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After Lotus Pier burned, Jiang Fengmian hoped to see his lady again, to offer his hand to her and cross the bridge together to reincarnate, wanting them both to be tied together again in their next life.
Instead, he found himself a spirit on the earth, forced to observe the ruin of his home.
This must be punishment for his sins, he mused sadly, until he saw his daughter and heiress stride into the Lotus Pier, pale and stricken yet determined with a tiny contingent of disciples following her obediently, none of which he recognised. They must be her new recruits after their sect mistress and forebears were slaughtered.
'It's all ruined. We'll build it back up. I don't think it will ever return to its glory.' His daughter spoke - but her lips did not move.
'I'm sorry, A-Niang, A-Die. I'll do my best. I wish you were here with me. I don't know if I'm doing this correctly. I miss you.'
"We have won the war, and we will rebuild our home and sect!" She exclaimed to her disciples gathered, who cheered in acknowledgement.
He seemed to be reading his daughter's thoughts, and the more he reads, the more he realises what a failure he was. 'A-Die said I was too harsh. Should I take a softer approach?' They're afraid of me, just like how A-Die said they would with my demeanour.'
He ... He remembered saying that. But that had just been a remark when he saw that his daughter's disposition was causing her trouble among the other disciples she trained with. Why was it affecting her so strongly?
When he overheard Jin Guangshan mock her for not having her father's favour, he felt the unfamiliar burning of rage. How could his good friend say such things to his child, attempt to undercut and steal what was rightfully YunMeng Jiang's? His A-Cheng, doubtful and insecure in herself, was tongue-tied and silenced in compliance in reply.
"I have always loved you. I'm sorry if it came across like I did not." Jiang Fengmian said sadly. "I have confidence in you, A-Cheng. I know you will resurrect our sect with your determination."
Her eyes widened, before her brows furrowed. "Beg pardon, Sect Leader Jin. My father entrusted me with duties as I was his heir and could not always play as freely as other children. I hope you will honour the friendship you had with my late father and grant me this in memory of him."
The Discussion Conference rippled with the remarks of other sect leaders on the close friendship between Jin Guangshan and the previous Jiang Leader. Jin Guangshan frowned, but after a pause, smiled again. "Of course, of course. In Fengmian's memory, I should help his poor maiden of a daughter out, eh?"
Rather distastefully said, and Jin Guangshan had a look on his face that Jiang Fengmian knew meant he wasn't happy. But A-Cheng got to keep what she asked for at least, as she thanked himand sat down. As the conference came to an end, the sect leaders mingled - and Jiang Fengmian noticed the young Lan Xichen - now Sect Leader Lan after his father's death - coming up to his daughter. Lan Xichen greeted her as Jiang-zongzhu in a perfectly polite and warm manner, and told her that Gusu Lan was always willing to help an ally in need, despite their own rebuilding efforts as well.
'He's just doing this to be polite,' his daughter thought, as she replied perfunctorily with thanks, 'he doesn't mean anything with this request.'
"That's an extremely generous offer, A-Cheng," Jiang Fengmian said, shocked, "hardly diplomatic with exactly what he said!"
His daughter glanced back, and Lan Xichen's gaze followed her, Jiang Fengmian wondering for a moment - could his daughter hear him?
"You could ask for a trade agreement on wood from Gusu Lan from their mountain forests to rebuild the Pier, and offer our products in return." Jiang Fengmian suggested.
"Actually, Zewu-jun, I was thinking of a trade agreement between our sects for Gusu wood in exchange for-" his daughter began cautiously, and Jiang Fengmian's heart leapt. His daughter CAN hear him!
"Of course, Jiang-zongzhu," Lan Xichen agreed upon hearing it, smiling so brightly he could rival the sun. "Perhaps we could discuss this somewhere else?”
When did he develop such an... infatuation for his daughter? Jiang Fengmian didn't remember hearing about any such suitors his daughter had.
Besides, an unmarried young man and woman being alone in a secluded place? Where were the chaperones?
At the end of the discussion, the trade agreement largely ironed out, Lan Xichen reached into his sleeves and pulled out an exquisitely crafted jade pendant with a blue tassel and loop to hang from a belt, giving it to her. "Should you require any craftsmen, please don't hesitate to inquire."
Jiang Fengmian snorted. "Why does this look like a courting gift?"
Jiang Cheng's face turned red immediately. "V-Very fine work. I am grateful for your offer, but I must decline."
This is NOT a courting gift!' she screamed in her head as she placed it back on the table and slid it back to him.
"Oh, Jiang-zongzhu, please keep the gift." Lan Xichen entreated.
'IT IS A COURTING GIFT?! NO, JUST A GIFT. A DIPLOMATIC GIFT!'
"T-Thank you. Of course."
Lan Xichen beamed, as happy as a schoolboy for her to accept his gift and his eyes softening. It seemed that his A-Cheng was quite dense, not understanding Lan Xichen's affection for her.
"The pendant doesn't have any clan sigils on it but has two birds." Jiang Fengmian pointed out. "A pair, for courtship."
