Work Text:
"Stupid Wei WuXian!"
Jiang WanYin cursed.
Then he fell.
At Gusu Lan.
Wei WuXian took his things out of his qiankun sleeves, ready to continue working on the new talisman prototypes.
"Hmm, what can I work on?" He picked up a talisman from the prototype pile, it was the one that should turn the enemy into a cat. Why a cat? Because dogs are scary, duh.
Of course, it still had some flaws, Wei WuXian still couldn't get the energy flow to flow properly, so it was likely that the wearer would be affected by the effect of the talisman.
It's just that, when he checked the cinnabar traces, he noticed his mistake.
"Lan Zhan!"
Instead of the intricate and unorthodox design of his newest talisman, in his hand, he held a Ying energy suppression talisman.
When Lan WangJi appeared in his white mourning robes, Wei WuXian shouted, "I gave the wrong talismans to Jiang Cheng! Let's go to Yunmeng!"
Two days ago, he had visited Yunmeng with the juniors. Although his relationship with Jiang WanYin was a little awkward and strained, it was a little better after Jiang WanYin came out of his closed-door meditation. At least now they could chat a little.
And Wei WuXian had given the "one hundred percent infallible suppressing talismans made by Yiling Laozu himself" to Jiang WanYin after hearing that he would go on a mission personally because he had no assurance that his disciples would make it.
But since his luck was never the best, it seems he mistook the Ying energy suppressing talismans for prototype transformation talismans.
Well, Jiang WanYin couldn't have had worse luck than his, could he?
Apparently, he could.
The black hairball swirling in the violet-colored jianxiu robes was a good proof of that.
Jiang WanYin hissed in pain.
The wound on his right shoulder and left leg hurt more now.
Of all things, it had to be a cat.
He liked dogs better.
But the point was, he had become a cat!
It was all Wei WuXian's fault - him, and his equally stupid talisman prototypes.
Jiang WanYin could barely notice the dead beast a few steps away from him before collapsing again.
He couldn't sense its spiritual energy. Sandu and Zidian seemed to have returned as they lost their connection. Surely Jin Ling was making a ruckus at the Lotus Pier.
Jiang WanYin's eyes closed after catching a flash of blue-green in his vision.
"What is Zidian doing on my finger!"
Jin Ling shouted, a mixture of disbelief, panic, and deep fear assaulting his face.
He was at the Lotus Pier. He had come to supervise that everything was working properly in the absence of his Jiujiu.
Wei WuXian, who was coming down from Lan WangJi's sword, exclaimed, "Here comes Sandu!"
Jiang WanYin's spirit sword fell two steps away from Jin Ling, his energy reserve had run out just in time.
Jin Ling picked up the sword and ran to the Hall of Soul Gems. Where a spirit stone infused with the qi of each sect member remained. He found his Jiujiu's spirit stone in the center. It was fine. There were no scratches and the spiritual energy was still fluctuating in the stone.
Good. His Jiujiu had not died.
"I..." Wei WuXian said behind him "probably gave Jiang Cheng the wrong talisman."
Jin Ling looked at him, his gaze demanding an explanation.
"Remember the talisman that turns the enemy into a cat? Well, I gave him that one. but it was an accident!"
"Wei WuXian!"
Jiang WanYin was comfortable.
There was a faint smell of bamboo combined with the aroma of freshly ground ink and Oolong tea. His wounds seemed to be bandaged as well.
And Jiang WanYin remembered that he was a cat and bristled.
"You woke up." A voice tinged with relief came from above.
Jiang WanYin saw a hanfu in blue-green colors. He looked up and saw a face that took his breath away.
The man's eyes were like two onyx stones, his eyebrows were thin and his jaw was sharp. His lips were thin, but of a pinkish hue that was extremely attractive.
Naturally beautiful.
There was a spot of cinnabar between the man's eyebrows, surely he was a scholar.
Elegant.
The handsome man smiled and brought his hand closer.
"You look better now."
Soft voice.
The man's hand was warm. It was smooth, his fingers were long and white, with slight calluses on the tips, probably from brush use.
Jiang WanYin purred as the hand stroked behind his ears.
Wait!
He should be looking for a way to return to his form!
"You must be hungry, eat some."
The handsome man brought a perfectly cooked piece of pork rib close to his mouth.
Well, there was no hurry. Surely the effect would go away by itself.
Jiang WanYin ate the piece of meat and licked the refined fingers of man.
He watched the scholar's light meals.
Thrifty.
Shen Qingqiu got a cat.
A few years ago, after a qi deviation, it had died.
He followed his replacement for a while, it was humiliating to see the actions the impostor did with his body. Why did he become a helpless damsel? Probably the worst part of the case was that everyone ignored the sudden change and went on with their lives. It was after hearing Yue Qingyuan's half-hearted confession that his soul was dragged into this world by the cycle of reincarnation.
