which disciple got the heavenstring energy!?” “Dammit! If it was one of the other three sects, that means they’ll have a Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment disciple. We need to kill that person when they’re weak. If they reach Core Formation, they’ll be a force not easily stopped!” “It was definitely our Blood Stream Sect. Hahaha! Now we have both Patriarch Limitless… and another top-level cultivator!” The four elders immediately used transmission jade slips to get the information back to their sects as quickly as possible. At the same time, they tried to make contact with the disciples who had been teleported out of the Fallen Sword World. Unfortunately, they soon found that the fluctuations caused by the teleportation made communication impossible. Soon, the Blood Stream Sect, Profound Stream Sect, Spirit Stream Sect and Pill Stream Sect were sent a huge commotion. Even the patriarchs of the sect were shaken. Large numbers of Foundation Establishment Dharma protectors and elders were dispatched. Even prime elders were sent out. No effort was spared to track down the disciples who had been teleported out to random locations. All they had to do was find one disciple, and they should be able to get information about what had occurred in the Fallen Sword World. Most importantly, everyone wanted to know… who got the heavenstring energy! In the Spirit Stream Sect, the founding patriarch personally passed down orders which sent countless Inner Sect disciples and Foundation Establishment elders into action. Even Outer Sect disciple were called upon. They flew out from both the south bank and the north bank, spreading out with one mission: find the disciples who had been teleported out of the Fallen Sword Abyss. As soon as a single one was located, they were to report back to the sect immediately. The first person to be located was not one of the numerous disciples from the Spirit Stream Sect, but rather, one of the five remaining Pill Stream Sect disciples! The Pill Stream Sect had sent 80 disciples into the Fallen Sword World, and more than ninety percent of them had been killed. Luckily for the Pill Stream Sect, one of the five disciples who made it out alive happened to be teleported to a location just outside of the Pill Stream Sect itself. When the Pill Stream Sect elders and sect leader arrived, they found an extremely weak disciple, his energy almost completely drained. Fellow disciples immediately supported him, pouring their own spiritual power into him so that he could speak. Trembling, eyes flickering with fear, he weakly explained, “Dead. They’re all dead. Eldest Brother Fang Lin was killed. Zhao Rou is also dead. All of them were exterminated by Bai Xiaochun from the Spirit Stream Sect!! “Bai Xiaochun… completed nine Tideflows. He and Song Que fought over the heavenstring energy, and… he reached Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment!!” The disciples’ words left the Pill Stream Sect cultivators, and even the elders and the sect leader, completely shaken. Gasps could be heard, and eyes went wide with disbelief. “Heaven-Dao… Foundation Establishment!?” “Bai Xiaochun? Spirit Stream Sect?!” The sect leader’s eyes flickered, and he grimly said, “Immediately send word to all of our spies in the Spirit Stream Sect. Tell them to find Bai Xiaochun and kill him. Spare no effort whatsoever!!” Previous Main menu Next Click to Post

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