Lan Wangji strikes at a moment of weakness, mere minutes after Jin Guangyao gets the bad news. While Jin Guangyao thinks the entire situation is completely out of the blue, the reality is that it follows several months of build-up by Lan Xichen, near constant urging for Lan Wangji to become a little closer to his sworn brothers. Lan Wangji likes Nie Mingjue just fine…but Jin Guangyao? Not so much. There was just always something slimy about him that Lan Xichen never seemed to see.
Alas, Lan Wangji is nothing if not adoring of his brother, so when he finds Jin Guangyao in distress the night before his wedding, he does what Lan Xichen would want him to do: he offers emotional aid. "Are you all right?" he asks lightly.
Jin Guangyao, a master of lying, promptly bursts into tears. "No!" he wails, because this situation is certainly wail-worthy. "I'm not all right! Nothing is all right!"
Lan Wangji would argue that many things are all right, actually, but he has enough emotional intelligence to understand that would not be the right thing to say to the crying man. He is confused as to why Jin Guangyao has decided to open up to him, though—especially when the man had always seemed so put together. Then, to his horror, Jin Guangyao practically hurls himself into Lan Wangji's arms. Resisting his immediate reaction of just dropping him to the floor—Lan Xichen would be disappointed in him—he manages to lead the man over to one of the many plush sofas lining the halls of Koi Tower. Jin Guangyao continues to sob, attempting to clean up his cheeks with his palms…a hopeless endeavor, apparently.
Lan Wangji, concerned and, more prominently, bewildered, asks, "Lianfang-zun?"
Finally, Jin Guangyao pauses and looks up. His cheeks go rosy as he begins to stammer, "Hanguang-jun, I apologize! I thought you were Second Brother!"
Lan Wangji lets his eyes slip shut as he curses how similar he looks to his brother. Jin Guangyao, in his distress, must not have noticed the differences. "No need to apologize, it's understandable. Should I go get my brother?"
"No!" says Jin Guangyao immediately. He comes to a stand, manages to swallow down the remainder of his tears, and says, "It was just a moment of stress. Wedding jitters, you know how it is—" Lan Wangji does not, in fact, know how it is, much to his chagrin "—but nothing to worry Zewu-jun over."
Everything in Lan Wangji screams at him to take Jin Guangyao at his word, to nod respectfully, offer a few words of encouragement, and then make an elegant escape. However, that would be quitting and Lan Wangji is not a quitter so, instead, he asks, "Are you sure? That looked like more than just pre-wedding jitters."
Jin Guangyao once again looks ready to burst into tears before an unreadable mask falls over his face. He scrutinizes Lan Wangji, eyeing him from head to toe, and Lan Wangji feels as if he's back in his youth, writing a test under his uncle's watchful gaze. He apparently passes this test without any effort, however, because Jin Guangyao promptly sags, collapsing back on the sofa. "Hanguang-jun, may I ask you some advice?"
Advice! Lan Wangji can do advice! So many people seem to think he has good decision-making skills so he has become so adept at making up advice that no one even questions him! He nods lightly and Jin Guangyao takes in a deep breath. "I just had a conversation with Madam Qin. Apparently, there is something incredibly important that she had failed to tell me until today. I wasn't surprised, of course—that woman has made her disdain for me quite clear since day one—but I was not expecting the…nature of this information to be so alarming." Lan Wangji instinctively frowns, not liking where this is heading. If Madam Qin revealed something about Maiden Qiu's chastity that is making Jin Guangyao have second thoughts… Lan Wangji has seen enough men ruin women for such a small thing that it makes his blood boil. It's not that, though. In fact, nothing could ever prepare him for what Jin Guangyao is about to say next:
"Madam Qin has brought it to my attention that Qin Su is…not necessarily Lord Qin's daughter. In fact, she has told me that her father is Jin Guangshan."
What.
"You mean, Sect Leader Jin?" Lan Wangji asks weakly. Jin Guangyao nods. "Who is also your father?" Another nod. Oh sweet Guanyin. "Lianfang-zun…" Lan Wangji wants to help, he truly does, but for the first time, his mind is drawing a complete blank. The only thing he can think is ?!
"To make matters worse," Jin Guangyao continues, because apparently there's more to this clusterfuck of a situation, "I dishonored Qin Su in a way that I should not have—not that she didn't want it, of course, but I shouldn't have—never mind, that's not the point. It's just…Qin Su is pregnant. It's why we rushed the wedding."
Oh.
Oh.
