Work Text:
Jiang Cheng has started seriously considering the idea that his sister and Wei Wuxian might be conspiring against him. In what way, he's not sure. But it's difficult to ignore the signs.
At first, he'd only noticed that they seemed to be spending more time together than usual. Jiang Cheng would find them taking tea together, lounging with A-Jie's handmaids in her pavilion, and even huddled close together in Wei Wuxian's quarters once or twice.
It's easy to brush this off in the beginning as the two of them embracing a Lotus Pier where they can be seen together without the threat of being scolded. A place where they can be close without outsiders thinking something improper is going on between them. Even if Wei Wuxian has been open about being an omega for years now and bonding between two pack omegas is natural and expected, there had always been whispers back before the war. Now, Jiang Cheng quiets them as soon as he hears them. It's a good feeling, knowing that he can provide this for them - his alpha preens at the thought of his two most precious people, safe and healthy in their home.
Wei Wuxian has even started to fill out since they'd come home, losing the gauntness that had haunted him through the war. It's a distracting look on him, especially since he's finally started wearing all of those violet robes Jiang Cheng gave him.
Or it would be distracting, Jiang Cheng supposes, if he could catch a good look at him. In the past month, he's been in the same room as Wei Wuxian exactly once. And even that had been short-lived: Wei Wuxian had slipped away before Jiang Cheng even had the chance to talk to him.
Which brings him back to the topic at hand.
When the two of them are out in A-Jie’s pavilion or in her courtyard, he can see them from a distance. And from that distance, he can see them working on something. It’s very clear: books piled up on the table between them, scrolls and talisman paper laid out as if they’re planning something. But he’s found that when he gets close, when he takes that first step onto the walkway out to the pavilion, or the path to their table in the courtyard, everything just…vanishes, seemingly into thin air. And all he’s met with is a bare table, a few tea cups, and a strangely nervous, distressed scent from Wei Wuxian that only grows stronger the longer Jiang Cheng stays to talk with them.
He spends days sitting at his desk, neglecting trade agreements in favor of trying to figure out what, exactly, might be going on. Has he not been treating them well? Has he overstepped his bounds with Wei Wuxian without noticing? Their relationship has never been one with clear boundaries, but Jiang Cheng thinks he would have noticed if Wei Wuxian was uncomfortable with anything that had happened between them.
Jiang Cheng had been under the impression that they were on relatively good terms before all of this secrecy had started. He'd even tried to be accommodating when it became clear that Wei Wuxian had very little interest in continuing on as head disciple after they returned from the war. For the last few months, he's slowly been transitioning Wei Wuxian out of his role as head disciple and into something that would be more fitting for him. An Elder position (or, if Jiang Cheng ever thought Wei Wuxian would say yes, Jiang-furen).
This uncertainty plagues him for nearly two weeks, until he happens to be walking by during one of their tea sessions and accidentally overhears just the tail end of their conversation.
It’s late autumn now, the air is pleasantly cool enough that Jiang Cheng can see steam from their tea cups twirling up into the air, clouding Wei Wuxian’s face as he leans back, his hand resting lightly on his stomach.
There’s a beat of silence before his sister sighs, her tone concerned, “You should tell him,” She says, “He would want to know.”
Wei Wuxian’s expression turns tense for a moment, and then he waves a placating hand at her, “Ah, Shijie, I know. But I…just want to wait for the time to be right. Things have been so tense lately, and we still need to figure out how we’re going to--”
Jiang Cheng doesn’t get to hear the rest of that thought, unfortunately, as they’re interrupted by a group of juniors heading toward the sword hall and the two of them never pick up the conversation thread again.
For a week after he hears this, Jiang Cheng pours over every possible meaning it could have. They're keeping something from someone, not necessarily him. It could be someone else.
But then, he accidentally stumbles upon them while they're holed up in Wei Wuxian's rooms one night. Neither of them had come to dinner, he'd only figured out where they were when he'd asked one of the kitchen staff if they'd eaten earlier.
He doesn't intend to eavesdrop on them. But Wei Wuxian's door is cracked open just enough for him to hear them and…
“We have to make sure you stay safe,” He hears his sister say, and then there's some light shuffling. The sounds of fabric shifting and jade clattering, and Jiang Cheng is lost in his own head for a moment at the memory of gifted combs pulling through long ink-dark hair and stolen kisses hidden in war tents.
His brain only clocks back in just in time to catch the last bit of what his sister says, “because one day he'll be in charge of Lotus Pier.”
This freezes him in place, enough that when A-Jie comes to shut the crack in the door, she sees him standing awkwardly outside of Wei Wuxian’s room. She looks like she doesn’t believe him when he tells her he’d just been coming to check on them, an indulging and expectant look that she’s always used on him when she knows he’s lying. It only makes him feel worse.
That night, he lays in bed staring at the ceiling, wondering if the two most important people in his life are planning to kill him. They’re obviously keeping something from him. Something related to the future succession of the Jiang clan.
Sure, there have been rumors circulating about Wei Wuxian’s ambitions toward the throne for years - even more so now that he has that new, frightening cultivation method - but he'd never once taken them seriously. Wei Wuxian himself had promised to stand at Jiang Cheng’s side, supporting him while he rebuilt their home. Together.
