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The tension between the Five Great Kingdoms was high as the Wens of Qishan Kingdom had been encroaching their borders for years. And now, they have grown bolder. A few months ago, they had incinerated Lotus Pier, the capital of Yunmeng Kingdom, leaving no survivors alive.
They were at the brink of war. But the Lans, Nies, and Jins were stalling for as much time in order to prepare sufficiently to wage war against the biggest Kingdom of the continent.
One among such preparations was the procurement of supplies. In order to go undetected by the Wens, they opted a longer route: through the disregarded outskirts of Yunmeng—the region of Yiling.
However, it was infested with bandits. A peculiar group of bandits to take note. Ordinary merchant wagons and carriages came out unscathed. Rare Wen travelers disappeared (and assumed to have been killed). And the ones that contained war supplies were all stolen, including the horses.
A further mystery was that all the people passing through couldn't remember what happened after they entered the foggy grounds of Yiling. They just woke up at the other edge of Yiling with no memories of what happened.
Lan Wangji, the second prince of Gusu, doubted the group were just ordinary bandits. They have sent seasoned guards that disguised themselves as merchants, but the bandits were not fooled. And they were able to overpower them.
Lan Wangji suspected that there was a bigger play underneath this. He asked his brother, the King, to let him investigate himself.
+ + +
Their carriage slowed down as their surroundings were hazed with fog. The slow and steady pace was lulling Lan Wangji to sleep.
Lan Wangji dug his nails into his palm. He needed to keep alert.
Then suddenly, the speed of the carriage increased until the horses were sprinting. To do so within such low visibility. Reckless.
Lan Wangji opened the window to admonish the driver. But a different person was sitting there. His long hair was tied to a high ponytail with a bright red ribbon, and black cloth covered the lower half of his face. His silver eyes widened with surprise for a split second before it glinted with vigilance.
"Impressive you're still awake, pretty gege. I'm sorry I have to amend that."
And everything went black.
+ + +
Despite the King's reluctance, Lan Wangji came again to investigate.
As the carriage entered the threshold of the foggy forest, Lan Wangji became hypervigilant, straining his senses for anything that made them lose their consciousness and memories.
Like the others, Lan Wangji's recollection of the encounter was hazy.
As if his very memories were fogged.
the fog.
There's a subtle scent in the air. It could be nothing but the natural smell of the forest.
but...
no.
His arm quickly covered his nose and mouth. "Do not breathe in the smoke!"
But his warning came too late. The one driving the carriage was the man he barely recalls, the driver fast asleep beside him.
"Pretty gege! It's you again! Congratulations, you figured it out!"
His sparkling silver eyes are disarming. But Lan Wangji's body remembers. He instinctively moved away from the man's reach just in time to avoid a swipe.
The carriage was too small to move freely. It was a split-second decision to open the door and he jumped off the moving vehicle.
He's had enough training to perform the stunt. But he miscalculated. He landed on a tree root, toppling over. His wide sleeve snagged on a branch, tearing it. Lan Wangji grabbed the cloth and wrapped it around the lower half of his face to cover his nose and mouth. Lan Wangji knew he was only delaying the inevitable, but he needed to stay awake for a little longer.
The man stopped the carriage and in the next moment, he was looming over Lan Wangji.
He tsked. "I promise I won't harm you, pretty gege. So don't do things to hurt yourself, alright?"
"Now, be a good boy and let me escort you out of Yiling."
Lan Wangji gritted his teeth and used that chance to spring to his feet, swinging his sword. The man was swift to dodge aside and jump back a few steps away from Lan Wangji's range.
He looked at Lan Wangji with wide "innocent" eyes. "A surprise attack! That was soo unfair, gege!~" Lan Wangji could clearly hear him pouting.
Lan Wangji's grip on his sword tightened and pounced forward. The other slid to the side with casual ease, swinging his leg aiming for Lan Wangji's knees. But Lan Wangji spun on his heel and slashed his sword. The other raised his sheathed sword to block and leaped back, laughing.
The man was laughing.
Lan Wangji gritted his teeth and attacked again but the other was light on his feet to defend and attack. The man took advantage of his familiarity with the forest, leaping close and twirling away like performing a deadly dance.
