Two months had passed since Wei Wuxian and the others came to study at Cloud Recesses. For Wei Wuxian, the classes were nothing other than monotonous. Either history or etiquette, he had already learned all of them from Xie Lian since Xie Lian taught him everything, starting from reading, writing, swordsmanship to the six arts, politics, taoism and even cooking. The last one he picked up more from Hua Cheng, but anyways, there was nothing new for him to learn at the Cloud Recesses.
Although it might have been eight hundred years since Xie Lian had learned these stuffs, the general concept of etiquette, literature or swordsmanship had not changed much at all. One could argue; as this was because Xian Le was the most prosperous kingdom to have ever existed, and all their culture and knowledge had been passed down one way or another. With nothing to do, Wei Wuxian slept through classes, sneaked in alcohol every time he could, and even wrote a book titled, 'How to survive at Cloud Recesses'.
During these two months, Lan Qiren had held three formal tests. And as a part of the deal to have Nie Huaisang copy the sect rules for him, Wei Wuxian provided him with answers during the test. The first times went by fine but this time, he was caught red-handed by Lan Wangji, whom he couldn't bring to his side even with two jars of Emperor's Smile.
So and so, Wei Wuxian was sentenced to copying more of the Lan Sect's rules. Furthermore, because Nie Huaisang helped him copy the last time, he was grounded in the Library Pavilion for a month until he actually finished copying the rules by himself. Wei Wuxian thought he would just sleep in the Library Pavilion, and have Nie Huaisang copy the rules, but then his plans were shattered when he saw Lan Wangji sitting in the head position of the Library Pavilion. It was so obvious that the old Lan sent his little Lan to monitor him.
What a tedious pair of uncle and nephew!
Wei Wuxian, having his plan to nap broken, sluggishly sat at his desk and playing with the brush in his hand. He did try to write some at first, but after a page or two, he became so bored that he didn't even want to move his hand back and forth between the inkstone and the paper. The only other person in the room, in complete contrast to him, sat poised and dignified at his position. His hands moved gently and steadily, as he tirelessly copied the texts from nearly worn-out old books into new ones.
"Wangji-xiong [1], are you still mad about the night that I sneaked in some jars of Emperor's Smile?"
The dread of silence had Wei Wuxian open up a conversation despite the other party blatantly ignoring him.
"Wangji-xiongg. Is that true? You're still mad! Is that why you crushed the flower and the note I gave afterwards right? And you've been avoiding me since that day too."
Wei Wuxian leaned towards the other boy and continued the conversation on his own. On the mention of flowers, the steady hands seemed to stop for a bit, but only lasted for a tiny second before they continued at their previous pace.
"Wangji-xiong, I'm really terribly sorry for that! I really didn't know that alcohol was forbidden on that day."
Wei Wuxian continued, hoping to hear some rebut like, 'You continued to drink it even when I pointed it out' but he was still ignored. The feeling of boredom crept up to the brim of his neck, 'What!? Am I talking to a statue!!?'
"Wangji-xiong!" Wei Wuxian stood up.
"Lan Er Gongzi. [2]" He took a step closer to Lan Wangji.
"Lan Wangji." He inched closer to the statue-like boy with light steps and spoke with a voice that was soaked in honey.
"Lan Zhan!" [3]
Wei Wuxian tried calling out Lan Wangji's birth name, hoping it might startle the statue a bit. Indeed, it got him a fierce gaze from Lan Wangji who had been sitting silently without moving particularly. Lan Wangji's eyes just screamed 'furious' when looking at the foolishly grinning face of Wei Wuxian.
"Hey don't look at me. I only called your birth name because you weren't responding." Holding up two hands, Wei Wuxian defended himself, "if you feel unfair, you can call me by my birthname too."
"Put your legs down." Lan Wangji said apathetically. The way Wei Wuxian was currently sitting was very improper with one leg up, spreading his groin area and leaning in on Lan Wangji's desk. "Fine. Fine." Wei Wuxian put down his legs but he still leaned in even closer. Now with both his elbows on Lan Wangji's desk, Wei Wuxian was almost touching Lan Wangji's shoulders given the small size of the desk.
