notaturnip: (Default)
[personal profile] notaturnip posting in [community profile] dollymixtures
Lan Sizhui has known who his soulmate was since he was six years old.
He used to lie awake tracing his fingers over the characters on his inner arm, amazed at how it came to pass that a foundling boy like him could have a soulmate in the great and influential Jin clan. He vowed, back then, that he would try and become the very best disciple of the Lan clan he could possibly be in order to be worthy of his soulmate. He worked hard to follow all of Hanguang Jun's instructions, to learn as much as he could. It wasn't just about his soulmate, of course, he was grateful to Lan Zhan for taking him in when he had nobody else, and he wanted to do well for his sake as well, but he'd be lying if he said the name on his arm didn't motivate him even more.

When he met Jin Ling, back then, accompanying Lan Zhan on a visit to Carp Tower, he hadn't gotten on very well with him. Sizhui was serious and thoughtful and remembered his manners, and Jin Ling... well, he was a little volatile. Sizhui decided he must not have gotten his mark yet, and he didn't want to embarrass him by bringing it up, so he patiently waited for Jin Ling to be the first to mention it.

The years went by and it became more and more likely that the lack of mention was deliberate. In fact, when Sizhui tried to bring up soul marks as a gentle way of getting to that point, Jin Ling would shut him down - angrily, too. He did that with everybody, and soon they all learned not to bring it up around him.

Eventually, Sizhui was forced to come to the heartbreaking conclusion that Jin Ling was disappointed. That he didn't want him.

He threw himself into his studies again, this time to try and forget. If he couldn't have the happiness of true love in his life, he could at least be someone his father and his sect could be proud of.

Mostly, he was glad that one of the many Lan principles forbade discussion of soulmarks, it meant people were less likely to bring them up around him, too, and that he had a reason to change the subject when they did. Even Jingyi didn't know what his mark said - though not for lack of trying, certainly.

Still, he became friends with Jin Ling - he couldn't bring himself to stay away, and the other boy certainly didn't seem to mind him being around either - and they often went on Nighthunts together, along with Jingyi and Zizhen, and they were getting pretty good at it, they worked well together.

This one was proving a little more difficult than usual, though, and the four had become separated.

"Jin Ling?" Sizhui called, moving carefully through the forest "Jingyi? Zizhen?"

Look it was this or do work.

Date: 2023-06-26 12:48 pm (UTC)
avunculi: (2)
From: [personal profile] avunculi
When Jin Ling turned twelve, his xiaoshu started dropping oh-so-smooth hints into conversation about how it was general practice for young people of the Jin clan to approach their parents when their soul marks appear, who would then go about the subtle formalities involved in arranging a meeting. And in the absence of Ling's parents, maybe he would consider Jin Guanyao as an acceptable subsitute in that aspect?

It killed Jin Ling, because he knew how much Jin Guanyao would love that kind of thing, but he shut down that conversation as best as his pubescent manners would allow. Refused even to talk about it.

In that way, he was grateful that his jiujiu never even raised the subject. It wasn't perfect - Jiang Cheng left a silence around the topic that was louder than it just not existing - but it worked for Jin Ling. He was never even questioned when he wore sleeves to swim in the lakes around Lotus Pier - though he had caught enough sight of the scarring around his jiujiu's arm that he suspected he might have a sympathetic ear should he ever bring it up.

But given the history of the Jiang Clan, how could he confess that his soulmate was a Wen?

Meeting Lan Sizhui, and making friends with disciples of the Lan clan was a relief: they were forbidden even to discuss soulmarks, and while Lan Jingyi and even Lan Sizhui seemed inclined to want to break that discussion, hey were easy to shut down.

The trouble was, that the more time he spent with his friends, the more he grew to resent and hate the very concept of soulmarks. Because he was beginning to think it would be nice to choose someone. And he was beginning to think he would know who he would choose if he could. And that felt like heresy to even contemplate.

He'd just have to content himself by spending time with people he enjoyed spending time with.




