Nie Mingjue stood in the courtyard, frozen and wide-eyed, one hand holding a white ribbon and the other clutching a ripped-off sleeve. It seemed too insane to believe that, after three years of disappearance, the long-lost Lan heir would attend a Nie banquet, but that must have been Lan Xichen. He had the ribbon, and the look in his eyes when Nie Mingjue said his name…
Quickly, Nie Mingjue turned and strode out of his mother's courtyard, moving so quickly he was almost running. He burst into the main courtyard, where the banquet had grown in his absence, and immediately started scanning the crowd for black and red robes.
"Da-ge!" a voice cried as Nie Huaisang bounded up next to him. "Where were you? You just disappeared during the middle of your own party, and now you're back here with… What is that? Is that someone's sleeve? Da-ge-"
"Where's Wei Wuxian?" Nie Mingjue demanded.
"Over by the buffet table, I think, but-"
The rest of Nie Huaisang's sentence was replaced by an indignant huff as Nie Mingjue immediately made a beeline over to the buffet table. Sure enough, he could see Wei Wuxian there as he grew closer, and beside him, he could see a figure dressed in white.
"Da-ge," Nie Huaisang protested as he tried to keep up with his brother, "what is it? You look like you saw a ghost. Except you wouldn't look like that if you saw a ghost, because you see ghosts all the time, so what happened?"
Both figures at the buffet table turned at the sound of Nie Huaisang's voice, and Nie Mingjue shoved the forehead ribbon into Wei Wuxian's hands. Wei Wuxian looked down at it, brow furrowed, then his eyes went wide. At his side, his husband looked down at it too, then he looked up at Nie Mingjue, golden eyes burning.
"Where did you find this?"
"Was it Meng-xiong?" Wei Wuxian asked. "That's his sleeve, isn't it?"
"I don't think that's his name," Nie Mingjue said. His voice came out slightly hoarser than he'd expected.
"Where did you find this?" Lan Wangji repeated, his hands shaking as he took the ribbon from Wei Wuxian's hands.
"I think I just met your brother," Nie Mingjue said. "I think that man was Lan Xichen."
Meng Yao took a deep, slow breath, then he stepped forward, fixing a pleasant smile on his face. "Jin-zongzhu?"
"Hmm?" Jin Guangshan turned around, eyes narrowing through the holes in his gaudy, golden mask. "Who are you?"
Meng Yao bowed deeply. "This one is named Meng Yao. My mother was named Meng Shi."
"Meng Shi…" Jin Guangshan mused. "That name sounds familiar."
Meng Yao forced down the rage that burned in his bones. "My mother worked at a brothel in Yunping."
"Ah, yes, I remember," Jin Guangshan said, nodding. His face darkened. "Why are you here, Meng Yao?"
He spoke the name with venomous derision. Meng Yao forced himself not to react to it.
"I have information that Jin-zongzhu may find interesting."
"What sort of information?"
Meng Yao took another slow breath. This was quite possibly his only chance. He'd waited for so long. If things went wrong here, he doubted an opportunity like this would present itself again.
"I know where the missing Lan heir is."