The house was quiet without Meng Yao. It had been quiet with him too, but the silence felt more encompassing now, like it could swallow Lan Xichen whole and leave nothing behind. He did his best to live with it. He'd have to for a week, after all. He'd clean the house, he decided, and perhaps deal with the pile of laundry he and Meng Yao had set aside for later. He'd manage.
And then, the day before the banquet was due to begin, someone knocked at his door.
Lan Xichen froze at the sound, staring at the door. He had no idea who was on the other side. The delivery Meng Yao had scheduled wasn't until the next day, and no one else would come to their house. He wondered if he'd been found, then dismissed that thought; anyone here to kill him wouldn't have knocked first.
But someone had knocked, and Lan Xichen had no idea who.
"Hello?" a voice called as the person outside knocked again. "Is anyone in there? I don't mean to annoy you, but I'm traveling to Qinghe and I forgot to bring water and I'm really, really thirsty. Is there any way I could have a drink?"
Lan Xichen eyed the door, then he slowly opened it.
"Oh!" the man outside gasped, bowing quickly. He was wearing black and red robes and had a red ribbon tying back his hair. "Hi. Sorry for banging on your door like that, but I'm an idiot who's been flying all day and forgot to bring water, and I'm really thirsty. Can I have something to drink? Or is there some sort of village nearby where I can find an inn or something?"
"I can get you a drink," Lan Xichen said, stepping back to let the young man into the house. "Would you like tea?"
"Tea sounds great," the man replied. "I'm Wei Wuxian, by the way. Thank you so much for this."
"Of course," Lan Xichen replied. "And my name is-" He hesitated, just for an instant, then finished, "Meng Huan."
"Nice to meet you, Meng Huan."
"Would you like something to eat?" Lan Xichen asked as he began to prepare the tea. He took out the last of the loquats and set them on the table. "I hope loquats are acceptable. I have other foods if you'd prefer something else."
Wei Wuxian grinned as he took a loquat out of the bowl. "My husband loves loquats," he told Lan Xichen as he bit into it. "We eat them all the time."
"Would you like anything else to eat?"
"Nah, this is fine. Honestly, I'm mostly just thirsty. And I wanted to take a break anyway. Flying for that long is exhausting."
"Where are you going?"
"The Unclean Realm, for Chifeng-Zun's banquet."
Chifeng-Zun, Lan Xichen assumed, was Nie-zongzhu's title. "My friend is also on his way to the Unclean Realm to attend," he replied. "We heard there was an open invitation."
"Yeah, Chifeng-Zun insisted on it, according to his brother."
"It sounds like it'll be an exciting event."
"We'll see. The Nies can throw a good party, at least." Wei Wuxian eyed Lan Xichen and asked, "Why aren't you going?"
"Excuse me?"
"You seem like you want to go to the banquet," Wei Wuxian said. "And it's an open invitation, so there's no reason why you can't. So, why aren't you going?"
"I-" Telling the truth was impossible, of course, but Lan Xichen wasn't sure what else to say. "I have nothing to wear," he finally said as he poured the boiling water into the teapot to steep. "The seams on my formal robe have come loose."
"I could take a look at them," Wei Wuxian offered. "I'm not amazing with a needle and thread, but I'm okay at mending. My shijie taught me."
"I-I couldn't ask-"
"Oh, it's nothing," Wei Wuxian dismissed. "Consider it my way of repaying you for letting me eat your food and drink your tea. Where's the robe?"
Slowly, Lan Xichen crossed to the chest and pulled out the robe. He handed it to Wei Wuxian, who looked it over critically.
"Huh. That's weird."
"What is it?" Lan Xichen asked. "Is it beyond fixing?"
"No, not at all," Wei Wuxian assured him. "The fact that the seam here is coming undone is actually really weird, because this is really well made. It doesn't look like a seam would pop easily. And this one doesn't even really look like it popped. It looks more like someone deliberately loosened the thread so it would come undone."
Lan Xichen frowned. "No one did."
"Yeah, I figured that wasn't something someone would do. That's why it's weird." Wei Wuxian shrugged. "Well, it'll make it easy to fix, so that's something, at least. Do you have thread I can use?"
Lan Xichen collected Meng Yao's sewing kit and handed it to Wei Wuxian, who immediately got to work. Lan Xichen poured them both tea as Wei Wuxian bent over the seam, mending it with intense focus.
"Alright," he finally said, breaking the thread and looking over his work. "My work is definitely not as good as whoever made the robe in the first place, but this should hold. I'm not making any promises if anyone pulls on the sleeve or it gets caught on anything, but otherwise, I think it'll be okay."
"Thank you," Lan Xichen murmured, sipping his tea.
"Will you come with me to the banquet, then? We can fly our swords there together and we'll get there in time."
Lan Xichen almost choked. "How could you tell?"
"Tell what?" Wei Wuxian asked, folding the robes and setting them down on the bed. "That you're a cultivator? Your golden core is so strong I can almost feel it over here. Besides, I saw your sword when you were pulling the robes out of the chest. Why do you have it all wrapped up?"
"I-"
"Actually," Wei Wuxian interrupted suddenly, perhaps seeing the panic on Lan Xichen's face, "ignore me. I'm being nosy and butting into things that aren't my business. My husband always tells me not to do that. Also, if you really don't want to go to Chifeng-Zun's banquet, ignore me on that too. If you do want to go to the banquet, though, we can go together."
Lan Xichen did want to go to the banquet. He very much did. And Meng Yao had said it was unsafe, and he was probably right, but Lan Xichen could be careful. He could be subtle. He could hide himself well enough that no one would recognize him, and then they wouldn't be in danger at all.
At least, he hoped he could.
"I would like to go," he told Wei Wuxian slowly, "but there may be… danger. For me, and for those associated with me."
To Wei Wuxian's credit, he didn't back away immediately. Lan Xichen hadn't really expected him to. Most people, he thought, would probably have revoked their offer to go with him if they knew there might be danger, but Wei Wuxian didn't strike him as being like most people. He struck Lan Xichen as the type who would see such a warning as a challenge.
