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Like the other young cultivators sent to the GusuLan Sect to learn, Nie Huaisang received a monthly allowance. His father had been disinterested in Nie Huaisang’s progress, or just in Nie Huaisang in particular, and hadn’t cared if he spent that allowance playing around. Unfortunately, Nie Huaisang’s older brother was the type to care fiercely. Huaisang had to send back a list of the things he bought each month, and while Nie MingJue could ignore one or two frivolous purchases, he was especially strict whenever Nie Huaisang’s grades dropped.
Studying harder, of course, was not an option. This meant that for those few weeks after the last exam results came out, Nie Huaisang could only sigh and mourn the trinkets he couldn’t buy when their group went to the town.
The inspiration to challenge his moneyless fate came from Wei WuXian.
This was after Nie Huaisang had invited him and Jiang Cheng to the secret “Harmonious Sect Conference,” where the boys shared their erotic picture books and talked about the works they liked. Gaining inspiration from the experience, Wei WuXian had gone on to draw a surprisingly innocent illustration book.
Still, it was a book of very pretty girls. Girls posed shyly with perfumed sachets and umbrellas, or carried baskets of fruits. Wei WuXian had even drawn a two-page spread of an incredibly beautiful girl with a cold expression who seemed to be about to look away while holding a book. She was standing under a magnolia tree in full bloom, and even on the page, the beauty seemed to leap out, as if gods had lighted a hundred lanterns around her figure.
Seeing that kind of distant and awe-inspiring beauty, a lot of the boys had almost cried tears, and in the end, to appease them, Wei WuXian had agreed to have the book printed so they could have their own copies. Grinning, Wei WuXian had charged them the silver he needed for that afternoon’s Emperor’s Smile, and that was when Nie Huaisang realized that he was looking at a business opportunity.
Not among the guys, of course. The guys around him were almost always broke for the same reasons he was. But he could also sell to a few of them. The cultivators his age were naturally curious about many things. But he really had his eyes on a different market.
In the strict GusuLan Sect, the men and women were cloistered from each other. Wei WuXian had been in trouble a number of times trying to get a glimpse of the Lan Sect’s female cultivators. But owing to his older brother’s connection with Zewu-Jun, Nie Huaisang could technically go to areas that were normally only for the Lan family members. That and his harmless appearance gave him the envious position of being the “baby” among the guest disciples. The female cultivators were also more lenient with him, and sometimes even sat down with him to talk. Among them, not a few also read illustrated books. These shijie, Nie Huaisang found, generally also had more money.
This led to Nie Huaisang painstakingly drawing My Xiao Shidi Can’t Be This Cute! and its sequel, My Da Shixiong Can’t Be This Cool! Sales from those two books alone gave him enough money to treat everyone in their group to three jars of Emperor’s Smile and buy a collection of fans and new pornographic material, all without touching his monthly allowance!
If Nie MingJue knew, he would break Nie Huaisang’s saber and then break his legs, but what his older brother didn’t know didn’t hurt Nie Huaisang.
The problem came more than two weeks later, enough time for Nie Huaisang to think he was safe.
--
After the Pornography Case, Lan WangJi narrowed his eyes almost unconsciously at all books he saw. This doubtful heart was also the reason why he noticed the book in the guest disciple’s hand. It looked like a text of poems from outside, with a dark cover and an unassuming appearance. The title on the cover sounded old and refined, but the cover itself looked new, which to Lan WangJi’s newly opened eyes made it look suspicious. He recognized the guest disciple as one of the other boys who sometimes went down the mountain with Wei Ying, and since the boy was distracted, it was an easy enough feat to sneak up behind him.
The result was confirming that it was an illustrated book, and his gaze darkened immediately.
However, it seemed different from what he’d seen from his first and only foray into “porn.” This one had words written on the margins along with the art. Reading a few lines with a frown, Lan WangJi realized that the book must be telling a story.
The boy flipped a page, which saved Lan WangJi from curiously reading more. Stepping in front of the guest disciple, Lan WangJi called out a cold “You.”
The guest disciple jumped, quickly shutting the book and looking up at Lan WangJi guiltily. He shoved the book behind him, saying valiantly, “This… I am holding on to it. For a friend.”
Lan WangJi frowned slightly. “Where did you get it?”
Seeing his serious expression, the guest disciple folded almost immediately.