"You know, you really remind me of an aunt of mine back in...," Wei Wuxian almost said 'the heavens' but quickly saved and said, "Yunmeng!".
Lan Wangji did not know why Wei Wuxian especially emphasized Yunmeng but not that he wanted to know either.
"Right, an aunt of mine back in Yunmeng. She is exactly like you too. Always working and writing scrolls. Though, you still seem youthful, if you keep it up, you might begin to have bags under your eyes like her. That's no good, Lan Zhan. Pretty faces should not have eye bags."
"..."
Despite rambling about, Wei Wuxian failed to get another reaction from Lan Wangji who just directed him to return to his punishment. Wei Wuxian tched in disappointment but he still sat beside Lan Wangji. However, having forced a reaction out of the stoic boy, Wei Wuxian obviously couldn't help but want to continue. He was having too much fun. He could have stopped there and be content with his victory, but for some reason, he couldn't stop.
Following almost immediately, a puckish grin appeared on his face,
"Lan Er Gege!" [4]
Wei Wuxian was holding in his grin and observing the reactions of the Second Young Master, but the Young Master seemed to have been frozen in his position as if a black screen befell onto his entire face.
"Ridiculous!"
An obviously angered voice that seemed to have been repressed came from Lan Wangji as he turned back to his desk and forced his hands to continue his work. Wei Wuxian noticed the slight red lining the lower margin of the rigid-looking young master's ear, and was tremendously amused. Wei Wuxian could have stopped here. This was only the first day and it wouldn't be so good to anger his supervisor so much on the first day. But how could Wei Wuxian stop when he was getting such interesting results.
With another interesting plan to tip off the second young master Lan, Wei Wuxian inched closer, his lip grinning with mischievousness. When he tried to pry open his mouth, however, his eyes were filled with surprise. Because his upper and lower lips seemed to be glued to each other! He couldn't open them no matter how hard he tried. At this rate, much less about not being able to talk; he couldn't even laugh!
"Mmmmphh!"
Wei Wuxian struggled but to no avail. He quickly sat down on the other side of Lan Wangji's desk and stroked some characters onto a paper and showed it to Lan Wangji. The cold ice aura seemed to have returned around the stoic boy, and Lan Wangji gave a short glance to the paper to which he only replied, "Ridiculous," and continued writing, dismissing Wei Wuxian's misery.
Wei Wuxian trembled, having been ignored like this. He crumpled up the paper and threw it into a corner, and wrote down a new one and shoved it in Lan Wangji's face. This time, there wasn't even a reply anymore.
Wei Wuxian felt the frustration up to his scalp. He wrote down many other notes which had all been ignored. Frustrated, he went back to his desk and frustratingly poured all his frustrations onto the paper. He was pouting the entire time, thinking 'Even Nan-shu and Fu-shu are not that strict with punishments!'
The first day was over like this, and Wei Wuxian definitely learned that teasing Lan Wangji would only result in having his mouth sealed by their clan's Silencing Spell. However, the next day, Wei Wuxian couldn't handle the boredom from the start and started to haress... tease Lan Wangji repeatedly. Of course, the action always ends in Wei Wuxian suffering from the Silencing Spell yet this course of events occurred in repetition over the whole month.
Days passed and the last day of the month of punishment for Wei Wuxian came. Wei Wuxian arrived quietly at the Library Pavilion, properly sat at his desk, put down his sword and started writing. It was so unusual that Lan Wangji had to look closely to assure nothing was out of the ordinary, or was it? He did bring his sword, but Wei Wuxian never came in quietly or did his work without ever causing some commotion or at least some noise. However, that day, Wei Wuxian came in like a model student, diligently writing as it seemed. It might have been normal for other students but it was out-of-the-ordinary for Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji couldn't let down his guard easily.
The sudden obedience kept Lan Wangji on tips and toes, but only mentally, since his face didn't reveal any of his inner emotions. Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, seemed as if he was even copying Lan Wangji's behaviors, poised and dignified. He diligently moved his brush without causing even a slight blunder. Lan Wangji couldn't believe his eyes for the first time in his life.
