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If you ask about the sect leader of Yunmeng Jiang and his family, people will tell you the following:
Jiang Fengmian, Jiang-zongzhu, is a fair and just leader, looking out for the people under his protection and a strict but encouraging teacher.
Yu Ziyuan, also known as Zi Zhizhu, keeps the region safe - the tales of her night hunts are among the favourites told in the taverns and inns of Yunmeng. She is as intimidating as she is beautiful and many watch in awe from a far when she visits the markets.
Jiang Yanli, their daughter and eldest child, warms the hearts of everyone she meets. Curious and kind in every aspect, she quickly became a common sight among the lotus farmers.
Jiang Cheng, their son, is rarely seen, but it is known that Jiang-gongzi is a determined study in every field, taking his training as a sect heir seriously. Sometimes he follows one of his parents around in the market, hanging onto the robes like a duckling.
This is what people will tell you on the street.
Behind closed doors, they will tell you that there is something about Jiang-gongzi that feels… off.
First off, it is said that Jiang-zongzhu and Yu-furen had tried to sire another child directly after Jiang Yanli, hoping for a son to carry on the line. For a few years, this was without any success until, after a loud argument that carried outwards of the main residence, Yu-furen announced that she was with a child.
Even at this young age, it is clear that the boy takes more after his mother, but when he looks at you with his curious glance, it feels like the world goes a little off-kilter, as if he could look behind your eyes.
Other people tell you that he’s rarely seen with people outside his family, but that animals flock to him like he’s one of their own. Especially the fishes around Lotus Pier are seen swimming around his ankles when he helps with the lotus farming.
But no one dares to speak to you about it further.
You leave Yunmeng Jiang behind, but the tales still make you shiver as you pass a group of people bringing lotus pods back into the city and a child stares at you, eyes big and brown and knowing.
Wei Wuxian returns to their shared dormitory in the Cloud Recesses with a heavy sigh. His wrist hurts after copying the rules during today’s punishment and while it normally brings him joy to rile Lan Zhan up, the other didn’t rise to the bait today.
Hearing the sound of something breaking through a water surface, he smiles and rounds the corner towards the area their washing basin is usually placed in.
Surely enough, Jiang Cheng’s head just emerged from the water and he was lounging peacefully in the basin. Wei Wuxian kneeled down next to the basin, poking the other’s shoulder.
“A-Cheng, aren’t you already a prune with how long you spent in the water? Or is it that you’ve already grown gills and fins and you can’t leave it anymore? Don’t worry, I will carry this basin to Caiyi Town and throw you into the Biling lake myself.”
Wei Wuxian cackles as he dodges the swatting attempts of his shidi who accents every try with a sharp “Shut up!”.
On one swipe he manages to catch the other’s wrist and turns the palm upwards, inspecting the fingertips.
“Aiya, Jiang Cheng, look at this, you’re getting all wrinkly. Out with you, you’ve spent more than enough time in the water. Shijie would have my neck if you get sick!”
He had to hide another grin as Jiang Cheng mumbled “And it would serve you right,” but helped Jiang Cheng to get out of the basin and into his robes.
Ever since Wei Wuxian was found by Jiang Fengmian and brought back to Lotus Pier, he had been drawn to the young boy - even when their first meeting had been disastrous.
He had since then understood why Jiang Cheng had been hurt so badly by being separated from his dogs. Friendship had never come easy to the sect heir and while he had no problem befriending the wildlife around Lotus Pier (much to the envy of Wei Wuxian), human interaction had never been Jiang Cheng’s forte.
It had gotten better over the years as both Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian himself had been able to coax him out more and more.
But still, Wei Wuxian took his role as the head disciple and future right hand serious in this aspect, staying by Jiang Cheng, even if he couldn’t help but needle the other from time to time.
Jiang Cheng just had the best reactions!
Right as Jiang Cheng begins combing through his hair, the first rumble of thunder rolls off the mountainside, seconds later highlighted by lightning illuminating the room.
Wei Wuxian turns towards his shidi, who paused in his task, staring out of the window with a wistful expression.
With a sigh, he kneels behind Jiang Cheng, taking the comb out of his hand and begins brushing through the thick strands, careful to not tug too hard at any knots.
“Why are you doing this?,” comes the murmured question.
