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Sect leader Nie was a strong man who believed in the fairness of the martial arts over everything and in the superiority of the saber above any other weapon. He was said to be a formidable warrior and even more of a strict ruler who valued justice as one of the distinctive traits of the janghu.
That was the reason why anybody who knew him only as the sect leader of Qinghe Nie would have been surprised by the way he was inside the walls of his own home. Forget about duty and honour! The man was completely whipped by his two sons.
Although while Nie Mingjue was already quite grown up and had learnt discipline and all the other boring businesses that came with being the heir to one of the biggest sects existing, his second son Nie Huaisang, born out of love instead of an arranged marriage as it happened the first time around, had their father all wrapped around his little pinky.
A very cute and little pinky that had the sect leader squealing like a maiden the moment the child moved it.
Yes, Nie Huaisang was the apple of his father's eyes and he was well aware of it. Knowing that, it was easy for him to obtain whatever he wanted, in the briefest time possible.
It was no wonder then that when a cultivation conference was to be held in Cloud Recesses, little Nie Huaisang, age seven, was allowed to join the party right after telling his father that he would have loved to see the clouds.
The other people nominated for the delegation tried to argue that there was no cloud to be seen that couldn't also be spotted in the skies of Qinghe Nie; and also that a cultivation conference was no place for a child as Nie Huaisang would eventually get bored. More so in the austere Cloud Recesses.
It was all to no avail. There was no reasoning neither with father nor son.
For that reason some months later, Nie Huaisang found himself in Cloud Recesses, getting bored out of his mind of staying closed inside the rooms that had been assigned to the Nie group. A disciple was supposed to guard over him, but he too had fallen asleep when Nie Huaisang took his afternoon nap.
Now though Nie Huaisang was awake and full of energy, and the disciple no.
Opening the window and sliding down from it was surprisingly easy for a child with a mischievous nature as Nie Huaisang had.
Moreover, all the adults were busy with the conference, so they would not bother him much if he took a good look around the place. On top of that, his family wouldn't know that he had escaped from his guardian if he returned in time.
Nobody would have to get punished for it. It was the perfect plan.
It would have been the perfect plan actually, if only Nie Huaisang had found something interesting to spend the time exploring, or even some children to play with.
This Cloud Recesses seemed like a place empty of any younglings, and of any diversions too. How did people even manage to live there?!
Bored to tears, Nie Huaisang turned on his heels with the intention of going back to his room and kicking the disciple awake just to have somebody to talk with, but in that moment a terrible realisation dawned on him.
He didn't know from which direction he had come from.
Or better, he remembered reaching the crossroad from somewhere on the right, but there were too many alleys situated on the right now that he looked at them. And they were all identical.
The tears of boredom immediately turned into tears of fear.
Where was his dad when Nie Huaisang needed him?!
Sniffing loudly usually did the trick, the man running to his rescue in a heartbeat; but nobody answered Nie Huaisang's call for help this time.
It wouldn't do if nobody was around to come to his aid, so it meant that he needed to find somebody then. Somebody that knew the place at least, to help him get back to his room and avoid any possible repercussions. Nie Huaisang still had a healthy amount of fear for his father's outbursts of rage and preferred to avoid any trouble.
There was a pretty symmetry in all the buildings and passages that Nie Huaisang walked through, and he was sure that in a different moment he would have appreciated them, maybe even wanted to portray them since he was getting better each day more with brush and ink. In that instance though, it all served to unnerve him. Nothing could be taken as a landmark to find his way back.
A hiccup escaped his lips before Nie Huaisang could realise it, soon followed by another. Ah, he was so lost and tired!
Maybe he was also crying for real this once, but he would never admit that. Not even to himself.
Between all the noise of his bemoaning though, Nie Huaisang managed to hear it.
The delicate sound of a string instrument virtuously played.
Somebody was out there!
Drying his cheeks with the hem of his sleeve, a smile already taking over his face, Nie Huaisang followed the sweet melody.
Not long after, he reached the source of the music and his breath got taken away.
Either he was still dreaming in his guest chamber in Cloud Recesses, or Nie Huaisang had just stepped inside one of the fairytales from the books his mum used to read him as bedtime story when he was but a small child.