After a while, Lan Wangji for a moment thought Wei Wuxian finally learned to behave, but it lasted only for a moment as Wei Wuxian got up abruptly from his seat and slid over to Lan Wangji's desk in an instant. Lan Wangji, who was about to praise the other boy, immediately retracted his thoughts. Only then he noticed that the subtle feeling of unsettledness died down in his heart as well. But that was weird. Why would he feel reassured to see Wei Wuxian cause a scene?
Wei Wuxian had no way of knowing the young master Lan's inner turmoils, since no apparent, not even slight, strange expression showed on his face. Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, had a full-fledged smile like that of a winner of a chicken dinner. Lan Wangji didn't like that smile, but he couldn't stop taking a peak. He told himself he was just being cautious of what Wei Wuxian had in plan, since the troublemaker had a lot up his sleeves.
"Here. A present for you."
Wei Wuxian said as he handed over a piece of paper, on which Lan Wangji saw a portrait. The portrait was beautifully drawn, every teacher of art in the Lan Clan would praise wonders to the delicate brush strokes in the painting. However, what captured the most of Lan Wangji's attention was not the master level in the art but the person in the portrait. It was himself.
Wei Wuxian gave him a portrait of him sitting and reading, which he had always done when he was together with Wei Wuxian in the Library Pavilion.
"It's good, right?" Wei Wuxian asked, the winner's grin never leaving his face.
The portrait was exceptionally good, however, Wei Wuxian was not grounded to the Library to draw portraits.
"You'll never leave the Library Pavilion if you do not copy your work and keep on playing like this."
"Ehhh, what are you talking about?! I've finished copying all of the work assigned to me. Today is the last day I'll be here so I thought I'll give you a present. What do you think? It's pretty right?"
Wei Wuxian leaned in closer, his confidence showing too clearly in his tone.
"Ridiculous." Lan Wangji only retorted as he usually did, turning back to his work and tried to continue to copy the books. Whether Wei Wuxian had actually finished his works or not, he could check them at the end of the session.
Lan Wangji tried to focus back on his work but after turning a page, he saw drawings on a book that was supposed to be Buddhist scriptures. After a brief glance, Lan Wangji immediately understood the depictions in the drawing which showed obscene positions of a man and a woman. Lan Wangji stood up in fright like a startled cat, violently throwing the picture book away.
The hearty sound of laughter came from his right. Wei Wuxian was clutching his stomach as he laughed out loud. Beads of tears formed at the brim of his eyes as he enjoyed the startled, irritated, angered and also embarrassed expression of the Second Young Master.
"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. What... hahah.. Have you never seen them before? Damn, you're a natural, Wangji-xiong. That was the reaction of a virgin young maiden, not a boy our age. Hahahah!"
Lan Wangji was shaking from both anger and shame. His brows were frowning. Lan Wangji had never expressed such emotions before, yet the menace before him managed to force him into it. Lan Wangji was so angry that he did not even know how to respond. He just glared in anger at the menace Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian, seeing this, acted surprised and covered his wide-open mouth with his fingers, looking unbelievably at Lan Wangji,
"Wait. Don't tell me. You really are a virgin?"
Lan Wangji finally seemed to have snapped and spiritual energy surged around him. A pale blue light radiated in the pavilion. A long sword with a jade-like white handle flew into his arms, the blade of which was also radiating menacing pale blue spiritual energy.
"WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. Young Master Lan, we're in Cloud Recesses! Unauthorized sparrings are prohibited! Remember?!"
Wei Wuxian, upon seeing the surging spiritual energy, darted back to his own sword and pretended to seek for protection. Although his ribbon could protect him from almost all spiritual attacks, if he acted too defenseless and cocky, the results might backfire on him. Wei Wuxian somewhat knew that Lan Wangji might be angered enough to kill him so he brought his own sword, hoping it would block Lan Wangji's strike saying it was against the rules.
"Die!"
Despite the warnings of the rules being broken, Lan Wangji continued to strike. His sword thrust directly at Wei Wuxian's direction. If Wei Wuxian were not quick in escaping and did not have great flexibility, he might have taken a critical hit. This guy is serious! Wei Wuxian thought in fright as he darted away.
"Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Lan Zhan! Young Master Lan! Calm down!"
"Shut up!"