“You’re homesick and shijie isn’t allowed to enter our quarters here, so she can’t do this. Don’t get used to it, though,” Wei Wuxian answers as he removes the last tangle.
The storm carries on as Wei Wuxian braids Jiang Cheng’s hair in typical Yunmeng fashion.
When he’s finished and Jiang Cheng turns, Wei Wuxian can already tell that the other wants to thank him - so he flicks his nose and stands up, marching over to the study area, ignoring the scowl on the other’s face.
They spent the rest of the evening inside; the storm takes away any chance of a stroll through the Cloud Recesses before the curfew starts.
While Wei Wuxian goes over some of his design, trying to improve them for future use, he keeps an eye out for Jiang Cheng who diligently studies on the other side of the room.
Or rather, tries to study. From time to time, he looks up and sees Jiang Cheng looking out of the window again for minutes until he forces himself back to his studies.
It becomes unbearable.
Wei Wuxian abandons his work, walks over to his shidi and plucks the notes from today’s lessons out of his grasp and tosses it aside.
“You…!”
In an instance, Jiang Cheng is up, indignation written clear across his face.
This doesn’t detain Wei Wuxian from his goal as he pushes the other towards one of their beds; indignation has been a standard face of Jiang Cheng’s since they’ve known each other.
Once they reach the bed, Wei Wuxian pushes him down and wraps himself around the trashing form of his shidi.
He endures the pushing and punching until it ceases, Jiang Cheng’s head dropping into the crook of Wei Wuxian’s neck. Slowly he drags a blanket over them both and rubs the other’s back in what he hopes is comforting to the other.
Jiang Cheng rarely lets himself indulge in moments like these. Wei Wuxian thinks that this time the homesickness and longing for the rest of his family overrides the instinct of keeping up his barriers.
They both lie silently on the bed, listening to the raindrops creating a symphony on the roof tiles and Wei Wuxian feels himself drifting off, the all-familiar smell of lotus flowers gently encompassing him as he holds Jiang Cheng as close as he can.
Yunmeng isn’t the same without Jiang Cheng.
Does Wei Wuxian regret punching the peacock and getting sent home in the process? No, but this has been the longest time he has been separated from his shidi and while he would never say this out loud (and definitely not to the other’s face) but he misses Jiang Cheng like a limb, misses the way he can rope the other into his plans.
He spends most of his days lounging around (out of Yu-furen’s sight), helping out at the lakes or improving the local economy by taking his taels to the nearest wine house. Sometimes he even trains with the other disciples.
The time until Jiang Cheng is supposed to return stretches like honey. Not even his favourite snacks can really cheer him up when he doesn’t have someone to share them with.
A few days before Jiang Cheng is set to return, he comes back from one of his afternoon wanderings when the moon is already up and Wei Wuxian takes his jar of wine to one of the piers, hoping that he can drink away the time. Settling down, Wei Wuxian takes off his shoes, letting his bare feet sway in the cool waters of the lake.
He’s too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice the gentle ripples against his ankle. The very next moment he’s dragged off the pier and under the surface of the lake.
Spluttering, he returns above water only to be greeted with Jiang Cheng’s face framed by lotus flowers, his eyes shining bright, the smirk partially hidden with the way he’s still ducking in the water.
The sight tugs at his heart, but before he can think about it too hard, Wei Wuxian is already splashing towards the other. They tussle in the water, but even Wei Wuxian can tell that this is an excuse, both too proud to tell how they really feel - after all if this was an actual brawl, he would be pinned at the bottom of the lake. No one can beat Jiang Cheng in the water after all!
After a while, they just float on the lake surface, enjoying the stars quitely shining over them as they try to stifle their laughter.
Without looking at the other, Wei Wuxian asks, “I didn’t expect for a few more days, why have you returned so early? Aiya, A-Cheng, you didn’t get into any trouble while I was away, did you?” Another wave of lake water hits his face the same moment a sharp “Of course I didn’t get into any trouble, idiot,” does.
