blue flies buzzing
by Rose Thorne
Disclaimer: I don't own MDZS or The Untamed and make no money writing fanfiction.
Jingyi couldn't be mad about placing third in the archery division of the discussion conference competition, not when he'd been beaten by Jin Ling and Sizhui. He could stand with them and tease the little mistress and watch Sizhui expertly calm him when he was sufficiently riled up. Zizhen cheered for them, having placed seventh, ignoring his own loss. They'd all been training under Wei-qianbei, aside from Jin Ling (who just liked to make snarky comments while they practiced), and he knew he'd gotten to be a better shot.
That the Lotus Pier discussion conference was going well at all was a minor miracle, given that Jiang-zongzhu had only reached out to Wei-qianbei a few months prior, about half a year since the events at the Guanyin Temple. Before that, it had been obvious, at least to him and the others, that Wei-qianbei had resigned himself to not being welcome, and it was a relief to see him lighter and welcome back in his old home.
And, well, there'd been a lot of yelling since they started talking again, but Jingyi figured that was just how Jiang-zongzhu communicated.
He and Hanguang-Jun were seated with the Lan contingent, purposefully placed by the Jiang, allowing Wei-qianbei to sit beside both his brother and husband, and Jingyi could feel the pride emanating from them, and was just happy to be included.
Of course someone had to go and ruin it.
"I don't see why a Wen-dog is allowed to place," the Yao head disciple, who had placed fourth (and not closely), said angrily, loudly enough that a hush fell.
He was pointing at Sizhui.
The mood shifted immediately, a sort of tension like balancing on the blade of a knife, and Jingyi could see the immediate shift in Hanguang-Jun and Wei-qianbei. Jiang-zongzhu, too, was looking thunderous, but Jingyi was less certain about where he would fall if he knew of Sizhui's origin, or if he already knew.
Regardless, Jingyi instinctively knew leaving this to the adults would end disastrously. He still had nightmares about some of Hanguang-Jun's more fraught encounters with Jiang-zongzhu that he'd had to referee before Wei-qianbei's return.
Plus some cultivators still hated the Wen and could decide to target Sizhui, and Jingyi couldn't abide that.
"Hey, Sizhui," he said in a normal (for him) voice, immediately shifting the attention to him. "How old are you?"
He could see the dawning understanding and relief in his friend's eyes, and he immediately answered.
"I am to turn eighteen toward the new year."
Sizhui kept his voice just slightly above normal for him, letting it carry only a bit. Since he was generally soft-spoken, it wouldn't seem like he meant to, and it also made the attendees quiet more to listen, leaving no doubt that the Yao asshole's comment had been heard by everyone who was anyone at the conference.
"Didn't the Sunshot campaign end sixteen years ago?" Jin Ling asked, deliberately sounding bored, having also caught on. "What would a toddler have to do with the war?"
He ended on a sneer, able to push back a bit more because of his rank in the gentry.
"It matters because he shouldn't exist!" the Yao asshole yelled. "He should've been killed with the rest of Wei Wuxian's Wen army."
Jingyi had to physically hold Jin Ling back, and he could see that both Hanguang-Jun and Wei-qianbei wanted to wipe the floor with this little shit. There was so much to take issue with that he couldn't choose what to say first. As it turned out, the other junior disciples had a lot to say, too.
"If there was a child in the Burial Mounds, maybe the people there weren't an army," one of the other Lan disciples commented.
"We were always taught that the civilians were left alone, so why would there be a kid in the labor camp?" the female Jiang disciple who had placed fifth asked, her voice filled with a sort of dawning horror.
Jingyi immediately decided they were Wei-qianbei's ducklings, too. Whether they wanted to be or not.
"Why would anyone want to kill a toddler?" one of Zizhen's sisters asked her father, who had no ready reply.
"Did Jin Guangshan lie about the people Wei-xiong freed?" Nie-zongzhu asked, his fan fluttering frantically. "I don't know, I don't know, I really don't know."
He seemed truly disturbed by the idea, looking at the clan leaders, many of them old enough to have participated in the First Siege of the Burial Mounds, around him for guidance, asking uncomfortable questions plaintively and loudly. Those around him looked troubled, as though for the first time doubting despite having been there when the blood corpses of the Wen remnants saved them.
The ripple of uncertainty in the crowd was a good thing, though Jingyi doubted most of the sect leaders were capable of true introspection.
"You'd wish one of your peers dead just because you didn't place?" Zizhen asked, his voice cold. "Really, Yao-gongzi, just practice your archery more."
Jiang-zongzhu stood as the Yao jerk sneered at Zizhen and walked toward him as though to physically menace him.
