Chapter Text
After the fiasco that is the Guanyin Temple, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji became infamous about their love confession during the event. Many storytellers around the entire Jianghu had been reciting their little love story. Many of the audience, especially young maidens, enjoyed the tale so much that it opened a whole new world of love for them. The tale became so popular that the scorn towards homosexualities had lessened. As heart moving as their story was, it was still not enough to eradicate the homophobes.
At first, their story would be retold fairly close to the actual event with a few exaggerations. But as a few months passed, people began to feel the need to add more spice to the story. It was then that they began to bring the most feared cultivator into the tale, Sandu Shengshou: Jiang Wanyin. Jiang Wanyin, or as the man would like to be called: Jiang Cheng, would often become the villain of the story. Taking the events out of context, Jiang Cheng became the man who would constantly get between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in their love for each other, and according to some storytellers, it's because he also had feelings for Yiling Laozu. The idea itself was already absurd to some of the audience, but that didn't stop the impressionable young ladies who became devoted to the love of WangXian to despise Jiang Cheng. As a result, Jiang Cheng's reputation was further tarnished indirectly by the two lovebirds.
The said lovebirds as of now are walking the streets of Yunmeng, enjoying their time of day, seemingly without a care in the world, happy and in love. Ever since getting himself resurrected, Wei Wuxian was barely able to catch himself a break from all the scheming and case solving around the drama in the different sects. Politics had never been his strong suit, and nor will it ever be. In these past few months, he was finally able to register that he was alive again, and with the help from his Lan Zhan, he was able to regain himself back to the old him, the him when he was happy and enthusiastic like a flaming ball of sunshine. The smart, observant, but mischievous Wei Ying that Lan Zhan held dear to his heart.
While happily striding down the street, Wei Wuxian saw a familiar sweet shop that was selling Fruit Glutinous Sweet Dumplings. A rather famous sweet in Yunmeng that he used to have once or twice as an adolescent. Seeing Wei Wuxian staring at the sweets, Lan Wanji quickly get themselves in line to buy him one. The dish was sweet, but the slight tanginess from the fruit flavor counters the sweetness into something more mild. A refreshing taste, yet so nostalgic for Wei Wuxian. Just as Wei Wuxian finished his bowl and was about to leave, the owner of the shop reached out to them.
"Excuse me, sorry, but can I have a word with the two of you?" the woman whispered.
The two looked up to see a woman well in her late thirties in a clad of magenta and lavender outfit. She had a small troubled smile as she whispered before she motioned for them to go inside the backroom of the shop. There was a small hint of recognition from Wei Wuxian, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint who she was. Not seeing the harm for a little talk, Wei Wuxian agreed and so did Lan Wangji, completely in trust with his lover's decision. Bringing the two lovers to the backroom, the women gave them a bright smile.
“A-Xian, how have you been?”
This confirmed to Wei Wuxian that she indeed is an old acquaintance of his if she’s calling him A-Xian. It has been so long since anyone called him that. Lan Zhan calls him Wei Ying, which is still great, but he does miss the times when someone would call him A-Xian. The last person who called me A-Xian was Shijie…
“I’m sorry, but who are you?” There was a quick flash of hurt from the woman that he caught on and quickly elaborated. “I-I’ve been having a hard time remembering anything from my adolescent days. I’m sure you’ve heard that I was recently resurrected. Heh heh… Yeah, that did mess up my memories a bit.”
Hearing this , the woman showed an understanding expression and returned to her smiling self again. “I’m Ruyi. You used to sneak into my shop to skip practice when you were young.”
Indeed, as a young boy he had always been aware of how gifted he was in his spiritual powers. He took his lessons with ease and mastered it with minimum effort. And to egg on his technically healthy ego the Jiang Fengmian would always cover for him when he skips practice, knowing full well that Wei Wuxian would have no problem catching up. But as a boy, he was surprisingly perceptive despite his flamboyant demeanor. He always causes ruckus when skipping lessons so Jiang Fengmian can’t help him avoid any punishment that's deserved, of course it was never anything too severe, hoping that he wouldn’t further cause any more rifts between Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan. On one of those days, he would often hide in a specific sweet shop when he accidentally got caught in skipping practice. That shop was called ‘Qinying’s Sweet Ensemble.’
‘Jie Jie, can I hide here for a bit?’
‘Oh my, of course!’
Afterwards Wei Wuxian would know that Ruyi was the shop’s owner, and that Qinying, the name of the shop, was her birth name. He was excited about it because like him, Ruyi also had the same character ‘Ying’ in their name. That was the moment when Wei Wuxian started to bond with Ruyi, albeit not surpassing his bond with the Jiang Family.
“Oh oh oh, Ruyi-jiejie! Oh I’ve been well. This is my lover, Lan Zhan, the esteemed Han Guang Jun. He’s been spoiling so much, there is nothing to worry about,” he said as he pulled Lan Wangji closer by the arm and proudly introduced his lover to Ruyi. Ruyi’s smile never left her face, and is genuinely happy to hear that Wei Wuxian is happy after everything. Their love tale is one of the hot topics for storytellers, so it’s a given for the people of Yunmeng to also know about it. Because Ruyi is technically part of the small circle acquainted with Wei Wuxian, there is a small bit of her worrying that Wei Wuxian is having trouble finding himself again. But to hear that his lover is helping him through had dropped all her worries for him in relief. She turned to Lan Wanji and gave him her thanks.
