28. Unexpected Revelations

Everyone froze in place under the stern, unforgiving gaze of one of the most renown cultivators alive. For all that he was still the youngest sect leader of the jianghu, Nie Mingju’s strength and power was never in question.

“Jiang Yanli? What are you talking about, Da'Ge?” Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes. “This is clearly Meng Jiayi, a professional embroiderer from Yiling, in Yunmeng! She’s here to oversee the betrothal negotiations between her younger brother, Meng Ying, and Lan Wangji!”

Nie Mingjue never took his eyes off of her. “Is that so?”

“It’s complicated, Mingjue,” Lan Xichen said with a fond smile directed at Nie Huaisang (who withered far further under his kindly expression than his brother’s displeasure). He walked up to stand next to his friend and colleague.

Yanli got her bearings and stood up to bow in greeting, followed quickly by A’Yao and the boys. “It is an honor to greet Sect Leader Nie.”

“I’m sure it is,” he said critically, but gave a polite nod of acknowledgment, anyway. He turned to Lan Xichen. “You said this had something to do with Wen Ruohan?”

Ying’er, who had been vibrating with excitement since Nie Mingjue showed up, bounced on the balls of his feet. “Yes! We need to know where those weird caves are in Qinghe, so we can find the yin iron and return it to the Xuanwu of Slaughter, and lead her back to the Burial Mounds! Therefore, you need to help us!” He smiled brightly.

A’Cheng slapped a hand over his eyes while A’Yao sighed heavily.

Yanli looked over at Lan Xichen. “This is why A’Yao and I will be handling the negotiating.”

“Indeed.” Lan Xichen chuckled. “Mingjue, you see why I wanted to have this discussion here. Wei Ying has specific insights into the yin iron and Wen Ruohan’s use of it that I think are critically important.” He motioned for them to sit down. A’Cheng ran to get more floor cushions to accommodate them.

At Lan Xichen’s prompting, Yanli gave him a very abbreviated version of what was going on. Wei Ying clearly wanted to interject, but A’Yao managed to keep him in check with well-timed pinches. She did not want to give the impression that her younger brother was purposefully toying on the edge of demonic cultivation to one as fiercely opposed to unorthodoxy as Sect Leader Nie, but the upshot of that, unfortunately, was to make Ying’er look very foolish and ignorant.

Nonetheless, as she talked, Nie Mingjue’s face grew more and more astonished until he was leaning far back in his seat and staring at her with his mouth open. When she finished, he looked over at Lan Xichen.

“You vouch for this story?”

“Lan Wangji does. He and Wei Ying brought a yin iron piece out from the cold pond cave.” He looked over at his younger brother, who nodded firmly with his signature “Mn!” of affirmation.

“As does Sang’er, at least for verifying that they live in Yiling.”

“Zong’ge will too! He was there in Yiling with me, remember?” Nie Huaisang added, then cowered behind his fan at the look from Nie Mingjue which suggested that, yes, he did in fact remember his younger brother running away from a sect discussion conference to go buy fans in a distant village.

“Both your brother and Nie Zonghui can confirm the array Second Brother used to kill the bandits, as well,” A’Yao said pleasantly, and Yanli wondered why he hated Nie Mingjue so much.

“It was very gruesome, Da'Ge! Body parts everywhere!” Nie Huaisang added, looking more like a Nie in that moment of cheerful bloodlust than he usually did.

“I will verify that. In the meantime, can someone explain to me why we’re pretending that these aren’t the bastards of Yunmeng?”

There was a long silence while Lan Xichen grimaced uncomfortably. Yanli tried to think of how to answer that, but once again failed.

“Technically, I’m the only bastard here,” A’Yao said, the challenge clear in his voice as he stared directly at Nie Mingjue. The boys shrank back a little, realizing how angry he was.

Nie Mingjue just raised an eyebrow, unmoved. Yanli thought it did look a little like a puppy trying to stare down a wolf, although she would never shame A’Yao by saying so.

“What is a bastard, anyway? Can anyone say? If you know who the father is, it’s such a philosophical—”

“Sang’er,” Nie Mingjue growled.

With a deep breath, Yanli stood up again, followed by Ying’er and A’Cheng. She bowed.

“I was raised as Jiang Yanli, of Lotus Pier. I live now as Meng Jiayi of Yiling, for the sake of protecting my younger brothers in a world that would shame and shun us if they knew who we are. But I am the daughter of Wei Changze, and while I have never taken his name formally, it is the name of my ancestors.”

She wasn’t sure what would happen next, but then Ying’er stepped forward.

“I am Wei Ying, courtesy Wuxian, son of Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren,” Ying’er said, with the perfect manners he so rarely called on, as he bowed.

“I am Wei Cheng, son of Wei Changze and the Violet Spider.” A’Cheng bowed, and Yanli noticed that he had left off the courtesy name she knew Sect Leader Jiang had chosen for him.

Nie Mingjue stared at them for a long time before nodding, then turned to focus on A’Yao, who had not stood up.

A’Yao picked up his tea and sipped it like an emperor holding court. She admired his nerve.

“I am Meng Yao, son of the courtesan Meng Shi of Yunping.” He paused. “My father is a hedonistic reprobate who uses his cultivation for personal gain, and I will not carry his name in any lifetime.”

If nothing else, they had managed to impress Nie Mingjue. He sat there for a moment, Lan Xichen watching him carefully, before standing up. Only then did A’Yao rise himself, followed by a shocked-looking Nie Huaisang.