"What sort of danger, exactly? I'm sure you probably don't want to tell me everything, but can you tell me something, at least?"
"There are people who, if they saw me, would want to kill me," Lan Xichen explained carefully. "I don't know if they'll be at Chifeng-Zun's banquet, but there's a chance they might. There is also the fairly likely possibility that they would kill anyone associated with me. They have been searching for me for quite some time, so if they thought someone had been helping me hide, they would be… displeased."
"So we make sure they don't see you," Wei Wuxian said, as if it were that simple. "Do you know what these people look like?"
They're the Wen Sect, and they'll slaughter us like they did my family if they find me, Lan Xichen wanted to say, but he swallowed the words. Thus far, Wei Wuxian had shown no signs of betrayal, but if he knew the Wen Sect, the most powerful of the five Great Sects, was the one going after Lan Xichen, there was no guarantee he wouldn't sell him out. Lan Xichen didn't quite think he seemed the type, but he wasn't sure enough to risk it.
"I would recognize them, I think," he said instead. "But they would also recognize me."
Wei Wuxian shrugged. "Well, it's a masquerade, so I don't know how much anyone's going to be recognizing anyone."
"A masquerade?" Lan Xichen repeated slowly.
"Yeah, everyone is going to be wearing masks, to make it more fun," Wei Wuxian replied. "Also because of something related to Chifeng-Zun trying to find a cultivation partner, but I don't remember what the reasoning was. His brother probably told me, but I think I was only half paying attention when he did. Something about Chifeng-Zun wanting to judge people by their cultivational merits and not their background, I think."
Lan Xichen could hardly believe his luck. If the banquet was a masquerade, then between a mask and his disguised robes, he doubted he would be recognized. It had been three years since he'd been seen, after all, and he had rarely gone out in public even before that. He would probably be safe.
It was strange, though, that Meng Yao hadn't mentioned that the banquet was a masquerade, but perhaps he hadn't known. They hadn't gotten their information direct from the source the way Wei Wuxian had, after all. Whoever it was in the village who told Meng Yao about the banquet must not have known that everyone would be wearing masks.
However, that did raise another problem. "But I don't have a mask."
"Oh, that's fine. There are a bunch of shopkeepers in the Unclean Realm selling them," Wei Wuxian dismissed. "And if you want to wear one before that, you can borrow mine. Here." He dug around in a qiankun pouch at his waist and pulled out an engraved silver mask. "It'll actually go with your outfit pretty well, I think. Maybe you can keep this one for the banquet and I'll get a new one. I wasn't sure how much this matched my look anyway."
"You're sure you wish to associate with me?" Lan Xichen asked, picking up the mask and passing it from hand to hand. "If I'm discovered, you may well be in as much danger as I will be."
"From the sound of it, there are people with more power than you who are using it to hurt you," Wei Wuxian said simply. "I'm not a fan of that. Besides, I think we can get you through the banquet without getting discovered. If you don't want to go, I won't push you, but if you do want to go, we can go together."
Lan Xichen looked down at the mask, then he looked up at Wei Wuxian. "I would like to go."
Wei Wuxian beamed. "Then you had better pack."
It didn't take long to gather everything Lan Xichen would need into a qiankun pouch. He left a note on the door telling whoever delivered the food that he was out and asking them to please bring it inside, and then he pulled Shuoyue out of the chest and gripped it tightly. He'd wrapped the hilt and sheath in thin white bandages in an attempt to disguise the sword, which he hoped would work. He left Liebing behind, although he hated to do it. Carrying a xiao would be too distinctive, and Lan Xichen couldn't afford to be distinctive at all.
"Are you ready to go?" Wei Wuxian asked from where he was setting up a small array in the kitchen that would keep any food placed within it from spoiling. Lan Xichen had never seen such a thing before and had asked where it came from when Wei Wuxian first pulled it out, only to find out that Wei Wuxian himself had invented it. Apparently, he enjoyed to "dabble," as he put it, in inventing talismans. From the sound of it, he had the potential to change the entire cultivation world.
"I'm ready," Lan Xichen agreed.
"Alright! Let's fly."
It was the first time in three years that Lan Xichen had mounted Shuoyue, but he found that his body remembered how it was done. He balanced carefully and took off behind Wei Wuxian, following him towards Qinghe.
"Does it feel good to be free?" Wei Wuxian asked, grinning widely.
Lan Xichen closed his eyes and let the wind whip through his hair. It wasn't that he hadn't been free before, not exactly, but he hadn't felt it. He felt free now.
"Yes, it does."
When they landed just outside the Unclean Realm, Lan Xichen almost wanted to give up on the whole endeavor. Somehow, it hadn't occurred to him that Qinghe would have so many people. He also hadn't realized how uncomfortable the crowds would make him feel.
"Are you okay?" Wei Wuxian asked as Lan Xichen attempted to tie his mask on with trembling fingers. "Here, let me do that."
Lan Xichen allowed Wei Wuxian to tie the mask on, gripping the ends of his sleeves instead. He'd had a bad habit of doing that when he was young, which his uncle had tried to break; in the end, Lan Xichen had mostly broken the habit, but it still came back in times of stress. Honestly, he was surprised he hadn't done it through the whole flight.
"There we go," Wei Wuxian declared, stepping away. "But honestly, are you okay? You're shaking a little bit."
"I- I haven't been around this many people in quite a while," Lan Xichen admitted in a quiet voice. "But I'm alright."
"It's overwhelming, huh? Do you want to try to stick to the quieter streets?"
"No," Lan Xichen said, shaking his head. "The banquet will be crowded and loud. If I'm unable to withstand the streets, I won't be able to withstand the banquet. I'll be alright."
Wei Wuxian looked a little concerned. "Okay, but promise me you'll tell me if it's too much. My husband doesn't like crowds either, so I know what to do."