Today, though, he's managed to get separated from his companions, and is beginning to get worried. He has no reason to be worried, of course - he's a skilled Cultivator and can probably take down any evil spirits on his own, or so he tells himself.

But the more time he spends alone, the more he struggles to silence the little voice that says this is going to end badly. So he walks through the forest slowly, an arrow nocked on his lowered bow, and tries to focus on being ready, rather than what he's ready for.

When he hears Sizhui's voice calling his name, the relief is overwhelming.

"Sizhui!" he calls back, sounding just a little bit more happy than he should, if he had been as cool and unbothered by the separation as he'd like his friend to think he was.

Date: 2023-06-26 07:45 pm (UTC)
avunculi: (Default)
From: [personal profile] avunculi
Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen are competent young men and will be fine, probably. At least Jin Ling and Sizhui can more easily find them together.

"Where are you?" he calls. "Wait, stay where you are, I'll come to you."

He's got a pretty good idea of the direction Sizhui was in, and heads slowly in that direction, all his attention focused keenly on that voice.

And none of it on the forest behind him.

Date: 2023-06-27 09:20 pm (UTC)
avunculi: (Default)
From: [personal profile] avunculi
"There are lots of fallen trees," Jin Ling is complaining, but not from the right direction nor the correct distance to be the source of the noise Sizhui heard.

And there's only one of Jin Ling. Whereas moving between the trees, now becoming more visible, are at least three or four large grey wolves: heads down, ears back, not even growling in the silence of the forest.

If you're used to dogs the size of Fairy, wolves can be shockingly big when you first see them. These are even bigger, and their eyes weep black smoke, as they creep towards the young man in white.

Date: 2023-06-27 09:43 pm (UTC)
avunculi: (Default)
From: [personal profile] avunculi
The sudden silence worries Jin Ling immediately - Sizhui isn't excatly a talker, but he was sensible enough to keep it up so Ling could find him. And the only real reason for him not to be tlaking is because he can't.

Ling doesn't call out to him, he just pauses long enough in the woods to really listen for the sounds of fighting, and when he hears the sound of a scabbard falling to the ground, he runs quickly in that direction, picking up his pace with the sound of the explosion.

The second he comes into sight of the battle, he doesn't hesitate. Four arrows nock on his bow string and he leaps into the air, firing all four down to the wolves, hitting them in the neck and shoulders as best he can before he lands next to Sizhui, his hand already reaching for more arrows.

"Are you okay?" he asks, hoping he sounds more like the gallant hero he wants to be, then the scared and worried little boy he feels like.



Date: 2023-06-28 01:35 pm (UTC)
avunculi: (Default)
From: [personal profile] avunculi
Two arrows on the next bow string, and as the nearest wolf springs from its crouch to leap at the boys, Ling looses both of them - one into the animal's throat, the other into its heart. As the wolf falls to the ground it gives him the opportunity to drop his bow and draw Suihua as he faces down the last two.

The wolves don't leap straight away - they start pacing around the two cultivators, approaching each other, but with their eyes on the swords.

"They're going to leap together," Ling says, aware that he's stating the obvious but making sure Sizhui knows. "Go low."

If they work together, they can take the wolves. If their swords clash with each other, they're both dead.

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Date: 2023-07-03 08:17 am (UTC)
pierpressure: Dry smile, clapping hands (Default)
From: [personal profile] pierpressure
Lan Wangji isn't the only adult concerned by this turn of events. Jiang Wanyin thought he had an idea about what was up with his nephew - he was familiar with the protectiveness, the secrecy around the boy's soulmate mark. There could have been all sorts of reasons for it - and none could be explained by it being Lan Sizhui.

So when the letter arrives from Jin Guangyao - and never mind how insulting it is to be informed by letter - inviting him to Carp Tower to meet with Hanguang Jun to discuss arrangements, he puzzles over it for half an hour before writing a reply in the affirmative.

But he wants to talk to someone else first.





