Work Text:
Unexpected
A Harmony is the Value One-Shot
By Sif Shadowheart
New Paths
Cloud Recesses, One Year Later:
Wen Xu let out a breath of relief as he left the confines of the Cloud Recesses behind him. His friends were clustered around him, at least those among his cohort from Nevernight who had been allowed to attend the Lan Lectures with him. All of them were ecstatic for an escape from the stuffy - if beautiful - confines of the Cloud Recesses.
It wasn’t for long, all the guest disciples who chose to leave had to be back at the stronghold of the Gusu Lan by the infamous Lan curfew of nine before the gates closed for the night, but for a few hours they were all free. And after a month trapped under the stifling and endless rules of the Cloud Recesses, it was a freedom dearly desired. The Cloud Recesses themselves were beautiful and contained a clear, pure energy - it was the rule-bound and austere Lan that were the problem, as Wen Xu and most of his people were far more actively inclined than was ideal in such a place.
Perhaps the only person among his own cohort who wasn’t struggling - and had likewise chosen to stay and study in peace - was his scholarly cousin Wen Zemin, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. While the rest of their cohort and, honestly, most of the guest disciples would either slack off or practice their swordwork or archery during their free time, his cousin could be found burrowed into the stacks of the Lan library - at least, those areas guests were allowed to access. Wen Zemin was a distant cousin though, one more closely related to their Dafan branch than the mainline, so his quirks were normal for him.
From his perspective, neither Wen Xu’s stifled energies nor his cousin’s own enjoyment were a surprise since coming to the confines of the Gusu Lan stronghold.
Not like their attendance at Cloud Recesses in the first place had been.
He’d been outright shocked when his father, the venerable Sect Leader of the Qishan Wen, Wen Ruohan, had accepted an invitation on Wen Xu’s behalf for the latest round of the Gusu Lan Lectures. For good reason. There hadn’t been a member of the Wen sect who had attended a lecture series - in any subject, not just their “finishing school” for the gentry - since his father had taken over the sect.
There was little, or so it was assumed, that the Gusu Lan could teach the mighty Qishan Wen - though his more scholarly relatives did covet their library.
Tucked up safe and high on their mountain and looking down on everyone else who didn’t abide by their ridiculous rules, it was the considered opinion of just about everyone Wen Xu knew, that the Lan Clan were both joyless and self-righteous.
At least the Nie could be entertaining, when they chose to climb down off of their high horses and join the rest of the world in reality.
It was more than anyone could say about the Lan.
But, his father had been clear in his orders: not only was his eldest son and heir to attend the Gusu Lectures, he was to distinguish himself there. If a member of the Wen - or more than one, as Wen Xu couldn’t come without at least some of his cohort - was to do such a seemingly pointless thing as be lectured at for a year by the Gusu Lan pedants, then they would also have to excel at it. Not that it would be that difficult. Nothing in the month that Lan-xiansheng had been teaching the guest disciples at Cloud Recesses was unfamiliar to Wen Xu, even if he found the recitation - and testing on - their three thousand rules both ludicrous and mind-numbing.
However, there was a purpose for his presence at the Cloud Recesses - and it was one potentially far more worthwhile than simply shining a light on Nie Mingjue’s blunt-instrument mentality the other heir exemplified at anything other than sparring in front of a different audience than the usual attendees of discussion conferences.
“The Cloud Recesses have access to a resource far more valuable than gold, Xu-er. While you are studying there, your sect leader has arranged for you to share that access…”
And, indeed, Wei Changze was a treasure, just as Wen Ruohan had believed him to be.
“A rogue cultivator? A renunciator?”
“The only person alive to have gleaned knowledge from the Immortal Baoshan Sanren, albeit second-hand through his wife…”
There were only a handful of students taking tutelage directly from the serene form of Wei Changze, and to his surprise, his fellow heir in Nie Mingjue wasn’t one of them as status tended to weigh heavily on the scales of worth when it came to such matters. He could only assume that the Nie saw no need for their hammer-like heir to strain himself in attempts to see the world around him as anything but full of nails. Also to no surprise, it took his cousin less than a week to squirm his way into them. Both of which were just fine with Wen Xu. The less time being glared at and having to deal with Nie Mingjue’s temper and his cousin’s grievances regarding “station” as a blockage to learning, the better.
Wei Changze taught advanced talismanic and arrayal arts to a select group, and Wen Xu had heard rumors - not that the Lan would deign to call it that - that he also took on students in other areas as well. And that was what had kept Wen Xu attentive and on his best behavior, no matter how much the drone of Lan-xiansheng’s voice made him wish for oblivion. (That Zemin-tangdi would murder him if Wen Xu screwed this opportunity up for him was neither here-nor-there.)
According to his father, watching Zangse Sanren in action was where he’d gotten some of his own ideas regarding qi manipulation, but she’d always refused to teach anyone, well, anything really.
Wei Changze, and maybe their children if they’d really learned anything from their mother before she died (which was doubtful), were the best chance Wen Xu had to impress his father and cement his place as not just his father’s heir but also a worthy successor to the Wen Sect.
Wei Changze was a cautious, discerning man however, and thus far all attempts at anything more advanced than his prepared classes on talismanry had been politely rebuffed.
Ah well.
He had time, another eleven months of it, to wear him down.
