Chapter Text
It had been a full day since Lan Qiren had dismissed them from the Mingshi that morning, but Yanli was not going to complain. They had been shown to guest quarters which were, for a great sect, very utilitarian and plain.
For a modest family from Yiling, however, it was more like a vacation at an expensive inn. The beds were clean and comfy, the blankets soft and thick, the views out the windows exquisite, and the bathing room warm and scented. Even the incense they were provided to burn in the gorgeously crafted burners was sublime.
A’Yao had sat on his bed, blinked, and then fallen backwards with a sigh. It was such an uncharacteristic reaction that the rest of them just stared at him until Ying’er nodded.
“You’ve never been on such a finely made bed before,” he said, and it wasn’t a question. Yanli realized with a shot of guilt that while she and her brothers had, at least, spent a good portion of their youths as privileged children of gentry, A’Yao had gone from brothel to working class home life. If anyone knew what it was like to actually lay down on a very high-quality bed made for cultivators for the first time, it was Ying’er.
A’Yao just sighed again and closed his eyes and, shockingly, fell asleep immediately while they watched. Yanli motioned for the boys to pull his legs up and take off his boots, and suggested they follow his example and rest for a bit.
They were confined to the tiny house, but a simple lunch was brought to them, which got them up from their naps. After, they found a collection of paper, ink, and brushes in one cabinet along with a shelf of books in another. The books were cultivation texts, fairly generic to her eye, but A’Yao and the boys descended on them like vultures right after breakfast.
Wei Ying never took off the Lan headband wrapped around his wrist. She hoped that he at least removed it when he went to bathe. Given the elaborate and decorative knot, she doubted it. Maybe it repelled dirt and water?
It wasn’t until dinner that night that they all sat down to talk about the situation, refreshed and awake and clean. Ying’er had to be forcibly separated from the books, but then the food came and he eagerly sat down at the table. Unlike their lunch of simple vegetable bao, the dinner was generous and robust, at least by Lan standards.
“I always heard Gusu Lan food was plain and boring, but this isn’t bad!” Ying’er exclaimed, slurping some soup. “Could us more spice,” he added.
“Their chefs are some of the most talented in the jianghu, Ying’er,” A’Yao said, delightedly choosing a dumpling for his bowl. “They produce a cookbook every ten years, which is highly prized among both gentry and commoners.”
“Mn. My pork rib and lotus soup was a variation of one of their vegetable broths! With more spice, of course,” she laughed at the memory. For once, remembering her adventures in the Lotus Pier kitchens did not hurt. Maybe time did heal all wounds? She hoped so.
After the first rush to eat, Yanli set down her chopsticks. They all glanced at her warily.
“Ying’er, is there anything you left out when we talked to Grandmaster Lan?”
He immediately looked guilty, which was answer enough. A’Cheng groaned and A’Yao took a deep, calming breath.
Yanli motioned for Ying’er to keep talking.
“Ah. There was the marriage—er, the betrothal.” He held up his wrist. A’Cheng glowered at the ribbon as if it had insulted him personally.
“Which we will discuss in full soon. What else?”
He rubbed the side of his nose and refused to look at any of them. “I know where the other yin iron pieces are.”
She frowned, trying to figure out why that was a problem. “You mean the ones Wen Ruohan has?”
He shook his head. “The other pieces.”
“Because Lan Yi told you?” A’Yao offered him a rope.
“No.” He sighed. “When I used the yin iron piece yesterday? In the plaza? And it sort of, uh, took control?”
Yanli did not like where this was going, and neither did A’Yao by the looks of it.
“It’s like…it’s like all the pieces are still connected, somehow. They used to be one whole thing, and that’s what they remember. So if you touch one, you know where the others are.” He looked around at their horrified expressions. “It’s a good thing! I means that Lan Zhan and I will have no problem tracking the last three pieces!”