So this is why, a day or two before the scheduled meeting, a disciple is sent running through the Unclean Realm to tell Nie-zongzhu that Sandu Shengshou is here and is requesting a private council.

Date: 2023-07-03 09:02 am (UTC)
doesknow: (2)
From: [personal profile] doesknow

Visits from Jiang Cheng are not exactly commonplace. Visits from anybody are not exactly commonplace, especially ones that he hasn't arranged himself. He likes it that way, it's easier to work the delicate balance of appearing the fool while also keeping his clan functioning if he doesn't have an audience.

It's also easier to stop himself from getting distracted when Jiang Cheng isn't around. He tries to avoid the man as best he can but sometimes (all the time) he's just drawn to him, like a moth to a flame... and just as likely to get burned if he gets too close.

At least Guangyao isn't here; he's well aware that his 'san-ge' doesn't view him as an enemy, but that doesn't mean he wants to show his weaknesses. A private meeting with Cheng might damage his poor heart, but it shouldn't risk his plans.

Still, he agrees to the meeting and calls for tea, and when Cheng is shown into the audience chamber, Huaisang is sitting behind his desk fidgeting nervously with his fan.

The nerves aren't entirely just for show.

"Ah, Jiang-zongzhu! Please, come in, what brings you to my door?"

Date: 2023-07-03 09:15 am (UTC)
pierpressure: Dry smile, clapping hands (Default)
From: [personal profile] pierpressure
Nie Huiasang used to look happy to see him when they met, not nervous like this, like he's done something wrong and expects Jiang Cheng to be angry at him. Now - half the time people seem nervous to see Jiang Cheng, like he's known outside his clan for nothing other than his temper. It's fair, maybe, but it hurts.

He also used to be Jiang-xiong, a lifetime ago.

Not knowing exactly how to start the conversation, he sits, accepts the initial pleasantries of tea, and then silently hands over the letter.

Which is a perfectly typical and harmless seeming Jin Guangyao missive. Beautiful calligraphy, carefully crafted words. Jin-zongzhu requests the presence of Jiang-zongzhu at Carp Tower to meet with Hanguang Jun to discuss the future of Jin-gongzi and his soulmate, Lan Sizhui.
Blah blah blah.

He gives Nie Huaisang plenty of time to read it before he speaks.

Date: 2023-07-03 09:28 am (UTC)
doesknow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] doesknow

Huaisang is a little confused when Cheng just hands him the letter without saying anything, though he's not quite as confused as his expression might suggest - he knows Cheng well enough to understand that he's struggling to say whatever he came here to say, and the letter should shed some light on it.

When he reads the letter, however, he's no less confused.

His spies at Carp Tower do check in on Jin Ling occasionally, just so he knows if he needs to take action to keep the boy safe - he wouldn't put it past Guangyao to do something to him, and he knows how much Cheng cares for his nephew. It's not just about Cheng, admittedly, there's something in the way that Guangyao dotes on the boy that's... familiar. He wants to try and protect Jin Ling from the betrayal he experienced, if he can.

Which is all to say that he's aware of the teasing he's been through about his soulmate over the years, and he - like Jiang Cheng - realises immediately that it's a little odd for it so suddenly turn out to be one of his best friends.

The thing is, he doesn't know why Cheng is here talking to him about it. He doesn't think Cheng knows that he knows any of this, and he's not exactly involved in the situation, so what? Is he just here to vent that he has to have this meeting with Wangji? He doesn't have many other friends, really, so Huaisang can understand that.

"Oh..." he says eventually, sliding the letter back across the table to him "Um... that's... that's very good for Jin Ling... isn't it?" he prompts gently.

Date: 2023-07-03 09:40 am (UTC)
pierpressure: Dry smile, clapping hands (Default)
From: [personal profile] pierpressure
Cheng of course, doesn't know that Nie Huaisang knows any of this. Why should he? It's not like he, Jiang Cheng, has spoken about these matters. The word 'soulmate' hasn't passed his lips since before Jin Ling was born.