In front of him, sitting on a veranda and lost in playing her music on a guqin while a jade flute laid on the floor not far away, was a fairy all dressed in white.
Eyes closed and black hair shining under the sunlight, even though there was no floating scarf surrounding her Nie Huaisang was sure of what he had just laid his gaze upon. Enraptured, he advanced toward her.
She looked quite young. Not an adult fairy, but not a child fairy either. Some years older than Nie Huaisang maybe? Her beauty was undeniable though, almost as pretty as his mum.
It was only when he was standing nearly in front of her that Nie Huaisang finally noticed the headband with the embroidered clouds that he had been told it was the symbol of the Lan clan. Its threads sparkled whenever the rays of sun hit them, the blue clouds turning silver.
Not a fairy then, but a princess!
The melody that had called for Nie Huaisang slowly ended, the vibrations fading out as the long fingers stopped dancing on the strings, and the princess opened her eyes.
They were big and blinked repeatedly as if to clear her sight from Nie Huaisang, as if he was not supposed to be there.
"Oh," she said, observing his clothes.
There was a deeper meaning to it probably, but Nie Huaisang wasn't paying any attention to it, too taken by the elegance of this princess like she had just stepped out from the scroll painting of a famous artist, one of those beautiful women that made men lose their heads.
His father had always told him that pretty women were best suited sitting next to powerful men, like his mum used to sit next to him.
And given that Nie Huaisang was the second young master of one of the biggest sects ever, that counted as being quite powerful right?
He didn't even realise that he had opened his mouth when he blurted out.
"Pretty princess, marry me please?"
Sitting unmoving on the veranda, the pretty princess blushed. Then her laugh came like a rain shower during a spring day, a warm giggle barely there, hidden behind a dainty hand that covered a precious smiling mouth.
That evening, sect leader Nie scolded his son not for the fact that he had sneaked off and got lost, but because the Lan tutors had complained to his father about Nie Huaisang bothering the Lan sect's first young master, interrupting his study time with his presence, making the other boy take care of him for the whole afternoon instead.
Oh, and how sweet he had been about his care for Nie Huaisang! Telling him fairytales as funny as the ones from his mother while Nie Huaisang rested in his lap.
It seemed though that thankfully the first Lan young master hadn't told his tutors nor his father about Nie Huaisang's terrible mistake in calling him a princess and asking for his hand in marriage.
His father would have complained with reason about his absolute lack of manners had he known. Proposing without a proper courtship?! Unheard of!
Little did it matter to Nie Huaisang if his father had more grievances to make him air his lungs out though. A beatific smile was splitting his face as he listened without hearing anything.
He had seen the clouds he so wanted to see, from very close.
Many years later and many tragedies after, Nie Huaisang officially put his foot for the first time in the Cloud Recesses.
Like many young masters of his age, he had come to the Lan refining classes to receive a better education that might accomplish the miracle of straightening him out. Or at least that's what his brother, the current Nie sect leader, hoped for.
Hiding behind his fan, Nie Huaisang was sure that even the strict Lan rules could accomplish nothing with him. Not when he was a spoiled brat interested solely in life's finest pleasures, his brother's words.
What he wasn't expecting though was to see a beautiful young man next to the decrepit teachers come to greet the new batch of external disciples.
His shoulders were massive and his hair lustrous, with an otherworldly smile like a divinity who has stepped on earth for a leisure walk, unintentionally polarising everyone's attention on himself and his forehead ribbon with clouds embroidered on them.
The breathtaking man towered above everyone else, yet there was not the smallest whiff of a menacing aura surrounding him as warmth exuded from his serene expression. The whole classroom seemed to be on the verge of choral squealing when he looked at them.
The moment his eyes landed on Nie Huaisang though, it was like a light of recognition had turned on inside of them, making them spark as if the night sky full of stars had found its place inside of them. Nie Huaisang was definitely charmed by him.
One of the teachers introduced the man as Lan Xichen, first young master of the Lan sect, and even if he no longer looked like a pretty princess, Nie Huaisang was still sure he wanted to marry him.