--
Nie Huaisang was unaware of that particular event, so he was surprised to hear knocking on the door of his dormitory room. His soul almost left his body when he opened it and saw Lan WangJi standing on the other side of the door, but he lacked the courage to close the door on his face, and could only take a few unsteady steps back into the room.
“Ah, WangJi-xiong…” Nie Huaisang’s eyes left Lan WangJi’s neutral face and was drawn to the bookshelf where he’d hidden his collection. He hastily looked away. He’d thought nothing of hiding it in plain sight, but somehow he now had the feeling that this wouldn’t work with Lan WangJi.
Nie Huaisang expected some sort of condemnation. Maybe a dissatisfied customer had decided on mutual destruction and revealed his business to Lan WangJi, who was in charge of punishments. But right now, there was a particularly subtle mood. WangJi-xiong still didn’t say what he came for.
“You…” Lan WangJi started, then stopped. His face was empty of any clues, and Nie Huaisang twisted his hands into the fabric of his robes, wanting to obey the urge to shout wordlessly in panic. Thankfully, Lan WangJi did not leave him too long in suspense, and pulled out something from his robes.
It was a copy of My Da Shixiong Can’t Be This Cool! The fake outer cover had been removed, and the real cover, colorful and glaringly obvious, looked especially shameful in Lan WangJi’s hands.
Nie Huaisang’s mouth fell open. He immediately readied a denial: “We don’t have that here! It’s definitely not from here!”
Lan WangJi still patiently continued: “This is Wei Ying.” The flat words coupled with his look seemed to accuse Nie Huaisang of being the only one with the time and the close enough relationship to use Wei WuXian as a model.
“That is only artistic license,” Nie Huaisang said with a note of complaint. “But also, why would I…” Seeing Lan WangJi’s implacable look, Nie Huaisang fell to his knees in front of him, begging, “Don’t tell Brother! This, even if it’s not a gentleman’s hobby, looking at books like this from time to time is only for the sake of curiosity. WangJi-xiong understands, right?”
Nie Huaisang stopped, and realized that Lan WangJi obviously wouldn’t understand, so he changed his words. “By that, I mean I will reflect. Seriously reflect! No need to call my brother over it! Please WangJi-xiong, he’ll break my spine this time!”
Lan WangJi was quiet for a moment, and only stepped aside when Nie Huaisang tried to pull at his robes, frowning at the almost-contact. Vaguely, he said, “This is the second volume.”
He didn’t say anything more after that. Nie Huaisang frowned, trying to decipher what that meant. “It. Is?”
Lan WangJi seemed to be finding it just as hard to communicate with him. His next words were curt. “Here to confiscate.”
He was here to confiscate the first volume!
While Nie Huaisang was hesitating, Lan WangJi had moved to the desk, where he put one spirit stone on the empty surface. Seeing Nie Huaisang still not reacting where he was on his knees, Lan WangJi made the book in his hand disappear back into his sleeve, and pulled out a small brown pouch instead. Three more spirit stones were placed down, forming a neat line.
Nie Huaisang recognized what this was. He cleared his throat. “In fact, I might have a copy of the first book. The last copy,” Nie Huaisang stressed. “I really don’t have any more.”
Lan WangJi nodded. “Confiscating it.”
Nie Huaisang got up from the floor, and pulled the first book from the shelf, quickly handing it over to the esteemed Second Master Lan. Unlike any of Nie Huaisang’s other customers, Lan WangJi’s face was thick enough for him to open the book while still in the room. Or maybe the Second Master Lan really was unaware that there was a certain level of shame expected in transactions like this. Certainly don’t casually flip through a book with a dead-eyed expression in front of the artist! Nie Huaisang shed tears in his heart.
Lan WangJi let out a soft “Hm” and shut the book gently. Seemingly satisfied, he turned to leave, and politely closed the door after himself.
With the threat gone, Nie Huaisang let himself collapse onto the floor.
--
Nie Huaisang promised himself that he was stopping. Money didn’t have that much of a lure anyway. His brother had always told him to diligently work, and to get the acknowledgment of their sect. With a whole week of quiet, and Lan QiRen drilling in facts in their brains every afternoon without rest, Nie Huaisang was fairly sure that there was another exam coming.
But he lacked the strength to study.