For the moment, however, Wen Xu was determined to enjoy his reprieve from the stifling aura of the Cloud Recesses and see what entertainments Caiyi Town had to offer.
Worries of living up to the Wen name and his father’s example would wait for another day.
A meal with actual spice and flavor - nothing compared to what could be found elsewhere, but still far better than the bitter and bland diet of the Cloud Recesses - and several jars of excellent wine shared between them, and Wen Xu was feeling much improved.
Improved enough that while his friends decided to see what passed for entertainment in the town that saw most of their custom from the ascetic Lans, Wen Xu decided to explore on his own. Gusu was different from Qishan, and in more than climate and food. Tall lush trees and towering waterfalls made for a lovely view even in autumn, if a cold one, which was quite different from his humid home.
His purse grew a little lighter as, pleased with the meal and wine, Wen Xu found himself spending a little more coin than he normally would at the market stalls.
Say what one liked about the Gusu Lan, they did tend to keep a peaceful region and as a result many artisans had set up shop at the base of their mountain, even if many of their wares ended up sold farther away than Caiyi or the Cloud Recesses itself.
Being Gusu, much of what was readily available were either paper products such as books, talisman paper or stationary, or scrolls; for the musically inclined such as instruments; or were made of jade.
The Jin liked to boast of their precious metal mines, but everyone knew that the finest quality and highest grade of jade came from Gusu.
Eventually Wen Xu wandered away from the marketplace, letting his feet lead him towards the forest and its lack of people.
If there was one thing that Wen Xu genuinely appreciated about Gusu, it was that his occasional wish for isolation was far easier to achieve than in Qishan where he was under scrutiny almost every moment of every day.
Wen Xu wandered onward into the forest, his qi calm and at ease in the spiritually serene and rich environs of the Gusu mountains.
It was a beautiful land, that much was true, even if the sect that lorded over it left something to be desired.
His feet eventually led him to a secluded forest grotto, with a small waterfall tumbling over a crescent of cliffs that backed the grotto and secluded it from the rest of the forest. The small pool at the base of the cliffs was the misty blue-green color Wen Xu knew meant it was ice cold and fed by runoff from the snowy mountains, and was only a small slowing point on the path of the stream that Wen Xu had been following. The grotto was sheltered by long draperies of moss hanging from the forest giants that loomed overhead, more moss softening the ground where nothing else could compete in the heavy shade of the trees. But nearest the pool and the jut of the cliffs that broke the treeline before the forest continued, were a few feet of growth taking root in the rich soil and fed by the pool and stream.
The natural qi of the spiritually-rich mountains, forest, and streams were condensed in the hidden forest grotto, Wen Xu closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as the purity of the land and nature washed over him.
Pleased with his find, but aware that he was running out of time before curfew, Wen Xu marked the location before unsheathing his sword and taking to the air to rejoin his companions and return to the Cloud Recesses.
“That’s great, a’Yao.” Wei Yuexia praised her newest brother as the sweet-faced boy moved with a patience that a’Ying didn’t have an ounce of within his entire being through the Tai-Chi-like moving meditation that their Zhuliu-ge favored. And the praise wasn’t without merit.
Though their a’Yao had come to cultivation later than either of the Wei blood-siblings, he was definitely living up to his reputation as an intellectual prodigy. No matter what theory Yuexia, or their father or Zhuliu-ge threw at a’Yao, he picked it up at a speed that was honestly impressive and inline with a’Ying’s own. Where he struggled, (for a meaning of struggled, anyway, which from her perspective just meant that he didn’t just snap his fingers and succeed) was in application.
Which was where the prodigiousness of her little brothers diverged, much like a’Huan and a’Zhan.
Neither a’Ying or a’Zhan struggled when it came to either theory or application, both of them were prodigious monsters in an all-around package.
a’Huan, and now a’Yao, were both equally if not potentially more intelligent in a raw fashion than either of the younger boys, able to pick up some theory or book-learning concepts faster, but they conversely had to work harder when it came to applying it.
Which, honestly, was enough to give a girl a complex surrounded by such monsters of cultivation.
Well, it would if Yuexia wasn’t already secure in herself and what she wanted.
None of which was to stand toe-to-toe with the Twin Jades of Lan, or the Yiling Patriarch, or Lianfeng-zun despite the fact that none of the boys had those titles yet.
(Nor would they ever in the case of a’Ying’s would-be title if Yuexia had anything to say about it, and she intended to have everything to say about it.)
Her path was a different one than being showered in glory and accolades by cultivation society and earning lofty titles.
Yuexia’s job was to forge the path for her brothers to walk behind her, so that they could blaze bright and true and have all the opportunities this world had to offer with as few hindrances as she could manage.
No matter what form those hindrances might take.
She’d never expected what would come out of unloading - if only a portion - part of her truth onto her father’s shoulders, or just how fucking pragmatic Wei Changze was. Yuexia had seen shades of it over the years. How their a’Die had arranged to have them become friends with the future Twin Jades. How he’d used his friendships with highly-placed nobles like Lan Qiren and Jiang Fengmian to their benefit. Even his collusion - now that Yuexia was aware of it, she saw more of it in the background of her memories - with Yu Ziyuan.
All of that wasn’t unexpected from Wei Changze.
For him to be onboard with her plan to get Meng Yao out of Yunping and from under his mother’s influence before that besotted idiot could destroy him?
