and sings the tune without the words
by Rose Thorne
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with The Untamed, and make no money writing fanfiction.
Chapter Eight
Xiongzhang,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am acclimating adequately, though I find it strange to be without you and Shufu here.
As it turns out, packing my heaviest winter clothing was probably unnecessary—where I would guess by now there is snow in the Cloud Recesses, here it is still fairly temperate. Lotus Pier has a different sort of winter, as it turns out. A-Ying says we can experience it together for the first time.
Wen-zongzhu has sent a missive that he will be visiting with his sons and an entourage, and has offered to have his niece, who is apparently a medical prodigy, examine A-Ying. Jiang-zongzhu and Yu-furen have been discussing the matter away from us, but perhaps his niece can help.
My quarters here are well-furnished with elegant decor, some of it produced by A-Ying—he insisted upon returning that he provide paintings for my room, and it turned out he secretly painted a lovey picture of sleeping bunnies while at the Cloud Recesses that he has gifted to me.
Jiang-zongzhu took Jiang Wanyin, A-Ying, myself, and several disciples of our cohort hunting for pheasants. He said it is important to know how to live off the land while night hunting or traveling, or if one becomes lost. We learned to set snares and A-Ying successfully hunted a pheasant with his bow, which was quite impressive—he is a very talented archer. I preferred not to shoot a living creature, and they were very kind about it.
Instead I showed some of the Jiang disciples how to differentiate between some species of mushrooms and found several edible varieties to be eaten with the pheasant, though I also let them know that one must be completely certain what type of mushroom it is and so study is necessary. Jiang-zongzhu said basic edible plant knowledge is an important thing to know, so he is planning to include that in classes. I was pleased to contribute.
I am also learning how to dive and hold my breath in the water, when weather permits. A-Ying isn't permitted to swim if the temperature is too low, though the other disciples are. He thinks this rather unfair, though Jiang-zongzhu and Yu-furen are understandably reluctant for him to stress his body without adequate supervision, so I do not swim on those days so he does not feel as alone. Instead we work on our music cultivation with the tutor Shufu sent.
A-Ying has a musician's ear. I thought when he did not know how to read music that perhaps he had forgotten, but Jiang-zongzhu confirmed he never learned at Lotus Cove. Instead he is able to analyze music as he hears it, memorizing it and sometimes even anticipating the next notes in a way I have never known, though perhaps Shufu does. Sometimes it seems as though there is nothing he does not excel at, though when I said this he disagreed and said he believes that applies to me more than him.
I do miss the Cloud Recesses, along with you and Shufu, but the days here are full enough to make up for it, and I enjoy my time with A-Ying. Lotus Cove is so lively in a way I normally would not enjoy, but it is also A-Ying's home, so I find I cannot dislike it.
It seems odd to make one's home in two places so different from each other, but I find I do not mind it.
Jiang Yanli recently made a dessert I think you would enjoy. Somehow the desserts in Yunmeng taste different from those in Gusu, perhaps owing to different spices. It is a soup made from yams and dates with ginger and sugar. She made it on a particularly chilly day and it warms from within. I asked her for the recipe to include with this letter, as I think you will enjoy it on colder days. Perhaps Shufu as well—as you know, he wakes with stiff joints on colder mornings and it shows sometimes in his gait.
It will be strange to celebrate Dongzhi without you, though the Jiangs set up a tablet for Mother to share the altar with A-Ying's parents, at his insistence. Even though it isn't her true tablet and I will not be able to clean our ancestral hall with you and Shufu, I will be able to pay respects to her, and to A-Ying's parents. Since Lotus Cove is so close to Lotus Pier, Jiang Yanli says the disciples often join in the festivities with the townspeople, so it will be a celebration different than what we hold in the Cloud Recesses, and A-Ying is excited to share his first in memory with me.
I hope you and Shufu are well, and I will see you when the seasons turn again,
Lan Wangji
Didi,
I am happy to hear you have settled in so well at Lotus Cove and are experiencing so many new things. Shufu and I are well, and as you predicted the soup recipe was well-received. Shufu is ensuring that it is served with breakfast on the coldest days, and several elders have expressed gratitude at the addition to the meal. Please thank Jiang-guniang for us.
Jiang-zongzhu and Shufu had hoped Wen-zongzhu would visit while we were there to settle you in, which was why Lan-daifu came with. I had been hoping to meet young Wen-daifu, but you'll have to tell me how the visit goes. I hope they are able to help Jiang Wuxian—I know he finds his limitations frustrating.
Shufu often turns toward where you would usually sit during tea, as though to speak to you, on occasion, and I find myself expecting to see you walking alongside me to meals at times. It is truly odd for you to be elsewhere, and I miss our conversations about lessons.
It is good to hear of all the new things you are learning. Shufu is having several senior disciples copy books on mushroom identification and foraging to send to Jiang-zongzhu, and I'm sure the sharing of materials from our library will continue to strengthen the bonds between our sects.
He asks that you be cautious of your health. Living in areas with different climates can impact our bodies in unexpected ways, he says, and Yunmeng's winter is damp. It can be difficult to adapt. You have a strong core for your age, but pay attention to your lungs lest the damp invade. Do not hesitate to speak to Kang-daifu if you are feeling off.