Wei Wuxian, after barely escaping Lan Wangji's first strike, had to unsheathe his own sword to defend himself. Although his mouth uttered for Lan Wangji to calm down, the obviously enormous grin on his face showed that he was undoubtedly enjoying the fight. Lan Wangji, from the start, had no intention to back down. He was aware of Wei Wuxian's abilities since the night they fought in the rain. Lan Wangji knew Wei Wuxian was much stronger than him so he held back nothing in his first strike, yet he still had not managed to take the menace down.
The two sparred for a few minutes, however, all the time, it was just Lan Wangji striking at Wei Wuxian with full force. Wei Wuxian as as fast as a rabbit, skillfully slipping out of the potentially deadly strikes with precision and nonchalance, all the while maintaining the overtly joyous grin on his face.
Lan Wangji, after finding out that he couldn't win, stood still and continued to glare at Wei Wuxian.
"What? Already tired, Lan Er-gege? I could go on for days, you know?"
Wei Wuxian grinned and smirked at the direction of the Second Young Master.
"Are you going to say 'shameless' again? C'mon, try finding a new word to insult me, or add something to it. 'Shameless' is getting repetitive."
"Extremely shameless."
"Hahahahah! You did add something to it!"
Amidst the fight, Lan Wangji noticed the obscene book he had just thrown away and felt an incredible sense of disgust within him. Thus, he went to grab the book. Wei Wuxian, fleeing about the walls of the pavilion, noticed the shift in Lan Wangji's attention and felt a sense of danger for the book, so he too went in to grab it.
The two young men, one adorned in white and the other in black, caught each side of the book.
"Let go."
Lan Wangji said, in an icy cold tone.
"Eh, I'm not going to believe that you actually want to keep this book."
"I said Let Go!" Lan Wangji pulled the book harder, his strength in accordance with his anger.
Wei Wuxian in order to not let go of the book, had to use his spiritual power to strengthen his pull. But he knew that this was just the Second Young Master's raw strength. 'Damn. What are they feeding the Lans! Too strong!'
"If you want to report me, you will have to describe for what reason. Are you sure you're able to properly describe what's in the book to your Uncle? Should I help you with that?"
A string seemed to have snapped behind Lan Wangji's head. Spiritual energy surged forth from his hand; the energy went on to bind the book and them shred it into pieces.
"Noo! Why did you do that?! That was one of the limited edition books I borrowed from somebody."
"What a shame..." Wei Wuxian groaned with a regretful tone yet his eyes never showed even a slight bit of that regret. Now that the evidence was destroyed the little Lan couldn't even report to the old Lan even if he wanted to. Having destroyed the book, Lan Wangji stopped chasing after Wei Wuxian as well.
"Ahh.. hmm. Now that the book is gone, what shall we do?"
"Get out."
"Eh what? I didn't hear."
"GET OUT!"
"Oh. Okay! No need to say it twice!"
Lan Wangji's voice roared through the Library Pavillion and to the nearby fields as well. Wei Wuxian, playing deaf at first, swiftly jumped over the balcony and ran off as soon as he heard the roar.
Left alone in the pavilion was just Lan Wangji holding his sword and a floor littered with pieces of paper. The second young master was huffing and panting both due to the chasing and the overflowing amount of emotions he felt in such a short amount of time. The last ten minutes combined could probably top all the emotions he had ever felt in his life.
[1] – Wangji-xiong is calling like "Senior Wangji" in a quite respectful way.
[2] – Lan Er Gongzi is "Second Young Master Lan" and this calling is mostly used by other clans in formal occasions or kind of a title for him as the second young master of the Lan Sect I guess?
[3] – Lan Zhan is, as we all might already know, Lan Wangji's birth name. Birth names are not used by unless they are family members, really close or teachers and mentors. I guess one reason Jiang Wanyin didn't call Wei Wuxian 'Wei Ying' was because he respected him as an elder... maybe? Or he was deliberately trying to show that they are not that close, or their whole family is just used to callin him "Wei Wuxian" or "A-xian."
[4] – 'Lan Er Gege' is literally 'Second Lan Gege'. Y'all should know what Gege means by now. Wei Ying is so used to that word, lol.