Ch 41
That night was one of the most uncomfortable nights Wei Ying could remember spending anywhere, and considering some of the places he had tried to sleep that was saying something. It wasn't so much the people he was with or the place, it was the two together. None of them were stupid enough to think that Wen RoHan, or any of the Wen for that matter, would just believe what was said in the hall and let them sleep through the night without some observation. These people had not nearly taken over the entire cultivation world by being idiots (well not complete idiots), so it was obvious that at some point in the night, when they thought the three were asleep, they were going to get spied on. Because of this Wei Ying and Lan Zhan shared the bed while XiChen slept on the floor. Considering that they had done much more in the past than share covers, it shouldn't have been uncomfortable between the two, but it was. When Wei Ying was supposed to be treating Lan Zhan as a simple toy for his amusement instead of a real lover, and his lover's elder brother was sleeping just feet away. How could things not be uncomfortable.
As daylight broke, heralding a new day, Wei Ying rolled over in bed. His eyes were half closed and his mind groggy thanks to the bad nights sleep he had been able to get. Slowly realising he had rolled over and not rolled onto anyone, he rolled back over and opened his eyes slowly, trying to get his mind to work. In front of him, by one of the windows, both Lan's were sat on small cushions speaking quietly. Wei Ying couldn't hear what the two were saying but decided to try and go back to sleep while he could. He must have made a shuffle, or some kind of noise, because both Lan's turned to look over at the bed, both their movements full of equal grace. Neither man moved but Lan XiChen made a slight movement with his head towards the open window. Someone's watching us, or at least listening. Wei Ying thought to himself as he slowly reached up to scratch his ear, earning a nod from Lan XiChen. Great, he had just woken up after a bad nights sleep and he was already being spied on. Maybe though they could use this to their advantage.
All three men knew that of all of them Lan Zhan was the worst at acting the roles they had agreed. Lan Zhan just wasn't good at actively doing anything where people were concerned. However, he was fine at following the instructions given to him concerning their façade, especially when those instructions came from either Wei Ying or his elder brother. Wei Ying gritted his teeth and tried to sound like a half-awake Master who was annoyed with his two servants, something that didn't come easily to someone who was the son of servant himself and well aware of what it was like to be ordered around.
'Lan Zhan when did I say you could get out of bed?' He asked in a gruff voice.
Lan Zhan simply turned to look at him before a small push from Lan XiChen got him speaking.
'You didn't!'
Then come back in bed I'm cold' Wei Ying tried to put some bite into his voice.
Lan Zhan silently stood and moved over to the bed, removing his top robes and slipping in beneath the covers with a look on his face that clearly said 'When we get back to YiLing you will be paying for this'. Wei Ying couldn't help but grin when he thought exactly how Lan Zhan would punish him. Once again wrapping his arm around Lan Zhan before pulling the covers over them both, Wei Ying spoke to Lan XiChen in a voice that could be clearly heard by the eavesdroppers outside.
'You can go outside and guard the door XiChen, tell anyone who comes that I will be... busy... for the next few hours.'
The innuendo was clear, and he hoped that either Wen Chao would appear and try to barge into his room, giving him yet more ammunition against the younger Wen, or Wen RoHan would appear and speak to XiChen while he was knelt 'standing guard' for what was supposedly happening in the room. Lan XiChen stood up from where he had been sitting and nodded over to Wei Ying, as he did so Wei Ying flashed an empty piece of talisman paper in his direction. The second, much smaller, nod that came from the elder jade allowed him to exhale slightly. It seemed the message had been understood, at least partly. If Wen RoHan appeared at the room today Wei Ying wanted to find a way to get the talisman onto his core and stop all this nonsense. It seems like whoever the Wen eavesdropper was could actually work to their advantage after all.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were laid together in bed quite awkwardly for the first 20 mins or so, before Wei Ying finally leant over enough to put his mouth by the other man's ear and whisper quietly.
'When we get home, you can punish me for this Er-ge'
Lan Zhan's body had stiffened slightly before he had responded.
