Chapter Text
Today it is snowing so heavily. If the Lotus Pier is already this freezing, people can only wonder how cold it would be in Gusu Lan.
Jiang Cheng puts on his thick winter Yunmeng Jiang robe and a mantle and as he feels his outfit is thick enough he moves to bed where Jin Ling is sleeping under a thick blanket with damp cloth on his forehead. Both his arms are spread upward and his face is so flushed from the fever with his breathing slowly moving up and down from inside the blanket.
For two days, Lotus Pier had been so quiet without the cheeky and playful giggling of Jin Ling. No more sound of Jin Ling's small feet running across the wooden floor with Fairy following him around. Everyone was instructed to have their training in silence or far from the main residence as Jiang Cheng didn't want anything to bother and wake Jin Ling up. Jin Ling is a bit more cranky than usual if he was sick.
Jiang Cheng sat carefully on the bed near Jin Ling before he took Jin Ling outing outfit that was laid beside him. Jiang carefully lifted Jin Ling's body, sliding in Jin Ling's thick outfit and not making fast movements so as not to wake Jin Ling up.
Jin Ling did squirm a little bit while Jiang Cheng moved his hands and legs but fortunately he still sounded asleep. As Jiang Cheng finished putting on the outfit for Jin Ling and satisfied with how it looked, he took a moment to stare at his dear nephew. Whenever Jin Ling was sick or hurt, his heart ached so much seeing his little nephew's face. Jin Ling happiness and wellbeing are everything to Jiang Cheng. If only he could take up all the pain from Jin Ling, he would be gladly doing that. Even if it cost his life. He sighed heavily while caressing Jin Ling's warm cheek. He missed Jin Ling's energetic voice so much, calling him Juju. He can't pronounce Jiujiu yet. Jiang Cheng held Jin Ling's cold little hand in his hand and kissed it for a long time.
Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. "Clan Leader, we have already finished packing and are ready to go. We should head now to arrive there before noon. The wind is estimated to be blown quite hard during noon at Gusu Lan mountain area.." His disciples sounded from behind the door.
"I'll be out in a minute-" Before Jiang Cheng could reply, his disciple sounded again with a faint sound of a puppy barking.
"One more thing, Clan Leader Fairy doesn't want to stay with the Shidis. She had been barking non-stop and biting everytime the others wanted to take her-" The disciple explained.
"Nevermind, bring her too. Tie her up in a cloth sling and carry her with us. I'll be out. Just go and wait at the ground." Jiang Cheng told the disciple before he get off from the bed and and took the long cloth and wrap it around his waist before he carefully lift Jin Ling and place sleeping Jin Ling inside the cloth and rested his head on his chest before he tied up the end of the cloth tightly to secure Jin Ling in the cloth. He put another scarf around Jin Ling's neck seeing the weather is getting colder. Then he steps out of his room to where all his disciples are waiting for him.
After making sure again all the things needed are brought with them, especially Jin Ling's, all of them are ready to step on their swords before an old lady comes running to them with a female disciple running with her .
"Clan Leader! Clan Leader! Wait!" Jin Ling's nanny tries to catch her breath after running so fast to catch them.
"Clan Leader, please allow this old lady to follow you to Gusu Lan. A' Ling is sick and he needs extra care-" The old lady tried to beg Jiang Cheng to bring her too while coughing so badly. The Jiang female disciple that came with her rubs her back gently, trying to soothe the cough. She is from Jin clan and had been taking care of Jin Ling since when Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan were still alive.
"A' Yi, I'm sorry I can't. The weather is so cold and would be much colder in Gusu Lan. It's not good for your health-" Jiang Cheng holds both of her wrinkle old hands, trying to calm her. Jiang Cheng respects and cares for A' Yi just like him to his mother as A' Yi had been helping him so much in taking care of Jin Ling while he was struggling alone.
"A' Yi, don't worry. I'll be taking care of A' Ling just like you taught me. All his medicines, milks, clothes, all are here. You stay here and take good care of yourself. We'll be back in three days-" The old lady can only nod with a thousand worries on her face.
