Lan Xichen pads into the office, barely glancing at his uncle and Wanji, who had patiently been waiting for him.
"Well?! What did she say?" Lord Qiren, his eyes quickly taking in his nephew's glittering eyes and the translucent fox resting on his shoulders.
Ceasing his pacing, Lord Qiren realizes this is the first time in the last two years he had seen his nephew genuinely excited about something. Before Lan Xichen can say anything, the clear fox lazily sitting upon his shoulders suddenly leaps across the room toward Wanji. Seeing the strange thing, Lan Zhan draws Bichen and strikes at it.
"Oh wait, Wanji," Xichen winces as the fox divides itself into two halves to avoid the blade.
Lan Zhan halts his next attack and stares at his brother, confused. The fox re-attaches itself neatly and perches on the younger jade twin's shoulder. The fox wriggles and changes into the shape of a small rabbit. Nuzzling sweetly against his shoulder. Wanji holds his hand out for the case, and the rabbit immediately jumps into it.
"It is a gift from the Lady Shen," Lan Xichen explains, "she has made gifts for all of us."
The white-cloaked cultivator hesitantly strokes the translucent bunny. The bunny eagerly rubs its head into his hand. A soft smile forms on his brother's lips.
"What is it?" Wanji asks softly, and Lan Xichen knew that even if he told his brother, it was some sort of insidious device that he would not part with it.
Lord Qiren also crept closer to stare at the translucent animal. His eyes boggling.
"It is a sort of case for your guqin," Lan Xichen explains, and Wanji looks up further confused.
"The creature bonds with your guqin and stores residual spiritual energy. The same protection spells that are on my gift are also on yours. So, I imagine it will be unbreakable. Lady Shen claims that it will only listen to you. She had to order the case to stay with me for me to deliver it."
Lan Zhan looks at the bunny with new eyes and summons his guqin.
"The Lady Shen's powers are quite extraordinary," Lord Qiren said thoughtfully, "her clan must indeed be sorry to see such a one go."
"I sense things are uneasy with the Shen clan," Lan Xichen watches the bunny happily leap off Wanji's hand and merge with the instrument.
Now that the case is with its rightful owner. The guqin shines with an almost unearthly beautiful light before fading.
"Be careful, Wanji. Lady Shen already imbibed the case with quite a bit of spiritual energy," Lan Xichen chuckles, "I couldn't help but test it, and now we have a field of flowers near the Starless Pagoda."
"Why would she do that?" Lan Zhan asks, carefully strumming the guqin, the notes clear and resonate, filling the room with the sensation of warm sunlight.
"I honestly think she cares for the clan's well-being," Lan Xichen claims, feeling the back of his ears burn.
"Indeed," Lord Qiren, "she would be an excellent addition to the Gusu clan."
Trying to hide his delight, Lan Xichen opens the trunk and, reaching into nearly his elbow, his fingers finally brush the robe. He pulls out the robe and is once again dazzled at the attention to detail of the Gusu clan crests subtly embroidered on to the shoulders. Something he had not noticed initially.
"This is for you, uncle," Lan Xichen notes. The robes were not even wrinkled from the time in the box.
"According to the maker, the robe has multiple uses. For example, the white and blue robe will show the area of an injury in scarlet red and the best treatment. It will automatically adjust the temperature depending on the wearer. If you turn the robe inside out," which Lan Xichen demonstrates, "it will become a set of teaching robes."
Pulling the sleeves back, Lan Xichen reveals the extra pockets. Lord Qiren stares in amazement.
"Lady Shen has enchanted the robes to find missing teaching materials. Missing quills will once more reappear in the pockets, as will missing parchment and reading glasses," Lan Xichen adjusted the sleeves so both Lord Qiren and Wanji could see.
"What is even more miraculous is that the lesson plan for the day will appear on the inside of the left sleeve. On the right sleeve, the names of troublemakers and what they did will appear."
A fiendish light is beginning to light in Lord Qiren's eyes, "I cannot wait to test it!"
"Try it on, uncle," Lan Xichen held the robe out for him to take, already feeling sorry for certain misbehaving students.
The former clan leader immediately put the robe on. The jade twins watched in amazement as the robe shrank and elongated, perfectly tailoring itself to the Lord Qiren's figure.
A strange expression appears on Lord Qiren's face, "This robe is incredibly warm."
"Lady Shen said that she also used protection spells on the robe," Lan Xichen wished that Lady Shen could see the wonder of what her gifts had brought. He made a note to remind her the next time he saw her.
Wanji is once again petting the translucent bunny, carefully cradling it in his arms before it scoots up to sit on his shoulder. Only his brother could still appear elegant with a bunny upon his shoulder.
"Certain business should be discussed," Lan Xichen says, sitting down near the desk.
"What is it, Xichen?" Wanji asks, slowly sitting down beside him.
"When I first met the Lady Shen, she allowed me to perform the magic compatibility test," Lan Xichen watches the various looks of surprise filter across his family's expressions.
"You are compatible," Wanji states.
"Why would she be here otherwise," Lord Qiren rests his hand on the desk and samples the tea both his nephews seemed somewhat obsessed with lately.
The older man sighs, "Did you get the Lady Shen's recipe so we may reproduce this?"
Lord Qiren settles himself beside the desk, still wearing the robes. Lan Xichen imagines that the robe made the former clan leader look younger.