That she hadn’t planned for when she’d realized that she was dipping too close to premeditated cold-blooded murder for her preference.
Because if she couldn’t bring herself to kill Meng Yao before he truly started morphing into an amoral sociopathic mastermind, then she had to try and save him instead.
He was simply too big of a potential threat to leave alone.
Especially since of the threats to her precious didi and wider family, Meng Yao was the only one unprotected now that she was old and skilled enough to start trying to really work to avoid the worst future this world had in store for those she loved.
Not being able to do much was different than not being able to do anything at all, as her poking around at Lotus Pier and her nudges towards the Lan brothers had proved over the years, to say nothing of snagging herself a Zhuliu-ge and keeping the Wens from having their Core Melting Hand.
Honestly, compared to outright murder, a bit of arson and manipulation was nothing in the grand scheme of things.
And really: one less brothel and a destitute madame was a plus to Yuexia once she and her a’Die settled on a solution after Meng Shi refused to allow Wei Changze to outright adopt her son.
Delusional.
The woman was honestly, earnestly, delusional with how she still believed that Jin Guangshan was ever going to free her or acknowledge their son, let alone take Meng Yao into Jinlintai or bring him into the line of succession.
People can break when their expectations don't measure up to reality.
Yuexia knew that.
Add in trauma and abuse, and it wasn’t that surprising that Meng Shi wasn’t quite sane.
But how that woman imposed her faulty expectations and delusions onto her son was a recipe for disaster, and neither Yuexia nor Wei Changze once Yuexia sketched out an overview of some of the paths Meng Shi’s plan for her son would take, could let it continue.
Yuexia had a grown woman’s understanding of how shitty this world was to it’s women, the ability to manipulate qi, and zero fucks to give when it came to the dark side of “red lantern” (sex work, by any other name) businesses.
Sure, some red lantern houses took care of their workers. They didn’t steal women and children off the streets and press them into an indenture - slavery, it was slavery but slavery wasn’t legal, ergo - or set the price of their freedom from their debt so high it was unachievable. They didn’t allow illegal or immoral acts such as catering to clients who had perverse tastes such as for too-young flesh.
Some, but realistically, far too few weren’t as bad as they could be both under the law and social norms.
The red lantern that owned Meng Shi was not one of the better options.
Oh, it was an expensive, high-class house.
Anything less likely wouldn’t have drawn Jin Guangshan’s open patronage.
But Meng Shi and the other women were slaves in all but name to the brothel owner, the madame who ran the house for the owner was corrupt and more of their earnings lined her pockets than went towards their “debt”, and the women themselves were vicious from what Yuexia observed from the shadows.
Under a stack of concealment and secrecy and privacy talismans that her father set on her before he let her set out with Zhao Zhuliu to handle the situation a month after he returned to their Yunping inn empty handed due to Meng Shi’s refusal of his offer to either foster or flat-out adopt her son.
Which meant that the nice method of handling the Meng Yao issue had failed, and Wei Changze acquiesced to Yuexia’s not-so-nice method.
It had required bringing Zhao Zhuliu into the secret of Yuexia’s “foresight” but it was worth it as far as she was concerned. Especially since Zhuliu-ge had always known that she saw far more than she should as a child. She hadn’t exactly pulled her punches when it came to convincing him to stay after Zangse Sanren’s death, and being known as a “mature” girl for her age only got her so far.
Bringing him into the secret with herself and her father was like watching a lightbulb go off behind Zhuliu-ge’s eyes.
That ah hah moment where the things he’d thought and observed about her coalesced into actual clarity.
Carefully manipulated clarity, like what had happened with Wei Changze, since she wasn’t coming out of the transmigrator closet ever, but as much clarity as she could give anyone at all when it came to her origins and what she knew or could assume about the world around her.
One burned down brothel - with a lack of casualties, even if her darker impulses insisted that a couple deaths wouldn’t have been a great loss depending on which ones they were - and with it all the contracts that held the workers and voila: one freed Meng Shi.
That the woman proved to be a fucking idiot who wanted to travel to Jinlintai and reunite with her beloved a’Shan…that was not Yuexia’s problem.
Keeping her from dragging a’Yao along with her was the next step, and thankfully her friend Sisi had more brains and a stronger grip on reality than Meng Shi had probably ever possessed.
Yuexia gave Meng Shi enough silver from the cache she’d, ah, appropriated from the brothel before she burned it down, to make it from Caiyi to Jinlintai and back several times before leaving with her son and friend for home escorted by Zhuliu-ge.
She wasn’t shocked that Meng Shi never returned.
Whether she was genuinely killed by bandits on the road or was assassinated by - honestly, it could be anyone - someone from the Jin Sect to keep her from being an insistent embarrassment to the sect, Yuexia didn’t know.
They may very well never know unless someone from Lanling Jin cops to the crime, but Yuexia didn’t see that as likely.
Sisi had no problem with pretending at being Zhuliu-ge’s long-lost sister and slotting into life in Caiyi as a seamstress, and helped massively in convincing a’Yao that being adopted by Wei Changze and his family wasn’t being unfilial to his mother.
Helped along by the fact that Meng Shi had never explicitly told Meng Yao who his father was, likely saving that for when he was older and ready to be “presented” to Jin Guangshan on a day that would never come.