Before the old lady went inside with the female disciple, he managed to pass a small knitted snowcap on Jiang Cheng's hands. "Put it on A' Ling's head. Don't let snow get on his head." Jiang Cheng immediately did as he was being told. Then, all of them depart from the ground to their destination.
Their flying was kind of bad in this heavy snowy weather. During the whole journey, Jiang Cheng hugged Jin Ling tight in the cloth wrap while keeping Jin Ling's warm with his golden core.
After almost 2 hours of flying in the heavy snow, they finally reach the gate of Gusu Lan at the top of the mountain. Lan Xichen was already there waiting with several Lan disciples. Jiang Cheng brushes off all the snow from his shoulder and also from the cloth wrap before he gathers his hands and greets Lan Xichen. "Zewu Jun."
Lan Xichen also gathered his hands to greet Jiang Cheng back. "Forget the formalities when it's just the two of us, Jiang Cheng." Lan Xichen smiled at him before he noticed the cloth bundle wrap in front of Jiang Cheng's body.
"Ah! Is that Jin Ling xiao gongzhi? He must be freezing. Come, come. Let us head to your room quickly." All of them quickly followed as it was indeed so cold at their standing right now.
While walking, Jiang Cheng turned to Lan Xichen. "Xichen Ge, has Jin Guangyao arrived yet?" Jiang Cheng asked him.
"Yes, A' Yao and Da Ge arrived yesterday." Lan Xichen nodded to him while walking quickly at the same time as he was worried about Jin Ling.
"But, why did you bring Jin Ling too, in this such weather-" Lan Xichen looked at him.
"I'm sorry to trouble you Ge, but A' Ling had a fever right now and he didn't want to stay without me so I had to bring him along-" Jiang Cheng sounded so guilty.
"Don't say such things. Jin Ling is never a trouble to us. Of course, I understand." Lan Xichen smiles at Jiang Cheng and at the same time he glances at Jiang Cheng's hand that never left from holding Jin Ling in the cloth wrap.
They finally reach their allocated residence, a building with multiple small rooms and one main room for the Clan Leader. Lan Xichen slid open the door to let Jiang Cheng and several Jiang disciples that were carrying his and Jin Ling's things. As soon as they put down the things, the Jiang disciples immediately unpack all the things to arrange them in their place in the room. While they were doing so, Jiang Cheng quickly moved to bed to unwrap Jin Ling from the cloth wrap and lay him on the bed. As for Lan Xichen, he simply lights up the fireplace that sits in the middle of the room to heat up the room before he makes his way to Jiang Cheng.
"Jiang Cheng, the meeting would start late in the afternoon. You and your disciples should get your rest and eat. I'll send some people later." Lan Xichen rested his hand on Jiang Cheng's shoulder seeing he was so busy removing Jin Ling cloth to be exchanged with a new one while Jiang Cheng himself still hadn't changed yet.
Jiang Cheng finally snapped back to Lan Xichen as he felt those firm hands on his shoulder. He nodded to Lan Xichen as saying thank you and he stood up to send Lan Xichen to the door and quickly went back inside to get change as fast as he could.
"Clan Leader, we had finished sorting and arranging everything. Do you want us to do anything else? We can take care of Jin xiao gongzhi while you rest for a while- '' Before they could finish talking to Jiang Cheng, there's a small cough coming from the bed, startling little Jin Ling from his sleep. And he started to cry softly, calling for his Juujuu.
Jiang Cheng quickly, almost running to the bed to slowly rub Jin Ling's chest. "Nothing else. Just go to your room and rest with the others. Make sure to ask the attendants to bring food for Fairy too. Go." Jiang Cheng instructed them while patting Jin Ling, to make him sleep again. They nodded seeing their Clan Leader already busy with his nephew and quietly exited the room.
Seeing Jin Ling already fall asleep, he went to the bathroom located at the corner of the room to get a bucket of water to wipe Jin Ling's body before Jin Ling changed into his new outfit. Because of the high fever, Jin Ling's clothes need to be changed frequently as he sweats a lot. As for Jiang Cheng, he can't rest just yet. He needs to make sure A' Ling is cleaned, eats his food and medicine, then he can finally rest. But he was still worried that Jin Ling would suddenly wake up and he was in the meeting later.