I'm sure Mother would be happy to share the altar with Jiang Wuxian's parents. He is the kind of lively person she would have enjoyed, and from the tales Shufu and Jiang-zongzhu and Yu-furen have shared, his parents were of similar disposition. I will be sure to explain where you are when I leave offerings, and I'm sure the tablet that is at Lotus Cove was constructed in such a way that she will know to go there.
You know we don't leave meat offerings at the Cloud Recesses, but when we were young Mother sometimes commented about missing mutton stew, particularly in the winter months. I'm sure the Jiangs will be happy to make some for you to offer her, and that alone will make her happy. I've read it's a traditional Dongzhi food in the east. Perhaps that's where she was from.
I am very glad you and Jiang Wuxian are so close. Though your second meeting occurred in such dire circumstances, it has had a positive outcome of close relations with Yunmeng Jiang, new friendships, and your betrothal. Shufu has softened somewhat since Yunmeng, and I've been studying my future role and considering the guiding principles in ways I never had before. I will make a list of the books I have read that you may also enjoy for when you return. I'm sure Jiang Wuxian will also enjoy it, and you may well read them together. Just remember to discuss it with me as well.
The events of the past year have encouraged growth in us all, and I think in positive ways. I am very glad Jiang Wuxian remembered your name in his hour of need, even if none of us is sure how.
I'm sending some tangyuan from the kitchens in a stasis pouch for you and Jiang Wuxian to enjoy. I know they will make them at Lotus Cove, but you've always enjoyed the ones made here and I want you to have a piece of home with you for Dongzhi.
Enjoy the festival,
Lan Xichen
Was going to send this through the post, but the Jiang messenger arrived. Shufu will take it but I am to stay here. He won't tell me what happened, just that Wen-zongzhu was gravely injured.
I don't know what happened, A-Zhan, but I hope everyone is safe. Please be safe.
Xiongzhang,
Shufu may not return to the Cloud Recesses for some time. There is much fallout from what occurred and no one quite knows what the outcome will be.
Wen-zongzhu is dead. Everything is confusing, but I have given report on what I witnessed and am including it here.
Wen-guniang and her younger brother accompanied Wen-zongzhu to Lotus Cove. She was to examine A-Ying, but he had an episode when he saw her and called her Qing-jie. He asked her not to let Jin Guangshan kill her, which upset her younger brother.
Wen-zongzhu insisted he needed more information, and when told about the resentful energy in A-Ying's mind, even being advised by his own niece it should not be trifled with, he did not listen. He insisted he knew how to handle it.
Even though A-Ying was unconscious and still bleeding from his nose, he tried to do something to the resentful energy in his mind. He tried to hurt A-Ying. I remember A-Ying screaming, and his eyes opened and glowed red, and he was bleeding from his eyes and ears, too.
The backlash destroyed the infirmary but left everyone (including me) except Wen-zongzhu untouched. His injuries were dire enough that his jindan could not repair the damage, and despite treatment he succumbed before the day was out, before Shufu even arrived. His remains were prepared for return to Nightless City.
A-Ying was unconscious for several days but woke with no memory of what had occurred and seemingly no ill effects. Everyone is baffled, and he can give no context on his statement about Wen-guniang and Jin-zongzhu.
While he was unconscious, one of Wen-zongzhu's guards made an attempt on his life and was summarily dealt with by Yu-furen. The other guards were sent back to Qishan with Wen-zongzhu's remains.
That is the report I wrote, and what I saw happen.
Nightless City has been silent. Shufu says the power vacuum will likely lead to an internal clan war and perhaps a schism. The political issues of Qishan Wen are apparently much more complex than those of Gusu Lan or Yunmeng Jiang. They are, after all, the largest of the five great clans, and many people will vie for the power Wen Ruohan held.
Wen-guniang asked for asylum for herself, her brother, and her family, the Dafan Wen clan, and has had much to say about Wen-zongzhu that has disturbed Shufu and the Jiangs—I have not been privy to most of it. She does not wish herself or her family to be caught up in what becomes of Qishan Wen. Jiang-zongzhu and Yu-furen have agreed to the asylum and have sent disciples to Dafan to see to her clan's immediate relocation into Yunmeng territory.
It is unclear what will happen, if it will be called an assassination or act of war, if Yunmeng Jiang will be blamed despite advising against his actions, if A-Ying will be blamed despite being unconscious when it occurred. He's only eleven, gege!
I am concerned for what might happen. Any attempt to put blame on the Jiang or A-Ying is unjust, but injustice is something that exists in humanity. Shufu hopes they will be too busy to pass blame, but the uncertainty is upsetting, and there's such tension in Lotus Pier, even, a pall over the coming festival preparations.
Shufu insists you stay in the Cloud Recesses. He's sending missives to the elders on how to prepare for what might come and to delegate certain duties. He says Yunmeng Jiang may have to call a discussion conference to handle the fallout, but reiterates that you must stay there.
Be safe,
Lan Wangji
Sooo that happened.
Remember that Sect Leader Nie is still alive here. He hadn't yet been killed by Wen Ruohan. It's a pretty major change.
But of course Wen Ruohan would do something like this. Older Wei Wuxian woke briefly and handled it. The red eyes were a hint. And no one knows—like Lan Wangji, they all believe it was backlash from messing with the curse and resentful energy. It was, sort of. But only because it woke Older Wei Wuxian and he was fucking pissed. No one else was even hurt by debris.