Chapter 10 - Before securing Sect Leader Jin you must first secure a regent
"Hello everyone, it's great to be back! Ah, I thought I'd never see my father's home again thanks to my er-ge. A-Ling, this Jin Xuanyu thanks you from the bottom of his heart for inviting me. I shall strive to live up to your expectations."
"Absolutely not!"
"Jin Rulan what is wrong with you?!"
"Have you lost your mind?! That is the Yiling Laozu!"
Some of the elders protested loudly.
A strong wave of killing intent silenced the entire hall. Sect Leader Jiang was furious!
Oh Jin Rulan was in for it now! Everyone knew that he hated the Yiling Patriarch.
Except to their utter shock and horror, Sect Leader Jiang scolded them!
"Is this the way the Jin sect conducts themselves? You would give absolutely no face to your sect leader even in the presence of another sect leader and a sect heir? Normally I'd let you do it, but your sect leader happens to be my nephew. What should I do then if you make him lose face like this? Will you sit down and shut up and let him explain himself or do I need to make you?"
The sheer pressure of his spiritual power had them trembling.
The elders wanted to protest again but Sect Leader Jiang could go up against several of them at a time without breaking a sweat… and there was still the matter of the Yiling Patriarch standing there watching them with a strange smile on his face.
If he decided to attack them too they would not be getting out of here even with their souls intact.
If it was only Sect Leader Jiang, the most foolishly brave of them might have still tried to remind him of his place once more. But up against both him and the Yiling Laozu, nobody dared step a toe out of line.
Jin Ling sighed, and shook his head as if disappointed.
"I was going to do this in private, but since the elders insist on questioning me in front of everyone, then let's continue this shall we, with the entire sect as witnesses?"
"Go ahead Sect Leader Jin," said Sect Leader Jiang, very pointedly stressing Jin Ling's title, "Explain."
"Uncle Xuanyu found out what Former Sect Leader Jin was doing while he was here at the Jin sect. He threatened to tell Sect Leader Jiang, who he knew had an intense hatred of demonic cultivation. This led to him being framed by Former Sect Leader Jin, who knew that uncle Xuanyu was a cutsleeve. He said that Uncle Xuanyu had been in love with him and tried to make a move on him and he painted him as a crazy incestuous freak so that nobody would believe him if he spoke out because everyone would think that Mo Xuanyu was just lying to get back at him for rejecting him and kicking him out of the sect."
"Of course, as we all know, the one who was interested in their own sibling was not uncle Xuanyu…" Jin Ling paused, letting it sink in, "but Former Sect Leader Jin himself. Isn't it funny that he accused uncle Xuanyu of doing the thing that he himself was doing?"
The entire dining hall was so silent you could hear a pin drop. This was a mark of shame for them that was bigger than the fact that their past sect leader was a 'villain'.
The Jins were Jins. They understood wanting power.
Marrying your own sister though? Procreating with said sister?
Even they weren't that desperate.
Of course as four of the people in the room knew, that was not Jin Guangyao's fault, but Jin Guangshan's. Jin Guangyao might have done terrible things, but this situation was definitely not one of his own making. It was a tragedy for him and his wife. Arguably, Jin Guangshan was really to blame for quite a lot of Jin Guangyao's situation. But nobody in the sect cared about that and Jin Ling certainly couldn't condemn his grandfather publicly.
"Uncle Xuanyu was innocent, but in order to discredit him, Former Sect Leader Jin slandered him. Uncle Xuanyu was mistreated by his maternal relatives and suffered a lot thanks to this. So he decided he wanted to bring down Former Sect Leader Jin. He saw some of the Yiling Patriarch's notes that were in the secret room where Xue Yang would do experiments and he decided to pretend that he used one of the rituals to bring the Yiling Patriarch back in order to scare Former Sect Leader Jin."
"So you really expect us to believe that this is not the Yiling Patriarch but Mo Xuanyu who is pretending to be him?" said a sceptical elder.