Lan Wangji found an opening and pinned the other to a tree. The man's eyes widened in surprise until his tinkling laugh rang through the quiet forest.
"Wow!" the man said, breathless. "It's been a long while since anyone could match up to me!"
"Arrogant." Lan Wangji would've said, if the past few minutes weren't spent trading blows with him. After his brother stopped training with the sword to focus on his political duties, no one had ever lasted so long against Lan Wangji.
Until now.
Silver eyes bore into him, sparkling. with exhilaration. with awe. with heat.
No one else had ever looked at him like that—devouring.
The man didn't miss that beat of Lan Wangji's daze, maneuvering to switch their position. Lan Wangji's hands were held above his head, his hips pinning Lan Wangji against the tree.
Lan Wangji's knees feel weak.
The fog must be taking effect now.
Lan Wangji gasped as warm chapped lips brushed against his. And the next second, a tongue breached in, pushing a small round candy into his mouth.
By instinct, Lan Wangji swallowed.
And once again, everything went black.
+ + +
Lan Wangji wakes up to the voices of two young men arguing by his bedside.
"How can we ask Zewu-jun for an alliance when you fucking KIDNAPPED HIS LITTLE BROTHER?!"
"Then maybe we can make it a hostage situation?"
"WEI WUXIAN! THIS IS NOT THE GODDAMN TIME TO JOKE ABOUT THIS!"
Lan Wangji opens his eyes, and silver greets gold. The slight frown on his face was quickly replaced by a blinding smile. "Gege! You're awake! Or is it more proper to call you Er-gege?~"
The black cloth he wore is gone now, for the first time showing his whole face to Lan Wangji.
"Beautiful."
Lan Wangji swallowed down the word before he uttered it. He must be still delirious if such thought came unbidden to his mind.
"Hmmm…still dazed." the man—Wei Wuxian—said as if agreeing with him.
Wei Wuxian looked at the person he was arguing with a few minutes prior. "Look, Jiang Cheng! Your shouting disturbed his sleep!”
Jiang Cheng
Finally, Lan Wangji paid attention to the third person in the room.
Jiang Wanyin
The crown prince of the fallen Yunmeng Kingdom.
"Pretty-gege, I can hear you thinking from here." Lan Wangji was snapped back from his thoughts.
Lan Wangji glared at him, but Wei Wuxian just flashed him a disarming smile. "We brought food. You should eat and rest for now. We'll explain to you tomorrow."
+ + +
As the story went, many residents of Lotus Pier were able to survive thanks to the help of Wen Ning. The old town of Yiling that was torn by the war was slowly recovering under the settlement of the Yunmeng remnants and many Wens who defected.
It turned out that the missing Wens were all there. Along with the remaining Jiangs, they were planning to rise against Wen Ruohan. The attacks on carriages and wagons with war supplies were orchestrated all throughout Qishan in sporadic pattern. It was to sabotage Wen Ruohan's preparations for war and also to gather their own supplies.
Even so, such bandit work would never be enough to procure enough resources to raise a rebellion. As they were now, they were barely surviving their day-to-day needs. Furthermore, Lan Wangji had noticed that there were very few actual warriors. They were either too old or too young. The warriors in their prime all died during the Lotus Pier massacre, Wei Wuxian said, and the majority of the Wens there are actually more adept with medicine rather than fighting.
As Wei Wuxian toured Lan Wangji around the settlement, Lan Wangji could see all their weaknesses.
All their needs.
All their anguish.
Lan Wangji tried to look past the happy-go-lucky exterior Wei Wuxian wore. He could hear the boiling resentment lacing each word as he recounted the previous months.
"Lan Zhan. Are you okay?"
For the past few hours they've been together, the man had taken to calling Lan Wangji by his personal name. And Lan Wangji allowed it. Lan Wangji could also call him Wei Ying.
"Hey Er-gege, you got lost in your thoughts there."
Lan Wangji's eyes scanned the settlement once again, before landing on Wei Wuxian.
They need a strong alliance to back them up.
"I am considering a form of alliance that would be irrefutable." Lan Wangji said, taking the risk to give the offer.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Between you and I—if you are willing—a marriage alliance.” he reached out and interlaced his fingers with Wei Wuxian’s. “Come back to Gusu with me."
× end ×