Chapter Text
It started out, as many things did, with an unasked-for comment from a person who should have kept their mouth shut.
Nie Mingjue did not mind hosting cultivation conferences, but when he did host one, it was usually small. Qinghe was not geographically convenient for the other major sects, so they preferred to hold them somewhere more centrally located. But when local matters were the topic at hand, and the conference was to be attended by a dozen of the smaller sects around Qinghe, he would host.
At this particular cultivation conference, they were discussing an issue that had previously been resolved in Gusu. Nie Mingjue had written to Lan Xichen to get his expert opinion on the matter. Once they had talked that over, the conference was chatting about general matters. Naturally, this led to a discussion of the lectures that the Lan sect would be holding the next year.
Nie Mingjue had attended the lectures as a youth and enjoyed them, and he was hoping that Nie Huaisang would find them a similarly instructive experience (although to be honest, his expectations were low). That’s what he was thinking about when some nobody from some sect he couldn’t remember the name of said, “It’s not as if the Nie sect would host such a thing, after all.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Nie Mingjue asked, frowning at him. It was true, he supposed, that they had never done such a thing, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. The Lan sect regularly hosted lectures because Lan Qiren was so sought after as a teacher, but the Jiang and the Jin sect occasionally hosted them as well. They weren’t as lengthy or in-depth, and generally focused on attracting new disciples from smaller sects. The Qinghe Nie had never bothered. As far as Nie Mingjue was concerned, people already knew what they were about. If they wanted to join, they would.
“Well, you know, the Nie sect isn’t really . . . academic,” the cultivator said.
Now Nie Mingjue felt insulted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it,” the man’s companion said hastily. “The Nie sect could certainly host lectures if they felt so inclined!”
“Of course they could!” the first man said, adding, “I’ll look forward to them, Nie-zongzhu!”
Nie Mingjue was annoyed at the whole thing, but brushed it off. Within a week, he had forgotten all about it. That sort of conversation was never the type to stay in his mind. Politics, in general, were something he had little time for. Give him an enemy and an army and he was practically unstoppable. Put him in a room with a dozen men of varying levels of stature, a tea ceremony, and a problem to solve and he wanted to hide behind the curtains. Sure, there were some problems he could solve in his own way - by telling other people how it was going to be. But the more people were involved, especially when one of the great sects was involved, the more difficult it became. He hated all the dancing around that politics required. Being straightforward, which was a prized quality in war, suddenly became tactless and insulting during peace.
That was one of the reasons he treasured Meng Yao as much as he did. When the issue was small, and only local sects were involved, he could state the best solution and then sit back while Meng Yao used his persuasive, eloquent magic to make everyone agree with him.
But he couldn’t do that when the major sects were involved, especially not the Jin. To be fair, Nie Mingjue didn’t think that Jin Guangshan had particularly cared that he had promoted Meng Yao. He had asked about it once, about six months after it had happened. Nie Mingjue had told him the truth. “Meng Yao wants the opportunity to do great things, to prove he can be an asset to a sect,” he had said, and Jin Guangshan had frowned slightly. “You clearly don’t want him in the Lanling Jin, so as far as I’m concerned, there’s no harm in using his talents for the Qinghe Nie.”
That was fine with Jin Guangshan. As long as Nie Mingjue was not laboring under the misapprehension that Meng Yao would someday be part of the Jin sect, then he was welcome to him.
Personally, Nie Mingjue thought Jin Guangshan was an idiot. Life had become much easier with Meng Yao as his assistant; he was talented and clever, with keen organizational and observational skill. But Nie Mingjue supposed that Jin Guangshan had his wife to answer to, who surely wouldn’t want him bringing his bastards into the fold.
Despite the fact that Jin Guangshan wouldn’t have cared if Nie Mingjue had brought Meng Yao to any of the cultivation conferences that he was attending, Nie Mingjue still thought it would be better if he didn’t put Meng Yao through it. He knew that gossip could be a problem; there was no point in fanning the flames.