"Indeed!" said Jin Xuanyu, clapping his hands and taking over the explanation from Jin Ling, "My cute nephew is correct. All I wanted to do was pretend a bit to scare er-ge into telling the truth. Who would have thought that my brother would get paranoid and release Chifeng-zun's resentful arm to kill me before I could even do anything? Luckily for me the Lan juniors were there to take care of it and I escaped with my life! Unlike my relatives who all died."
And good riddance too, to be honest.
"Unluckily I happened to run into Sect Leader Jiang who whipped me with Zidian in front of the juniors of three different sects thus 'proving' that I wasn't actually possessed by the Yiling Patriarch. After that Hanguang-Jun kidnapped me to the Cloud Recesses to double check and he was so scary at the time that I ended up confessing everything to him and he promised to help me get justice."
Thank goodness they thought a dramatic entrance was his style so he had time to write to Lan Wangji and tell him of their plan, sending it with one of Jin Ling's butterflies before 'Jin Xuanyu' entered the banquet hall.
"If you don't believe me, look," he pointed at a few young Jin members who Jin Ling had been secretly gesturing to while he talked, "They were there at the time with A-Ling. They saw when I got hit by Zidian and then taken away by Hanguang-Jun."
"It's true," Jin Chan piped up, "We saw it. But the Ghost General came when you played your flute, how do you explain that?!"
"Oh that's simple, I made a deal with him. He would help protect me against er-ge if I released him. After all, he was supposed to be burned with the rest of his clan, but er-ge enslaved him instead. He wanted to escape and I needed a strong ally who knew of er-ge's crimes. So we just teamed up. It was supposed to make people think I was definitely the Yiling Patriarch, because who else would be able to control him? But again, Sect Leader Jiang foiled my plan! Tsk tsk Sect Leader, it was sexy, but don't you know you shouldn't just go around whipping people?"
Jiang Cheng glared at him and he laughed.
"Luckily even though Sect Leader Jiang set back my plan, er-ge managed to get it on track again. He truly believed I was the Yiling Patriarch when he accused me of it in front of everyone and it did scare him enough that he escalated his plans which let us catch up with him before he escaped and we were able to capture him and his supporters."
"Fine, so the juniors saw you get hit by Zidian, all that proves is that you weren't possessed. But there are other more terrible means to bring back spirits. I was there when Madam Jin killed herself that day and I saw you pull out the Yiling Patriarch's sword. The one you're wearing right now in fact! That's not your sword but you can unsheathe it! How do you explain that?!" said Elder Shan.
Mo Xuanyu had never been given a sword; he'd had one to practise with but he had to leave it behind when he got kicked out of the sect.
"Oh, this?" Jin Xuanyu pulled out the sword, glad that they thought to hang it by his side in advance, though it was meant to be a secondary means of protection for him in the event things went south.
Several people shrunk back and a few fearful whispers were heard as he pulled out the sword right there in the banquet hall. Didn't that prove that it wasn't Mo Xuanyu but the Yiling Patriarch?!
"Yeah, that! We know that other people can't pull out the Yiling Patriarch's sword after it sealed itself!" said Jin Qiao, "In fact, Sect Leader Jiang, that day in Lotus Pier, didn't you run around asking people to pull it out only to find that nobody else was able to do it?!"
Wei Wuxian's heart almost stopped in his chest. Jin Guangyao did mention something like that happening while in the temple, to taunt Jiang Cheng, but things were so crazy at the time that he hadn't paid much attention to it afterwards.
Whether Jin Guangyao figured out what happened (he was working with the Wens as a 'spy' at some point, he could have heard Wen Chao bragging for all Wei Wuxian knew) or just heard rumours and knew that whatever was enough to make Jiang Cheng lose his composure was something he could mention (even if he didn't know exactly what it was) to throw Jiang Cheng off his game, he didn't know.
Nobody else actually knew why Jiang Cheng did that because nobody (alive) knew what happened in Lotus Pier the day they were besieged save for themselves and Wen Ning. The matter about Jiang Cheng's core and later, Wei Wuxian's decision, was only known to the four people there at the Jiang ancestral hall that day.