He put the bucket on the table next to the bed and he sank the cloth and squeezed the water a bit before he slowly wiped Jin Ling's body, starting from his little legs up to his upper body. Jiang Cheng thanked god multiple times as Jin Ling didn't wake and cried even once while he was doing so. After he was done with it, he put on the new clothes and the worn cloth was put aside. That will be washed later.
While waiting for his food to arrive, Jiang Cheng just sits there while staring at Jin Ling. He took Jin Ling's feet in his hands and brought them to his cheeks. He had always loved feeling those chubby little feets against his cheeks that would send Jin Ling giggling non-stop begging his Jiujiu to stop as he did so. But right now, those little feet just feel so cold against his cheeks. While Jiang Cheng was lost in his feelings, there's knock on his door. And he kind of recognizes whose voice.
That person didn't wait for Jiang Cheng to allow him to step inside as he simply made himself in, carrying a two wooden box in both his hands.
"I didn't allow you to enter yet." Jiang Cheng looked at the intruder with one of his eyebrows up. He didn't say it that loud as usual as he didn't want to wake Jin Ling up.
Lan Wangji simply ignored the comment of him as he moved to set aside all the foods that he brought on the table. "I brought you and Jin gongzhi lunch. Eat it while it is still hot." He said without looking at Jiang Cheng.
Seeing his words simply get ignored, Jiang Cheng chose to ignore his words too and continued to pat Jin Ling to sleep instead. He is hungry and tired but he doesn't want to eat while that person is in the same room as him.
And the room was so deafeningly quiet, only sounds coming from Jiang Cheng's hand patting Jin Ling and Lan Wangji putting all the food on the table. As Lan Wangji finally finished setting the food, he stood up from the table to exit the room. Well that's what Jiang Cheng had thought. But shockingly, Lan Wangji moved to stand next to the bed with his body facing Jiang Cheng on the bed.
"You should eat while the food is still hot." Lan Wangji is still saying the same thing he spoke before.
"Shh. I can clearly hear you just fine. I'll eat later. Just leave us." Jiang Cheng spoke softly, almost whispering, but his tone still showed that he hated the person in front of him.
"Ge personally had asked me to make sure you eat and get enough rest before the meeting this afternoon. So I shall leave after you eat." Lan Wangji remained at his standing but this time, his voice also volume down.
Seeing Lan Wangji still hasn't budge from his standing, it's making Jiang Cheng uncomfortable, so he finally gave in. He sighs as he gets off the bed quietly and moves to the table. And it's like they were changing their spot, Lan Wangji took Jiang Cheng's spot on the bed and his hand started to pat Jin Ling, making sure he sleeps while Jiang Cheng eats his lunch.
While having his lunch, Jiang Cheng still can't eat calmly as his eyes never leave Jin Ling. Aside for his food, Jiang Cheng also notice Lan Wangji had brought a bowl of ginger rice gruel with some chicken soup. It must be for Jin Ling. Jiang Cheng continues to eat quickly, although the food tastes as usual, so bland. Everytime he shoved the rice into his mouth, his eyes would always glance at Jin Ling. In case his little nephew suddenly wakes up and cries for him. And miraculously, Jin Ling is still sleeping even until he has finished all his food.
He drank the tea and sat at the table for a while, trying to let all the food completely settle in his stomach before getting up and walking to the bed.
As he reached the side of the bed, he bent down a bit to feel Jin Ling's fever against his palm. It is still hot. "Thank you Lan Wangji." Jiang Cheng spoke with his back facing Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji nodded at him lightly.
"I need to get A' Ling up now. He needs to eat some food before he takes his medicine." Before Jiang Cheng could gently wake Jin Ling up, there's a knock on the door.
"Clan Leader, the messenger from Zewu Jun just left. They said that we should head to the hall now. It's time for the meeting." His disciple sounds from outside.