Wei Wuxian had dropped a few tidbits about his mysterious husband on their trip, but he'd never mentioned him by name. Judging by the way he seemed to relish saying the word husband, Lan Xichen got the impression they were newly married and Wei Wuxian was enjoying their new status. It was rather sweet. Wei Wuxian clearly adored his husband, and Lan Xichen wished them all the happiness in the world.
"Tell me when you're ready, and we can go," Wei Wuxian said, leaning against a nearby wall. "We're not in any hurry, so don't worry about it if you need a little while."
"I don't need time," Lan Xichen countered. "We can go now."
"Trust me, you'll feel better if you take a couple of minutes to center yourself now. Like I said, we've got time."
Lan Xichen eyed him somewhat dubiously for a moment, then he closed his eyes and took a long, slow breath. He held it for a moment, then exhaled equally slowly, trying to exhale all of his stress along with the air. After a few more breaths, he felt his shoulders begin to relax, and after a few minutes of peace, he opened his eyes feeling much more centered than he had when they first landed.
"Better?" Wei Wuxian asked.
Lan Xichen nodded. "Better."
"Good," Wei Wuxian said, grinning at him. He smiled a lot, Lan Xichen had noticed, and yet all of them felt genuine. He seemed to have been born with a smiling face. Lan Xichen had learned as a child how to mask his emotions with a gentle smile, but that meant he often smiled without really meaning it. Perhaps Wei Wuxian had done that too, but if he had, Lan Xichen hadn't been able to tell.
"Shall we go?" Lan Xichen asked, gesturing towards the gates of the Unclean Realm. There were many people coming and going, a fair amount of them masked. At least Lan Xichen wouldn't be the only one wearing his mask early.
"If you're ready," Wei Wuxian replied. "I should get a new mask."
"You can take this one back," Lan Xichen countered. "I can purchase my own."
"Nah, I think I want something a bit more dramatic," Wei Wuxian replied. "It'll go with my robes better. Something red, maybe. With flames, that would be cool."
Lan Xichen remembered red, flame-embroidered robes flapping in the wind as swords slit the throats of every Lan disciple they met, and he kept his mouth shut.
"The banquet begins tomorrow morning and should last all day," Wei Wuxian told Lan Xichen as they strode towards the gates. They walked through without a problem, and Lan Xichen let out a silent sigh of relief. "Nie-xiong told me I could stay in one of the fortress's spare rooms for the night, so you can stay in there with me, if you want. We can head over there now and put our things away. And then my husband should be arriving tomorrow morning. I can introduce you."
"I'd like to meet him," Lan Xichen agreed. "From your descriptions, he seems quite extraordinary."
"He is," Wei Wuxian replied, his expression momentarily turning dreamy. "Anyway, do you have any plans for the banquet? Anyone you want to talk to? Anything you want to do? Other than avoiding whoever's after you, of course."
"It's also probably best if I avoid my friend who's attending," Lan Xichen admitted. "He'll be… upset to see me here."
"We can do that," Wei Wuxian agreed. "Anything else?"
Lan Xichen hesitated. "A few weeks ago," he finally said, "I was saved by a cultivator in the woods near my home. He carried a saber, so I assume…"
"Ah, you were rescued by some big beautiful Nie cultivator, and now you're in love?" Wei Wuxian asked sagely. "That's entirely fair. Nie cultivators are very attractive."
Lan Xichen felt his ears burn with embarrassment. "I'd simply like to see him again. I enjoyed talking to him."
"Well, can you describe him for me?" Wei Wuxian asked. "I know a fair amount of Nies, and I can ask Nie-xiong about it if I don't know who you're talking about."
"He was taller than me, and broader," Lan Xichen described. "He wore braids in his hair, and his saber was thick and seemed to glow red when he used it. And he had a mustache. His robes weren't fancy, but they were well-made." He shot Wei Wuxian a somewhat furtive glance. "Do you have any idea who he might be?"
Wei Wuxian, to Lan Xichen's surprise, looked like he might burst out laughing. "I've got an idea. I'll introduce you tomorrow, and you can tell me if I'm right."
"Very well."
"Anyone else you want to see?" Wei Wuxian asked. "Any family? I know you might be hiding from them too, for their safety, but maybe-"
"My family is dead," Lan Xichen interrupted, a bit too sharply. He made an effort to soften his voice as he continued. "The people who would kill me already slaughtered my entire family. I'm the last one left."
"I'm so sorry," Wei Wuxian said quietly. "I didn't know."
"You couldn't have," Lan Xichen replied. "But it means I have no one else to visit."
"Then maybe I can introduce you to some people," Wei Wuxian offered. "I know a lot of people. It'll be fun."
"It might be safer if I kept to myself."
"These are people I trust with my life," Wei Wuxian replied. "I won't just introduce you to random people. But my shijie and her husband should be at the banquet, and my shidi might be coming. And I'll introduce you to my husband, of course. My husband is much better than my shijie's husband. I still trust him, but I don't like him."
"Why not?"
"He insulted my shijie. It was a long time ago, way before they were married, and he's gotten better since, but I'm still keeping an eye on him. Besides, he's not good enough for my shijie anyway. No one is." Wei Wuxian made a face. "I definitely won't be introducing you to his family, because his family is awful. Honestly, with how bad they are, it's amazing that he turned out even halfway decent."
"I would be honored to meet your family," Lan Xichen said with a small bow. He had chosen to trust Wei Wuxian, after all, and if these were people Wei Wuxian would trust with his life, Lan Xichen thought he could probably trust them as well. And he'd need other people to speak with anyway; he couldn't spent the whole time with his cultivator.
"For now," Wei Wuxian said, "we should go find our rooms. Do you want to meet Nie-xiong? He's Chifeng-Zun's little brother. He's a good friend of mine, I trust him too."
"Very well, then," Lan Xichen agreed, trying to push down his trepidation. He would have to meet some people, after all. That was part of the reason he'd wanted to go to the banquet at all.
