27. Ying'er is Great at Secrets (no he's not)

Later the next morning, a suitably chastised and very sore Wei Ying stood in front of Grandmaster Lan and revealed everything he had told his family the night before about the yin iron.

(As Yanli had predicted, it turned out that Meng Yao liked the idea of doing handstands while copying lines as a punishment. He liked it a lot. Neither of the boys had steady hands that morning during breakfast.)

Grandmaster Lan was visibly displeased that the information had been withheld, but nodded approvingly when told that Wei Ying had been punished for it using a “cherished Lan technique of corporal correction.” Yanli thought Meng Yao was laying it on thick, but he seemed to know what Grandmaster Lan wanted to hear.

“Wei Ying,” Grandmaster Lan sharply. Wei Ying snapped to attention. “I am not so irresponsible a man as to send children out on such a dangerous mission.”

“But I’m fifteen!”

“And already betrothed,” Lan Qiren intoned. Lan Wangji sat up straighter, zeroing in on his uncle. “Yet, that does not make you an adult, and I certainly am not going to let you and my nephew go gallivanting around the countryside unchaperoned.” At that, he had a strange, wordless stare-off with said nephew.

Lan Xichen hid behind his sleeve, but it looked like he was laughing. Ying’er looked confused, but Yanli refused to meet his gaze, having a suspicion as to what Grandmaster Lan’s concerns were.

“Be that as it may, we do need to retrieve the pieces we can get to.” Grandmaster Lan said with a heavy sigh. “Can you provide us with accurate maps, or more specific information about where they are?”

Ying’er rubbed the side of his nose, and Yanli knew the answer was ‘no.’

“No,” he said.

Meng Yao breathed out through his nose slowly. “Details, Ying’er. Details.”

“Oh! Right. First off, I just got a flash of the locations when I was talking to the yin iron. Or, actually, it was talking to me? Through me? Hmmmm...”

Meng Yao cleared his throat.

“Which means I only have a general idea! And to get any more specific, I’d have to touch the iron again—”

“No.” Lan Wangji said with the firmness of an ax falling.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying whined.

“No.”

“I agree with Wangji on this. That artifact is dangerous and corrupted.” Meng Yao turned back to Wei Ying, who was still pouting at Lan Wangji. “Do you have any idea at all where the Xuanwu of Slaughter is?”

“Generally.” Wei Ying shrugged. “In Qisan.”

Grandmaster Lan frowned.

“Uncle?” Lan Xichen looked over at Lan Qiren.

“If it is truly hidden somewhere in Qisan, it will be difficult to send in a team to kill it—”

“WHAT?” Wei Ying shrieked, jumping up. “Kill her? No! We can’t kill her!”

“It is a dangerous demonic beast!”

“Didn’t you listen to me? We have to go rescue her!”

“Rescue the Xuanwu of Slaughter? Don’t be preposterous! It must be destroyed!”

“No! You can’t do that! I won’t let you!” Ying’er hopped forward, working himself in a rage. Meng Yao immediately grabbed his arm to hold him back.

“How dare you talk this way to me!”

“She’s an innocent demi-god of battle! She just wants to go home! How can you be so wicked?”

A’Cheng rushed to his feet and grabbed Ying’er’s other arm.

“You impudent brat! You are just like your mother!”

Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen were suddenly holding Lan Qiren back as well…or holding him up, Yanli was uncertain.

“At least my mother died righteous!” Ying’er shouted. Lan Qiren turned an alarming shade of puce.

“Enough!” Yanli moved between them and held her arms out. She nodded at A’Yao and A’Cheng who proceeded to haul Ying’er out of the Mingshi. She turned to Lan Xichen.

“I believe it would be best for everyone to take a rest and re-order our thoughts,” she said deferentially with a bow.

“Yes.” He nodded quickly. “We will talk later.” His informal address indicated how unsettled he was, and they were already pulling his uncle back to sit in a chair while the man huffed like a bull.

She took the dismissal and hurried out.