Wei Wuxian grins before paddling over, getting his shidi in a headlock. While dodging the flailing arms he continues, “What made you rush home, then? Ahh, I know, must have been the food, right? The food in the Cloud Recesses had been so bland, you don’t know how much I’ve eaten these past weeks. I’ve never appreciated our spices this much. Or has it been the lack of rules? I mean, come on, even for you it must have been hard to live up to all 3000 of them. Or,” and he lowers his voice to a whisper as he gets closer to Jiang Cheng’s ear, “did you miss me? I know, I’m a special tre-”
For a second time this evening, he’s getting under the lake’s surface unwillingly, this time pushed there. When Wei Wuxian opens his eyes underwater, he’s looking directly into Jiang Cheng’s face. His shidi is mouthing words at him that he can’t understand before he’s getting pushed down even further, spluttering as he feels Jiang Cheng step on his shoulders to hoist himself up.
When he resurfaces, wanting to berate the other, Jiang Cheng is already on the pier, walking away in the silver moonlight.
”Of course I missed you, A-Xian.”
They’ve been in Qishan for a few weeks and with every day that has gone by, Wei Wuxian’s desire to humiliate Wen Chao and go home after rises. He probably would have done it had Jiang Cheng not warned him of the man beside Wen Chao. That and he doesn’t want to take any risk of leaving Suibian in their hands just because he misbehaved too much.
But with the way all of them have been treated, Wei Wuxian would be lying if he said that he wasn’t tempted to do something.
Qishan Wen has decided to do the bare minimum when it comes to hosting and Wei Wuxian can see the toll it’s taking on his peers.
Nie Huaisang has been complaining about their hosting manners pretty much since the indoctrination began and the circles under his eyes have become more prominent during their stay. There is also a sharpness in his gaze that makes Wei Wuxian think of Chifeng-zun.
He doesn’t want to pay too much attention to the peacock, but even he can appreciate Jin Zixuan being a dick to Wen Chao, his snide remarks cutting deeper with every day.
Lan Zhan is as aloof as ever but Wei Wuxian has noticed the limp in his step and is worried about his health. As far as he knows, Lan Zhan hasn’t asked for any medical assistance and his gait isn’t really changing. But whenever he tries to chat the other up, Lan Zhan just ignores him or shoots him a cold glare.
Jiang Cheng… he is worried about Jiang Cheng. He knows that Jiang Cheng’s water rat tendencies affect his mood - if he spends too much time apart from a proper body of water his mood and energy take on a new low. He hasn’t even been able to take a good soak in one of the washing basins since the use has been timed. Now, Jiang Cheng looks ashen and sometimes Wei Wuxian takes note of the little swaying motions his shidi makes while taking part in the indoctrination with a tired, but still angry face.
In the face of Wen Chao’s continuation of making their lives miserable, he tries to twist the rules as much as he can to pay that bastard back as much as he can.
It’s worth the smirk that’s hidden behind Nie Huaisang’s fan and the little huff that breaks out of Jiang Cheng that escapes him before he tries to reign Wei Wuxian back in, trying to keep the damage as small as possible.
It’s not a good time for any of them, but they make do.
That is until they leave for another nighthunt. Wen Chao has dragged them to many nighthunts, making them weaken the target so that in the end he’s the one making the killing blow. This one wasn’t supposed to be any different, but then they get into the cave on the search for a creature that is supposedly living here.
A fight breaks out when Wen Chao orders that someone should bleed to draw the monster out. Everything after that feels like a blur.
There’s only a few clear moments in his memory: Jiang Cheng promising to be back when he leads the rest of their peers through the water to their freedom, seconds before that way also gets sealed off; forming a battle strategy with Lan Zhan (they make a surprisingly good team); the screams of thousand of souls invading his mind as he takes hold of sword inside what they determine is the Xuanwu of Slaughter. Apart from those, it’s more muddy and only bits and pieces, sometimes only one sensory input.
And for a long time there is only darkness.
When he returns to clarity it’s on the fading notes of a serene song and to the smell of his shijie’s famous soup. Jiang Yanli is sitting next to his bed, wringing out a cloth when she catches his eyes.
“A-Xian! You’re awake, I’m so glad! Wait, don’t sit up yet, let me fetch you some water. You must be thirsty.”
Wei Wuxian knows better than to argue against her caretaking, no, he lets himself enjoy this a bit. After everything that has happened, he deserves a little pampering - and even more so, he deserves every bit of the pork rib inside this bowl of soup without having to fight Jiang Cheng for it for once.
She’s still catching him up to speed when Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Cheng enter the room. Both of them seem to light up when they see that he’s awake and he can’t help but to mirror their smile as they make their way over.