"Alright! He's probably in the garden with his birds or in his room painting. I'm not entirely sure I can find his room by myself, and we'd probably get stopped by someone before we got that deep into the fortress, so let's try the garden first."
"If you say so."
Wei Wuxian led the way to the garden with an ease that spoke of many past visits. If he was truly friends with Chifeng-Zun's younger brother, it made sense that he would spend time in the Unclean Realm. Lan Xichen found himself wondering which sect Wei Wuxian belonged to, if any. He clearly wasn't a member of the Nie Sect, but other than that, Lan Xichen wasn't sure. He'd never met anyone from outside the Lan Sect, after all. The sects all kept to themselves.
Or, at least, they had three years ago. It didn't seem like they did now. Lan Xichen wanted to ask about it, but he also didn't want to reveal that he had once been a part of a sect. For all Wei Wuxian knew, he could be a rogue cultivator. That was for the best; the less Wei Wuxian knew about Lan Xichen, the better.
After quite a few twists and turns, Wei Wuxian and Lan Xichen reached a garden that appeared to only have one sole occupant. The young man was willowy and shorter than either Lan Xichen or Wei Wuxian, and he appeared to be cooing over birds. He didn't look like how Lan Xichen expected the heir of the Nie Sect to look, but he wore Nie-style braids in his hair, and he looked up with a smile when Wei Wuxian cried, "Hey! Nie-xiong!"
"Wei-xiong! You're here! And you brought a guest." The young man bowed quickly. "I'm Nie Huaisang, younger brother of Chifeng-Zun."
"My name is Meng Huan," Lan Xichen replied, bowing more deeply than Nie Huaisang had. In truth, he and Nie Huaisang should have been equals as sect heirs, or Lan Xichen should arguably be Nie Huaisang's superior, given that he was technically the leader of the Lan Sect by virtue of being the only one left. But Meng Huan certainly wasn't a sect heir, so etiquette dictated his bow be deeper.
"We met up a ways back and traveled together," Wei Wuxian said carelessly. "I told him we could share a room, if you're still willing to give me one."
"I'll give you a room, but Da-ge told me that first, I need you to promise not to blow anything up."
Wei Wuxian's jaw dropped. "What? When have I ever blown anything up?"
"Do you want a list?"
"Okay, when have I ever blown anything up here?"
"Last time you visited, you blew up a desk."
"I did not blow up a desk, I got a couple of scorch marks on a desk. Just paint it and it'll be fine."
"The next time we tried putting something on that desk, it collapsed."
"Sounds like you probably put something on it wrong."
Nie Huaisang sighed. "Just promise me, okay? Anyway, you're sharing the room. You don't want to blow Meng Huan up, do you?"
"I wasn't going to blow up anything anyway! I don't blow stuff up!"
"Then make the promise."
Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes. "I promise not to blow anything up."
Nie Huaisang smiled. "See? That's all you had to say. Let me bring you two to your room."
The Unclean Realm, Lan Xichen was discovering, was full of winding corridors and sharp corners. He hoped Wei Wuxian would have some idea of where they were going, because it didn't take long for Lan Xichen to lose track of how many turns they'd taken and how far they'd gone in any given direction. He highly doubted he'd be able to find his way around the fortress unaided.
"Here we are!" Nie Huaisang finally said, opening a door. "There's only one bed, but I can bring in more blankets if one of you wants to camp on the floor. I would offer you a second room, but I don't know if we have any other rooms free. There are a lot of people staying here."
"This is fine," Wei Wuxian said, looking around the room as they entered. "Right, Huan-ge?"
"This is fine," Lan Xichen agreed, hoping his shock at the familiar address hadn't come across too much. Perhaps he should have come up with a fake name that wasn't his own birth name. Hearing it spoken like this felt shockingly intimate.
"If you're hungry, you can go to the kitchens," Nie Huaisang told them. "Do you remember where they are, Wei-xiong?"
"I can find them," Wei Wuxian agreed. "Thanks for everything, Nie-xiong. You can go back with your birds now, or whatever it is you do."
"I think I actually have to find Da-ge and make sure everything is ready for the banquet tomorrow," Nie Huaisang replied, making a face. "I hate doing work."
"I know you do," Wei Wuxian agreed, his voice sounding almost like someone cooing to a small, recalcitrant child. "But you can do it. I believe in you!"
Nie Huaisang made a face. "You're the worst."
"Love you too!"
Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes, then paused. "I think I get how Jiang-xiong feels now. I have a new level of sympathy for him."
"Jiang Cheng loves me!"
"Goodbye, Wei-xiong."
Wei Wuxian scowled as Nie Huaisang left, closing the door behind him. "Jiang Cheng does love me, even if he won't admit it," he muttered.
"Is Jiang Cheng your husband?" Lan Xichen asked politely.
Wei Wuxian looked like he was going to choke. "No! No, Jiang Cheng is my shidi. And he does love me, even if he pretends not to. You'll see tomorrow. If he shows up, that is."
If Wei Wuxian's shidi was named Jiang Cheng, that seemed to indicate that Wei Wuxian was a member of the Jiang Sect. Assuming, of course, he hadn't married out of it, which was also possible. "I look forward to meeting him."
"The one you should be looking forward to meeting is my shijie," Wei Wuxian replied. "Jiang Cheng is grumpy and always annoyed at something, but Shijie is perfection incarnate."
"Then I absolutely look forward to meeting her," Lan Xichen said. "You said she was married?"
"Yeah, to the most annoying peacock in all the great sects," Wei Wuxian grumbled. "Well, no, not the most annoying, that's his awful cousin. But he's still pretty annoying."
Lan Xichen wondered if this sort of animosity towards the spouse of one's sibling was a common thing. He tried to imagine how he would have felt if Lan Wangji had been married, or at least courting someone, and thought he would probably have been pleased by it, if he thought the person worthy of his brother. Given what Wei Wuxian said before, it seemed like he didn't think his shijie's husband was worthy of her. If Lan Wangji had been married to someone unworthy, Lan Xichen probably would have felt a certain level of displeasure towards them as well.
