Ch 54 – Memories

Luckily both Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng were sober when Jin Ling arrived later in the day. Apparently upon hearing of his brothers appearance the night before Jiang Cheng had sent their nephew a message before joining his elder brother on his drinking binge. Jin Ling had already been planning on coming to Lotus Pier for the his mothers birthday in a few days but had decided that as his uncle had returned home from his travels he would spend some time with both his uncles first, of course being a Sect Leader this was easier said than done so it had taken him a few hours to get everything organised enough for him to depart. This lag was good for Jiang Cheng who required about three bowls of sobering soup to be poured down his throat, the first two almost by force by Wei Ying, before taking a nap for a few hours.

As the sun reached its height the three men sat on cushions in one of the many pagoda's along the waters edge waiting for their midday meal. Wei Ying had spent a long while already explaining his and Lan Zhan's travel to the other two, missing out bits he didn't want his young nephew to hear, and then scolding them both for not sending him any messages while he was away. Jin Ling had the sense to look down at the floor and mumble an apology at this statement while Jiang Cheng just grumbled something under his breath about being too busy. Wei Ying then swiped then swiped a hand over at his brother, causing Jiang Cheng to try and dodge, nearly falling off his cushion and into the water in the process. Jin Ling who had been raised mostly by a fierce and stern version of Jiang Cheng couldn't help but laugh at the antics of his two uncles. After all as a child he had been told one was demonic and the other had committed fratricide, yet here they were bickering together like nothing had happened. Jiang Cheng noticed his nephews laughter and turned back around, subconsciously adjusting his robes.

'You….stop laughing or I'll…..'

'Break your legs…' Wei Ying echoed in a babyish voice…..'Honestly Jiang Cheng can't you think up another threat by now?….anyway I used to laugh at you all the time.'

'Wei WuXian!' Jiang Cheng half growled as he swung at his brother, who dodged the swing although due to the fact he was sat down nearly fell off his own cushion. This of course bought about another round of laughter from the youngster at the table.

'I have never seen anyone treat Uncle like this!' He managed through his laughter.

'You probably wont again…..Jiang Cheng and I had to share a room with each other growing up so we had no choice but to get along' Wei Ying smiled.

'You call not killing each other getting along!' Jiang Cheng exclaimed.

'Pretty much….especially….well you know' Wei Ying smiled.

Before the conversation could take a downturn the servants came with the food and the three men began eating. Wei Ying was surprised how he hadn't noticed it before but Jin Ling seemed to like all the foods he did, and seemed to have the same lack of manners at the table. For a boy who had never known his Uncle Jin Ling seemed to have some traits the same as Wei Ying. The meal went on for about half an hour with just idle chatter keeping total silence at bay. Wei Ying asked Jin Ling how things were going in the Sect and if he was having any more problems. When Jiang Cheng tried to answer for him Wei Ying just stared at his brother who quickly went back to mumbling round a mouthful of food.

After the meal and while drinking tea, Jin Ling asked both his Uncles questions about them growing up. Now the two seemed to be on good terms he felt he could ask questions about the past that had always been off limits before. Slowly though…...and possibly inevitably…..the conversation turned to the childhood not only of the two brothers but the sister they had shared and the huge part she played in their lives. For the first time Jin Ling heard about the fun side of his mother, the side who always had to split up disputes between the two brothers. The side to his mother who had gone out in the pitch black night to find a scared little boy when Jiang Cheng had kicked him out of the bedroom they shared. The sister who had taught his Uncle Wei about love and given him the courage to follow his heart, and of course the sister who had stood up to Jin Zixun when he called one of her beloved brothers a 'servant'. Of course he had heard a version of most of the stories before, but in those stories his Uncle Wei had always been a villain who played with his mothers emotions and used some kind of demonic spells to outwit his Uncle Jiang. Now listening to the two men argue about who had started what argument, only agreeing on the fact that their sister had been the one to end it, Jin Ling was in fact seeing a completely different side to not only his mother but both his uncles. And, he thought, possibly for the first time he was seeing the truth of what it had been really like for the three of them growing up here.

Without realising it the rest of the food had gone cold and both Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng stopped talking almost at the same time. Both men had been wandering down lanes of memory in their minds, some good, some sad. It was then they felt an arm on each of their shoulders and looked up to see Jin Ling now knelt between them, his head rested on Wei Ying's shoulder and eyes closed. As the two stopped talking Jin Ling's eyes opened, almost like he had been reliving the memories with them, a tear slipping down one cheek.

'It's alright Jin Ling' Wei Ying soothed as he stroked his nephews hair.

The boy might be a Sect leader but he was still a youngster who had grown up without a mother and not even able hear most of the stories about her due to the hatred of him. No wonder the boy was still emotional. Jiang Cheng coughed slightly but not harsh enough to have Jin Ling sitting up.

'We need to talk about sister's birthday in a few days' He said quietly.

Wei Ying nodded and patted Jin Ling's head a little harder, the youngster understood the cue and sat up wiping his eyes as he went.

'She would want it to be something happy' Wei Ying offered.

Jiang Cheng nodded.