However, the peace is short lived. Jiang Cheng tries to chastise him for his reckless behaviour which turns into Jiang-shushu berating Jiang Cheng which turns into Yu-furen arriving on the scene, scolding her husband about his favouritism.
It’s a mess that’s escalating quickly until Jiang Fengmian storms off with his wife hot on his heels.
The heated voices echo through the halls of Lotus Pier as Jiang-shushu and Yu-furen continue their argument outside.
An uncomfortable silence settles over the room and Jiang Cheng is standing there, looking after where his parents left. Before Wei Wuxian can stand up and talk to him, Jiang Cheng turns his head, throws one cold glare towards him and briskly walks out of the room as well.
Wei Wuxian hastily gets up and tries to catch his shidi, knowing that he’s not in a good head space right now.
“Jiang Cheng, wait! Would you please slow down?”
“Go back to bed and rest! You shouldn’t be up, so stop following me! Or do us all a favour and go back to Gusu! Seems like you spent enough time with Lan Wangji, what’s a little more”, comes the answer, delivered in a snarling tone, but that doesn’t stop Wei Wuxian from following the other, determined to catch up.
When he gets close enough, he grabs Jiang Cheng’s wrist, halting him in his steps.
“Stop it, whatever you’re thinking about. You know that Jiang-shushu is more lenient with me because I’m just the son of a servant. Of course he’s stricter with you, you’re the sect heir after all.”
Jiang Cheng still doesn’t look at him when he replies, “I wish that was it but A-Niang is right, he barely notices me. And he always says that I don’t embody the sect motto - he’s right, too, I don’t. Not in any way that matters, not in any way that you do.” He sighs, sitting down on one of the piers.
“Sometimes, I feel that when he looks at me, he sees a stranger’s child. No matter how much I train, how much I study, how much I try to be the perfect heir, I don’t think he’s ever actually seen me. And it doesn’t help that I’m too much like A-Niang. I know that, I know that I have her temper, that I look like her. When he looks at me, he sees the heir to Meishan Yu, but not the one to Yunmeng Jiang.”
Wei Wuxian doesn’t immediately know how to answer. He sees how vulnerable the other is right now and he wants to do something to wipe the sadness away from Jiang Cheng’s face. So he sits down next to his shidi and pulls him into a side-hug before trying to ease his worries.
“Don’t think like that, of course you are! And who cares about that stupid sect motto. Not everyone who sits on the Lotus Throne is supposed to embody it. And look at other sects; Lan Yi was never described as being the most righteous of them, but no one ever dared to dispute the fact that she was the sect leader. You will do more than fine once you’re sect leader - and I will be at your side to make sure of that.”
For his troubles he receives an elbow to the rib as Jiang Cheng snarls, “Who would want you? You only drink and waste the day away!”
They wrestle a bit until Wei Wuxian has the other in a headlock. When they quiet down a bit, he hears Jiang Cheng murmur, “Do you mean it? Will you be at my side?”
Wei Wuxian laughs as he playfully ruffles his shidi’s hair. “Of course! Gusu Lan might have the Twin Jades, but Yunmeng Jiang has its Twin Prides. I will always be your right hand, like my father was to yours before. You won’t get rid of me that easily.”
The smile that, in response, steals its way onto Jiang Cheng’s face is so devastatingly precious, but if his heart skips a beat, well, that’s only his business.
“You better protect Jiang Cheng with your life. His life is more important than yours. He is Yunmeng Jiang, do you understand?”
“Yes, Yu-furen, you can count on me.”
They’re dead.
Jiang-shushu and Yu-furen are dead.
Jiang-shushu and Yu-furen are dead and Wen Chao is consoling his mistress about how she has nothing to fear now that they’re dead.
Before, Wei Wuxian may have wanted to humiliate that Wen brat, knock him down from his high horse, but now? Now he wants to maim the other and drag it out, make him feel miserable for a long time before throwing his corpse into the gutter.
His rage almost makes him miss how Jiang Cheng turns beside him and runs off into the nearby forest. On instinct, Wei Wuxian follows; he swore to protect the other, even if that means saving Jiang Cheng from himself. Thankfully, he’s still faster than the other, quickly catching up.