"Enough," the Jiang sect leader said, his voice booming and tone acidic in a way few others could manage. "I shouldn't be surprised that a Yao is starting trouble via gossip, but this attempt to slander your betters is disgusting."
The Yao kid looked like he wanted to defend himself, but quailed when Zidian sparked.
"Now, now, Jiang Cheng, it's only a little disagreement between the juniors!"
Of course, Yao-zongzhu decided to interject, anything that would give him attention, and belittling Jiang-zongzhu by using his birth name. The nerve!.
"Forgive me, Yao-zongzhu," Jingyi said, his voice not contrite at all, "but shouldn't you be addressing Jiang-zongzhu properly, as he is the host of this discussion conference?"
Sometimes being known as the unLanest Lan had its benefits.
Yao-zongzhu stuttered, unable to put together an excuse, and Jiang-zongzhu glanced at Jingyi and nodded almost imperceptibly, which was high praise coming from him.
"Your disciple has made a public accusation against Lan Sizhui, one that cannot possibly be confirmed, in an attempt to cast doubt upon him," Jiang Wanyin said, advancing on the petty little man. "Just as you've made public accusations against my brother that, as it turned out, were bullshit and led to his death. It seems you teach your disciples to slander others rather than better themselves."
"But if he is a Wen—"
Zewu-Jun rose, and Yao-zongzhu's mouth shut, clearly against his will from the way his teeth clicked together in a way that sounded painful.
"Yao-zongzhu, your head disciple has stated that our head disciple should have been killed as a child, or perhaps is implying he should be killed now, and is doing so because he lost an archery competition. I'm sure you can agree that this sort of conduct is more than just idle words toward Lan Sizhui, but constitutes an offense to the entire Lan clan."
His voice was colder than Jingyi had ever heard it, the sort of cold he would expect from Hanguang-Jun rather than Zewu-Jun.
"Your disciple has called for the blood of a young man who was taken in by my brother as a child, a young man who is essentially his son. Perhaps you haven't noticed that Wangji's only not drawn his sword because his husband has prevented him."
Jingyi risked a glance, and noticed that Wei-qianbei's hand was on Hanguang-Jun's wrist, that hand white-knuckled on the hilt of his sword. Keeping him from drawing it was clearly taking some effort, as well.
Yao-zongzhu's face went mottled and he tried and failed to speak, probably just as offended at being protected by Wei-qianbei as he was at Hanguang-Jun's desire to skewer him and his head disciple.
Jiang-zongzhu turned to Zewu-Jun and bowed.
"I apologize that this offense has occurred in my home. The Yao disciples are no longer permitted to participate in any further competitions at this discussion conference, and the offending Yao disciple is no longer welcome at Lotus Pier."
"The Wen killed your entire sect, and mine!" the Yao disciple yelled. "Why would you side with one? That's unfil—"
Zidian sparked again, the whip unleashed and snapping at the ground before his feet, and the boy went silent and pale.
"Who are you to lecture me?!" Jiang-zongzhu hissed, stalking toward him.
"If I may?" Sizhui interjected, clearly hoping to prevent violence, always too good.
For a moment, Jingyi thought he'd be ignored, but then Jiang Wanyin recalled his weapon and gestured for him to speak.
"I had a high fever when Hanguang-Jun found me and brought me to the healers. I was fortunate to survive, but unfortunately all memories of my first years of life were taken by that fever. I have been raised Lan by the best family I could ask for, whatever my origins."
Jingyi wanted to applaud; nothing he said was a lie, and he tugged at the heartstrings of some of those gathered. No one needed to know that his memories had started to return, after all. Omissions weren't lies.
"It is my understanding that I was a war orphan, and I believe that is a common story among our generation," he continued, getting nods from several of their peers. "It shouldn't matter where any of us came from, but who we have grown to be."
He bowed to those gathered as he finished, and Jingyi stepped beside him, joined by Jin Ling and Zizhen, none of them willing to let him stand alone.
Jingyi was glad to see that most of the gathered disciples had edged away from any Yao disciples in the crowd and were regarding them with distrust, a clear indication of where they stood.
The Yao head disciple was shame-faced, finally, in the face of Sizhui's words, so maybe there was hope for him, but he'd have to overcome the inevitable reputation he'd garnered for himself.
"Gusu Lan will not stand for the attempt to harm any of our disciples, whether through violence or words," Zewu-Jun said. "Furthermore, that such an attempt came from the Yao first disciple has troubling implications for the future of interclan relations. We demand recompense."
By this time, Yao-zongzhu looked thoroughly cowed, clearly realizing that he could lose important allies and trade agreements. As soon as the silencing spell was lifted he bowed repeatedly, apologizing for the impudence of the Yao disciple and assuring them that he would be punished.
