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When it came to an education of the lewd kind, Jiang Cheng could say that he personally gained his from the picture books shared between his peers.
He had been aware of the basics from the standard theory one was taught as a young cultivator. Said basics tended to focus on the purpose rather than the mechanics. Purposes like reproduction or dual cultivation to strengthen one’s core. Said basics tended to come with dry, objective definitions for the various anatomy involved.
So when he was sneakily passed some more interesting literature on the subject during his time as a visiting disciple in the Cloud Recesses, it had been an eye-opening experience. The things described in those books had made younger him squirm with something. Discomfort? Curiosity?
It was a muddle of emotions and all he had known at the time was that Wei Wuxian truly was shameless for advertising his interests in such material so publicly.
Either way, whatever his personal feelings were, the point was that it was a rite of passage of sorts, to come to know about these things as a consequence of being around other hormonal teenagers at the time.
The question was, had he done an adequate job of educating his nephew on these matters?
Jiang Cheng couldn’t stop thinking about it since he caught Jin Ling and his Lan disciple friend in the kitchens. His nephew had been pinned against a cupboard, clearly in a lip lock with the other boy whose forehead ribbon - bearing the cloud pattern of the main family - was tangled in his fingers.
He hadn’t been sure what to do, whether to clear his throat or leave them be, but in his moment of indecision they had noticed him and pulled apart. Jin Ling had turned red and started sputtering. Jiang Cheng hadn’t been listening. He had been too busy noting the way they continued to hold each other despite being caught.
And too busy reeling that said Lan disciple was Lan Sizhui, of all people. The same little Wen boy who clung to his leg in that cave in Yiling, now clung possessively to his Jin nephew. It was a terrible kind of irony. It was the kind of thing that would have made his sister laugh. And it unfortunately made sense the more he thought about it.
There was only one person who managed to make Jin Ling’s eyes light up whenever he ran into him on night hunts (not entirely by accident, Jiang Cheng thought with suspicion). One person Jin Ling rushed to train with whenever he had the opportunity, and threw himself in front of protectively time and time again during battle.
In the end, Jiang Cheng had managed a stiff “I’ll see you both at dinner later” before walking away.
Well, it was now dinner, and Jiang Cheng sat rigidly in his seat while Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui sat opposite him. Thankfully, the food and tension kept them occupied while Jiang Cheng debated with himself what to say.
Jin Ling, unlike himself, had never been a visiting disciple. He had been thrust into the role of sect leader, and before that, he was an outcast among his peers, so single-minded and focused on getting stronger and fighting monsters.
When would he have had the chance to pick up any knowledge of sex? Jiang Cheng had never gotten the chance to personally discuss such things with him. He wondered if the Lanling Jin sect had provided him materials to learn about intimate acts, given their expectation he would have an heir.
They would be disappointed to know that wasn’t likely to happen, then. He knew his nephew - he was a big romantic and if he had chosen Lan Sizhui, there was no chance for anyone else.
Which was fine with him.
Jiang Cheng personally thought the whole bloodline inheritance system was pointless. Family was family, not succession lines. And while he did want a bigger family, he himself had no desire to have a child anytime soon, if ever.
Perhaps that was something he should make clear to Jin Ling. That his uncle was not there to oppose his decisions, but to merely ensure he was informed and being safe.
And Lan Sizhui… the boy was a bit older than Jin Ling, but he was also a Lan, the strictest and most repressed sect.
When Jiang Cheng had been a visiting disciple, it was an unspoken rule that the Lan sect members should be strictly left out of any explicit material exchange (something Wei Wuxian did not listen to). 1000 more rules to the Wall of Discipline later and Jiang Cheng had doubts about how much Lan Sizhui would know.
He sighed. He supposed he should take it upon himself as the responsible, older adult to initiate this uncomfortable but necessary conversation.
“So… how long exactly has this been going on?”
Jin Ling looked at him guiltily, then looked at Lan Sizhui. Some sort of silent communication seemed to pass between them, which oddly made Jiang Cheng feel like he was the one on the spot. That would not do. He straightened himself in his seat.
His nephew finally looked back at him and said, “Five years.”
It was only years of being a sect leader that gave him the composure to react with a mere twitch of his eyebrow. Five years… that was not long after the second siege on the burial mounds. Around the time Jin Ling started going on more night hunts with the Lan sect.
Jiang Cheng remembered when Jin Ling visited him after the night hunt where he dealt with the Hook Hand. His nephew had looked tired, a little dazed, and said it was scary observing spirits alone. When he’d gone to sleep, Jiang Cheng passed by his room to find him tossing and turning from a nightmare. He’d gone to approach, shaking him awake, and Jin Ling had looked at the ceiling blearily and croaked out ‘Lan Yuan?’
