Chapter Text
"Jin Guangyao! You're the worst!"
"A-Su, wait a minute. Please hear my explanation, I—"
"I won't listen! I don't want to hear any excuses. If you have someone else in your heart, please do not come to me…" The young maiden said bitterly, tears pooling in her eyes, threatening to overflow.
In front of him, Jin Guangyao desperately tried to salvage the situation. "That's why I said I can explain. There's no such thing as someone else in my heart. A-Su, please calm down and listen to me. The truth is—"
"No need. There's no need to explain. Jin Guangyao, do you really have me in your heart?"
"I do! Maiden Qin, I truly like you. Heaven and Earth can testify."
"Then why did you keep mistaking my favorite things for someone else's?" Qin Su looked at him blankly.
"That…" Jin Guangyao faltered for a moment.
However, when he saw Qin Su’s increasingly sarcastic expression, he gritted his teeth and told the truth. "Those were Wei Wuxian’s! I heard about it from Zewu-Jun!"
"Wei-Gongzi’s?" Qin Su was stunned for a beat.
"Yes, they’re his!"
"You said those are his. You mean, he doesn’t like radish?"
"He dislikes its bland taste."
"He avoids bitter food like mustard greens and bitter gourd?"
"He can eat them but prefers to go without."
"He likes peony flowers and loves to buy them whenever he goes to the market?"
"It’s because peonies are elegant and represent love."
"He can make stuffed animals from scratch?"
"Apparently, yes…"
"He likes to buy gouache and rouge from that certain makeup chain in Qinghe?"
"He… buys them to give… to the ladies?"
"Even though he has married Zewu-Jun? And it was Zewu-Jun who told you this?"
"…Yes."
The more Jin Guangyao replied, the more he realized it all sounded like a bunch of lies. It's funny to imagine Wei Wuxian being so squeamish about food when the man didn’t look like a picky eater at all. It was even more outrageous to think of an eight-foot-tall man liking delicate flowers. Hearing that Wei Wuxian, who had terrorized the Wen cultivators with just the sound of his Dizi, could apparently make a plushie from scratch sounded extremely ludicrous. And the idea that Zewu-Jun would share with others that his spouse liked to purchase rouge and gouache for the ladies was even more unbelievable.
Your story sounds like a fantasy — why don’t you go write one? It’s guaranteed to sell out.
— — That must have been people’s reaction when hearing Jin Guangyao’s recounting.
Qin Su, inevitably, felt the same way.
The more she heard Jin Guangyao's explanation, the more she felt this man was treating her like a fool. Just because he was one of the heroes of the Sunshot Campaign, and had been praised for successfully assassinating Wen Ruohan in the end, did that mean he deserved to underestimate sheltered daughters like Qin Su, who might not know much?
When she thought that Jin Guangyao didn’t take her seriously and might even look down on her, Qin Su felt deeply saddened.
"Pfft… Haha… Ahahaha…" Qin Su laughed mockingly, either at herself or at Jin Guangyao’s feeble excuse.
The maiden had a heartbreaking look in her eyes as she raised a question. "…Lianfang-zun, in your eyes, am I just someone you can marry to secure your position?"
Jin Guangyao’s pupils widened a fraction. "I have never. A-Su, who told you this nonsense? Please do not randomly believe what others say. Tell me, who is trying to destroy our relationship?"
After he found out which bastards wanted to meddle in his business, he'd make a plan to frame them and justifiably massacre their entire family.
"No one specifically told me. I just realized it myself." Qin Su shook her head and continued, "On the contrary, you, Lianfang-zun, how desperate are you to lie? Saying it’s Wei Wuxian’s, and suggesting it was Zewu-jun who told you? Why — because if it were those two people, I wouldn’t be able to confirm it with them? Jin Guangyao, at least give me more plausible reasons."
"That’s the truth! A-Su, why can’t you believe me? I beg you, please—"
Qin Su raised her hand and stood up. "That’s enough…" She took a deep breath and sighed, trying hard not to cry. "I used to think you were unlike other young masters with their elevated egos. That’s why my heart was attracted to you. But it seems I am not the one your heart yearns for. Farewell, Lianfang-zun. We are not compatible…"
If it didn’t happen to you, you wouldn’t understand the pain.
For the first time, Jin Guangyao felt himself to be awfully innocent — telling the truth, yet others still refused to believe him.
