Chapter Text
In almost six months since the events in Yunping the life of Yunmeng Jiang sect had not changed too much. The disciples were training and night-hunting, the everyday routine continued as usual with trade and tending to lotus lakes and making products typical for Yunmeng region. Life just went on. The most significant change was a decrease in the cases of demonic cultivation. With Yiling Laozu resurrected, breathing and roaming the world somewhere, if the rumours were to be believed, there was no reason to look so much for someone bold enough to try and summon Wei Wuxian's spirit, the thing Jiang Cheng wanted to avoid.
Only worse happened and Mo Xuanyu, one of Jin Ling's bastard uncles, the freaky and cut-sleeve one, actually revived Wei Wuxian in exchange for his body and soul. And for what? Some revenge to the Mo family for abusive treatment. Jiang Cheng didn't know much about that supposed abuse but Jin Ling told him enough about Mo Xuanyu's behaviour for him to decide that lunatic probably deserved everything.
The resurrection of Wei Wuxian brought trouble. Enough for a lifetime, and Jiang Cheng cursed the day when Mo Xuanyu somehow got his hands on that damned artay for sacrificial ritual. Worst of all, Jiang Cheng was confronted with the revelation of his golden core restoration. Or, should he say, transfer, because things suddenly started to make sense when Wei Wuxian's annoying Wen-dog snarled bitter words at him. And Suibian, the sword no one in the whole cultivation world could pull out, went easy in his hand. Later, in the Guanyin temple of Yunping he had to acknowledge it as a truth that even Jin Guangyao knew of. And then Jin Guangyao practically confessed staging Wei Wuxian's loss of control which was nothing like that in fact, but a perfect plan of a manipulative bastard to take what wasn't meant to be his.
So, after all, Jiang Cheng had to come to terms with reality where Wei Wuxian wasn't so guilty as he believed him to be for sixteen years. Not that it meant Jiang Cheng could just let things go. Wei Wuxian still had chosen Wens over his own sect. So no, his apparent innocence, or almost innocence, was not the reason the number of demonic cultivator cases decreased. The reason was different and quite simple. Lan Wangji.
The new Xiandu was firm in his decision to supervise the cases related to demonic cultivation. He threw a matter of Xue Yang into Jiang Cheng's face at the first attempt of disagreement. Well, not he personally, rather his mouthy disciple, the one that behaved so unlike Lan that Jiang Cheng not for the first time wondered if Gusu Lan was also not above bringing in strays. It seemed that even with his new position Lan Wangji was still unwilling to talk to him. Which, not Jiang Cheng's loss.
So he was forced to take a step back from his usual activities and it was a great opportunity to concentrate more on other problems. Jin Ling took the position of Jin-zongzhu and was in need of good advice and support in his attempts to bring some order to his clan and sect. Jiang Cheng helped him as much as he could, but Jin elders were not keen on his offers of assistance claiming that he interfered with their sect matters. Jiang Cheng reminded them every time that Jin Guangshan used to do this to him too but his complaints fell on deaf ears. Worst of all was Jin Ling who wanted to look like an adult when he was definitely not and while listening to his advice kept insisting that he could manage on his own.
The morning he was supposed to make a visit to Lanling Jiang Cheng rose from bed earlier than usual and was confronted with the harsh reality of being a sect leader. He was getting ready for the day when a sharp and urgent knock on the door distracted him from his morning routine. His first disciple, Jiang Qingmei, entered the room in a rush with a troubled expression on his face.
"What is it?" Jiang Cheng asked, irritated and alarmed. He knew Jiang Qingmei well enough to understand that no small matter would put his first disciple in such a state. If there was a normal everyday problem Jiang Qingmei would wait for him to emerge from his private chambers to address the issue. Still he couldn't keep himself from getting pissed off because of course something must have happened on the day he decided to go to Lanling.
"Lotus plants, zongzhu," Jiang Qingmei answered immediately. "Some of our disciples noticed something strange with lotus plants yesterday while taking a late swim. I sent people to check in the morning and they discovered that lotuses in our lakes were struck with some disease".