"Anyway! I'm going to go find a mask, I think," Wei Wuxian declared. "Do you want to come with me, or do you want to stay here?"
"I think I'll stay here," Lan Xichen admitted. "If you don't mind."
"It's fine by me either way," Wei Wuxian replied. "Do you want me to get you anything from the market?"
"I don't believe so."
"Then I'll see you later!" Wei Wuxian headed to the door, then turned around at the last moment. "Oh! And one last thing. Don't blow up anything, okay? If you do, Nie-xiong and Chifeng-Zun will assume it was me, and then I'll get in trouble for blowing something up when I promised I wouldn't, and it'll be a whole thing."
"I won't blow anything up," Lan Xichen promised. "I wasn't intending to do so in the first place."
"Good to hear it," Wei Wuxian said with a nod. "Alright, see you later!"
The room went quiet once Wei Wuxian left, like it was settling back down after a sudden storm. Lan Xichen found the storm to be rather charming, however. Wei Wuxian was wild, yes, but he seemed kind and trustworthy. Lan Xichen liked him.
It was possible, Lan Xichen thought, that he might have been so desperate for a new person to befriend that he was willing to befriend the first one who came through his door. Be that as it may, he did think Wei Wuxian was a good person. If he was going to befriend a random person, he could have chosen much worse.
He just hoped that luck held with all the other people Wei Wuxian wanted him to meet. He didn't want to think about what the consequences might be if it didn't.
The next morning, Lan Xichen woke up at five o'clock, as usual. He'd kept to the Lan sleeping schedule, even after he became the only Lan left. This did have the side effect of meaning that Lan Xichen was normally awake before anyone else, so he decided he would use that time to meditate. He sat up in his nest of blankets - he'd managed to fight hard enough that Wei Wuxian had agreed to let him be the one to sleep on the floor, but he hadn't been able to stop Wei Wuxian from giving him practically every pillow and blanket - and closed his eyes.
When he emerged from his meditation, Wei Wuxian was awake, although he didn't look happy about it. "This is so early," he groaned, burying his face in his one remaining pillow. "Ugh, why do I need to be up this early?"
"It's not that early," Lan Xichen countered gently. "And you should probably wake soon, for the banquet."
"Right, yeah, I know," Wei Wuxian mumbled. "Banquet. Ugh, that means I need to get up."
It was abundantly clear that Wei Wuxian was not a morning person. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Lan Xichen asked.
"Nah, just ignore me," Wei Wuxian said, flopping an arm in his general direction. "It's not like there's anything actually wrong, I'm just lazy. I'll get over it in a couple of minutes."
"Very well." Lan Xichen stood and crossed to the wardrobe, pulling out his robes, then he went behind the privacy screen. "I'm going to dress."
"Sure, whatever."
Quickly, Lan Xichen shucked off his sleeping clothes and began to layer on his robes. The resulting look was, he hoped, different enough from the normal Lan robes that it wouldn't be recognizable as such. His forehead ribbon was tied around his wrist as usual, and Lan Xichen rubbed it quickly, taking comfort from the familiar weight. Lan Xichen closed his eyes and took a slow breath, then he picked up the silver mask and tied it around his head. After that, all he needed was Shuoyue, and he was ready to go.
"Guh," Wei Wuxian said, very eloquently, when Lan Xichen came out from behind the screen. "You look disgustingly awake."
"I woke a while ago."
"Ew, why?"
Lan Xichen shrugged. "I always wake early."
"I do not understand people like you," Wei Wuxian groaned. "Give me a few minutes to get dressed. And maybe splash some water on my face. Then we can go find the banquet."
"Do you think it'll have started this early?"
"Yeah, probably. And my shijie and her husband were going to get here as early as possible, so they should be here already. I'll introduce you to them. My husband won't be here until later, so it'll be a while until you can meet him."
"I look forward to both introductions."
"Don't be polite this early in the morning, that's rude."
Lan Xichen watched with amusement as Wei Wuxian stumbled over to the privacy screen. There were a few thumps that he insisted were nothing, and then finally, he emerged with his robes only slightly rumpled. His mask was in one hand, and his sword - Suibian, he'd gleefully told Lan Xichen - was in the other.
"Alright, let's go. I'll be more awake once I eat something. Probably."
"As you say," Lan Xichen agreed, letting Wei Wuxian take the lead as they left the room.
Wei Wuxian seemed to know the halls of the Nie fortress better than Lan Xichen, as he led them through various twists unerringly until they reached a large courtyard. There weren't too many people there yet, given that it was early, but a decent number of guests milled around. Wei Wuxian tied on his mask, which was red and fiery, like he'd wanted, then he strode over to a man and woman wearing, respectively and resplendently, gold and purple.
"Shijie!"
The woman turned, beaming. She wore a mask shaped like a lotus flower, and the man beside her turned to reveal a similar mask in the shape of a peony. "A-Xian! I didn't expect to see you awake this early."
"I can wake up in the morning," Wei Wuxian protested. "I just don't like to."
"I don't think I've ever seen you awake before noon," the man remarked.
Wei Wuxian made a face. "No one asked you, Peacock."
"A-Xian," the woman scolded gently, "will you introduce us to your friend?" She looked over at Lan Xichen, who was hovering a little bit behind Wei Wuxian, and offered him an encouraging smile.
"Right! Shijie, Peacock, this is my friend Meng Huan. I met him on the way here. Huan-ge, this is my shijie and her annoying husband."
"My name is Jiang Yanli," the woman told him, still smiling. "And this is my husband, Jin Zixuan."
"I'm honored to meet you, Jin-gongzi, Jin-furen," Lan Xichen said, bowing to each of them. "Wei-gongzi has told me a great deal about you."
"You can't call me Wei-gongzi after I call you Huan-ge," Wei Wuxian protested. "At least just call me by my name."