Down the path, Ying’er was hunched over, hands on his knees with A’Yao’s hand on his back while A’Cheng was counting off a breathing exercise. She slowed down and put her trembling hands in her sleeves. A’Yao looked over and gave her a worried expression.

Ying’er was hot headed and often careless of repercussions, but yelling at an elder with open animosity was unlike him.

“Ying’er,” she said after a moment when it was clear that he had caught his breath. “Let me see your wrist.”

He grimaced, but held out his arm automatically. She pressed her fingers to his pulse point and then nearly recoiled with a gasp. He looked away in shame.

“Yanli?” A’Yao asked, then took over when she gestured for him to check Ying’er himself. His face went stony when he realized what she had felt.

“You’re meridians are a mess,” he said.

“They want to kill her!”

“In 1-2-3-4, out 1-2-3-4-5,” A’Cheng started chanting. Too habituated to the practice not to join in, Ying’er began breathing along. Then he smiled weakly, seeing something down the path.

Or, someone. Yanli watched as Lan Wangji sped toward them. He definitely was not running, but she doubted she would have been able to keep up with him if she tried.

“A’Ying,” he breathed out the name as he came close, clearly picking up on their worry. Or maybe his own.

“I’m fine, Lan Zhan!”

“His meridians are a mess, as if they have been singed by resentful energy,” A’Yao said with a flat expression. Ying’er gave him a betrayed look.

Lan Wangji stepped closer. “A’Ying.”

“Aiya, it’s not too bad.” He swayed closer to Lan Wangji, who stepped forward again.

“Nope! Nope nope nope!” A’Cheng muscled in between them.

If a glance could burn a soul to ash, A’Cheng would already be sent to his next life from the expression Lan Wangji gave him. Ying’er, meanwhile, was staring at Lan Wangji like he was a complicated math problem.

Yanli was trying to figure out how to herd them all back to the guest house without further drama when she heard someone yelling down the way.

“Wangji-xiong! Wangji-xiong! You got married?” Nie Huaisang was flapping his way towards them at a full run, his arms waving wildly.

Yanli thought she heard a huff from the stoic Second Jade of Lan before he turned to face the onslaught. “No running in the Cloud Recesses,” he said when Nie Huaisang had already skidded to a stop.

“Don’t take that attitude with me, Wangji-xiong! This is important! I cannot—” He stalled when he finally took in the rest of them. “Miss Meng Jiayi?” He looked at A’Yao and the boys. “What are you all doing here? How did you even get here? Oh! Did you fly? Did you finally get spiritual swords?”

Lan Wangji reached out and pulled Ying’er to him. “This is my betrothed.”

“Betrothed? Oh, so you aren’t married yet? That makes so much more sense, Wangji-xiong, you would not believe the gossip…wait, Meng Ying is your betrothed?”

“It’s a long story,” Ying’er said, looking uncomfortable.

Yanli bowed. “Young Master Nie, it is good to see you again.”

Nie Huaisang wobbled around for a moment before bowing in return. “As it is to greet you again, Miss Meng Jiayi! I’m very confused right now.”

“Join the crowd,” A’Cheng sighed, glaring at where Lan Wangji still had his hand around Ying’er’s arm.

Lan Wangji was frowning a fraction more than usual. “You know the Meng family?”

“Oh, just barely! Passing acquaintances, really!”

A’Cheng walked over and punched him in the arm. “You lived with us for two weeks!”

“OW OW OW!!!! Meng Cheng! You are so cruel!”

“Don’t mind him, Lan Zhan! He wanted to commission some pieces from JieJie, so he followed Da'Ge home like a stray goat.” Wei Ying chirped.

“Hey!”

Lan Wangji’s eyes narrowed and he looked at Nie Huaisang, who raised his fan higher. “Was that when you disappeared from the last discussion conference?”

“Oh, was there a discussion conference going on? Goodness, how could I miss that? I’m sure Da'Ge would never allow me to leave such an important event.”