Remembering names and genealogies was already hard, but Lan QiRen quizzed them on cultivation techniques, too. While the GusuLan Sect had its own secrets that it was only willing to teach its disciples, there were still techniques that the major sects had in common, and which did have to be practiced daily. This was a pity; Nie Huaisang didn’t want his cultivation level to rise, but it meant stalling and looking for reasons beyond ordinary lack of talent. His brother was a firm believer of effort breaking through anything.
In a way, staying around Wei-xiong was useful. The news brought back to the Nie Sect is that the young master fell in with bad friends. XiChen-gege will hopefully smooth things over with his brother, soothe him with reassurances that this was normal for their period of growth. His brother will never suspect deliberate self-sabotage.
This wasn’t lying. After all, his brother wouldn’t tell him about their family’s sabers either. In which case, what was the use of becoming the next head after his brother?
Nie Huaisang was whiling away the afternoon like this, drawing a sketch for the new installment. He’d wheedled Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian into serving as his models again, which Wei WuXian agreed to easily. Jiang Cheng agreed after Wei WuXian agreed. And then back in his room, he told them about the poses he needed them in.
One of these poses had Jiang Cheng flat on the floor, and Wei WuXian on top of him. In that pose, their noses were almost knocking together, and Wei WuXian had to keep his head slanted away to avoid accidental kisses. Wei WuXian immediately noticed something wrong.
“Jiang Cheng,” Wei WuXian said, “You’re too tall.” He patted Jiang Cheng’s side with a grin that was all the more condescending for being so innocent. “Maybe move a bit downwards?”
“I’m too tall?” Jiang Cheng retaliated by pinching Wei WuXian’s side. Wei WuXian shifted a little, ticklish.
“But Jiang Cheng’s the girl in this scenario, right?” Wei WuXian turned his head to Nie Huaisang, sitting up on Jiang Cheng’s stomach and making Jiang Cheng let his breath out in an annoyed, slightly pained gasp. Nie Huaisang hoped Wei WuXian was smart enough to not treat any girl that way. “Or am I supposed to be playing a proactive girl?”
“Umm.” Nie Huaisang gestured vaguely with his brush, guiltily not meeting Wei WuXian’s bright eyes. “The height is… the height is fine.”
Wei WuXian scratched his head, raising his brows at him as if he couldn’t believe it. Jiang Cheng was frowning more suspiciously. He seemed like he was about to speak before Wei WuXian said: “Are these poses really helping you?”
“What do you mean?” Nie Huaisang was afraid he’d noticed something.
“The last time, when you showed the book you drew, you ended up not using any of the poses,” Wei WuXian pointed out.
“It just happened that way,” Nie Huaisang said. “But this is really helpful!” Of course he’d shown Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian a different book. That particular work wasn’t as successful, mainly because Nie Huaisang drew it while thinking of showing it to his friends as a cover for his other lucrative business. It was a soft romance between a male cultivator and a female guest disciple, with only a bit of hand-holding here and there. Wei WuXian had been unaccountably engrossed.
Maybe Nie Huaisang’s answer had been too hasty; Wei WuXian smiled a little as he shook his head, and he said in a mournful tone, “As I thought, Jiang Cheng should be shorter.”
“Hey!”
They broke the pose completely, Jiang Cheng pushing Wei WuXian up off of him by shoving his hand up against Wei WuXian’s chin. Wei WuXian flailed with his hands, hitting Jiang Cheng’s face and shoulders. When Jiang Cheng instinctively curled up from the half-hearted assault, his knee jerked up and actually hit Wei WuXian in a rather sensitive area. Wei WuXian yelped in pain even as Jiang Cheng widened his eyes in surprise.
And that was when the door was slammed open, Wei WuXian with his hands shoved between his legs, curled on top of the sheepish Jiang Cheng and moaning like he’d been stabbed, while Nie Huaisang hovered anxiously with his brush still in his hands.
Nie Huaisang lifted his eyes from the two on the floor and wished he hadn’t.
“Lan Zhan!” Wei WuXian looked horrified, until he started to look confused instead about why he was so horrified with what Lan WangJi must think of that scene. He tried to straighten himself, but it seemed he hadn’t particularly been faking getting hurt, because he could only manage a somewhat more respectable slouch after wincing. Jiang Cheng immediately pulled himself out from under Wei WuXian. He was always more conscious about losing face for his sect.
