Chapter Text
“-ian. Wei Wuxian!”
An aggressive whisper of his name shakes him from his train of thought.
He turned his head and noticed Jiang Cheng flicking his head at him, motioning for him to look forward at their teacher who had finished the topic being covered in class, looking expectantly at the class. From the corner of his eye he noticed Lan Zhan looking at him briefly before silently huffing. Oh, the old man asked a question and is waiting for the class to participate in the discussion. Wei Wuxian takes a quick glance at Jiang Cheng in his peripheral vision. I wasn’t listening. What the hell do you want me to do?
Lan Qiren was not impressed.
“Wei Wuxian, if you are unable to infer anything useful from the Town Magistrate how would you proceed your hunt from there?” Seriously? Why me, old man?
This is something everyone their age should already know, and if they don't that is truly a testament to how lacking their education has been in their home sect. The best way to get information after speaking with the closest sect and town magistrate would be to speak to the common folk that are the most likely to be impacted by such an inconvenience at best and tragedy at worst. The common people might not have all the right terminology when describing the situation to you, but they would be able to tell you where it happens, what seems to be going on, and if you as the cultivator cannot infer from that information what kind of monster you are dealing with then you compare it to the closest equivalent and plan what to do from there.
He repeats his thoughts aloud, answering his teacher trying to keep the boredom from his voice.
Lan Qiren’s eyes narrowed as they scrutinized his person. There was nothing out of line with what Wei Wuxian said so he thought it was a bit petty of the man to nit pick one of his more straightforward responses. The old man seemed to begrudgingly find his answer acceptable and moved on to another student.
The rest of the class continued on as uneventfully as it had started with Lan Qiren calling on random students and grilling them on different topics, Tingshan He’s young master in particular was unable to come up with anything on his own so Wei Wuxian was inconspicuously whispering his assistance to the poor heir.
When Lan Qiren finally dismissed the class Wei Wuxian got up from his desk ready to turn and say something stupid to Jiang Cheng just to rile him up before his name was called again.
“Wei Wuxian, wait a moment. I would like to speak to you.”
What the fuck, I didn’t even do anything this time.
Jiang Cheng grimaces and glares at him, sending the message to behave. Well jokes on him, he did behave today and he still got in trouble, this is clearly out of Wei Wuxian’s control (but what else is new). He smiled teasingly at his shidi before the other boy left whispering with Nie Huaisang. Lan Zhan also paused in his task of packing up his materials before looking between his uncle and Wei Wuxian. Lan Qiren nodded at his nephew and Lan Zhan finished gathering his belongings then left but not before one last confused glance at his uncle that did not go unnoticed by Wei Wuxian. I guess he doesn’t know what this is about either.
Wei Wuxian walked towards the teacher who then gestured for him to sit while he organized the papers on his desk. Wei Wuxian waited silently only fidgeting a little bit before Lan Qiren pulled out a stack of papers from the pile and handed it to him. Still confused and a little apprehensive, Wei Wuxian takes the paper and reads it. It was his test paper from their most recent examination. There weren't any markings on it either aside from his own chicken scratch. Still not catching onto what the old man is thinking he looks up at him as he hands back his test. To his bewilderment, when Lan Qiren takes it back he begins to read it out loud.
“Legalism values distinct hierarchies and systems that have to be followed and failure to adhere to such structures lead to severe punishments, in contrast Daoism emphasizes a lack of conformity from the people towards the societal standards and to exist only with harmony to the universe,” the man dictates directly from the paper.
From what Wei Wuxian could understand the purpose of the test was to see how well the students understood the major philosophies that govern and dictate their culture, to see where exactly the each person’s level of education is at in order for Lam Qiren to appropriately accommodate the curriculum so that it is not so unreasonable for people to pass. It still doesn't explain what is happening right now.
“They do not appear to have anything in common with each other so for there to be a synthesis between the two ideologies there would have to be compromises. Daoism seems to combine well with other ideologies, but among the core principles of Legalism it is difficult to see where one would be willing to compromise considering one values the adherence to rules and systems, while the other allows for the individual freedom to reject societal values and live in a way that is harmonious to the universe.”
If Wei Wuxian is honest he is quite partial to Daoism as a philosophy. The way it is utilized by most allows for the higher classes of people to look down at the common folk and anyone even below that based on nothing but bloodline and luck, but at its core, Daoism means to live and let be. If you want to be extreme about it, it would mean that if you catch on fire not to put it out and just let nature take its course. Be one with nature and do not fight the natural parts of life. The reason that he likes it is because it emphasizes what is natural, and human made hierarchies are not natural. No one is above the other and no one should try to fight that because it would create disharmony. Alas, the world runs on money and power, and disharmony is used in order to get what you want.
Lan Qiren continues, maybe unaware but more likely uncaring of the fact that Wei Wuxian grows more and more confused as time passes.
