Revised 08/01/23
Hello? Hello hello? Finally the drafts are actually readable! I'm not cringing as much as before omds this is such a milestone 😭😭
Happy New Year!
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Wei Wuxian awoke to utter silence.
He sat up groggily, slowly recalling the night prior's events as clear and vivid as if he was still living it.
The dormitory was mostly empty, save for him and a few other Jiang disciples. Jiang Cheng was already absent from his bed, assumedly after attempting to awake Wei Wuxian multiple times but to no avail, as what usually happened each morning.
A sudden foreboding feeling of dread was at the back of Wei Wuxian's mind, almost as if foreshadowing that something bad was to happen that day...Then again, there have been plenty of times he's had these thoughts, and the evening turned out perfectly fine and just like any other day.
He dressed, wondering just what the time was and how late he was going to be for the lectures...It was then that a thought occurred to him: he promised his shidi they would all catch fish together before the lectures began! No wonder he felt so nervous!
In his haste to run out of the room, Wei Wuxian nearly crashed into a second party who was on the other side of the door, but if they hadn't jumped back so abruptly, he and them both would have collided.
"Ah, I'm sorry— Wei Xiong! You're finally awake!" Nie Huaisang exclaimed, snapping his fan shut abruptly. "I was wondering where you were! You know, there's quite a ruckus today. Everyone looks so bright for some reason."
Nie Huaisang, just the person he wanted to see. Lately, he has been hanging around the dunderheads that are his shidi (he means that kindly), and wanted a refreshing person to talk to for once.
Nie Huaisang had probably grown to become a great Sect Leader in his old time, living up to his brother's ideals. Despite the airhead he was, Nie Huaisang could be serious when need be; thinking rationally and logically.
"Good morning, Nie-Xiong," said Wei Wuxian, waving a casual hand at the boy. "Looking forward to today's class?" he added teasingly.
"Wei-Xiong!" Nie Huaisang whined pitifully, clutching onto his closed fan like a lifeline. "Don't say that! You know how I feel about tests...I wonder what Da-Ge will say when I fail...last time he confiscated my paints for an entire month, who knows what he'll do now?!"
"Don't be so pessimistic," chided Wei Wuxian encouragingly. "Instead of saying 'when you fail,' you should say 'if you fail.' Actually, it would probably be much better to think about what would happen should you pass instead."
"That's easy for you to say," Nie Huaisang murmured, snapping open his fan. "You're an all-rounder, Wei-Xiong...no reason to stress over smarts because it was given to you at birth...hmph..."
"There, there, Huaisang," Wei Wuxian gently patted the other's shoulder slowly. "At least he won't threaten to break your legs. By the way, that's something I deal with every day, and I can say from experience that although it doesn't happen, it feels like it will. And it is frankly terrifying."
Nie Huaisang shuddered violently. "Oh dear, oh dear...what if Da-Ge does? He might break my legs, or...or...break my fans! Oh, Wei-Xiong, please! My handsome, tall and wise best friend!"
Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow, "Please what?"
"Please let me copy your test!" said Nie Huaisang earnestly. "I'll give you two books from my special collection...no, three! I'll give you three!"
"Erm...none would be preferable, to be entirely honest," said Wei Wuxian quietly. "And I can't help you, 'cause I'm already being punished by—"
"Oh please!" snapped Nie Huaisang. "Wei-Xiong, punished? You're being given an honour! Getting to watch the noble Lan Wangji all day...oh, the paintings! I've always wanted to paint the twin jades, but neither of them stays still long enough! Well, there's Lan Wangji, but...he's scary."
"Scary," repeated Wei Wuxian flatly.
"Scary," agreed Nie Huaisang, nodding.
"Huh? Lan Wangji? Really?" A voice exclaimed over many equally loud murmurs, coming from the large crowd of people.
"Yeah! You never would have believed it, but he admitted everything after being confronted by Lan Qiren himself!"
"I'd expect nothing less from Lan Wangji! But to think he actually did those things...come, let me through! I need to see this!"
"What's all that commotion about?" asked Wei Wuxian, tentatively walking towards the throng of people.
"Excuse me," he tapped the shoulder of a tall Jin disciple, who was standing at the back. "Would you mind telling me what has happened?"
"Did you sleep in late?" The Jin disciple regarded them with a sneer. "Don't tell me you aren't aware; the whole of Cloud Recess found out about it in a matter of minutes!"
"I heard Lan Wangji being mentioned," said Nie Huaisang quietly from beside Wei Wuxian, his open fan concealing his lips. "Is it perhaps something to do with him?"
"Why, of course!" The Jin disciple shook his head disbelievingly. "I never would have expected it! Lan Wangji, confronted by Lan Qiren just this morning! Apparently, he'd broken many of the sect's rules last night with one other disciple...but come to think of it, he never actually named anyone—refused to. Perhaps that's why Lan Qiren's so infuriated."
"No..." Wei Wuxian whispered, his eyes widening. 'Lan Zhan wouldn't!'
"Do you know where Lan Zh- er... Young Master Lan is now?" asked Wei Wuxian hastily.
The Jin disciple looked irritable, his lips curling like his patience was wearing thin at the barrage of questions. "He's being punished, of course," he said, nodding his head in the direction of the building adjacent. "Despite their blood relation, knowing Lan Qiren, I doubt he's being very lenient."
