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Laying on his back, forearms tucked beneath his head and a warm body laying across his chest, Jiang Cheng felt happy. It was the first time in a long time that he didn’t feel alone in Lotus Pier. Normally, when Jiang Cheng wanted company, he would visit Lanling, where his nephew lived, or Gusu, where his irritating brother lived. Going to Gusu was typically out of the question, he could only take small doses of his brother and his brother’s husband. The two men were always together, and always all over each other. Their constant display of affection used to make him sick, but now, he thinks he can understand.
He looked down at the man lying on his chest and smiled, pulling his arm out from beneath his head in order to rake his fingers through the sleeping man’s disheveled hair.
Unfortunately, the action caused the other man to stir. “Hm?” The sound of his lover’s voice seemed to echo in the silent room. “What time is it?”
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Too early, go back to sleep.”
He watched as the other man moved, opening his eyes and pushing himself up onto an elbow to squint down at him. “Why are you awake?” he asked, free hand trailing down Jiang Cheng’s chest. The gentleness of it made him shiver.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Jiang Cheng responded, tugging gently on a stray strand of hair. “You should rest, Jingyi.”
Jingyi rolled his eyes and leaned down to press a gentle kiss to his lips. “Whose fault is it that I’m so tired, hm? Who kept me up all nig—”
“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, pulling the younger man into another, deeper kiss. It worked in silencing the other. In truth, he felt guilty. He knew that there was a conference at Lotus Pier tomorrow, one he was meant to be hosting, and he knew the conference was set to begin in the early morning. This information, however, did not stop him from ravishing his younger lover the second his soft knock was heard on Jiang Cheng’s bedchamber. Both men were meant to attend the early morning conference, and both had a responsibility to be presentable and awake. At least the conference was in Lotus Pier, he noted mentally. They wouldn’t have to travel.
The two men slowly lost each other in gentle touches, the kiss dragging on much longer than they had originally planned. They both startled, however, when there was a loud knock on the door.
“Jiang Cheng?” A loud voice called for him, the knocking continuing. “Jiang Cheng are you awake? I need your help.”
Wei Wuxian, his brother. He looked at the startled Lan Jingyi, a matching look of horror dawning on his face. Wei Wuxian was Lan Jingyi’s teacher, and Jiang Cheng’s brother. He did not know about their relationship, and Jiang Cheng would rather die than let him find out like this. “Just stay put, I’ll get rid of him,” he murmured to his lover and extracted himself from Jingyi’s embrace, standing on the cool wood floor and grumbling about being forced out of bed so early. He grabbed a discarded robe from the floor and slipped it around his body for modesty.
“What do you want?” he hissed as he opened the door a crack, just enough to see his brother, but not allow him to see inside.
“I need your help,” his brother repeated. His brother looked terrible. There were dark circles under his eyes, his face was pale and his hands were shaking.
Jiang Cheng frowned and slipped out of his room, closing the door behind him. “What’s wrong?” He couldn’t help but allow the concern to seep into his voice. He was expecting Wei Wuxian to arrive at Lotus Pier for the conference, but not before the sun rose, and not wearing a haunted look on his face.
It was like a damn broke. Wei Wuxian gasped and tears began to fall as he fell into his brother’s arms. “Jiang Cheng, the juniors and I were on a night hunt nearby so we camped out in the forest. I-I thought it would be better for everyone, seeing as we were planning on coming here afterwards anyways and we were fairly close to Lotus Pier and it didn’t make sense to go back to Cloud Recesses and—” he sucked in a sharp breath, shuddering against Jiang Cheng. “When we woke up, Lan Jingyi was gone. We can’t find him, Jiang Cheng. Lan Zhan is still searching the forest we were camped in but he asked that I come to you for help. I can’t— What if he’s hurt and scared? What if it’s worse than that?” Wei Wuxian began to hyperventilate, breath coming in gasps. “I won’t be able to live with myself if something happened to that boy.”
Jiang Cheng winced. He figured Lan Jingyi had snuck out in order to see him, but he hadn’t realized they were camping and on a night-hunt. He was silent for a second, thinking of what to say. “Wei Wuxian, pull yourself together,” he grunted at the man, nudging his brother to stand without leaning on him. “Lan Jingyi is fine.”
Wei Wuxian gave him a confused look, the panic slowly leaving his face.
“He came here last night,” Jiang Cheng clarified. “He, um, was getting bitten by too many bugs and didn’t want to tell you how stupid your plan to camp was.”
