Chapter Text
9 months after the adoption of Jiang Xiao and Lan Yue.
"Muqin." Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes at the endearment, yes, he was the daughter's "mother", but that doesn't mean that his husband had to call him that as well!
"Yes Huan-ge?" A-cheng acknowledged from where he was cutting up vegetables.
"When do you plan telling Yi-er and Ling-er about A-Yue and A-Xiao?" Muqin froze mid-cut at the others words.
The blacknette sighed before turning around to face his cultivation partner. "I genuinely haven't thought about that." He murmured under his breath, and it's true, he hadn't really dwelled on it that much, sure, a passing thought here and there, but never actually focusing on the idea.
"We're going to have to tell them eventually." A-Huan pointed out.
"I know I know, I just genuinely don't know how to even begin to explain my daughters to them."
Huan-ge sighed before coming up to his husband, "If you want me to be there, you'll have to call Ling-er over today."
"Why only A-li-" Jiang Cheng cut himself off as he realized what the other's words was implying. "Lan Huan! You brought A-Yi here without my knowledge?" He scolded in exasperation.
"I was going to tell you when I arrived, but I got caught up with hiding the girls from Yi-er since I didn't want him to see them just yet, at least, not without your consent." Lan Huan brought his hands up in defense.
"Fine fine, I'll tell A-Ling to come over today, he should be here, if I tell him it's urgent, he should be here by tomorrow afternoon, then we can tell them." A-Cheng compromised with his very rushed options laid out before him.
"That's amazing, I look forward to it." Seeing as they were both alone in the kitchens, A-Huan leaned in for a kiss, to which the younger happily reciprocated.
Jiang Cheng had to remake the vegetable soup he was cooking for the girls because he got carried away.
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"Jiujiu!" Jin Ling practically crashed into Jiang Cheng, earning him a very strict scolding from the older about proper manners for a Sect Heir.
A-Cheng sighed as he finally finished with his lecture about ettiquite, "Do that again and I'll break you legs brat." He threatened with all bark and no bite. He had probably threatened Jin Ling with it about a thousand times by now, but he never actually followed through with it, but it did seem to get through the younger's head about what it actually meant after the first few times.
Then, finally, Ling-er was allowed to speak. "Jiujiu! You said you had something important to talk to me about! I need to know what's going on!"
"Stop worrying brat, it's nothing bad, I just needed to introduce you to some people."
At that, A-Ling looked offended, "Jiujiu! You called me here for that?'
"Oh please, you know Jin Guangyao handles the paperwork for LanlingJin, you have no reason to be worrying about missing anything, aside from getting away with mischief with your fellow disciples."
Jin Ling turned his face into a pout that made Jiang Cheng want to give into whatever his nephew asked of him.
"Fine fine, now come on, you've got to eat something before I tell you what I called you here for." A-Cheng sighed before grabbing Ling-er by his arm and dragging him inside.
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"Now that everything has been settled, we need to discuss something with you guys." Lan Huan sat down beside Jiang Cheng facing both Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling.
Jiang Cheng had refused to do any of the talking and explaining and just wanted to spend time with his kids so that left only Lan Huan to converse with their unofficial adopted children.
"As you know, A-Cheng and I are married," A-Huan guestered to A-Cheng who was looking at the door that was the only barrier between him and his daughters.
A-Yi nodded, still looking confused along with A-Ling.
"But, as of the past nine months, we have decided to…. take the next step persay." Huan-ge smiled, before quickly realizing his poor choice of words, "No, not like that!" He quickly backtracked knowing the two son's thoughts had immediently gone to something more…. intimate. No, they had already crossed that threshold about two years ago.
"What he's trying to say is that we've adopted two children." Jiang Cheng cut in, seemingly impatient with Lan Huan about taking his sweet time in explaining everything.
After a few beats of silence - and several blinks between Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi -, A-Ling finally spoke up. "What the fuck."
Lan Huan didn't miss the way Jiang Cheng winced at his nephew's choice of words, seemingly u bothered at this display of vulnerability around his family.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Ling-er finally finished his thought, putting to ease a now very relieved A-Cheng.
"Well for one, it's mostly because of the custody arrangements as we both have our own sects to take care of and can't exactly spend every waking second with each other." Lan Huan pointed out.
"And for another, I kind of tried holding it off." Jiang Cheng finished with a sigh.
Both of the boys looked hurt at this, but decided not to comment on it.
"May…" A-Yi started out hesitantly, "May we meet them?"