Meng Yao, had he been there, surely would have remembered the conversation about the lectures, and probably brought it up for further discussion. But that had taken place after the bulk of the meeting, and Meng Yao had already left to facilitate the orders Nie Mingjue had given. So by the time it came up again, Nie Mingjue had forgotten all about it. Instead, he got a letter from Lan Xichen, stating that he had heard the Nie sect was going to be holding lectures, and wondering if it was true. ‘You know how strict my uncle can be about the invitations and arrangements for his own, and I would hate for the two to overlap and risk him feeling disrespected,’ the letter read. ‘But to be honest, I think it would be lovely if you were to host next year. I’ve been worried about Wangji at the lectures. You know how stiff he can be. Being a part of the hosting sect will set him apart from the others, put him in a position where he will feel as if he is responsible for monitoring them, and I think it might make it difficult for him to make friends. Of course, do not feel obligated if you were not planning on hosting, but I think you would do a fine job.’
“Is something wrong, Nie-zongzhu?” Meng Yao asked, looking over as he put water on the fire for tea.
“Just wondering how news spreads so damned fast, and gets twisted all around in the spreading,” Nie Mingjue said, scowling at the letter.
“A problem I have surely not yet found a solution for,” Meng Yao agreed.
Nie Mingjue tossed the letter aside. “At the cultivation conference a few weeks ago, someone talking about Lan Qiren’s lectures mentioned that ‘of course’ the Nie sect wouldn’t be interested in holding such a thing, as we’re not intellectuals,” he said. “I was offended and said we damn well could if we wanted to. Somehow now everyone presumes that we are.”
Meng Yao straightened up and fetched the tin of tea leaves. “And you’re afraid that now if you say you’re not, everyone will assume that means you agree with the original point, that the Qinghe Nie is not qualified to do so?”
“Mm,” Nie Mingjue grumbled. “And now Xichen is talking about how if we hosted, his brother might not feel compelled to play hall monitor the whole time.”
Amused, as he had heard many stories about the Lan brothers over the years, Meng Yao said, “I can see why that would be a concern of his. I’m sure you would provide excellent lectures, Nie-zongzhu. The Nie sect has expertise in things that many of the other sects don’t.”
That was certainly true. And Nie Mingjue had to admit a certain amusement at the idea of tossing all these young masters into classes for survival skills and saber wielding. “Do you really think that it would be a good idea? Be honest with me, Meng Yao.”
Meng Yao paused. “I think there are pros and cons, zongzhu. I think some of the other sects probably do look down on us for not hosting lectures. Most of the great sects do. It would be a good way to show people that although the Nie sect is formidable in battle, it’s not all that we have to offer. That might help us drive our numbers up, which is certainly never a bad thing. However, I do also think that it would be a lot of work, including much that none of us are particularly experienced with. You’ve attended lectures like this in the past so I assume you know what goes on during them, but would you want to take the time out of your schedule to teach them yourself? I know you are already very busy. That being said, if you think you have enough qualified teachers, I would be in favor of it, especially since Zewu-Jun would clearly take it as a favor, and I know how close you are with him.”
Nie Mingjue nodded. “Well, maybe I’ll write to him and see what he thinks of the idea before I make a final decision.”
“I agree that would be a good idea. However, please keep in mind that our time is limited. If people think we are hosting them in the spring, when the Lan sect’s lectures would normally begin, we would need to start preparations almost immediately.”
“I won’t dally,” Nie Mingjue agreed. “I know it’ll be a lot of work if we do it.”
He sat down and penned a letter to Lan Xichen. He was lucky, he felt, that there was at least one other sect leader he felt he could be fully honest with. He detailed how the ‘offer’ to host lectures had come about, and admitted he hadn’t thought it would result in anything. Then he wrote, ‘But now that everyone’s talking about us hosting them, I’m worried that if we don’t, it will look like we really are the weak-minded thugs everyone seems to take us as. Meng Yao,’ he continued, for he had written Lan Xichen in great detail about his helpful assistant, ‘thinks it would be a good idea, but has concerns about the time it would take me to teach such classes. Your uncle assists you with clan leadership, I know, but he rarely does night hunting anymore and has flexibility that I don’t. However, I see your point in that Wangji will probably benefit more from lectures that are not held at Cloud Recesses. Perhaps if we host next year, we might do something shorter, less intensive, and then your uncle can still host his lectures the year after? That way, those sects who want their young masters to receive your uncle’s instruction will not miss a chance to do so. Let me know what you think. As always, I appreciate your honest counsel.’