This was bad. Obviously, some plants die every season but for Jiang Qingmei to run to him so early in the morning it must be massive. He should skip breakfast and go and see for himself, then if things are truly that bad - write a note to Jin Ling telling his nephew he wouldn't be able to come. Jiang Cheng didn't want to start imagining how big the problem was. Besides, it was always better to know for sure than to build suggestions and then come face to face with reality. So he quickly finished his hair and reached for Zidian and Sandu.
"How much are we talking about?" he asked.
Jiang Qingmei looked at him with something akin to fear before finally answering.
"We might lose seventy to ninety percent of our harvest, zongzhu".
Jiang Cheng cursed. This was a fucking catastrophe. Lotus plants were a great part of Yunmeng Jiang economy. Everything from food and wine to hair oils and perfumes was made from lotuses and losing even fifty percent of harvest was a great blow. He didn't know what they could possibly do if it was more.
Forcibly calming himself he decided he still needed to see the damage first. Things might not be so bad. And if they were he would have to plan his actions with full details of the problem. But he had managed to rebuild Lotus Pier after the war, this couldn't be as horrific as then.
It was. When Jiang Cheng reached the biggest lake he saw three senior disciples inspecting the plants. They looked like they were rotting and withering at the same time and strange spots covered the leaves. Jiang Cheng had never seen anything like this in his life. The lakes of Lotus Pier were full of spiritual energy so the plants growing there were always prospering. The last time he saw Lotus Pier lakes in such a pitiful condition was right after they had retaken their home from the Wen-dogs.
The reminder made him angry, the desire to strike someone with Zidian so strong that it took all of his self-control to restrain himself from doing that. He knew his disciples were not responsible for the disease that struck plants. A sudden thought came to his mind and he felt himself consumed by fury. Spiritual energy in Lotus Pier protected the plants for years. Why did it fail this time? Could it be because of interference of some demonic cultivator? If someone had drawn resentful energy to the lakes it could influence the plants. He had seen Burial Mounds with its flora more than once to know that resentful energy and life do not mix well.
Except for the idiotic Wei Wuxian but that was the problem for another day. Maybe even another year.
After Guangyin temple Jiang Cheng tried not to think about Wei Wuxian at all. Even with evidence of his innocence Jiang Cheng was not ready to be confronted with his complicated feelings towards his former first disciple. Wei Wuxian was still arrogant and prideful, always loving to play the hero, to be right in the end. Was that not enough to resent the man for? Jiang Cheng shouldn't be surprised Jin Guangyao had chosen Wei Wuxian as a convenient scapegoat as Wei Wuxian made friends easily and enemies even easier.
He shook his head and focused his gaze on the disciples examining the plants. He should listen to them but if there was a chance of demonic activity on the grounds of Lotus Pier even Lan Wangji wouldn't stop him. That would be intervening in the internal affair of Yunmeng Jiang and Jiang Cheng would not let it slide.
"What are your findings?" he asked as soon as Li Meiyang, one of the disciples who were in the lake, returned to the pier.
She bowed to him respectfully and then reported in steady voice:
"I have never seen anything like this in my life, zongzhu. It looks like the plants are entirely and utterly corrupted. Not just flowers or leaves but all parts of them".
Jiang Cheng scowled.
"Any traces of resentful energy?"
"No, zongzhu. Not even the smallest ones".
This somehow made things even worse. Jiang Cheng knew too well how to deal with resentful energy and demonic cultivators. He would catch them, question them about their vile practices and sins and then make them pay for things they did. Now he was told there is no one responsible for the loss of their crops. But the problem still stood before him, clear and huge like a summer sky. And he needed to take care of it.
"I want a full report on the state of all our lakes by the end of shichen," he barked and with that stormed to the Sword Hall.
He needed to think this through. With full assessment of damages and possible reasons for this disease they would know how much time they needed to grow new plants. Then there was a necessity of warning civilians nearest to Lotus Pier if the disease could spread. Jiang Cheng could not let people of Yunmeng starve and that meant he might need to find some money to give loans to farming families to buy the food as not only the sect but commoners too relied heavily on lotuses in their ration and trade.
This was giving him a headache. Yunmeng Jiang was not one of the great sects for nothing and they had some funds but with a mighty blow to their economy this year the sums to spend on food would definitely increase a lot. Not only they couldn't provide half the food for themselves as they always did but also they wouldn't get usual money from trade with other sects. Lotus wine and hair oils were not the cheapest kinds and lotus silks were the trade secret of his sect, a rare and highly expensive material. Of course Yunmeng Jiang did not form the income solely from lotus plants but it was still a lot.