The outward appearance of his new body was the same as his old one.
He was the underprivileged son of a noble family.
When he was reborn, the body was twenty-five years old, so he ran away from home and built a small bamboo house in a bamboo forest on the outskirts of a town in Yunmeng.
This body had never tried to cultivate himself, it was too late, so Shen Qingqiu decided to do the only other thing he was good at to make a living.
Be a scholar.
In the next few years he participated in the imperial examinations, from the county examination to the palace examination, finally, he became the Dianyuan [1] and made a name for himself.
However, he did not participate in the examination for official positions. Instead, he decided to stay in the city. Giving lessons in schools, mediating in small problems, and other things at the county level.
Since his lifestyle was simple, the taels of salary for being a civil servant were enough for him. Also, he had become well known among the inhabitants of the county, and the ladies would sometimes give him something to eat when he wandered around town.
He liked his life, quiet and free.
Returning to the cat, Shen Qingqiu was picking some wild berries in the forest when he heard the roar of a beast followed by a great roar.
Someone had killed the beast that was causing trouble in the fields. Shen Qingqiu had personally written the missive for the Jiang Sect. He had described the details of the beast so that they would not send just any disciple.
He didn't need human corpses on the spot, thank you very much.
Shen Qingqiu walked over.
The corpse of the beast was bleeding to death on the ground. There was an accurate sword cut on the beast's neck. Shen Qingqiu saw a pile of purple robes near the beast.
There was neither a sword nor a person.
Shen Qingqiu considered that perhaps the person had changed clothes, as he discerned torn cloth and blood on it.
Even so, couldn't he take the corpse away?
Shen Qingqiu lit a talisman with his almost non-existent qi and the beast began to incinerate.
Then he saw a cat.
It was big, black, fluffy, and wounded.
The heart of a cat lover suddenly softened.
Shen Qingqiu carefully picked up the cat and took it to his bamboo hut. After curing it and bathing it, he waited for the cat to wake up.
It was almost dinnertime when the cat hissed, suddenly alert. Its grayish gaze rested on him, menacing.
Shen Qingqiu spoke to the cat using a soft tone he didn't know he could use. He felt satisfied when the cat let him pet it. The kitten even ate from his hand!
Shen Qingqiu slept with the cat curled up in a ball at his side.
The next morning, he thought of something; "Should I give you a name?"
The cat ignored him.
"Hmm, Yan Yan?" [2]
The cat looked at him without much interest.
Yan Yan then, Shen Qingqiu decided.
Jiang WanYin was nowhere to be found!
Wei WuXian ran with Jin Ling to the small town where Jiang WanYin had the mission.
The letter sent to the sect had been quite specific with the details (Nice handwriting!), so they headed for the forest where the beast resided.
They found the cremated remains of the beast and the robes of Jiang WanYin.
Wei WuXian accompanied Jin Ling to meet the village chief. The village chief had seen Jiang WanYin arrive, but had not seen him leave nor did he know anything else about him.
So, Jiang WanYin was most likely a cat at this time.
And Wei WuXian didn't know what color it would be, so he didn't know how to ask either.
Jin Ling sending him scary looks wasn't helping.
"I know!"
Wei WuXian patted his thigh. Jin Ling looked at him in exasperation.
"We'll wait for him to return to the sect on his own!"
"No! We'll look for him!"
Wei WuXian convinced Jin Ling to let Jiang WanYin roam the world like a cat.
A walk would do the man well.
Still, he told the village chief to notify him if he sighted Jiang-zongzhu.
Jiang WanYin wagged his tail parsimoniously. The handsome man had gone out to do scholarly things. He had even taken a fan with him to cover the lower half of his face. When he returned, the first thing he said when he crossed the threshold was; "Some guys came to talk to the village chief because they were looking for Jiang-zongzhu. I think they were Yiling Laozu and Jin-zongzhu."
Tsk. Good thing they didn't find him.
Those were Jiang WanYin's inner thoughts as the handsome man's caring hands washed his body in a small tub.
The smell of bamboo combined with the aromatic lavender soap had actually made Jiang WanYin purr. The warm water was at the right temperature, and the man's fingers massaged the right places.
Obedient.
He should feel ashamed of his situation, but he felt too relaxed to worry about it. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he felt so relaxed.
The man dried him off and laid him in a pile of blankets on the bed. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, and Jiang WanYin decided he would take a nap.
When he woke up, the handsome man fed him again.
"Yan Yan, let's go outside."
The man carried him carefully and took him to a divan placed outside. The man then took out a guqin and began to play.
He was not too talkative.
Jiang WanYin, whose wounds had improved, jumped onto the scholar's shoulder. His tail brushed against the man's earlobe.
