Chapter Text
Yanli felt her spiritual power leave her as she feel back into Cheng. She hoped that Zixuan was waiting for her on the other side as her eyes fell closed.
2020
Heather sat up quickly breathing hard. "Are you alright" Alex, one of her younger brothers asked coming into her room. "Yeah just a bad dream." "You still have those" CJ her youngest brother said sitting next to her on her bed. Alex pushed CJ off the bed. "Heather do you see this? He is so mean to me." Heather just smiled at her two brothers. They were always like that ever since they were little.
Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were the same way.
Heather shook her head. Who were Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian. "Are you sure that you are alright?" Heather turned to look at CJ who was still sitting on the floor. "I'm fine but the two of you need to get out so I can change so that we can still catch our ride to Cloud Recesses" Heather said with a smile. "But Heather I don't want to go to this dumb lecture" CJ said kicking his legs on the floor like a little kid. "CJ stop acting like a little kid. Heather we will see you in a little bit" Alex said pulling CJ out of the room. "Heather help me!" Heather just smiled at her brothers before closing the door behind them.
A few days later
"What do you mean you have given our rooms away" CJ asked the inn keeper getting angry. "I'm sorry but the Jin Clan has brought out all the rooms just for their clan" the inn keeper said. "How could you allow this to happen" Alex asked. "Why don't we ask the problem himself" CJ said glaring at someone behind the inn keeper. Heather looked up to see Donovan.
"What do you mean you have given our rooms away" Wei Wuxian said. "I'm sorry but the Jin Clan has brought out all of the rooms just for their clan" the inn keeper said. "How could you allow this to happen" Jiang Cheng said. "Why don't we ask the problem himself" Wei Wuxian said glaring at someone behind the inn keeper. Yanli looked up to see Zixuan.
"Heather? Heather are you ok?" Heather opened her eyes to see Alex kneeling in front of her and CJ standing between them and Donovan. "Is she ok" Donovan asked trying to step closer to Alex and Heather. "You aren't going anywhere near her if I can help it" CJ said crossing his arms. "CJ enough" Heather said as Alex helped her up. "Heather" CJ said running over to her other side. "Come. We must find a new inn to stay in till we can stay at Cloud Recesses for the lecture" Heather said as Alex helped her leave the inn. CJ bumped into Donovan as he left following his older siblings out of the inn. "Are you alright young Master Jin" the inn keeper asked Donovan just nodded.
At Cloud Recesses
"According to the Lan Clan's principles everyone coming for the lecture won't be allowed inside without an invitation" one of the Lan clan guards said. "Oh sir I've told you a thousand times. We accidentally lost our invitations. We never intended to lose them. What's more we're all standing here. Why would we lie to you" CJ said. "Sir I can't identify you people without an invitation." "Look the sun is about to set. You can't just have us sleep on the streets can you? How about this? Please fetch your clan leader. He had seen out sister. By then, he will know we're being honest." "Well then, please wait here for a moment until we change shifts at 5:45 pm." "At 5:45 pm? The sun would have already set then." "CJ. Behave yourself" Heather said. "But Heather" "As Father instructed no matter what we can't forget our manners. Let's leave the gate and plan our next step." Alex nodded at her. "Second Young Master welcome back." "Who are looking for trouble?" "That must be Jacob" Alex said to CJ. "One of the Twin Jades and the younger brother of their clan leader Andrew." "He must be our key to getting in" CJ said. "What happened?" the guard asked as Lan Clan members brought forward a injured body. "Just carry him inside" Jacob said. "How did he end up like this" Alex asked. "I don't think he is dead" CJ said. "He's cured by some wicked sorcery." "Wicked sorcery?" Jacob turned to look at them. "Second Master Lan, I'm Alex from the Jiang clan of Yunmeng, son of clan leader Jiang Fengmian. This is my sister Heather. My brother CJ. Second Young Master we've heard a lot about you." All three siblings bowed. Jacob bowed back. "It's an honor." "Second Young Master Lan, we accidentally lost our invitation. It's getting late and it's inconvenient to sleep outside. Please make a merciful exception for us" Alex said. "No invitation, no entry" Jacob said. "Second Young Master Lan we came all the way from Yunmeng. Despite the exhausting journey, we still made it to Cloud Recesses before sunset. You just turn us down for an invitation. Don't you think its a little rigid?" CJ said. "No invitation, no entry." "Second Young Master Lan, it was an accident. We never intended to lose it. Please make an exception. "Find it and come back." "Second Young Master Lan, the sun is about to set, and we are more than 20 miles away from Caiyi Town. You're asking us to find it now. What an imposition!" Jacob turned away from them. "Hey Second young Master Lan, in the worst-case scenario, we can ..." All of a sudden CJ stopped talking. "Second Young Master has put the Silence spell on you. No one can remove it except the Lan. And it dispels automatically after a stick of incense's time" the guard said. CJ turned to look at Heather and Alex.