“I know it might be strange for a stranger to be thanking you for your lover, but he is like an honorary family to me. So, thank you, Han Guang Jun, for staying by his side.”
“As I should.”
Ruyi turned back to Wei Wuxian again, but found herself not knowing what to say. There are so many things they can catch up on, but so many of the topics are rather … sensitive. Wei Wuxian always hated awkwardness, and at the moment, he hated how awkward it is right now. He knows what Ruyi is thinking. And under normal circumstances, he would have just talked to her about his short trip around Jiang Hu with Lan Zhan, but at the moment he is also curious about something that he’s not sure if he’s ready to hear about, the Jiang Sect.
It’s been months since the temple fiasco, and he is definitely doing well in regaining his old self. He should be comfortable in asking the well-being of the Jiang Sect. But he still has doubts if he has the right to ask. Lan Wangji saw the contemplated look on Wei Wuxian’s face and decided to give him a push. He may not know what Wei Wuxian is contemplating on, he has a hunch, but it doesn’t matter. He wants Wei Wuxian to be unbounded and free. It does not matter what is troubling him, he will give him a push to help him free himself from the chains.
“Weiying.”
“Hm? Lan Er-gege?”
“Ask what’s on your mind. No need to think.”
Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Wangji for a while, and felt his doubt dispersed. It’s weird, in a good way. It’s as if the very presence of his lover can blow all his doubts and worries away. With one last deep breath, there’s no turning back.
“How was the Jiang Sect? Is everything going well?”
Ruyi looked at Wei Wuxian in shock. She’s only an acquaintance outside of the cultivating world, but she is a rather intuitive and empathetic person. She doesn’t know the whole detail or the schemes going on behind the scene, but she can feel the hardship they went through. She knows that Wei Wuxian may not be fully prepared to have any sort of connection with the Jiang Sect, but to hear him still ask her is shocking, Yet, there is a small part of her where she’s not surprised, and even relieved that he asked.
“They’re doing well. No, they’re doing great. There are a lot of new promising young lads and ladies in the sect. So many that the sect has changed quite a bit to encourage more diversity. They started to introduce new fighting styles with different weapons. I think every member is pursuing to master their own unique fighting style. Uh, well that’s how I see it. I don’t really understand much about martial arts or cultivating. Oh, and they also recently have a guest staying in the sect. I think he is the main reason why the sect is able to maintain this sense of diversity.”
Ruyi continued to talk about the changes in the sect, indicating that she’s been often visiting Lotus Piers. She doesn’t know much about cultivating, but the constant visit made her become somewhat knowledgeable, at least more than an average person. Her information on the sect is interesting to both of them; it feeds more to Wei Wuxian’s curiosity to no end. But he is specifically curious about someone who Ruyi seems to be purposely avoiding to bring up. He wanted to ask her directly, but his doubt came back. He was the one who said to let go of the past, so wouldn’t he be contradicting himself if he asked? He is trying to forget about the massive rift in their relationship, but to do that, he has to either fix it or forget the person associated with it. If it were him in his younger days, he would have attempted to fix it no matter what. But now he can only see it as an impossible job. They can’t go back to the way they were anymore.
At this time, he felt a gentle squeeze from his hand. He glanced down and saw that Lan Wangji was holding his hand, discreetly looking at him. From his eyes, Wei Wuxian can see the familiar encouraging meaning behind those glass like eyes. So beautiful, but most importantly reassuring. It was all he needed to regain his confidence.
“Sounds like the sect went through a lot of changes. But jiejie, how was Jiang Cheng?”
There was a pause in Ruyi. Her uncertainty is evident, but they can’t exactly blame her for it. It’s clear that everyone in Yunmeng and the rest of Jianghu knows that Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are not on good terms. It would surprise anyone to hear Wei Wuxian to actively ask about Jiang Cheng when it seems like he had cut ties with the other. Ruyi replied with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
“A-Cheng is doing quite well with the sect. He’s always working so hard in making the sect flourish, making Yunmeng flourish. We all appreciate it, we all adore him. He’s always looking out for everyone, and he’s also maintaining a great relationship with his disciples. Always so genuine, hardworking.”
Wei Wuxian can see how Ruyi’s expression grows more fond from talking about Jiang Cheng. But he can see a small hint of worry and melancholy that was hidden behind her eyes. He recognizes that things are not as simple and happy as Ruyi is saying. He has a thought that he shouldn’t have brought him up at all; feeling that he had ruined the mood. Ruyi reacted quickly to Wei Wuxian’s internal dilemma. “Sorry, I took so much of your time. I hope you two can enjoy the rest of your stay in Yunmeng.”
The two lovers were about to step out of the room, but it was at this moment that Wei Wuxian made an odd request.
“Ruyi-jiejie, would you mind making one more bowl of sweet dumpling?”
“Eh? But I thought you don’t like having too many sweets?”
“It’s not for me. It’s for Jiang Cheng.”
There was a long silence in the room. Ruyi and Lan Wanji know that Wei Wuxian is indicating that he’s going to meet with Jiang Cheng. Lan Wangji can somewhat understand where Wei Wuxian is coming from, he too had caught on that the sect leader may not be doing as well as Ruyi is describing. Wei Wuxian has a big heart, and on top of that he still considers Jiang Cheng his family, Lan Wangji knows. He knows all of this, and yet he can’t help but feel a bit threatened by his lover’s attentiveness to a man who hurt him. He understands that he does not know the whole story, but until someone tells him, he will always see Jiang Cheng as such.