A/N- This is basically what happened when Wei Ying got Jiang Cheng back from the Wen-clan-overriden Lotus Pier, but if you were with him (in this story you're one of the Jiang clan's servants) and if Jiang Cheng died rather than being in a coma. Also I'm probably not going to use dialogue from that episode because I literally cannot remember specific dialogue lines, so sorry about that.
THE WATER LAPPED gently against the boat that you and Wei Ying were waiting in together. You had been serving the Jiang clan for 13 years, ever since you were seven years old, and you loved all the Jiang siblings like they were your own. You loved Wei Ying most, though. He was the kindest to you, and you related to him due to his trauma. Both your parents had also died, and the lady of Lotus Pier, Madam Yu, had taken you in as a servant. You had worked hard, and now you were respected by Madam Yu and by Jiang Fengman, her husband.
But all that respect evaporated when you publicly showed your love for Wei Ying. One day, you were going to the throne room of Lotus Pier to bring some tea to Madam Yu, as per her request, when you heard the loud crackle of a whip- a recognizable one as well. You had flashbacks to when Madam Yu would whip you with the Zidian for disobeying. The sound that was being made was the same sound as the Zidian hitting your back so many years ago. And after the slap, you could hear the heart-wrenching cries of a young man crying. That young man, you somehow knew, was Wei Wuxian.
Anger took over your body, and you ran into the throne room as fast as you could, spilling a lot of the precious tea. When you reached the room, you immediately wanted to turn back because of what you saw.
Wei Wuxian was lying on the ground with the back of his hanfu torn in two, and Madam Yu was whipping him over and over again, making his back bleed and leaving painful looking scars. Wuxian was crying out, begging for her to stop, but whenever he cried out, she would just yell back at him.
"Worthless servant boy! You're lucky I even allow you to be in the same home as me! This is what you deserve for being so vain and thinking you're equal to us! Just because your mother was my husband's whore doesn't mean that you matter to us at all! You're just a worthless gutter rat, and you should be back in the gutter where you belong! No amount of noise you make will ever change the fact that your life is worth nothing! So silence yourself and just take the hits!"
"My lady!" you said loudly.
Madam Yu immediately stopped whipping Wuxian and looked at you with panic in her eyes. She was obviously scared of the fact that you had seen her being so cruel to one of her sons, and that you were most likely going to report her bad behavior to her husband, who would yell at her until her ears bled for her sins.
"Y/N. How much have you seen?" she asked, suddenly sounding weak.
"I came in not a minute ago," you said. "However, I did hear what you said to him. And I have to tell you, you're a liar. A pitiful liar."
"What did you say to me, servant? How dare you speak to your mistress this way?"
"Yes, I am your servant," you said. "But that doesn't make me forbidden from speaking out if I see you doing something wrong. And everything you said to Wei Wuxian is wrong. He is not vain, and he is not worthless. And he's not a servant's son either! Cangse Sanren was a good woman, and she was high up, if not a lady in her own right. How dare you insult such a beautiful and worthy man based upon your own beliefs! Rest assured I will tell Clan Leader Jiang about this, and you will be punished!"
You turned to go and then felt the sharp pain of the Zidian cutting into your back. Over and over again, until you were unconscious, Madam Yu brought the electric whip down on you with all the weight and might she had in that slender body of hers- which you were shocked to see was quite a lot. You endured the pain, looking deeply into Wei Wuxian's eyes.
Before you lost consciousness, you had said something that had remained in Wuxian's mind for the past 13 years.
"This is for you, Wei Wuxian. All this pain is because you are worthy. Please see that."
After that incident, you and Wuxian had become best friends, and he even allowed you to use his family name with him, which he didn't let any other servant use. You were very close to him, and would protect him with your life. And he felt the same way about you.
You heard footsteps up on the pier, and Wuxian shot his head up to see what was happening there. You followed suit, and saw someone in the red hanfu of the Wen clan carrying someone wearing a torn white hanfu over his shoulders. The person he was carrying looked beaten up, but you could still tell who it was.
"Jiang Cheng..." you whispered.
Wei Wuxian gasped and fell back into the boat, grabbing your skirt and pulling you down with him. His face was gray and ashen and he looked terrified. You gave his hand a squeeze, and he grabbed your hand and held onto it as tightly as he could, so tightly it hurt.
Wen Ning knelt down by the boat and carefully placed Jiang Cheng's body in it. He looked at you with sad eyes, and you immediately knew what had happened.
"Is he dead?" you asked, wanting but also not wanting your suspicions to be confirmed.
"Yes. The beating they gave him was too much, and, sadly, he passed away. I'm so sorry..." Wen Ning said.
You wrapped your arms around Wei Wuxian, knowing how much he was hurting right now.
"I'm so sorry, Wei Ying," you whispered to him. "I know how much you loved him."
"I failed..." Wuxian whispered, his voice breaking. "I-I failed..."
And then he was sobbing loud shaky sobs in your arms, and your sensitive heart broke.
"You didn't fail, A-Ying. You did what you could. We just didn't come in time," you said, not letting go of him.
"J-Jiang Cheng... M-Madam Yu... Clan Leader Jiang... I-I f-failed them..." he sobbed.
"No A-Ying, no you didn't! You couldn't save them, you were too late, and that's alright. I'm sure they wouldn't want you to cry over their deaths," you said.
"B-but Clan Leader Jiang s-said... h-he said... t-that I had to p-protect them and... and I failed!"
"Wei Ying. You are not a failure. Remember what I said all those years ago? You're not worthless, and you're not a failure. If I was willing to be permanently scarred to get that message across to you, and willing to go through so much pain for you, do you not believe that what I say is true?"
Wuxian was quiet after you said that for a long while, but then he spoke.
"You're right... I love you so much. You're always there for me. I promise, I'll never fail you."
"You could never fail me, Wei Ying. You're my everything."
"I-I l-love you..." Wei Ying sobbed.
"I love you too," you said.
And you sailed away under the moonlight, holding each other in your arms and crying.