Wei Yuexia would’ve thought that Meng Shi knew enough about the world to know better than to try and cause problems for a sect leader, but apparently not. Her rose-tinted glasses had kept her well-stocked in her delusions right up until they killed her. Or got her killed. Either way.
They added a’Yao to their family register as Wei Yao, the adopted son of Wei Changze, and that was that.
Yuexia had a new didi, a’Ying acquired a gege, and life continued on.
“Last set, and then you two can go play.” Yuexia announced after watching her younger brothers for another few moments, a’Ying cheering and a’Yao giving one of his soft smiles, the pair quickly making plans involving getting sword training out of Zhuliu-ge and bothering Sisi-jie for sweets.
Which was as it should be.
Yuexia could use some time to herself, even if it meant tracking down one of the new rabbits that she’d added to their farmstead using part of the bounty she’d helped herself to in Yunping.
Silly creatures.
Sweet, with soft and densely-warm wool that once she processed and spun it post-shearing would fetch her a pretty penny in the cool climate of Gusu, the wool-rabbits were an investment more than a pet. The same as the addition of ducks for both eggs and meat. But the bunnies tended to wander farther into the forest in search of the sweetest grasses than their goats or chickens or ducks, the silly things.
Thankfully, Wei Changze had long since perfected the protection talisman they used to keep their animals safe from predators in the forest, as well as the fence/barrier ones that kept them from getting completely lost, but Yuexia still ended up having to hunt down one of the bunnies at least a couple times a week.
Oh well.
With how busy her training had gotten since forming her golden core, and the toll the secrecy surrounding Wei Ying’s core formation had taken over the past year, she didn’t mind the chance for a quiet wander every now and again.
Once a’Zhan formed his core, it wouldn’t be suspicious if a’Ying “formed” his own and they could stop with the secrecy - but in the meantime, not even Zhuliu-ge or a’Yao knew about a’Ying’s core and it weighed on all of them to keep it secret from even their own family let alone their closest friends.
Freeing the didis from their moving meditation practice, Wei Yuexia picked up her walking stick from where it was kept next to the door of their cottage, and then strode off into the woods, following the slight tug of the talisman on the most mischievous of her bunnies.
If she’d named it Yingying because of that, well, her brother only had himself to blame for being such a prankster at times.
At least a’Yao was more than able to hold his own.
So there was that.
Ten days after his first foray into the forests surrounding Caiyi, Wen Xu found himself once more making his way into the serene grotto he’d noted.
Tolerating the icy, haughty attitudes of the Lan was grating against his person and the social niceties he’d been taught from the cradle. The Lan used their thousands of rules as an excuse for rude, arrogant behavior. Some Lan were tolerable and even genial, but more often than not their stone faces were merely a cover for their holier-than-thou beliefs.
As before, he’d enjoyed a flavorful meal with his cohort before splitting off.
It was a truth, unfortunate or otherwise, that as his father’s eldest son Wen Xu had no choice but to uphold a certain standard of behavior and expectation. It would have been seen as unseemly and disagreeable of him to simply abandon his fellow Wen disciples at the Cloud Recesses or Caiyi in order to spend time alone. When he was older and more established, such a thing would be overlooked or excused - but as a junior, even as the son of Wen Ruohan, he had to bow to convention at least in some respects.
There was a fine line between upholding the status of the Qishan Wen as the foremost cultivation clan of the Jianghu and drawing unnecessary censure regarding his father’s ability to control and educate his sons.
A bit of haughtiness was expected.
Too much was not.
It was finding that balance between his own preferences and the overarching expectations of both father, clan, and society as a whole that was the struggle of every highborn son.
There were times, such as now, when Wen Xu needed to shuck off those expectations and simply allow himself to be.
In this case, to move through his favorite series of spear forms at a tenth of his normal speed, taking what was regularly a function of combat training and turning it into a private - and personal - form of meditation as his qi rose and fell perfectly in tune with his achingly slow and controlled movements.
In that secluded grotto with nothing but his spear in his hand and no one to play or pander to, Wen Xu could simply be.
Right up until he felt a nudge to his foot as he held a particular stance to the point that he could feel the ache and strain of his body being pushed beyond its limits.
Blowing out his breath as he released and felt the lassitude - and strengthened core - of a truly excellent practice, Wen Xu glanced down as he relaxed into his normal standing posture and arched a brow at what he found that had broken him out of his focused concentration.
“Well now,” he huffed a bit of a laugh, squatting and enjoying the flex and burn of well-worked muscles. “How did you come to be here, hmm?”
New Acquaintances
Wen Xu noted the strip of leather tied neatly around the fluffy rabbit’s neck even as he picked it up and cradled it in his hands with care, his spear held easily in the crook of his arm as he investigated the fearless creature who had interrupted his practice and meditations.
It was clearly a domesticated breed. The pure-white coloring of its fur and lack of staining on the same shouted the fact even if the collar around its neck did not. No wild creature remained so pristine, and given that it was pristine - for a measure of the word given that it was out wandering the forest rather than cosseted in a hutch on someone’s property - it was likely either a well-beloved pet or a prized creature raised for the quality of its coat, or both.
As his father’s heir, Wen Xu knew a thing or two about trade and one of the most expensive trades that people engaged in whether highborn or low was that of textiles and dyes.
