With no nagging brothers or sect leaders around and the New Years celebration almost upon them, Wei WuXian and Nie HuaiSang reverted to their teenaged selves during the day, playing with Wei Yuan and other juniors while Lan WangJi watched over them like a mother hen. At night, after Wei Yuan fell asleep and his night nanny was settled in, the three young men usually ended up on a pier, far away from the sleeping Jiang YanLi, drinking and telling stories until it was Lan WangJi's bedtime. After which it was just Wei WuXian and Nie HuaiSang drinking and laughing.
And sometimes, after Nie HuaiSang stumbled off to bed, Wei WuXian didn't immediately head for his own bedroom, but walked unsteadily to the room where Lan WangJi lay sleeping, and wondered if he'd ever have the courage to knock on that door.
Not that he had a good reason for why he wanted to knock on the door. Hey, Lan Zhan... will you kiss me again? It seemed silly thinking that on this side of the door. However, if he were on the other side, perhaps he wouldn't need to think at all?
Once the New Years celebrations were over, Nie HuaiSang pressed a piece of paper into Wei WuXian's hand. "Here's all the spies I've found. This way you can control the information leaving Lotus Pier."
Wei WuXian read the names dispassionately. "I do notice you neglected to give me the names of the QingheNie spies."
"Of course!" Nie HuaiSang laughed. "Why would I give up my advantage?"
And then Wei WuXian was left alone with Lan WangJi. And instead of being pressed into a post and kissed until he forgot to breathe, the jade simply said, "I have been thinking about what you said at Qiongqi Path about the Jin line of succession."
Once settled in a pavilion with a brazier emitting heat to ward off the chill of the rainy winter day, Lan WangJi asked, "Do you have a grudge against Jin ZiXun?"
"No, of course not. I don't even know who that is."
"The Jin asshole, as you call him."
Wei WuXian laughed. "Oh, him. No, I don't have a grudge. Why?" Lan Zhan silently handed over a letter. Wei Ying skimmed it, getting visibly angry as he approached the end. "Why would I curse him? If I was going to kill him, I'd just kill him! That hundred holes curse takes...." His face drained of color. "Lan Zhan... this happened before. In my previous life."
Lan WangJi nodded, almost as if he expected it. "Tell me what happened starting from your first memories of Jin ZiXun." So Wei Ying started talking, starting from the first time he'd gone to the Phoenix Mountain hunt, to finding Wen Qing, to that banquet altercation, and then finding the Wen and setting Wen Ning to killing the guards. He glossed over the time spent in the Burial Mounds, including his fight with Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan's visit, and only briefly mentioned some of the work involved in bringing Wen Ning's consciousness back to him. He spent more time that was strictly necessary describing how beautiful Jiang YanLi looked in her wedding dress and how good her soup was. And then went directly to entering Qiongqi Path and the fight there. He described that fight in as great a detail as possible. He was far less detailed describing the subsequent fight at Nightless City and Jiang YanLi's death. "And then I was back in the Burial Mounds, my people were dead, so I destroyed the Stygian Tiger Amulet and killed myself."
Lan WangJi was quiet during this recitation. "It is possible that the fight at Qiongqi Path was set up to eliminate both Jin ZiXuan and Jin ZiXun."
Wei WuXian stared at his friend, mind working furiously. "But... how? Who?"
"We agreed that Jin ZiXun is not smart. So why would he, in both times, suddenly decide that you were the one who cursed him? Especially in this timeline? When you had only a minor contact which should have been brushed off as accidental. You and I both know that you could not have cursed him, in either life. So.... Someone else cursed him and shunted the blame onto you. Someone who sees you as a threat? Or someone who wants you removed so as to gain control of your amulet?
"You asked me, also, who would become the next sect leader once Jin ZiXuan and Jin ZiXun were eliminated? Jin ZiXuan has not yet been killed in this time, but he also has not married Jiang YanLi."