Before today.

"My nephew," he explains, having rehearsed this bit a little on the way and having his words carefully chosen, "stopped baring his arms when he was eight years old. Even to swim at Lotus Pier he has always worn robes. He has never shown his soulmate mark to anyone."

This is hard, in Yunmeng. It's easy enough for Lans and Jins and every sect mired in propriety and modesty. But Jiang disciples are always in and out of the water - it's only normal for someone to catch sight of a mark. Jiang Cheng, though, has made the effort to protect his nephew's secrets even without asking about them.

"What reasons can you think of that a young man might keep this secret?"

That's not the full reason why he's here, but it's still part of it: there are one or two people who have managed to keep this secret from their closest friends, so here Jiang Cheng is, finally raising a subject that hasn't been raised for a decade and a half.
Edited Date: 2023-07-03 09:42 am (UTC)

Date: 2023-07-03 10:01 am (UTC)
doesknow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] doesknow

Oh, maybe because his soulmate had somebody else's name...

Huaisang understands, though, why Cheng wants to talk about this with someone, why he's concerned - and he thinks, perhaps, he might understand why that someone is him. Why that someone is another person that Cheng has seen get awfully cagey about their mark and discussions of soulmates.

The look of friendly curiosity that broke his heart is still burned into his memories.

"I know Lan Sizhui is adopted, so it's possible his name is different and Jin Ling never made the connection before..." he says thoughtfully - he doesn't normally puzzle through these things out loud, but Cheng deserves at least a slight dropping of the headshaker act, when they're alone.

"I'm not sure why that would make him so secretive about it, though..."

Only... er-ge was so concerned about that adoption, he recalls, and he never explained why. Huaisang had always just assumed that he thought Wangji wasn't in the place to go adopting a child, after Wei Wuxian died, but is there more to it than that...?

Date: 2023-07-03 10:19 am (UTC)
pierpressure: Dry smile, clapping hands (Default)
From: [personal profile] pierpressure
This... makes sense in the context of Jin Ling, actually.

Jiang Cheng watches Huaisang think it through, and marvels that he's watching Huaisang think something through. That he'd actually come up with an answer that makes sense rather than panicking at being asked a question, claiming not to know anything.

He was watching Huaisang for another explanation, a second reason that might make more sense in the context of Huaisang's own secrets. So that answer takes him by surprise, because honestly he came here with two questions on his mind, and they've been so tied up in his mind that he wasn't expecting them to have separate answers.

He is shocked into silence for a second.

"I always assumed it was a name he didn't want to be associated with," he says. "That the name itself was enough to shame him."

There's only one name that springs to mind. But what would someone of that name be doing in the Lan Sect?

Except...

It hadn't been until the letter arrived that Jiang Cheng really realised who Lan Sizhui's formal guardian was.

"Lan Wangji..." he mutters, accusingly.

Date: 2023-07-03 10:28 am (UTC)
doesknow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] doesknow

Jin Ling's shame and Lan Xichen's concern come together to paint a very vivid picture, and knowing Lan Wangji's attachment to Wei Wuxian and his visit to the burial mounds only add a frame. It's just... Huaisang is missing a key piece of information that confirms whether or not the picture is even possible.

The way Jiang Cheng mutters Wangji's name, on the other hand, suggests he might have that information. To extend the analogy, Huaisang is all ready to paint that picture, he just needs Cheng to hand him the brush.

"What about Lan Wangji...?" He prompts gently.

(He's very intrigued by this puzzle, he has to admit, partially because of his concerns surrounding Jin Guangyao and partially just because it's interesting - but he also picked up on that other question that Jiang Cheng seems inclined to ask about after all this time, and the more they focus on his nephew, the less they focus on him.)

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Date: 2023-07-05 09:13 am (UTC)
pierpressure: Dry smile, clapping hands (Default)
From: [personal profile] pierpressure
Jiang Cheng arrives at Carp Tower in the late afternoon after a day's travelling - not early enough that any formal meetings can happen until tomorrow, but early enough to get initial greetings out of the way.

