Chapter Text
"Are you well uncle?" his nephew gave him a concerned and far too discerning look.
Too many sleepless nights and these days not even his golden core could mask the sheer exhaustion that weighed down his limbs, dulled his mind.
"Sectleader Jiang is a very gracious and considerate..." -husband- He could not make himself say it,"...host", he allowed.
Huan was no fool, he doubtlessly noted the too long pause. His nephew was too polite to comment on it but his concern made him try again, "You appear to have lost weight uncle."
"I haven't had much of an appetite these last few days." And even longer before that. Eating was a chore most of the time, one he dutifully performed under the watchful eye of sectleader Jiang during dinner but during the rest of the day, when he was unobserved, was left alone...
He simply forgot or couldn't muster up the energy. The staff had noticed but he didn't think they had gone to their sectleader with it, they seemed to have decided he was simply unfamiliar with the Yunmeng cuisine and had started to bring in new dishes for him to try every day.
Huan was looking at him again, did not hide his worried frown and Lan Qiren's attention had wandered again. Lately he had a hard time concentrating, should be more concerned with how many sectrules he was breaking day after day with his inattentiveness, his lack of diligence but he was so tired all the time and the days empty and seemingly endless and...
"And you look like you are suffering from a migraine uncle, don't try to hide it from me, I know you too well."
"The light is very bright today," he answered noncommital, helplessly watched Huan's frown deepen at his lackluster response, could not find the words that would halt Huan from making his excuse and get up and he did not want his nephew to leave. He wanted to plead Huan not to leave him but he didn't know how... He couldn't find the words, his mind blank and even if he would he could not... His chest felt tight and the walls were closing in on him and he wanted to clutch at Huan's robes like a frightened child and he couldn't breathe...
"You should rest uncle. Be well, I'll come and see you in a week."
Miserably he saw Huan off, carefully kept his face from showing his desperation at the thought of being left behind, of enduring a week where they days passed in a haze and the world only came into focus again when he saw the beloved face of his nephews. Hours bleeding into eachother as he waited, alone in a room that he could not even call his own. Waited for this nightmare to end.
Waited for the day he could file for a divorce and go home again.
---
He was not even supposed to bé at the Burial Mounds that day. Wangji was the one who was to lead a group of disciples and cleanse the accursed place but upon hearing sectleader Jiang intended to join in on the venture he had excused himself citing the need to investigate rumours about monsters in the south. Huan had asked him to go in Wangji's place.
For all his faults, and they were manifold, Wei Wuxian had warded the place well, had made it safe to live there and no supernatural harm befell the Wen refugees. But afterwards the place was destroyed and wards and sigils broken, letting loose all kind of evil.
Evil that took form in a curse demanding a virgin sacrifice and it had managed to get his claws into Lan Qiren since his blood was already there from repairing the magic circle.
His last few moments stretching out in agonizing pain, his life slowly being drained from him and Sizhui and Jingyi were sobbing at his side and he was not strong enough to keep from crying out. He was not even granted the mercy of passing out and he did not want to die like this and...
"Sectleader Jiang what do you think you're doing?!" not even imminent death could keep him from being furious at his forehead-ribbon being untied it turned out. Futily he tried to snatch his forehead-ribbon back but sectleader Jiang firmly gripped his right wrist, glared at him, "Saving your life, hold still for a moment!"
No one had dared to raise their voice to him in a long time and this curse had to wait, he was going to verbally flay sectleader Jiang if it was the last thing he did and...
...sectleader Jiang had tied their wrists together with his forehead-ribbon, "I hereby claim Grandmaster Lan as my husband!" Dumbfounded Lan Qiren stared at the ridiculous sight, mouth working soundlessly until the curse, clearly displeased with being ignored, made itself known with vengeance. Doubling over in agony he gasped, tried to hold on to consciousness, ludicrous as reality was, it was still very much preferably to being dead and a strong hand was hauling him up, "Oh no you don't! You're going to live or Hanguang-Jun is going to kill me. Go argue semantics about the whole virgin versus unmarried thing with this curse!"
He had won the argument of course and the curse had been lifted.
He lost an equally important argument.
"The Lan forehead-ribbon is sacred and can only be touched by family or one's spouse. Several disciples witnessed sectleader Jiang taking your forehead-ribbon and tying it around your wrists while loudly claiming you as his spouse."
"I was trying to break a curse! Which worked by the way, you're welcome," Sectleader Jiang was fuming at his side but the Elders wouldn't budge and Lan Qiren's heart grew cold as he realized their goal. A marriage to sectleader Jiang would not gain one but two very powerful sects as allies.
"Nevertheless, you married him according to the rules of Gusu Lan. Will you take responsibility?"