'As brother says, we agreed to this plan and should play our parts' Wei Ying pulled a disappointed face, but Lan Zhan carried on. 'But if Wei Ying thinks he needs to be punished for his behaviour I will happily oblige!'
Wei Ying grinned and playfully kissed Lan Zhan on the cheek, the first bit of honest affection he had been able to show since they had come to this hellhole. Sadly though it wasn't to last, as mere moments later they heard a loud voice coming from outside.
'What do you mean you can't let me in? This is my home I can go wherever I damn well like!'
Shit! The wrong Wen had turned up, it was Wen Chao.
'I have been told to tell anyone who comes that Sir is busy for the next few hours' Lan XiChen said in his normal bland voice.
'I will never get used to your brother calling me 'Sir' even when he's acting' Wei Ying whispered into Lan Zhan's ear.
'Good, don't get used to it!' Lan Zhan muttered in response.
Outside Wen Chao seemed to be getting more irate with the immovable but still polite Lan XiChen who seemed to have knelt directly in front of the doors blocking any access. No matter how Wen Chao tried to threaten, push, or evade, he just couldn't get around the Lan shaped statue. Part of Wei Ying felt very sorry for the elder Lan having to deal with all the nonsense, another part of him just wanted to giggle at Wen Chao's ineptitude. Wen Chao screamed something else at Lan XiChen followed by a pause and then a servant shouting at him to stop what he was doing. Both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were alarmed at the servant's outburst and were just throwing back the covers to go outside and see what was happening when the voice they had wanted to hear thundered through the air outside the room.
'What the hell do you think you are doing?'
'I don't care who Wei WuXian is fucking in there! This is my house and I can go where the hell I want, but this Lan servant thinks he had stop me!' Came Wen Chao's answering whine.
'This is MY house!' came the answering boom that nearly made the room shake. 'And the Lan's are his to do with as he pleases. Do not interfere!'
Neither Wei Ying or Lan Zhan knew what was going on, but they did hear Wen RoHan walk up to the door of the room, the sound of another slap, the servants whimpering and then walking away, before Wen RoHan gently asked Lan XiChen if he was alright. XiChen simply explained that he was outside as Wei Ying and his brother were 'busy' in the room and Wen RoHan chuckled.
'It seems the YiLing Lazou does prefer your brother over you, although I can't see why.'
'I am content' XiChen answered, showing the Lan's mastery of technically telling the truth without actually saying what you thought they did. Lan XiChen was of course happy that his brother had found someone he loved and was never actually interested in Wei Ying himself. However, the context of the sentence made Wen RoHan believe that XiChen was content in simply being an ignored servant. Web RoHan huffed out a breath.
'Maybe Wei WuXian trained you and your brother too much! Where is the spark of the Lan XiChen I used to trade blows with, both with wits and swords? I admit when you first came here, I wanted to see that smug self-righteousness wiped off your face, but seeing you like this, serving him! is no fun at all.'
Hearing that things might be starting to unravel outside Wei Ying quickly threw off the bed cover, untied his sleeping robes slightly before running a hand through his already untidy hair to make himself look more unkempt and turning to Lan Zhan.
'Pretend to be asleep' He whispered as he pulled the covers up around his partner.
Lan Zhan simply nodded and rolled over to face the wall as Wei Ying walked towards the door, flinging it open to the morning sun.
'XiChen who are you…...'
Wei Ying pretended to see Wen RoHan crouching down beside Lan XiChen, a hand once again of the elder jade's knee, and stop in his tracks surprised as if he hadn't known the Wen leader had been there.
'Sect Leader Wen. I wasn't aware you had come to visit!' He exclaimed, fighting back the smile as he made a show of doing up his sleeping robes once again to appear presentable. 'XiChen why didn't you tell me?'
Before Wen RoHan could say anything, Lan XiChen, who seemed to have already understood the underlying message, bowed his head and replied.
'You told me not to interrupt your time with my brother!'
