24. Revelations

Yanli, A’Yao, and A’Cheng sat there in the disaster of a room, chairs overturned where the Lans had run—run!—out of the room like it was on fire.

“What did that idiot do now?” A’Cheng whined, more confused than angry.

“I’m sure…I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding,” A’Yao said, although he did not sound too confident about it.

“Should we stay here?” Yanli wondered.

“No.” The Lan doctor was back, looking extremely unhappy about the mess. They all stood up quickly and bowed to her. She waved a hand and young girl of about ten or so appeared, eyes wide. “YiYi will take you to your guest quarters. I suggest you stay there until called upon,” she added a bit more gently.

They bowed again and followed the young Lan as she led them out of the medical complex and up a broad pathway filled with pristinely white gravel. Around them, it felt like the entire sect was in an uproar. She had always heard that gossip was forbidden in the Cloud Recesses, but in practice that did not seem to be followed as she saw many clumps of Lan disciples of all ages animatedly chattering at each other and staring at them as they passed.

“Wait,” A’Cheng said, stopping. The little Lan kept marching forward a few steps until she realized they were not following her anymore.

“What is it?” A’Yao asked.

A’Cheng was wearing an expression of intense concentration, but his eyes were unfocused. “Do you hear that?”

Yanli tipped her head, trying to hear what he was talking about. A faint sound of “JieJie!” floated through the air.

“Ying’er!” She gasped. A’Yao must have heard it at the same time. He took off at a jog in the direction the call came from, A’Cheng hot on his heels. Yanli hiked her skirts up and followed.

“There is no running in the Cloud Recesses!” The little Lan called out helplessly behind them.

“JieJie! JieJie! DaGe! A’Cheng! JieJie!” The cries got louder and louder, so Yanli knew they were headed in the right direction. She relied on A’Yao and A’Cheng to lead the way, since they both had heightened senses due to their powerful cultivation.

“Ying’ge! We’re coming!” A’Cheng shouted, pulling ahead.

They ended up in a broad plaza, too big to be called a courtyard, yet surrounded by very official-looking buildings. In the middle of it, four Lan disciples were wrestling with Ying’er, while Lan Wangji was kowtowing to his uncle and brother. A bevvy of other Lan were standing around looking scandalized.

For all that he was the youngest, and often trailed behind Wei Ying in progress, A’Cheng was nonetheless the son of Wei Changze and the Violet Spider, a boy who had spent his earliest years training to be the heir of one of the great sects and was a student (the only student?) of Song Zichen. Yanli was not surprised when he barreled into the Lan holding Ying’er and within five moves had all of them flat on the ground, howling in pain.

Ying’er collapsed as soon as he was released and looked up at Yanli.

“JieJie!” He hopped up, and she grabbed him, holding him close. When she finally had the wherewithal to pull back, she noticed that Meng Yao had put himself between the three of them and Lan Qiren, standing with a sword in his hand, ready to fight. Lan Wangji was still face down on the ground and had not moved a muscle.

Yanli pulled A’Cheng and Ying’er close to her. “What is the meaning of this, Lan Qiren?”

There were a few gasps at her daring to use his name instead of his title, but she felt that, for the moment, he had lost that right.

“He took my sword!” One of the Lans who had been holding Ying’er crawled to his feet, holding his bloody nose and pointing at Meng Yao. Yanli recognized him as the cranky disciple who had accused them of murdering Lan Wangji.

“You lost it fair and square!” Ying’er taunted, high-fiving A’Cheng.

Meng Yao gave the Lan a vicious smile. “This thing? I just found it lying on the ground.” He twirled it menacingly, as if he had been wielding spiritual weapons for years.

Lan Xichen stepped forward, his hands out in peace. “Please, everyone, calm down. I believe there has been a misunderstanding.” He glanced off to the side, where one of the elders was visibly fuming. Yanli gratefully picked up on the lead.

“Why did you order my brother to be restrained?” She asked the elder.

“That common street-rat tricked our precious Second Jade of Lan into a betrothal! He needs to be beaten and thrown out!”

“This Lan Wangji was not tricked!” Lan Wangji said loudly, although he did not get up.

“Be quiet, child, while your elders are talking!” The Lan snapped at him. “You will be lucky to be spared the discipline whip!”

Yanli stumbled as Wei Ying shoved himself away from her. Meng Yao looked over at him, did a double take, and immediately pushed both her and A’Cheng backwards.

“You will not harm a hair on his head,” Wei Ying snarled in the timber of voice that Yanli was coming to recognize as the influence of the Burial Mounds.

“What is this? What evil is this? Guards!” Several Lan started shouting for help as Wei Ying marched toward the Lan elder.

“A’Ying!” Lan Wangji dashed over and grabbed hold of Ying’er’s wrist. It was then Yanli noticed that a malevolent totem was floating above his palm.