"Did you ask Meng-gongzi if you could call him that?" Jiang Yanli asked. "Perhaps he would prefer more formality between you two."
"Huh, I didn't ask, did I?" Wei Wuxian said, turning to Lan Xichen. "Do you mind if I call you Huan-ge? I can stop if you don't like it."
"It's alright," Lan Xichen quickly said, although he did feel it was a bit more intimate than he would have preferred. Perhaps that showed on his face, because Wei Wuxian frowned.
"What about Meng-xiong? Is that better?"
"Whichever you would prefer." If Huan-ge felt too intimate, Meng-xiong felt almost too detached. Meng wasn't his real surname, after all. Neither was perfect, but Lan Xichen could live with either one.
"You don't have any preference?" Wei Wuxian pressed.
"A-Xian, don't push," Jiang Yanli scolded. "I apologize on my shidi's behalf if he's done anything to insult you, Meng-gongzi."
"Hey!" Wei Wuxian protested. "I haven't done a thing!"
"He hasn't," Lan Xichen quickly agreed. "Your shidi has been nothing but kind and helpful to me."
"I'm glad to hear it," Jiang Yanli said, offering both of them a gentle smile.
"I'm not sure I believe it," Jin Zixuan muttered under his breath.
"No one asked you, Peacock," Wei Wuxian retorted.
"A-Xuan, would you get me something to eat?" Jiang Yanli asked her husband, turning the full force of her smile on him.
Lan Xichen could practically see the moment Jin Zixuan melted. "Of course, A-Li," he agreed, heading over to the buffet tables.
"Finally," Wei Wuxian groaned. "If you ever want to get rid of him more permanently, Shijie, just say the word. I can make it look like an accident."
"If A-Xuan died, I don't think anyone who's seen you or A-Cheng with him would believe it was an accident," Jiang Yanli replied, amusement in her eyes. "And you know I love him, even if you two don't always get along."
"I know," Wei Wuxian sighed, "but why him?"
"A-Xian…"
"Alright, I'll stop insulting your husband, just don't say my name like that!"
"Speaking of husbands, where's yours?" Jiang Yanli asked. "I expected to see you two together, as always."
"He's not arriving until later today," Wei Wuxian replied. "So I'll have to languish without him until then. I hope I'll survive."
"You've survived this long without him, haven't you?" a young man dressed in purple grumbled, coming up behind Wei Wuxian. He wore a purple mask that looked almost like lightning. "You can survive without your precious Hanguang-Jun a little longer."
"Jiang Cheng!" Wei Wuxian said delightedly. "We weren't sure you'd be able to come."
"And risk insulting the Nie Sect?" the young man, who must have been Wei Wuxian's shidi, scoffed. "Of course I came."
"We're all glad to see you," Jiang Yanli said with a smile.
"I see you dragged someone else into your current mess?" Jiang Cheng asked, gesturing at Lan Xichen.
"Oh, right! Huan-ge- Or, uh, Meng-xiong- Really, which one do you like better?"
"Either is fine," Lan Xichen assured him.
"Then I guess I'll go with Meng-xiong," Wei Wuxian decided. "You look less uncomfortable when I call you that. Anyway, Meng-xiong, this is my shidi, Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng, this is Meng Huan, a new friend of mine."
"It's an honor to meet you, Jiang-gongzi," Lan Xichen said, bowing.
"You as well, Meng-gongzi," Jiang Cheng replied, bowing back. "Why did you become friends with Wei Wuxian? You should make better life decisions than that."
"A-Cheng!" Jiang Yanli scolded, but she was clearly trying not to laugh as she said it.
"After all I've done for you, that's the thanks I get?" Wei Wuxian demanded, putting his hands on his hips. "You're so ungrateful."
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. Jin Zixuan chose that moment to return with a plate full of food for Jiang Yanli, which he handed to her almost reverentially. She beamed at him as she accepted it, and both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian looked like they were going to be sick.
"Oh, hey, Meng-xiong, I was going to introduce you to your mystery cultivator, wasn't I?" Wei Wuxian suddenly said, looking across the courtyard. "Come with me, I think this is the one. I'll be right back, Shijie."
"Alright," Jiang Yanli agreed easily.
"It was an honor to meet you," Lan Xichen said, bowing to Jin Zixuan, Jiang Yanli, and Jiang Cheng in turn.
"And you, Meng-gongzi," Jiang Yanli replied, bowing back. The other two did the same and murmured platitudes of their own.
"Come on, Meng-xiong!" Wei Wuxian called. "Someone else will start talking to him if we don't get there first."
"I'm coming," Lan Xichen replied, following Wei Wuxian to a tall, gray-robed man. His build looked familiar, but Lan Xichen couldn't be sure he recognized him from behind.
"Da-ge!" Wei Wuxian said, beaming at the man. "It's me!"
The man sighed. "You're never going to stop calling me da-ge, are you?" he asked, turning around, and Lan Xichen's breath caught in his throat. It was him, it was the cultivator he'd met in the forest, he was certain of it. Even with a mask shaped like a bull covering half his face, Lan Xichen recognized him. He wondered if the opposite would also be true.
"Nie-xiong said I could," Wei Wuxian protested. "Besides, you don't really mind, do you?"
The cultivator sighed deeply. Wei Wuxian beamed, apparently taking that as a yes. "Da-ge," he introduced, "this is Meng Huan. I think you might have met him before."
The man looked at Lan Xichen, his brow furrowing slightly until realization dawned. "You're the man from the forest."
Lan Xichen inclined his head. "You saved me from a fierce corpse. I'll never be able to thank you enough for it."
"Meng-xiong," Wei Wuxian added, "this is Chifeng-Zun, the head of the Nie Sect, also known as Nie Mingjue."
Lan Xichen felt himself freeze. Chifeng-Zun. The man who'd saved him had been the head of the Nie Sect. The cultivator he'd been secretly fantasizing about for weeks was the very man this whole banquet was being thrown to honor.
Lan Xichen really wished Wei Wuxian had told him who he was introducing him to before he did it.