He rubbed his face and sighed heavily, plopping back into the seat in the private booth of the Lanling teahouse.
Qin Su had already stormed out, leaving him behind.
For a second, he even had the murderous thought of formulating a plan to kill Lan Xichen.
It was all because of him! Because of his damn bragging mouth! Whoever wanted to hear anything about Wei Wuxian? Jin Guangyao certainly wasn’t interested.
He didn’t care if Wei Wuxian liked spicy food, if he liked the color red, if he liked fish soup with dates on hot days, if he liked apples more than oranges, or if he preferred one style of decoration over another — and so on and so forth. Who the hell cared about it?!
However, Lan Xichen kept sharing everything about his beloved spouse with his two Sworn Brothers — either directly or indirectly, either straightforwardly or in passing, either verbally or in letters! Yes!! That guy even mentioned Wei Wuxian in an official letter, Goddamn it!!
Even so, half of the responsibility actually lay with him.
Jin Guangyao wished he could fix his habit of digging for information. He also wished that Lan Xichen were as taciturn and tight-lipped as Lan Wangji. Unfortunately, neither of them was. He had habitually prompted Lan Xichen to tell him more about his private life, and the other man had inadvertently revealed more about his own and his spouse’s affairs.
Even more unfortunately, Jin Guangyao was someone who could remember even a nobody cultivator’s name. It was literally no hard work for him to memorize everything about Wei Wuxian that Lan Xichen had mentioned in passing.
The bad thing was that, when you remembered too much, you started to confuse someone else’s preferences with another’s.
Somehow, Jin Guangyao wished he were the kind of person who couldn’t give a damn about a nobody’s name — or someone who could selectively bury certain memories in his mind. And yet again, unfortunately, he wasn’t.
When he went back to Jinlintai, Jin Guangyao was greeted by a Jin cultivator who worked under his command.
"Lianfang-zun."
Jin Guangyao smiled warmly at him, looking like someone who hadn’t just entertained murderous thoughts about another Sect Leader, or contemplated framing and slaughtering an entire sect that dared to interfere with his plans. "Thank you for your hard work today."
The subordinate saluted in return and reported, "There is a letter from Gusu."
"Throw it away," Jin Guangyao replied almost immediately.
"Understood… Huh??" The subordinate looked up, bewildered.
Jin Guangyao, however, was closing his eyes, taking a deep breath —
Don't just throw it away.
Rip it off.
Burn it to ash.
Feed it to a Turtle.
Throw the Turtle into the Eastern Sea.
Feed the Turtle to the Shark there or something.
Anything's fine, just don't give it to me!
…Or so Jin Guangyao wished he could say in this situation.
In the end, he could only smile and said, "My apologies, I must have heard it wrong. You said it was a letter from Gusu? If so, please put it in my study first. I will look at it later."
"…I understand."
At this time, another Jin Cultivator came and reported, "Lianfang-Zun, someone is here to see you."
Jin Guangyao snapped, "Is it also a certain Sect Leader from Gusu?!"
"Uh...? No??"
"So it isn't." Jin Guangyao smiled genially once again. "What's the matter? Who is it?"
"It's Madam Qin".
"Madam...Qin?" Jin Guangyao was startled.
"Madam Qin, welcome to Lanling. I'm truly sorry — I have just heard about your arrival and haven't prepared anything yet. However, is there anything I can help you with?" Jin Guangyao greeted the middle-aged woman, who still looked rather youthful despite her age.
They were currently sitting in another private chamber, as per Madam Qin’s request. There were no other people nearby aside from the two of them.
"Lianfang-zun. I'm here on behalf of my daughter…"
"Maiden Qin?" Jin Guangyao was surprised. "What happened to her?"
"It should be me who needs to ask you this. Lianfang-zun, what have you done to my daughter?!" the madam questioned him hysterically.
"No… please calm down first, Madam. I didn’t do anything to her."
"Just because you said you didn’t do anything to her, do you expect me to believe you?!"
Jin Guangyao, "…"
This firm denial of his truthful claim — why did it feel like déjà vu?
Her eyes looked erratic as the madam continued to press, "Jin Guangyao, you didn’t directly deceive her into your bed, did you? Why did my A-Su return crying in such a desolate state? No matter how I asked her, she refused to tell me anything."