There is a frown on Jiang Cheng's face. He still hasn't settled with Jin Ling but if he was late for the meeting, it would be rude to let the other Clan Leaders to wait for him.
"All of you just wait for me outside. I'll be out in a moment." Jiang Cheng replied back. His head is thinking so fast of the solution to this situation right now. And suddenly, Lan Wangji called for his name, after he had been quiet just now.
"I can take care of him until you finish the meeting." He spoke calmly.
Jiang Cheng still hasn't answered Lan Wangji but after thinking long enough he let out a heavy sigh as he turned to Lan Wangji, agreeing to his words before.
"Thank you. I'll be troubling you again." Jiang Cheng hated to ask for help from him but he had no choice. He quickly explained all the things that needed to be done while he wasn't here.
"After I'm gone, you need to wake him up and make him eat something first, then you must make sure he takes his medicine. I can't be here or else he wouldn't stop crying if he saw me." Jiang Cheng shows the jar containing the medicine to Lan Wangji. "One spoonful, and it's quite bitter. You can add honey if he spits out the medicine. And if he keeps crying and doesn't want to eat, you need to make or force him. But be careful, he may choke if you feed him too much. If he still didn't want to eat. This is his milk." Jiang Cheng looks at Lan Wangji.
"You know how to prepare toddler’s milk right?" Jiang Cheng gave him a questioning look and Lan Wangji's face is showing that he had the experience but at the same time he’s not that sure so Jiang Cheng explained to him step by step. Lan Wangji nodded and focused while listening to all the instructions. It wasn't this complicated while he was taking care of A' Yuan.
After explaining everything about food, medicine, cloth and the countermeasure if Jin Ling is throwing a tantrum or can’t sleep, Jiang Cheng finally is a bit assured to leave Jin Ling to Lan Wangji's care. Before he makes his way to the door, Jiang Cheng looks at Lan Wangji one last time. "I'll try to send one of my disciples back here to look after Jin Ling. It wouldn't be long. Please take care of him for a while." Jiang Cheng is still reluctant to leave.
"Don't worry. I'll remember everything you said." Lan Wangji spoke to him. And then, Jiang Cheng steps out from the room to where all his disciples are waiting for him. He also saw Fairy is also standing there eagerly waiting for him. He shall bring Fairy with him as Jin Guangyao would be there at the meeting. Besides, Fairy is so energetic as a puppy, he would be bothering Jin Ling later. "Let's go." And all of them leave the building to the main hall.
……………….
Meanwhile, back in the room. Lan Wangji sat there until he no longer heard footsteps of Jiang Cheng. Then, he took a deep breath before gently nudging Jin Ling's shoulder to wake that little boy up. It took him several times until Jin Ling finally opened his eyes, still half asleep and half no energy because of the fever. Lan Wangji simply held his breath while waiting for Jin Ling's reaction as he wasn't his Jiujiu. And he was right, the moment Jin Ling saw the unfamiliar face, tears started to pool around his eyes and he broke into tears, calling for his 'Juujuu'.
It was a shocking fact to Lan Wangji as he thought that Jin Ling's cry would be so ear-piercing but it's not. Jin Ling was crying so hard right now and he was sobbing but his cry was so soft. So soft that only people that were sitting near him could hear him crying. Maybe because his throat hurts that he can't cry out loudly, Lan Wangji thought inside.
Lan Wangji remains calm and tries to coax little Jin Ling. "A' Ling. Don't cry." Lan Wangji moves his hand to wipe the tears that keep coming down those chubby cheeks.
"Shushu is here. Shushu is friends with Jiujiu. Jiujiu needs to work so Jiujiu ask Shushu to look after A' Ling for a bit." And Jin Ling still didn't stop crying and his shoulders started to move up and down because he was crying so much. Seeing his method didn't work, Lan Wangji moved his hands to lift Jin Ling from his laying and carried him close to his body.
"Shuu, shuu. Don't cry. A' Ling is a good boy.” Lan Wangji kept walking in a circle in the room, while patting Jin Ling’s back. But, unfortunately, little Jin Ling still didn’t stop crying.