Wei Wuxian's mind zeroed-in on the words, nodding shakily. "Right, er, thank you. I, er... I have somewhere I need to be." And he sped past the crowd, pushing his way through without looking back.
"Wei-Xiong!" said Nie Huaisang in a whine. "Hold up! You're walking so fast, you—" and all of a sudden, he was crashing into a broad back, almost doubling over had he not caught himself just in time.
"Wei-Xiong, what's wrong...?"
Wei Wuxian stood silently, his arms at his sides and lips opening and closing multiple times, at an apparent loss for words: there Lan Wangji knelt before his uncle; two Lan disciples on either side of him, both holding identical planks of wood; his lips were tightly pursed and his eyes were closed as if in silent prayer.
The sight struck Wei Wuxian like a blade. He felt sick to his stomach; he had never liked others getting hurt at his expense, had never slept soundly for nights after witnessing Lan Zhan at his worst—the punishments, the Xuanwu cave, the war...
"Grandmaster!" What happened next was a blur; his feet carried him, unbidden, to the floor, beside Lan Wangji. And before he even knew what was happening, Wei Wuxian's head was kowtowed to the floor and he was pleading.
"Lan Zhan isn't at fault! Don't punish him!" His heart was palpitating in his chest. His throat suddenly felt dry. "Please, Grandmaster!"
From his peripheral vision, he saw Lan Wangji's entire stance slump, his back no longer straight as he stared incredulously at Wei Wuxian. "Wei Ying?"
"Grandmaster," Wei Wuxian raised his head to see Lan Qiren towering over him, an eyebrow raised as he stroked his goatee absently. There was a glint of disapproval and disdain in his eyes—it made Wei Wuxian wonder whether he had been waiting for him to come and confess.
"It was all me," he said determinedly. "I... I made Lan Zhan come out after late hours, I needed help with something and asked him for advice...I also convinced him to have a duel out of my own selfish desire to..." Wei Wuxian swallowed, clenching his fists silently. "to prove my swordsmanship to him. To flaunt."
"So shameless," someone murmured within the crowd. "I never knew Wei Wuxian could be so arrogant."
"No!" Lan Wangji exclaimed. Wei Wuxian's head snapped in his direction. He had known this would happen, in a way; known that Lan Zhan would be so honest and noble and would deny it. Yet a small, selfish part of him knew that if Lan Zhan wasn't as Wei Wuxian knew him to be, then they never would have been so... connected.
"Uncle," said Lan Wangji seriously, staring fiercely at the ground. "It was I. I was researching the Waterborne Abyss and asked Wei Ying to accompany me. It was also I who initiated the duel. Please spare Wei Ying as he did nothing to incite punishment! I will be punished in his stead!"
"Lan Zhan, you can't be serious—"
"SILENCE!" roared Lan Qiren. Wei Wuxian withheld a flinch at the sudden change in tone. The Grandmaster's mere posture emitted fury; it rolled off him in waves, imbued in every movement he made, every word he spoke. "If it wasn't for Su She informing me of your misbehaviour, who knows what you would have continued to do and gotten away with!"
A flash of white and blue appeared from behind a pillar; the person walked slowly, mockingly, with a false smile on their lips. Su She jeeringly bowed, "Second Young Master. Young Master Wei."
Wei Wuxian bit back an instinctive scowl. He had just saved this little blubbering idiot, and this is the repayment he is given?
"Su She," Lan Qiren hissed. "I expect you to repeat exactly what you relayed to me this morning!"
"Of course," Su She gave another bow in Lan Qiren's direction, and then turned to face Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, who were kneeling beneath him. Wei Wuxian sensed it gave the disciple some sort of feeling of gratification.
"Well, I was on patrol near the Library, when I saw a mysterious light inside...of course, I investigated, thinking a disciple or two were sneaking out after curfew. I intended to catch them, but then they suddenly left...It was Young Master Lan, and someone else. I think they wore Jiang Colours; it must have been Wei Wuxian."
"And I thought it was strange...But seeing Young Master Lan, I assumed he was given a task by you, Grandmaster. Until they both drew their swords and began to battle fiercely...I intended to relay this to you first thing in the morning, as it would be inadvisable to awaken everyone at such an hour."
Lan Qiren nodded silently, once again stroking his goatee slowly. "And what," he drawled. "Do you have to say to that?"
Wei Wuxian gulped, decidedly remaining silent. He noticed Lan Wangji's trembling fists, and itched to reach out and grab them, to whisper reassurance.
"WEI WUXIAN!" Lan Qiren suddenly snapped. Wei Wuxian jolted violently, broken out of his reverie immediately. "You broke many rules, regardless of the many warnings you have received! You led Wangji astray to a path of disobedience and violence, encouraging misbehaviour. Since you're so eager to defy the ways of my clan, you will be given 30 hits!"
Lan Wangji's shock was evident by his expression, "Uncle, you can't—"
"And Wangji!" hissed Lan Qiren, equally harsh. His voice suddenly grew into a soft murmur, "...I am disappointed. You will have the same."
"BEGIN!"
And before everything went black, all Wei Wuxian remembered was pain.