And not to forget that there were things he would have to spend money on no matter what. His disciples needed to be dressed and armed, the servants had to be paid and there were always places in need of renovation. Running a sect was a tedious task, not one a sane person should enjoy. And they couldn't afford to lose face either.
With these dark thoughts Jiang Cheng started a letter to Jin Ling. He briefly told his nephew about the situation at Lotus Pier and promised to visit when he would be available. As much as Jiang Cheng didn't want to stress Jin Ling, lying was not in his nature. Moreso he knew how fast rumours travelled in the cultivation world. If he didn't tell Jin Ling himself who knows what idiotic version of events someone in that viper nest people called Koi Tower would spread.
The bell rang at the start of si shi when Jiang Qingmei entered the Sword Hall, two other disciples close on his heels. Their grim expressions told Jiang Cheng enough without any words. But he also knew that actually hearing everything was necessary for finding a solution, so he gave a short nod, ready to listen.
It turned out he was not ready after all. Jiang Qingmei reported about the findings of the teams assessing damage done but his report was not all of the problem. After he confirmed that nearly eighty percent of this year's harvest was lost to them, Li Meihua took over. She quickly recounted her suspicions about the nature of the disease which was, he hated that particular conclusion, completely natural if rare. There were chances that Li Meihua was wrong but in years she was a part of Yunmeng Jiang that never happened. She was one of the best he recruited in the middle of the Sunshot Campaign when there was almost nothing left from his sect and she followed him faithfully wherever he went. Her sisters were too young to participate in war so he left them with jie and by the time they reunited in Nightless City he had two young Jiang disciples in training. So he didn't doubt for a moment Li Meihua's opinion on the possible cause of their troubles.
But that was only half of their problems because as Li Meihua told about the way to deal with everything Jiang Cheng wanted to jump into the lake and drown. Not only they had to replace all the affected plants. The necessary treatment would make them late for the next season. That was disturbing to say the least and would cost Yunmeng Jiang a huge fucking amount of money. Still Jiang Cheng was almost calm listening to Li Meihua's explanation. They definitely had it worse after the war, this was nothing compared to utter devastation Wen-dogs brought to his home nearly two decades ago.
He turned to the last one of present disciples, Han Lixue. She was young, just eighteen, but talented and obedient. Jiang Cheng found her four years ago in Yichuang where she lived with her aunt. She had some cultivation training but most importantly she was incredibly smart, he hadn't seen such a genius since Wei Wuxian. So he was glad she didn't dabb into demonic cultivation. Seeing his gaze on her, Han Lixue bowed lowly.
"This disciple waits for zongzhu's orders".
"Organise your fellow disciples, go to the town and nearest villages," Jiang Cheng said. "Warn people about this disease, find out if other lakes are suffering from the same thing".
"Yes, zongzhu," Han Lixue bowed once more and left swiftly. Jiang Cheng started after her thinking how his day might get even worse.
"If some of those ill plants find their way to the markets it will be a fucking catastrophe for real," he murmured at last, sighing and closing his eyes to calm a bludgeoning headache.
***
Jin Ling was extremely worried when his jiujiu didn't arrive that evening as he promised. Juijui always kept his word and also he always visited Jin Ling at least once in a fortnight. Sometimes Jin Ling felt suffocating under this much care but that didn't mean he wanted jiujiu to stop visiting. Maybe just start behaving like Jin Ling was an adult and a sect leader, not a baby.
He didn't spend all night worrying because there was no use in such a foolish thing. Jiujiu was the Sandu Shengshou after all, there was an extremely short list of people who could beat him in a fight that consisted of Wei Wuxian with the help of his Ghost General, Lan-zongzhu who was in seclusion and possibly Hanguang-jun, though Jin Ling was not sure about the last one. But he couldn't sleep so the decision was made to go through sect papers. The council of elders wanted to take that from Jin Ling as well as some other responsibilities of the sect leader claiming he was too young and inexperienced. He was lucky Hanguang-jun called them out on their attempts of usurpation quite bluntly as only he could. The elders all denied it but they were not brave, nor foolish enough to go against Xiandu.