To that, Lan Huan nodded before Jiang Cheng got up and opened the door, finally letting the two most important girls in A-Cheng's and A-Huan's life reveal themselves to their new older brothers.
Jiang Xiao immediently jumped up from where she was sitting on the floor with her Jiejie.
"Mama!" She exclaimed, happiness in her voice as she barreled into him, nearly knocking him over if it hadn't been for the older man picking her up in his arms.
A-Xiao giggled as she was lifted up, before finally noticing the two unfamiliar boys in the room.
"Mama, who are they?" She pointed to Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi.
"Those," Jiang Cheng smiled, turning to them, "Are jiejie's and yours big brothers."
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Dear Jiejie,
How have you been since I last saw you? It's nearly been two months and I'm already missing my older sister. I mean, I guess that's to be expected, considering that you are my Jiejie, and we've been with each other for the first four years of my life, I'm still a little salty about Mama and Baba making us be away from each other for half of the year.
Speaking of Mama, I never knew he could be so strict. Like yeah, I saw him with Ling-gege, but still! I guess i'm still getting used to being fifteen and suddenly being thrusted into a world of politics and ettiquite. Can you give me some advice? You're seventeen, so surely you're able to tell me what to and not to do.
Anyways, I wish I could talk more, but Mama is yelling at me to get my ass over to the training grounds to train with the other disciples.
Lovingly,
Meimei
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Dear Meimei,
I'm doing good, and I sincerely hope you are too. And I get it, but I was scared when I first came to Gusu and was away from you, I didn't know what to expect, but thankfully, Fuqin managed to teach me everything I need to know and be in the Cloud Recesses.
And back to Fuqin and Muqin, please don't talk badly about them. Remember that they raised us since we were six and four, and that we should always treat them with respect and gratitude for everything they've sacraficed for us.
Also, if you want advice on politics, there is one thing you must remember. I don't care how many times Muqin has already told you this, but polite manipulation and intelligence are key in our industry. You must learn how to handle yourself on your own, as I will have the Lan Sect to run once Fuqin steps down, and Muqin won't be there to help you forever. If you want for me to go more in depth, then I will happily do so.
And like you, I also have duties to attend to. And I must end this letter short as Qiren-yeye is holding the next class and I don't want to ruin my record for not breaking any rules - at least not breaking any rules and being caught -, so I must get going to not be late.
Lovingly,
Jiejie
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"If you continue to pace back and forth, you're going to indent the floors, and I'm not paying for the repairs for that." Mama sighed, pinching his nose in exasperation at Jiang Xiao.
"I know, I know," A-Xiao sighed, "It's just that, I'm still nervous about returning to the Cloud Recesses and seeing what all has changed in the disciples and Jiejie."
Mama rolled his eyes before resting his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "You say this everytime, yet does something bad happen everytime?"
Jiang Xiao sighed, knowing that Mama had backed her into a corner. "No.. but something just feels off this time!"
Just as she finished speaking a Lan disciple burst in through the door. Before Mama could reprimand him for it - even though he had no relation to the disciple -, the disciple seemed to beat him to speaking.
"Wei-qianbei has arrived with Huanguang-jun!" They wheezed out.
After an awkward bout of silence, Mama spoke up, "Seems your intuition was right this time A-Xiao."
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"Xichen-ge, can you please tell us who this A-Xiao character is?" Wei Wuxian asked innocently, as if he hadn't nearly delivered a heart attack to Lan Xichen, who was internally panicking about how he was going to explain his children and his husband on top of that.
"Ah," Lan Xichen faltered, "Well, you know how Lan Yishu is my head disciple?"
Wei Wuxian and his cultivation partner both nodded.
"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that."
"How so?" Huanguang-jun inquired.
"Well, Lan Yishu is not only head disciple, but she is infact my adopted daughter." Zewu-jun smiled fondly, remembering all the beautiful and caring moments he had with his eldest.
"Does anyone else know you have a daughter, Sect Leader Lan?" Wei Wuxian asked, tilting his head in curiosity.
Sect Leader Lan sighed, it seems he really wasn't getting out of this, at least not without revealing some rather sensitive information to them. Which, he didn't mind, but he would at least prefer to have his husband's input on it before enlightening anyone else on it. He had just barely dodged Jiang Wanyin's wrath when he first invited Lan Jingyi to YunmengJiang to meet the girls, and he wasn't keen on experiencing it again anytime soon.
"Yes, Jin Rulan and Lan Jingyi." Lan Xichen smiled awkwardly, trying desperately to think of a way to escape this very uncomfortable situation for him.