"There’s no such thing. Madam, you can check Maiden Qin yourself — we haven’t done anything out of line."
"Check her? Do you mean I have to ask some midwife to put her through such a humiliating experience?!"
"That’s not what I mean… Just ask Maiden Qin, and I can assure you she will give you an honest account."
"You mean I have to listen to her words?" Madam Qin laughed bitterly. "After what happened to me, how can I fully believe what a woman will say to protect herself?"
Jin Guangyao frowned. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that you’d better say it honestly! She is your half-sister! Are you satisfied?!"
"My… what?"
"Wei-Gongzi,"
"Umm?"
Wei Wuxian was still busy tinkering with their recently modified teleportation rune, trying to refine it for more advanced use.
Just like back then — at first, he had reversed the House Protection Talisman into the Evil Attraction Talisman. However, the more he researched it, the further he advanced its applications.
From a mere talisman with limited range and function, it developed into a set of Zhao Yin Flags with detailed and extensive uses.
Lan Xichen took a peek at his work and subconsciously smiled.
Wei Wuxian was outgoing by nature, but there were times when he looked extremely focused and serious — usually when he was researching something that interested him. During such times, the young man could even seclude himself for days or weeks, with little contact with outsiders.
At first, Lan Xichen was quite worried about this habit. However, after some time, he realized it was just another side of Wei Wuxian that most people likely never knew about. Just as Lan Xichen himself felt gratification from painting, Wei Wuxian, too, felt proud of his own research.
Perhaps if he had a cave where he could experiment freely, he would excitedly bring Lan Wangji there and introduce his workplace to him.
It wasn’t that he was arrogant or showing off his ability. He simply took pride in his passion and didn’t bother to be modest about it. Lan Xichen felt this side of him was somehow endearing. Perhaps because too much modesty often led to hypocrisy, a straightforward personality could sometimes be reassuring — something Lan Xichen hadn’t even realized until he became involved with Wei Wuxian himself.
Perhaps that was the reason he had often encouraged Lan Wangji back then to stop acting duplicitously and approach the teen as he wished. Because if Lan Xichen himself hadn’t appreciated Wei Wuxian as a person, it would have been impossible for him to let his younger brother associate with such an individual.
Wei Wuxian didn’t hear Lan Xichen’s answer for quite a while and raised his head.
He saw Lan Xichen sitting in a daze, his hand absentmindedly combing through Wei Wuxian’s hair and pulling stray strands away from his face so they wouldn’t disrupt his focus.
"Zewu-Jun? What’s the matter?"
"Huh?" Lan Xichen blinked. "Oh, nothing much. It’s just that there are some gifts sent to you."
"Gifts?"
"Yes."
"Sent for me?"
"It is."
Wei Wuxian was surprised. At first, he wondered if it was Lan Wangji who had given him more gifts. However, lately, after his confession, their Hanguang-Jun had become even bolder. If Hanguang-Jun wanted to give him something, he would send it directly to Wei Wuxian in person. The most important thing was not sending the gift, but meeting his sweetheart!
He thought for a while and understood. "Ahh… it should be from Yunmeng, right? Did my Shijie send me more jars of spicy pickles?"
It was autumn, and most people would start storing vegetables for winter provisions. The cooks in the Lan Clan also prepared pickled vegetables; however, their style was quite different from Hunan cuisine.
In Yunmeng, spicy and sour food was extremely suitable for the cold winter. Wei Wuxian liked those pickles the most. After his marriage to Lan Xichen, the Lan Sect became officially related to Yunmeng Jiang. The two sects started to engage in more business deals. As a result, the transportation and delivery channels between the two regions were developed and enhanced.
Now, it was easier for Wei Wuxian to randomly send things he found amusing to Yunmeng, or for Jiang Yanli to share some Hunan specialties that Wei Wuxian was unable to get in Gusu.
"Unfortunately, it isn't."
"Not from Yunmeng?" Wei Wuxian had a suspicious look on his face. "I don’t think I have anyone who would take the trouble of sending me gifts. It shouldn’t be from some random sects again, right?"
"Why do you think some random sects would send you gifts?"
"So that I can put in a few good words for them in front of you? Haven’t there been quite a few gifts before?"