Wei WuXian hmmmed thoughtfully. "Do you think that there are events that are absolutely required to happen? No matter what I do, are the end events always going to end the same? Meaning, there's no way for me to completely protect ShiJie and her husband? And that, no matter what I do, I am going to die destroying the amulet?"
Lan WangJi thought for a moment. "If that was the case, why were you allowed to return to this time to alter events? And events have changed from your previous time. Wen QiongLin did not die at Qiongqi Path, nor did you turn him into a cognitively aware fierce corpse. Those guards are dead, or soon will be, because the sect leaders are judging them guilty, not you arbitrarily deciding they need to die for their crimes. Yes, they are still dead, but the reason behind it is different. As well, there are other cultivators also being caught up in these rapes and murders of Wen civilians. Those men and women escaped your justice in your previous life."
"Hmm." Wei WuXian stared out over the water. "It is more than possible that one person cursed Jin ZuXun in both times. It is possible that one persuaded Jin ZiXun that it was me who cursed him. It is not necessary that those two characters be the same person."
Lan WangJi nodded. "I agree they are most likely two separate people."
"Someone who hates Jin ZiXun and someone who wants my amulet." This list of people eligible to be the first person was quite long. The list of people who wanted the amulet was far more limited. Wei WuXian frowned. "Jin GuangShan wants my amulet, and I have no doubt he's the one behind accusing me of cursing the asshole. But I don't think he's the one who explicitly, or otherwise, told the asshole I'm responsible. I think he shunted that responsibility onto someone else."
"Jin GuangYao," Lan WangJi agreed.
"You do my dirty work quietly and I'll legitimize you?" Wei WuXian whistled low. "If so, he's one greedy bastard." Wei WuXian's head jerked in realization. "He's the one. We already know that he's the one behind the civilians being detained etc, at Qiongqi Path. But, Lan Zhan? I think he's also the one who sent Jin ZiXuan to Qiongqi Path that day.
"Just think about it. What if he persuaded the asshole into thinking I cast the hundred holes curse.... The asshole thought that my death would remove the curse, right? So... I'm the better fighter, with or without a sword since I have access to resentful energy.... Jin ZiXun cleared Qiongqi Path of the dead and resentful energy before attacking me. He couldn't have done that with his own power, neither spiritual nor political.... He had help. If it was Jin GuangYao, he practically guaranteed there would be a battle that hopefully culminated in both of our deaths, right? Sending Jin ZiXuan there? 'By the way, brother, our cousin the asshole is going to meet up with your sort of brother in-law, and he's a teensy bit angry that Wei WuXian cursed him.' The only reason was to have him caught in the crossfire, and we accidentally kill him, too. Three rivals taken out at once. With me gone, an attack on the Burial Mounds yields the Stygian Tiger Amulet for the victors. Jiang WangYin had already announced my departure from the Sect, so he no longer held claim to my inventions. Jin GuangShan, as the most injured by my actions, claims my amulet as repayment for Jin ZiXuan's death.
"The only successor at the time was a one month old infant. Jin GuangYao, of course, outwardly accepts his nephew as the heir.... After some respectable time, Jin GuangShan has an 'accident', too Jin Ling is too young to become Sect leader, so Jin GuangYao reluctantly accepts the position, claiming Jin Ling as his heir. But before Jin Ling grows up to manhood, there's another 'accident', and Jin GuangYao remains Sect leader with his own son following in his footsteps."
Lan WangJi stared back at Wei WuXian, horrified. "It fits," he whispered. "He'd get away with it, too.... After all, he is sworn brothers with Nie ZongZhu and XiongZhang. And they would never be associated with such a psychopath as you describe..... With both Jin ZuXuan and Jin ZiXun dead, there'd be no one to tie him to their deaths. Jin GuangShan is detestable, so no one would be bothered in the least when he dies. And young cultivators, even heirs, occasionally die on night hunts.
"Although, you said Jiang YanLi also died.... Would Jiang WanYin allow Jin GuangYao complete control over the boy after Jin GuangShan dies? Or would he demand equal time?"