Even if Jin Guangyao mentioned Jiang Cheng running around with the sword, it didn't actually mean anything to anyone in the temple other than those already in the know. So the people who were in Lotus Pier that saw this scene could only think that Sect Leader Jiang was having a qi deviation or something; they'd never be able to imagine the truth.
Rather than him being afraid of their plan to portray him as Mo Xuanyu (and not the Yiling Patriarch) failing, Wei Wuxian was afraid that this stupid Jin Qiao's words would make the wounds on Jiang Cheng's heart reopen again.
But, he didn't need to be afraid. Jiang Cheng had reacted that way because he was blindsided. He'd already worked through the emotions associated with it and he could control his reaction in public at the very least.
Thus, despite the reminder of one of the most horrible moments in his life, Jiang Cheng only scoffed and rolled his eyes at them all.
"Yes, you're right that nobody else could unsheathe the sword. As to why I was asking people to do it, it was in fact to confirm if others could pull it out. The Ghost General was trespassing in Lotus Pier that day and he spilled the beans about what Mo Xuanyu had done and about his real identity. I couldn't believe it and tried to see if others could unsheathe the sword, because if others could do it, it meant that he was indeed alive. But they couldn't and that proved the point, that he was not truly the Yiling Patriarch, rather than disproved it. If the Yiling Patriarch was alive the sword would be able to be unsheathed by anyone. It was his death that caused it to seal itself in the first place. When he was alive the sword was not sealed. Maybe you would all like to try unsheathing it again to see if it is still sealed or not, hm?"
"No way!" Jin Xuanyu protested, "This is my sword now, not just anyone can pull it out! Though if Sect Leader Jiang wants to tug my sword he only has to ask." He winked exaggeratedly.
Jiang Cheng sighed exasperatedly and rubbed the bridge of his nose as some of the younger Jins couldn't help themselves and giggled at the words.
"Ah but Sect Leader Jiang," said Elder Shan, reminded by Jin Xuanyu's shameless words, "Aren't you able to unsheathe the sword?"
"I've always been able to use Suibian. Wei Wuxian has never guarded against me, even till the last. It's not unfathomable that the sword recognises me, his shidi. Did you forget that we grew up together?" he raised a brow, "Unless of course you're trying to claim that I am the Yiling Patriarch?"
"I wouldn't dare," Elder Shan backtracked hastily, he'd be in hot water if he went about claiming that Sect Leader Jiang was the real Yiling Patriarch. He might get called old and delusional and have to step down from the council.
"But how can he unsheathe the sword if he's really not the Yiling Patriarch? I can accept that the sword recognises Sect Leader Jiang, but how can it recognise Mo Xuanyu? As far as I know he never had any dealings with the Yiling Laozu," said Jin Shunyan. They obviously still weren't convinced, too many things didn't make sense after all and Jin Xuanyu had refused to let anyone but Sect Leader Jiang touch the sword.
"Weapons have spirits. It wasn't the Yiling Patriarch who sealed the sword but that the sword sealed itself upon his death. At the time when I unsheathed the sword, those of you who were there as witnesses, did you forget what happened before that?" Jin Xuanyu sneered.
Some of them looked at each other, puzzled about where he was going with this.
"Anyone want to answer?"
Silence.
"No?"
Nobody really wanted to get involved.
"Well, I'll refresh your memories shall I?"
He looked at the few faces who he remembered from that day in the Jin secret room.
"Did you forget that when Madam Jin killed herself, er-ge* asked Zewu-Jun to explain what everyone was doing there? Did you forget that when Zewu-Jun told him why, he accused me of going to Zewu-Jun and telling him easily exposable lies? 'Lies' that were later proven true because the one who was lying was er-ge himself! Wasn't it the truth that he killed Chifeng-Zun and dismembered the body? But he tried to blame me and claimed I was lying instead of admitting his crime of course!"
