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Lan Wangji’s boots crunched on the gravel of the path into Cloud Recesses. His steps were measured, albeit quicker than usual. Wei Wuxian was no doubt impatiently waiting for his return.
He rounded a bend, the gate to Cloud Recesses coming into view. Through the foliage, Lan Wangji was confronted with a most unwelcome sight: a purple-clad figure, standing next to a Lan sentry.
With a slight twinge of annoyance, Lan Wangji noted that Jiang Wanyin seemed to be chatting easily with the Lan sentry. He didn’t look in the least bit frightened to be speaking with Jiang-zongzhu, which only heightened Lan Wangji’s indignation.
A shout from the path drew Lan Wangji’s attention. A yellow blur darted down the path, followed at a walk by a smaller figure in white.
Jin Ling launched himself happily at his uncle, wrapping his arms around Jiang Wanyin’s middle. Even at his distance, Lan Wangji could hear Jiang Wanyin’s spluttering.
The smaller boy in white drew level with the pair, and Lan Wangji recognized his own son, Lan Sizhui. Sizhui looked completely at ease as he got closer to the uncle and nephew. He smiled at Jiang Wanyin as Jin Ling let go, still jabbering eagerly to his uncle.
Lan Wangji’s hand clenched on Bichen.
His son waited patiently by Jiang Wanyin, who extended his arm and wrapped it around Sizhui’s shoulders.
He felt rooted to the spot. Zidian caught the sun, the glint making Lan Wangji’s stomach swoop with anger. Sizhui was so close, it wouldn’t take much effort for Jiang Wanyin to strike him with Zidian or unsheathe Sandu.
Jin Ling started up the path, followed by his uncle and Sizhui. Lan Wangji’s eyes stayed fixed on Jiang Wanyin as he walked sedately beside Sizhui. Sizhui’s mouth was moving, and Jiang Wanyin inclined his head to listen.
Lan Wangji waited until the trio had disappeared into Cloud Recesses to approach the gate. The sentry gave him a formal bow and accepted his jade token.
The standard gesture rankled somewhat, after seeing the Lan sentry speaking so casually to the leader of a different sect. Lan Wangji shook his head, and attempted to put the incident behind him. Wei Ying was still waiting for him.
-
Sizhui laughed as Jin Ling darted up the path ahead of him.
He reminded Sizhui of Fairy, the way he came back every now and again, pestering his uncle.
Jiang-shushu looked amused under his usual scowl, but he still listened attentively to Sizhui. He was trying to tell Jiang-shushu about their last night hunt, supervised by Wen Ning and his baba, Wei Wuxian. Jiang-shushu had to stay in Lotus Pier for a discussion conference for this particular night hunt and had been very grumpy about it.
He had started supervising the juniors’ night hunts almost six months ago, which Jin Ling had been delighted about. The first of which, they’d been stuck in Cloud Recesses and Jin Ling had begged Jiang-shushu to take them out, since Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen had been off together with Wei Wuxian. Jiang-shushu had grumbled, but in the end he had agreed.
They’d spent the first night in an inn in a small town, which suited Sizhui just fine. It had only been the three of them, so he and Jin Ling had let Jiang-shushu take his own table in the corner. He looked a little morose, hunched alone over his bowl. Sizhui and Jin Ling took their own seats a few feet away, and spent the meal in quiet conversation.
Jin Ling had been in the middle of a sentence when he jolted upright and stared at Sizhui.
“What is it?” Sizhui asked, looking at him warily.
“Jiujiu!” Jin Ling said.
“What about him?” Sizhui asked, resisting the urge to look around.
Jin Ling looked slightly irritated. “Jiujiu is your baba’s brother!”
Sizhui nodded slowly at Jin Ling, feeling lost. He knew this, of course, what with Jiang-zongzhu coming to visit Cloud Recesses so often to see Wei Wuxian. Sizhui knew that his baba was delighted with this, and Sizhui had discovered that Jin Ling made for excellent company when his uncle brought him along.
“Yes, he is,” Sizhui said.
With the exasperated air of explaining simple addition to a toddler, Jin Ling leaned forward and said, “That means that my jiujiu is your shushu, too!”
Sizhui had taken a moment to consider this. His baba and Jiang-zongzhu had spent almost a year after the incident at the Guanyin temple dancing around each other, each one searching for the end of a lost script. Things had come to a head during a discussion conference at Lotus Pier. Every major sect had been in attendance, and many smaller sects had sent disciples as well.
Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian had been there as well, standing in for Lan-zongzhu. Yao-zongzhu had spent the first morning making his displeasure that Wei Wuxian was there known, until Jiang-zongzhu had snapped and shouted at Yao-zongzhu in no uncertain terms that if he didn’t like Wei Wuxian being there, he was would be escorted out with his disciples and forbidden from ever returning to Lotus Pier.
Wei Wuxian had burst into shocked tears in front of the entire conference. The brothers had then barricaded themselves in Jiang-zongzhu’s study and refused to come out (or let anyone else in) for the rest of the day. Sizhui had returned to his rooms only to find A-Die scowling and pacing restlessly.
Lan Sizhui and A-Die had sat through a very awkward tea. A-Die wouldn’t stop looking up at the door and gritting his teeth. Unable to take the tension, Sizhui had spent the day with Jin Ling and the other juniors.
Later that night when Baba and Jiang-zongzhu finally emerged, both looking happily exhausted with tear-stained faces, Sizhui asked his baba what he and Jiang-zongzhu had talked about. Baba had only said “ Just what brothers talk about, A-Yuan ,” and herded him back to his room.
After that discussion conference, things were less tense between Baba and Jiang-zongzhu. Wei Wuxian went to visit Lotus Pier every other month, and Jiang-zongzhu came to Cloud Recesses so often that he was given a jade entrance token.
“You should ask him if you can call him Jiang-shushu!” Jin Ling urged.
Sizhui gaped at him. “Are you sure? He might not like that.”
“Pfft! You have no idea how much he loves being an uncle, do you?” Jin Ling said, puffing his chest out.
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Sizhui stood and walked over to Jiang-zongzhu. He could feel Jin Ling behind him, bolstering his confidence.
“Jiang-zongzhu?”
He glanced up at Sizhui, usual scowl fixed in place. “What is it?”
Sizhui stared at Jiang-zongzhu, trying to gather his courage. Without even needing to think about it, the words floated out of his mouth. “Can I call you Jiang-shushu?”
Jiang-zongzhu had spat out a mouthful of wine and shouted for a solid minute about familial propriety and breaking legs before stomping off to his room, furiously wiping his face.
In shock, Sizhui had turned to a howling Jin Ling, who gasped out, “That means yes!”
The next day, every time Sizhui called him Jiang-shushu, his eyes glittered with fierce pride. He even referred to Sizhui and Jin Ling as his nephews to an indifferent innkeeper, which made Sizhui tear up and Jin Ling go bright red. Everything had been wonderful, up until the night hunt.
They had been fighting a particularly fierce yaoguai , much bigger than the two juniors were used to. The monster had roared and swiped furiously at Sizhui. He felt a blinding bolt of pain in his leg and heard two yells from Jin Ling and Jiang-shushu. His vision went black at the edges, the trees swimming through his vision as he fought to stay upright.
Through the daze of pain, Sizhui could hear Jiang-shushu shouting at the yaoguai and the sparking of Zidian.
Sizhui collapsed, the pain almost causing him to pass out. Jin Ling threw himself to the ground by Sizhui and ripped at his trousers. His whole leg was drenched in red, the scent of blood thick and pungent. Sizhui gasped, his fingers digging into the ground beside him.
Jin Ling murmured to Sizhui, hands shaking as he tried to staunch the flow. “Jiujiu, hurry!” he called, panic laced through his tone.
With a final screech, the yaoguai fell. Jiang-shushu sprinted to Sizhui, throwing Sandu aside in his haste.
“Sizhui! Don’t ever do that again, you scared me half to death!” Jiang-shushu shouted, yanking off his outer robe and tearing it into strips. He tugged at Sizhui’s leg, still talking furiously. “If you do that again, Sizhui, I mean it, I’ll go straight to Lan Wangji!”
Sizhui could feel tears sliding down his cheeks. Mortified, he attempted to hide them behind his sleeve. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. “I’m sorry, Jiang-shushu,” he said, horrified to hear himself sobbing.
Jiang-shushu glanced up, the obvious panic on his face almost comical. He gave Sizhui’s shoulder a few awkward pats. “Sizhui, don’t cry, you’re all right,” he said, trying to soothe Sizhui’s sobs.
Sizhui hated how his courtesy name sounded in Jiang-shushu’s mouth. It was too stiff and formal, not something an uncle would call him. “Yuan,” Sizhui said, hiccuping.
Jiang-shushu blinked at him. “What?”
More forcefully, Sizhui said, “Call me Yuan. Not Sizhui.”
Jiang-shushu stared at him. For a moment, it almost looked like he would cry, too. He took a deep breath.
“Okay, A-Yuan. Come on, I’ve got to get you back in one piece or your baba will throttle me,” Jiang-shushu said. He draped Sizhui’s arm over his shoulder and pulled him gingerly to his feet.