When he catches the other’s wrist, Wei Wuxian isn’t prepared to be thrown down to the ground. Trying to catch his breath after getting it knocked out from the impact, he’s attempting to sit up but Jiang Cheng is on him in a heartbeat, shoving him down again and before he realises what’s happening, his shidi’s hands close around his throat.
“Why did you have to stand up for outsiders, for Lan Wangji, for Jin Zixuan? Why did you have to antagonise the Wens like that? You brought the trouble to Lotus Pier and now my parents are dead. Dead! They’re gone and Wen Chao and his troupe are sitting on the Lotus Throne looking down on them and I can’t even bury them! Why, Wei Wuxian, why?”
His vision is beginning to blur but he still sees the tears that are falling down Jiang Cheng’s face, rolling freely, his face scrunched up.
Wei Wuxian knows that Jiang Cheng is mostly lashing out - though he can’t help asking himself how the situation would be different if he hadn’t stood up to Wen Chao back then. It doesn’t really matter anymore; it is what it is and back then he thought it was right, still thinks so. But their positions always had been different, their way of operating in certain settings dictated by their social standings. Wei Wuxian is aware of the freedom he enjoyed as a son of a pair of rogue cultivators while Jiang Cheng has been living inside the barriers of a future sect leader.
He also knows that Jiang Cheng would never really hurt him.
And sure enough, right before he can barely make out the other, the hands around his throat relax, letting him breath again.
Wei Wuxian takes in deep breaths as Jiang Cheng rolls off him, still sobbing into the night sky, wailing for his parents from time to time.
It feels unreal and the longer they lay in the grass, the clearer the circumstances become and against all his power, he feels the tears quietly run down his face.
Once the dawn approaches, Wei Wuxian manages to get himself up and slowly coaxes Jiang Cheng to follow.
He doesn’t know if Wen Chao ordered his men to look for them and right now, he doesn’t want to find out. Getting Jiang Cheng to safety is the highest priority.
Which means getting them to Meishan Yu.
Jiang Cheng isn’t in their room.
He fucking lost Jiang Cheng. Not only will Yu-furen torture him once he’s died, no, he will gladly bow his head and accept whatever cruel method she intends to use because he just lost his most precious person on their way to safety in a city crawling with Wen soldiers.
Whatever happened, Wei Wuxian is pretty sure that he has to go back to Lotus Pier to at least find out where Jiang Cheng went. He had been so upset about not being able to give his parents a proper burial, so the closest thing he can think of is that he went back to get the bodies.
Packing together what little they have, Wei Wuxian hurries to get back to Lotus Pier before anything else happens.
Wei Wuxian had run as fast as he could, but in the end he’s still not fast enough.
He just made it onto the roof of one of the inner buildings when he spots the group in the courtyard.
Jiang Cheng, who’s being grappled by two guards, and that Wen Zhuliu guy are standing in the middle while the rest of them - Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao among them - watch on. Wei Wuxian is just in the process of jumping down the roof to intercept whatever is happening in there, but he’s too late - Wen Zhuliu already has his palm against Jiang Cheng’s lower dantian and it’s quiet enough to hear the broken gasp of his shidi.
As Jiang Cheng slides down to the ground, the eyes of every person in the courtyard wander towards Wei Wuxian; even Jiang Cheng looks to him, horror in his eyes.
Before he can shout something comforting towards the other, he already has to fend off attacks from all sides and he quickly loses sight. He tries to punch through the mass of soldiers and one moment he’s trying to dodge swords left and right and the next he’s meeting the ground in a particular hard way. It feels like he’s broken a rib or two, but even worse, he can hear Jiang Cheng crying out from him.
“Wei Wuxian!! No, leave him alone, you got what you wanted, let him go! LET HIM GO!”
Jiang Cheng sounds desperate, just like when he begged his mother to stop punishing Wei Wuxian, but especially the last part seems to be imbued with power as the ground begins to rumble. The Wen soldiers seem to be confused (and to be honest, so is Wei Wuxian) and the beating stops as they look around for the source.
Wei Wuxian quickly tries to take a look at Jiang Cheng and when he gets a good view, he’s shocked.
Jiang Cheng is barely sitting up, staring into his direction with glossed over eyes, expression almost hollow. Around his lower dantian, where his golden core should sit, curls what seems to be pitch black water, some of it dripping between the planks into the lake below Lotus Pier. When their eyes catch, Wei Wuxian can just barely make the “Hold your breath, A-Xian,” and follow it before water suddenly erupts from under them.
