A Flower Of Youth

Prologue

A-yuan's earliest memory was lying in a bed, his body sweating and burning up. The feeling of sickness. He remembered someone dabbing a towel on his forehead. He remembered the soft sound of music playing, comforting him as he tried to sleep. When he awoke, his surroundings were bright and unfamiliar. Being young, he starts crying, and immediately, someone comes to his bedside. A man in white robes had a serious face but gentle eyes. A-yuan feels someone holding his hand, caressing it until he calms down.

One day the man in white takes him to see another man, much older with a strict face. A man in green robes stands next to him, his face softening at the sight of the young toddler. Although the child could not understand the conversation, he knew it was serious by the sound of their tones.

"I wish to give him the surname of 'Lan'. So he will officially be part of the Lan Clan." Lan Wangji tells his uncle.

"Is he not from the Wen clan?! How can we possibly accept him as one of our own!?" His uncle rages. A-Yuan cowers closer, flinching away from the loud voice. Lan Wangji presses him closer to his side, his grip tightening.

"He is a child. He has not even reached the age of four yet. He does not understand the ways of the clan or which one he used to be part of." Lan Wangji replies back. Lan Xichen turns to his uncle.

"Wangji is right. He will not remember being part of the Wen Clan and he does not need to know unless he finds out himself one day."

"Hmph!" was his uncle's response. "Do what you wish. But do whatever it takes to prevent that child from discovering his true heritage, you understand? And also... the clan doctor will be looking after him after he recovers from the fever as your...punishment still stands." The last words came out in a harsh and hostile tone. Then he leaves, not even sparing a glance at the child.

"Scary," Lan Yuan whines as he clings onto Lan Wangji's leg, his bright eyes filling with tears.

"Don't worry. I am here." Lan Wangji reassures him.

"He will make a fine cultivator," The man in green tells his brother.

"XiongZhang, I...can you," Lan Wangji begins.

"Yes, I will try my best. Do not worry brother." The man in green bends down to touch A-Yuan's face gently before standing up and walking from the room. A-Yuan looks after him, his eyes blinking rapidly.

"Let's go. I have somewhere to show you," Lan Wangji takes A-Yuan's hands. When they arrive at the place, A-Yuan squeals in delight and runs after the white fluff balls that surrounded him.

"Be gentle," Lan Wangji says, picking up a rabbit and placing it carefully into A-Yuan's hands. He sits A-Yuan down and continues putting bunnies onto A-Yuan's lap. After a while, it seemed as if he had buried the young child under them, though he could still hear the muffled giggles.

"Brother?" Lan Wangji turns around to see Lan Xichen standing there.

"What are you doing? Aren't you worried they'll bite him?" His brother frowns.

"The rabbits won't. They are gentle." Lan Wangji reassures him. Lan Xichen sighs, but doesn't say anything else. After A-Yuan falls asleep after exhausting himself by playing, Lan Wangji picks him up and brings him back to the Jingshi, tucking him into the bed. Then the rest of the afternoon and into evening, he plays Inquiry, watching the strings in silence for a reply back from the one person he longed to talk to so badly.

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Two days later, A-yuan was taken care of by someone else. He was not as comforting as the man in white and as a result, A-Yuan ended up crying again and despite the man's efforts, he was not able to calm the child down. However a man in green robes also comes and plays a soft tune on his xiao, lulling him to sleep. A few days later, after he was recovered, A-yuan was left in a place where many other children were. He did not see the man in white for a long time. Although there were other men wearing white, young Lan Yuan had learned to recognize the face of the man who had taken care of him, even if it was only for two days. He tries playing with the other children, but they seem to ignore him, sensing that he was different from them. After all, he had trouble paying attention during lessons, often dozing off and getting distracted with his toys, which led to harsh scoldings. After the scoldings, he would be put in time-out, and with no one to comfort him, he would cry into his knees.