It was good to be like this.
Wei WuXian didn't really sit back and wait. He investigated the traces of the talisman prototype and, after five days, he could finally guess how long Jiang WanYin would spend as a cat.
He probably only had two more days left.
Wei WuXian decided that, if five more days passed without news of Jiang WanYin, he would go to the city again and ask for a surly and proud cat.
The surly and proud cat was sitting on the lap of a scholar. The scholar was brushing the feline's fur quite carefully.
Jiang WanYin narrowed his eyes. The handsome man, who he now knew was called Shen Qingqiu, was still as good as at the beginning.
Jiang WanYin's tail curled around Shen Qingqiu's wrist.
Shen Qingqiu let out a small laugh. The cat's ears twitched.
Don't laugh all of a sudden!
That was what Jiang WanYin's mind was screaming.
Jiang WanYin decided to focus on reading the works displayed on the wall, instead of recognizing the soft, honeyed voice laughing above his head.
Shen Qingqiu set it down on a cushion and began to write something on paper.
Apparently, he was reviewing the papers of a boy who wanted to apply for the provincial exam next year, the boy asked Shen Qingqiu for some tutoring.
Worker.
He will treat Jin Ling well.
Jiang WanYin gave the beautiful and elegant scholar one last thoughtful glance before curling up and sleeping.
His cultivation isn't high.
Shen Qingqiu liked his cat very much.
It was obedient and docile. He especially liked it when I stroked his chin and when I gave him pork rib to eat. He followed him everywhere in the house and waited for him when he went out to take care of his duties in the county.
That night, Shen Qingqiu went to bed like any other day. Yan Yan fell asleep on his chest.
Shen Qingqiu woke up in the middle of the night because of the tightness in his chest.
It wasn't his cat.
His obvious reaction was to push whatever was on him to the floor.
"Agh. Damn."
It was a man's voice. Shen Qingqiu reached for the dagger hidden under his pillow.
"Wait."
With a snap of the man's fingers, the room lit up.
Tufts of black hair fell over the man's shoulders and back. Another part covered part of his chest and face. The man was naked. Shen Qingqiu made a move, but the man grabbed his wrist.
"Let me explain!" He ordered.
"There is a naked man in my house, in my bed, what is there to explain?"
The man sighed in exasperation.
Shen Qingqiu could see the grayish gaze looking straight at him.
"Yan Yan?"
"Oh. You figured it out quickly," Yan Yan explained. "You see, I was slaying the beast when I used a talisman. It was wrong, so I transformed into a cat. Then you found me."
"That doesn't explain what you're doing in...!" Pause. "Jiang-zongzhu?"
The man groaned; "Mm, hi."
Shen Qingqiu relaxed a bit knowing that the naked man in his bed wasn't a pervert, though it wasn't much better knowing that it was Jiang-zongzhu.
Stop, he'd been pampering Sandu Shengshou like he was a common cat for a week!
Shen Qingqiu fainted.
Jiang WanYin rolled his eyes.
When Shen Qingqiu woke up again it was already daylight.
"Yan Yan...?" He called tentatively, hoping it was all a bad dream.
An answer came from his kitchen.
"What do you want? Breakfast is ready, come eat."
Shit, it was real!
When he fixed his appearance and came out, he saw Jiang WanYin dressed in one of his robes.
"I thought you wouldn't be happy to see me naked in your house, so I took your clothes. I will return them."
"I'm not happy to see you here at all" He spat, feeling nostalgic to be able to debate with words with someone.
"You saved me earlier, I'm going to return everything to you."
Shen Qingqiu took a sip of porridge. A light meal, just the way he liked it. He also saved more money with simple meals.
"Oh? And how do you plan to repay me?"
The answer came without delay.
"Marry me."
If Shen Qingqiu didn't value food, he would have spit out the morsel in his mouth, but he forced himself to swallow it all before speaking.
"What?" That was all his brain could think to say. "Why?'
It was well known that Jiang WanYin was blacklisted by all matchmakers, but, he shouldn't be so desperate to get married, right?
".... requirements."
"I didn't understand what you said."
"You meet all my requirements!" Jiang WanYin shouted, his neck was red. Then he calmed down and muttered;" Well, there are still one or two that I'm not sure about, but, you're the only one who meets the rest."
Shen Qingqiu rubbed his temples.
"Are you aware of what you're saying? You don't even know me, not to mention that I'm a man."
Jiang WanYin's gaze lit up with determination.
"Of course. Besides, I've slept with you for a week, I already know some things. For example; you like sweet things, you hide your money well, although you live alone, you prefer quiet spaces, you say you don't care what happens to that studious boy, but you will try your best to explain all his mistakes and give him advice, the local old ladies see you as another grandson, besides..."