Given the location of Nevernight, the Wen Clan had little cause to trade in furs or woolens to weather winter chills. Few clans did much travel in the winter outside of the most temperate regions such as Yunmeng Jiang. But when the Wen did have to venture outside of their volcanic home during the coldest parts of the year, the main family did so the same as always: in the finest materials available. Which in winter meant both relatively local fur and fine woolens from the West, to the point that Wen Xu could recognize either even when the fur was as-yet attached to the living animal.
The pure white bunny in his hands was one such textile animal, though he didn’t know enough of the process to know if it was a purely leather-fur hide livestock or one that was raised for wool like sheep or the shaggy goats of the traders from the west.
Running one finger under the collar, Wen Xu cocked his head a bit to the side to try and make out the stitching that presumably would indicate ownership of such a fine animal, only to find himself staring with some incredulity at talismanry embroidered onto an animal’s collar.
What the-?
“Yingying tends to wander.” A sweet, young voice interrupted his thoughts before he could be utterly bogged down in bafflement, Wen Xu lifting his head towards it to find himself staring at who at first glance appeared to be a peasant girl - if the person looking was a shallow idiot, anyway.
The voice and language, to start with, were far too fine and formal for even the most well-educated civilian peasant. Which was the major tell that the girl was no average farmgirl searching out a troublesome animal, but was far from the only one. Even discarding other material indicators such as the weave of her clothes being finer than a farmer could afford, or the well-turned and polished walking stick in her hand that was no regular pine or even cedar as would be expected from something harvested out of the Gusu forests.
Her skin was far too perfect, with the porcelain smoothness that only cultivators possessing a golden core could manage, to say nothing of the milky tone that would be outlandish to see on any peasant expected to work under the sun.
The girl’s features were good too: high cheekbones, wide eyes in a rare deep blue, and a thick, heavy mane of hair tied back in a braid as thick as his wrist that shone with health and care that spoke to regular, nutritious meals.
If she was a peasant girl, she was the oddest one Wen Xu had ever seen in his seventeen years of life, and as a working sect cultivator he’d seen his share since his father started taking him on nighthunts when he was twelve and had bonded with his sword.
“Thanking the young master for being gentle with him.” She continued, though she moved no closer to him than the edge of the trees - smart, given that she didn’t know him from the gods. “Might this one ask the young master’s name to know whom to properly thank?”
Not that Yuexia couldn’t make a pretty accurate guess, given the quality of the teenager’s robes and the distinctive sun motifs - wide borders of sun motifs in brilliant crimson at that - that shouted Rank! and Wealth! for all the world to see. Add in the new crop of guest disciples for Lan Qiren to browbeat, and who was expected to be among them… And yeah.
Yuexia knew who the spear-wielding rich teenager cuddling her most mischievous farm animal was.
Still.
No need to not be polite and courteous, especially when there hadn’t really been any traction on the potential aggressions of the Wen Clan that might lead to a war - not yet.
And as one of her main life goals in the pursuit of having a life in the first place was avoiding the Sunshot Campaign fullstop, that yet was a distinction that really fucking mattered.
“This one is Wen Xurong,” the teen introduced himself - and, heh, called it, even if the courtesy name was new information - “Young Master Wen. May this one ask for the young miss’s name in return?”
Yuexia dipped into a formal bow of the precise depth expected towards the heir of a great sect from a younger female rogue cultivator.
Which was different than if she’d been either: a mundane civilian of various ranks, a sect disciple, or the member of a clan branch family, or a member of various ranks of a main family.
Etiquette, she was of the decided opinion, was both complex and a gigantic pain in her ass thanks to the Ancient Fantasy China-adjacent, low-magic setting, probably-a-different-dimension-altogether reality she was living in.
Given that the wrong degree of formality could make the difference between being polite but neither brownnosing or hostile, courtesy was one of the most important tools in navigating the world for her and her family. They didn’t have the status of a main gentry family to ignore etiquette without too many consequences for rudeness. But in contrast, they weren’t so low on the scales of importance for others to shrug off any lapses as ignorance like they might do for civilian peasantry.
It was a horrible and frustrating reality that they were in the worst possible position when it came to adherence to etiquette and courtesy: that of having to be exquisite and precise with their manners, lest they risk running head-first into all sorts of faux pas - and the consequences thereof.
Yuexia hated it with a passion normally reserved for poorly-plotted literature and miscommunication tropes - this living in a time and place and culture with more rules of polite behavior than a Regency ballroom thing - but que sera sera.
With reincarnation in play, there were far worse realities and lives she could’ve been dropped into - at least it wasn’t Game of Thrones.
Fantasy medieval Europe was so much fucking worse than Ancient Fantasy China adjacent.
At least the latter had a more-than-decent grasp on things like cleanliness and literacy, even if the latter was more the province of men than women among the majority of the populace.
And in the particular case of MDZS, there wasn’t an Emperor running around somewhere despite an off-hand comment from the “creator” during an interview Yuexia vaguely recalled in her first life. Which made more sense than the counter. After all: Wen Ruohan. Or even Yu Ziyuan. Neither of them were personalities that would’ve been content with a mundane civilian of any potential rank having power over them, let alone an emperor.
If there had been one, most likely the first thing Wen Ruohan would’ve done before taking on the sects would’ve been to kill the emperor, wipe out all his heirs, and declare himself the Son of Heaven in the time-honored tradition of warlords everywhere.