"So your name is Meng Huan," Nie Mingjue said, his voice just as deep and rumbling as Lan Xichen remembered from the forest. "You wouldn't tell me last time."
"I- Yes," Lan Xichen agreed, a bit disjointedly. "I- I didn't know-"
"Please don't," Nie Mingjue said quickly as Lan Xichen dropped into a belated bow. "I liked the way you talked to me before, when you didn't know I was a sect leader. No one talks to me like that anymore. Well, except maybe this one" - he jerked a thumb in Wei Wuxian's direction - "but you're more interesting than he is."
"Ow," Wei Wuxian muttered. "If you're just going to insult me, I'm going back with my shijie. Meng-xiong, you know where to find me."
"Thank you, Wei-gongzi."
"Thank me by not calling me that anymore," Wei Wuxian replied, then he left with a jaunty wave.
"He's always like that," Nie Mingjue said. "It's kinda fun, but you can never let him know you think that."
"He seems charming," Lan Xichen said, a bit tentatively.
"Yeah, but he somehow manages to get both more and less charming the more you know him. He's a good kid, but he's annoying. Speaking of good, annoying kids, did Wei Wuxian introduce you to my brother?"
"He did, but I didn't realize he was your brother at the time. He was also charming."
"You've got low standards," Nie Mingjue said flatly. Lan Xichen tried not to laugh. "But I'm glad you liked him. I'm glad you came. I was hoping you would."
"You met me once," Lan Xichen protested. "And I'm sure you know many more interesting people. Why would you hope for me to come?"
"I liked you," Nie Mingjue replied simply. "I don't like a lot of people, especially not when I first meet them, but I liked you." He looked around at the growing crowds, then added, "Do you want to go somewhere a little more quiet where we can talk? We don't need to stay in the middle of everything."
"Isn't this banquet for you?"
"Only technically. Besides, I think that means I should be able to leave whenever I want."
"Shouldn't you stay, as the host?"
Nie Mingjue shrugged. "No one really needs me here, honestly. It won't make much of a difference if I stay or leave. But if you don't want to go-"
"I do," Lan Xichen interrupted, then he fought the urge to cover his mouth with his hands out of embarrassment. "I- I mean-"
"Good," Nie Mingjue said, his lips twitching into a small smile. "Let's go."
No one seemed to notice the two of them slipping off into the fortress. Nie Mingjue led Lan Xichen down a maze of hallways until they reached another courtyard, this one decidedly smaller and more intimate than the first. There was a bench and a small garden in the middle. Lan Xichen spun in a slow circle, looking around with awe.
"This was my mother's favorite spot, back when she was still alive," Nie Mingjue told Lan Xichen. "She tended to the plants herself. I'm not any good at gardening, so I have to hire other people to do it, but I do like to visit here when I want some peace and quiet."
"Thank you for sharing this place with me," Lan Xichen murmured.
"I'm glad you like it," Nie Mingjue replied. He sat down on the bench and patted the spot next to him. Tentatively, Lan Xichen sat down.
"I'm glad to see you again," Nie Mingjue said after a moment of silence. "I've been keeping an eye out for any night hunts in your area, just in case."
"I came here in hopes of seeing you," Lan Xichen admitted. "I almost didn't, but I'm glad I did."
"Why did you almost not come?"
Because I'm risking my life to sit here in this courtyard with you, as well as Meng Yao's life, and the life of everyone in our village.
"It's a long trip," Lan Xichen said instead. "And I didn't even know if you'd be here. I didn't know you were the one this banquet was for. But Wei-gongzi convinced me to come, and I'm glad he did."
Nie Mingjue made a face. "So am I, but he'll be insufferable about it."
"He seems a kind person," Lan Xichen offered tentatively. "I don't know him well, but he seems well-intentioned."
"Oh, he normally is, but he's also annoying," Nie Mingjue replied. "And he'll start trying to take responsibility for setting us up or something. Ever since he got married, he's been a ridiculous romantic."
"It is at least partially because of him, though. I wouldn't have come if not for him."
"Never say that in front of Wei Wuxian, you'll just encourage him."
Lan Xichen laughed, covering his mouth with one hand. Nie Mingjue looked pleased with himself.
"Enough about Wei Wuxian, though," Nie Mingjue stated, leaning back on the bench. "Tell me about yourself, Meng Huan."
The levity drained from Lan Xichen's body immediately. "There's not much to tell," he replied, trying to sound unconcerned. "You're much more interesting than I am, I'm sure."
"At least tell me something," Nie Mingjue prodded. "You're a cultivator, right? So you probably could have taken care of that fierce corpse without me."
"I didn't have my sword with me," Lan Xichen countered. "I'm not sure I could have."
Nie Mingjue looked down at Lan Xichen's sword curiously. Lan Xichen had the feeling he was about to ask why it was disguised, so he asked a question of his own first. "Can you tell me more about your saber? I don't know much about the Nie style of cultivation."
"My saber's name is Baxia," Nie Mingjue said as he unsheathed it for examination, apparently thoroughly distracted. "She's a bit testy with strangers, so I wouldn't suggest touching her."
"She's beautiful," Lan Xichen murmured, bending over the huge saber. "It looks like it would require a lot of strength to wield her."
"She's heavier than one of your thin little swords, yeah. It gives a lot more power behind every swing."
"Do all Nie cultivators have sabers so huge?"
"Nah, not all of us. My lieutenant dual wields two sabers, but they're both much smaller than Baxia. And Huaisang has a skinny little thing that hardly looks any bigger than your sword. Not that he ever uses it, of course, but in theory, it's his."
Unless Nie Huaisang was hiding some truly impressive whipcord muscles on his slender frame, Lan Xichen wasn't sure he'd even be able to pick up a saber as big as Baxia. It was probably for the best for him to have a smaller one.
"Was your brother also a cultivator?" Nie Mingjue asked, a bit tentatively.
