Chapter Text
Dear Sect Heir Ouyang Zizhen,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. How have you been? I hear your sister is engaged to be married soon, please, pass on my well wishes on such a fortuitous match.
Now, Zizhen. I hate you. You’re a terrible
frie–
acquaintance. Horrible person. Never come to Lanling again, I will not let you in.
If you’re still unsure as to how you wronged me, then allow me to remind you of our last conversation in the Cloud Recesses regarding your insane theories around your father and Sect Leader Yao. Well, they have just left Koi Tower as I write you this letter. I cannot tell you how long they’ve spent here as it certainly feels like an eternity!
Zizhen, how do you expect me to attend meetings with them? Now that you’ve painted them in a new light, I can’t unsee it! It was awful! Mortifying!
Considering this is all your fault, you must take responsibility. You promised they would be less annoying if they were to be together. Very well, I’m willing to help if it means I no longer have to suffer through this.
Best regards,
Sect Leader Jin Rulan
*
Dear Jin Ling,
We’re all fine here Baling, thank you for asking! It’s been raining lately so the water level has been rising in the rivers near the manor. There’s one that runs around the back, behind the garden, it has the clearest water– clearer even than Lotus Pier, I bet! Oh, before I forget, jiejie thanks the kind Sect Leader Jin for both his words and the cloth you sent! She loved the embroidery and the shade is perfect!
Anyway. Don’t worry, Jin Ling, I shall take full responsibility for this. I know feelings give you hives, so I apologize for bringing them to your attention, but I have to confess I’m glad to have you on board! You say the days they spent in Lanling were the longest of your life. Very well, imagine that actually being your life! Do you see now how much we’ve suffered?
Won’t the great Sect Leader Jin take pity on this disciple?
I joke, I joke! You can stop spluttering now. Seriously, though. If you truly mean your words, then we should start as soon as possible. I’m writing Jingyi and Sizhui, too, so they know to expect us!
Warm regards,
Your best friend, Zizhen.
*
Dear Jingyi and Sizhui,
How is everything at Cloud Recesses? More importantly, how are the bunnies? Did Senior Wei come back yet from Qinghe?
I’m running late, so forgive me for going straight to the matters at hand. I’m writing to you now because Jin Ling and I have talked and we’ve decided to move along with Twilight Love Operation! Which is the name for our matchmaking efforts, by the way. What do you think? Too much? Too little? Let me know if you guys have any other suggestions.
While I’d be happy to visit you again, I’m not sure Cloud Recesses is the best place to set up our base of operations. It’s so far from Baling! Then again, Baling itself would be too risky, father might get suspicious or meimei might find out and spill the secret. Jiejie would also murder me if we got in the way of her wedding preparations, so there’s that.
By the time this letter finds you, Jin Ling will also probably have answered his, so hopefully, we’ll have something more concrete to relay next time.
Warm regards,
Your best friend, Zizhen.
*
Sect Heir Ouyang Zizhen,
How dare you be so informal? Have you no manners? Your sister wrote me herself earlier thanking me for the wedding gifts, but unlike you, she was perfectly polite. That’s the only reason I’ll be attending the ceremony, by the way, so don’t get any ideas thinking I’m going to see your stupid face.
Before we go into business, I’d like to preface this by letting you know there was no spluttering. That would have been too undignified! How dare you imply I would be doing such a thing!
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s be serious. I know you were joking in your letter, but I do pity you for having to bear through that growing up– do you see now how bad it was? I think it might have been worse than watching Wei Wuxian and Hanguang-Jun make googly eyes at each other. How does this keep happening? And how does this keep happening in my vicinity?
What I mean to say is that yes, against my better judgment, I’m fully committed to your plan. Don’t make me regret this! And what do you mean the Lans should be expecting us? I’m a Sect Leader, I can’t just fuck off to Cloud Recesses whenever I please! Besides, why should we be the ones to travel? Haven’t we done it enough lately? No, tell them to come to Lanling this time.
Alright, let me know if you have any ideas where to start. And don’t get sick playing in the rain like an idiot, I don’t need the flu sweeping through our cities.
Best regards,
Jin Rulan.
*
Dear Zizhen,
We’re all fine here, thank you for your concern! You’ll be happy to know the rabbits are doing especially well lately since Hanguang-Jun has gone to Qinghe to meet up with Senior Wei and left Jingyi and me to look after them. They’ve grown quite fat with the amount of treats Jingyi has been giving them every afternoon.
Now, I was surprised Jin Ling was the first to approach you on this subject, but perhaps I should not have: he is, after all, the one dealing the most with them. I confess I had not thought you would want to go forward with your idea, it is quite bold to scheme behind two Sect Leaders, one of them being your father, no less, but Jingyi tells me true love should not be hindered by such earthly matters. His words, not mine, I’m afraid he is the one inheriting the Lan romanticism.
That being said, while we would be more than happy to host you and Jin Ling here for the time it takes to carry on your schemes, you do have a point– Cloud Recesses is too far, all the traveling back and forth would not be worth it. And, of course, I have a feeling Jin Ling will protest at having to come all the way here once more. Is he still scared of Hanguang-Jun? I promise no one resents him for stabbing Senior Wei that night. In any case, would he be amenable to having us at Koi Tower? Or would that also be too far from Baling? If I’m not mistaken, it’s nearly a day’s travel from there.
In regards to the name you chose for our operation, I think it’s quite unique. Jingyi has often called it romantic, so I doubt he has any objections. Let it be known, he truly takes after our Sect in this.
