Growing Pains from Growing Family

Chapter 2: Assistance from Lan Wangji

Jiang Cheng woke up with an overpowering need to stretch, every muscle in his body was complaining about the fact that he had slept on the couch. A couch which was far too small and in no way was made for sleeping on, nor sitting in for that matter.

"Good morning" Looking up he was faced with the man who was the reason for his back pain. Looking significantly happier than last night Lan Xichen was dressed and ready for a new day, a bit too ready. Excitement was practically radiating from the Lan who had been broken just the other night.

"You haven't changed your mind about our plans have you?" Jiang Cheng asked, hoping he hadn't slept on this uncomfortable couch for nothing.

"No, I'm still up for it" The Lan said with a smile which looked far too sweet and innocent for what they were about to do. With no time to correct it Jiang Cheng began to get dressed as fast as he could. Intending to do as much damage as possible Lan Xichen had gotten up and woken Jiang Cheng up before five am, the time when they would strike.

Jiang Cheng was about to go over the plan once more when he noticed Lan Xichen standing facing the wall, his ears a bright red. Perhaps the Lan wasn't ready after all. Jiang Cheng must've really underestimated just how chaste the Lan was, given that he was already blushing this badly, and Jiang Wanyin hadn't even removed his inner robes when getting dressed. The only additional skin Lan Xichen might have caught sight of during this time was the Jiang's ankles, and that hardly warranted the Lan's current reaction.

"If this is enough to make you anxious perhaps we should come up with something else. I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to get revenge on Wei Wuxian." Jiang Cheng suggested as he finished tying his robes shut.

"N-no, I-I can do it" Lan Xichen's stammering wasn't very reassuring but Jiang Cheng still had faith in him. The fact that he was going along with this in the first place showed that he would do his best to see their plan through. Turning around to prove his point, sect leader Lan came face to face with a now fully dressed Jiang Cheng.

"Too slow. You missed your chance." The Jiang teased at the man who looked like he had prepared to potentially see the Jiang fully nude. "Now, let's hurry up before he wakes up" And with that Jiang Cheng split up with his partner in crime. In a hurried pace the purple-clad cultivator set off for the place he'd usually never step within a mile of, Jingshi, the current home of his brother.

knock knock knock, rapidly banging on the door Jiang Cheng attempted to get a response from the less sleep inclined inhabitant.

"Lan Wangji!" Jiang Cheng was impressed with how upset he managed to make himself sound on such short notice. "Please, I really need your help. Sect leader Lan... h-he... please help" Continuing to bang the door the Lan eventually opened. Fully dressed in his usual snow white robes, not a strand of hair out of order, Lan Wangji stood in the doorway. But despite his immaculate appearance Jiang Cheng knew the Lan had just gotten out of bed, the time wasn't five am yet.

Sneakily throwing a glance behind him, Jiang Cheng thankfully saw no sign of the sleep-loving Wei Wuxian who would usually sleep until at least nine am. "Over at Hanshi, he's digging through the ashes with his bare hands! Please help... I can't get him to stop." Jiang Cheng cried out the fake story the two sect leaders had come up with the night before.

After giving an affirmative nod Lan Wangji made large strides in the direction of his brother's home, or at least what was left of it after last night. Not a word was spoken but from what Jiang Cheng could see, he was greatly worried for his brother. Seeing his furrowed eyebrows almost made sect leader Jiang feel bad for what he was about to do... almost. Walking ahead of the Lan Jiang Cheng led him inside of Hanshi, guiding him past the door and towards what used to be the sect leader's bedroom.

Only they never got that far. As soon as Lan Wangji passed the threshold a hand extended and struck the meridian on the back of his neck causing him to slump over, unconscious. Rushing over Jiang Cheng made sure to catch the Lan before he fell down into the charred ashes covering the once clean floors. They couldn't have Lan Wangji get his robes dirty.

"Well done" Jiang Cheng complimented his accomplice who had hidden behind the front door. But seeing his brother's unconscious body Lan Xichen wasn't as excited about their plan anymore. But with or without excitement they were too far gone to back down now. Helping sect leader Jiang they carried the man over to Lan Xichen's bedroom, which to his pleasant surprise had turned out to still be mostly intact. Even the bed was still stable enough to provide a soft place to store Lan Wangji for the time being.

With rushed and hurried hands Jiang Cheng began to undress the man who only minutes before had gotten dressed at an equally fast pace. There was no time to spare, Lan Wangji needed to be undressed and tied up as soon as possible, if not they might not have enough time to pull off their "prank".

"What are you doing? Get a move on" Jiang Cheng whispered, there was no one around to hear him and no fear of waking the unconscious Lan but it felt wrong speaking in the same volume as they usually did. "Or are you waiting for me to undress you too?" Being reminded of what he was supposed to be doing, Lan Xichen began to disrobe, ignoring the discomfort of doing so in the presence of sect leader Jiang.

Not long after he'd removed his outer robes was a piece of white fabric thrusted into his chest. "Here, you don't need to do the inner robes, no one will be able to tell the difference either way" Sect leader Jiang was right, the brothers' inner robes, though being different, looked mostly the same, and with them being most hidden under their outer robes it wouldn't make much of a difference to their performance. Lan Xichen nodded, thankful he wouldn't need to fully strip, though the reason for the Jiang's choice was likely less due to Lan Huan's discomfort and more his own. He did not want to have to fully undress his unconscious brother-in-law.

By the time Lan Huan had gotten dressed Jiang Wanyin had fully tied up Lan Wangji's arms and legs in multiple layers of immortal binding ropes. After switching out Shuoyue for Bichen there was only one thing left to take. It was the one thing they needed that sect leader Jiang did not feel comfortable taking.

"Sorry brother, but you weren't watching over your husband well enough" Leaning forward Lan Xichen carefully untied his brother's headband. Being family it wasn't a big deal for him to touch it. Borrowing it on the other hand... Lan Xichen justified it as a punishment for his brother not taking his duties as a husband serious enough. And one of those important duties was to stop Wei Wuxian from causing trouble.

But Lan Xichen still very much loved his brother, and not wishing for Lan Wangji to feel panicked in case he woke up before they came back for him, Lan Huan tied his own headband around his brother's forehead. The younger Lan might have gotten used to not having his own tied around his head as often anymore, but this time the person stealing it had clearly not been the man soundly sleeping back at Jingshi. It had been someone else who had taken his headband, and this way if Lan Zhan woke up he'd would know that the person in possession of his treasured item was his brother and not some random stranger.