“He came here?” His brother questioned, brows furrowing.
He watched Wei Wuxian as he stood straighter, his gaze sweeping from Jiang Cheng’s face to his under robe.
“He could’ve just told me he didn’t want to camp, and was coming here, rather than giving me a qi deviation before dawn,” Wei Wuxian said, his voice light and friendly, though his eyes were narrowing into slits. “Which guest room is he in?”
My room, Jiang Cheng’s inner voice supplied. He shook his head and flicked his hand towards the guest rooms on the other side of the docks. “I don’t know, one of the disciples lead him off to one of the rooms. I don’t care where that brat sleeps.” He shifted his face into a scowl, pretending to be annoyed by the Lan disciple’s presence.
“Thanks, Jiang Cheng,” his older brother reached out and ruffled his hair before jogging off in the direction of the guest rooms. “I’ll be sure to scold him properly for bothering you!” Wei Wuxian called back before disappearing around a corner of a building.
Jiang Cheng stood frozen for a second. “Fuck,” he grunted and scrubbed his hand over his face. He took a deep breath and slipped back into his bedchamber, closing the door tightly behind him. He turned to face the center of the room, only for Lan Jingyi to walk into his personal space, already fully dressed in his robes.
“I heard everything,” he confessed, hands reaching out to smooth the wrinkled fabric of Jiang Cheng’s inner robe. “I’m sorry I left without telling anyone, I just wasn’t sure what to say without drawing any suspicion.”
Jiang Cheng sighed softly and reveled at the warm palms brushing over his chest, before capturing the wandering hands in his own, stilling them. “He’s going to know you didn’t sleep in the guest rooms, even if someone doesn’t tell him.” Sometimes it was a major pain to have an intelligent brother. “He won’t be happy.”
Jingyi hummed softly in agreement, his eyes searching Jiang Cheng’s face. “Are you okay with him finding out?” he asked quietly.
Jiang Cheng couldn’t answer immediately. He knew what his brother would say, and he knew he wasn’t ready to hear it. Lan Jingyi made him happy, even if there were several factors working against them.
First was age. Jiang Cheng was old enough to be Lan Jingyi’s father, ages 38 and 20 respectively. Second was attitude. Lan Jingyi was blunt and friendly, he was well liked by his peers and his mentors. Jiang Cheng was the opposite, feared by most due to his constant anger and his ruthless training regiments. All disciples at Lotus Pier respected him, but by no means did they find him approachable or well-liked.
The third issue, Jiang Cheng noted, was that he wasn’t allowed to be happy. When they were teens, his happiness was taken away when the Wen clan invaded Lotus Pier and burnt it to the ground. During the battle, both of Jiang Cheng’s parents were killed. Later, as an adult, the only two people he cared about, his brother and sister, died in battle. His sister was attacked by mistake and died in his arms, his brother lost control of his power and ended up killing himself.
Even all these years later, after caring for his orphaned nephew Jin Ling, his sister’s son, he was left alone yet again when it came time for Jin Ling to take his rightful place as head of the Jin Clan in Lanling.
Jiang Cheng was snapped out of his thoughts when slender arms wrapped around his waist, squeezing him, grounding him.
“You there?” Jingyi’s gentle voice drifted into his ears. “I lost you there for a minute. Are you okay?”
Jiang Cheng looked down at the younger man and took a deep breath, wrapping his arms around him tightly. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Jingyi didn’t look convinced, face pinched in worry. “Can we sit down?” he asked, arms tugging Jiang Cheng’s waist, urging him toward the table at the center of the room.
“Yeah. Yeah, we can sit,” he agreed, allowing Jingyi to pull him over to the table. He sat down quietly and stared at his hands, at the spiritual weapon perched on his wrist, the metal laying over the back of his hand, secured around his middle finger. He ran his index finger over the cool metal. It was always calming, having his mother’s spiritual weapon with him. He wished she could be there now, to see how he had rebuilt their home, their sect, and found love.
“Zidian is beautiful,” Lan Jingyi remarked casually from his seat beside Jiang Cheng. “It’s funny how one of the most feared weapons in the cultivation world is also so delicate.”
Jiang Cheng looked up, meeting Jingyi’s eyes. “Delicate?” he scoffed, “Zidian is anything but delicate, just as anyone who has faced its wrath.”
His lover smiled in response. “May I?” he asked, extending his hand toward the metal.
Jiang Cheng paused for a second before nodding. He watched as Jingyi brushed his fingertips over Zidian, admiring the intricate designs in the metal.
