CH 53

When Lan XiChen landed in LanLing he was surprised. He had decided to come here on the spur of the moment so he hardly expected a welcome committee waiting for him. However in front of him stood three disciples, stood to attention and obviously awaiting his arrival. As he took a step forward the three men bowed in unison even before XiChen was able to inform them that he had important things to speak to their Sect leader about and to forgo the formalities. As the men stood up from their deep bows XiChen finally saw that he had a chance to speak but as he opened his mouth the Jin disciple in front of him spoke up first.

'Sect Leader Lan. I have been tasked with escorting you to the main hall, our Sect Leader wishes to speak with you as soon as you arrive.'

The man's tone was firm but not commanding, exactly what would be expected when relaying a message from on Sect Leader to another. Lan XiChen nodded towards the man and gestured with his hand for him to lead the way. Even though he knew the way to the Jin Sect Leader's office perfectly well, Jin ZiXuan had obviously sent these men for a reason so he would follow along with the script the man had laid out until he got to speak to him in person.

The first man turned to walk off the landing platform, XiChen followed, with the final two disciples bringing up the rear like some kind of honour guard. For some reason the disciples seemed to take the long way around in escorting him to the office. By the time he got those large, gold encrusted, doors he had already seen the temple; shrine; library; gardens and several of the training areas. He wasn't really sure why they had taken on such a circuitous route however he played along. On reaching the office the first disciple walked up and knocked on the door, proclaiming loudly that Sect Leader Lan had arrived. A muffled sound came from inside and the doors slowly swung open to allow entrance.

It was only when XiChen had entered the room, and doors had closed behind him, that the strange feeling he had been having since arriving in LanLing really came to the fore. Before him stood several Elders of the Jin Sect, nothing strange about that as their were often Elders in council with the Sect Leader. What was unusual was the staging of the room. Jin ZiXuan stood behind his desk looking forwards as if to greet XiChen, however to either side of the desk stood an Elder. On each of the three steps up to the desk and Elder also stood, just to one side but present enough to make themselves noticed. XiChen quickly realised that the Elders of the Jin Sect had both physically and symbolically cut Jin ZiXuan off from even greeting visitors without their tacit agreement. In short, the Elders where taking this opportunity, when his popularity was lowest, to either try and control or overthrow their Sect Leader.

XiChen took another step forwards and bowed towards the Elders as custom dictated. Then he turned towards Jin ZiXuan still behind the desk and performed a slightly lower bow than required before speaking.

'I apologise for coming unannounced however I have something important to speak to you about Brother in Law'

Jin ZiXuan's jaw nearly dropped onto the table at the address, Lan XiChen had never called him brother-in-law before, however he did the best he could to cover up the astonishment he felt. The Elders on the other hand either were not as successful or just didn't bother.

'Brother in Law!' One exclaimed overly-loudly.

'By what right do you call our Sect Leader Brother in law?' Another attempted to demand, his voice not so strong as could have been.

'The Jin Sect is not related to the Lan Sect' another shouted, maybe a little louder than he planned. The meaning behind the man's words clear 'The Jin Sect is not related to a certain member of the Lan Sect!'

Lan XiChen just stood passively by and waited for the noise to quieten down before he responded, his gaze slowly moving from one Elder to another.

'In what way am I not qualified to be calling your Sect Leader my brother-in-law? My younger brother is married to Wei WuXian, thus he became my brother. Your Sect Leader is married to Wei WuXian's elder sister. Therefore making our two Sects family.' Internally XiChen was stomping down the childish urge to call Wei Ying the YiLing Patriarch and see the men's faces turn amusing shades of colours. But he was a Sect Leader and he needed to behave like one, even if such an idea was very appealing at the moment.

All of the Elders huffed and one of them spoke out in a voice close to derogatory.

'Our Young Mistress has nothing to do with that person. She isn't blood related to him either so he has no claim to calling her sister!'

XiChen smiled and looked the man in the eye. Ever the statesman he kept his voice polite as he spoke.

'My Nephew is not related to me by blood either, yet he has been accepted not only by myself but by my Uncle. By your own argument you are saying my Uncle is in error to?'