Jin Xuanyu smiled sardonically. "Isn't this proof that he was framing me? You were there, weren't you? You saw how he tried to turn everyone against me. But not only me. His lackey Su She dragged Hanguang-Jun into it too.. saying that I was thrown out for harassing er-ge but that I stuck myself to Hanguang-Jun and was proven to be to his liking."
"Then he wondered why Hanguang-Jun, who was known for his grace and righteousness, would keep a person like me around. Wasn't this him trying to insinuate that I seduced Hanguang-Jun and that's why he was listening to me even though I was telling 'lies' about him, Jin Guangyao?"
"But of course, Hanguang-Jun knew the truth from the beginning. He was helping me to get justice. He tried to get Zewu-Jun to believe me but er-ge was a very good liar so he managed to make me seem like I was tricking Zewu-Jun instead. And then when he accused me of having something to do with Madam Jin's death, didn't you all see him attack me? If Hanguang-Jun hadn't blocked Hensheng I would be dead!"
"It's true!" said Jin Yong, "I remember that! When the former sect leader attacked, others thought it was true and tried to attack him as well because we thought that he had caused Madam Jin to die!"
"Exactly! So what was I supposed to do when being unjustly attacked from all sides? Hanguang-Jun was only one person against many. I saw a sword, and pulled it out to defend myself. But how could I know at that time that it was the Yiling Patriarch's sword and that er-ge would try to frame me as being the Yiling Patriarch? Imagine that! I tried to pretend to be him to scare er-ge but failed, and instead er-ge came to the conclusion that I was him because of this sword and rather than scaring him this worked to his advantage instead."
"I don't get it, how could you being the Yiling Patriarch be an advantage for him?" said Luo Qingyang. She wasn't aware of all the goings on in the cultivation world or of what kind of person Jin Guangyao was on the daily as she had lived as a rogue for so long.
"I know what kind of person he is. He wasn't 100% certain that I was the Yiling Patriarch, but he knew that me being dead was the best thing for him regardless of my identity. As Mo Xuanyu, the only people I supposedly 'wronged' was the Jin Sect and others might be hesitant to get involved. But if he called me the Yiling Patriarch then the identity of the Yiling Patriarch meant that he wouldn't have to do the dirty work himself, everyone in the cultivation world would pursue me to kill me instead. So this was a major advantage for him."
"If I was dead I couldn't reveal his crimes and if I was really the Yiling Patriarch, it was a threat to his power, so no matter who I was at the moment he wanted to get rid of me."
"I see. It turns out that the Former Sect Leader Jin was this kind of calculating person. It's hard to believe anyone would do this kind of thing to their own brother," said Luo Qingyang.
"Well why wouldn't he? He'd already killed his father, what's a bastard brother to him?" Elder Guozhi said sharply.
It seemed this elder at least was believing their story.
But Elder Shan wasn't.
"This still doesn't explain how you were able to wield the sword."
Jin Xuanyu gave a long, disappointed sigh.
"The sword has a spirit. I was in danger and I grabbed it to protect myself. The sword spirit let me unsheathe the sword to save my life. It was an extenuating circumstance. The sword was stored in that room all along. If I had to guess I'd say the sword spirit was well aware of er-ge's deceptiveness and allowed me to use it precisely because it had some awareness of er-ge's role in its master's blackening. Since I was the one trying to expose er-ge's crimes, it probably tried to help me so that it could get some justice for its master."
'That.. makes a surprising amount of sense,' Jin Ling thought. If he didn't know that this really was Wei Wuxian even he might be fooled.
The fact that his uncle really did condemn Mo Xuanyu as a liar and also accused him of having something to do with his aunt's death… and then the subsequent attack from him and his subordinates in front of a bunch of Jin members and the members of other sects here for that specific conference… well it certainly did a lot to pave the way for their lie that this was Mo Xuanyu who was just framed.
He'd specifically introduced Mo Xuanyu to them and called him out before Mo Xuanyu took up the sword and was thus branded the Yiling Patriarch by none other than Jin Guangyao, liar and manipulator extraordinaire himself.
It couldn't have worked out better that so many people witnessed his introduction.