“A-Ling, come here! Help me,” Jiang-shushu barked.
Jin Ling hastened to obey, and together they helped Sizhui back to the inn. The innkeeper had flung the door open, face going pale when he saw how much blood Sizhui was covered in.
Jiang-shushu insisted upon caring for Sizhui himself, practically biting the head off of the poor innkeeper. He bullied Sizhui into bed, and dressed his wound himself. Jiang-shushu sent Jin Ling scurrying all over for supplies.
When Jin Ling had left in a swish of yellow robes, Jiang-shushu leaned forward. “Are you all right, A-Yuan?” Jiang-shushu asked.
Sizhui nodded. His leg still ached in the tight bandages but he was no longer bleeding and could sit up easily. Sizhui was bone-tired, and the sleeping tea that he had been given made him hazy and half-awake.
Jiang-shushu looked very uncomfortable, fidgeting with the corner of a blanket. He eased Sizhui back against the pillows and straightened his blankets. Sizhui allowed himself to be arranged, too worn-out to protest. Jiang-shushu stood and retreated to the other side of the room, gathering up the supplies Jin Ling brought up.
His back was facing Sizhui and he could see the tension held in Jiang-shushu’s shoulders. It was like the way A-Die looked when he waited for Baba to come back home from night hunts or when he hadn’t been able to check over Sizhui for injuries. Sizhui remembered how Jiang-shushu always scolded Jin Ling as loud as he could when they returned from night hunts but never failed to inspect him thoroughly for injuries and get Jin Ling back to his quarters as soon as possible.
It was like the way he and A-Die always had tea together every time Sizhui returned to Gusu.
Sizhui closed his eyes and hummed. “Thank you, Jiang-shushu.”
A quiet snort came from the other side of the room. Sizhui felt himself drifting, sleep rushing over him in waves. He heard quiet footsteps, then a hand brushed gently over his hair and pulled at his blankets.
He was asleep before the footsteps made it to the door.
-
A-Die had been furious when Sizhui had returned to Cloud Recesses three days later, limping and being supported by a jumpy Jin Ling. Lan Wangji flat-out refused to speak to Jiang Wanyin and took Sizhui straight to the healer in the Lan Sect. Wei Wuxian had arrived a short while later with a letter for Sizhui and a small scowl for Lan Wangji. He had been busy across the main compound and unable to visit his brother before Jiang Wanyin and Jin Ling departed for Lotus Pier.
The letter turned out to be an official invitation for Sizhui to visit Koi Tower with Wei Wuxian when his leg was healed, to which Lan Wangji stubbornly refused to give his assent. He couldn’t stop Wei Wuxian from going, of course, but Sizhui was a different case.
Sizhui was kept busy all over the sect for a week waiting on-edge for his father’s decision. The night before Wei Wuxian was set to leave, Lan Wangji finally turned to Sizhui with obvious distaste, and gave his permission for Sizhui to go visit Koi Tower.
Sizhui could have done without the smacking kiss that Wei Wuxian had bestowed upon Lan Wangji, but he supposed it softened the blow somewhat.
They were joined at Koi Tower by Jiang Wanyin and a group of fresh-faced young Jiang disciples. Jin Ling took some time away from his meetings to let the Jin elders hem and haw to themselves so both his uncles could unleash the full power of Sandu Shengshou and the Yiling Laozu to get the elders off of his back.
Wei Wuxian had great fun both shamelessly abusing his fearsome reputation and being subsequently shouted at by Jiang Wanyin, and Jiang Wanyin had great fun shouting at Wei Wuxian.
Sizhui had no idea why his uncles behaved in a way that was so unlike how Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen did, pushing and shouting like they were children. But they never seemed more at ease than when they could tease and roughhouse. Every time Jiang Wanyin responded positively(?) to Wei Wuxian’s playful barbs, Wei Wuxian looked radiant with glee.
Sizhui supposed it was like Jingyi and Jin Ling. Neither of them were satisfied in an encounter if they hadn’t gotten in at least a few verbal jabs.
Sizohui spent most of his time at Koi Tower helping instruct some of the younger Jin disciples and the visiting Jiang disciples. Jin Ling took as much time as he could to assist, always kept busy by some snag or another. He made sure his evenings were kept free so he and Sizhui could wander the night markets in Lanling together, often accompanied by their uncles.
Wei Wuxian preferred to spend his nights on various rooftops with a bottle of wine and he was joined more than once by Jiang Wanyin. Sizhui preferred to leave them both to it when he stumbled across them on a roof, mostly because one of them could be counted upon to throw something at the other and have it fly off the roof.