From what he sees he knows that the water pressure the Wens must be experiencing is quite high, but to him it just feels like the loving embrace of the Yunmeng water he’s grown to cherish. The water surrounds them for quite a while until it recedes, leaving a layer of water on the surface. Around him, the others are gasping for air and moaning in pain.
But Wei Wuxian pays them no mind since Jiang Cheng stands in the middle, the moon illuminating him and he looks almost otherworldly as the water climbs up his limbs, caressing him. Slowly, Jiang Cheng extends his arms and closes his eyes as he begins to sing a melody that Wei Wuxian recognises as a melancholic song that he only rarely got to hear in his years in Lotus Pier. In Jiang Cheng’s beautiful voice it sounds ethereal and Wei Wuxian realises that he’s using the song to control whatever that water spirit is.
Multiple shapes rise up from the thin layer coating the courtyard, marching to the Wens and enveloping them in their watery forms.
Wen Chao, Wen Zhuliu and Wang Lingjiao are close to Jiang Cheng and they seem to not only drown, but are positively crushed by the water pressure that the shades seem to apply. It’s almost mesmerising, watching the horror in their eyes as they seem to realise that there is no escape, futilely trying to paddle their way out. Slowly, the last air bubbles dissipate inside the shades as the life is finally snuffed out of them.
Wei Wuxian is still rooted to the spot as he watches the forms dragging the Wen corpses towards the piers and into the lake and while Jiang Cheng keeps singing, the haunting melody echoing throughout the night.
The water shades return to Jiang Cheng, swaying slightly to the tunes as if they were dancing.
As the song ends, the figures collapse in on themselves and the water ebbs away through the planks, leaving a slight sheen behind as Jiang Cheng crumbles to the floor.
Wei Wuxian wants to get up and get over to him but as he tries to get back on his knees, the world turns as he loses consciousness.
When Wei Wuxian wakes again, the sun is already shining on the horizon. His bones ache in a way that he hasn’t experienced before and his head is pin and needles. He shields his eyes from the sun as he looks around for any sign of Jiang Cheng, walking towards the piers.
There Wei Wuxian spots Jiang Cheng’s outer robes on a pier next to what seems to be the corpses of former Jiang disciples and the gentle summer heat does nothing to stop the shiver running down his spine.
As he comes closer, Jiang Cheng breaks through the surface hauling another body up onto the pier. He takes one look at Wei Wuxian, his eyes wide and afraid - like he’s frightened of what Wei Wuxian’s reaction is going to be. It’s the one look he never wanted to see on Jiang Cheng’s face and it breaks his heart.
Slowly, he walks forward, kneeling down beside the corpse, pulling together the labels to give them the respect they deserve.
When he looks up, Jiang Cheng is sitting on the pier, staring down into the lake. With a sigh he sits down next to him.
“So, what are you thinking about?”
Jiang Cheng takes another look at him, face looking so haunted and scoffs.
“I don’t know, maybe about how half of my family and most of my sect have died and oh, apparently I’m some sort of monster that can control water spirits, is that what you want to talk about?! I don’t even know who I am anymore!”
Jiang Cheng gets louder as he goes on, hands fisting in his lap and eyes becoming shiny with tears threatening to overflow.
Wei Wuxian hates how much the other is hurting. He hates it; he hates it, hates it, hates it!
“Wei Wuxian, what are you doi-!”
Before he realises what he’s doing, Wei Wuxian has shoved Jiang Cheng off the pier and jumps right after and when the other resurfaces, looking like he’s on the beginning of a rant, Wei Wuxian just puts both his hands on Jiang Cheng’s cheeks and squishes, stopping the other in his tracks.
“Jiang Cheng, stop it. You’re still you! You’re Jiang Wanyin, you’re now Jiang-zongzhu and you’re not a monster!”
The other slaps his hands away and pedals back, still not meeting Wei Wuxian’s eyes.
“You saw what happened there! I summoned them, I made them kill all of those Wens and drag them into the lake. And look back, it’s all making sense! Me being drawn to the water and nobody being able to beat me in there, not even you. Of course A-Die never looked at me twice, of course I’m never enough, I’m not even human!”
Wei Wuxian feels the blood starting to boil as he wades over to where Jiang Cheng is as the other goes on and just slaps him in the middle of his tirade.
