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When Yu Ziyuan tells Jiang Cheng that he’s going to accompany them to Qinghe Nie, he’s honestly too surprised to even say anything.
He hasn’t been allowed to go to any official meetings lately, mostly because his father insists that he’s not fit to be out in public.
Just thinking about it hurts as much as the very first time his father has said it and so the fact that he’s supposed to come to Qinghe Nie now is actually quite baffling.
“Why?” he gets out, just a few moments before his mother walks away and she gives him a scathing glance.
“It’s time you prove yourself in public. I don’t expect you to make me proud, but at least try not to embarrass us too much. We need this alliance with Qinghe Nie and if you’re—” she vaguely points at Jiang Cheng’s face “—ruins this for us then you can imagine what will happen.”
On reflex Jiang Cheng presses his lips closed and simply nods.
Yeah, he can imagine very well what’s going to happen should he fuck up and he’s not keen on doing it.
So that means he’ll try his best to be present but not talk and he will need to remember to keep his head down when he eats. If someone should see his pointed canines—fangs, as Wei Wuxian so lovingly dubbed them—and talk about them his parents will be furious.
Jiang Cheng isn’t entirely too sure why his canines being this pointed are such a bad thing, but his father insists that they are and it’s not as if Jiang Cheng is allowed out much, so he didn’t actually have a chance to ask anyone else. He doesn’t have friends; he doesn’t even have anyone he trusts apart from his family.
This trip is actually going to be pretty exciting, because Jiang Cheng will finally get to meet other people but it’s also going to be so nerve-wrecking because he’ll have to remember to keep his mouth closed at all times.
He just hopes no one will ask him any questions.
As soon as he thinks it, he scoffs because he’s a sheltered heir and it’s not as if his father has been spreading any good things about him. So why should anyone even talk to him?
Still, nerves keep Jiang Cheng up most nights leading up to the conference and he’s so jittery that he even fumbles most of his training for the last week right before the conference.
His mother is furious with him even before they leave for Qinghe and Jiang Cheng vows to keep his head down and blend into the background.
No one will notice him.
~*~*~
“Remember,” Jiang Fengmian sternly tells him, Yu Ziyuan glowering at Jiang Cheng from behind his back. “No unnecessary talking.”
“I know,” Jiang Cheng whispers, keeping his head down and his lips as closed as possible.
He’s determined to not fuck this up.
So he follows behind his parents, nods his head when it’s appropriate and otherwise continues to be a quiet shadow in the back.
And it’s all going well, right until Nie Huaisang slides up to him.
“You must be Jiang Wanyin,” he cheerfully says. “I’m Nie Huaisang. It’s nice to finally meet you! It’s so dreadful being the only heir at these kind of events.”
“Hello,” Jiang Cheng mutters, darting a look over at his parents and immediately shrinking back when his mother glares at him.
Just keep them hidden, Jiang Cheng reminds himself and presses his lips together.
“You haven’t been here before, right?” Nie Huaisang goes on, clearly not noticing anything wrong with Jiang Cheng so far.
He hopes to keep it that way.
“No,” Jiang Cheng answers, keeping his head low, making sure that his lips cover his teeth at all times. “It’s my first time.”
“Ah, then I’ll have to show you around, Qinghe is beautiful and your parents certainly won’t take you to the fun places.”
“That’s alright, no need,” Jiang Cheng mumbles and hopes he comes off as polite but distant. He doesn’t need Nie Huaisang to pester him until he forgets himself.
Even though Jiang Cheng would love to get to know Nie Huaisang better. Maybe he could even be a friend.
“No, no, every need!” Nie Huaisang goes on but just a second later he frowns. “Is there a reason you’re this prickly?” he then asks, tilting his head curiously at Jiang Cheng.
“Wanyin,” Jiang Fengmian says just in that moment and Jiang Cheng is actually thankful for the interruption.
He wouldn’t have known how to answer that question anyway.
“Yes, father,” Jiang Cheng replies and immediately gets up and leaves Nie Huaisang behind even though he doesn’t want to.
But this is safer for him, after all.
“What did you do?” Jiang Fengmian asks him on their way to their rooms and Jiang Cheng ducks his head.
“Nothing. I barely even talked to him.”
“Mh,” his father hums out, clearly not believing him but Jiang Cheng doesn’t know what else to say. It’s not as if he’s ever going to believe him no matter what he says.
“Today was just a day of greetings,” his father tells him. “Negotiations start tomorrow, so I expect you to be on your best behaviour.
What he means is that he wants Jiang Cheng quiet and obedient and so Jiang Cheng simply nods. He’ll try his best, even though it’s usually not good enough anyway.
