Chapter Text
Lan WangJi had finished his rounds. It had been a quiet night with no surprises, no one coming over the wall or sneaking in alcohol, no one challenging him to a swordfight or talking back. No one had done anything against the rules. That had used to be the way every night had been, once upon a time. It would be that way again, once Wei Wuxian went home. It would be quiet.
Two days ago, Wei Wuxian had punched Jin Zixuan in the face for insulting his sister ( breaking rule 2 of the Lan sect.) Today Madam Yu had arrived. Jiang Fengmian had been injured on a nighthunt protecting a junior disciple and was not well enough to make the trip to Gusu.
Wei Wuxian would be leaving in the morning.
It would be quiet.
Lan WangJi passed the guest quarters, lights still shining from the windows despite the late hour. Madam Yu was a guest, and so excused from the Gusu Lan rules. Jiang Cheng though- did he count as a guest disciple still? Because, if so, he should not have been hovering on the verandah. Rule 4.
Jiang Cheng did not seem to hear Lan WangJi as he approached. His back was tense, his focus solely on the door of the guest chamber. Was he- eavesdropping? Rule 117.
Lan WangJi came up the steps and realised that Jiang Cheng was not alone. Jiang Yanli was there as well, her form so slight that her brother’s shadow hid her. She was clutching his arm. They leaned towards each other, as if for comfort.
“Oh! Hanguang Jun!” Jiang Yanli saw him first.
“We are… we are just waiting…”. She seemed embarrassed, or worried maybe.
“Waiting?”
“We’re waiting for our mother to finish.” said Jiang Cheng. His mouth was a flat line, and his eyes kept flicking to the door.
There was a raised, female voice from inside the Guest Chamber, angry. Jiang Yanli flinched a little.
“Too late for noise.” said Lan WangJi automatically. Rule 5.
The siblings looked at each other.
“Hanguang Jun, would there be any chance that you could… mention… to our mother that…it is late, and that the matter could wait until tomorrow? Too late for anything more, tonight.”
Jiang Yanli was very, very worried about something.
“Please, Young Master Lan, I would be so much in your debt…”
“What matter?” asked Lan WangJi. “What is she doing?”
Someone cried out, inside the room, just an unclear noise of pain, too brief and indistinct to identify.
Both Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng flinched this time.
Lan WangJi gripped his scabbard and took the steps two at a time. He did not knock before pushing the door open.
A slender woman swung round to face him, her immaculate hair and robes at odds with the flare of the purple lash that sparked from her wrist. Her face was dark with anger.
Behind her Wei Wuxian was kneeling, dressed only in black trousers and undertunic, feet bare. As Lan WangJi registered what he was seeing, another cultivator, a young man in the purple robes of the Jiang sect brought down a whip down onto Wei Wuxian’s back, and Wei Wuxian made a noise and keeled forwards.
Lan WangJi caught him before he hit the floor. Wei Wuxian was tremoring, whole body shudders under his hands, and as his head dropped Lan WangJi could see over his back. His undertunic was sliced through with ragged slashes and the material shone wetly in the light from the candles. Lan WangJi’s sleeve grew a spreading red stain as it fell over Wei Wuxian’s shoulder.
Lan WangJi’s eyes lifted towards the lash as it hung in the air before the next strike. The leather was knotted with small barbs. It was a sect punishment whip, made to scar those who failed their clan.
Wei Wuxian raised his head.
“Lan Zhan?” he said. He had a split lip and a bruise by his mouth, and his eyes had trouble finding Lan WangJi’s face.
The Jiang cultivator lifted his arm.
Madam Yu was beyond furious. Her look might have melted steel. Purple sparks crackled around her.
“What gives the Second Jade of Lan the right to interfere in the matters of another sect?” she spat. The two women who flanked her wore the robes of trusted servants, as well as matching sneers. The three of them were between Lan WangJi and the door.
“You have broken that one’s arm- and for what? This worthless troublemaker?!”
“Dislocated.” said Lan WangJi, sparing a brief glance towards the one who had held the whip. He frowned. He thought that the shrieking was unnecessary.
He turned his attention back to Wei Wuxian, and how to lift him without causing him pain.
“He is not your concern! “
“Is.” Lan WangJi rose carefully, Wei Wuxian draped over his shoulder and held by a hand looping his wrists. Wei Wuxian gave a small gasp, and his hands scrabbled until he found a hold on Lan WangJi’s shoulder. Lan WangJi could feel his fingers digging through the robes.
“He does not belong to GusuLan! Step aside and leave him to finish his punishment!”
“He is my husband.” said Lan WangJi and took advantage of the moment of stunned silence that gained him to swivel neatly past the First Lady of Lotus Pier and her maids.
He passed Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli as he went down the stairs, but even Jiang Yanli’s desperate cry of “A-Xian!” did not slow him.
‘Infirmary” he said and strode past.
He heard yelling break out behind him, but he didn’t look back.