Which even if Wei Wuxian from MDZS was utterly ignorant to politics and standing (which he wasn’t) that was the sort of move that would’ve been noted.
Immediately before it sparked an actual war between the sects, not the slow ramp-up from canon.
“This one is Wei Yuexia, daughter of the honorable teacher Master Wei Changze.” Which was accurate, given the status that her father had both won in his own right as a scholar and artist, as well as the status he lost by leaving Yunmeng Jiang. Such a pain in the ass to remember, but also so majorly important to the world around her that she could never forget even the slightest of details. “Greeting Wen-gongzi, and thanking him for keeping this one’s property from wandering farther into the forest.”
Wen Xu blinked a moment in surprise, then looked harder at the developing features of Wei Yuexia, seeing the resemblance once he knew to look for it in the shape of her eyes and the rise of her cheekbones. Though it was clear the resemblance had to be sought in her face. She must have taken much after her mother, the infamous Zangse Sanren, in her features for Wei Changze to show so little in her.
“Wei-xiǎojiě,” Wen Xu recovered quickly from his surprise. Even as the details he’d noted separating the girl from either a civilian peasant or a cultivator made far more sense than not in the form of Wei Changze’s only daughter. Especially when the talisman work on the bunny’s collar was factored into place. Of course a man who had more use than most for practical applications of talismanry in his daily life would have created such a thing. Wei Changze wasn’t a peasant, and where another man who was in a position to need to raise livestock would rely on pens and fences and hutches, a talisman master would simply fashion a new talisman instead. “It is my pleasure to have met my teacher’s daughter and helped her retrieve such a naughty,” but valuable, “pet as Yingying.”
He handed the creature over, even if a part of him - buried deep down - mourned at having the soft sweet thing out of petting range, then continued.
“Might I escort you home, Wei-xiǎojiě?” Wen Xu suggested politely, even as he allowed formality to slip into a more casual tone. “Now that your task in the forest, or so I presume, is complete?”
“I would be honored, Wen-gongzi.” Wei Yuexia gave a little dip of her knees in unison with a lowering of her lashes, the very picture of demureness despite their unconventional meeting and introduction. “Please,” she turned and gestured with a tilt of her walking stick back towards the Wei farmstead. “It is this way.”
Moving to her side, Wen Xu fell into stride with the small girl, curbing the lengths of his own movements to keep from forcing her to speed up to meet him as the higher-ranking person.
As was both polite and politic.
After all: he’d perhaps just gotten his in, to the good regard of Wei-qianbei.
It would be a shame to lose it before it was even granted because he chose to be an impatient boor towards the man’s daughter.
Zhao Zhuliu arched an inquiring brow at the sight of his charge - he cared for, even loved all the Wei children, but Yuexia was a…different case. Different enough that it had been a relief when Wei Changze formally included him in the small circle who knew of the foundational shape of what made her other, and then charged him with her safety. - wandering back onto the fenced grounds of the Wei farmstead on the far edge of Caiyi with not only her most troublesome bunny in her arms, but the eldest son of Wen Ruohan at her side.
He closed his eyes a moment and took a deep breath, cycling his qi, then blinked them back open to ensure that his mind or eyes weren’t playing games with him.
Or that Wei Ying with the help of his new brother hadn’t managed to trap him in an illusion talisman or some other prank.
Only to realize that no, no: he’d seen correctly.
Sweet, stubborn, impossible Yuexia had brought the Wen Heir tromping through the forest to the modest Wei homestead as if such an event was one that transpired every xun so innocuous was her expression.
On the upside, as Yuexia put Yingying away in the fenced rabbit pen - not that that fence seemed to mean much to the naughtiest member of her new project - Zhuliu comforted himself that at least they were only hosting a single great sect heir that day. The Lan heirs weren’t due to visit until the end of the next xun for their monthly - Yuexia calls them playdates and to Lan Qiren’s horror the phrase had stuck - meeting and Zhuliu wouldn’t be surprised if they came with a hanger-on. As Lan Huan had hinted to Wei Changze about introducing the Wei children to his new friend Nie Mingjue.
Yes, it could be far worse than one sect heir deciding to pop-in out of nowhere.
“What do you make of that?” Wei Changze asked, returned for the evening from the Cloud Recesses, came to stand at his shoulder as they watched Yuexia lead the Wen boy around the animal pens and cultivated patches of garden.
His industrious daughter had planted everything from kitchen and healing herbs, vegetables, fruit bushes, a smattering of fruit and nut bearing (when they matured) trees, and more. Yuexia had a mind - either from her visions or otherwise - for agriculture that Changze admired as other than lotus, his education in such regards had been lacking as a son of the river. Ask him about fish on the other hand - the farming thereof, or wild-catch - and his abilities would shine. But, farming? Not his strong point.
He had to smile as the Wen boy was forced to bend and duck a fraction as Yuexia led him around her lone rose bush, a gift several years old now, from Lan Qiren. Given that the scholar had all-but-claimed Yuexia as his goddaughter, though not in any overt manner like another might do to abide by the Lan Precepts, that Yuexia tended to receive very thoughtful gifts from Lan Qiren was no surprise. If in contrast to the “merely” thoughtful and well-considered gifts that Wei Changze’s other children received.