'NO IT DOES NOT! IT'S JUST A COINCIDENCE! JUST GENTLEMANLY BIRDS!'
Jiang Fengmian sighs fondly. "Listen to your father, A-Cheng. I know more about these things than you."
Shock crossed her scandalised expression, as her eyes darted about, his daughter doing her best to hold on to her composure in front of Lan Xichen.
‘A-Die? Is that really you?’
“Yes, A-Cheng,” He replies fondly, “I can hear your thoughts.”
His daughter blushed deeply. ‘H-How… you’re here…’
“I am still on this mortal plane with you, and I can guide you to pick your romantic suitor.”
Her expression twisted in mortification again. 'A-DIE! SHUT UP!!!'
Thoroughly flustered, Jiang Cheng bid farewell, stood up and fled.
Meanwhile, Lan Xichen sat there rather bereft, watching her hastily depart. "Did I offend her with my offer to help?" He said aloud to the empty room.
'No, you stupid boy, my daughter is wholly dedicated to her duty to our sect. She is grateful for your gift and embarrassed by it!’
"Embarrassed?! Did I make her uncomfortable with my gift?!"
‘She is a proper maiden who would of course be abashed by receiving a courting gift from a suitable gentleman! Her heart is even more fragile than mine. Don't you dare hurt her! Now, you need to further signal your intentions...'
Jiang Cheng is a near exact duplicate of her mother, from her facial features to her abrasiveness in manner. With access to her thoughts, Jiang Fengmian is discovering, her harsh demeanour is but a facade for her sensitive, emotional core, which she hid behind barbs, only obliquely hinting at her dissatisfactions.
A discomfiting thought struck him. Was this the case also for Sanniang?
Either way, his geniality would guide his daughter across the gaps of communication she struggled with, such as the intentions behind each smile and action of a similarly smiley Lan Xichen.
Lan Xichen was on yet another diplomatic visit to Lotus Pier. Seated with Jiang Cheng at a guest pavilion, he produced a gift - "Please accept this humble gift, Sect Leader Jiang," and presented a peach sculpture made of white jade, stained pink and getting redder towards the seam of the fruit's two plump lobes.
“HE WANTS TO WHAT?!” Jiang Fengmian blurted out.
'What does he want, A-Die?' Jiang Cheng thought.
How forward of Lan Xichen, how shameless these youths were! “H-HE WANTS TO-” Jiang Fengmian stuttered, “-TO GET C-CLOSER TO YOU-”
Oh-
"Where is your chaperone?! How can you be meeting him like this?!" Jiang Fengmian demanded.
'We are both Sect Leader, A-Die! This is just a diplomatic visit!'
"Do you NOT see what that peach is supposed to be?!" He burst out. "He'd better propose to you properly!"
'He's not proposing to me yet! A-Die, knock it off!' Jiang Cheng's blush deepened as she took the peach with both hands and thanked Lan Xichen.
"Wanyin..." Lan Xichen began, reaching out to her.
Yu Ziyuan immediately noticed his gesture, and immediately smacked his hand away. "How dare you! You will not touch my daughter's hand until marriage!"
'Sorry, Madam Yu!' Lan Xichen's hands froze.
Jiang Cheng's face fell at the aborted gesture. Had she done something to put the man off?
"He was trying to hold your hand! This is improper!" Jiang Fengmian exclaimed, which only added to Jiang Cheng's shock. Meanwhile, Yu Ziyuan was explaining - rather aggressively - that Jiang Cheng's facial expression wasn't one of disgrace, but merely of hurt that he had seemed to reject her. Which he had better not do again, or try to touch her hand, or do anything perverted until after their wedding!
Jiang Fengmian had never realised the churning desire Lan Xichen possessed for his daughter until now. Lans appeared placid and collected, but that was all a facade, at least for Lan Xichen, it seemed! The young man exhibited so many subtle signs of his intentions to do unscrupulous things to Jiang Cheng, that Jiang Fengmian momentarily considered forbidding her to continue interacting with him for her safety, but seeing the way her expression crumbled when she assumed Lan Xichen disliked her, despite the very obvious signs to the contrary, made him pause.
Why was she so uncertain? Why was she not reading Lan Xichen's clear intentions?
Another question that bothered him was, had she always been this sensitive? He remembered her as an abrasive and short-tempered child, just like her mother - but perhaps, the uncomfortable realisation was dawning on him - that her anger had always been due to her sensitivity and insecurities.
Was Sanniang the same?
Was this why they were always fighting?
And how could he have misunderstood them so badly through the years?
Now departed from the world, all he could do to make amends was to guide his daughter and provide the reassurance she desperately needed.
The main hall of Lotus Pier was red with festivity for Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen’s wedding, the two newlyweds taking their three bows together. The ghosts of the previous Jiang master and mistress watched in pride, right until they suddenly noticed their spouse across from each other.
“Sanniang?” Jiang Fengmian said hopefully.
Expression blank, Yu Ziyuan turned around and floated away. Jiang Fengmian followed her immediately.
