Lunch is an… interesting affair. Jiang Wanyin and Lan Wangji sit across from each other, trading tense glances.
The peace between them is tenuous at best but Wei Ying and Jiang-guniang pretend not to see the looks and carry on through conversation topics.
"Lan-ergongzi, your qin playing is exceptional. I enjoy hearing it in the mornings. My father once tried to teach me xiao but gave up attempting. I'm afraid I'm not very musically talented."
"I'm sure my brother would be thrilled to teach you. He is always looking for new students. Despite his best attempts, xiao is… not very popular at Cloud Recesses."
The smile she gives him is easy and filled with warmth, "I'd like that very much, thank you."
The serving she hands him has kindly had the meat removed, relocated to her brothers' bowls and it seems that all of Wei Ying's praise of the woman is well worth it. The soup is hearty and heavily scented with many of the peppers native to the Yunmeng region. His tolerance of spice must have been accurately communicated to the woman as it is not overly spicy and just nips at his tongue.
On the table before them, in an innocent porcelain bowl sits a dangerously red paste. If Wangji hadn't been able to determine what it was from the smell alone, the copious amounts Wei Ying was shovelling into his bowl was enough to keep him far, far, away from it. Jiang Wanyin had added some to his bowl as well but a much smaller quantity, looking faintly disgusted at his brother's reddened broth.
"How can you eat that? Can you even feel your mouth anymore?"
"A-Cheng, leave him alone." his sister scolds playfully. Wei Ying sticks out his spice-laden tongue towards his brother who in return clenches his chopsticks so tightly they nearly crack.
With some easing from Jiang-guniang, the conversation transitions to the affairs of the clan and city. "Su Yahui and Liao Song finally started courting."
"They have? Took them long enough!"
As they continue to mention names the Lan clearly would not recognise, Wei Ying explains it for him. He didn't ask for this but he is grateful for it. It is a glimpse into the life of Wei Ying before he knew him, an inclusion into a different kind of family.
… Su Yahui owns the apothecary and Liao Song grows peppers. They've been dancing around their feelings for each other for years…
… Oh, Lan Zhan, Xun-ayi lives in the house on the water with all the flowers in the windows. She loves flowers and everyone always brings her some. I don't know her real name, she's always just been Xun-ayi…
And despite his first impressions, Lan Wangji finds himself enjoying the experience. Sure, Jiang Wanyin is still icy, but the other two ignore it as if nothing but a common occurrence (which it very well may be). Wei Ying's content smiles as he chats make the Lan willing to do anything to see them again. It makes him nostalgic for something he never has, a connection, a chance at an existence he was never given.
Peace never lasts however and it is not long before a servant approaches bearing a report from the physician. Jiang-guniang tactfully excuses herself before her youngest brother can make some underhanded remark about her gender and constitution. The remaining trio retreat to the Lan's guest quarters, eager to hear of what the doctor has since discovered.
The document, multiple sheets long, details the causes of death of the pair complete with diagrams drawn out in precise ink. The entirety of the document could be boiled down into just three sentences:
Each inflicted wound was careful, suggesting strategic torture or lingchi. The two Wens bled out from their wounds, slowly. It would have taken them nearly an hour to die, given the sharpness of the unknown weapon.
As Jiang Wanyin rolls the parchment once again, his face sets into a grim mask. "Wei Wuxian, this had to be from you. No one else can create these kinds of wounds. They match the one on Lan-ergongzi's face. The one you caused."
"No… no. I can't have- I don't remember- no, no, no! I wouldn't do that, Lan Zhan, please you have to believe me, it doesn't work that way, I wouldn't-"
He starts to list backwards and Wangji's quick motion pulls him down into a chair, forcing his head between his legs.
"Breathe, Wei Ying. You must breathe."
"Lan Zhan," The desperation in his voice is a foreign timbre. "I wouldn't have done that. I hated Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu but I wouldn't have done… have done that!"
"At least not consciously."
Wei Ying's head whips up at his words, "what?!" Betrayal is burning in his eyes that strikes to the heart of everything Wangji has done to help the man.
"Resentful energy, it can control you just as you control it. Your feelings towards Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu manifested into actions. It controlled you, Wei Ying. Without your knowledge. Just like in the courtyard the other day."