Jin Ling started to wriggle now in Lan Wangji’s hands. He tried to push Lan Wangji with his little hands, trying to get off of him. He even started to pull on Lan Wangji’s hair and the end of his Lan’s headband and the situation looks kind of uncontrollable right now. But Lan Wangji still holds Jin Ling firmly, afraid that he might drop him. Usually, Lan Wangji would be making a fuss if someone touched his headband but this time, he had no time to even think about it. While his hair was already in a mess, getting pulled by Jin Ling, his legs kept on wandering across the room. He even tries to show the scenery outside but only for a while as the cold wind is making Jin Ling cough worse.
Suddenly, there's a soft knock on the door. A little boy is calling for him from outside. “Pardon for my intrusion. I’m looking for Hanguang Jun.” Lan Sizhui asks from behind the door. His hands are carrying a basket containing food for Lan Wangji.
“A’ Yuan. Just come in. I'm inside.” Lan Wangji asked him to come inside as he was currently busy.
After hearing the answer from Lan Wangji, Sizhui slid the door open and stepped inside carefully with his food basket. As he made his way to the table, he was shocked, more like excited seeing Lan Wangji’s appearance right now. He tries to see it clearly, whether his eyes are tricking him or not but it is real. Lan Wangji is currently, hair messed, forehead plastered with sweat, headband-less and trying hard to calm down a little “girl” that he hasn’t seen before. And that girl was holding his Hanguang Jun’s headband while trying to get off of him.
Seeing that, he quickly dropped the basket but was still careful on the table and dashed closer to Lan Wangji. “Hanguang Jun-” Lan Sizhui eyes are so wide and sparkled seeing that little girl in Hanguang Jun’s hands. That little girl was so cute in his eyes, with her golden robe, long hair, cute hands and legs. He can’t wait to hold her. “Did you finally get me a xiao meimei?” Lan Sizhui look at Lan Wangji while tried to attract the attention of Jin Ling. Sizhui tries to make a funny face but Jin Ling is still crying. And his voice started to crack and Lan Wangji started to panic.
“A’ Yuan, can you go to the shelf and prepare the milk?” Lan Wangji had no time to explain as making Jin Ling stop crying is the top priority right now.
Sizhui nods and quickly goes to the shelf and prepares the milk while Lan Wangji tells him how Jiang Cheng just told him before. After the milk was done. Sizhui passed the bottle to Lan Wangji. As Lan Wangji had no time to check the temperature on his hands and his hands were busy holding Jin Ling, he drank a bit of the milk from the bottle and as he felt the temperature seemed fine with him, he moved the bottle to Jin Ling’s mouth. And finally, that stops Jin Ling from crying. Sizhui giggled seeing Lan Wangji was so out of his usual calm character.
Lan Wangji breathed a sigh of relief seeing Jin Ling wass drinking the milk. And he still hasn’t taken his medicine yet. He moved to sit on the bed with Sizhui following him from behind.
“Hanguang Jun? What is her name? Is she going to stay with us from now on?” Sizhui holds Lan Wangji’s hands trying to see Jin Ling closer.
Lan Wangji shook his head. “He is Jin Ling xiao gongzhi. He came with Jiang Clan Leader.” Sizhui looks at Hanguang Jun as if Hanguang Jun just lie to him.
“Eh? He is xiao didi? But he looks like a girl?” Lan Wangji just smiled at him. And now Sizhui moved closer to Jin Ling. This time he tried to play with Jin Ling’s little hand as Jin Ling was too focused on the milk bottle in Hanguang Jun’s hands. Jin Ling didn't even notice who was playing with his hands.
Seeing the bottle almost empty, Lan Wangji tried his luck again. “A’ Ling,Jiujiu just asked Shushu to feed A’ Ling some porridge-” Jin Ling shook his head and the bottle in his mouth also moved.
“If A’ Ling won’t eat and don’t take medicine, Jiujiu will leave A’ Ling here and will not come back again.” After hearing that, the bottle fell from Jin Ling’s mouth, but Sizhui managed to catch it and he started to cry again. And Lan Wangji quickly brought Jin Ling close to him, resting his head on his shoulder. His hand was holding Jin Ling while his other hand was rubbing his back.
