Work Text:
Jiang Wanyin had always been second best, since the moment he was born.
His Mother had preferred his sister, his Father had preferred Wei Wuxian, his sister had preferred Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian had preferred Lan Wangji.
It was an endless cycle of not meeting expectations, only being considered when he was the only thing they could choose.
His friends when he was young were not his own, only hanging around him to bask in the presence of Wei Wuxian. He was always second best. No matter how hard he tried.
He had walked for days on end to Yunmeng from Xuanyu cave to get his Brother help and he did not even receive an acknowledgment, his Parents had died and of course his brother had to be better at handling grief than him. Easily swimming through the waters of loss while Jiang Cheng was barely treading water.
Then he stopped fighting against the waves and let himself sink, letting himself get captured by the Wens to save his brother.
He couldn’t bear to lose anyone else, it had been an impulsive decision. One that did not deserve any accolades but as he was tortured, gaining scars from disciple whips he couldn’t help but selfishly regret his own decision.
Not for saving his Brother, he could never regret a decision like that.
But for thinking he could take something like this. He bet Wei Wuxian could, no he had. His Brother had faced lashes from far stronger whips then he was being hit with. Jiang Cheng could barely take something his brother had taken and then flashed a smile after, he was second best to his brother at handling pain.
Then he lost his core and he really was second best.
Now he didn’t even have the opportunity to try and keep up with him.
He was nothing but a useless shell, he was supposed to be a sect leader but that mantle would have to go to Wei Wuxian. Leaving him second best once again.
Then he got it back after seeing Baoshun Sanren like his brother had told him to, but he couldn’t even let himself have a moment of joy after that depressing period because his brother was missing.
When Jiang Cheng returned to the watchful eye of the cultivation world no one cared about him. All anyone had to ask him about was his brother,
Why was that starting to annoy him?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
After three months he saw his brother, or something that looked like his brother again.
He was dabbling in demonic cultivation and Jiang Cheng at heart was against that but like his sister he was so desperate to have his brother back that he disregarded it, he even dared to encourage it.
Mainly with his brother's help they won the war against the Wens, with the freedom newfound emotions overcame him.
He was horrified by his brother's use of demonic cultivation, and too preoccupied by building back up his sect to do anything about it.
And then his brother tried to help the remaining Wens.
The same Wens that had killed his Parents, leaving him and his sister orphaned.
The same Wens that had wiped out his entire sect.
The same Wens that had forced the position of Sect Leader onto Jiang Wanyin at only seventeen.
He didn’t care how they presented, they were still devils to him. He admitted he could dismiss the child but the rest of them?
It didn’t matter to him if they had engaged in the war or not? They were still murderers to him.
Wei Wuxian was living among them, protecting them, after everything.
It made Jiang Cheng want to scream.
He had supplied all the reasons but Wei Wuxian still decided them innocent, innocent despite being painted in blood.
His brother would soon learn that.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
A literal example wasn’t enough for his brother.
One of those devils, Wen Ning, the ghost general, had killed Jin Zixuan.
Leaving his Sister widowed and his Nephew without a father.
So he confronted him, and you know what his brother did?
He defected.
Defected as if Jiang Cheng was in the wrong.
He stood by those murderers as they took more family away from him.
“My actions have nothing to do with the Yunmeng Jiang sect”.
Had his brother gone insane?
Or had he?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
His sister was gone.
His sister had died to save Wei Wuxian.
No,
Wei Wuxian had killed her.
Oh how he hated that bastard.
Was it not enough for him?
Did he get some sick satisfaction from seeing his own family suffer?
Had he planned for them all to die from the start?
He was the reason that Jin Ling was left orphaned.
He had let more children be orphaned by the Wens.
Wei Wuxian wasn’t his brother anymore, he was one of them.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
So he participated in the siege,
An eye for an eye they call it.
But the Yilling Patriarch decided that was it,
He had destroyed the Yin Tiger Tally causing cursed corpses to tear him limb from limb.
The Yilling Patriarch had committed suicide.
Why did that cause an ache in the back of his throat?
Why did his eyes burn whenever he thought of him?
After everything he had done Jiang Cheng had dared to miss him,
Had dared to miss his brother.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
He shoved down this feeling of longing over the years through torturing demonic cultivators.
Feeling a sense of accomplishment as he saw them scream and writhe.
He let that sense of accomplishment fill his mind as he ignored the dull ache in his chest telling him that this was wrong.
He needed this.
He needed this to distract himself from his depression.
To distract him from this loneliness,
This burden.
He needed this to feel.
So he let the rumours spill.
He let people know not to follow that path,
He made sure he was never second best to a demonic cultivator ever again.
It was the only way to protect what was left of his family from the deadly grasp of the Yilling patriarch.