“Three?” A’Yao frowned. “There were four pieces. Wen Ruohan has two, you have one. That leaves the fourth one.”
He started looking shifty again.
“Wei Ying!” Yanli said in exasperation. “Tell us everything! Stop trying to keep secrets.”
“Yeah, you’re really bad at it,” A’Cheng said.
“Like you can talk!”
“Boys,” A’Yao tapped his bowl with his chopsticks.
“It’s just really dangerous information, JieJie!” Wei Ying whined. “I don’t want any of you getting hurt.”
This time, A’Yao smacked his chopsticks down on the table. “Perhaps,” he started with gritted teeth, “You should have thought of that before drugging your elders and running into the Burial Mounds.”
Yanli really admired how he could channel a killing rage with just a tight smile. The boys both curled into each other instinctively, and she let them squirm for a moment of great justice before continuing.
“Ying’er, why do you think there are more than four pieces?” She asked.
“Because I know there are six. I just know it.” He held up his hands, ticking off on his fingers. “The Xuanwu has what is left of the original chunk of it. Wen Ruohan has two. Lan Yi gave hers to me and Lan Zhan to help draw out the Xuanwu of Slaughter. There is one in some weird caves in Qinghe Nie. And the final one is…traveling.”
Yanli just sat there for a moment before rallying. “We should tell Grandmaster Lan.”
“Yes,” A’Yao hissed, getting up.
“No no no! It will just complicate everything! Lan Zhan and I are going to get the pieces we can and find the xuanwu. The Lan can try to get to Wen Ruohan. It’s a fair trade!”
“Ying’er, I taught you better than this,” A’Yao snapped. “It’s only a fair trade if both parties know what the deal is!”
Wei Ying sat there looking mutinous while A’Yao and Yanli glared at him. A’Cheng, on the other hand, leaned backwards and stared at his dinner bowl thoughtfully for a moment.
“What do you mean, one piece is ‘traveling’?” A’Cheng asked suspiciously.
“Nothing! Nothing at all!” Wei Ying yelped.
“That’s it. I’ve had it with you. Drugging us, disobeying a long-standing order not to mess with the Burial Mounds, and now you keep lying by omission!” A’Yao calmly, coldly, got up, grabbed the back of Wei Ying’s robes and dragged him out of the back of the house while he kicked and loudly protested his innocence.
“Is he going to kill him?” A’Cheng asked, picking up his chopsticks and looking warily out the still-open door.
“No, we went through too much trouble to find you both alive to ruin that now,” Yanli said pleasantly, which made A’Cheng hunch over with a grimace.
“We are sorry that we worried you. We thought our plan was foolproof!”
“Mn.”
There was a loud yell, followed by a splash.
“Now get up and run forty laps.” A’Yao’s calm but raised voice drifted in through the windows.
“It’s cold!”
“Fifty.”
“But Da'Ge!”
“Sixty!”
There was a wet sound as Ying’er flopped out of the pond and started running.
“Oooo, Da'Ge is mad. Do you think he will make him copy lines again?”
“If he doesn’t, I will,” Yanli said calmly.
“Oh. I supposed that means I you’re going to make me do it too?” He slumped.
“Yes,” she said with a snap. “You’re lucky I have not asked A’Yao to throw you in the pond and force march you as well.”
“Sorry, JieJie,” A’Cheng mumbled.
“You drugged us, which is unacceptable, A’Cheng! Then…then you two went tearing off into the Burial Mounds alone! What on earth possessed you? You’re supposed to be the sensible one!”
He blinked back tears, obviously realizing that a pity-play was off the board in the face of her anger. “I saw…I was awake when they killed Lao Wang. If…if we had swords he’d still be alive.”
She breathed in through her nose to calm herself. Chances were good that was not true, since Lao Wang’s health had been failing for a while. But if A’Cheng had been awake long enough to see him being murdered, it explained his willingness to go along with Ying’er mad plans.