Finally, finally, Jiang Cheng looks him in the eye, stunned into speechlessness. Taking the opportunity, Wei Wuxian pulls him into a hug.
“And I mean it, you’re still you. You’re still the Jiang Cheng who protected me from every dog we came across even though I know you wanted to go over to it and pet it so badly. You’re still the same boy who helped the fishers picking out the best fishing spots and the farmers finding the ripe lotus pods. You’re still the one who trained as hard as he could to earn his rightful place on the Lotus Throne - and you did! Jiang Cheng, whatever happened, the Wens are gone. We can rebuild Lotus Pier.”
There is a hopeful timbre in Jiang Cheng’s voice as he answers, “We?”
“Of course, I promised you that I would be your right hand, remember? The Twin Prides of Yunmeng Jiang!”
“You’re not afraid of me?”
“Because of that little water trick? As if. No, you’re stuck with me.”
He can feel Jiang Cheng tighten the embrace and on instinct, he pats the other’s head, glad that he finally managed to calm the other down a bit.
They stay there, lotus flowers flowing around them, clinging to each other while planning their next steps.
Over the course of the next days, they finish fishing out the corpses of their fellow sect members out of the lake and prepare a funeral. The citizens of Lotus Pier that had fled to their safety, return and help as best as they can. It’s hard and there are a lot of tears, but Wei Wuxian can’t help but be proud of Jiang Cheng who handles the comforting as best as he can.
On one particular night, when they’re sitting in one of the pavilions, a brazier lit between them, Jiang Cheng tells him about what he gathered about his… abilities. He’s pretty certain that the water spirits he summoned had been the souls of the disciples who hadn’t been laid to rest yet. When he had tried to summon them again after the funeral, there still was something reacting to his call but the energy had been different - still loyal and powerful, but different. Wei Wuxian swears that he’s going to find out more about it - if only to prove to Jiang Cheng that he’s not the abnormality he believes he is.
Jiang Yanli arrives soon after and it hurts, seeing both Jiang siblings cry in each other’s arms as they grieve for their family. Wei Wuxian still tries to comfort them as best as he can, preparing tea for them and sneaking in their favourite snacks.
When they tell her about the night (because how could they keep a secret from her), she seems surprised but still embraces her brother. Jiang Yanli also tells them that Jiang Cheng had been a little marvel and that she knew from the moment he was born that there was something special about him.
Just as Wei Wuxian had done before, she reminds him that no matter what, he’s still Jiang Cheng.
The one good thing that comes out of what happened at Lotus Pier is that the cultivation world unites against Wen Ruohan.
After Jin-furen found out about the death of her sworn sister, she managed to somehow get her husband to stand beside the other sects and while the fighting had been tough, the other sects managed to end the tyranny under Wen Ruohan and rearrange everything under a fair council.
(If they manage to smuggle the Dafan Wen part into Lotus Pier in the midst of it all, well, nobody has to know but them.)
Despite the strain they went through before, Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan actually become a pair and marry. Out of habit, Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian antagonise him endlessly (“But shijie, if he doesn’t stand by you despite our bullying, he doesn’t deserve you!”) up until they see the lotus pond the peacock has made for their sister and the look upon his face as Jiang Yanli laughs at one of Wei Wuxian’s jokes.
They will deny it later, but the day Jiang Yanli marries into the Jin sect has them crying for various reasons. Both of them are happy that she found someone who cherishes her, but they feel like a part of them is missing when they return to Lotus Pier which is still being rebuilt.
It takes a lot of time and resources but they’re making Lotus Pier a home again.
The last rooms they’re renovating are the former rooms of the inner family and they stumble over something in Yu-furen’s chambers.
As it turns out, there are letters from Yu-furen to Jiang Cheng, hidden in a chest which’s lock only responds to Zidian.
They explain everything, how Yu-furen had felt pressured, not being able to produce an heir, how she prayed to the gods for a miracle in the lake every night until they responded to her pleas. In her words, Jiang Cheng is the embodiment of everything this region is and he should hold his head high. She has been blessed by the gods with a child that will ring in a new age of prosperity for the land. Yu Ziyuan also talks about how her children are the joy and pride of her heart, no matter how harsh she had been on them.