'Any excuse!' Wei Ying sighed. 'Whatever it's been done now! Go and fetch Sect Leader Wen a cup of tea from the table, and don't interrupt your brother he's sleeping.'
Lan XiChen bowed, standing and gracefully walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. Wei Ying stood there, just in his sleeping robes so obviously not a threat to such a man as Wen RoHan, who smiled down at him with a predatory smile.
'My apologies for interrupting your fun' Wen RoHan grinned, his smile full of teeth.
Wei Ying was saved from responding by the door opening and Lan XiChen reappearing holding a cup of tea carefully in his hands. Turning so his back was to Wei Ying, XiChen knelt and offered the cup to Wen RoHan, who instead of taking the cup straight away placed a hand back on the others knee, squeezing gently. Wei Ying took this opportunity and reached forwards, pricking his finger and completing the freezing talisman Lan XiChen had secured to the back of his robes. Wei Ying had originally placed the talisman under the teacup in the room, it was a simple talisman that both Lan's would recognise and on its own was only powerful enough to keep one person immobile for a few seconds. Even with the changes Wei Ying had made to it, knowing that it would most likely have to keep two cultivators immobile, one of which would be Wen RoHan, it wouldn't last very long.
Wei Ying could see the moment when the effects of the talisman transferred through Lan XiChen and into Wen RoHan, via the latter's contact with his knee. Without thinking Wei Ying took a mostly completed talisman out from beneath his own robes and fought an internal battle with himself over completing the talisman quickly and correctly. It needed to be done quickly before the immobilization talisman wore of, but he was well aware that only perfection would be able to cut such a strong cultivator from his core permanently.
One.
Two
Three
He counted the seconds in his head, knowing that only XiChen's self-control in not fighting such a thing was helping him get the seconds he needed. Wen RoHan's eyes were wide with anger and fear, unable to speak his eyes fixed on Wei Ying, promising death once he was free. Wei Ying didn't intend on giving him that opportunity.
Four
Five
He was running out of time. One more line was all he needed, he just needed XiChen to hang on.
Six
Wei Ying lunged forwards, placing the talisman on Wen RoHan's torso at the exact same instant the freezing talisman lost its effect. The Wen Leader shot up, almost out of reach, his eyes burning with hatred and his mouth opening to call the guards, his hand twitching as if to call his spiritual weapon. For a split-second Wei Ying thought that he had failed, that giving the two Lan's free access to their cores and allowing them to escape would be the only way at least some of them could get out of here. Then Wen RoHan's eyes changed, became confused almost as if he lost focus, his hand still twitched but no weapon appeared.
'You used THAT talisman on me!' He demanded, staring at Wei Ying amazed.
Wei Ying sighed in relief and allowed himself to stand up and stretch, in relief, but if anyone had been close enough to see, they would have noticed that there was a distinct coldness to the granite eyes now. It almost looked as if the stone was glazed over with a sheet of ice, ice that definitely had not been there moments before. Wei Ying had specifically made sure Lan Zhan was 'asleep' as the attempt was made as he knew the amount of power he would need to use would bring out the darker side of his personality and Lan Zhan knew how to recognise it too well. Slowly though it seemed to vanish. Lan XiChen even stood up, a small smile on his face now that he was able to move. As if on cue the doors to the room opened and Lan Zhan appeared, perfectly dressed in his robes and hair done up. Once again in control of himself as the well-dressed Lan. Wen RoHan looked from the two Lan's to Wei Ying, and back again a few times before things seemed to clot into place.
'You tricked me, you actually tricked me with that whole Master/servant stuff!'
Wei Ying huffed, still smiling.
'Did you actually think anyone would be able to train these two to be anything other than Lan's. It seems you are stupider than your son, and certainly less able to keep your hands to yourself!
'One of us will kill you one day Wei WuXian! And if we don't the rest of the cultivation community will!'
'Yeah, yeah…it's not the first time I've heard that threat in the last few years. Anyway…..' He turned to the Lan brothers. 'Lan Zhan, Lan XiChen I now give you both back full access to your cores. It's time we go and find your uncle and end this charade.'