He's unsurprised that the Lans are already there - and that Lan Xichen has come along as well, maybe to support Sizhui's interests, maybe just to see Jin Guangyao. Jiang Cheng exchanges courtesy greetings with them, but no more than he has to - he hasn't had time to work out how he feels about Lan Wangji's actions yet. And he didn't like the man very well to start with.

Shortly after the evening meal he goes for a walk around the gardens Jin Zixuan planted for Yanli, and there Jin Ling comes to meet him.

The conversation starts - unfairly, in Ling's opinion - with how unlikeable his father was and how his mother disliked him so much the engagement was called off. Then Cheng, in his one-sided way, explains that the engagement came back on when Yanli wanted it, when they both had a chance to choose each other.

Fortunately Ling knows his uncle well enough to understand the meaning of the parable - you don't have to choose the person in your soulmate mark. You can choose anyone or no one, and your jiujiu will stand right by that choice.

Jiang Cheng thinks he is saying if you don't want to be with a Wen you can back out. But if you do want him I support you. Jin Ling hears: you don't have to be with the person on your arm if you'd rather be with Lan Sizhui.

Both of them end the conversation satisfied.

But then Jin Ling makes his way back through Carp Tower with a simple message for Lan Sizhui - Jiang-zongzhu wants to talk to him, if he's got a moment.

Date: 2023-07-05 12:56 pm (UTC)
pierpressure: Dry smile, clapping hands (Default)
From: [personal profile] pierpressure
He'll find Jiang Cheng in the garden still, examining the lotuses; it seems every time he comes to this place he finds some way in which the plants aren't being cared for, and need to be taken note of to let the servants know.

But when he stands up and sees Lan Sizhui approach, he stays, lets the boy approach as he watches him.

He can see it now, maybe - though he wishes he remembers the child well enough to be certain. He carries himself like a Lan, of course, obeys their rules on dress and deportment, but he can also just about imagine this face covered in dry dirt, smiling up at every adult, doting on Wei Wuxian.

He wishes he couldn't believe it - that here, walking in Carp Tower, is the child that Wei Wuxian was raising. The child he was raising with Wen Qing - not like that, but if you can call him Wuxian's child, then he is clearly also hers.

Cheng wonders, in another lifetime, if he might have been his.

That is, however, not the important part. The important part is that he wants to be Jin Ling's, and Jin Ling is Cheng's child in every way that matters.

And - even carrying himself with Lan stiffness, he looks sweet and patient, and compassionate. Cheng isn't really surprised that he would look beyond Ling's brittle exterior and fall for the noble, passionate young man that Cheng is so proud of.

He just needs to confirm his theory - needs to know that they are actually soulmates, and aren't just two teenagers both trying to run from soulmates they don't want. He can't ask Ling about it without making the boy confess what he's clearly afraid to, so maybe Sizhui will help.

He waits for Sizhui to approach.
Edited Date: 2023-07-05 01:08 pm (UTC)

Date: 2023-07-05 01:22 pm (UTC)
pierpressure: Dry smile, clapping hands (Default)
From: [personal profile] pierpressure
If Jiang Cheng's standards had anything to do with how well a young man bowed, they would be well met. He does appreciate the respect though, and waits for the bow to be completed before responding.

"Lan Sizhui," he says. "Thank you for meeting me. I hope you weren't in the middle of anything? I just wanted to talk before the meeting tomorrow."

So Sizhui's expectations are confirmed - hopefully it's not too much of a surprise that he'd ask for this.

"My nephew speaks very highly of you."

Date: 2023-07-05 01:51 pm (UTC)
pierpressure: Dry smile, clapping hands (Default)
From: [personal profile] pierpressure
That flush is a good sign. It says that Sizhui is telling the truth - he does like Ling.

He'd like it confirmed, of course.

"That's lucky," he says. "Some people don't always think so highly of their soulmates when they first meet them."

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