Jiang Cheng weeps a lot that night, but when they emerge the next day for the morning routines, he stands with his back straight and a light in his eyes that Wei Wuxian hasn’t seen there in a long time.
The first major cultivation conference has passed and they’re back in Lotus Pier and Wei Wuxian sighs heavily when Jiang Cheng returns to his office to check on sect matters that have arrived in the meantime.
“A-Cheng, please, go to sleep. I’m sure Wen Qing has-”, a glare cuts him off, “sorry, Jiang Qing has all the reports ready to give them to you tomorrow, just put that down, please.” He wrestles the papers out of the other’s hand and sets them back on the desk.
When he looks back up, Jiang Cheng looks tired, his hair is a bit of a mess and there is still some sweat clinging to his brows. He’s also still preening from all the compliments they’ve gotten on how Jiang Cheng has managed to build up the sect from almost nothing to something that is already prospering right now and he’s the most content that Jiang Cheng has looked in weeks.
In short, Jiang Cheng makes Wei Wuxian’s heart soar again and again and /again/ and he can’t help but lean in, finally putting their lips together in a chaste kiss.
He expects the other to back away, chastise him, chase him away, but instead he’s pulled forward by his lapels as the pressure increases until it’s almost painful.
Wei Wuxian can’t help but smile against their kiss as he gently brings his hands up to the other’s face to take off a bit of the tension, thumbs dragging along those beautiful cheekbones. They kiss a bit more in the candlelight of the office before Wei Wuxian has had enough and drags them towards Jiang Cheng’s chambers.
They don’t sleep a lot that night, learning about each other in new ways but it’s /oh so/ worth it when Wei Wuxian wakes up to Jiang Cheng combing through his hairs with his fingers and looking at him with the softest expression he has ever seen on him.
There is no place where Wei Wuxian would rather be and so he smiles back and enjoys the few more moments until they have to leave for their duties.
It’s been years since you’ve been to Yunmeng Jiang. You’ve heard about it, of course - how it had been destroyed by the Wens and how the young sect leader had led his people to bring it back to its former glory; some say that the Yunmeng Jiang of today is even more prosperous than before.
And you can only agree as you see the hustle in Lotus Pier, the full market stands that are surrounded by eager customers, the wonderful scent of spicy food wafting through the windows of inns and tea houses, the happy expressions on most people you encounter.
It doesn’t seem like a city that has been destroyed a few years ago, but you don’t mind, you’re glad that it managed to bounce back.
You settle down in one of the tea houses, listening to the chatter of the locals.
They’re full of praise for Jiang-zonghu who not only keeps the region safe - always with the help of his deputy Wei Wuxian, who’s just as beloved among the townspeople - but also takes part in the more mundane parts, always there for the common folk.
When you ask for more stories, they’re elated to tell you all about their Twin Prides. They tell you, laughing, about how Wei-qianbei just started the drills one morning with the news that he’s going to marry Jiang-zongzhu and that they can practice calling him Jiang-furen starting that moment. They tell you in awe about how no threat has always been dealt with as long as one of them was on the case - but if both Jiang-zongzhu and Wei-qianbei appeared together, it was a sight to behold as they flawlessly compliment each other in battle.
They tell you, proudly, about how despite their status as leaders, they mingle on the markets and when Jiang Yanli visits together with her husband and son, nobody can take off their eyes when they happily stroll around the markets, Jin Ling always seated on one of his uncles’ shoulders.
You forget the time and it’s getting late and you make your way to an inn the tea house has recommended you to stay in.
On your way there, two tall figures dressed in expensive purple cloth pass through the crowd, one of them laughing as he swings a jar of wine around, arm around the other man who seems to be berating him with a fond look on his face.
You quickly gather them to be Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian and you easily can see how they’re so well loved among their subjects, seeing as they’re mingling with the crowd. When Wei Wuxian kneels down to talk to some of the children, Jiang-zongzhu lets his gaze drift over the crowd and catches your eye.
The uneasy feeling you felt years ago when you met a little boy washes over you again, but as the sect leader smiles politely before he turns towards his deputy and consort it quickly vanishes again.
You watch as they leave, children following them around and street vendors showering them with samples and no matter the uneasiness you felt before, you know one thing for certain.
There is no one better suited to ensure Yunmeng Jiang’s happiness and prosperity than its Twin Prides and they will do anything in their power to make sure of that.