(One night, he’d stayed longer than he should have and caught the tail end of a conversation. Wei Wuxian had been saying “-hurts, the anger. I’m so tired of it, all of it.” Jiang Wanyin had hummed, his voice gone scratchy in the way it did when he’d had a drink. “Like. Like- sour lotus seeds.” Wei Wuxian had burst out laughing, and fallen backwards onto the roof. It had been the first time Sizhui heard Jiang Wanyin laugh.)
Sizhui could easily see how pleased Jin Ling was that Wei Wuxian took such an interest in his home. They ate their way across the city over the visit, Jin Ling slipping back into calling Wei Wuxian da-jiu almost as easily as Sizhui had taken to calling Jiang Wanyin shushu.
One day, Jin Ling and Jiang Wanyin insisted upon taking Sizhui and Wei Wuxian to a nearby lake.
Jiang Wanyin maintained that it had nothing on the lakes of Yunmeng, but Sizhui still found himself drawn into the craggy cliffs and tall, shady trees. The sand on the shore gave way to huge, flat rocks in the clear water and gigantic boulders broke the surface of the water further out.
Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian demonstrated their Yunmeng heritage by swimming long lengths of the lake and seeing who could hold their breath under the water the longest. They both insisted on Jin Ling serving as judge for the winner of their races.
Sizhui got himself soundly beaten in a game of tag, and passed the rest of the afternoon wading in the shallows looking for fish and dozing under the shade of a fat fir tree.
All of it was just… nice. Nice to watch Wei Wuxian bounce around a grumpy Jiang Wanyin in the night market, nice to hear Jin Ling shriek when he made the mistake of splashing both uncles at once in the lake, nice to see Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian jump to Jin Ling’s defense against the elders together.
Sizhui rolled over on his rock and stretched like a cat, enjoying the sun on his skin. Jin Ling sloshed his way out of the water and flopped down beside Sizhui. His trousers made a wet splat noise as he sat. Sizhui snorted with laughter. Jin Ling huffed at him and laid down on the rock beside Sizhui. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin followed behind Jin Ling.
More sloshing noises accompanied Wei Wuxian’s chatter. “Wow, Jiang Cheng, that wasn’t half-bad! You’ve gotten faster!”
Jiang Cheng sat down beside Sizhui and swung his hair over his shoulder. “You’d know that, if you ever bothered to show your face in Lotus Pier when you’re in Yunmeng!” He busied himself with wringing out his hair, not looking at his brother.
Surprise crossed Wei Wuxian’s face, replaced with a look of pleased softness. He opened his mouth to speak, no doubt to tease, but seemed to think better of it and lay down on the rock beside his brother.
They dried themselves in the warmth of the sun and bundled themselves back into their layered outer robes, Wei Wuxian grumbling all the while. Jiang Wanyin gave him a few prods to speed him along and Sizhui was gratified to hear Wei Wuxian start teasing his brother like normal, any tension broken.
He walked ahead of Sizhui and Jin Ling the whole way back to Koi Tower, chattering and pointing out anything that crossed his mind.
Sizhui only watched, wishing he could live in this tiny bubble of warmth forever.
-
“Sizhui! Sizhui , slow down!” Jin Ling panted.
“Can’t, Jin Ling! C’mon, hurry up!” Sizhui responded, weaving his way through the other Lan disciples.
Jin Ling followed behind Sizhui at a near run. He’d only just arrived in the Cloud Recesses with a half dozen Jin disciples when Sizhui accosted him and pulled him away from the gate without so much as a by-your-leave.
The boy in white had a firm grip on his arm and was dragging him very determinedly across Cloud Recesses towards the paths to the back hill.
Sizhui definitely wasn’t supposed to be manhandling him like this or walking so fast. The other disciples stared after them, because of course Sizhui was shameless enough to drag Jin Ling through the main compound.
Once they were in the safety of the trees, Sizhui picked up the pace. “Come on, Jin Ling, I promised Lan-bobo I would be at his cottage for tea this afternoon and we’re going to be late if we don’t hurry!”
Jin Ling panicked and dug his heels in. Unfortunately for him, the Lan arm strength did him no favors and Sizhui continued at his just-barely-acceptable speed, yanking Jin Ling along with him.
“Zewu-jun is in seclusion, we can’t just go visiting him whenever we want!” Jin Ling hissed. His red ribbon got caught in his mouth. He spat it out, disgusted.
Sizhui didn’t bother to look around. “I wrote to him and asked permission to visit. Lan-bobo is expecting both of us.”
“Why?” Jin Ling asked. “It’s not like I have any right to be visiting him like this without a formal reason!”