Lan Xichen laughed as he recalled that such things really did happen. Especially after the hunt at Baifeng Mountain, the gifts sent to Wei Wuxian from random sects suddenly increased exponentially. After all, during that hunt, they finally saw how much importance Wei Wuxian held in Lan Xichen’s eyes and, consequently, his current influence within the Lan Sect itself.
Previously, the female portion of the crowd admired Wei Wuxian and didn’t hide their fascination. The male portion, on the contrary, no matter how powerful or infamous Wei Wuxian’s reputation was, treated him with more fear than respect. Rather, it was dreadful for them to think someone like him actually possessed such ability.
That said, everything became different after they saw Wei Wuxian’s current situation.
As the ancestors said, it is not uncommon for people to flatter the rich and despise the poor.
It was unacceptable for a mere subordinate to hold so much power. However, if someone treated as important by a major sect possessed such ability, it became something to be praised and flattered.
"Well… there are indeed new gifts from some Sects. But there is also quite a hefty batch of gifts here from someone else. Let’s stop the guessing game; I’ll just say it. It’s from my Third Brother, Jin Guangyao."
Wei Wuxian raised his brows. "Jin Guangyao? Lianfang-Zun?"
Lan Xichen showed him the letter attached to them. "He said that if you have time someday, he would like to invite you to dine in Qinghe."
He thought for a while and added, "You can accept the invitation, and I don’t think he will openly plan anything. But considering his past record, just to be safe, let’s go with either me or Wangji."
Wei Wuxian laughed. "Will he also bring Chifeng-zun to attend the invitation and join forces with him to warn me or something?"
Lan Xichen was surprised. "What would they have to warn you about?"
"No, it’s just that your two Sworn Brothers seemed to give me weird looks whenever they saw me. Chifeng-Zun gave me one during our wedding, and also when he saw us at Baifeng Mountain."
"Da-Ge has?" Lan Xichen thought about it, but he couldn’t remember ever seeing Nie Mingjue giving any particular stare to Wei Wuxian.
"As for Lianfang-Zun, the last time he visited here to discuss things with you, I happened to pass by him at the front gate, and he greeted me, ‘Wei-gongzi, are you going to have grilled stinky tofu from the Hunan restaurant in Caiyi Town again?’ I was surprised, because that day was indeed the day of the week when the restaurant would have spicy grilled stinky tofu on their menu… Was he making fun of me?"
"…Oh." Lan Xichen silently shut his mouth.
…That, he might actually understand what was going on.
The Lan Sect Leader looked away guiltily. He was the one responsible for shoving all kinds of miscellaneous information about Wei Wuxian onto his two sworn brothers. As a result, whenever they met Wei Wuxian, they must have been reminded of those random trivialities.
"Forget about it. They don’t really have anything to say to you. Even if they did, what could they do to you? After all, even if you didn’t wear clothes, others wouldn’t be able to do anything to you." Lan Xichen tried to flatter his husband and divert his attention.
Wei Wuxian, "…"
Being reminded of his past careless remarks was a bit embarrassing—especially coming from someone who had successfully done 'quite a lot of things' to him when he had no clothes on.
Lan Xichen pulled him closer and took out another scroll, "Here, here, let’s look at the gift list instead."
Wei Wuxian obediently followed the distraction. He took the long list of gifts from Lan Xichen and smacked his lips. As expected of the LanlingJin—they were so rich that even their casual gifts rivaled the total amount of gifts those random sects had sent him before.
"Why did he suddenly think to send me gifts? I don’t think there’s any celebration that would require congratulatory gifts." He looked at Lan Xichen doubtfully and asked, "You didn’t misspell the notice sent to him, did you?"
Lan Xichen, "Hmm? What do you mean?"
Wei Wuxian grinned, "Misspelling the words 'I have a Treasure(宝贝)', into 'I have a Baby (宝宝)'? That's why he sent such hefty gifts to congratulate us"
Lan Xichen hesitated. "That… I don’t think I would have misspelled it…"
However, if that wasn’t the case, why had Jin Guangyao suddenly sent Wei Wuxian so many gifts?
Jin Guangyao in Lanling,
"If it weren’t for Wei Wuxian occupying my whole mind, I would have already rolled in the sheets with my half-sister. I hate to admit it, but I owe you this one. That being said, stop telling me your private matters! At this rate, I’ll still have difficulties even on my future blind dates!"