Oh no, there was a victorious glint in Elder Zhi's eye and Lan Qiren had had no choice but to let his son take remedial classes and the boy had finished his studies with average results but it had been, and still was, a very sore point for Elder Zhi that Lan Qiren had refused to bend the rules a little for his son and...
"I did not marry him according to the rules of Yunmeng Jiang," sectleader Jiang's anger was getting the better of him, Zidian sparking at his wrist and it did not go unnoticed. The Elders were clearly moving in and plotting to achieve their goal quickly now sectleader Jiang was not thinking clearly.
"Will you dishonour Grandmaster Lan like this?" It sounded righteous and Lan Qiren had never hated the motto of their sect more then at this moment.
"It is you who does the dishonouring!" Well, it was flattering to have sectleader Jiang defend his honour like this but they needed a solid argument to stop this travesty and he couldn't think of any.
"But the marriage wasn't consummated!" a flicker of something on Elder Bi's face and he was the one who was the expert on marriage laws so what was it...
"As my spouse Grandmaster Lan would be living at Lotus Pier and you would loose your most sought after teacher. Surely you won't sacrifice your prestigious.."
It was nice to know sectleader Jiang thought so highly of him but by referring to Lan Qiren as his spouse he had lost the battle. Had only made things worse judging by the calculating look in Elder Meng's eye. Their Clan was supposedly about being immaterialistic but Elder Meng sure loved to count their money.
"Ah yes, Grandmaster Lan is most precious to us. Let us discuss the dowry."
---
There had been the mortifying ordeal of being declared a virgin through thorough testing through various spells and charms with sectleader Jiang glowering at him during the proceedings. Lan Qiren had frostily looked him right in the eye, had learned that not even wishing with one's all could alter one's state to less pure and perhaps their rules were more archaic and restricting than he had ever considered.
Sectleader Jiang had demanded a private audience with Huan, grumbling that Zewu-Jun would surely not stand for this and Lan Qiren was not the one who was going to tell him that as a sectleader Huan had to heed their Elder's council, was bound by their rules. Sectleader Jiang grew more and more terse during Huan's explanation of the Elder's motives, ground out that they were making not so much a powerful ally as a mighty enemy of him.
A hysterical part of Lan Qiren philosophized that this would be an excellent time for sectleader Jiang to prove himself to be much less honourable man than he was right now. But sectleader Jiang was actually apologizing. If one knew how to read between the lines that is. Grudgingly allowed that he might be partially responsible for this whole mess though he had only intended to save Lan Qiren's life and mercifully Huan thanked him for that for Lan Qiren had still not found his voice.
Lan Qiren would have been fine with never speaking again but sectleader Jiang turned to him and adressed him directly, "Surely you don't want this?!"
"You claimed me as your spouse. What I want is irrelevant, my duty is to my sect," he was not able to keep his agitation entirely hidden.
He had rebuild their sect after their home had burned, too many innocents slaughtered and his brother dead, the heirs to the title missing. They had recovered from that devastation without compromising their integrity. But now, in times of peace, their Elders fell to corruption. He was sold off, bargained away for both protection and riches his clan did not need, all in the name of adhering to their revered teachings.
For one terrifying moment he considered severing all ties to all he had ever know in his indignation, leave his sect and escape a marriage unwanted by both parties. And he might have lived, found a way. Had it not been for Huan, for Wangji.
He would never again be allowed to set foot near them. The boys he raised, the man they'd become and who were his pride and joy. He could never make that sacrifice for what else did he have to live for if not for them?
So he kept quiet, clenched his jaw and fought to present a mask of composure as he obeyed his clan's command.
---
Sectleader Jiang was willing to pay for all expenses, was willing to honour Gusu Lan's traditions but insisted the wedding was to be held at Cloud Recesses within the span of a week, would not allow the wedding to take place at Lotus Pier.
The Elders had gotten what they wanted and agreed to all demands lest Sandu Shengshou díd decide to unleash his wrath after all. Sectleader Jiang had sneered at the tradition of having a virgin boy with him the night before the wedding. Had vetoed the tea-ceremony and a small part of Lan Qiren was grateful for it. No one would dare to propose the door games. And Lan Qiren was more than fine with not having to see his groom until the day of the wedding.
Sectleader Jiang's nephew and a handful of his disciples stood with him and in the sea of Gusu Lan whites Lan Qiren felt hopelessly alone in his weddingreds. He would leave everything he knew behind, would no longer be Grandmaster Lan but sectleader Jiang's husband.
Only Huan's whisper of a loophole he and Wei Wuxian had found kept him from running. Made him stand proudly, back ramrod straight and his chin tilted up in defiance as he looked the Elders in the eye with disdain.
-If the marriage was not consummated after a year of marriage they could file for divorce. -
Hearing this sectleader Jiang smiled at him for the very first time.
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