Seriously. What is happening?
“Daoism is a very broad ideology that thinks in terms of the bigger picture of the world, but Legalism is hard, structured, and very serious in its way of thinking because once rules and laws are decided it becomes difficult to change in a way that will be beneficial to everyone,” Lan Qiren finishes his recitation and stares Wei Wuxian directly in the eyes.
For a moment Wei Wuxian tries to think of a response. “ Yes that is what I wrote down,” or “ I promise I didn’t cheat,” he had a feeling simply saying “ cool” would not be appreciated. Thankfully his teacher wasn’t looking for a response.
“Do you know what has been plaguing me since the lectures started, Wei Wuxian?”
My very existence?
“That in spite of your undesirable conduct and complete lack of respect for propriety, you are undeniably one of the most promising students that have attended this lecture.”
Wei Wuxian blinked at him not knowing how to respond to that . A statement of fact that so clearly haunts his teacher, it would have made him laugh if it didn’t annoy him so much that he was being talked down to. He was once again not expected to respond.
“Your answers on your test are well thought out and insightful despite the fact that you never seem to pay attention in class, and are more concerned with entertaining your fellow students with absolutely no regard for the rules that you are blatantly ignoring,” Lan Qiren begins to sound exasperated.
His teacher then pulls another paper out of his sleeve once again handing it to him.
Oh shit.
The slightly crumpled paper is a diagram that Wei Wuxian had started in class when they were working on an actually interesting array in class the other day. He finished the in class assignment easily and began to expound on an idea deriving from the array that he continued to work on during his punishment session with Lan Zhan. One of his papers must have gotten mixed up in the papers he was transcribing the rules on while he was trying to be inconspicuous about it. In his defense, the paper he left behind ended up not being necessary once he thought of a different way to go about his problem that didn’t require the extra diagram.
Wei Wuxian is starting to feel nervous now.
“Can you explain to me what this is?” it’s phrased as a question but it is most definitely not a request.
“It’s an array that I was theorizing would trap fierce corpses in it while also allowing spiritual energy through in a way that allows it to continuously circle in a vacuum in order to speed up the liberation process, so that cultivators do not have to keep supplying spiritual energy when they’ve been weakened and don’t have much left.” The idea came to him from the array they were studying in class that trapped cultivators and did not allow their spiritual energy out of the array. He found a way to make it semipermeable instead, trapping resentful creatures but allowing for other types of energy to pass through into it, and due to the nature of resentful energy and spiritual energy and their constant push against each other it creates a system that dissipates once it reaches equilibrium.
“Should this undergo proper and rigorous experimentation, you could change the way that cultivators deal with lower level resentful creatures entirely,” Lan Qiren states bluntly.
Cool, I guess? The entire thing was more of a thought experiment as Wei Wuxian wouldn't really have the time or appropriate resources to really test it out. His responsibilities as Head Disciple do not lend themselves to such things and even if they did, it would be near impossible for his inventions to get any actual use given Madam Yu’s utter disdain at anything he does at all. If the old man could get to the point, Wei Wuxian would really appreciate it.
“Time and time again you show how you far surpass your peers in your understanding of cultivation and you don’t even do it on purpose. If I am going to be completely honest I am worried about where your mind will go if left unchecked, so this one has been left with no choice but to ask you directly: just how bored are you during these lectures?”
…
Well that was unexpected.
Now Wei Wuxian is in a bit of a pickle. He’s already made it known to the man that he is not taking these classes seriously, this whole escapade is really more of a vacation to him away from all his responsibilities at Lotus Pier, but there is absolutely no way he can say that to the man running the exchange. Wei Wuxian thinks for a moment as his teacher patiently allows him to gather his thoughts, and decides that there’s no use in being anything other than honest.
Wei Wuxian clears his throat before speaking as respectfully as he can for the first time since the lectures started, if only to show how truthfully he is speaking at this moment. “If this student may be honest,” he begins carefully watching Lan Qiren’s face, “the lectures cover a broad spectrum of different subjects and topics that are beneficial to the education of the sect heirs, however if you are asking this one specifically if he finds it sufficiently challenging..,” still no change in the old man’s expression so Wei Wuxian might as well.
“...then the answer would have to be no.”
“I see.”
Lan Qiren looks thoughtfully at Wei Wuxian, as if dissecting him in his head trying to figure out how to proceed from here. He looks like he wants to take a deep breath or sigh in exasperation but his manners won’t let him. Proprietary once again taking precedence over anything and everything, Wei Wuxian genuinely can’t imagine living like that.
“Your need to entertain both yourself and your peers, and the way that you seek answers to questions and ideas that go beyond the scope that is intended during the lectures is a direct consequence to the fact that you are not being challenged enough during class?”
“I mean? Probably?” He’d never thought of it like that before but it’s not unreasonable.