Jin Ling was grateful for Hanguang-jun's help. If jiujiu got involved the elders would be pressuring him even more but the opinion of highest authority in the cultivation world was not to be disregarded. So with support from Hanguang-jun Jin Ling had to only keep those elders as his advisors which was still troublesome. At least they didn't turn Jin-zongzhu into their puppet.
The paperwork made him tired and irritated quickly as it tended to do. Though Jin Ling wished to be a better sect leader than his predecessors, not a very high bar if you think about it, sometimes he regretted not being able to simply leave the matters behind and go night-hunting with friends. Now that he had some of those he wanted to spend time with them and not the ancient bastards who thought themselves always right.
He woke up with his head on the table to a loud bangs on the door of his room. Looking back Jin Ling admitted it was not the best idea to work so late into the night because there was always a risk of falling asleep in an uncomfortable position. Which clearly happened last night. Muttering curses that would make jiujiu threaten to break his legs, Jin Ling rose from the table and started circulating spiritual energy through his meridians to get rid of stiffness. He was prepared for any kind of emergency but in reality it was only one of the elders, Jin Guangrong standing in front of him.
"You are late for the meeting with the council," was the first thing he heard.
Jin Ling almost exploded on the spot. Such blatant disregard! Jin Guangrong might be a clan elder but he is in front of his sect leader. He must have shown respect not this kind of behaviour. They never allowed themselves this towards his xiao-shu… um, towards Jin Guangyao. Well, he will have to teach them to conduct themselves properly when facing someone higher than them in the clan hierarchy. Jin Ling tried to control his temper as waved his hand dismissively, much like he had seen Wei Wuxian do the same, not that he would admit that out loud.
"The meeting will be held after lunch. I have some questions about financial reports that I wish to address the council with but the matter needs further study".
He noticed how Jin Guangrong paled immediately and couldn't hold a smirk. Indeed, last night some questions had arisen which contributed to his headache and caused his suspicions of some members of his clan to grow a lot. Even then he hadn't expected to make a blind shot and still hit the bullseye.
"We should have been notified! Who do you think you are?" Jin Guangrong bristled.
Jin Ling had enough. He gave the man a scornful glare and almost growled.
"I think I am Jin-zongzhu! And here is your notice: the meeting will be held after lunch".
With that he slammed the door to Jin Guangrong's face.
He was furious. Those elders did everything to show him they didn’t consider him as a real sect leader. They stuck their noses in every little business and insisted that he was too young and needed their advice. In reality they were trying to force him to make decisions in their favour. Jin Ling didn’t know what to do with them and he couldn’t even ask jiujiu. First of all, there were no elders in Yunmeng Jiang, they were murdered during the massacre of Lotus Pier, and second, as much as Jin Ling loved jiujiu he knew the man had mostly one way of dealing with problems - violence. Jin Ling didn’t want to resort to that if there was even the smallest chance to deal with the situation peacefully. He had learnt that when he is a sect leader punching people is not the best way to resolve arguments.
And he didn't want to give the elders an opportunity to petition for removal from his position. Hanguang-jun supported him, but Jin Ling didn't have illusions about Xiandu's silent disdain for him. It was possible that support was partly because Hanguang-jun didn't trust Jin elders and partly because of Wei Wuxian. You had to be blind and deaf to not notice that something was going between them. Jin Ling didn't want to think about that. The frosty glare Hanguang-jun gave him every time they met told Jin Ling that the stabbing incident on the steps of Koi Tower was not forgotten. It was quite possible that Hanguang-jun simply preferred him to another Jins.
Jin Ling sighted. This was fucked up. Why did he forget about that blasted meeting? Well, because he worked late hours and fell asleep behind his table with a terrible headache and thoughts about stealing filth in his own clan.
He heard another knock, this time more tentative and quiet. Jin Ling stormed to the door and opened it with a bang only to find a scared servant waiting for a reply. Her expression made Jin Ling feel himself an awful human being who is scaring someone weaker and dependent on his good graces. He was ashamed of his outburst and angry when he felt himself flushing brightly. Why was it so awkward? Looking away to hide his shame, Jin Ling waved his hand allowing the girl to enter. She obeyed, trying not to look at him which was so obvious that Jin Ling was almost tempted to tell her that so he would quit with pretence. But a voice in his head, the one suspiciously reminding him of Wei Wuxian, insisted that would only scare the girl more. While he was contemplating what he could say, the girl put a tray with food on his tea table and brewed a pot of fresh tea. She then rose to her feet and mumbled:
"A letter for you, zongzhu".