Two of the Elders didn't open their mouths, the others opened their mouths only to shut them again. Everyone in the Cultivation community had respect for Lan QiRen, if they didn't respect him they at least had a healthy fear of him. The man was well known for his knowledge and foresight as well as his temper and strict adherence to rules. XiChen himself was also know throughout the cultivation world as a firm but fair leader who always put the rules and needs of the many above even his own family. No one forgot that XiChen and QiRen had been the ones to order their own brother and nephew publicly whipped years ago for disobeying an order and harming other cultivators. There had been murmurs at the time in the different Sects that if it had been them that had to make the choice would they have gone lenient on their own family members. The fact is no one really knew that answer. The Elders felt that they couldn't continue to argue their point without placing themselves squarely against the choices of both QiRen and XiChen, not to mention HanGuang Jun who always backed up his husband, and that would put them at odds with the Lan Sect themselves. That was a place they didn't want to be.

XiChen took advantage of the concerned looks between the five Elders to once again speak directly to Jin ZiXuan.

'It is not only official business that bought me here today but I also have a message for your wife if it is possible to deliver it. I would of course expect you to be present at all times.'

Jin ZiXuan looked dumbfounded for a second and then seemed to catch the slight look in XiChen's eye. He nodded and sent a servant to go fetch YanLi to the office as soon as she was free. Then he turned to the Elders who were still glancing at each other as if working out how to salvage the situation they had found themselves in. Jin ZiXuan bowed slightly before speaking.

'I am sure you Elder's have more important things to do than listen to two Sect Leaders speak about boring nonsense. Anyway if you would be so good as to give my wife some private time speaking to her brother-in-law when she arrives it will be greatly appreciated.'

The Elders where still to dumbfounded to respond and simply nodded their heads in agreement before hurrying out the door in a huddle of whispered voices. As soon as the doors closed on the elder men Jin ZiXuan sighed and slouched back in his chair.

'That is the first time in weeks that they have left me alone. Ever since all this Jin GuanYao business started they have been hovering over me like vultures, whispering in my ear that I should do this differently or that better! They are really getting on my nerves.'

XiChen smiled and walked slowly up the steps to the desk.

'They know you are weak at the moment. Me reminding them about the family connections you now have will only stall them for a while.' He laughed quietly 'Anyway claiming a familial connection with Wei WuXian can be a mixed blessing.'

'Don't I know it' Jin ZiXuan said turning suddenly grumpy. 'YanLi found out that I had hidden my own note inside hers and sent it to Wei Ying somehow. Since then she has refused to speak to me except to call me selfish and conceited.'

XiChen tried not to laugh, such things reminded him so much of his brother and Wei Ying. The two would fight over nothing, Wei Ying would throw a tantrum that Wanji still had no idea how to control. Wei Ying would get more upset because Wanji didn't try to soothe him, even though Wei Ying knew Wanji was bad with words. Eventually though they both would make up and all would be well until the next argument. It seems the temper runs in the family….XiChen mused as he fought to keep the amused look off his face.

The two men had already settled into seats and been speaking about the best ways to re-establish the Jin Sect's stability and place in the order of top five Sects for some time, coming up with some good ideas to cement Jin ZiXuan's place as Sect leader as they went along, when Jiang YanLi walked in the room. Her dress moved around her slim shoulders and ankles as if she was some kind of sprite and the dress was an extension of her, it was a delight to see. Upon seeing XiChen her face lit up and she walked over to him, taking his hand in her small one and welcomed him to her home. XiChen bowed slightly to her and gave the required answer.

'How is A-Xian?' YanLi asked almost before she realised she had said it. 'He must be hurt by all this, I can only imagine how hurt…...please tell me how he is?'

XiChen smiled and spoke both gently and honestly.

'He was surprised and upset when he found out. I do not know the details though. I only know that Wanji was the one who let me see the note and once I had I came here to help as much as I could. Wanji has also not left Wei Ying's side since the note arrived so you can be sure he is being well taken care of.'

'That's good' YanLi sighed in relief. 'At least someone thinks before they act!' her thinly veiled comment was obviously aimed at her husband, who chose sensibly not to comment. 'Please if I give you another letter will you hand it to A-Xian for me ZeWu Jun?'

'With pleasure' XiChen said nodding.

'YanLi smiled a brilliant, wide smile and almost skipped out the room the doors closing behind her. Jin ZiXuan let out another long suffering sigh, and this time XiChen did let himself laugh.