Lan WangJi’s face was hard to describe. Something about his expression must have changed, except Nie Huaisang couldn’t exactly tell what was different from usual. Maybe he was only imagining the dead fish eyes being more menacing, but Nie Huaisang still took several steps back. If Lan WangJi was going to draw Bichen, maybe he was going to target Wei-xiong first, since he was the closest.
“I apologize, Second Master Lan. Were we being too noisy?” Jiang Cheng asked stiffly. From their group of friends, Jiang Cheng seemed to be the most wary of Lan WangJi. “Or are you here to accuse Wei WuXian of doing something? I can assure Second Master Lan that he’s been here almost the whole day, with no chance of getting up to any sort of mischief.”
Lan WangJi had looked at Jiang Cheng politely while he was speaking, but now he turned his head towards Wei WuXian, narrowing his eyes in a look that was surely too hostile. Nie Huaisang swallowed, and then he realized that Wei WuXian was, without shame, massaging down there to relieve some of the pain. He seemed to be doing it absently, too, as if he could still daydream in front of Lan WangJi.
“Wei-xiong…” Nie Huaisang stage-whispered a warning.
Wei WuXian only noticed something was wrong when the silence continued and he saw Lan WangJi’s eyes had stayed on him. Slowly, Wei WuXian sat up more properly, finally stopping the movement of his hand. Lan WangJi looked on for a moment more, disapproving and now more obviously angry. Lan WangJi bit out a word, “Shameless!”
“How is this shameless?” Wei WuXian retorted. “If you’re hurt, you lick your wound, if you’re in pain, you rub it to make the pain go away!” Lan WangJi’s eyes flashed, as if he was about to lash out. Wei WuXian didn’t seem to realize the danger and kept talking, “Anyway, Lan Zhan’s too serious. We weren’t really fighting, just playing around, so we didn’t violate any rules.”
Flatly, Lan WangJi said, “It is a violation.”
Wei WuXian seemed a bit taken aback. “What?”
“Forceful acts, indecent acts. Both are not allowed in the Cloud Recesses.”
“Indecent?” Wei WuXian smirked, unfolding himself to a kneel almost fluidly, hands on the floor and back in an arch that drew attention to certain parts of his anatomy. How much of that was intentional, he didn’t know. But Nie Huaisang saw more teasing coming, and that Wei WuXian was probably really going to die this time, so he helplessly moved forward, waving his arms to try to dispel the risky atmosphere.
“This… WangJi-xiong!” He shrank in front of Lan WangJi’s stormy gaze, and ended with a squeaked, “It’s the last time, I promise!”
“You…” Lan WangJi abruptly stopped the rest of the sentence, letting his breath out in a silent sigh and closing his eyes. Nie Huaisang saw with hope that he didn’t make a move to touch Bichen. Unfortunately, Lan WangJi didn’t just turn around and leave either. “Jiang Wanyin, Wei Ying, you two leave.”
Wei WuXian looked like he was about to protest, but Jiang Cheng was sensible and wasted no time pulling him away. When they had left, Lan WangJi did not immediately speak, only kept looking at Nie Huaisang while he squirmed and looked elsewhere.
After a pause, Lan WangJi walked casually to the door. His footsteps must have alerted the two outside, because there was a quick whispered conference and some shuffling, and when Lan WangJi opened the door, the hallway outside was empty. Lan WangJi closed the door again.
Nie Huaisang gulped. “Is… Is WangJi-xiong dissatisfied about something?”
“Mm.”
“It really is the last time. WangJi-xiong doesn’t have to worry about it after this!”
Lan WangJi seemed to hesitate, so Nie Huaisang thought quickly about what he must have gotten wrong. He must be here because of the pornography, and only coincidentally caught them while Nie Huaisang was getting his friends to pose. It occurred to him that this must be the first time Second Master Lan encountered longyang. The immoral piece must have really shocked him! But no, thinking of it, he’d still sought out the first book, so Nie Huaisang didn’t know what the issue was.
“The story.”
“O-Oh.” In truth, there wasn’t much of a story in the two books, the plot was instead an exercise in how many spring scenes he could put in. As it was, the story was barely glued together. Nie Huaisang wasn’t surprised that this is what Second Master Lan would notice, but also, did he not understand that these books were mostly like this? Huaisang wasn’t sacrificing the quality of his work; he was giving the readers what they wanted!