It sounded like a question and Jin Ling wanted to answer with something in the lines of 'Are you asking me?' but bit his tongue. Servants were people too, they were not beneath him in any way. Yes, he had power in his sect but there were lots of things he couldn’t do by himself. After some conversations with Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi he understood that people of all stations deserved respect if they earned it. Not that he thought the opposite before but, as Jingyi pointed out, he often behaved like he was better than everyone around him. Naturally, they fought and Lan Sizhui had to placate both of them and resolve the issue between them before they attempted to break each other’s limbs.
So he nodded and took the letter impatiently. Familiar characters of his name written in bold strokes of jiujiu's handwriting calmed him down a little. Something must have come up in Yunmeng and jiujiu simply wrote to inform Jin Ling that he will be late. He opened the letter just to stumble on the second sentence. Lotus Pier had lost almost all of this year's lotus harvest. They would need a huge amount of money to climb out of the pit this problem threw them into. His jiujiu wouldn't have time to visit him in the next couple of weeks because of needing to find the way to avoid a complete disaster in Yunmeng region.
Jin Ling's knees felt very weak suddenly and he dropped onto the cushion beside the table. The servant gave him a concerned glance and Jin Ling almost cursed at forgetting about her presence.
"You may leave," he said in his best sect leader voice. She bowed and hurried to the door when a thought emerged in Jin Ling's mind. "Send someone for Li Haoran".
He hoped his advisor could help because Jin Ling didn't know what to do. No, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, he didn't know what he was able to do. His hands were still half-tied by the elders who would have to approve each and every of his decisions. It was more than he could get without Hanguang-jun's interference but also less than was necessary right now. The elders hated jiujiu. They would never let him help with the money that was essential to Yunmeng Jiang at the moment.
And Jin Ling knew that Lanling Jin was not as rich as a decade ago. With all Jin Guangyao's costly projects, no matter how important some of them were, and later all the reparations Lanling Jin had to pay to the victims of Jin Guangyao's crimes their coffers were at their lowest since before Jin Ling was born. And last night he discovered some disturbing mishaps in financial reports. He thought he could confront elders later today but it seemed like he had to rethink his priorities.
Li Haoran came as quickly as he possibly could, being summoned from his little house further from the main residence. He was one of those who remained in his position after xiao… Jin Guangyao's death. Despite being one of Jin Guangyao's accountants Li Haoran had always been honest with Jin Ling. He didn't know about Jin Guangyao's crimes, naturally. As for dealing with sect finances, Jin Guangyao had been a pedantic person. He also cared about sect prosperity a lot. When Jin Ling asked once why didn't Jin Guangyao take some of sect money for himself Luo Huixin, one of his other advisors, asked him why would a person steal from oneself.
Jin Ling supposed it made sense. Jin Guangyao was on the top of sect hierarchy, he could single handedly command all sect funds, could have anything he wanted without such idiotic movements.
"You called for me, zongzhu," greeted Li Haoran. Jin Ling nodded and wordlessly passed him a letter. It took little time to skim over it, and then Li Haoran shook his head. "That is quite a situation, Jin-zongzhu".
"I know that," Jin Ling scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Jiujiu needs my help now and I just know that old fools won’t let me do anything even after jiujiu raised me and cared for me".
"They will tell you it was Jiang-zongzhu’s own choice to help bring you up in honour of his late sister," Li Haoran agreed.
Yes, they said that once to jiujiu’s face. He was so angry after they showed him at the door and informed that he didn’t have a say in Lanling politics and he should go home and manage his own sect. Previously Jin Ling thought only the mention of Wei Wuxian could invoke such fury in his jiujiu, but Lanling Jin elders proved to be talented in infuriating people. To be honest, Jin Ling thought they were at least partly right: jiujiu raised him because he loved a-niang and Jin Ling was the last thing that was left after her death. But they should be more respectful and not say those words as if they were accusing jiujiu.