“I’m sorry, JieJie. I’m so sorry!” He sniffled and collapsed into a truly abject kowtow.
He really had a tofu heart, she thought. It was almost superfluous to punish him, since he did such a good job of beating himself up unprompted. He would probably take over the laundry for a month, unasked, even after his punishment. She was looking forward to it.
There was a polite knock at the door, and at her nod A’Cheng got up, wiping his face. He bowed as Lan Xichen slid into the room.
“Young Master Lan, to what do we owe this honor?” She asked, getting up and curtsying. She tried not to sound wary, but A’Cheng had no compunctions and glared at him in outright suspicion, despite his root-deep blush.
“Forgive my late intrusion. I have come to see how you are settling in.”
“We are very well, thank you. The Lan are truly gracious hosts.”
He chuckled. “It’s the least we can do. After all, we will be family soon enough.”
A’Cheng made a choking sound but quickly went to clear their dinner tray and make some tea.
“Would you join us for tea? We have just finished dinner.” She motioned at the table as A’Cheng scurried around.
“It would be my honor. Your other brothers are not here?” He looked around as he took a seat.
“Ah. First Brother is punishing Second Brother for his infractions.”
“Mn?”
“He threw him in that pond out back and is making him run sixty laps. I think up to the big tree and back,” A’Cheng offered as he set out the tea set.
“Heh. Yes, I know that tree. The incline up to it is steep. In winter, the children like to take waxed tarps and slide down it on the snow.”
“Oh, how delightful!” Yanli clapped her hands together. “We never get that much snow in Yunmeng.”
“I imagine not!” He shook his head. “That’s a creative punishment.”
“He’ll make us write lines later. Probably sections of the Analects. Again.” A’Cheng said with a grimace.
“My uncle uses that punishment often.” He turned to Yanli. “Do you also force them to do handstands while doing it?”
“What?” A’Cheng whispered in horror.
“That is an even more creative punishment! First Brother will be delighted to hear of it!” Yanli said, meaning every word. That sounded like the kind of punishment that A’Yao would gleefully administer: brutal, efficient, and productive.
“JieJie!” A’Cheng hissed in betrayal, even as he poured them the perfectly steeped tea with the cultured grace of his upbringing. Lan Xichen watched him with an expression of intrigue. She wasn’t sure why, since he knew who they were, but she supposed that proper tea etiquette was easily lost if not practiced often. She, of course, would never allow such skills to slide under her watch.
Just then the door slid open and A’Yao came in, looking grimly satisfied, until he saw Lan Xichen and froze in surprise. He stared at them as they stood up, and it wasn’t until Lan Xichen was greeting him that A’Yao managed to get unstuck.
“This one is honored by your presence, Young Master Lan.” He spoke stiffly. A’Cheng threw a concerned glance at Yanli but she had no idea what was going on.
“Miss Meng was just…” He trailed off thoughtfully and turned to her. “Would you prefer to be referred to as ‘Miss Jiang’?”
What a considerate man! She smiled brightly at him. “Miss Meng is my preferred name for now, until I can claim ‘Wei’ publicly. Our connection to the Jiangs of Yunmeng is tenuous at best, in the current circumstances.”
He smiled back. Before he could respond, A’Yao gave them a stilted bow.
“Forgive me, but Ying’er managed to splash my robes with mud. I shall go change. Please do continue without me.” He turned to the boys’ room and marched out.
“What was that about?” A’Cheng whispered. Yanli gave him a cross look and he hurried back to preparing more tea. She did not, in fact, know what that was about, but Lan Xichen was lovely company and he was going to be her brother-in-law soon enough, so with a smile she sat down and finally asked the question that had been haunting her.
“Was Second Young Master Lan a quiet baby?”
Lan Xichen grinned so hard his eyes scrunched up into crescents. “Not in the least. Lan Wangji was loud and stubborn!” He leaned over conspiratorially. “He bit people when he was overwhelmed!” His laughter trilled through the air.