"That sounds very convenient," spat Jin Qiao sarcastically, "I say if you're telling the truth then you should prove that the sword won't respond to anyone else."
"Weapon spirits are loyal. Do you think you could use Sect Leader Jiang's Zidian just like that? With a strong spirit or a strong master you have to have the permission of the master, or the weapon's loyalty to be able to use it. But fine, if it will shut you up, here, try it," he said, walking up to Jin Qiao and handing the sword over.
Then while Jin Qiao struggled and failed to unsheathe Suibian, Jin Xuanyu turned and dramatically sighed and pouted at Jiang Cheng.
"Sect Leader Jiang, I'm sorry, but I was forced to let someone else touch my sword," he said, to the indignation of Jiang Cheng who was losing his mind at Wei Wuxian's inappropriate flirting.
The elders also looked scandalised at him.
Ouyang Zizhen on the other hand was having a field day. When he went home he was going to write to Jingyi and tell him all about it. Jingyi was a Lan but he loved gossip.
Since Jin Qiao failed to pull out the sword, Jin Xuanyu took it back and offered it to a gleeful Ouyang Zizhen who also failed. Then he let Luo Qingyang try.
Jin Ling was looking curiously at it and so he let Jin Ling try as well.
"As you can see, nobody can unsheathe the Yiling Patriarch's sword," said Sect Leader Jiang after Jin Ling failed as well, "Is it enough to prove to you that he's gone?"
"It's enough. Let's stop with this farce shall we?" said a fedup Elder Huizhong. This spectacle was putting him off his lunch honestly.
To be frank, Elder Huizhong didn't quite believe them. The Yiling Patriarch, being the master of the sword, could simply will the sword not to respond to anyone else and so this wasn't truly an indicator of Mo Xuanyu's identity.
But at this point he didn't give a shit.
He'd never agreed with the others' idea to replace Jin Rulan and he knew they were each trying to place their own people at the top. He also had an inkling that this was why Jin Rulan brought his uncle, 'Jin Xuanyu' back at this time, to be in his corner.
In fact, he knew that Mo Xuanyu was not legitimised before this. But he wasn't going to contradict his sect leader. He was one of the oldest ones on the Elders' council and he'd seen too many things for this minor deception to faze him. And Jin Rulan could use the support. Whether that support was in the form of a masquerading Yiling Laozu or 'Jin Xuanyu'. It was clear that this individual was only here for his nephew's ( whether it be by blood or via martial relations to the boy's mother and uncle) sake.
He knew what they were doing and he would let it happen. It would only be a cover. Jin Rulan would still be the one making the decisions for the most part.
He'd had to put up with far worse sect leaders than Jin Rulan, and he'd gone through a few of them in his day. There was Jin Changui in the past, who lived up to his name as a glutton and almost ate the Jin sect out of house and home...the man was a lazy spendthrift and he almost bankrupted them… them, the richest of the sects! In fact, it was thanks to him the Wen sect overtook the Jin sect in terms of wealth. It took two generations after that for them to build back what he lost them.
Thank goodness his son and grandson were far more prudent and managed to keep the sect treasury stocked.
More recently there was Jin Guangshan, with his philandering and unscrupulous ways, fathering bastards in every corner to the point that two of his children accidentally married each other!
Then there was Jin Guangyao, who had disappointed him the most because he'd actually liked Jin Guangyao's administration. He was truly a good sect leader.
Alas, it turned out that he was also quite unscrupulous and ended up bringing shame and turmoil to the sect in the end. Nobody knew it but he mourned the loss of who he once thought Jin Guangyao was. He had had hope that the man could lead the sect— nay, the cultivation world, to new heights. But it wasn't meant to be.
In Elder Huizhong's eyes, Jin Rulan was a blessing. He was young enough that he could learn if the elders gave proper guidance, like they were supposed to, instead of fighting for power and further dividing their already weakened sect.