"I understand Lan Jingyi, but… why Sect Leader Jin?" Wei Wuxian pressed for more answers, which in turn made the older slowly tilt away from him as if in escape.
"I would prefer to not talk about it, at least, not right now." Zewu-jun laughed softly, still trying to maintain his composure as the calm and esteemed eldest Twin Jade of Gusu.
Wei Wuxian huffed in annoyance, "Fine, then I only have one more question."
Sect Leader Lan perked up at the mention of a singular question left from the Yiling Patriarch. "What is it?"
"We asked for more information about this A-Xiao character, so then, why did you immediently resort to talking about your daughter Zewu-jun?"
Lan Xichen froze. Cursing out loud was banned in the Cloud Recesses, thankfully Xichen only repeated variations of "shit" and "fuck" in his head.
(He didn't want to admit that being with his husband had changed him in more ways then one, mainly having him be more comfortable with insulting and putting others in their place when talking to him. Oh, and also swearing.)
(Along with that, he had to practice extreme restraint to not show the darkness and fire in his eyes at Wei Wuxian referring to his A-Xiao in such an intimate manner.)
"Ah, I see." Lan Xichen smiled, trying to get out of his state of shock of the corner he had backed himself into. "Well, the answer is actually quite simple, I didn't adopt one daughter, I adopted two."
"Hm." Lan Wangji sounded out, too which Sect Leader Lan only flinched a tiny bit.
"If you adopted two, then I assume that would mean that this A-Xiao is Lan Yizhu's sister?"
"Yes." Zewu-jun was promptly done with the conversation, so decided to only give out clipped, short answers that answered little in hopes of not revealing too much important information.
"And please, call her Jiang Huiqing, I am not yet comfortable with you calling her in such an intimate manner." The request came without thinking, almost, instinctual for the man.
(Something hidden in his brain refused to let him admit that he was partly scared of Jiang Cheng leaving him in anger at Lan Huan's careless show of confidential knowledge of their daughters.)
They both nodded at the request. And Lan Xichen put it at that.
"Then, who pray tell, is their mother?" Wei Wuxian asked, a dark gleam of interest in his eyes.
"Ah, unfortunately, I am not comfortable with sharing such personal information. I sincerely hope you would understand my want for my marriage to stay private." Lan Xichen answered. "And, I apologize once more, but I believe I have work to do, so please excuse yourselves from my office."
Just as the two were about to leave, one of his disciples came in through the door.
"Sect Leader Lan, Jiang Xiao and Muqin have arrived." Lan Yishu said in a polite and calm manner, blantantly ignoring Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji who had yet to leave.
Ah, it seems that things were about to go to shit very quickly.
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20 Minutes Earlier
Lan Yue almost instantly knew when Muqin and Jiang Xiao had arrived at the Cloud Recesses. She didn't know exactly how, just something in the air shifted like it always did when the two arrived in the winter.
"Muqin." She bowed to Muqin first, as was custom for her whenever she first greeted them after a long time away. "Jiang-mei." She bowed once more to Jiang Xiao, but she couldn't help the soft smile that made its way onto her lips as she looked at how much her younger sister has grown over the past few months.
Muqin didn't say anything, instead, acknowledging her presence with a nod of pride. "Lan-jie." Jiang Xiao bowed to her this time.
"It has been a while since we have last seen each other." Lan Yishu stated, "I am glad to see how refined and elegant you have become since we departed ways in the beginning of fall." It was true, even though she wasn't directly the cause of her change in attitude, she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride everytime she looked at how cultured and polished her meimei had become.
Lan Yishu barely even registered the nod that was sent their way by Muqin before she nearly fell over from the impact that Jiang Xiao had almost strangled her in a warm embrace.
"A-jie!" A cry escaped her lips, earning her a scoff from Muqin.
"It's good to see you too, A-mei." Lan Yue returned the tight hold of the younger with gentle hands and soft words.
It seems that no matter how sophisticated A-Mei had become, she would always be her little sister.
(and A-Yue would always be a bit more ladylike then the upbeat and sarcastic girl.)
"Xiaoxiao!" Jiang Xiao was abruptly torn away from her, but before she could protest, she found that a certain Lan Jingyi had stolen the youngest sibling from her.
A-Yue watched in amusement as A-Xiao floundered in her older brother's hold.
