Chapter Text
Qin Su has always been soft, relishing in the finer aspects of life. She enjoys reading love poetry that always has a happy ending. She prefers starting her mornings walking through the vast private family gardens, refreshed by the scent of morning dew and fresh flowers as the first rays of sunshine kisses her awake. She loves the refreshing taste of floral teas, enjoys sweet cakes and candied fruits, and always makes sure to have a handful in a secret pouch she had her maidservant stitch into her robes. She was trained in the womanly arts from a young age to support and supplement her future husband in his endeavors. She was raised to be the wife of a sect leader or sect heir, preferably of one of the great sects.
Her father had wanted her to marry Jin Zixuan and become the next Madam Jin, since he was such close friends with Jin-zongzhu. But Mother’s periods of histrionics followed by long spells of melancholia became worse every time they visited Koi Tower, every time Father made overtures to push her towards the Jin heir.
Fortunate or not, Madam Yu was a frightening lady and her sworn sisterhood with an equally intimidating Madam Jin ensured Jiang-guniang was betrothed to the Jin heir at a young age, much to Mother’s delight and Father’s irritation.
But the seed had been planted in Qin Su’s mind. Father always waxed poetic about the greatness of the Jin sect and she herself had seen the extent of luxuries the Jin sect ladies indulge in. So, when she came across another one of Jin-zongzhu’s sons, one who was ambitious enough to climb the ranks of the Nie sect even with all the disadvantages of his parentage, Qin Su was intrigued.
Then he came out and rescued her from the villainous Wens like her very own Prince Charming described in her volumes of poetry. He was the one who carried her all the way to the Nie camp, who kept talking to her to keep her mind from dwelling on the attack, who ensured she got the care she deserved for her station, who personally brought her food and kept checking in on her. He was such a perfect gentleman that one would have never known he had grown up in a brothel unless they looked for gossip of his parentage.
But Qin Su didn’t care when everyone and their dog came up to her and told her all sorts of sordid rumors about him. She always believed in fairness, in becoming more than their parents, in judging a person by their actions rather than the nasty gossip surrounding them.
Her parents always told her to be quiet, to listen and observe before reacting to any situation. But mildly. She was always advised to dress up her queries and replies with pretty words and a beatific smile so her prospects wouldn’t suffer from having a mother who was cursed with mental illness. It was only because of Father’s extensive efforts that people didn’t outright declare that Mother was possessed and demand she be locked up.
Qin Su has always been an observant child even when everyone was worried that she might have inherited Mother’s madness. So, she forced herself to be quiet and calm, even when Father banned her from forming a golden core claiming the heightened qi in her mother's meridians was what was causing Mother to often break out into histrionics, even when she was relegated to learning sewing and music while her younger brother and female cousins all learned to form and enhance their golden cores.
Her father loved her, her brother and her mother. She knew that. He would give up the world for them. She knew that too. But that didn’t stop Father from being prejudiced and dismissive. It didn’t stop him from robbing her of her birthright as a Qin cultivator.
What Qin Su saw in Meng Yao was freedom. It was affection and love and power all rolled in one. It was her pathway out of the Qin sect’s suffocating confines. Meng Yao would achieve greatness, that much she was sure about, and Qin Su would be right there with him.
He was below her station and gave her the respect and authority that no one equal or above her station would give her. As the only daughter of a sect leader, of a prosperous minor sect no less, marrying a bastard son of her father’s closest friend was perhaps bad optics, but Qin Su didn’t care.
It certainly didn’t hurt that Meng Yao was a beautiful man with soulful eyes, charming words and a soft innocence to him that was extremely attractive to her. He was gentle, mild-mannered, and so very attentive to her, something that was exceedingly rare in this world of warriors and brash men.
A-Yao would give her the world and worship her on bended knee.
And those dimples and that smile…
Qin Su was just so very smitten. She had completely fallen in love with her hero and was determined to get her man no matter what it takes.
****
"If you're so great, then spend the rest of this hunt wearing that blindfold!"
Wei Wuxian knew this worthless insect standing in front of him was baiting him, forcing him to bend his neck to a Jin in front of everyone. He knew it was a petty display of arrogance, one that didn’t merit a fight and one that he should ignore.
But he was already at the frayed end of his patience after seeing the cowering, terrified and helpless prisoners standing as archery bait at the beginning of the Phoenix mountain hunt and not one of these so-called noble cultivators voiced a murmur of complaint.
Wei Wuxian mentally scoffed. So much for their supposed righteousness and honor! What was the point of winning an entire fucking war if they were just going to stay silent and allow atrocities to continue to happen at the behest of the next powerful sect?
He could see Jiang Cheng's eye twitching, see his disgust at this vile display of Jin strength, see the calculation in his eyes at everyone's silence, and finally, see his subtle hand signal.