Fortunately - and surely because Lan Xichen knew that they would need time to prepare - the response was prompt. Lan Xichen wrote, ‘I think it would be an excellent idea for you to host something a bit shorter. I believe the lectures hosted by the Jin and the Jiang sects are typically about six weeks to two months long. That is more than enough time for any sect that does not have such a formidable teacher as my uncle. And do not feel that you have to teach all the lectures yourself. As you said, my uncle does so because his schedule is free to do such a thing, and because it is his instruction that the other sect leaders want their young masters to receive. I see no reason that you could not have various experts from your sect giving instruction. I attended lectures at the Yunmeng Jiang when I was young, and I recall many different masters holding class.
‘I appreciate your willingness to host. I have not particularly wanted to say anything but I truly have been worried about how Wangji will react to the other young masters. He seems to view it as some sort of invasion by less-disciplined forces. It probably seems odd to you, but he is very possessive of our home. He goes out and about while night-hunting, of course, but he has rarely had to be a guest in anyone’s home for an extended period of time. I think it would be good for him, and help him get used to the idea of respecting the cultures of the other sects.’
Nie Mingjue showed the letter to Meng Yao, who nodded and agreed that it seemed wholly reasonable to host a shorter version of lectures than the intensive ones of the Gusu Lan, more on par with the other great sects. He made recommendations for certain sect members who could host lectures - they did have experts on Daoist magic and on the suppression of evil spirits, particularly ones that lived in the mountains, that the other sects might not encounter as frequently. He, better than Nie Mingjue, knew what sects had young masters of about the right age to be interested, and produced a list to send invitations to. Nie Mingjue was a little surprised to see Jin Zixuan on the list, but realized he shouldn’t be. He was the right age, and it would be an enormous insult to exclude him, even though Meng Yao presumably didn’t want his half-brother anywhere near him.
Meng Yao wrote out the invitations and sent them out while Nie Mingjue spoke to his various disciples about hosting lectures and pondered whether or not it would be fair to dump a bunch of soft, spoiled young masters in the mountains for a few days without rations to see how they would fare. He and Lan Xichen exchanged another few letters, Lan Xichen writing about how truthfully, Lan Qiren would not argue with taking a year off from the lectures, which took up so much of his time.
Nie Huaisang, meanwhile, was ecstatic at the concept of not having to go all the way to Gusu and attend a bunch of boring classes. Despite Nie Mingjue telling him multiple times that this was still going to happen, only a year later, Nie Huaisang brushed that off with the ease with which he brushed off everything he didn’t want to hear. Nie Mingjue sometimes wondered how his brother did that, and whether or not it was a skill he should try learning.
Probably, he thought, it was best if he did not.
~ ~ ~ ~
Nie Huaisang could not believe how lucky he was.
He had been dreading Lan Qiren’s lectures for nearly a year, ever since his brother had first mentioned them. The Lan sect was incredibly strict, and Lan Qiren, who Nie Huaisang had met once or twice, was frankly quite terrifying. It would be so much work for, as far as Nie Huaisang could see, absolutely no gain. He had argued with his brother frequently, asking what he expected Nie Huaisang to get out of these lectures. It wasn’t as if he was going to learn anything, he said, which seemed to give Nie Mingjue a tic in his eyebrow.
“Don’t give your brother such a hard time,” Meng Yao told him more than once. “You’re only going to make him angry. The lectures are known for being in-depth and thorough. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot.”
What Meng Yao didn’t say, but Nie Huaisang knew full well, was that Meng Yao would give one or more internal organs to be allowed to attend the prestigious lectures. Sometimes he felt bad for wasting all the opportunities that life gave him, while Meng Yao had to struggle so hard to get anywhere. But then he remembered that, unlike Meng Yao, he had never asked for any of these opportunities. He could educate himself without attending any stuffy lectures. He was already a skilled artist and could recognize any bird in the area at a hundred paces. He certainly wasn’t going to learn that in a classroom. Lately he had been studying Daoist magic and gaining quite a knack for it just by reading old texts in The Unclean Realm’s library. Surely being lectured to by an old man wasn’t going to teach him anything he couldn’t get out of a book.