That being said, Jin Ling hated his clan elders and loved his jiujiu. And he was still an heir to Yunmeng Jiang, a sole close relative of Jiang-zongzhu. Maybe elders with their greedy hands would like to be reminded that Lotus Pier was to become his if anything happened to jiujiu. Not that Jin Ling thought that anything could happen. Jiujiu had a strong golden core, he was one of the strongest cultivators alive. While it was true that night-hunts were generally dangerous, Jin Ling couldn't remember the last time jiujiu was injured. Injured as in more than a scratch and when things were not related to Wei Wuxian.
Be as it may, Lotus Pier was his birthright since he didn't have any cousins. He would tell the elders that he was a sect heir so it was part of his responsibility to save Yunmeng Jiang.
But after he presented those thoughts Li Haoran snorted and shook his head again.
"And then the elders will ask you to resign from your position of Jin-zongzhu and tend to your responsibilities in Yunmeng," he said. Jin Ling wanted to protest but kept his mouth shut. What good were his outbursts when he knew that Jin elders would probably do exactly that. "Jin clan has enough potential heirs, one of the closest being your second cousin Jin Chan".
Jin Ling clenched his teeth. No, Jin Chan would never have the golden throne of Lanling. His idiotic father was one of the reasons things ended up as they did all those years ago. If only Jin Zixun was not as stupid as he turned out to be. So leaving the sect to someone else was a big 'no'.
"Hanguang-jun," Li Haoran continued meanwhile, "tolerates you, but mainly because you are a friend of his son and a nephew of Yiling Laozu. But even he can't protest if the elders present the case to him as a conflict of interests. And you know he can't stand Jiang-zongzhu".
And that, unfortunately, was the truth. Hanguang-jun used to outright ignore jiujiu to the point of not talking to him at all. Jin Ling noticed it later but whenever those two crossed their paths jiujiu would taunt Hanguang-jun while Hanguang-jun would keep silent and occasionally Lan Sizhui or Lan Jingyi would talk in their mentor's stead. Now he knew the reason for that. Wei Wuxian. The same Wei Wuxian he ran through with his sword. It was a miracle Hanguang-jun still stood up for him with how much he seemed to care for Wei Wuxian. To the point of standing by his side against all the cultivation world.
Jin Ling had to admit Hanguang-jun was right when he chose to believe in Wei Wuxian. Demonic cultivation or not, Wei Wuxian was not really guilty of his parents' deaths. Su She with his second flute made the incident on Qiongqi path and the bloodbath in the Nightless City possible. Wei Wuxian's faults were highly overrated and Jin Ling came to accept the truth.
But that didn't change anything. Jiujiu would never go to Gusu Lan for help and Hanguang-jun would never propose it himself unless Wei Wuxian asked him to. And when he heard about Wei Wuxian last, the man was traveling the world with his obnoxious donkey and helping in every village he passed taking only food or some small amount of coins as gratitude.
He also knew that even Hanguang-jun's power had limits. Jin Ling was a rightful heir to Lanling Jin and all of his cousins had a lot less standing. As he thought himself, with Hanguang-jun's support he was established as Jin-zongzhu, but the elders would take every opportunity to replace him. This was just a situation without a right way to take.
"I can't just sit here and do nothing when Yunmeng Jiang is in such trouble," Jin Ling despaired.
"And you don't have to, zongzhu," Li Haoran assured. "You will only need to persuade the elders that giving support to Yunmeng Jiang will be in Lanling Jin's best interest and compromise on some things".
That was exactly why Jin Ling had kept Li Haoran as his advisor. The man was damn good at politics. Jin Ling, who didn't have a talent for scheming and wordplays, needed someone to rely on inside of the sect and Li Haoran was a perfect choice. Not only was he smart and cunning, he also didn't have ambitions at all. When Jin Ling offered him a promotion he refused, telling he didn't want to become a target and would rather remain unnoticed and do his job. Sometimes it seemed too good to be true, but after the Guanyin temple Jin Ling was not sure who he could trust. Might risk relaying on Li Haoran as well.
And while he was not happy with the plan, the elders accepted it with only minor corrections. Of course he also had to postpone the investigation he wanted to conduct but now he had a chance to help jiujiu and that was the most important.