He wasn't so stubborn and unyielding that he would refuse to listen to reason. He was also the nephew of Sect Leader Jiang, who was a formidable sect leader in his own right, and who would definitely offer his nephew his assistance. That man knew what it was like to drag a broken sect back to glory and the Jin sect could certainly benefit from his help… if only they weren't so determined to make an enemy of him by slighting his precious nephew.
Well, Elder Huizhong was tired of watching the others play the game of 'thrones'. He usually tried to stay neutral and to think of the good of the sect, the collective, over the interests of the few. He didn't favour anyone and tried to be balanced in his dealings.
But this style of doing things meant that the others didn't take notice of him and only superficially placated him due to his status and age.
Seeing his family fighting amongst each other to take advantage of a child made him feel a bit disgusted that this was what their proud sect was reduced to.
They were cultivators, but here they were acting like they were in the imperial court! What nonsense! No wonder there were no true immortals amongst the cultivators of the last few generations (and no wonder Baoshan Sanren refused to leave her mountain… he felt like finding one himself).
So, given that this was the case, he decided to surreptitiously support Jin Rulan himself.
And if that meant paving the way for him to carry through with the plan he was so clearly trying to enact, then so be it.
"I think we can all agree that Rulan did a good thing by bringing back his uncle. His filial piety to his grandfather is commendable. Jin Guangshan did indeed bring his son back to the sect and he would hate that Jin Guangyao's machinations caused his brother to be ousted from it. We've already lost Zixuan, and Guangyao is a lost cause. There's no need for us to lose Xuanyu as well, especially when his only crime was trying to expose the misdeeds of our former sect leader."
"He was wronged and it's only right that we fix that. I think that we should call for a conference and clear Xuanyu's name in front of everyone lest the hatred people have for the Yiling Laozu cause problems for him (and us) later down the line. It will also help raise our sect's reputation that our Jin Xuanyu was trying his best to expose the truth to everyone. They will see that we are not all like the former sect leader."
"Jin Xuanyu, on behalf of the elders, let me be the first to welcome you back to the sect, to apologise for the pains you have suffered because of Jin Guangyao, and to thank you for your efforts."
With Elder Huizhong's words, the rest of them could no longer protest openly even if they wanted to, and they muttered half hearted 'welcomes' just to save face in front of the sect.
Jin Xuanyu nodded his thanks to the elder.
"Then I will do as you say, Elder, and send out letters inviting the other sects to a conference. The moment I found out the truth I had intended on bringing my uncle back and letting the sect know what really happened, but I didn't think of clearing his name in a conference to prevent trouble from outside. This Jin Rulan thanks you for the advice," he said, inclining his head respectfully to Elder Huizhong.
You see? Wasn't he right? The child knew how to listen and learn!
This pleased Elder Huizhong.
"Elder's words have also made me think about how to compensate my uncle for the problems he faced because of the former sect leader. Uncle Xuanyu is my father's brother, and since I have legitimised him, until I have children then he is the heir to the clan since I am already the sect leader. If he was brought into the clan when he was born, as my father's brother he would be the one in this seat today. As such, considering his compensation and the elders' concerns about my youth, I, the current Jin sect leader, think it's only right that I step down for now and bestow the title of Regent Sect Leader onto him until such time that I can retake the mantle myself."
The room exploded in a cacophony of sound at the 'unexpected' announcement.
'Ah, the precocious tyke,' Elder Huizhong thought, wiping a mental tear of pride, 'Look at you causing chaos and upsetting your elders' plans while managing to make it seem as if you got the idea from listening to me.'
xoxooxoxoxoxoxoxox
A/N:
* Jin Xuanyu is referring to Jin Guangyao as er-ge, because Jin Zixuan would be da-ge even though he's dead... well they're both dead now but they're still his brothers... calling him er-ge is a way to make everyone keep their blood relation in mind. All part of the strategy to paint him as Mo Xuanyu.
As to how Wei Wuxian remembers things when his memory is so bad? Well these are things that happened fairly recently, as in, post-resurrection, in his second life. He also didn't have a lot of trauma associated directly with Jin Guangyao so he could remember things far more clearly than in his first life when he was going through it.