And although he had looked forward to meeting young masters from other sects, now he would get to do that at his home, play host and show them around. It was going to be a much better time than having to go to Cloud Recesses, where one couldn’t even lift one’s voice without getting a reprimand.
“You’re still going to the lectures in Cloud Recesses,” Nie Mingjue told him. “You’ll just be going a year later. Don’t think you’re getting out of them!”
“Sure, of course,” Nie Huaisang said, plotting a dozen ways to get out of them. One, he thought, was to distract his brother from them. Give him something else to focus on. Plus, he thought, he needed an ally. Someone else who could soften his brother up. Meng Yao was good at it, but in the end he would always bow to Nie Mingjue’s wishes. Nie Huaisang didn’t blame him for that, but it meant he wouldn’t be of any help on this particular topic.
Nie Huaisang had a great idea.
“It’ll be good for you to meet people from other sects!” he said, as if his brother never left The Unclean Realm. “In a more relaxed setting than those cultivation conferences, I mean. All the cultivators coming here - won’t there be some beautiful young ladies among them?”
Nie Mingjue shrugged. “I suppose so.”
Nie Huaisang knew his brother had little interest in marriage. To be fair, Nie Huaisang understood why. From his limited observation, taking a wife involved compromises, something which his brother wasn’t very good at. And finding a wife involved a lot of politics and negotiation, which Nie Mingjue actively avoided. The idea of an arranged marriage made Nie Mingjue uncomfortable. Their father had dearly loved both their mothers, and Nie Mingjue did not want to marry someone he barely knew.
Still, with so many ladies there, surely there would be someone who would suit, Nie Huaisang thought. If his brother was distracted by an impending marriage or a new wife, or even better, a child on the way, he wouldn’t care about the lectures. Besides, once Nie Mingjue had children, then Nie Huaisang was no longer sect heir, a day that could not come soon enough as far as he was concerned.
“Can I see the invitation list?” he asked Meng Yao.
Meng Yao gave him a look that was too polite to be called suspicious, even if Nie Huaisang knew that had to be his underlying emotion. “Of course, Nie-gongzi,” he said, producing it for Nie Huaisang’s review.
Seeing the list, Nie Huaisang frowned. It didn’t do him any good at all. “This is just a list of sects . . .”
Meng Yao smiled patiently. “We would not invite individual young masters, Nie-gongzi. It is not our place. The invitation is issued to the sect and then they would decide who would be best suited and available to attend.”
“Well, when do we find that out?”
Amused despite himself, Meng Yao said, “I would expect the sects to begin responding to the invitations within the next few weeks, although it will probably be at least two months before we have a finalized guest list.”
“So long?” Nie Huaisang pouted. How was he supposed to pick out an ideal wife for his brother if he didn’t even know who was going to be there?
“The lectures are not going to start until the spring, Nie-gongzi,” Meng Yao said. “There’s no rush to get a guest list. We’ll start preparations over the winter, once we have a final list of attendees.”
Nie Huaisang sighed and said, “All right.” He could be patient, after all. He had to stalk birds for days at a time in order to catch them. Surely a wife would need to be weeks or months in the stalking. He would just have to wait and see.
~ ~ ~ ~
Stories of Nie Mingjue, the Red Blade Master, had spread far and wide, and both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were practically going out of their minds to get to The Unclean Realm. Jiang Cheng was, as usual, taking everything way too seriously. He kept reminding the group of disciples that were attending the Nie sect’s lectures that they were representing all of the Yunmeng Jiang, and they had to be on their best behavior. Whenever Wei Wuxian tried to get him to lighten up, Jiang Cheng got annoyed, and as always, Jiang Yanli mediated.
“I wonder why they’re holding lectures this year, though,” Wei Wuxian said thoughtfully, as they looked around for the inn they were staying at before making the last leg of the journey. The river didn’t go this far north, and they would have to make the last day on foot. “Jiang-shushu said they usually didn’t . . .”
Jiang Cheng shrugged. “It’s none of our business, is it? They’re probably just too busy, usually, but decided this year they had time.”
“Fair enough,” Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. He was looking forward to meeting all the young masters from different sects. He loved to make new friends. “I can’t wait to meet everyone else. There’s going to be a lot of people there - young masters from all the different sects. Young maidens, too,” he added, elbowing Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng flushed pink and elbowed back. “Are you going to take this seriously or not?”