"I think she got that you miss her, Yi-er." Muqin scolded, but it lacked flare when his eyes were soft and comforting. Almost like he missed this as much as the siblings did. "Also, you guys can spend plenty of time with each other during your free time, will you please give the poor girl a break from your affection?" A sigh was freed from him, who seemed subsequently tired and exhausted despite his children - aside from one - being lovingly reunited with one another.
"Shall I tell Fuqin that Muqin and Meimei have arrived?" Lan Yue suggested innocently, knowing that the exhaustion would double in Muqin once he was - yet again -, confronted face to face with his former martial brother.
"Fine." Muqin nodded, seemingly having accepted his fate long ago. "Even though I'll never be ready, let's get this over with."
"Splendid." A smile that didn't quite reach her eyes was plastered on Lan Yue's face once more, reverting back to the comforting mask of fake smiles and manipulation. "I shall inform him at once." She clapped her hands once before turning away to Sect Leader Lan's office.
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As Lan Yue walked to her Fuqin's office, she thought.
She thought of her baby sister, and how she would do anything to protect her. How one time, she had had a nightmare and ran throughout Lotus Pavilion looking for Jiang Cheng and Lan Yue.
She thought of how proud she was when she looked at Jiang Xiao standing up Muqin during a cultivation conference. How she confidently got up and explained the flaws in Sect Leader Yao's arguement against her Muqin.
She thought of how she loved her with all of her heart. How, even though she was the heir to one of the great sects, she was still playful and energetic, never slowing down for a minute, even when it seemed to tire all of her family out - with Jin Ling being the only one coming close to matching her energy.
She thought of how beautiful and kind of a Sect Leader she would soon grow up to be. How she would probably spend all the freetime she got dancing and playing with the Lotus Pier children. How she would love and fight for every single one of her people. How she loved everyone as if they were her own family, and her family more than herself.
She thought of just how perfect her little sister was.
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"You're doing it again." Mama pointed out how Jiang Xiao went back to pacing.
"Sorry! It's just I'm nervous meeting Huanguang-jun and Wei-gongzi for the first time!" A-Xiao continued her pacing through the Cloud Recesses.
"You'll be fine."
"I'll be just as fine as you will be!" She snapped back, taking both her and Mama by surprise. "Oh Guanyin! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it." She lowered her head and balled her fists at her side.
Mama just sighed at her apology, "I don't care if you grow a backbone Jiang Huiqing, I just expect you to be able to hold yourself together when you're nervous." There was a voice whispering in her ear this time, one that sounded suspiciously like Sect Leader Jiang's. "You can wear your emotions on your sleeve, but I will not let a daughter of mine show weakness."
Jiang Huiqing shivered under his words, and she remembered just how scary her Mama could be whenever he got serious.
She nodded, "I understand, Mother"
If Sect Leader Jiang had any reaction to her calling her "Mother" instead of "Mama", he didn't show it, and Huiqing-er took note of what to do.
They were interrupted by Lan Yishu appearing before them. "Fuqin, Huanguang-jun, and Wei-gongzi have arrived." She stated simply.
Upon her announcement, Jiang Huiqing immediently fixed her posture and leveled her gaze, just as Mother had taught her to do so.
"Father." The first bow went to Lan Xichen, who simply smiled.
"It is an honor to meet you Huanguang-jun and Wei-gongzi." The Jiang Sect Heir bowed before the two, since, despite her inheritance, she was pretty sure that they both still ranked above her, besides, it would be unprofessional not to bow to them.
"Likewise, Jiang Huiqing." They responded, bowing in response to her own.
(Jiang Huiqing had to hide her happiness at yet another successful first meeting between two high ranking people)
"Now that the formalities are out of the way, let me introduce my two daughters." Lan Xichen took his place behind in between the two sisters. Who started with indifferent eyes at the two men infront of them. "This is my eldest daughter, Lan Yue, courtesy Name: Lan Yishu." He gestured to the elder daughter. "And this, is my youngest child." A hand indicated Jiang Huiqing's presence. "Jiang Xiao, courtesy name: Jiang Huiqing."
"Lan Zhan, courtesy name; Lan Wangji."
"Wei Ying, courtesy name; Wei Wuxian."
"Ah, it seems that Mother has yet to introduce himself." Jiang Huiqing smiled.
"I thought your mother wasn't-" Wei Wuxian cut himself off as he realized who the only other person in the area was.
"Jiang Cheng. Courtesy name; Jiang Wanyin. Mother to Sect Heir Jiang Xiao and Sect Heir Lan Yue." Mother said without a hint of hesitation in his voice.