Jiang Wanyin rears back and Zidian snaps purple around his fist. "Lan-ergongzi, are you saying that Wei Wuxian caused this with just his flute?"
"Mn."
"Lan Zhan, what-... what should we do?" Wei Ying was a man who would laugh until his blood ran dry and walk until his bones crumbled to dust. To see him so shaken, so scared, chilled Lan Wangji. What had this unflappable man been through that to unnerve him so? What secrets lay behind the false smiles and bright eyes?
Before he can form an intelligent response, Jiang Wanyin interjects, "We cannot allow the other sect leaders to see the bodies. They must believe you ran them through with your sword and nothing more. Do you hear me, Wei Wuxian? No mention of your flute, or where you were, none of that."
"I agree with Jiang Wanyin."
"Lan Zhan, you agree with Jiang Cheng? That's a first." He laughs, too sharp like he knows it's wrong but he cannot stop himself.
"Wei Ying- It is for your own protection. If they knew what you, if they knew… they would harm you."
A hand on his sleeve interrupts him, "It's okay, Lan Zhan. I understand."
A mildly disgusted noise cuts through their moment and they both turn to see Jiang Wanyin avoiding eye contact. "I have sect matters to attend to. I will see you both later. Remember, Wei Wuxian, you must not let anyone know what truly happened."
They are left alone in the guest chambers and there's a question Wangji has been wanting to ask and while there is no good time for it, this may be the best choice he has.
"Wei Ying, did you lose your core?"
Silence. And then the most bitter laugh that pierces Wangji's ears and makes them wish to bleed. It is a sound so devoid of humanity and warmth as to be almost lifeless.
"Ah Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan. Straight to the point as ever. Better to plunge the knife in fast than push it slowly, right?"
He takes this as a yes, despite his heart desperately hoping otherwise. His voice is hoarse as tears threaten his eyes, "What happened?"
"Does it really matter? It is gone, what more can be done?"
Yes, Wei Ying, it absolutely does matter, how can you think so little of yourself- "No."
"No?"
"No, there is more we can do. To purge the resentful energy from you, help you heal. Meditation, I will ask xiongzhang, he can help." Wangji turns to grab ink and a brush but a hand around his wrist pulls him back. The other man's body language screams of distress, how could he dare think of writing right now, and he settles onto the chair beside Wei Ying.
"Please, no. Just you. I don't want anyone else to see me, not like this."
His response is instantaneous, "Mn. You and me only."
"Do we need to purge... all of it?" The confusion on Wangji's face must be evident as Wei Ying jumps to his feet and paces, "It's just… it's just that it filled a hole in me. When I was alone in, in that place, it was something other than the dark. I know it sounds ridiculous, even to myself, and you probably think I'm crazy, well even crazier than you already do but-" He's rambling like all the words in his head have finally broken through a dam.
"Wei Ying, I do not think you are crazy. And I do not think it is ridiculous that you used it. You were in a horrible place, wherever it was, and it was something to rely on… but I do believe it is harming you. Wei Ying would not kill without good reason, and never so brutally. If nothing else, purging it will allow you to start over and learn how to control it. I can help you. The library has a great deal on musical cultivation, there must be something useful in it."
"No, I can't let you help me learn! I can't drag you down with me. Even healing is still too close to me. You're the Second Jade of Lan, you can't be pulled into this mess. Think of Lan-xiansheng, of what he would do! Your title, Hanguang-jun, light-bearing, how could you carry light if you work with me and the dark!"
"My title means nothing to me. Lan Zhan is the only thing I have ever wished to be called."
It seems this admission has thoroughly bewildered the man who falls harshly back onto the chair and stares at the Lan with a rare, beautiful kind of affection. And then in a moment, it's gone and he looks down to the floor.
"Lan Zhan, I'm just so tired." His head falls upon the man's white-robed shoulder.
"Then rest, Wei Ying. I will be here."
1) 凌迟 (Língchí) is a form of torture I will not go into detail regarding here but it involves many wounds and the prolonging of death.
2) 先生 (Xiānsheng): an outdated formal term for teacher. In modern day, you would use 老师 (Lǎoshī) but in the MDZS universe, they use 先生 to refer to Lan Qiren. It can also mean sir/gentleman.