“Beautiful,” Jingyi repeated, though his gaze was settled on Jiang Cheng rather than the spiritual weapon.
Jiang Cheng’s face heated, a blush spreading across his cheeks. “Don’t say stupid things.”
“Sect Leader Jiang, are you blushing?” the younger man teased, fingers dancing across his lover’s reddened cheeks. “You look even more beautiful like this.”
Jiang Cheng grunted in response and swatted Jingyi’s hand away from his face. “Cut it out, brat.”
The teasing glint in Jingyi’s eyes faded as he once again became serious. “Jiang Cheng,” he started, “I just want to let you know that no matter what Master Wei says—”
Jingyi was interrupted by the slam of the door as it was shoved aside forcefully. Jiang Cheng’s head snapped up, his breath catching in his throat as he took in the murderous look of Wei Wuxian standing in the doorway. “Lan Jingyi,” Wei Wuxian’s voice had dropped an octave from its usual light-hearted tone. “Come here, now.”
“Senior Wei, can you please just—”
“I said now,” Wei Wuxian hissed, eyes beginning to glow red as the power of resentful energy stirred within him. The last time Jiang Cheng had seen this look was many years ago, back when his older brother commanded an army of corpses, before he had been overcome by his powers and devoured by the very beings he commanded.
Lan Jingyi knew better than to press the matter further, getting to his feet and walking over to where Wei Wuxian loomed in the doorway. Wei Wuxian’s eyes moved from Jiang Cheng to Lan Jingyi, gaze sweeping his body. Jiang Cheng could see the small flicker of relief in his brother’s eyes as he noted that Jingyi was truly alright, but this flicker was quickly extinguished when his eyes locked on an obvious hickey on Jingyi’s neck.
Wei Wuxian grabbed Jingyi’s wrist, his face twisted into rage. “What do you think you’re doing? Sneaking off in the middle of the night! You couldn’t tell me where you were going? Or at least tell me that you were heading off somewhere and would be safe?”
Jiang Cheng quickly stood, closing the distance between himself and the pair quickly. He could see how tightly Wei Wuxian was holding Jingyi’s wrist. It caused his stomach to churn in discomfort. “Wei Wuxian, let go of him,” he ordered. He was still the sect leader, the one in charge of Lotus Pier. Wei Wuxian would have no choice but to listen to him, or so he hoped.
His older brother yanked on Jingyi’s wrist, dragging the boy behind his back and spinning to face Jiang Cheng, putting himself between the two. “You,” he growled, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Lan Jingyi is just a boy!”
Jiang Cheng was prepared for this, but he flinched anyways.
He could hear Jingyi’s protest, “I’m not a child, Senior Wei, I’m twenty!”, but was not surprised when his older brother shoved the younger man out of the room and slammed the door shut.
“Jiang Cheng,” he continued as if he couldn’t hear Jingyi yelling at him through the door, his fists clenched. “That’s Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui’s friend. What do you think you’re doing?”
“You think I don’t realize that,” Jiang Cheng snapped, Zidian sparking at his wrist, reacting to the surge in his emotions. “Listen, he’s an adult—”
Wei Wuxian barked a laugh. “An adult? Jiang Cheng, he’s still scared of the dark! Who are you calling an adult?”
Jiang Cheng knew this. Lan Jingyi was intelligent and a strong cultivator, but he hated being alone in the dark. “And?” Jiang Cheng scowled, “You’re scared of dogs, idiot! You’re an adult.”
Wei Wuxian shoved him, causing him to take a few steps back. “He’s my student! He’s like my son!” He took a few steps forward, closing the distance between them again. “I won’t just stand here and watch you hurt him—he doesn’t know what he’s doing! He doesn’t deserve to be played with!”
Jiang Cheng stares at his brother. “That’s what you think? That I’m just playing with him?”
Wei Wuxian scoffed. “Jiang Cheng, you’re thirty eight. You’ve never taken a relationship seriously, you want me to think you’re starting now, and with one of my former students?”
He clenched his fists at his sides. It was true, in his teen and adult years, he had a few casual relationships, but never anything serious. Most people he flirted with were only interested in him due to his position as heir of the Jiang sect. He would break up with those people, typically through a brief letter. He would hear stories of how he was a terrible heartbreaker who didn’t care who he hurt. These stories never bothered him, not when the people who he hurt were trying to use him to begin with.
“Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian said quietly, “I’ll only say this once, leave Jingyi alone.”
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “And if I don’t?”
The two brother’s stared at each other for a minute, both trembling as their anger took over.
He wasn’t sure who moved first, but one moment he was looking into his brother’s red eyes and the next they were in an all-out brawl.
His fist connected with Wei Wuxian’s face, the metal ring of Zidian cutting his cheek open.
Wei Wuxian stumbled backwards, but steadied himself and launched his smaller body at Jiang Cheng, tackling him to the ground.
Jiang Cheng’s shoulder slammed into the corner of the table, knocking his inkstone to the floor, along with the cup he usually used for tea. He could hear the glass shatter but had no time to shout at his brother before Wei Wuxian was punching his jaw.
He tried to grab his brother’s arm, but the older man was too quick, so instead he shoved his torso, allowing a pulse of spiritual energy to strengthen his palms. The force of it knocked Wei Wuxian off and sent him flying across the room, into Jiang Cheng’s shelves, scrolls falling from their neat stacks.
The two took a second to breathe before getting to their feet and running at each other, a blur of punches and kicks as they allowed their aggression to bleed into their movements. Neither man was holding back.
“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng shouted between pants as his brother held a vase in his hands, ready to throw it at him.
His older brother was panting as well, chest rising and falling with quick breaths. He looked worse then Jiang Cheng, however, his cheek bloody from the cut Zidian had made, as well as a variety of bruises his weaker golden core couldn’t prevent. “Ah,” Wei Wuxian winced and put the vase down, allowing himself to collapse to the floor in an exhausted sprawl.
“You’re an asshole,” Jiang Cheng grunted, sitting on the floor as well, eyes trained on his brother.
“And you’re not?” Wei Wuxian challenged, looking over at him.
Jiang Cheng scoffed. “Not as bad as you, idiot.” He watched as Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to protest, but spoke before he could, “I’m not using him.”
Wei Wuxian’s brows furrowed. “What?”
“Lan Jingyi. I’m not using him,” Jiang Cheng clarified, looking anywhere but at Wei Wuxian. “He makes me happy,” he added in a smaller voice. “Happier than I’ve been in a long time.”
Wei Wuxian laid back and stared at the ceiling. Neither man said anything for a while, allowing the adrenaline to leave their veins.
Their breathing slowly evened out and Wei Wuxian sat up, wincing. “Jiang Cheng,” he called out softly.
Jiang Cheng met his brother’s gaze.
“I’m glad to hear you’re happy,” he stated, a small smile on his lips. “Just—be careful with him? Lan Jingyi is too trusting for his own good.”
Jiang Cheng nodded in agreement.
“If you hurt him, I’ll kill you—or even worse, I’ll let Lan Zhan do it.”
Jiang Cheng stared at his brother for a second, registering his words. Shit, Lan Wangji. He looked at the cuts and bruises on his older brother’s body, especially the deeper one on his cheek and groaned. He was already a dead man.
Wei Wuxian must’ve been able to follow his train of thought because instantly the room was filled with laughter. “Oh, Jiang Cheng! You should see your face! No worries, I’ll keep Lan Zhan at bay. This,” he gestured to his injuries and to the mess of the room around him, “was my fault. I won’t let you get in trouble for it.”
Jiang Cheng groaned. “He already hates me, this will just push him over the edge.”
Wei Wuxian couldn’t disagree. He laughed and struggled to his feet. “Here, let me help you clean this up.”
Jiang Cheng stood as well, watching his brother’s stilted movements. “You’re in pain, just sit down.” He walked over and took his brother by the elbow, supporting his weight. He helped Wei Wuxian to a cushion and ordered him to sit. “I’ll go get a healer, and I’ll clean this myself.”
Wei Wuxian could only smile in response.
_____________
Jiang Cheng was a scary man, but Lan Wangji was like confronting an angry immortal.
Lan Wangji and the group of juniors arrived at Lotus Pier after a Yunmeng Jiang disciple found them and let them know both Lan Jingyi and Wei Wuxian were safe at Lotus Pier. The second they stepped foot through the gates, Lan Sizhui gasped as he took in the state of his father, as well as his uncle.
Jiang Cheng watched as Lan Wangji mentally pieced the puzzle together. The older man unsheathed his sword, Bichen, as if he was willing to slay the leader of the Jiang sect in his own home. “What is this?” he asked through gritted teeth.
Jiang Cheng couldn’t help himself, he flinched. His disciples looked around nervously, unsure what to do.