“This one is pleased to greet you, Wei Yanli. Meng Yao. Wei Ying. Wei Cheng.” He gave each of them a curt nod, no more than a sect leader owed to anyone lacking rank in the jianghu, but Yanli felt tears well up in her eyes as they all bowed back to him respectfully. From what she had heard of his strict sense of righteousness, it would have been easy for him to say that they were still illegitimate and worthless in his eyes, but he listened and acknowledged their true names.

“Thank you, Sect Leader Nie,” she said. At his gesture, they all sat down again.

“Now that the truth has been admitted in full, let us revisit things.” He turned his attention to Ying’er, who to his credit did not quail under it. “What in the celestial heavens made you think going into the Burial Mounds to find masterless swords was a good idea?”

“I didn’t think it was a good idea. We just didn’t have much choice.” Ying’er shrugged like it was obvious, and A’Cheng nodded along. “YeYe would not have died if we had spiritual weapons, but we can’t afford them, and no one is going to give us any.”

“I was working on it!” Nie Huaisang complained, then hid behind his fan when his brother glanced at him.

“So you were just going to waltz into the Burial Mounds, pick up a few swords that happened to be lying around, and then walk out?”

“When you put it like that, it sounds stupid,” Ying’er huffed, and Lan Wangji had the sheer gall to look affronted on his behalf.

“Our mistake was in trusting the Burial Mounds,” A’Cheng added with a sour look at Ying’er, which had Nie Mingjue’s eyes go wide in shock.

“I admit I made a mistake!” Ying’er rolled his eyes, not looking contrite about it at all. “It’s not their fault. I asked the wrong question.”

A’Cheng looked betrayed. “You didn’t ask it where we could find swords?”

Ying’er rubbed his nose. “Ah. Not so much? I asked it to take us to the strongest weapons we could use. I guess that’s the yin iron. Makes sense when you think about it!”

“Wei Ying!” A’Cheng shouted, threatening to lunge at his brother. A’Yao pushed him back down into his seat.

Nie Mingjue wheezed and shook his head. “You talk with the Burial Mounds?”

“Erm, not really like that. It’s more I ask questions and then get weird answers.”

Yanli looked at him. “Should I ask what you actually intended the siheyuan’s protection array to do?”

“No, you really shouldn’t.” Ying’er shook his head vigorously.

“You talk with the Burial Mounds?” Nie Mingjue loudly repeated. Nie Huaisang hid behind his fan again and Lan Xichen looked even more worried.

“Yes,” Ying’er said tentatively. He at least had the inkling that maybe not everyone was happy about it, Yanli thought with chagrin.

“Are you not aware of how dangerous that is to your cultivation?” Nie Mingjue snapped. He wasn’t shouting, but Yanli guessed he probably would soon.

“Mn!” Lan Wangji agreed, looking beseechingly at Ying’er.

“I don’t get why you think it’s a big deal!” Ying’er waved a hand at him. “I mean, you do the same thing with your saber, and it’s filled with resentful energy!”

Nie Mingjue collapsed in his seat, going stark pale in shock.

“It’s what?” Nie Huaisang shrieked.

Ying’er looked confused. “How can you not know that? You have your own saber! All Nie sabers are filled with resentful energy!”

“They are not! We would never use resentful energy like that!” Nie Huaisang looked angry for the first time since Yanli had met him.

“Are too! Right there!” Ying’er pointed at the legendary Baxia, which started rattling in its scabbard. Everyone went stock still. Except Ying’er, of course, who just cocked his head curiously, as if listening to a conversation in the next room. “Ohhhh. You use beast cores when forging your blades*.* Huh, that makes sense.”

Nie Huaisang jumped up and turned on his brother with a ferocious expression. Nie Mingjue did not deny it, which was as good as an admission as any, Yanli thought. His expression was heartbreaking, though.

“Sang’er, I was going to tell—”

“NO. I don’t want to hear your excuses!” Nie Huaisang went running off.

Everyone just sat there for a long moment, before A’Yao sighed and got to his feet. “I will go talk to Young Master Nie,” he said, and simply walked off. It was probably the rudest thing Yanli had ever seen him do in all the years she had known him.

Lan Xichen, looking a bit shocky himself, turned to Yanli, but she did not have much to say. Ying’er realized that something bad had occurred and was curled into himself guiltily while A’Cheng whispered a breathing exercise at him.

Nie Mingjue had closed his eyes when his brother ran off, and seemed to be doing his own version of a breathing exercise. Lan Xichen busied himself with making more tea, despite the fact that given his age and rank, it was inappropriate for him to do so. He was just that rattled, she guessed.

Eventually, Nie Mingjue opened his eyes and looked at Yanli.

“If we ever had records of where we put a piece of the yin iron, they have been lost. However, I believe the ‘weird caves’ are my family’s sword crypts. It is where we bury resentful weapons of the Nie when their masters die.”

She had never heard of such a practice, but then, “spiritual weapons purposefully filled with the resentful energy from beast cores” were not supposed to be a thing that existed either.

She nodded, thinking it over. “It would be a good place to hide yin iron, as I assume the whole area is filled with resentful energy, correct? No one could tell the difference.”

“That would explain why the boxes are wrapped in chains,” Ying’er said thoughtfully.

Yanli sighed.

Nie Mingjue leaned forward, zeroing in on Ying’er again, this time with the full ferocity of his power and personality. Ying’er froze like a rabbit in front of a fox.

“Start over from the beginning, and explain to me how and why you know so much about the yin iron, and what Wen Ruohan is doing.” He paused, thinking. “And what the hell does the Xuanwu of Slaughter have to do with anything?”