"Okay, I get it!"
"Will you marry me then?"
"You must woo me first!" Shen Qingqiu shouted without thinking, he couldn't regret it.
Jiang WanYin left after washing the dishes, wearing his robes. Shen Qingqiu considered the idea of moving out before quickly discarding it.
He had spent a lot of time alone, but, maybe it wouldn't hurt to meet someone.
Wei WuXian breathed a sigh of relief when someone announced Jiang WanYin's return.
Jin Ling was the first to rush out. The juniors were already here, so they followed him. Wei WuXian stayed behind Lan WangJi.
Jiang WanYin came dressed in a teal hanfu. He wore no accessories in his hair. He looked quite relaxed.
"Jiujiu?"
Jin Ling even forgot all his accumulated complaints.
"You should thank Wei WuXian."
"Huh?"
"Hmm?" Wei WuXian questioned his hearing.
But Jiang WanYin didn't comment any further. Instead, he headed to the sect office right away.
He didn't even ask about his spiritual weapons!
For the next few weeks, Jiang WanYin would leave the sect in the morning and return in the afternoon. No one knew where he was going or what he was doing.
It happened months later, while Jin Ling, Lan JingYi, Lan SiZhui, Ouyang ZiZhen, and the rest of the juniors were discussing the recent night hunt, Lan XiChen came in with a missive, his expression was strange.
Wei WuXian said; "What's wrong, why do you bring that expression?"
Lan XiChen read the paper again as if confirming something, before looking at them; "Jiang-zongzhu is getting married."
Jin Ling and Wei WuXian choked on air.
"My Jiujiu what!"
"Did someone meet those absurd requirements!"
They literally flew towards Lotus Pier, but the disciples, who also had looks of disbelief, said that Jiang WanYin was not there.
The new topic of conversation among people in the cultivation world, as well as ordinary people, was to find out the background of the maiden who managed to endure Sandu Shengshou's temper.
No one found any clues.
Fortunately, the wedding day came soon.
The leaders of the sects had curious looks, no, they all had curious and still incredulous looks.
The Lotus Pier was decorated in red. Some people were playing the guqin and pipe. Others were reciting poems to the rhythm of the notes.
"Why is there a person from the Ministry of Rites here?"
Everyone saw the elegant scholar waving his ponytail whisk standing on the platform. Apparently, he would be leading the ceremony. However, it didn't make sense, a cultivation sect leader's wedding didn't need a public official of such a level. Forget it, they didn't even need a public official here.
Someone dared to ask directly, the scholar smiled and replied; "Have you heard stories about the Immortal Scholar?"
The atmosphere lightened, and many affirmed.
Of course, the story about the young boy who became Dianyuan, but rejected any position and settled for being a simple civil servant had become famous in recent years.
"I have admired Dianyuan for many years. I was second place in that year's examination, but our talents were like heaven and earth" The scholar smiled again. "The Dianyuan is getting married today, how can I let anyone perform the ceremony?"
Ah, Jiang-zongzhu is going to marry the Immortal Scholar, the famous Shen Qingqiu! Unbelievable.
Ah! Jiang-zongzhu is a cutsleeve! Well.
The Ceremonial Gong sounded at that moment. The Bai Tang began.
Unlike tradition, no one was coming on a divan. Instead, the two beautiful men came on horses.
Jiang WanYin had his hair tied in a high ponytail, his gaze was impassive. Shen Qingqiu had his hair tied up with golden accessories that matched his groom's suit, his gaze was indifferent.
Jiang WanYin got off the horse first and helped Shen Qingqiu down.
They each took one end of the red ribbon and advanced to the platform.
The three bows were performed quickly.
At the bow to the parents, Jiang WanYin bowed to the memorial plaques of his parents. Shen Qingqiu asked for one with the name of his former master in Qing Jing, the only one he would ever call father.
Both Jiang WanYin and Shen Qingqiu looked quizzically at the weeping scholar. They ignored him and concentrated on the banquet.
Shen Qingqiu didn't go to the bridal chamber right away either, he stayed by Jiang WanYin's side for the rest of the evening.
"It's nice" He whispered as he looked around.
"See? And yet you went out of your way to play hard to get."
Shen Qingqiu ignored that. Truth be told, he had expected Jiang WanYin to give up at some point, but the man was adamant.
He continued to accompany Shen Qingqiu, cooking for him, bringing gifts, or just staying on the divan.
He succeeded in softening Shen Qingqiu's heart for the second time.
And Shen Qingqiu would go and pet the big cat.
"You did well."
Shen Qingqiu's hand went to Jiang WanYin's chin and scratched lightly. Jiang WanYin bowed at the touch with narrowed eyes.
Shen Qingqiu gets a cat, and a husband, by accident.