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No-one knew how Lan Jingyi got into the Lan Clan.
Well, it was common knowledge that their shifu took the boy under his wing after his parents died during a hunt, swallowed by an aqua demon. But the matter of how exactly he had managed to remain there and grow up into a quite competent young cultivator of the Gusu Lan Sect was beyond everyone's grasp. Even Lan Wangji had failed to dissect the reasons behind it – and he was a man of pragmatism.
For one, it wasn't an uncommon knowledge amongst the disciples that Lan Qiren possessed a volatile tolerance towards misdemeanours. And already at the age of eight, Lan Jingyi proved to be quite the troublemaker.
Ever since Jingyi was old enough to form his golden core, old enough to cultivate with the other Lan disciples, about a hundred rules had been added to the Wall of Discipline. It was bad enough that the Wall was already inscribed with five hundred additional rules long before that, after a young master of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect studied here and wreaked havoc with a number of the other disciples.
Truth be told, if none of them was careful enough, more rules would be added to the wall. Perhaps an additional five hundred, give or take.
If Lan Wangji didn't know any better, Lan Jingyi might as well be Wei Ying's successor.
Which came back to the question of how Lan Qiren could even put up with the young Lan boy. Xichen once stated – with a failed sober expression – that their uncle might have developed some kind of favouritism. But to answer the "why" would require more than one Wall of Discipline and conjecture that might transcend the average human acuity. After all, Jingyi – despite his loud mouth and tendency to bend the rules – proved to be one of the most intelligent cultivators.
Him and Lan Sizhui often came up on top. While the latter was pretty much unsurpassed, the former would always hang just beneath him, going neck and neck over everything. It didn't pass Lan Wangji's ears, the gossip that surrounded the two boys. Indeed, the two boys formed a unique friendship, with Sizhui being the complete opposite of Jingyi. There was a harmonious dynamic between the two that a lot of the other kids envied. While they were all expecting some kind of rivalry, Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui turned out to be the best of friends instead.
Lan Xichen thought it was a good balance. "Sizhui can tame him a bit, and Jingyi can teach Sizhui how to come out of his shell sometimes," the man had said one night, having advised Jingyi not to talk too loud unless he wanted to give their shifu an aneurysm.
"'Have fun'?" Lan Wangji had repeated, getting an ominous feeling about the particular word. He'd have enough experiences of "fun" that didn't quite match his expectations – none of which he had signed up for.
"Not, like, going against the rules," his brother had chuckled. "I meant to ease him up a bit. You know Sizhui's nature. He's a lively boy too, your A-Yuan."
Indeed he was. But after Lan Wangji had brought a sick A-Yuan to Cloud Recesses all those years ago, the other kids had steered away from him, dampening the boy's enthusiasm at seeing people his age. They had all refused to interact with him for fear of being smeared with his "rogueness", noting immediately he was from a remote place, despite Lan Xichen assuring them that he was a good boy who needed friends to play with. Lan Wangji had brought him to the field of rabbits instead, and the boy was content enough to be surrounded by a sea of fur balls.
Of course, it wasn't until Lan Jingyi arrived that Sizhui actually got a friend. "I like your rats!" he had shouted then, seeing a six-year-old Lan Sizhui for the first time amongst the rabbits.
They had become friends since then.
Sometimes Lan Wangji found himself musing on how come Sizhui wasn't being punished to discipline along with Jingyi. Not that he was anticipating it. He raised the boy like his own son, after all, and there was no way Lan Sizhui would do something that might get him into trouble. But with how close Lan Jingyi was to him – the two were almost inseparable – it became a wonder how one of them would be found doing a three-hour handstand while the other was safe and sound, practising his guqin . Almost as if Jingyi had pushed his friend away before he was caught.
And Jingyi ...
It was almost as if the boy didn't mind being caught.
The thing about Jingyi was that it was hard to argue with him sometimes. He had a sharp tongue – and had even rendered their shifu speechless on countless occasions. "But the rule said I shouldn't run! That's why I used my sword to fly to Lanshi, because that doesn't count as running right? Besides, someone hid my forehead ribbon, that's why I was late!" he'd explained one afternoon, prompting Lan Xichen to snort in laughter.
As a result, the boy had to copy the sect rules while Xichen received an earful from their uncle for laughing.
That was last month.