“They will not hurt you, Lan Zhan. I will not allow it.”

“It is the yin iron, A’Ying, not you. Please stop.” Lan Wangji’s voice was gentle, but his eyes betrayed his concern.

Yanli wrestled out of Meng Yao’s grasp and ran over to Ying’er. As expected, his eyes were bright red.

“Ying’er, listen to Lan Wangji! Please! We are fine, everyone is safe. I’m here, your DaGe is here, A’Cheng is here. Lan Wangji is here, and he is unhurt.” She reached out to him, but did not try to touch. “Please let it go.”

His nostrils flared, but he stopped walking. Lan Wangji reached to his other hand and pulled a small bag out of it, a heavily warded qiankun bag of Lan design, and quickly slipped it over the stone, trapping it inside. As soon as it was tied off, Ying’er’s knees went out. A’Yao, who had by that point moved up behind him, caught him in his arms and lowered him slowly to the ground. Yanli noticed that Lan Wangji had almost tried to do the same. Which was…interesting. Had they really eloped? It seemed improbable, but…

People were still screaming for guards and more Lan had flooded the plaza, many of them with their swords drawn.

“ENOUGH!” Lan Qiren said. He wasn’t shouting, but he had obviously used his qi to amplify his voice. Everyone in the plaza immediately went quiet. He turned to Lan Xichen, then over to where the rest of them were huddled together. “Lan Wangji, bring the Meng family to the Mingshi. Lan Xichen, join me for a moment.” He turned to them and gave a short bow, speaking to Yanli. “You will be safe there. It is meant to restrain spirits.”

“Lan Qiren! You cannot mean to allow that demonic presence to stay within Cloud Recesses!” The elder who had threatened Lan Wangji spoke with authority, and several Lan around him nodded agreement. Ying’er tensed up, and Lan Wangji glared even harder at the elder, which Yanli thought was quite a feat.

“Lan Hao, you have stirred up enough drama here today! Please retire to your home and remain there in seclusion until called for.” Lan Qiren snapped the words, and many people gasped. Even Lan Xichen looked surprised, but Yanli recognized it for what it was: a tussle for power within the sect’s politics. She did not envy Lan Qiren his position, but she had watched her former father and even her mother go up against annoyed Jiang elders enough to see it for what it was.

Lan Hao harrumphed and stomped off, followed by a few others.

Lan Wangji quickly and quietly herded them out of the plaza to a round building off to the side, and Yanli could not tell if he was clinging to Ying’er or if it was the other way around. The Mingshi, unlike the other buildings nearby, had wooden beams which were nearly black, and all the wards built into it radiated power. Yet, the feng shui inside was pleasing and placid. Yanli knew that such delicate work represented the efforts of many generations of spell masters.

A’Yao and the boys were still worked up from the confrontation, and Lan Wangji was, curiously, staying very close to Wei Ying. Suddenly she noticed why he looked different, why so many people had stared at him as he walked by: his clan ribbon was gone from his forehead. He must have noticed her looking, as he grabbed Ying’er’s hand and raised it. The sleeve fell back and there was the ribbon, wrapped around Ying’er’s wrist.

“Ying’er,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Do you even know what that means?”

He blushed. “Ah. Hm. The elders said it means we are betrothed? Sort of?”

“Mn.” Lan Wangji looked very smug about it. Meng Yao glared at him.

“Don’t you think you should have asked permission from his elder siblings first?”

“Too dangerous. We could not wait.” Lan Wangji’s smugness only intensified.

“What?” Yanli asked.

“Oh, JieJie, it’s a whole story. I mean, we were down there for days and days! A lot happened!” He blushed a blotchy, deep red.

“A lot of what happened?” Meng Yao bit out, stalking forward. In a fair fight with the Second Jade of Lan, he was doomed, but he was furious in a way that Yanli had rarely seen, and he did not seem to care about the odds.

Then it hit her.

“Oh!” She looked at Lan Wangji, her own displeasure rising. “Second Young Master Lan, did you take liberties with my brother?” She squeaked out the words.

“What?” A’Cheng shrieked and immediately grabbed Ying’er to haul him away.

“No! No, no, no! It wasn’t like that! DaGe!” Ying’er pulled at A’Yao’s sleeves to stop him while slapping at A’Cheng. Lan Wangji just stood there, looking offended.

“I sincerely doubt my nephew would do anything that was unwelcome,” Lan Qiren said from behind them, his voice like a bucket of cold water on all of them as they spun around. “Nonetheless, I too would like to hear more about what happened between Wei Ying and Wangji in the cave.”

Wei Ying.

Yanli sucked in a sharp breath. Around her, everyone froze.

Lan Qiren looked directly at her with knowing eyes and she thought that she had been a fool, a damned fool, the whole time.

“I believe we have much to discuss, Jiang Yanli.” Lan Qiren folded his hands into his sleeves.