Even more absurd is the idea that his own sister would be supporting this. But she and Wei Wuxian have always been so much closer, haven’t they?
But they wouldn’t do that to him. Right?
Jiang Cheng doesn’t sleep that night.
He’s so tired the next morning that he takes a detour through the piers to clear his head, only to hear a familiar voice cut across the water from his sister's pavilion:
“We could put it in his soup!”
From a distance, he watches Wei Wuxian’s outline through the wind-caught lilac fabric hanging around the pavilion. He’s writing something and holding it out for Jiang Yanli to see, a proud set to his shoulders only accentuated by his new, healthy build.
Jiang Cheng resigns himself fully to the reality of the situation. They're definitely going to try to kill him. There's no other reasonable explanation. His sister and the man he loves are going to try to kill him and take over Lotus Pier and he doesn't even know why.
Later that night, he finds himself sitting across the room from them for the first time in almost a week. A steaming bowl of his sister’s soup sits in front of him, mocking him with its existence. Both of them are watching him intently, presumably waiting for him to take his first bite, unaware of what they have planned. A-Jie had even made sure to dismiss the servants before they’d sat down to dinner.
Even without looking in his direction, Jiang Cheng can smell Wei Wuxian’s nervousness from across the room, twining with A-Jie’s calming scent trying to soothe him. It’s all very overwhelming in the moment.
Jiang Yanli breaks the awkward silence first.
“Aren't you going to try the soup?” She asks.
When Jiang Cheng doesn’t move to take a bite, Wei Wuxian chimes in, “Shijie worked hard on this all day and you’re letting it get cold!”
Jiang Cheng can't help but notice that both of their bowls remain untouched as well.
“If you're so worried about it getting cold, why don't you start eating then?” Jiang Cheng says, watching Wei Wuxian carefully. He expects a bit of pushback, or maybe a diversion? Something to catch him off-guard. But all he gets is a pained expression, Wei Wuxian’s smile falling just enough that it twists Jiang Cheng’s stomach into knots, his instincts fighting with him to move, to cross the distance between them and soothe. Wei Wuxian may not be his omega in any official capacity, but he's been Jiang Cheng’s omega in his heart for so long that it's hard to stop himself.
A-Jie clears her throat, “A-Cheng, please just take one bite of the soup? If you don't like it, I can make a fresh batch later.”
“Why?” He asks, tired of this.
“What do you mean ‘why’?” Wei Wuxian replies, his tone incredulous - like it's a ridiculous thing that Jiang Cheng doesn't want to be poisoned, “It's soup, Jiang Cheng, just eat it. Why are you being so difficult about this?”
“I don't know, why wouldn't I want to eat poisoned soup?” Jiang Cheng laughs, too high and too fast. “I heard you talking about it! Putting something in my soup so he--” Jiang Cheng gestures toward Wei Wuxian, his heart pounding, “--can take over Lotus Pier!”
Silence rings out through the room, and Jiang Cheng watches Wei Wuxian’s face shift between several different emotions: surprise, confusion, grief, and then…a spark of recognition.
Wei Wuxian laughs and snaps his fingers.
From the depths of Jiang Cheng’s bowl, a little wax leaf packet springs out of the broth. It unravels after a moment, a talisman uncurling from the packet and igniting upon its reveal, burning a sparkling line of characters in the air in front of him:
“Congratulations! You're going to be a father.”
Jiang Cheng stares at it until it fades away, his brain trying valiantly to make sense of the words in front of him and the situation he's found himself in. When he looks at Wei Wuxian again, he's buried his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking hard with barely contained laughter.
Through his laughter, Wei Wuxian wheezes, “You thought we were going to kill you?”
“A-Cheng…” His sister trails off, looking concerned.
Jiang Cheng's face heats, “What was I supposed to think? You…both of you have been avoiding me, and…” His brain catches up then, and he immediately homes in on Wei Wuxian again. He's dressed in those violet robes again, a lilac ribbon Jiang Cheng had gifted him when they were younger tied in his hair. And as Wei Wuxian leans back, Jiang Cheng really takes in that fullness he'd noticed earlier, just as Wei Wuxian places a soft hand over his rounding stomach. And he feels foolish, all of a sudden, for thinking it could have been anything else.
Wei Wuxian shuffles over to him, still laughing as he clears the ashes of his talisman off of Jiang Cheng's table. There's a small, ridiculous smile on his lips when he cups Jiang Cheng’s cheeks and pulls him into a tight embrace. He smells warm, like spiced autumn wine. After a full month of being confronted with only distressed omega pheromones, it's a balm to his heart.
Jiang Cheng takes in a long breath and nuzzles into the warmth of Wei Wuxian's neck.
“A baby?” He asks, and he feels Wei Wuxian smile against him.
“A baby.” Wei Wuxian replies, “Our baby. Who will be hearing about all of this the moment they're old enough, I hope you know. ‘You know, when I tried to tell your father I was pregnant with you, he thought I was planning to depose him!’ Oh, I can't wait.”
Jiang Cheng huffs, “And I'll tell them about that time you drank so much that you mistook Nie Huaisang for me.”
Wei Wuxian lets out a scandalized gasp, but when he pulls back to look Jiang Cheng in the eye, he's still grinning, wide and bright.
“You wouldn't.” He says.
And Jiang Cheng can't help but smile back at him, “I absolutely will.”