Except apparently this wasn’t what Lan WangJi wanted.
“WangJi-xiong,” Nie Huaisang ventured after clearing his throat and steeling his nerves. “If there’s something you dislike about the plot, it’s too late to change it. But for things like this, you could, um… maybe give a commission?”
Lan WangJi simply looked at him, not giving any hint that he understood, or was interested, or was disinterested for that matter. It was a look that was making Nie Huaisang extremely nervous, but he persisted, “For instance, you can ask the artist to make a new story for you, or an alternate story based on the characters. That’s sometimes done.”
Finally, Lan WangJi nodded his head. “Good,” he said. Nie Huaisang didn’t know if he should be overjoyed about finding a sponsor. But if he thought about it, if Lan WangJi commissioned a book, he would turn a blind eye to Nie Huaisang’s business. This was bribing and earning money at the same time— it was simply too good to pass up!
“Ah then, the details…”
--
Wei WuXian came in from the window. Without a greeting, only pulling himself quickly inside, Wei WuXian said, “You broke them up?!”
Nie Huaisang thought there might be complications, but didn’t think Wei-xiong would find a copy of the book so quickly. With the benefit of hindsight, he realized he shouldn’t have been greedy and left it to only one copy to give to Second Young Master Lan. Instead he’d made a few copies so he could sell more. Nie Huaisang thought this particular book was better than the ones he’d done so far, so there was a feeling of wanting to show off, even to a few people. Wei WuXian wasn’t supposed to know about it.
The problem was that the characters in the book came from the one Wei WuXian had been reading. Or maybe the problem was that the characters were inspired by real people, though with Wei WuXian, the fact he could still happily read it without questioning anything meant he had completely missed it.
The male cultivator and the female guest disciple. One teased and pursued and the other remained aloof. A romance of light touches that hadn’t even progressed to a kiss yet.
And then da shixiong from My Da Shixiong Can’t Be This Cool! came barging in to destroy the plot.
It was essentially one character replacing the other, except both were the same person. Lan WangJi had nodded at the substitution, while now Wei WuXian was aghast.
The Wei WuXian who didn’t think of the characters as the same only saw the lovely female guest disciple becoming more distant from the male cultivator, while this new character managed to capture the male cultivator’s attention by being so shameless he even squeezed into the other man’s bed at one point. This was cheating, Wei WuXian thought; you couldn’t expect a girl to do the same thing at all, but the male cultivator seemed to respond more to those advances.
Wei WuXian couldn’t believe that the proud, stoic, and cool cultivator was actually that kind of person.
The next thing he knew, sixty or seventy more pages had been flipped, and then the two men were naturally progressing into being a couple. For Nie Huaisang, this was the power of money; he could even write and draw such a well-thought-out and long plot. The effort he put into it was really a lot, hence the desire to share it with more people. Nie Huaisang sighed. Why did Wei-xiong have to find it?
Wei WuXian didn’t know what his friend was thinking, and only knew that since he’d already invested in the story, he had to read it through to the end. It wasn’t such a hard task at all. If you ignored that the two were men, they did seem to have an unexplainable bond, and maybe because there were fewer conventions to follow, their relationship had even reached a deeper stage more quickly. Wei WuXian just didn’t expect it would come, an actual longyang scene!
Who would have thought that that proud, stoic, and cool cultivator was this way!?
Reading an actual longyang scene, for the first time in his life, Wei WuXian had been scared speechless. There was a feeling of restlessness, like someone was too close behind him and was touching the base of his spine. At the same time, for some reason, he was reminded of Lan WangJi. Maybe because he couldn’t imagine that pure Hanguang-Jun ever reading this kind of book. Wei WuXian smiled with a feeling of superiority.
Afterwards, he’d pawed at Jiang Cheng who had been studying beside him, and kept asking questions like, “Hey, is this kind of thing really done?” “Jiang Cheng, you, don’t ignore me; don’t you think this would hurt?” “But don’t you have to clean inside first? Do you have to go to the latrine beforehand and ask your partner to wait? Or is this only possible if you practice inedia?”
Jiang Cheng had been angered by him into exploding, and he’d thrown Wei WuXian out along with his book, so Wei WuXian could only go back to his own room. Wei WuXian spent the night tossing and turning, excited at having read something forbidden and thinking of how he could trick Lan Zhan into seeing it, too. But then he started to remember the book’s old couple.