For once, having Wei Wuxian present was a relief. “Ah! Lan Zhan,” he exclaimed, prancing toward his husband, using his index finger to lower Bichen’s blade. “How rude of you to not greet your sad, lonely husband first! And drawing your sword in the home of another sect! Outrageous!” He smiled brightly as he teased Lan Wangji, but the other didn’t move.
“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian tried again. “Look at me! Aren’t you going to kiss me hello?”
Lan Wangji looked at him then, his eyes narrowing as they analyzed the gash in his cheek and the bruises on his face and neck. His hand was shaking. “Wei Ying.”
Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes and cupped his husband’s cheeks, dragging him down for a gentle kiss. “There! Was that so hard? Now!” He clapped his hands. “Everyone get to your rooms and freshen up before the other sects arrive and the conference begins!”
The Lan and Jiang disciples were relieved to receive permission to leave, scurrying off to their own rooms to clean up. Lan Sizhui walked over to Lan Jingyi and dragged him away as well, leaving only Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in the courtyard.
“Hanguang-jun,” Jiang Cheng greeted Lan Wangji formally, bowing to him.
Lan Wangji was angry enough to not return the bow, or the greeting.
Wei Wuxian laughed nervously, one of his hands reaching out to clench around Lan Wangji’s wrist. “Lan Zhan, so rude. Come on, shall we go to my room?”
Jiang Cheng could feel Lan Wangji staring at him, gaze full of hatred and distrust. Instead of meeting the gaze, he looked to his brother who smiled at him. “Jiang Cheng! We’ll be going! Lan Zhan is super tired and needs to rest before the discussions begin!”
Wei Wuxian tugged on Lan Wangji’s arm and to Jiang Cheng’s surprise, the older man allowed himself to be lead away, toward Wei Wuxian’s old bed chambers.
Jiang Cheng let out a sigh of relief and pinched the bridge of his nose. He would need to sleep with one eye open tonight.
__________________
The discussion conference itself went well, all things considered. Wei Wuxian kept Lan Wangji as far from Jiang Cheng as possible, and clung to the man at all times, trying to keep his mood up.
Jiang Cheng could still feel the daggers from Lan Wangji’s eyes from across the room.
Over the course of the conference, Lan Jingyi slept in his bedchambers. Now that Wei Wuxian, and assumedly Lan Wangji, knew about their relationship, there was no reason to hide it. Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but feel more energized and happy at the beginning of every day, after waking up to his lover’s face in the mornings. He felt more whole than he had been in years.
Unfortunately, there was one more obstacle he had to face (not including the fact Lan Wangji wanted to kill him for injuring Wei Wuxian, seeing as he planned on avoiding the man at all costs for the rest of his life). He still had to speak to Jin Ling.
Jiang Cheng found himself outside of Jin Ling’s room at Lotus Pier on the third day of the conference. He had avoided this conversation thus far, but knew he had to speak to his nephew eventually.
“Jin Ling,” he called out, knocking on the door.
He could hear Jin Ling on the other side of the door, dragging his feet. His nephew opened the door, looking up at him expectantly. “Uncle,” Jin Ling greeted him.
“Can we talk?” Jiang Cheng asked.
He was surprised when Jin Ling nodded, stepping aside to allow his uncle into his room. “Listen, uncle. I already know why you’re here and I don’t care.”
Jiang Cheng blinked as he walked inside. “You—What?” he asked, turning to face his nephew.
“You should’ve heard how Jingyi used to gush about you to Sizhui and I,” Jin Ling rolled his eyes. “He was obnoxious,” he stated, but quickly noticed his uncles frown and added, “but happy. So I don’t mind.”
Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words. He cleared his throat. “Thank you.”
Jin Ling nodded, wringing out his hands. “Uncle, I—,” he bit his lip before continuing, “I’m glad you’re happy too. You deserve it. You look better happy.”
Jiang Cheng could only nod in reply, choking up. Sometimes, Jin Ling reminded him of his sister. His gentle words, his tone of voice in this instance reminded him of the late Jiang Yanli. He clasped his nephew’s shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. “I’m still your uncle, I’ll always be here for you.”
Jin Ling snorted. “You mean, you’ll always be there to break my legs if I fall out of line.”
“You—!” he snapped, “Don’t make me break your legs!”
Both men looked at each other for a moment and smiled.
“But I better plan the wedding. We both know Wei Wuxian can’t be trusted.”
Jiang Cheng could only laugh in agreement.