Chapter Text
He is tired.
Exhausted to the bone.
The past 9 weeks of his life were enough to drive a weaker man to a coma.
*****
It started when their conservative law partnership was shaken by the scandal of his younger nephew eloping with another man – and posting their adventures on social media. Wuxian was a charismatic influencer whose fans went wild at the news and caused a fire in their main office at Gusu.
It took almost one week for the office to recover the documents destroyed by the sprinklers triggered by the fire.
Wangji and Wuxian knew the cost of their love. Yet they left China without a second thought and he had to face the consequences.
*****
Then his closest friend died.
Jiang Fengmian died alone from a second heart attack in 24hours. The first attack was triggered by the news of the elopement and the second by the guilt of choosing his true love’s son over his own family.
A few months after he adopted Wei Wuxian 15 years ago, he declared him to be his heir and the next CEO of Yunmeng Enterprises. The young man turned out to be a genius, but he had no aptitude for business as Fengmian had hoped, making astounding success in the arts and YouTube – in social media in general - instead.
As Yunmeng Enterprises’ legal retainer and Jiang Fengmian’s loyal friend, he had been monitoring the movement of the alienated members of the Jiang family.
Yu Ziyuan filed for divorce shortly after her husband’s announcement and moved with her children to Singapore. The news was that it was the youngest Jiang who turned out to be the astute businessman – he was, at the age of 22, already running a successful restaurant and bakery business near Chinatown in the Central Business District of Singapore.
A year ago, his informant in Singapore told him of the death of Yu Ziyuan, Jiang Yanli, and her Jin husband from a vehicular accident. The same informant brought him the news - a few months later - that the young Jiang sold his Singapore businesses and was returning to his mother’s family in Meishan with the late Jiang Yanli’s children.
In the last few hours of his life, Jiang Fengmain had begged him for information about his wife and children, and - an hour before he died, as guilt began to choke him - he changed his will, bequeathing his multimillion-dollar business to what remained of his family - his son, Jiang Wanyin and his grandchildren, Jin Rulan and Jin Youmei.
While it was devastating to have a friend die in your arms, it was excruciating to see your friend die eaten inside by guilt and remorse.
So, there he was, weighed down by the necessities of arranging for his friend’s funeral rites and facing the prospect of confronting his estranged family with the news of his untimely death.
****
And then, ten days ago, Gusu was met with the bigger scandal of his elder nephew accused of murdering his best friend in a drunken frenzy.
Xichen was found on the grounds of the Nie’s Unclean Realm kneeling in front of the prone form of a bloodied Jin Guangyao. He was cradling a bloody 45-caliber pistol on his lap. He stayed there sobbing, disheveled and distraught, unable to speak.
The blood around the petite Jin oozed from a gunshot wound on his head.
A few feet away from them, the young, tenacious head of the Nie family sat slumped, unresponsive, suffering a deep wound on his chest. He was alive – but barely.
Lan Xichen was the managing partner and public face of GUSULAW.
This scandal was threatening to destroy the partnership that took 75 years and several generations of law-abiding Lans to build.
Once the news leaked to the public, his inbox became inundated with messages from his partners incessantly clamoring for a change in leadership, media people looking for a scoop, concerned clients, friends, and family members – but no messages from Wangji.
Lan Wangji was the other face of GUSULAW. He needed Wangji.
*****
His last 16 hours had been spent on a plane to California, where Wanji was last known to be - to beg him to come home and bring his new husband to face his father’s death and support Xichen’s fight for justice.
It turns out to be a futile endeavor. He is three hours too late; the irresponsible couple is en route to their honeymoon - in an unknown island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Lan Qiren physically deflates from frustration.
He needs to plan his next move.
In a moment of clarity, he decides to talk to Jiang Wanyin in Meishan first, then to go to Yunmeng to ensure proper legal and corporate protocols following Jiang Fengmian’s death and finally to return to Gusu to face the madness.
He only has enough mental strength to reroute his ticket to Meishan, as he wills his bone-weary body to handle another 16-hour flight back to China.
He feels empty, hanging on a thin thread to his sanity.
*****
As he straps himself to the seat, he feels sucked into a black hole of negative rumination.
He tried to be a good brother, he failed – his brother died depressed.
He tried to be a good friend, he failed – Jiang Fengmian died heartbroken and guilty.
He tried to be a good citizen – upright and law-abiding - a good model for his nephews, he failed – Wangji left with no thoughts about the consequences of his actions.
He tried to be a good leader, he failed – GUSULAW’s proud tradition of honest, excellent service was under siege - threatened by a loss of trust from their conservative clientele.
He tried to be a good uncle, he failed – Lan Xichen, his kind-hearted and proper nephew, is currently wallowing in a local jail in Gusu accused of murder – of all things.
He gave up his dreams of a family and an independent life to be a good brother, a good friend, a good citizen, a good leader, a good uncle – but clearly, he fails at everything.
His heart is numb. He loses hold of himself and sits staring at the clouds floating by his window.
*****
The plane jostles like a bull in an amateur rodeo event. His fellow passengers gasp around him – he finds that he is sleepy.
For the first time in 96 hours, Lan Qiren falls asleep.