Work Text:
Jiang Cheng only realized he had messed up once it was too late.
His relationship with Nie Huaisang dated back to long before they had their joint studies in Gusu.
When they were younger, even before Wei Wuxian was adopted by his father, Jiang Fengmian used to take Jiang Cheng with him to various sect conferences so he could meet the heirs of each sect.
That’s how, on a rainy day in Qinghe, during a discussion conference, Jiang Cheng had met Nie Huaisang. The younger boy playfully running away from his angered older brother had run directly into jiang cheng, making them both slip and tumble to the ground.
Jiang Cheng thought back to that day. He had spent a good amount of time lost in the never ending labyrinth that was the Unclean Realms until Nie Huaisang had bumped into him. Huaisang had taken his hand and showed him around his home while a grumpy Nie Mingjue watched them from behind.
They had met a few more times afterwards at each discussion conference until Wei Wuxian came into his life.
After Wei Wuxian came, his father stopped bringing him to conferences, preferring to have his favored child with him instead. He could have brought both boys with him, but Jiang Fengmian had developed a disdain for his youngest son and avoided having to interact with him.
He had written letters to Nie Huaisang and asked his father or his brother to give them to him, but he never received an answer from the boy.
Jiang Cheng had taken the rejection to heart and hadn’t tried to reach out again afterwards. It had been Wei Wuxian who forcefully brought them back together years later in Gusu. Their relationship still strained from the abandonment they had both felt from the other.
Jiang Cheng learned that year that Nie Huaisang had written to Jiang Cheng and given the letter to Jiang Fengmian. His father had never given him the letter.
Jiang Cheng also learned that the letter he had written to Nie Huaisang after his father’s passing, a lengthy letter for a boy so young, offering support and sadness at not being able to be physically present for the other, had never been given to Huaisang.
Their relationship had improved again afterwards.
Jiang Cheng had been happy to have someone other than Wei Wuxian he could call a friend. To have someone other than Wei Wuxian that did not constantly compare him and his brother.
They had kept contact through the war. Nie Huaisang had been there for Jiang Cheng when his brother went missing, and Jiang Cheng had been there for Huaisang when Nie Mingjue had passed.
Nie Huaisang had been the only constant presence at his side after his brother deserted, after his brother-in-law died, after his sister died, after his brother died.
Nie Huaisang was the one who had helped Jiang Cheng rebuild his sect from the ashes. He had been the one to bargain with his brother to help Jiang Cheng with the trade routes and had even given him better trade offers when he became Sect Leader.
Jiang Cheng, of course, had been there for Nie Huaisang too when his brother passed.
He had spent a lot of time helping with the funeral preparations as much as he could and being there for Huaisang, whether he needed help with paperwork or if he needed a distraction or to be reminded he had to eat, Jiang Cheng had been there.
It was while thinking of all those times that Jiang Cheng decided he would prioritise his friendship with Huaisang once again.
The last time he had seen Huaisang had been at Guanyin temple. He had watched his brother leave and then watched as Huaisang picked up Jin Guangyao’s hat and walked away. Jiang Cheng hadn’t reached out to him either then or in the meantime.
He hadn’t heard from Huaisang either until a letter addressed to him arrived at Lotus Pier.
Huaisang was offering him even more beneficial trading agreements, which was strange, considering they would be extremely crippling for the Nie sect.
Jiang Cheng was not an idiot. He was rude, brash and impulsive with his words, but he was not an idiot. He knew something was wrong as soon as he received the letter.
He wanted to fly to Qinghe to see his friend when Wei Wuxian arrived.
They hadn’t talked either since Guanyin temple. Wei Wuxian had asked Jiang Cheng to leave everything in the past and, though it hurt, Jiang Cheng was doing just that. He hadn’t tried reaching out to his brother knowing the other would brush him off or flee any serious discussion again.
Jiang Cheng wasn’t ready for that. He needed to hear what Wei Wuxian was thinking through it all. He needed closure.
So when Wei Wuxian arrived in Yunmeng, Jiang Cheng set aside the letter from Nie Huaisang in favor of maybe finally getting the closure he longed for so badly.
Still, it seemed he knew his brother too well. Wei Wuxian had ignored any and all elephants present during his stay. He had carefully maneuvered any conversation away from the delicate subjects.
One of those attempts at lightening the mood had been in the form of discussing Nie Huaisang. Jiang Cheng briefly mentioned something Nie Huaisang had helped him with in the past and Wei Wuxian had looked at him with pity saying
“Ah Jiang Cheng! You should be careful letting Nie Huaisang get so close to the sect’s secrets and important information! Who knows what he’ll do with it!”
The dismissive way Wei Wuxian had talked about him, about the help he had given him. The way he had insulted the man’s character, inciting Jiang Cheng to do the same, had given Jiang Cheng the last detail he needed to understand why Nie Huaisang had sent him that letter. That letter that had been gathering dust for a few days on his desk.
After yelling at Wei Wuxian to shut up about his friend, Jiang Cheng took the letter and tucked it in his sleeve, mounted his sword and departed for the Unclean Realms.
He only hoped he wouldn’t be too late to salvage his friendship once again.
This time, once again, Jiang Cheng would be by Huaisang’s side.