Wei Wuxian had eleven whipmarks, eleven slices through skin and muscle down to the bone. The medic’s face was grim as she inspected them, and she called for dressings and herbs. She carefully cut the remains of his tunic off and away, gently pulling it from underneath Wei Wuxian as he lay on his front.
Lan Zhan knelt beside the low couch and concentrated on sending energy to Wei Wuxian, who was a worrying shade of grey.
There were loud footsteps outside and Jiang Cheng slid into the room, banging the door.
“No running.” said Lan Zhan. Rule 6. He decided not to mention the noise rule again as Jiang Cheng looked very stressed.
“No running? No running? What is wrong with you? How about, no making up stories, Lan WangJi? You told my mother, of all people, that Wei Wuxian was your husband? What the fuck were you thinking? I though you couldn’t tell lies or some such bullshit! Now she’s just more angry! She’s going to cripple him!”
“Not a lie.” said Lan WangJi. “No one will be crippled.” He was quite sure of that.
Wei Wuxian gripped his wrist, and sighed.
“Lan Zhan.” he whispered, and then coughed.
“Rest, Wei Ying.” said Lan Zhan, frowning, and sent more energy to him.
“Lan Zhan. I think I would remember a wedding?”
He didn’t sound angry, at least, although he would become so, surely, once he realised how Lan Zhan had taken advantage of him.
“Cold Springs Cave. I tied your wrist with the ribbon. We both bowed.”
“That’s a wedding?”
“Lan wedding, yes.”
“Lan Zhan!”
“But if he didn’t know it was a wedding, whenever this was- what were you doing? Trying to trick him into it? Which of your fucking rules covers that?” Jiang Cheng looked as angry as his mother.
“I… gave in to impulse.” Lan WangJi kept his head down. His ears were burning. He had behaved shamefully. Rule 17, do not behave impulsively.
Rule 3, avoid desire.
“It’s not a wedding if he didn’t know he was in a wedding!”
“It will save him now.” said Lan WangJi. “I will make no demands, after. He can stay, or not stay.”
“Lan Zhan.” said Wei Wuxian, softly, tugging at his hand. “I can’t see you. “
Lan WangJi let himself be tugged.
Wei Wuxian looked at him sideways, his cheek on the pillow. The medic had ignored all the drama and was still dressing the wounds on his back.
“Why?” asked Wei Wuxian, slurring slightly.
Lan WangJi frowned, and increased the flow of energy. He held up two fingers and Wei Wuxian looked surprised, then confused.
“How many fingers?”
He could see Wei Wuxian try, and then give up.
“No more talking.” said Lan WangJi, firmly.
“Here they come.” said Jiang Cheng.
His brother and his uncle had, naturally, been asleep, and were unhappy to have been woken to be told that there was an upset in the guest quarters involving Wei Wuxian.
“Is he drunk? Why is he in the infirmary?”
Lan WangJi judged his uncle’s mood to be irritable, on a scale of unimpressed to furious, so things could have been worse.
“WangJi, what is going on? Young Master Jiang, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you. Where is Young Master Wei, then?”
Jiang Cheng stepped back.
Wei Wuxian turned his head in the pillow to face them and attempted a wave.
Lan WangJi thought he heard his brother say something under his breath. It could not have been a curse word, as that was against Lan clan rules.
“Keep still!” admonished the healer.
“Sorry!” said Wei Wuxian, and gasped as she applied more pressure to his back.
“No talking.” Lan WangJi gave Wei Wuxian’s hand a slight shake for emphasis.
“What are his injuries?”
‘He has suffered eleven blows from a punishment whip cross his back, down to bone, and some facial bruising. His back will take some months to fully heal, maybe longer, and he will always bear scars. If he is not treated judiciously he will have a reduced range of motion across his shoulders.” reported the healer.
Lan Xichen looked appalled.
“What crime did he commit, Young Master Jiang?”
“He punched Jin ZiXuan for slighting my sister, which led to my father calling their engagement off.”
“But he has already been punished for that transgression.” Lan Qiren said impatiently.
“My mother said he did not learn from normal punishment, so she would give him reason to remember, one blow for every year of his life.” said Jiang Cheng.
“Eleven?”
“Lan WangJi stopped the punishment.”
“Madam Yu told us you attacked one of the Jiang disciples and broke his arm, WangJi”
“Dislocated.” corrected Lan WangJi.
“Dislocated, then.” his brother said.
He coughed.
“WangJi, she also said… well, she said that you had claimed that Young Master Wei was your husband, and so you were entitled to interfere.”
“That was very wrong of you.” said his uncle. “Marriage is a sacred obligation. It is not a subject for jokes. Rule 21.”
“I was not joking.” said Lan WangJi.
Wei Wuxian giggled.
“My husband!” he said and giggled again.
“No laughing for no reason! Rule 7!” said Lan Qiren.
“The painkillers have taken effect” said the healer. “He can be moved to a bed now.”