No one who wasn’t exceedingly familiar with Lan Qiren would ever note the difference. It was in the details that most would miss. Such as that the petals of the rose bush, once grown and blooming, were a delicate pink inner-shade that darkened to a deep red outer layer in a rare gradient. Colors that Yuexia was known to favor by those who knew her, rather than the more “standard” white, red, or plain pink shades.
Yuexia had trained the roses to climb up a wooden arch over the gate leading from the “farm” portion of the cottage to the yard proper, and while the roses themselves had all been harvested for the year, the branches were still thick with thorns and leaves to watch out for until true winter set in.
“I think,” Zhao Zhuliu answered after a pause to think. “That after what happened with Meng Shi, that we should trust a’Xia wouldn’t lead the Wen Heir home without good reason.”
Wei Changze tipped his head slightly to the side, conceding the point to his friend and co-conspirator in the matter of a’Xia’s…everything.
He supposed if a’Xia sought to stop, or at least ameliorate, a war then there were worse friends she could make than the heir to the most powerful great sect in the Jianghu.
That didn’t mean that he liked watching, still unnoticed as the children were wrapped up in their conversation and had yet to fully take in that they had an audience, as Wen Xurong watched his not-yet-of-age daughter with interest.
Oh, he didn’t think it was salacious.
Wen Ruohan would tolerate quite a lot from his own that he would stamp out with vigor from another, the man’s character was no secret to either Wei Changze or his late wife after Meihua had met him, but there was a limit that no man of any honor would tolerate in another they were responsible for.
Predatory sexual practices towards children being one of those that was just as condemned as predatory cultivation practices in the modern era.
But interest from the sects always - always - carried an undertone of threat to Wei Changze’s eyes, given what he knew of how insistent they could be about…collecting and keeping talent.
Keeping Fengmian from scooping up Changze’s children like so much chattel often pressed at the limits of both Changze’s patience and temper.
Having to do so for Wen Ruohan could only end in disaster.
“Wei-xiansheng,” Wen Xu saluted his honored teacher as he followed the man’s daughter through the small farmyard and into what appeared to be a practice area that buffered the cottage from the smells and sounds of their livestock. “I-”
“Yingying interrupted Wen-gongzi’s practice in the moss glade.” Wei Yuexia stepped in before the teenager could make whatever excuses he had prepared for why, exactly he was wandering around with a random girl.
Especially since the only factor that kept it from being truly scandalous, despite Yuexia’s lack of social rank, being her ostensible age as one too young for salacious interest. If her second life was anything like her first, she probably had a few years yet before she matured physically to the point of having to worry about being hypervigilant about her sexual reputation. While cultivation equaled a few playing fields between the sexes, chastity and modesty generally weren’t one of them, no matter how much the double-standard chafed.
What was actually quite nice about the culture she now found herself surrounded by, however, was that it had a clear line of demarcation regarding “child” and “eligible maiden” in the hair-pinning ceremony.
So long as Wei Yuexia wore her hair in a child’s braids, she was safe from rumors about her chastity and the status of her maidenhood - if not her marriage prospects, unfortunately, as marriage and childbirth was still very much the duty of women in the Jianghu despite their potential as cultivators.
It was also how she got away with running around with Zhao Zhuliu but no father or brother to serve as a chaperone: what was allowed in a child would be scorned in an eligible maiden.
“Wen-gongzi was courteous enough to escort me safely home.” She finished, leaving an opening for either Wen Xu or her father to respond if they wished.
“Wen-gongzi,” Wei Changze nodded politely to the sect heir. “Thank you for looking after my daughter. While the forest of Gusu are safer than most, it was most gracious of you. Please,” he gestured towards the house. “Stay for tea before returning to the Cloud Recesses.”
“It would be most congenial to do so, Wei-xiansheng.” Wen Xu agreed with a slight salute, noting out of the corner of his eye that Wei-xiǎojiě had whisked herself off, likely to start the kettle to begin preparations for her father’s offer of refreshment. “Will your guest be joining us?” He asked more out of politeness than true interest in the plain-faced man in drab rogue cultivator’s robes in dust grey and faded brown.
“No, I think I should go track down the boys, perhaps save them from Sisi - or Sisi from them.” With a nod to Changze and a bow to Wen-gongzi, Zhao Zhuliu took his leave, having no interest in playing polite with a sect heir.
No matter what a’Xia had in mind, unless she directly asked him to.
“You’ll have to excuse my friend.” Wei Changze made the expected demurrals to the Wen Heir, even as he directed the younger cultivator inside the cottage. “Rogue cultivators aren’t ones for an excess of courtesy.”
Wen Xu didn’t bother being offended over the slight - including that neither of the men seemed inclined to supply the rogue’s name - when he had bigger prey in mind.
Specifically, fulfilling his father’s order to learn as much as possible - even ingratiating himself with Wei-xiansheng if necessary - about any cultivation practices potentially passed down by the teacher’s late wife from her master.
In the face of such a charge, and the first real opening he had towards completing it, a bit of discourtesy was nothing at all to tolerate.
“It is already forgotten.” Wen Xu swore, leaving his spear in the alcove just inside the cottage door that Wei Changze directed him to. “I take no offense.”
“That is gracious of you, Wen-gongzi.” Changze allowed, taking a moment to study the younger cultivator once more, wondering at the lack of typical Wen-conceit that tended to color the teenager’s actions.