Don't engage. Don't fight.
It was so tempting to ignore his orders, so tempting to show this smug asshole in front of him his rightful place. Wei Wuxian had been itching for a fight for a while now, with both his own anger and the amulet’s resentment roiling under his skin and just begging for an outlet. He turned himself into a dangerous weapon to avenge his sect, his family, and after years of fighting, years of bloodshed, years of relentless battles, he felt lost at sea now the war was over, only able to turn all that rage inwards.
He gave himself up body, mind and soul, turned himself into a monster to win the war and now he could see the world turning against him, but he didn’t know how to stop it. He constantly felt too tired, too overwrought. Too angry at the sheer unfairness of it all.
How wonderful would it be to show every hypocrite here staring at him with derision and contempt that he's still one of the most powerful cultivators of his generation - with or without his golden core, with or without his demonic cultivation.
But Wei Wuxian didn’t want to cause Jiang Cheng more problems than he already did. He knew all the rumors, heard all the whispers, saw the writing on the wall. Wei Wuxian understood even if he couldn't come up with a solution.
So, with great restraint, he instead sent a mocking smile to the golden rat in front of him. "And miss the promised beauty and entertainment the Jin sect has so graciously arranged for us? No, thank you."
Wei Wuxian gave a shallow bow and walked away from his irritating presence before the asshole could open his stupid mouth again. He didn't even know his fucking name!
Wei Wuxian had lost track of Shijie after Madam Jin sent her off with that peacock. Since he was walking through the woods alone, he played a few tunes to give Yunmeng Jiang a little boost in their scores and was now busy following a restless spirit who claimed to know where to find them.
He'd like to think he knew where he was going, regardless of using a ghoul as a guide through the forest, but that would be far from the truth. Anyway, it was for a good purpose! It wasn't morally dubious if he was being a good little brother and acting as a chaperone for them. Who knew what the peacock would say to hurt her again - he just needed to find them first.
"Gongzi! Gongzi, please wait!"
He commanded the ghoul to hide itself with a flick of his wrist as he turned around, concerned at the woman's strained and breathless voice. The young woman was...not running exactly, but walking quite swiftly towards him at a pace and posture that would make Lan Qiren proud. She was also notably not wearing a sword or any other weapon on her person.
Wei Wuxian pursed his lips at the observation. Phoenix mountain was not the place for unarmed maidens to go on a stroll all by themselves.
"Gongzi, I—" The maiden stopped to catch her breath "I seem to have gotten lost. Would you mind escorting me to the viewing stands?"
Wei Wuxian blinked at her. She was either really bold or really trusting to approach a lone young man like this all by herself in the middle of the forest. Were he some other man, not Lan Zhan or Jiang Cheng but maybe a slimy man of noble birth (like a Jin, he couldn't help but mentally snort), it could be considered a brazen proposition and would be easily twisted to gain a marriage alliance. Thankfully for the both of them, he isn't that kind of person nor is he one for such games.
Better him than someone else who might take advantage of this naive lady's faith in humanity. Heavens know the world could use more bright-eyed people like her who weren't tainted by the war and doomed to live their lives looking at everything with jaded cynicism.
"Your companion, guniang? Or your chaperone, maybe?" he asked kindly. There was no need to cause further embarrassment to her than what she might already feel.
"I-I-", she bit her lip, "I left them behind to meet someone." Her voice was closer to a squeak. She blushed bright red at her admission and bent her head down, wringing her sleeves and waiting.
Waiting for what? His reaction to an obvious observation?
It struck him a moment later. She was waiting for his judgment.
Wei Wuxian swallowed heavily. He was the last person to lecture someone on making poor life choices.
His voice was bright with forced cheer when he spoke, "Well, it's unsafe to wander these woods all alone. Really, it was fortunate that I met you. I could use the company myself. So, let's get moving, shall we?"
He will just have to track down Shijie and that stupid peacock after seeing this maiden to safety.
"Ah, but guniang, we don't even know each other's names! Forgive me for this oversight and allow me to correct it. I am Wei Ying, courtesy Wuxian of Yunmeng Jiang."
Wei Wuxian doesn't call himself Head Disciple any longer because how can be Head Disciple if he can never lift his sword again or do any of the things a good Head Disciple is meant to do? When he is hurting Jiang Cheng's efforts to rebuild the sect instead of helping him like he had promised? So he is Wei Wuxian of Yunmeng Jiang - no title or position to ascribe to his name after a lifetime of hard work.
That was probably what hurt him the most about existing in this new post-war world. At every turn, he is repeatedly reminded that he has no place in it any longer.
Unaware of his dark thoughts, the maiden smiled at him gratefully and returned his bow, "I am Qin Su, daughter of Sect Leader Qin Cangye and second heir to Laoling Qin. This one thanks you for your kindness and your discretion."