“So A’ Ling needs to eat and take medicine as Jiujiu had said alright?” Lan Wangji asks that little boy, seeing that this method seems kind of effective. He shall take note of that. Little A’ Ling nodded while his hands were hugging Lan Wangji's neck.
Sizhui, who was watching from the side, was covering his mouth trying to hide his laughter. Lan Wangji raised one of his eyebrows, trying to warn Sizhui not to expose him.
………………….
After taking his medicine, Jin Ling was sleepy and finally he fell asleep. After Lan Wangji had learned that Jin Ling would do anything if Jiujiu was included, it was much easier to ask him to do anything. Lan Wangji is now finally able to eat his already cold lunch that Sizhui had brought while Sizhui is the one looking after Jin Ling who is sound asleep on the bed.
“Hanguang Jun? Tomorrow, can I play with A’ Ling? I want to bring Jingyi too. I want to bring him to the bunnies-” Sizhui whispered excitedly from the bed.
“We don’t know yet.” Lan Wangji already finished his food and started to clean the table, putting all the bowls into the basket. “A’ Ling is still sick. He can’t play in the cold.”
And Sizhui is pouting after he heard that. He looked at the sleeping Jin Ling and sighed. But then he quickly shook his head. He can’t be selfish. A’ Ling is sick. He told himself. But.. he really wants to carry Jin Ling around the Cloud Recesses. He wanted to show everyone that he had a new xiao didi.
Sizhui was so into staring at Jin Ling that he didn’t notice that Lan Wangji was standing next to him. And suddenly he felt Lan Wangji’s hand, ruffling his hair. And he looked up to him. Lan Wangji had already fixed his hair and also managed to put on his Lan’s headband again.
“A’ Yuan. Can you look after A’ Ling for a while. I need to wash A’ Ling’s clothes. His Jiujiu must be tired to wash this later.” Lan Wangji already picked the outfit that Jin Ling wore just now and headed to the bathroom. And Sizhui gladly nodded and he scooted closer to Jin Ling, as to lay beside him quietly, with his head on his hand.
After a while, sleepiness took over Sizhui and he fell asleep while his hand was wrapped around Jin Ling’s small body.
…….
It was already evening and the room was so quiet, both Jin Ling and Sizhui were sleeping. Lan Wangji was hanging Jin Ling’s clothes then suddenly he heard someone slide open the door. He quickly moved to the bed and then he saw Jiang Cheng stepping inside with a little puppy in his hands. As soon as he saw Sizhui was sleeping next to Jin Ling, he stood there not saying anything before he turned to Lan Wangji.
“Ah. I'm sorry. Let me wake A’ Yuan up.” Lan Wangji quickly wakes Sizhui up and pulls him off the bed. Sizhui was so confused but he was still so sleepy as he rubbed his eyes.
“The meeting ended early. Thank you Hanguang Jun.” Jiang Cheng bowed down a bit, to thank Lan Wangji.
Lan Wangji simply bowed back. “How about the banquet tonight? Would you be attending it?”
“I’m not sure-” Jiang Cheng glanced at Jin Ling.
“I can take care of him tonight too.” Lan Wangji spoke to him. He knows that tonight's banquet is very important for everyone to attend.
“We’ll see later. If A’ Ling fever still hasn’t gone down, I think I need to head back to Lotus Pier tomorrow.” Jiang Cheng placed his hand on Jin Ling’s forehead.
“I’ll understand. Ge would understand too.” Lan Wangji spoke to him. “I’ll come back later tonight in case you need someone to take care of A’ Ling.” Lan Wangji added.
After he said that, he gathered his hand to bid goodbye and dragged the still sleepy Sizhui in his hands and also took with him the food baskets.
After they had left the room, Jiang Cheng moved to lay next to Jin Ling. he wanted to touch Jin Ling but he just came back after meeting with so many people. He didn't want Jin Ling to get anything from outside so he just watched instead and he also fell asleep with Fairy sleeping at his leg.