Though…perhaps that wasn’t quite fair, as the majority of the time Changze had spend around the younger man, he was surrounded by the young people of cultivation society - and he of anyone knew that the masks one wore in public rarely showed the whole truth of their being.
Perhaps he’d misjudged the Wen Heir.
Perhaps not.
Only time - and seeing how he acted rather than merely relying upon words - would tell.
New Worries
“Baba?”
“Yes, baobei?” Wei Changze looked down after tucking in his young sons - both of them, a’Yao having taken to any sign of affection and care like a duck to water or a’Ying to the sword - and spying two sets of eyes staring up at him rich with concern.
a’Ying may have taken the lead on whatever was clearly bothering them, but it visibly was a matter that both young boys had taken to heart.
“Those rich-geges aren’t going to take jiejie away, are they?” a’Ying finally asked after his lower lip started to wobble, the question almost turning into a wail.
In fact, if it weren't palpable that the boys did not want to draw the attention of their older sister who they could hear going through her nighttime routine in the attic room above their heads, a’Ying would probably be outright-crying he was so upset and trying to hide it.
a’Xia had moved up to the attic room only a few months before, after Zhao Zhuliu had decided to build a simple one-room cottage for himself within the tree line. It remained on the Wei farmstead, but gave the other man far more privacy than the humble Wei home - and neatly solved the problem of a’Xia getting too old to share a single small room with her younger brothers. Neither of the boys were impressed with having to climb a ladder to sneak into their sister’s bed when they had a bad dream - or simply wanted her company - but it was a good move regardless.
For a’Xia’s (and Zhao Zhuliu’s) continued sanity if nothing else, as if a’Ying’s exuberance threatened to undo the organization of a’Xia’s personal projects, she might very well snap and strangle the boy, no matter how well-meaning the “help” was meant to be.
a’Yao, however, showed the wisdom of having been raised predominantly by women prior to coming into the Wei family, and knew better than to mess with a’Xia’s things.
Especially ones that were put away, or wrapped up just so.
“What on earth are you talking about a’Ying?” Changze asked, genuinely baffled over the leap that his sons’ minds had apparently taken. Then… “Is this about having Wen-gongzi and Nie-gongzi visit?”
Granted, not at the same time, and the boys didn’t actually meet Wen Xurong, as the sect heir had been leaving on his sword after tea when they returned with Zhao Zhuliu from a successful campaign of wheedling treats from Sisi, but that was all that sprang to mind in the context of “rich-geges” that either boy might have met.
How they got from there to one or both of the sect heirs stealing a’Xia, Wei Changze was still at a loss to explain and could only hope further questioning might yield some clarity.
“The rich-geges.” a’Yao nodded in confirmation. “Swords and silks means they’re rich.”
Well, Changze couldn’t really argue that bit.
Knowledge gained from growing up in a brothel and hearing the workers describe clients or not - it wasn’t as if the simplistic assumption was wrong.
“Yeah!” a’Ying nodded frantically, still far more obvious in his upset than a’Yao with his stiff upper lip. “The aunties and grannies keep talking about, about, how-,” he huffed, frustrated with his own inability to get the words out due to his upset, but relaxed a little when his father cuddled him close and rubbed his back.
“They talk about how jiejie is going to be a perfect bride and mother,” a’Yao mimicked the description - gossip - they’d overheard and been upset by, Gusu accent and all.
“An’ how some fine man is going to come and sweep her away!” a’Ying added indignantly. “That means they’re gonna steal her! An’ then there were rich-geges here!”
Wei Changze had to hide his face in a’Ying’s hair for a long moment as he fiercely shoved down the urge to burst into laughter. Both at the story that the boys had created for themselves based on housewife gossip from the villagers, and their overblown reactions to it. It was hilarious to see both boys - yes, even a’Yao despite him doing his best to hide it - up in arms at the idea of some rich-gege swooping in to steal their sister away.
Oh, those poor, unsuspecting bastards. He laughed to himself thinking of a’Xia potential future suitors. If these two are this defensive of a’Xia now, they’re going to be impossible by the time she’s actually old enough for such matters.
“Your sister isn’t going anywhere.” Changze explained, patiently soothing the worries plaguing the young boys. “She has years yet before she’s old enough for courtship, let alone marriage.”
“Not all girls wait that long.” a’Yao stated with a too-knowing look in his soft brown eyes.
“No,” Changze sighed, too honest to lie to his children about even the darker parts of life that he’d rather protect them from. Parts that a’Yao had already seen far too much of for his liking. “Not all girls make it to their hair-pinning before bad things happen and force them into growing up too soon. Their situations are different from a’Xia’s however.” He reassured the more suspicious of his sons. “They don’t have people to protect them from being hurt like a’Xia does.”
“We’ll protect a’Xia.” a’Yao said, all solemn like a little owl. “So the rich-geges and uncles don’t hurt her.”
“Yeah!” a’Ying immediately agreed. “We all will! a’Die, and gege, and Zhuliu-ge, and a’Ying, and…”
“Yes, yes.” Changze used firm hands to tuck a’Ying back into bed after he’d wriggled his way out. “I’m sure your sister will appreciate having such strong defenders. But defenders need their sleep,” he reminded them. “So that they can train and grow even stronger.”
“Yes, baba.”
“Yes, a’Die.”