Jin Guangyao says, "Obviously, I'm in a stressful and precarious situation. I can't stop the marriage now, no one has a thick enough skin to handle the backlash—" It's right about here that Lan Wangji's brain stops melting out of his ear and instead decides to be useful again.
"Don't do it," Lan Wangji immediately says.
"You don't understand—there's political nuance!" Jin Guangyao says desperately. "I can't just back out now! Neither of our reputations will survive it! It's not that simple!"
"No, it is very simple. Do not marry your sister."
"If that were a possibility, then I would have called off the marriage already!" he insists. "Listen—if I call off the wedding and someone finds out Qin Su is pregnant, we both will be ruined, not to mention her father will kill me! And breaking an engagement isn't good for a maiden's image! Her prospects will be ruined—as will mine because, again, she is pregnant! And everyone knows who the father is! Madam Qin only told me because her conscience couldn't bear it, not because she wanted to stop the wedding! That little—"
"Lianfang-zun," says Lan Wangji, "no amount of nuance in the world will make up for the fact that Maiden Qin is your sister. If, later on, this is discovered, then all of your reputations will be tarnished irreversibly. If you stop this now, the damage can be minimized."
"Yeah?" Jin Guangyao demands. "How?"
"First of all, does Maiden Qin know?"
Jin Guangyao stares.
Five minutes later, the two of them are knocking on the door of Qin Su's chambers. She opens the door and it's obvious that she is midway through some beauty routine, readying herself incrementally for her wedding tomorrow. Lan Wangji almost feels bad for what he's about to do, but then realizes that he shouldn't because if he hadn't insisted, then Qin Su would go through with the wedding and have to unknowingly marry her brother. Squaring his shoulders, Lan Wangji prepares himself for war.
Qin Su and Jin Guangyao, meanwhile, make eye contact and immediately glance away—Qin Su out of coy embarrassment, Jin Guangyao out of horror. "A-Su," he says hoarsely, "we need to talk."
"Is it important?" asks Qin Su.
"I wouldn't be bothering you if it wasn't," Jin Guangyao promises.
Qin Su responds by blushing before eyeing Lan Wangji. "Hanguang-jun, do you need to speak with me, as well?"
Normally, Lan Wangji would have left Jin Guangyao to deal with this conversation himself, but after hearing his original plan of action, he's not so sure that he trusts him to do so. Instead, he says, "Yes. Apologies, Maiden Qin, but Lianfang-zun and I will be imposing on you."
It's this that finally concerns Qin Su, who frowns at Lan Wangji and then at her brother-fiance. Then, with a swish of cloth, she opens her chamber door open wider, allowing them into its main room. Normally, she wouldn't allow them inside, but the urgency of the situation—not to mention Lan Wangji's (somehow) stellar reputation—has overridden her concern for dignity. Instead, she politely gestures for them to sit before signaling one of her servants to bring some tea. There's a tense silence until the servant girl is far enough away that her footsteps are barely audible.
Since Jin Guangyao seems entirely unwilling to say something, Lan Wangji decides to take the lead. "Maiden Qin, Lianfang-zun acquired some…unfortunate information in regards to your relationship with him from your mother."
Qin Su's form tenses, smile straining to keep its place on her face. She says, "My mother is ill, please do not take anything she says seriously. I apologize on her behalf. She has not been herself lately."
Jin Guangyao shakes his head. "A-Su, I know your mother isn't ill—she's upset about our marriage taking place, and has been upset since day one."
Qin Su's grip on her robes tightens, sending a burning gaze to Lan Wangji before setting all notions of decorum aside. "Yes, and she'll say anything to stop the wedding, so whatever she has told you about me, it isn't true."
"But haven't you ever wondered why your mother hates me so much?"
"You know why," accuses Qin Su. "She's awful to think it but we all know."
"It's not because I'm a bastard," Jin Guangyao says, now sounding half-hysterical. "Your mother pulled me aside in tears and told me the truth. The truth, A-Su."
"Truth?" Qin Su demands, standing. She must think that her mother spun some tale about her chastity or her faithfulness, but no—the reality is far worse. Lan Wangji feels sorrowful that so much of her happiness is going to be taken away in one, swift motion—or as swift as Jin Guangyao's dramatics will allow. "Let me hear this truth!" Qin Su demands.
"We cannot marry—"
"A-Yao, you can't just—"
"—because we are siblings!"
A horrified silence settles over the room, seeping into every nook and cranny. Qin Su whirls to Lan Wangji, her eyes practically begging him to tell Jin Guangyao off for lying, or even to reveal that it was all some big scheme that he was in on. But no, all Lan Wangji can do is stare into her eyes, unflinching, and say, "I'm sorry, Maiden Qin."