Yanli got the distinct impression that Lan Wangji sincerely wanted to roll his eyes, but didn’t.

“‘Allow’ being the key word,” A’Yao said.

“Anyway! There is a wedding to plan, and I’m here now!” He swanned forward and latched onto Yanli’s arm, unerringly turning them towards the direction of the guest house they were staying in, despite the fact that he should not have known that.

“Let us have some tea and snacks and make plans! I assume you will be doing at least some of the embroidery for the robes? Who is wearing the veil? Have the courting gifts been presented yet? Will Ying’er be marrying in? I have so many questions!”

He did not actually pause to hear answers, despite Ying’er trying desperately to derail him, and somehow all six of them ended up on the porch of the guest house with, yes, tea and snacks that Yanli did not remember having around before they left.

“No one is getting married until we finish our mission!” Ying’er finally shouted at him.

“Mission? Oh, is that why you all are here instead of in Yiling? Is this a family thing? What—”

“It is a secret,” Lan Wangji stated oppressively, causing Nie Huaisang to hide behind his fan. For a moment. Then he slowly lowered it, snapped it closed, and furiously turned to Yanli, slapping his palm with his fan.

“Whatever the Lan are paying you, I will double it!” He announced.

“Excuse me?”

“Nie Huaisang!” A’Yao snapped.

“What? Obviously they brought the Crane in the Mist here for a big project! They want to show me—uh, us! They want to show us up!” He turned to Lan Wangji, who looked very confused. “I won’t stand for this! I found her first!”

“Crane in the Mist?” Lan Wangji asked, looking at Wei Ying.

“It’s whole thing,” Ying’er said unhelpfully.

“I am ‘Crane in the Mist,’ Lan Wangji. It is the name I sign my professional embroidery work with. And no, Sang’er, I am not here on commission. We arrived here under unexpected circumstances.”

Nie Huaisang appeared mollified by that, for the moment. He grumbled something about wanting a new tapestry for the Nie greeting hall and then shoved a pastry into his mouth.

“Oh! Nie! Qinghe Nie!” Ying’er said and sat up. “Hey, Sang’er, do you know about any weird caves in Qinghe?”

“I’m sure I don’t!” He flapped open his fan. “Why?”

“It’s just that we know a piece of the yin iron is hidden in a weird cave there.”

A’Yao leaned close to Yanli and whispered. “So much for keeping secrets.” She had to hide her laugh behind her sleeve. Ying’er really was the worst at secrets.

“Ah! What? Yin iron? That sounds dangerous!” His eyes went wide. A’Yao was side-eying him, and Yanli remembered what he had told her about ‘innocent little Sang’er.’

“It is, but we still need to find it.”

“Hm. What does the cave look like? Do you know?” Nie Huaisang’s face was nearly fully hidden behind his fan and Yanli’s suspicions rose.

“Oh, hmmm…it looked like it was carved out of the stone, actually. But not like the Demon Subdue Palace.”

“The what?” Nie Huaisang squeaked.

Ying’er waved a hand around dismissively. “I mean, it wasn’t, like, a house or anything. A storage room? Full of boxes?”

“I’m sure I don’t know anything like that!”

Lan Wangji was staring off into space as if he were somewhere else entirely.

“Sang’er, you are lying,” A’Yao said pleasantly while pouring Yanli some more tea.

“What? No, I’m not!” He narrowed his eyes. “You spotted a tell, didn’t you? What is it? What is my tell? What did you notice?” He pointed his fan at A’Yao.

“Is Sect Leader Nie here?” A’Yao continued as if Nie Huaisang had not said a word. “Would he know something about the weird caves in Qinghe?”

“I am here, and I would like to know who is asking,” a low, firm voice echoed across the porch and Yanli looked up to see the handsome visage of Nie Mingjue, who appeared to be about a foot taller and twice as wide than the last time she had seen him.

He looked around and then stopped abruptly when he came face to face with her.

“Jiang Yanli?”