The next day brings Nie Huaisang back to his side. Jiang Cheng tries to appear as unapproachable as possible but it doesn’t seem like Nie Huaisang is being deterred by that if the way he sticks to Jiang Cheng’s side.
Jiang Cheng can barely make a step without Nie Huaisang accompanying him. Jiang Cheng mostly answers him with grunts and hums, because there’s no way in hell that he can talk the entire day without slipping up.
Nie Huaisang doesn’t seem to mind that much because he keeps chattering away and he doesn’t seem unhappy as well. Maybe he’s just that easy-going, Jiang Cheng thinks with envy.
He wishes he could be this care-free as well.
Jiang Cheng unbend a bit by the end of the day, mostly worn down by Nie Huaisang’s happy chatter and his acceptance of Jiang Cheng’s apparent taciturn nature but when Jiang Cheng gets back to their assigned rooms that night, he knows that things are not going well for them right now.
“What did you do?” Jiang Fengmian hisses at him and Jiang Cheng shrinks back.
“Nothing,” he promises. “I barely even talked all day.”
“That better be true,” Jiang Fengmian tells him. “If you scared them away with your—” yet again another vague gesture at his face “—then you won’t be happy when we get home.”
Jiang Cheng bites back that he hasn’t been happy in quite a while already but he knows that him talking back is not going to help at all.
“I’ll keep my head down,” Jiang Cheng promises because what else is he going to say to that.
“See that you do,” Jiang Fengmian says before he dismisses Jiang Cheng and Jiang Cheng vows to himself that he’s not going to talk at all tomorrow.
He didn’t fuck up yet but who knows; better not tempt the fates.
So the next day has him even more quiet than before and it seems that this time even Nie Huaisang notices it.
“Is everything okay?” he asks around midday and Jiang Cheng is too scared to look around but he swears he can feel his father’s stare on his back.
“Sure,” Jiang Cheng quickly says, ducking his head but it seems like this time something caught Nie Huaisang’s attention.
“Say, can you talk again?” he asks, completely unbothered by his slightly rude question.
“No,” Jiang Cheng presses out, desperately trying to keep his teeth covered.
But it seems like Nie Huaisang smelled blood now because he ducks down, trying to get a good look at Jiang Cheng.
“I think you should say something again,” he needles him and Jiang Cheng desperately looks around for help.
His father is still talking to Nie Mingjue, and their discussion seems uncharacteristically heated. Jiang Cheng has never seen his father gesture this much.
“Da-ge,” Nie Huaisang suddenly yells and immediately gets Nie Mingjue’s attention. Together with everyone elses. “Come here for a second,” he then says, waving his hand at Nie Mingjue and Jiang Cheng’s stomach drops when his father slowly turns around to him.
“What did you do?” he demands to know and Jiang Cheng shrinks back.
“If you would excuse me,” Nie Mingjue says with a hard glare at Jiang Fengmian. “What is it, Huaisang?” he asks when he joined them and his gaze lingers now on Jiang Cheng.
“Listen here,” Nie Huaisang says and motions for him to bend down. “Look,” he then says and points at Jiang Cheng.
“What?” Nie Mingjue asks, clearly not seeing what he’s supposed to see and Jiang Cheng fights the instinct to flee.
Being pinned by Nie Mingjue’s gaze like that makes him flush all over and he’s not about to add another incident to this apparent fiasco of a meeting.
“Ouch,” he yells when Nie Huaisang pinches his side. “What the hell,” he grumbles and only realizes his fuck up when both Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingjue stare incredulously at him.
“Fuck,” Jiang Cheng mutters and slams a hand over his face.
“Everyone out,” Nie Mingjue orders, directing a scathing glare at Jiang Fengmian.
Jiang Cheng is about to get up as well, when a warm heavy hand comes to rest on his shoulder.
“You’re going to stay,” Nie Mingjue says, his voice much softer now and Jiang Cheng can do nothing but sink back into his seat even though his father seems to be fuming.
“I did something wrong, didn’t I?” Jiang Cheng carefully asks, raising his hand to cover his mouth but Nie Mingjue gently pushes it down.
“No, you haven’t. Is this what they’ve been telling you? That something about you is wrong?”
Jiang Cheng can’t bring himself to answer that honestly but going by the look Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang share the answer is more than clear.
“They told you to keep quiet and not show your canines, right?” Nie Huaisang asks and he seems angry.
“Didi, if you can’t control yourself get out,” Nie Mingjue tells him, rather unkindly and Nie Huaisang turns around on his heel and storms off.