"He was," Lan Xichen agreed, remembering how proud Lan Wangji had been when he was presented with Bichen. "He was a very powerful one. He was younger than me, but he was determined to be just as good as I was, so he reached many milestones earlier than most. I was still stronger than him when he…" The word still hurt, even after three years, but Lan Xichen forced it out. "When he died, but if he'd lived longer, I think he would have surpassed me before too long."
"I'm sorry you never got the chance to see that," Nie Mingjue said in a low voice.
"It's been three years," Lan Xichen said, trying to pull himself together. "I still miss him, of course, but I'm alright."
"Do you want to talk about something else?" Nie Mingjue asked.
"Will you tell me more about this garden?" Lan Xichen asked, casting his mind out for the first possible topic. "It's beautiful."
"I don't know the names of all the plants, but I'll do my best," Nie Mingjue replied. "The tree is a mulberry. It was always my mother's favorite. Huaisang's mother was my father's second wife, but I think they were thinking of my mother when they chose his courtesy name. There's some peonies, I think, and some rhododendrons. Beyond that, I'm not sure."
"I recognize these," Lan Xichen said, getting up from the bench and kneeling by the a particular plant. It wasn't flowering, but Lan Xichen knew it anyway. "Gentians."
"If you say so," Nie Mingjue agreed dubiously. "Do you grow those or something?"
"No, but they used to grow around my mother's house," Lan Xichen replied. The honesty slipped out of his mouth before he had a chance to wonder if it was safe. He couldn't imagine anyone outside of the Lan Sect would know about his mother's house, but it was identifying information he probably should have kept to himself.
"Are those the blue ones?" Nie Mingjue asked, looking down at the plant. "I think that has blue flowers, right?"
"They're blue," Lan Xichen agreed. "And beautiful."
"You can come back and see then when they're flowering," Nie Mingjue offered.
Lan Xichen looked up at him in surprise. "Truly?"
"I want you to come back," Nie Mingjue said. His words were blunt enough that they sounded truthful to Lan Xichen's ear. "Honestly, you don't even have to leave if you don't want to. You can just stay here."
"I can't just stay here," Lan Xichen countered, although the proposition was a bit tempting. "I live with a friend. I can't just disappear."
"A friend?" Nie Mingjue repeated. He sounded a bit uncertain now, which was a stark change from how he'd spoken before. "Who?"
"Simply a friend," Lan Xichen replied. "No one the great Chifeng-Zun would know, I'm certain."
"Just a friend?" Nie Mingjue asked. He put a certain stress on the word just that made Lan Xichen wonder.
"Just a friend," Lan Xichen agreed. He hesitated a moment, then asked tentatively, "Would you be disappointed if he weren't?"
"Yes."
A slight shiver went down Lan Xichen's spine. "Truly?"
"Truly."
Lan Xichen looked up at Nie Mingjue, then began to stand. Nie Mingjue quickly offered him a hand, which Lan Xichen took, and pulled him to his feet.
"Does that make you uncomfortable?" Nie Mingjue asked. He seemed very close.
"No," Lan Xichen replied honestly. He owed Nie Mingjue his honesty, at the very least. "But this is impossible."
"Why?" Nie Mingjue asked. "You're a cultivator. Even if you weren't, that wouldn't really matter. If you're thinking about heirs, we can adopt. Or if you're-"
"Chifeng-Zun," Lan Xichen said quietly. "I can't. It's impossible."
"Meng Huan-"
Perhaps coming had been a mistake after all. Lan Xichen turned, hating the movement even as he did it, and went to leave the courtyard. Before he could even take a step, however, he felt a hand grip his wrist.
"I'm sorry," Nie Mingjue said behind him. "If you say you can't, then I will respect that. But you don't have to go. I won't bring it up again."
"I'll have to leave when the banquet is over," Lan Xichen said, not yet turning around. "You may never see me again."
"I certainly hope not. But if you don't want to see me, I won't push."
Slowly, Lan Xichen turned. "I didn't say I didn't want to see you."
A small smile spread across Nie Mingjue's face. "Good."
Lan Xichen offered a small, shy smile in response, and Nie Mingjue let go of his wrist. As he pulled his hand away, a thin white ribbon that was caught on his wrist brace went with it, and Lan Xichen felt his insides freeze.
"Sorry," Nie Mingjue said, detangling the ribbon from his wrist brace. "I didn't mean-"
Nie Mingjue went still as he looked down at the ribbon, and Lan Xichen felt any hope that Nie Mingjue wouldn't know what it was die. "Chifeng-Zun-"
"You're a Lan," Nie Mingjue said slowly. "You're- This ribbon-"
"Chifeng-Zun, I can-"
Nie Mingjue ran a thumb along the embroidery that adorned the ribbon, the sign of a member of the direct Lan bloodline. "Are you… Are you Lan Xichen?"
Lan Xichen moved with a speed he hadn't utilized in years. In an instant, he leapt onto Shuoyue and began to fly. His heart was pounding, and his mind was racing, and he felt something catch on his sleeve for a moment before it gave and he was free. He didn't know how long he would be free, didn't know how long it would be until Nie Mingjue sent pursuers after him, but he knew he had to move quickly. Nie Mingjue knew where he lived, or at least the general area, and he knew he didn't live alone, and Lan Xichen cursed himself for putting Meng Yao and their whole village at risk. If the Wens went there in search of him, if they sacked the village the same way they destroyed the Cloud Recesses…
They knew where to find him now, but Lan Xichen still had to go back. He couldn't leave the village alone to face the consequences of his mistakes. He couldn't abandon Meng Yao, not after he'd betrayed him like this.
Lan Xichen flew as fast as he could, and he hoped it would be fast enough.
A note about Lan Xichen's fake name: while it's meant to be Meng as in Meng Yao (孟, Mèng) and Huan as in Lan Huan (涣, Huàn), I found out on Yabla that meng huan (梦幻, mèng huàn, same tones but different characters) is also a phrase which means illusion. That seemed fairly apt for a fake name.