'I agree. Now we have resolved the problems between us, she would want her birthday to be something happy involving family. Ideally I think she would like you to be welcomed back into the Sect, she always argued with me on that point and told me she was disappointed in me for betraying you. However now you are married to HanGuang Jun…..'

'You never betrayed me' Wei Ying said simply.

Jiang Cheng seemed to stare at the floor for a second before ignoring the sentence and resuming.

'Now you are married to HanGuang Jun that is not a possibility.'

Wei Ying decided to allow his brother to ignore the sentence, after all neither of them wanted to open old wounds.

'Well she has met SiZhui and Lan Zhan. So how about we decorate her old room in her favourite colour and sit and eat lotus root and rib soup before going to speak to her in the afternoon' Wei Ying offered.

Jiang Cheng seemed to think about it for a moment then nodded before calling for a servant to give instructions. Jin Ling on the other hand looked a bit confused.

'Why Lotus root and rib soup?' he asked.

Wei Ying looked at his nephew astonished before picking his jaw up off the floor and asking.

'Have you never had it?'

Jin Ling shook his head and Wei Ying's jaw once again dropped. At this point Jiang Cheng had finished giving his instructions and turned back to the other two only to receive a smack on the shoulder from his brother.

'HEY what's that for!' He shouted.

'You are a really really bad uncle you know that…...'Wei Ying said in mock horror…' You have deprived your nephew of one of the best foods in the world all this time…...he doesn't even know what Lotus root and rib soup tastes like'

Jiang Cheng sighed and rolled his eyes at his brothers theatrics

'Why did I miss having you around again? and why on earth does HanGuang Jun LIKE you?' He asked no one in particular.

Wei Ying just grinned but didn't answer the first part of the question while giving a little wink to say he didn't want to know the answer to the second part. Jin Ling once again was trying not to laugh.

The next few days all three men were kept busy and only saw each other at mealtimes. Jiang Cheng of course had his Sect to run, Jin Ling was trying to spend time with both his Uncles and deal with any pressing issues in his own Sect, and Wei Ying was busy organising his sisters birthday and missing his husband. He hadn't had a decent nights sleep since arriving back in Lotus Pier and his childhood bed that had once felt so small to him back then suddenly felt so huge without the presence of the second person he had gotten used to sharing it with. He didn't have much time to spend daydreaming over Lan Zhan though, although he did send him daily messages and got daily responses. Apparently the idea of giving each Sect a parcel of land to be responsible for was gaining support and Lan Zhan had asked him to bring both Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng back with him after his sisters birthday remembrance was completed. Not for the first, or even the hundredth, time Wei Ying wanted to kiss his husband for being so understanding. Even when so many things were going on in Gusu and the world in general, Lan Zhan never stopped understanding his need and love for his sister.

Eventually the day arrived. Wei Ying sat in front of the mirror in his room and slowly interlaced his old red ribbon around the Lan headband he know wore. Soon only the cloud pattern stood out from the sea of red and he was happy enough that he looked like his childhood self. Lan Zhan had also sent him some clothes to wear while at Lotus Pier, most of them were the dark blue robes he had gotten used to wearing over the years. As long as he had been married into the Lan Clan he had never quite gotten used to the light blue so had always had a darker shade made for himself. However at the bottom of the bag was one set of dark black outer robes with red trim. Wei Ying had nearly wept when he had seen them, along with his old red ribbon. He had had no idea Lan Zhan had kept such things from years ago, or even if he could still fit into them. Placing the black outer robe over his white inner ones felt a bit odd at first, and a bit tight, after all he had grown physically since he had last worn these. But he soon adapted.

As he walked over to YanLi's old room he got some stares from the servants old enough to remember him as a teen. Jiang Cheng's facial expression was almost as hilarious as he walked through the door. His younger brother looked so shocked he almost wasn't breathing. /

'Yo….you….you…...'Jiang Cheng tried to stammer.

'Just for today!' Wei Ying answered the non question.

Jin Ling looked confused from one man to the other so Wei Ying clarified.

'This is what I used to wear when I lived in Lotus Pier, what I used to wear as a teenager when your mother was here.'

Jin Ling just smiled and nodded before the three men sat down at the table in the centre of the room. A few moments later the servant appeared with a large bowl which Wei Ying, as the eldest, took from her. He ladled out four bowls full, one of course for YanLi who was going to join them in spirit for the meal, and began eating. It soon became obvious that Jin Ling loved the soup and was asking for thirds even before Wei Ying had gotten through his first bowl.

'Was this my mothers favourite?' he asked when he took a forced break from eating to have his bowl refilled.

Wei Ying nodded as Jiang Cheng smiled and replied.

'It is the favourite food of all three of us, and it seems you take after your mother so it now makes four.'

Giving the, now full, bowl back to his nephew Wei Ying smiled and said.

'We can have it with her every birthday if you enjoy it.'

Jin Ling nodded and continued eating while Jiang Cheng mumbled something about manners at the table around his own mouthful of soup. Eventually though the soup was finished and the three men headed for the ancestral temple to wish their sister, and mother, a happy birthday.