“Sanniang, please…”
Only after his death had he finally realised his missteps. When he returned to consciousness as a spirit, he would have barely been able to face her, had they crossed paths, having been a failure of a husband. But he would be making yet another mistake if he did not attempt to make things right between them.
The wedding banquet had finished, the guests dispersing from one of the happiest days of their child’s life. Clad in red, Jiang Cheng swept her gaze over the main hall, and her eyes widened in the direction of Yu Ziyuan’s spectre.
"A-Niang, is that you?" She exclaimed, breaking away from her new husband to hurry toward her mother. Despite her bridal red, her voice was small and lost, that of the young girl who was bound and pushed off on a boat, away from her mother on a burning pier, knowing that it was the last time they would ever meet.
“A-Cheng,” Yu Ziyuan’s voice was soft, “A-Niang came to see you at your wedding. I made sure Zewu-jun would be a good husband with my personal instruction.”
“You…you could speak to him?” Jiang Cheng glanced at her father’s spirit, and then at Lan Xichen, who smiled in acknowledgement, “Just like I could to A-Die?”
Yu Ziyuan nodded, and with pride in her voice, declared, “I was the one who pushed him to finally propose to you.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for us, Madam Yu,” Lan Xichen said demurely.
Jiang Cheng had missed her mother, like a dull knife lodged in her heart. Now knowing that A-Niang had been present to see her get married, and helped Huan-ge admit her feelings to her, tears blurred her vision.
To her horror, her mother’s spirit began to waver and fade.
"A-Niang, don't go!" Jiang Cheng wailed, terrified that her mother would leave her yet again.
Yu Ziyuan smiles. "Baobei..." She’d never called Jiang Cheng such endearments before until she had died, her voice bittersweet. "I swear, if I reincarnate someday, and get to hold you as my child again, I shall love you with all my heart. You and A-Li."
Rushing forward, Jiang Fengmian grabbed his wife's hand. Instead of passing right through, his fingers wrapped firmly around her own.
"Sanniang! Wait!"
She turned to see him, eyes wide but still as sharp as two daggers.
"I...I'm sorry." He confessed. "I'm sorry if I made you think I didn't love you or our children."
Yu Ziyuan paused, then sighed. "Too little, too late, Jiang Fengmian. What remains between us are our children, whom I wish happiness for. Let us hopefully never cross paths in our next life and spare each other the pain." The sight of her turning away, made Jiang Fengmian's heart ache. In their next life, was it?
They were ghosts, already departed from the mortal plane, only able to watch their children have their happy ending. It was too late for them in this life.
“Please don’t go, Ziyuan,” Jiang Fengmian pleaded, grip tightening, “I want to cross the bridge with you and reincarnate together - and now that we are here, I want to cherish this moment with you, that we still can meet even after our deaths...."
Yu Ziyuan’s face screwed up, trying her damnedest not to cry, but failing, she averted her gaze. "Now that we're dead you have a change of heart!!"
"I'm sorry, this husband is truly foolish," Jiang Fengmian bowed his head, fighting back the tears building up in his eyes, “please forgive this slow and dense man!"
Sniffling, a tiny smile somehow appeared on Yu Ziyuan’s face. Finally, her love was requited? “If we meet each other in the next life... I-I may consider it" she huffed, her cheeks pink. "For now, I'll ...I'll allow you to walk over the bridge with me."
They finally locked eyes, Yu Ziyuan seeing Jiang Fengmian's shimmering with tears, gratified, relieved, joyful, loving,
"Sanniang, Ziyuan," he murmured, posture stiff and awkward, "T-Thank you."
Despite all the resentment, despite everything they had gone through, she was still fond of this silly man.
Seeing her parents start to fade, Jiang Cheng stepped forward in panic.
"A-Niang! A-Die!!"
Facing her, the smile on Yu Ziyuan’s face was the gentlest Jiang Cheng had ever seen.
"I've made sure you're in good hands now, A-Cheng," She grazed her ghostly hands over her daughter's cheek, causing Jiang Cheng to shiver, the sensation almost that of a breeze.
"Zewu-jun" Yu Ziyuan said to him, more sternly this time. "make sure my daughter never needs to doubt your love."
Lan Xichen nodded. "I promise. You guidance has been invaluable, Madam.”
"A-Cheng, I'm proud of you," Jiang Fengmian says to his youngest daughter, whose tears were now coursing down her cheeks, "you have done so well, and I want you to only have a happy life."
Resting his translucent hand on her head, he wished he could hold her instead. Jiang Cheng closed her eyes, her face streaked with tears. When he withdrew his hand, she tried to grasp it.
"A-Die! A-Niang!" She cried out. “Don’t go! I-I still need you!”
Even though they can’t touch her, they embrace her, telling her everything they failed to do in life - that she is loved, that she will have a happy marriage, and that they only want happiness for her, that they want her to be their child in their next life.
When the older couple finally faded away, hand in hand, Jiang Cheng collapsed onto Lan Xichen and wept.
He wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed into his chest, comforting his new wife on the first day of the rest of their lives.