The feeling of excitement gradually dimmed. Wei WuXian couldn’t imagine his friend writing such an ending for the male cultivator and the female guest disciple. He remembered the tenderness of their shared secret smiles, and how he’d even imagined what it would be like if they started to live together. Was this kind of thing (breaking up an existing couple), really allowed?
So it seemed natural to ask his friend directly about it.
Nie Huaisang wiped away sweat from his forehead, thinking quickly. An outright lie wouldn’t work, so he decided that the proper action was to pretend that everything was normal. “Wei-xiong, where did you get that copy? That’s not part of the official installment.” This made Wei WuXian pause, and before he could point out that the art was definitely his, Nie Huaisang said, “In fact, it was commissioned.”
Nie Huaisang could see the surprise clearly on Wei WuXian’s face, along with a bit of curiosity. “Who commissioned it?”
“Now, Wei-xiong…” Nie Huaisang tried to laugh lightly. This was a gamble, but one he was fairly sure he’d win. “That’s not something I can say. That person still has to get married after all.”
“Oh.” There’s a flash of understanding in Wei WuXian’s eyes, and as expected, he asked, “A girl commissioned it?”
Nie Huaisang smiled, not denying it. Forgive him for lying, he really didn’t want to explain! And he knew not to betray where the money was coming from. Thankfully, Wei WuXian backed away at that, and even clapped his back to congratulate him on finishing his first commissioned work.
“But you, ah,” Wei WuXian said, sounding almost awed as he gave Nie Huaisang’s shoulder a friendly squeeze, “where did you learn about longyang?”
“Wei-xiong, you haven’t read any before? Usually anyone our age knows about longyang.”
“Heard of it, heard of it!” Wei WuXian gleefully plopped himself down on the floor of Nie Huaisang’s room, and Nie Huaisang realized they were going to keep talking. “But the things in your book, are they really possible?”
This level of open curiosity and innocence was unnerving. Definitely unnerving. Wei WuXian proceeded to ask very specific questions. Nie Huaisang tried to avoid answering, or gave vague answers, and finally, to escape, he said helplessly, “Wouldn’t the Library Pavilion have more about it?”
“Would it?” Wei WuXian scrunched up his brows. “We’re talking about Lan Zhan’s stuffy ancestors!” He puffed out his chest, as if his one (accidental) foray into longyang had made him an expert. “None of them probably knew about it!”
In fact, the book you just read had been commissioned by a certain Lan. Nie Huaisang shook his head and tried not to think of anything. “But I’ve heard they have quite a collection, and anything can be part of it provided the text is old enough…”
“But Lan Zhan will be guarding the library,” Wei WuXian complained. And then he visibly perked up, eyes widening before narrowing to slits. “Lan Zhan would be in the library.”
Wei WuXian got up from the floor, patting his robes clean with a smile on his face before turning around to saunter out of Nie Huaisang’s room, using the door this time. The only thing that seemed to be missing from the picture was a swaying fox’s tail. Nie Huaisang was assaulted by a feeling close to fear.
“Wei-xiong, what are you doing?”
“Just visiting that stuffy Hanguang-Jun,” Wei WuXian answered easily. “I’m gonna ask him to spend the afternoon reading with me.” Wei WuXian half-turned to show the book in his hands, giving a little chuckle. “And when he agrees, bring out this.”
“…”
“When he gets mad, tell him I’m willing to teach him everything I know, but only if he acknowledges our friendship.”
That friendship again! Wei WuXian always brought up his friendship with Lan WangJi when he wanted to complain about the other ignoring him, but he was the only one who believed it existed. Nie Huaisang just previously didn’t have the heart to correct him, and now, with some new insight because of a certain commissioned work, Nie Huaisang was fairly sure of what the outcome would be if Wei WuXian continued with what he was planning. The horrifying thing was that he was hit by inspiration. He needed to draw it!
Wei WuXian went out of the room humming. Nie Huaisang staggered back, but then hurried to the door and called after him, “Whatever happens, it’s not my fault! I really don’t know!”
--
Afternoon classes were cancelled, as Lan Qiren was called away to deal with private sect matters. Exams were postponed, too. Nie Huaisang was so happy with this turn of events that he cried into his sleeves.
Meanwhile, both Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi were seen kneeling in the ancestral hall.
The Library Pavilion was closed for a week for repairs.