At that, Sizhui stopped his hurrying and faced Jin Ling. He was frowning. “You have as much right as I do to be there. It’s only fair, Jin Ling, you have to meet him again, properly this time, now that we spend so much time with Jiang-shushu.”
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea, Sizhui-”
“Please, Jin Ling? You let me share your jiujiu with you, I want to share my bobo with you.” Sizhui said, his voice firm.
Jin Ling scoffed and started to walk again. “That’s ridiculous. Jiujiu is your shushu regardless of me.”
Sizhui hurried after him, silent, but still giving Jin Ling the kind of effortless stink-eye only Hanguang-jun could pull off.
They rushed up the path together, gravel crunching under their boots. Jin Ling considered asking Sizhui to stop and visit the bunnies while they were here, but he thought Sizhui might just snap and finally bite his head off if he tried.
When the cottage came into view, Sizhui slowed to a walk and smoothed down his robes. He turned to Jin Ling and smiled. “Ready?”
Throat too tense to answer, Jin Ling nodded.
They approached the deck and just as they were about to mount the stairs, the door slid open and Jin Ling’s jiujiu stepped out.
Jiang Cheng’s hair was wet and only partially smoothed back into his guan . His robes looked decidedly wrinkled, like they had been crumpled on a floor. One collar dipped low on his neck, revealing a bright red love bite.
Jiang Cheng looked up and all three of them froze.
Jin Ling opened his mouth to speak and nothing came out. He felt like his brain was melting out of his ears and puddling at his feet.
Sizhui’s foot remained suspended over a stair.
A bird chirped from somewhere out in the trees. No one said a word.
Jin Ling absolutely did not want to think about any circumstances in which Jiujiu would end up at Lan-zongzhu’s seclusion cottage in need of a bath. Or where the love bite had come from.
Jiang Cheng was the first to recover. For a moment, it almost looked like he would start shouting. His cheeks were covered in a deep blush.
Jiang Cheng snorted and tugged his robes back in order, smoothing his hair back down. Shaking his head at the sky and sighing, he turned back to the cottage and called through the open door. “Lan Huan! The kids are here!”
A crash sounded from inside the cottage, followed by a stifled curse.
Sizhui made a little choked-off noise. His face was beet red and his gaze was fixed on the ground. Jin Ling copied him, staring at his uncle’s boots.
Jiang Cheng patted his shoulder, and without a word to either of them, strode off down the path, boots crunching on the gravel and robes flowing behind him. Jin Ling and Sizhui stared after him in shock, neither of them saying a word.
Jin Ling’s brain ticked back on slowly, like it was coated in syrup. He should be chasing his jiujiu down and demanding an explanation like he usually did, but something about this discovery made him stop. Never in his life could Jin Ling recall Jiang Cheng ever courting anyone (or indeed, showing interest in courting at all).
Lan Xichen appeared at the door, looking distinctly frazzled. His ears and cheeks were pink, and like Jiang Cheng, his robes were tied hastily and his hair was wet. At least his forehead ribbon was tied on straight, which Jin Ling was devoutly grateful for. Sizhui might have keeled right over if his uncle hadn’t been wearing it.
He smiled rather weakly and gestured behind him into the cottage. “Jin-zongzhu, Sizhui, come in, please. The tea is brewing.”
Sizhui hurried up the steps. Jin Ling followed behind him, still reeling a little.
They all settled around the small table and Sizhui began to pour the tea. Jin Ling couldn’t resist taking a surreptitious look around and spotting several items that he was sure belonged to Jiang Cheng dotted around. His ears heated and he buried himself in the cup of tea Sizhui offered him. Just how long had Jiujiu and Lan Xichen been involved?
Long enough for Jiang Cheng to have put a brush stand carved from Yunmeng wood in the cottage. He supposed it did begin to explain some of Jiujiu’s strange behavior recently.
“This is quite obviously not the way Jiang Wanyin and I would have liked for you both to find out about our courtship,” Lan Xichen began, valiantly ignoring Jin Ling’s overlarge gulp of tea and consequent coughing, “but since you both know now-”
“Hang on,” Jin Ling blurted out. “Does this mean I can call you Lan-bobo too?”
Jin Ling snapped his mouth shut, embarrassed. He couldn’t just go around asking other sect leaders if he could call them ‘uncle’! He glanced up at Lan Xichen, holding his breath.
For a moment, Lan Xichen didn’t move. He looked at Jin Ling, surprised, and smiled at the look on Jin Ling’s face.
“You may,” Lan Xichen said. “If you will permit me to call you ‘A-Ling’.”