Qin Su collapses back onto her seat. "Explain yourselves," she says flatly.
Jin Guangyao begins, "Apparently Jin Guangshan forced himself upon your mother, which resulted in her pregnancy and…and you. She kept it a secret for all this time, not even telling her husband, and she was rightfully horrified when she learned of our relationship. That's why she tried so hard to break it off—not because I'm a bastard, but because I'm your half-brother. She only told me a few minutes ago because she apparently couldn't live with the guilt of not saying anything any longer."
"Her timing is impeccable, isn't it?" Qin Su mutters, bitter. Her gaze flicks toward Lan Wangji. "How do you factor in?"
"Lianfang-zun, in his distress, mistook me for my brother and confided in me," he explains simply. "I decided to accompany him and ensure he did not act rashly in the wake of such shocking information."
"Yes," says Qin Su, "the great Hanguang-jun, known for his tact and rationality." Her words are biting and sarcastic, something he's never witnessed from the publically mild-mannered woman. He reflexively scowls, knowing that she's referencing his attempts to save Wei Wuxian and his subsequent years spent in seclusion, all of which everyone has seemed quite content to ignore so far. Qin Su's words are an ugly reminder that no one has truly forgotten about it, though they may have forgiven him.
That's fine. He doesn't want anyone to forget, just as he has never wanted their forgiveness. Just so she knows how little he cares about her opinion of him, he says with blind confidence, "Yes, precisely. Now that you two have touched base, the next step is to figure out where to go from here."
"We can't get married," says Qin Su. Lan Wangji throws a subtle, pointed look at Jin Guangyao.
Jin Guangyao says, "But your reputation—"
"Damn my reputation, I'm not marrying my own brother! I love you, A-Yao, I really do, but this? This is sinful!"
"And the child?" Jin Guangyao demands. "Will you get rid of it?" He says it so harshly, too, as if he's mad at her for not marrying him, which can't be true.
Qin Su, sensing his tone, immediately rises to meet him. "Maybe I will," she says. "It's no business of yours, is it?"
"It's my child, too."
"It's my life! It's nine months of me incubating a child of incest! Would you do that if you were in my body? Would you put up with the shame and humiliation?"
Jin Guangyao changes tactics. "It will be dangerous, A-Su! And it's not necessarily reliable! I grew up around women who had unwanted pregnancies and I watched them disappear or suffer in pain after procedures gone wrong!"
"I'm not a prostitute," says Qin Su. "I have money and I have connections, ones that you don't need to know about. I know the right people and I have it on good word that I can get it done quickly and safely. It's none of your damn business!" She gets closer and, though she's much smaller than Jin Guangyao, she's practically towering over him. "Why are you so upset, anyway? Do you want to bring a child into this world under such awful circumstances? If I get rid of it, then no one will know about it after we break off the marriage!"
Jin Guangyao looks unimaginably stressed but finally gives in. "Fine—do what you want!"
"I was going to regardless of your wishes!"
Lan Wangji, who watched it all happen, stares mutely, trying to disappear in the middle of this obviously private conversation.
"So, this is it, then?" asks Jin Guangyao. "We break off the wedding the night before it happens? We'll be the victims of horrendous speculation!"
"Then we need to give them something else to talk about," Qin Su says darkly. She meets Jin Guangyao and Lan Wangji's gazes. "Something so striking that they won't even question the breaking of our marriage."
"Like what?"
"Like a death," says Qin Su.
Lan Wangji feels like this is going somewhere he hadn't foreseen.
Qin Su continues, "Jin Guangshan ruined the lives of everyone in this room. He raped my mother and abandoned A-Yao's mother and he led the witch hunt against Wei Wuxian. What good has he done for society? He was allied with the Wen Sect while it committed its atrocities, and then he barely lifted a finger to help during the Sunshot Campaign. In fact, if it weren't for the late Jin Zixuan and his followers, the Jin Sect would have stayed out of the war entirely! He abused the leftover Wen in the same ways the Wen Sect would abuse others, and then he showered others with gold until they ignored it. He's a poison on this Earth! Not even his wife likes him!" Her anger reaches its crescendo in a magnificent arc of volume as she says, "And he propositioned me at A-Yao's birthday and threatened me when I wouldn't sleep with him! Chifeng-zun approaching to talk to him was the only thing that stopped him!"
Both Lan Wangji and Jin Guangyao gasp, appropriately horrified. Jin Guanghan's blatant adultery has never been a secret, but for it to be put into context so thoroughly that he had unknowingly propositioned his own daughter was convincing. Qin Su, finding that she had seized the anger of the two men, finally concludes her speech. "The world will be better off without him."
