Chapter Text
Lan WangJi had finished teaching for the day ,his obligations were over, and he was free to return to the Jingshi to spend time with his husband until the dinner hour. Cloud Recesses was enjoying a golden afternoon, and its disciples were determined to enjoy the sunshine, white robes dotting the green expanses in various states of relaxation. Lan WangJi returned the greetings he received as he wound his way back to his rooms with a polite nod, and a mental calculation of how close to breaking rules seven and eight his fellow Lan were verging. Very close, in some cases.
He paused as he approached the Jingshi. There was someone sitting on the verandah, two someones sitting together with their heads together. Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli appeared to be playing rock, paper, scissors on Lan WangJi’s front steps.
“Best of five?” Jiang Cheng asked despondently, as Lan Wangji came closer.
“A-Cheng!” said Jiang Yanli reprovingly.
“Alright, alright, I’ll send her the comb!” Jiang Cheng threw his hands up in the air.
Gravel crunched under Lan WangJi’s boot and the Jiang siblings turned as one. Relief flowered over both their faces.
“Lan WangJi! You took long enough!” said Jiang Cheng.
“A-Zhan!” said Jiang Yanli, clasping her hands together.
“We were hoping you would arrive soon! The thing is, A-Xian is a little… upset.”
“Upset?” said Lan WangJi sharply. He had seen Wei Ying at lunch. He had only been gone for four hours! What had happened in the last four hours?
“His dowry and personal belongings arrived from Lotus Pier.” said Jiang Cheng.
“And he’s gone all weird about it. He keeps saying he’s fine, and now he’s pretending to be working on some dangerous talisman to avoid having to talk about it. It’s not like I want to talk about it either! I’m not bothering him for no reason! But he shooed us out and now he’s barricaded the door.” He crossed his arms.
“I tried to bribe him into coming out with osmanthus cakes, but even that didn’t work.” said jiang Yanli, waving the small plate she had on her lap. She took a cake and absent mindedly passed it to Jiang Cheng , who accepted it without comment.
“Was the dowry too small?” asked Lan WangJi. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.
“It’s massive.” he said flatly.
“Didn’t you see the carts? They had trouble finding somewhere for them to unload, and some of the carters are going to have to go back to Caiyi because there isn’t enough stable room.”
“Ah.” says Lan WangJi, nodding
“I saw them. I thought Madam Jin had been shopping.”
“She’s directing the carters and keeping a catalogue on your behalf. Wei Wuxian tried to give her some of the satins to make up for the fact that you two stole her curtains, but she waved him off. Then he tried to give everything to Yanli for her dowry, in case they don’t send one for her.” He nudged his sister.
“Father would never do that.” he assured her.
“And it’s not like you ran off and married a servant. Not that there is anything wrong with that! But they’re not going to disapprove of you becoming the First Lady of the Unclean Realm.”
“I should probably have waited.” said Jiang Yanli, in the tones of someone who was completely satisfied with having not waited.
“Do you want any cake, A-Zhan?”
“Mn.” Lan WangJi nodded. Jiang Yanli’s cake was not to be passed over. Jiang Yanli took a piece as well, and for a minute they were silent, eating cake in the sunshine. Jiang Yanli stretched her legs and wiggled her boots.
“So, we’ll leave you to talk to him.” said Jiang Yanli, coaxingly.
“You’re the best person to talk to him anyway, because you love him so much! He needs to be convinced that he’s worth any amount of dowry!”
“Of course he is.” said Lan WangJi.
“But one was not expected or required.”
“Well, he’s not to give it back.” said Jiang Cheng, dusting cake crumbs from his robes.
“It’s his. I’m the Sect Heir of YunmengJiang, he’s my brother, and I say the dowry is appropriate. You can both use it to start orphanages if you want, I don’t care. But it’s his, so it’s yours, and he is your problem!”
Jiang Cheng patted Lan WangJi on the shoulder as he passed and Lan WangJi had just enough self control not to flinch under the blow.
“We will see you at dinner, I hope.” said Jiang Yanli
“The healers said that Mingjue could have dinner in the hall, so it would be lovely if you could convince A-Xian to join us.”
“When do you return to Qinghe?” asked Lan WangJI.
“In a week or so, the healer thinks. MingJue does not want to go by road if he can’t ride, so we will have to wait until he can manage the sword trip for us.” Jiang Yanli smiled to herself as if contemplating the flight.
“But MingJue’s brother seems to be managing perfectly well. You know, I don’t think he is as frivolous as he pretends.” she said.
“That would be my opinion also.” Lan WangJi agreed.
The door was locked. Lan Wangji laid his hand flat against it.
“Wei Ying.” he called softly, and he felt the ward on the wood release to let him in. He couldn’t see his husband in the room though, which probably meant he was in the bed.
Wei Ying was staring up at the painted ceiling. He was lying flat on his back with his hands crossed, the way that Lan WangJi had been taught to sleep. He must have placed his left arm over his chest, since he still could not lift it that much.
“Do you think those are ducks or geese?” he asked.
“It’s not very clear. I know it’s only a background detail, but it bothers me.”
Lan WangJi took his boots off and lined them up next to Wei Ying’s beside the bed. He knelt on the bed and waded over to his husband on his knees. Wei Ying was still frowning at the ducks.