“I am taking it seriously. Young maidens are serious business!”
Jiang Yanli laughed gently and said, “He’s right, A-Cheng - since Mother and Father haven’t chosen a bride for you, this would be a good opportunity for you to meet someone.”
“Although whether or not we can find anyone who meets your lengthy list of criteria . . .”
Jiang Cheng scowled. “There’s nothing wrong with my list of criteria!”
“Ah, I see the inn,” Jiang Yanli said, wisely deflecting them off the argument. “Let’s stop and get some rest.”
Things at the inn didn’t go as planned. Even though they had written ahead and reserved rooms, and even sent a reservation fee, the inn had somehow been fully booked. The innkeeper admitted shame-facedly that an ‘important young master’ had come along and insisted on booking the entire place so that he and his retinue could stay. Wei Wuxian resisted the urge to point out that they were important young masters (or at least Jiang Cheng was) and instead focused on the fact that they had been there first. The innkeeper was apologetic, but wouldn’t budge.
Wei Wuxian went to explore while Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng were discussing their options, and came across a few young ladies. His attempts to flirt with them went over about as well as such attempts ever did, and one of them admitted that their retinue wouldn’t fill the entire inn, but their young master had wanted solitude. He persuaded them that they should be allowed to stay and was feeling successful about the whole thing up until the ‘important young master’ arrived and he saw who it was.
In Wei Wuxian’s personal opinion, which he had sadly never been asked for, no man in all of China was worthy to marry Jiang Yanli. His sect sister overflowed with positive qualities. She was kind, gracious, intelligent, hard-working, and the most caring, loving person in the world. How could any man be her match? But she had been promised to Jin Zixuan since before Wei Wuxian had even been adopted into the sect. When they were younger, she had told him stories about the amazing man she was promised to. The first son of the powerful Lanling Jin. A strong cultivator, skilled swordsman, beautiful and proud.
Well, Jin Zixuan was beautiful, that much was true, and as far as Wei Wuxian was concerned, he wasn’t much else positive. He had come to Lotus Pier twice with his family while Wei Wuxian had been in his teens. He was snobbish and arrogant and treated Jiang Yanli like something he had scraped off the bottom of his boot. Only the fear of Yu Ziyuan had kept Wei Wuxian from saying something, and now, well, Yu Ziyuan wasn’t here.
Wei Wuxian had a thing or two to say to Jin Zixuan about his behavior, but before sharp words could turn to sharp swords, Jiang Yanli gently touched Wei Wuxian’s wrist and said, “Come on, A-Xian. Let’s just go. I don’t mind camping out along the way.”
Wei Wuxian wanted to argue, but was basically incapable of arguing with Jiang Yanli, even when it was for her benefit. He gave Jin Zixuan the stink-eye one last time before the other two pulled him out of the inn, and they were on their way.
They did have to camp out that night, which he personally had no problem with but hated making Jiang Yanli do. She was prone to fevers and mild illnesses, and he disliked taking any risks that might make her sick. But there was really nothing else they could do, so he grit his teeth and put up with it rather than upset her. The next day, both he and Jiang Cheng kept a close eye on her, but she seemed fine.
The wall of The Unclean Realm was a massive, breathtaking sight. Wei Wuxian loved Lotus Pier, and thought it was a beautiful place to live, but The Unclean Realm was just frankly impressive on a new level. He knew that the Nie sect had seen their share of warfare, more than they had further south. They clearly took their walls very seriously.
But the gate stood open, as people were expected, and a handful of people were standing there. Most of them were in the Nie sect uniform, but two of them were dressed more nicely than that. They looked about the same age as Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were, and he brightened at the opportunity to meet the first of the other young masters. Jiang Cheng, being the sect heir, introduced himself and Jiang Yanli first, then Wei Wuxian, and then the other disciples.
The young man dressed in cream-colored robes bowed and waved a fan and introduced himself as Nie Huaisang. Surprisingly, he didn’t introduce the other young man he was with, although that might have been because at that point, Jiang Cheng went to produce their invitation and realized he couldn’t find it.
“We must have left it back at the inn,” he said, looking appalled with himself.
“Oh?” Nie Huaisang waved his fan. “Well, that’s all right. It’s really just a formality.”