“Though I haven’t been on my best behaviour, I do still appreciate the Lan Sect’s invitation to their lectures on Jiang shushu’s request,” Wei Wuxian adds on with a sheepish bow from his sitting position.
“A junior disciple becoming head disciple at the age of fourteen, especially after beginning training not long before is an impressive feat,” Lan Qiren sounds like he’s mostly talking to himself at this point. “You would have received an invitation regardless of Jiang Zongzhu’s request.”
“Wait really,” Wei Wuxian asks before he can stop himself.
“Yes. Your father received the same invitation when he was your age for the same reasons.”
Well that was news to him.
“Oh,” he says dumbly. “I didn’t know that.”
“What do you mean you didn’t know that?” Lan Qiren sounds incredulous and confused when he asks. “It is a child’s duty to honour the memory of their parents.”
The older man condescends to him and Wei Wuxian, who is used to such things, can’t help but feel slighted. He didn’t know because nobody told him and he learned early on not to ask Jiang Shushu anything about his parents lest Madam Yu find out and accuse him of trying to gain more favour by bothering his sect leader with trivial sentimentalities, and he says as much to Lan Qiren omitting the part about Madam Yu.
The old man once again looks thoughtful while stroking his beard. Wei Wuxian waits silently for his teacher to speak, dismiss him, add to his punishment, literally anything at this point. Wei Wuxian doesn’t think that he’s said anything outlandish during this talk, but you never know how people will choose to take the things he says regardless of how harmless he feels it is.
“Wei Wuxian, I have misjudged you.” huh?
“...About what exactly, sir?”
“I believed that your outbursts and poor behaviour stemmed from a lack of care and respect for authority, and while your behaviour does require correcting, I have been negligent in my duty as an educator,” Lan Qiren continues like he isn’t flipping Wei Wuxian’s world around right now. An adult with direct authority, apologizing to him for poor treatment. “And for that I apologize.”
Baffled at this turn of events, Wei Wuxian responds, “There’s really no need for that.”
Truly there isn’t. Despite the fact that Lan Qiren had apologized he only meant it in his lack of acknowledgement of Wei Wuxian’s intelligence and how it pertains to cultivation. He doesn’t care that he singled out Wei Wuxian in front of the class on the first day for something other disciples have no doubt done and were dealt with in private, and when he failed to shame Wei Wuxian he belittled him instead.
“As a disciple of the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng, you should be so familiar with all this information that you can recite it without issue. There should be no pride taken in answering correctly.”
Wei Wuxian learned everything he needed to know about the man after that. His background will not be overlooked here, he doesn’t belong in such a place, and with that Wei Wuxian decided that there was no point in forcing himself to conform to such a stuffy place even if only for a year.
“Hm,” the man hums contemplatively. He looks like he’s about to say something before stopping himself and nods instead.
“To correct this your punishment will be modified, as it is admittedly excessive for the offense. You will finish copying the rules but you will not have to write any more additional copies.”
Wei Wuxian can’t help but feel slightly disappointed that Lan Wangji will no longer be obligated to watch him, and it almost overcomes the relief he feels because his hand feels like it’s about to fall off after every session.
“This one thanks Lan Laoshi for his generosity,” he lowers his head respectfully.
Lan Qiren continues to look at him with searching eyes. Searching for what, Wei Wuxian doesn’t really know but is hoping that the conversation will be over soon.
“In addition, you will be taking additional classes with me.”
Sorry, what?
“Since the curriculum falls far below where you currently are in your education I will rectify it with additional lessons covering topics that I see fit,” Lan Qiren states bluntly, looking satisfied with this decision.
You just waived my punishment, old man! Why are you giving me another one?!
“We will meet for an hour everyday on top of the regular guest disciple class. I will let you know when I find an optimal meeting time.”
Wei Wuxian doesn’t know what kind of face he’s making right now, he sincerely hopes that his displeasure isn’t so obvious. If the teacher saw anything he didn’t comment on it, and held up the paper with the diagram of the array Wei Wuxian was working on during his punishment. “Starting with this.”
Wei Wuxian continues to stare at the man like he’s lost his mind.
“I want you to present your findings on this array design that you have concocted. A written treatise would be appreciated but just your notes would also suffice.”
Wei Wuxian manages a nod, and with that he is dismissed.
Shit now I have to make sure my chicken scratch is actually legible. Wei Wuxian sighs to himself when he’s finally a good distance away from the Orchid Room. A treatise on array theory is still better than having to write official correspondence. At least the thing he has to write will actually be interesting. He sighs again before going on his way to the library to finish the last of his punishment. He wonders if he should tell Lan Wangji about the change in his punishment or if he should leave that to his uncle.
Wei Wuxian finally makes it to the library entrance and firmly ignores the disappointment he feels over the fact that Lan Wangji won’t have any reason to be near Wei Wuxian anymore.