“Wei Ying.” he said.
“It doesn’t really matter. The rest of it is very well painted, don’t you think? I wonder who painted it? We should ask Madam Jin where she got it, so we can write them a letter of appreciation. It’s a beautiful bed.” Wei Ying continued.
“It is a very beautiful bed.” agreed Lan WangJi. He reached out to smooth Wei Ying’s hair back on the pillow.
“One of the things I like about this bed is that Madam Jin gave it to us, so every time we go to sleep, or wake up, we can think “ Madam Jin liked us enough to give us this enormous bed.” because Madam Jin wouldn’t have given us a present if she didn’t like us. She’s not like that.”
“Mn.” agreed Lan WangJi.
“So it’s nice.” said Wei Ying. His face looked blank, almost wooden, and his gaze was fixed at the ceiling. He lapsed into silence and Lan WangJI stroked his hair again, tucked a tendril behind his ear.
“It doesn’t matter.” Wei Ying said.
“It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Wei Ying?”
“She sent me a present.” said Wei Ying.
“With the dowry?”
Wei Ying shook his head, without moving his gaze or his arms. Lan WangJi was beginning to find it unsettling, so he lay down beside his husband and pulled him close.
“She sent it before, but Lan Qiren had forgotten about it until the rest of it arrived. You could tell he thought everything was too excessive. I think it gave him heartburn.” Lan WangJi waited.
“She sent me a flute.” said Wei Ying, his voice flat.
“A dizi. I wanted one, when I was twelve, but she said that life was too short to have to waste it listening to me practice.” He tucked his chin over Lan WangJi’s arm and turned his head briefly so that his face brushed Lan WangJi’s sleeve.
“It’s a dare.” He said.
“”You wanted a flute? Here’s a flute! Just stop being a cripple and learn to play it.”” he mimicked, then lapsed into silence again.
“She would never speak like that,” Wei Ying said after a full minute.
“That was a terrible imitation.”
“But that is what you think it means?” asked Lan WangJi.
Wei Ying laughed, twice. The first laugh sounded like a jeer, the second was more rueful.
“Poor Lan Zhan.” he said
“Now I’ve made you upset. It’s nothing. It’s fine. We should get up. You have to collect A-Yuan from the creche soon.”
“Throw the flute away.” said Lan WangJi.
“It’s an insult.”
“It’s a challenge.” said Wei Ying.
“You challenge yourself, all the time.” said Lan WangJi.
“You do not need her opinion.”
“I don’t think she ever in my life said anything to me that didn’t have a sting to it.” said Wei Ying. He slid his right hand free and mimicked cracking a whip, with a hiss through his teeth for the sound.
“She’s probably cursed the flute to suck my soul out or something. Lan Zhan! You’re crushing me!”
“No flute playing.” said Lan WangJi urgently.
“I’m sure it’s not cursed. I just made that up.” said Wei Ying, rolling to look at Lan WangJi and patting his arm to console him.
“Your uncle had it in his office, he would have noticed if it was cursed, right?”
Lan WangJi relaxed.
“You’re so funny.” said Wei Ying, softly.
“You look after me so well.”
Lan WangJi grunted.
“You do so! You broke Jiang Fan’s arm when we hadn’t even kissed!” Wei Ying protested.
“Dislocated.” corrected Lan WangJi.
“And you should not have been there at all. I should have spoken earlier.”
“Ah, well, we should both have said things sooner.” Wei Ying sighed. Lan WangJi pulled him further into his arms and tucked his head under Lan WangJi’s chin.
“Do you think I could ever play the flute?” Wei Ying sounded wistful.
“Wei Ying is going to live forever, so there is plenty of time to learn.” said Lan Wangji.
“I will buy you a dizi, if you want to make the attempt.”
“Then we could play duets.” said Wei Ying softly.
“It is good for children to grow up in a musical household.” agreed Lan WangJi.
Wei Ying’s left hand moved slightly against Lan WangJi’s chest.
“We should go and get A-Yuan.” said Wei Ying.
“Find out what rules he has learned today. he’s going to be such a well behaved child! Not like his father. No copying rules for him!”
“Wei Ying is well behaved.” said Lan WangJi. We Ying yelped, and slapped his chest.
“Lan Zhan! Such a shocking lie from you! I break all the rules, you know I do!”
“Perform acts of chivalry.” Lan Zhan kissed his husband.
“Have courage and knowledge.” Another kiss.
“Have courtesy and integrity.” Another kiss.
“Have affection and gratitude” Another kiss.
“Wei Ying is good at keeping the rules.” Lan WangJi summarised.
“I notice you skipped the one about running.” said Wei Ying, and craned his neck for another kiss.
“I would have learned them much faster if you’d gone through the list with kisses.”
“I am happy to review them with you.” said Lan WangJi, gravely.
“Rule one. Do not kill within Cloud Recesses.” He kissed Wei Ying and rolled him onto his back.
“I’m sorry, what was that one again?” breathed Wei Ying, looking up through his eyelashes.
“Could you repeat that, Teacher Lan?”
Lan WangJi could, and would. It was important to be patient and thorough when teaching, and sometimes that required repetition.