Best wishes,
Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi.
*
Dear Jin Ling,
Is it bad manners to treat a friend as such? Don’t be so prickly, I know you miss us! I will continue to be warmly informal with you, in fact, I’ll be even less formal now! See if I don’t hug you when I see you next!
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve sent word to Sizhui and Jingyi last time to let them know of our plans and you’ll be pleased to know that we all know you too well by now– don’t worry, Cloud Recesses has been ruled out! Although, Jin Ling, you really need to get over your fear of Hanguang-Jun. He’s married to Senior Wei so that makes him kind of his uncle now right? Anyway. Both you and Sizhui mentioned Lanling as a possible base of operations, but I’m still not entirely convinced about it. A day and a half’s travel! How can we implement our plans if we’re so far from our subjects? There would be so much back and forth…
I really hope the logistics of our reunion are the hardest part. No, I’m confident this will be the hardest part. After all, once we’re all together, what could stand in our way? The four of us, we can accomplish anything!
Oh, this truly makes me miss you guys. Let’s figure this out soon, yes?
Warmest of hugs,
Your best friend Zizhen.
*
Zizhen,
See that? Is it informal enough for you? You are a menace. If you try to hug me, I will stab you, I’m warning!
First of all, I’m not afraid of Hanguang-Jun! None of this has any to do with him! I’m just sick of having to travel all the way up that damn mountain! And I have responsibilities! And meetings and stuff! And you don’t know anything about me, shut up! And don’t laugh!
Now regarding our base, although Koi Tower would undoubtedly show Sizhui and Jingyi how hosting is done, it is too far from Baling indeed, but I have the answer to our troubles: why don’t we meet in the middle? Lotus Pier is barely an hour away from you by sword and who would fault me for visiting my poor uncle, all alone in Yunmeng? Besides, I could easily keep an eye on things here from there, it wouldn’t be the first time.
You all can thank me later by dealing with this matchmaking thing as quickly as possible– if I have to see Sect Leader Ouyang and Sect Leader Yao make eyes at each other once more, I might go into a qi deviation. Did I tell you about the time I caught them walking the gardens in the evening? Zizhen, the sun was setting. There were flower petals floating down, I don’t know why. Is it a spell? Is it just their luck? Either case, it made me lose all my appetite. See? You owe me dinner now.
Tell the Lans to meet us in Lotus Pier in a fortnight. That should be enough time for your letter to reach them and for the trek down the mountain. Remind Sizhui there should be medicine for sale in the stalls near the pier if he’s scared of the boat ride or whatever. I, of course, will provide it, so don’t even think of go around calling me a bad host. You also mentioned the river behind your garden, Zizhen, as if there are waters as clear as Lotus Pier’s! When you all arrive, I shall take you on a tour of the best Yunmeng has to offer. There is a lake in the West Pavillion where the biggest cypress tree grows. It’s quite shallow, but jiujiu had koi fish brought over when I was born. In the summers, it’s where he taught me how to swim.
Anyway. Tell the Lans and meet me there in a fortnight.
Is that soon enough for you?
Jin Ling.
*
Jin Ling,
Are you sure about this? I would love to visit Lotus Pier as your guest, you must know that, but what of your Uncle? Won’t he mind? What if he catches wind of our plans? Won’t he object? I have to admit, it would be a perfect solution, so I hope you’ll forgive me my doubts.
Lotus Pier is a very beautiful place just from what I’ve seen in the past, but Jin Ling, this lake of yours sounds lovely. Further still, it sounds like it’s important to you, I am, just as I’m sure Sizhui and JIngyi will be, honored to know of it. To visit it in person, would be greater still.
As to where the waters are clearer, I suppose we’ll have to wait and see, but in the end, isn’t it the same rivers, with the same waters? Distance matters very little, I think.
Don’t worry, I’ll let the others know and we’ll be there to meet you.
Truthfully, it would never be soon enough,
Warm regards,
Your best friend who misses you very much, Zizhen.
*
Dear Sizhui and Jingyi,
I apologize for the late reply! As I’ve mentioned in my last letter, I was waiting for Jin Ling’s reply so I could have something more solid to say. But! You were right, I was so happy to know the bunnies are being indulged! No pets rule or not, they are far too tame to be wild, they need to take care of! Please, tell Jingyi to give them more treats in my name.
I’ve relayed to Jin Ling what you’ve said, and while he would love to have us at Koi Tower, we agreed it would still be far too far away. Now, he says we should meet up at Lotus Pier. I know what you’re both thinking, I know, and I thought the same too! What of Sect Leader Jiang? Won’t be angry? Won’t he scowl and turns all away? Well, I’ve brought that up to Jin Ling but the messenger came back saying the great Sect Leader Jin refused to answer, so I assume we should leave that to him?
If worst comes to worst, I suppose we could heave to Baling after all or take Jin Ling up on his invitation to Koi Tower. In any case, we’ve settled on meeting at Lotus Pier in a fortnight.
Oh, and he tells you not to worry, Sizhui, about the boat ride, he’ll buy medicine in the market for you. If you come by sword, though, you should stop in Baling first so we can head there together. And so you can see how beautiful our rivers are, of course!
Jin Ling says he’ll take us on a tour of his favorite places, so there’s that to look forward to, too! That is, if Sect Leader Jiang let us through the gates.
Remember, Lotus Pier in a fortnight.
Warmest regards,
Your best friend who can’t wait to see you again, Zizhen.