Jiang YanLi sighed as she wiped more healing cream on Wei WuXian's bare back. "You shouldn't have hit him, A'Xian. There really was no need."
Her brother looked up over his shoulder, eyes wet with repressed pain. "ShiJie... you didn't hear what he said. What kind of man would I be to just let him insult you?"
"It's not your place," she cautioned, thinking that he would still be learning in Cloud Recesses and not be laying in his bed in Lotus Pier with Zidian's marks on his back if he'd kept his hands off her former intended. That fortune teller got it all backwards; her serious brother started the verbal fight and her carefree one made it a physical one.
"Who's responsibility is it then?" Wei WuXian looked back down at his bedding. "What kind of man would I be to let him get in trouble?"
That was a troubling admission... Jiang YanLi looked closely to ensure every bit of the criss-crossing welts were slathered in the healing cream before really thinking about what her shidi just admitted. How many times did he intervene to protect A'Cheng and got punished for it? Her shidi's back was a testament to the damage Zidian wielded; there was more area covered with new and faded red welts than there was of clear skin. His golden core would eventually heal them, but it would take years.
"If I hadn't stopped Jiang Cheng from hitting that peacock? I'm just a junior. Jiang Cheng is the heir. One junior disciple beating up a sect heir for disrespecting his shijie is a lot different than one sect heir beating up another sect heir for disrespecting his sister."
"Oh, A'Xian..." Jiang YanLi smoothed her shidi's robes up over his back.
"I'm the head disciple and Jiang Cheng's shige. It's my duty to protect you two and the sect."
"You're barely sixteen, XianXian," she scolded lightly. "Let the adults handle the intersect issues."
"Including the peacock insulting the most perfect woman to ever grace the world?" He snorted in derision. "Not likely."