The other young man gently cleared his throat and said, “Nie-gongzi, it’s a little more than that. The Unclean Realm must be kept secure, and the invitation is how we know that they are who they say they are. We should at least clear it with Nie-zongzhu before we allow them inside.”
“I suppose we do have our share of enemies, haha,” Nie Huaisang said. “All right, Meng Yao, you go check with him then. I’ll wait out here in case anybody else arrives.”
Wei Wuxian gave a slight groan. “It’s all the fault of that Jin Zixuan,” he said, more loudly than he should have.
Meng Yao half-turned, having only taken a few steps away. “I’m sorry, I thought - you’re not from the Jin sect, are you?”
“What? Oh, no,” Wei Wuxian said, realizing he had been overheard. “It’s just that we had reservations at an inn, and we had checked in, but then Jin Zixuan bought out the innkeeper and took the whole place out from underneath us! How arrogant is that? Anyway, we had to leave in a hurry, which is I’m sure how we ended up leaving the invitation behind. So it’s definitely his fault.”
The slightest of smiles twitched at Meng Yao’s mouth, as Jiang Cheng elbowed Wei Wuxian and scolded him for being rude under his breath. “Please don’t worry, Wei-gongzi. I’m sure Nie-zongzhu won’t be too concerned about a simple lost invitation. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Wei Wuxian sulked about it a little, but quickly forgot about Jin Zixuan because Nie Huaisang struck up a conversation with them, talking about how excited he was that they were hosting lectures and how there would be so many people to meet. Wei Wuxian asked some questions about The Unclean Realm, and if Nie Mingjue was really as amazing as he sounded (he absolutely was, according to Nie Huaisang), and they chatted until Meng Yao returned. Wei Wuxian had at this point gathered that he was some sort of assistant, not actually a disciple. It struck him as a little odd, but truthfully he didn’t care enough to question it.
When Meng Yao came back, Nie Mingjue was with him, and he was every inch the impressive man that Wei Wuxian had envisioned. Both he and Jiang Cheng were hard put not to gawk at his broad shoulders and enormous sword. But for all that, Nie Mingjue had a relatively friendly expression on his face, saying that Jiang Fengmian had written to him often about his ‘twin prides of Yunmeng’ and how the two of them clearly measured up. Jiang Cheng flushed bright pink, Wei Wuxian grinned and bumped their shoulders together, and both of them rode that high through the rest of the introductions.
Nie Mingjue bowed to Jiang Yanli, and she curtseyed in return. He frowned slightly and said, “You are a cultivator, are you not? You have a sword.”
“Yes, Nie-zongzhu,” Jiang Yanli said.
“Then you should bow like one. Nobody will think less of you here because you’re a woman.”
Jiang Yanli blushed slightly, and Wei Wuxian wanted to take exception to his rough tone, even though his words were encouraging. But he was stuck on the fact that Jiang Yanli had curtseyed at all, which was frankly unlike her. The Yunmeng Jiang were not at all sexist - they hardly could be with Yu Ziyuan tearing a stripe out of anyone who dared - and Jiang Yanli typically behaved as a cultivator would. Something about Nie Mingjue had sent her into ‘lady’ mode instead of ‘cultivator’ mode which frankly amused Wei Wuxian greatly.
Nobody in the whole of China deserved Jiang Yanli, but Nie Mingjue already appeared to be several levels above Jin Zixuan. Wei Wuxian tried to suppress these thoughts and was unable. Meanwhile, Jiang Yanli bowed, and Nie Mingjue remarked on the beauty of her sword, and Jiang Cheng looked like he was about to pass out from being in the presence of the great Chifeng-Zun.
“I’ll have someone show you to your guest house,” Nie Mingjue said. “You’re actually among the first to arrive.”
Jiang Cheng said, “I imagine most of the sects stayed the night in Yueyang, so they’ll have a longer journey today.”
Nie Mingjue frowned slightly, and Meng Yao interceded with, “There was an issue with their reservations.”
“We didn’t mind camping out, though,” Jiang Cheng said, clearly in a rush to impress Nie Mingjue. “Sleeping on the ground every once in a while is good for the spirit.”
“Indeed,” Nie Mingjue said. They exchanged another round of bows, and then they were led into the city by one of the disciples.
~ ~ ~ ~