Lan Wangji is not sure he likes the certainty of the future tense. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," says Qin Su, "let's kill Jin Guangshan."
Jin Guangyao rises. "We can't kill our own father! That's as sinful as incest!"
"Is it?" asks Qin Su. "He's a lecherous beast! What difference is there between killing him and killing a pig?"
"Not my point," answers Jin Guangyao. "I meant to say that if we are found out, this will be more of a disaster for us!"
"Not if we do it right!"
"Quiet!" says Lan Wangji, who has had enough of this situation. "Murder is the worst sin of all! You cannot murder someone in cold blood!"
"You didn't seem so upset when Wei Wuxian killed three hundred men at Nevernight," says Qin Su. "Perhaps he was provoked, but we have been provoked by Jin Guangshan, as well! What difference is there? That Wei Wuxian was your friend and A-Yao and I are just bastards? How are his qualms more valid than ours, Hunguang-jun? Where is the justice in that?"
It's nowhere near as apt a comparison as Qin Su means it to be—the nuance of the situation is very different—but it strikes Lan Wangji to his core. Perhaps it is wrong to murder Jin Guangshan…but, she's right. Where is the justice?
"I will not murder a man," says Lan Wangji, tensed. "But I will allow you to do as you wish."
Qin Su smiles. "Will help us, at least?"
"I will not murder him—"
"Your sword will never taste his blood," she assures.
Lan Wangji observes her carefully before finally nodding. Jin Guangyao watches on in astonishment. Lan Wangji has always been a bit sinister, too rigid to not follow the rules and too reckless once he lost faith in them, but he had never considered him capable of this. Meanwhile, Qin Su turns to him and asks if he needs to be convinced, too, and Jin Guangyao resolutely shakes his head. He's not going to turn down this chance…especially since this is not the first time he's thought about patricide, anyway.
…Five minutes later, his plan is shot down firmly. "It would be poetic," he points out.
"How are we going to arrange for him to be fucked to death in just a few hours?" demands Qin Su. "Besides, I don't want to punish any women by making them have sex with him."
They had already collectively turned down the use of weapons, which are much more traceable than they ought to be, so they're running out of options. "What about poison?" asks Qin Su. "Clean, efficient, and undetectable if done correctly."
Lan Wangji, who has so far been silent, finally decides to weigh in. "Why must it be undetectable? If he's dead and we don't leave behind clues, it won't matter. Lianfang-zun will inherit the title of Sect Leader until Jin Rulan is old enough to rule, so Lianfang-zun can curtail the investigations."
"What do you suggest?" says Qin Su.
"Mercury," says Lan Wangji. "Long-term and excessive use is toxic, though many people believe that it will grant them eternal life. It is plausible that Jin Guangshan may consume it, perhaps even too much. If anyone suspects foul play, it will be hard to trace back to anybody."
"Okay," says Jin Guangyao, "but where will we get enough mercury to kill a grown man?"
Lan Wangji, because he is exceptionally thorough, says, "From me."
Qin Su and Jin Guangyao smile.
Jin Guangshan is found dead in his chambers and, of course, the wedding of Jin Guangyao and Qin Su has to be put on hold until the appropriate mourning period is over. Lan Wangji, one of the first people on the scene, aptly diagnoses it as mercury overdose, the simple case of a man chasing immortality through distasteful, not cultivational means. No one thinks any more of it.
Jin Guangyao becomes Sect Leader Jin with a heavy heart. The weight of the situation is obviously stressful, and so no one is surprised when Jin Guangyao and Qin Su never quite get back to normal…and that a wedding is never announced again. Lord Qin is saddened by his daughter's sorrow but he respects that, perhaps, she does not need the stress of being married to a Sect Leader. Madam Qin, on the other hand, is ecstatic. People pay her no heed because she is a woman and they do odd things in times of grief.
Similarly, there is a week's length of time where Qin Su failed to make a public appearance. After the failure of her engagement, no one is surprised that she may be too saddened to show her face. She does eventually return, still appropriately mourning but otherwise fine.
She does not give birth to a child that year—even the notion is preposterous! She isn't married and she's a respectable young maiden, after all!
Lan Wangji, meanwhile, becomes a companion to Jin Guangyao, something Lan Xichen is delighted by. Lan Wangji also becomes a companion to Qin Su, which Lan Xichen finds confusing but he is not going to question his brother finally making some friends.
In the end…Jin Guangshan is dead and everyone is all the happier for it.
A/N: if you enjoyed it, please Favorite and Review!