Wei WuXian's faced drained of color. "That would make it worse, actually...." he whispered. "If Jin Ling had his 'accident' while night hunting with Jiang Cheng? It would never tie back to Jin GuangYao."
Lan WangJi slumped. "Depending on how the accident was staged... it's possible that Jin GuangYao could even pin that death on your shidi.... Having created a demon cultivator, you, and causing the death of a sect heir? Jin GuangYao could make other sects agree to the YunmengJiang being absorbed into the LanlingJin."
Wei WuXian sighed and laughed harshly. "Here we are making some serious accusations. Most people who would hear it would call us mad.
"Are we crazy, Lan Zhan? Because this is some messed up conspiracy bullshit we've come up with. And yet... I can see this all happening...."
"So can I," Lan WangJi agreed.
Both men sat in silence, trying to find glaring flaws in their theories and finding none. Finally Wei WuXian stretched. "I supposed I have to go to Lanling then. Will you give me a ride or should I ride a horse there?" For some reason, Lan WangJi's ears pinked up.
"I'll fly you there tomorrow. Most likely, they're going to want to interrogate me after they talk to you."
Wei WuXian stood before Lan QiRen. "Do you know how to cast the hundred holes curse?" the elder asked.
"Yes." The truth spell made him speak the truth. Declining to add explanations or details was completely up to Wei WuXian.
"Did you curse Jin ZiXun with the hundred holes curse?"
"No."
"He's lying!" was shouted from the observers.
"He can't lie," Lan QiRen scolded. "Or do you doubt my skills still?" His skills had resulted in the detainment of nearly fifty cultivators and the execution of almost half that number already.
"Ask him where the Stygian Tiger Amulet is," Jin GuangShan demanded.
Jiang WanYin stood to shout down the Jin sect leader. "That amulet is outside the scope of this trial. Wei WuXian is accused of cursing Jin ZiXun; he is innocent. Let him go."
Lan QiRen looked lazily at Jiang Cheng for a moment, and asked, "Where is your Tiger Amulet?"
"I don't know," Wei WuXian answered.
"What do you mean you don't know where it is?"
Wei WuXian suppressed a grin. "I mean it was in my possession. After being summoned to come here, I went to pack it, and it was gone."
"Who took it?"
"I don't know." Which was also the complete truth. Lan WangJi had mentioned that he thought it would be in Wei Ying's best interest to not have the amulet on him while in Koi Tower. Wei WuXian had given Lan WangJi detailed instructions on how to find its hiding spot and which spells were needed to remove it from the hiding spot and which spells were needed to transport it safely. However, he never saw Lan WangJi remove the amulet and didn't know for certain that his friend had it.
"Why didn't you look for it?" Jin GuangShan was practically frothing at the mouth.
Although he wasn't required to answer anyone's questions but Lan QiRen's, Wei WuXian decided to speak up. "It's my amulet to find on my own time as I please. I had no intention of bringing it to Koi Tower anyways as I wasn't expecting to have to raise corpses for fighting." That was apparently the wrong thing to say or the wrong tone to say it in; the Jin sect leader's face grew dark with anger.
Lan XiChen interrupted. "The amulet is a conversation for another day perhaps. Wei GongZi, thank you for your time."
Lan QiRen wasn't done. "Wei WuXian. Did you ask someone else to cast the curse?"
That line of questioning came as a surprise. "No."
"Wei WuXian. Why don't you carry your sword?"
Lan WangJi stood. "Uncle, that question is out of the scope of this trial."
"I can't," was clearly heard behind the second jade's words.
"What do you mean by 'you can't'?" That was Jiang Cheng yelling now.
Wei WuXian turned pleading eyes to Lan WangJi. "I mean what I said. I can't carry a sword."
So, two chapters today.
And now to do school work.
Word of advice, don't go on a trip when you're supposed to be in school. I'm so far behind! It was half-business/half-pleasure, so it's not like I was goofing around the entire time. But I'm still on lesson 21 and the class is finishing up 24.... Ugh.