“And people say I have a temper problem,” Nie Mingjue mutters and then turns back to Jiang Cheng. “Now, the thing is, our perception of the world is a little bit differently than that of other Sects.”
“How so?” Jiang Cheng asks, still trying to hide his teeth out of habit.
“It’s alright, Wanyin, you can relax,” Nie Mingjue reassures him. “I don’t know what your parents told you, but for us, pointed and sharp canines are a sign that you are a descendant from heavenly beings. Of those very beings that we still worship here,” Nie Mingjue tells him and Jiang Cheng blinks in confusion.
“I don’t understand,” Jiang Cheng admits and Nie Mingjue smiles warmly at him, immediately putting Jiang Cheng at ease.
“It means that it’s a sign of the divine for us. Something to be proud of, something to worship.”
“My canines,” Jiang Cheng tonelessly says and Nie Mingjue nods.
“Yes.”
“My parents don’t think the same,” he then offers and Nie Mingjue snorts.
Jiang Cheng immediately crushes the thought that that was incredibly cute. He doesn’t need complications of that kind, not after this revelation.
“I noticed,” Nie Mingjue drily says. “And I think Huaisang noticed, too, so we might have a little problem. He can be vengeful.”
“A problem?”
“He’s not going to be nice to your parents.”
“Oh, I see,” Jiang Cheng says but can’t really say that he minds.
“So, I don’t know if you know why you are here but your parents want to negotiate a deal with us and I don’t particularly want to deal with your parents.”
“You’ve been very stand-offish, I have heard.”
“Yes. I hope you don’t mind this but I very much dislike your parents and that was before I knew about this.”
“You’re not the first to dislike them,” Jiang Cheng admits and Nie Mingjue gives him an understanding glance.
“Well, even though we can somewhat pretend, I bet Huaisang won’t from now on. He’s going to be so goddamn annoying to them now.”
The thought makes Jiang Cheng laugh and he only remembers himself when Nie Mingjue’s gaze stays on his face the entire time.
Jiang Cheng is sure that he’s reading the heat behind his gaze wrong but then Nie Mingjue reaches out for his hand.
“Listen,” Nie Mingjue carefully starts and Jiang Cheng can feel himself flush.
“I’m sorry about that,” he interrupts Nie Mingjue but Nie Mingjue shakes his head.
“I thought it was rather cute, actually,” Nie Mingjue shamelessly says and it makes Jiang Cheng speechless. “I have a proposition for you.”
He gives him a questioning look and when Jiang Cheng can’t find his voice fast enough he simply nods.
“I’m going to agree to your parent’s deal,” Nie Mingjue starts and Jiang Cheng braces himself for the but that surely is about to come. “But I’ll be asking for you to marry into my Sect.”
Jiang Cheng blinks.
“Wanyin, did I lose you somewhere?”
“At the part where you said you want me,” Jiang Cheng honestly gives back and Nie Mingjue smiles at him.
It’s the first time that Jiang Cheng notices that his canines are slightly pointier than normal as well.
“I do, though. I want you to marry in. I want you out of that family and to be honest, I do think you’re cute. I think a courtship between us will show if we’re compatible but at the very least we can be friends. And you get to call a place your home where people appreciate you.”
“Deal,” Jiang Cheng blurts out, because everything Nie Mingjue has just said sounded amazing. “I’d like to try a courtship.”
“Then we’ll try that,” Nie Mingjue nods. “Let me inform your parents.”
He’s about to leave and take his hand back from Jiang Cheng but Jiang Cheng tightens his grip on him.
“Wait,” he rushes out, unable to meet Nie Mingjue’s eyes. “What if they don’t agree?”
“They will. They are kind of desperate for this deal, to be honest. And with what I have seen—I mean no offence but it doesn’t seem like they are particularly keen on keeping you around.”
“What an understatement,” Jiang Cheng mutters.
“Well, I already know I want to keep you around, so you’re much better off with me anyway,” Nie Mingjue assuredly says and Jiang Cheng can do nothing but believe him.
“Okay, then,” he agrees and flushes yet again when Nie Mingjue presses a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s knuckles.
“Let’s get this started then,” he decides and turns around to call Jiang Cheng’s parents back in.
Jiang Cheng’s heart beats fast and heavy in his chest but for once in his life it’s in joyful anticipation.
(Jiang Cheng’s parents of course agree, and with much less fuss than even Nie Mingjue would have thought. It only enrages Nie Huaisang further. Jiang Cheng and Nie Mingjue are compatible and live a very happy life as a married couple. No one mentions Jiang Cheng’s canines in a negative way ever again and Jiang Cheng never tires of the way Nie Mingjue moans when he uses them for more sexy reasons.)