"According to the Lan Clan's principles everyone coming for the lecture won't be allowed inside without an invitation" one of the Lan clan guards said. "Oh sir I've told you a thousand times. We accidentally lost our invitations. We never intended to lose them. What's more we're all standing here. Why would we lie to you" Wei Wuxian said. "Sir I can't identify you people without an invitation." "Look the sun is about to set. You can't just have us sleep on the streets can you? How about this? Please fetch your clan leader. He had seen out sister. By then, he will know we're being honest." "Well then, please wait here for a moment until we change shifts at 5:45 pm." "At 5:45 pm? The sun would have already set then." "Wei Wuxian. Behave yourself" Yanli said. "But Yanli" "As Father instructed no matter what we can't forget our manners. Let's leave the gate and plan our next step." Jiang Cheng nodded at her. "Second Young Master welcome back." "Who are looking for trouble?" "That must be Lan Zhan" Jiang Cheng said to Wei Wuxian. "One of the Twin Jades and the younger brother of their clan leader Lan Xichen." "He must be our key to getting in" Wei Wuxian said. "What happened?" the guard asked as Lan Clan members brought forward a injured body. "Just carry him inside" Lan Zhan said. "How did he end up like this" Jiang Cheng asked. "I don't think he is dead" Wei Wuxian said. "He's cured by some wicked sorcery." "Wicked sorcery?" Lan Zhan turned to look at them. "Second Master Lan, I'm Jiang Cheng from the Jiang clan of Yunmeng, son of clan leader Jiang Fengmian. This is my sister Yanli. My brother Wei Wuxian. Second Young Master we've heard a lot about you." All three siblings bowed. Lan Zhan bowed back. "It's an honor." "Second Young Master Lan, we accidentally lost our invitation. It's getting late and it's inconvenient to sleep outside. Please make a merciful exception for us" Jiang Cheng said. "No invitation, no entry" Lan Zhan said. "Second Young Master Lan we came all the way from Yunmeng. Despite the exhausting journey, we still made it to Cloud Recesses before sunset. You just turn us down for an invitation. Don't you think its a little rigid?" Wei Wuxian said. "No invitation, no entry." "Second Young Master Lan, it was an accident. We never intended to lose it. Please make an exception. "Find it and come back." "Second Young Master Lan, the sun is about to set, and we are more than 20 miles away from Caiyi Town. You're asking us to find it now. What an imposition!" Lan Zhan turned away from them. "Hey Second young Master Lan, in the worst-case scenario, we can ..." All of a sudden \Wei Wuxian stopped talking. "Second Young Master has put the Silence spell on you. No one can remove it except the Lan. And it dispels automatically after a stick of incense's time" the guard said. Wei Wuxian turned to look at Yanli and Jiang Cheng.
Heather was holding her head when Alex came over to her. "How inflexible Second Young Master Lan is." Heather just nodded. Alex placed a blanket over Heather's shoulders. "Heather don't worry. He just went back to the tavern for the invitation. Everything will be fine." "I'm just worried." "Heather Donovan is typical of his kind. Don't worry to much." "It's not that. I'm just worried that Donovan will embarrass CJ because of his character." "As long as his is fine with others, nobody will embarrass him. It's hard to say that he's not having fun with some girl right now." "Alex you know that CJ always takes things seriously when they're important" Heather said. Alex and Heather turned to see Jacob standing off to the side. "Second Young Master Lan."