"I believe all those gathered would like to know what form that punishment will take to deter future slander," Wei-qianbei said, weighing in for the first time, his tone devoid of sympathy. "Particularly my husband, or he might decide to mete out punishment himself."
Hanguang-Jun's hand was still on the hilt of his sword, his aura almost menacing. Though his expression was unchanged, his anger was almost palpable.
They were forcing Yao-zongzhu to do more than pretend there would be punishment, and Jingyi was loving it. It was about time the old gossipmonger faced some justice.
"Of—of course, Yao Yuqing has shown he cannot represent the clan as first disciple any longer," he said, clearly knowing that was one of the only acceptable outcomes, especially since he had cast a pall on the reputation of the clan.
The disciple didn't protest the decision, which Jingyi appreciated.
"He, too, is a war orphan, his parents killed in the massacre of our clan, and I'm afraid we've doted on him too much and neglected some of his education. We will of course institute, ah, lessons on the importance of not spreading gossip and having respect for others," Yao-zongzhu hedged.
It was the same sort of excuse people used to dismiss Jin Ling, and didn't address the issue at all.
"Why would Yao Yuqing believe such a thing, anyway?" Jingyi asked, pretending to ask Sizhui but letting his voice carry, just to be a little shit since he knew it had likely come from his sect leader.
He enjoyed the way Yao-zongzhu's face turned purple.
"And… and of course the Yao will provide a payment to Lan Sizhui personally upon remittance of the second degree of zhang," he finished, not sounding particularly happy about it.
That was a lot of tael going to Sizhui. It effectively acknowledged the severity of the offense, and left whether the punishment should be remitted up to the Lan. Otherwise Yao Yuqing was going to be bedridden for a bit.
Zewu-Jun glanced at both Sizhui and Hanguang-Jun for their reactions, likely knowing if the latter didn't approve of the punishment, he'd have to insist on more or risk him acting on his own.
"Satisfactory," he said after a moment. "I expect the payment to be accompanied by a written apology to Lan Sizhui by Yao Yuqing, and I should hope the lesson will stick without the need for physical punishment."
Yao Yuqing had enough savvy to bow first to Zewu-Jun, then to Hanguang-Jun, and finally to Lan Sizhui, recognizing each of them for agreeing to remittance.
"I will send several senior disciples to escort your former first disciple to the border of Jiang territory on his way home," Jiang-zongzhu announced dismissively. "It's coming on the evening meal, and we've wasted enough time."
The crowd broke apart, recognizing the dismissal for what it was.
Jingyi felt his own tension melt away, leaving a shaky sort of exhaustion, as Hanguang-Jun and Wei-qianbei joined them and pulled them toward the quarters the Lan contingent was assigned. Jin Ling and Zizhen followed along and were welcomed into the procession without question.
Sizhui's origins had been surmised by someone, though hopefully they lacked proof. Jingyi could only hope and be there for his friend.
Their seniors, he had to trust, would handle the rest.
This is MDZS-centric in terms of the amount of time Wei Wuxian was dead and the Second Siege of Burial Mounds. Written as a gift fic for the WangXian Winter Solstice Gift Exchange on Tumblr.
Zhang is part of the Five Punishments (of Imperial China). Zhang involved being beaten with a large stick, usually on the back, butt, or legs, so basically what was meted out to Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng, and Nie Huaisang at the Gusu lectures in CQL. Most punishments were far less than 300 strokes, though that didn't account for cultivation. You could pay a fee to have the sentence remitted, which is what Yao-zongzhu proposed. The second degree would involve 70 strokes, though presumably it would be more for a cultivator.
The characters for Yuqing are 誉罄. Yes, he's out of line, but he is also a war orphan, a survivor of the Wen massacre of the Yao clan. It's reminiscent of Jiang Cheng's anger toward the Wen. Yao-zongzhu is offering the same sort of excuse others did regarding Jin Ling's behavior.
Since this is in Jingyi's point of view, we don't really get a lot of what will happen. Wei Wuxian will get Nie Huaisang involved, and the spymaster will discover that someone guessed it because of Lan Sizhui's trip with Wen Ning. That person, who happens to be a Jin scion with access to Jin post-war records that show Wen Yuan was a labor camp prisoner and rescued by Wei Wuxian and made the connection, was spreading this to people who had reason to hate the Wen, such as Yao-zongzhu, in hopes of destabilizing things for a power grab. Let's just say that individual won't be a threat for long, as Lan Wangji will brook no threats to his family.
The title is a reference to a poem in the Shi Jing, "Blue Flies," about the dangers of slander.