"Our combined spiritual energy was white. I have never seen anything like it," Lan Xichen shakes his head, still unable to process it weeks later.
Wanji and Lord Qiren sneak glances at each other.
"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Lord Qiren narrows his eyes at his nephew. Reasoning that the woman and her sisters could have been moved in that much sooner.
"Because Lady Shen has now accepted the remaining tasks," Lan Xichen smiles a little goofily, and Wanji can't help but study his brother curiously.
"That is wonderful!" Lord Qiren is over the moon, clutching his new robe to himself.
"There is another matter of business to attend to," Lan Xichen murmurs, glancing at his brother uncomfortably.
"Due to the incident in the dining hall, Lady Shen requests a duel with Master Wei," Lan Xichen says, already feeling the aura of frost creeping out from his brother.
"She will have it! Tomorrow if it suits her," Lord Qiren nods approvingly.
Noticing that Wanji is looking at him oddly, he pats his brother's hand," I do not think Lady Shen means to harm Master Wei."
Wanji did not say anything and continued to stroke the translucent bunny now sitting on his lap.
After Lord Qiren steps briskly out of the room, nearly singing the Lady Shen's praises, Lan Xichen looks up to see his brother staring at him.
"What is it, Wanji?" Lan Xichen says, organizing a stack of correspondence on his desk.
Regally setting the bunny upon his shoulder, Wanji says, "The white light."
Leaning back, Lan Xichen studies his brother, "What do you know?"
"Wei Ying and I are the same."
This makes the clan leader pauses, "You have said that you consider Master Wei to be your soulmate?"
Wanji nods, picks up his sword, and departs the room. Lan Xichen stares at his brother's back. It was sometimes like living with a cat. He presses his knuckles over his eyes, an image of his brother's wounded chest appears, the seal of the Wen clan forever scarred into his skin, an identical match to that of his chosen partner. He had supported the match from the very beginning, protected it from his uncle. If anyone knew anything about soulmates, it would surprisingly be his brother. A love that transcended time itself.
"I see you had the same idea I did," Lan Xichen enters the library quietly and smiles as he realizes that he had caught his brother and cultivation partner red-handed.
"We have barely had this for a couple of hours, and you are already playing with it?" he teases.
Lan Zhan avoids his gaze and shows his brother the image he had been hiding behind his back.
Looking down at the image, the clan leader's face softens, the woman in the picture is dressed in fine silk, but her face is fuzzy. She is leaning over a small Wanji, reaching out to touch him.
"We think the Lady Shen may know a trick to use this that we don't," Master Wei complains, reaching out to pull Lan Zhan into his arms.
"It was so long ago," Lan Xichen says, contemplating the picture, "perhaps . . .if I try."
Sucking in a breath, Lan Xichen puts his hand on the red crystal as he had seen the youngest Shen do and channels his memory through spiritual energy. All three men watch as the machine instantly produces a paper. Before Master Wei can snatch it off the stand, the clan leader beats him to it. He wants to make sure it is what he remembers before showing his little brother. The memory Lan Xichen chose was one of the odd memories that he had of both his parents together. He didn't remember the occasion, but his mother and father stood together near the magnolia tree outside the original library pavilion. They were talking. But all the clan leader cared about at that moment is that their faces were clearly visible. So Wanji could clearly see their parents.
He hands the image over to Wanji, "I think you favor her."
Master Wei looks over his shoulder, and Lan Xichen makes a sound of satisfaction as his brother's face completely softens, and a rare smile appears on his face.
"Lan Zhan, Zewu-Jun is right. You look like your mother," Master Wei practically croons and puts his head on Wanji's shoulder, hugging him around the waist.
Lan Xichen once again puts his hand on the stone and siphons spiritual energy into it.
Another picture appears, and Lan Xichen holds it in front of him. It is an image he always cherished while caring for his brother. It is Wanji as a baby being held by their mother. Their cheeks practically touching, their mother is smiling widely, and the small Wanji seemed almost dazzled by his mother's beauty.
This image is why Lan Xichen had snuck in past curfew to test the machine Lady Shen had so generously given to their clan. He hands Wanji the photo, who takes it with a great deal of awe.
"Lan Zhan! You were so cute as a baby! Look at those cheeks! I wish I could pinch them," Master Wei grins happily as he sees how much his cultivation partner is affected by seeing his mother for the first time in many years.
"Master Wei," Lan Xichen prompts, "Why don't you try?"
He had already framed Wanji's picture with the bunny lantern and put it on his desk in the office. Stepping away from Lan Zhan, who appeared to be memorizing both photos in his hands, Master Wei puts his hand on the stone.
Lan Xichen politely waits for him to take the picture and share it with his brother. Master Wei's eyes became watery as he stared at the image, and Wanji's arm immediately sprang up to wrap around his waist and rub his back.
"I haven't seen my sister for many years," Master Wei holds up the picture.
It is Jiang Yanli in her wedding dress with the current sect leader of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, looking on with a surprising, not so irritated look on his face. A rare expression indeed.
"She is beautiful, Master Wei," Lan Xichen comforts, "your memory preserves her perfectly."
Hugging the photo to his chest, Master Wei turns and buries his face in Lan Zhan's chest. Thinking it best to leave the couple alone, Lan Xichen quietly exits the library. There is plenty of time to create a memory album for his brother and uncle. He stares across the grass to the guest's residence. He wondered briefly if Lady Shen had realized just how precious this gift had been to them.