At the time he assumed it was a carry-over from the night hunt. He wondered now if it meant something more.
“Well… You are both adults now, in this kind of relationship,” Jiang Cheng said, summarizing the problem succinctly.
Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui nodded.
Jiang Cheng sighed. “Look, I don’t care what you do, I’m not here to stop-” he gestured to them, “- this.”
That got them to relax a little. Jin Ling no longer looked like he was developing an ulcer, and the slightly cold aura that had been emanating from Lan Sizhui had dispersed. Seriously, what was that about?
“But with a relationship, and your age, comes certain… activities.” Jiang Cheng struggled to find a good word for it. Giving sect leader speeches and supervising thirty children on a night hunt was a far easier task. “That you might not have been taught about.”
In the past few minutes, Jiang Cheng had watched as Jin Ling’s expression went from stressed, to slightly relieved, to now being mortified. Lan Sizhui, meanwhile, looked diplomatically neutral. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but the mask he put on was respectful enough that Jiang Cheng could appreciate the sentiment and let it slide.
He tried to gather his thoughts into something sensible, and less painful than it needed to be.
“I recommend doing your own research, you’re grown up enough to read books on the matter,” he said stiffly. Drawing from his own experiences with researching these things, he added a disclaimer to make sure they weren’t led astray. “However, be wary of information, especially in fictional works. Some of the things mentioned are not physically possible, and you will get hurt trying, and I-”
He glared at Lan Sizhui. The Lan disciple regarded him coolly.
“Will kill you if you injure A-Ling in any way. And I-” he switched his glare to Jin Ling, who flinched, “will also kill you if you manage to injure yourself in a way that will be difficult to explain to your doctors. Got it?”
“Yes uncle,” Jin Ling said quickly.
“Yes, Sect Leader Jiang. I assure you Jin Ling will come to no harm,” Lan Sizhui promised, in a tone so sincere Jiang Cheng was mildly impressed.
He narrowed his eyes. They were a little too well behaved. A little too quiet. Not very forthcoming with information. He wasn’t really sure what he expected, maybe a bit more defensiveness from Jin Ling, maybe some sharing of how they had gotten together, how often they got to see each other. Usual things one would tell an uncle, he would have thought.
Jiang Cheng attributed the awkwardness to the unfamiliarity of the situation and the topic discussed, and concluded that he would have to keep leading, if they didn’t have any prompting questions. There would be plenty of time later to catch up on the other details.
“It is normal for your age to start becoming curious,” he said, and the two looked at each other again before quickly turning back to him. He would take that as agreement. “When you cross that point and become intimate, remember to take things slowly. Your manner must be calm, not too selfish, not trying too hard.”
He cleared his throat. “Listen to each other’s feelings and no matter what anyone tells you, use plenty of oil.”
Jin Ling was red in the face, and the Lan disciple’s mouth was quirked in a strange way. Jiang Cheng could empathize with the embarrassment. It was embarrassing to have to do this conversation but he cared about his nephew’s wellbeing and therefore it had to be done.
“Take care to have regular check-ups with your doctors,” Jiang Cheng added, reiterating the lessons that were taught to him about the risks of intimate relations. Especially when multiple people were involved.
Suddenly, a horrifying thought occurred to him. Jiang Cheng wanted to keep an open mind, but even this information might put him into shock.
“Wait, it’s just you two, right? No other surprises? Nothing with the other two disciples you spend a lot of time with?”
Lan Sizhui growled.
Jin Ling’s jaw dropped.
“What! Of course it’s just us two, I would never-!” he yelled, scandalized.
“Jin Ling and I feel very strongly for each other, and we only have the capacity to love each other,” Lan Sizhui said, and was that a snarl pulling at his lips? Hm, all that politeness hiding a possessive demeanor. But Jiang Cheng had seen too much bullshit in his life to feel intimidated by a junior disciple, so he instead focused on the word love in that sentence, and somehow, that was more reassuring than any nods and verbal agreements he received tonight.
He leaned back on his chair.
“Right. Good to know,” he said, a little calmer than when he had started. “That should be everything. I’m not so old fashioned that I will demand you get married once you sleep together, but I do expect you to behave responsibly in public. What happened earlier was not responsible.”
They were lucky it had been him, and not some gossiping disciple who happened upon them.
“Yes jiujiu. We’ll… be more careful next time.”
“Of course, Sect Leader Jiang. It won’t happen again.”
That was difficult, but it needed to be done, and hopefully now they would be more educated and ready for the next step in their relationship.
Jiang Cheng crossed his arms, pleased that this conversation had gone well.