Chapter Text
“How is A-Ying doing?” Lan Qiren spoke, pouring tea into the cup in front of him.
“He is sleeping.” Lan Wangji hesitated, his hands fidgeting with the letter in his hands as it rested in his lap.
“Wen Qing and Wen Qionglin are being escorted by Wen Xu.”
Lan Qiren looked up, his eyes wide as Lan Wangji continued, sliding the letter across the table.
“They are in possession of the remains and belongings found of Baoli Tengfei and Wei Changze, and are under explicit instruction to have a direct hand off with Wei Wuxian with Wen Xu present. There is a documentation booklet of the condition of their bodies upon arrival of the Wens who found them, as well as the injuries on their persons. All recorded by Wen-daifu, Wen Qing and Wen Qionglin’s mother.” Lan Wangji met his uncle’s gaze. “Wen Ruohan says he suspects their deaths were not accidental, and the medical reports seem to support his claims.”
There was a moment of silence before Lan Qiren coughed.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Lan Zhan took a deep breath.
“Wen Ruohan states that this report should not be read by Wei Ying, at least not initially, that he fears if the child of Baoli Tengfei and Wei Changze knew the manner in which they were found upon their death, that he would ravage the cultivation world, the theorized Clan responsible, in retaliation. The anger of a wronged child knows no bounds. ”
Lan Qiren sighed, setting his empty cup onto the table.
“Wen Qing sent word that she and her brother, and those escorting her, had arrived in Caiyi late last night and would be finishing their journey at sunrise. If all has gone according to schedule, they should arrive shortly - and after A-Ying has woken up. I will have them sent to the receiving hall, and be sure no one else is around. We will wait,” He met Lan Zhan’s gaze, “A-Ying does not need to push himself because he thinks he is slowing anyone down or wasting anyone’s time. If we need to wait a shichen, we will. I’m sure Wen Qing and Wen Xu are patient people and will understand.”
Lan Wangji left the Hanshi with a small sense of dread at the potential information that had been found when examining the bodies of Wei Ying’s parents. The information, according to Wen Ruohan, was damning enough that he feared Wei Ying would take out his anger on whomever was responsible - and Lan Wangji didn’t like who his gut was telling him was likely behind their deaths.
With careful coaxing, Lan Wangji roused his beloved from their bed, dressed and bathed him, and only when Wei Wuxian had been sat in front of the table - their breakfast waiting for them - he finally fully woke up.
“Have Wen Qing and Wen Ning arrived?” Wei Ying whispered, looking across the table.
“They should be waiting for us in the receiving hall, when you are ready to meet them.”
Lan Wangji watched Wei Ying carefully set the cup he had been holding back onto the table, his hands slightly shaking, before nodding, seemingly resigned.
Wei Ying didn’t have the courage to open the letter from Wen Ruohan, especially not knowing what the Sect Leader would have to say about his parents, so he had Lan Zhan open it, read it, and read the important parts back to him.
It felt like a finality he wasn’t willing to reach, that if he read Wen Ruohan’s words it would close the door in his past that his parents had long occupied. Or Wei Ying would be forced into a reality where he was left with more questions and no way to get answers, no way to ask his parents what they were doing when they died. No way to fill the gaps in his memory that he knew his parents once occupied, now replaced with the feeling of hunger, of the teeth and jaws of dogs crawling up his thighs, the crack of an ankle as he ran from drunkards in the streets.
There were some days that he felt like he was betraying his parents by being happy, for having a day where he didn’t think about them. Moments where he was so happy, so engrossed in the world and the Lans around him, so full of their love, that he forgot that they loved him too - that he hadn’t visited their tablets as often as he felt he should, that he should be apologizing for every happy moment, for every moment that he wasn’t thinking about them.
He begged Lan Zhan to read the letter to him, tears streaming down his face, as the only faint memory of his parents ran through his mind - his mother on a donkey, him sitting on his father’s shoulders - as Lan Zhan broke the seal.
Lan Zhan had been angry. He had looked down at Wei Ying as his beloved pressed his face into his hip in an attempt to get his tears to stop, raking a hand through his hair before softly speaking.
“Wen Qing and Wen Qionglin are in possession of your parents’ belongings, of their remains. When they arrive, they have been instructed to return them back to their son.” Lan Zhan paused, his hands flexing as they raked across Wei Ying’s scalp. “Wen Ruohan does not believe their deaths were accidental.”
There had been nothing, after that moment, in Wei Ying’s mind.
Not being an accident.
Not a nighthunt gone wrong.
It had been a thought he had allowed himself to think about for only a moment, shoving it so far back in his mind so that he didn’t have to think about the implications - what it would mean if his parents had been murdered.
It was easier to think that they had died in a nighthunt that had gotten the better of them. He had spent those years on the streets of Yiling, after all. It was easy to think that his parents had perhaps just gotten too close to the Burial Mounds, that something had come out of the Burial Mounds that they weren’t expecting, that something had taken them into the Burial Mounds.
With all the rumors about the Burial Mounds, it was an easy explanation, one that Wei Ying didn’t have to put any effort into thinking about alternative scenarios.
It had been an accident , that’s all it was.
Murder? That was a whole other category of cruelty that Wei Ying didn’t want to think about.
Lan Zhan led him to the receiving hall, a hand firm around him.
Wei Ying knew that there were others in the room, moving through the actions that were expected of him.
Later, he would find out that he hadn’t spoken a single word to any of the Wens nor Lans in the receiving hall, that he had this look on his face that he wasn’t exactly all there, present in the moment.
Later, he would blink and discover that he was kneeling on the ground, two swords laying across his lap, a small crate sitting in front of him.
Later, he would fall apart in his betrothed’s arms, muffling his sobs.
–
“Wangji, how is he?” Lan Qiren asked as Lan Zhan slowly closed the doors to the receiving hall, a small book clutched in his hands.
“He is still unresponsive, clutching their swords.” Lan Zhan walked down the few stairs and stood next to his uncle. “He will be okay, Shufu. We knew going into this that this would be a lot for Wei Ying.”
“Lan-xiansheng, Lan-er-gongzi,” Wen Qing started, parting from her brother and Wen Xu for a moment and walking over to the pair, “I have seen this among others who have gone through traumatizing or overwhelming situations. Periods of dissociation are quite common, I would expect another episode like this within the next week.” Her eyes flicked towards the closed doors.
“I am uncertain as to what my uncle thinks happened to Baoli Tengfei and Wei Changze, but I am willing to discuss anything within the medical report you are holding, Lan-er-gongzi.”
Footsteps came closer, the Lans noticing the frown on Wen Xu’s face.
“Father…he seemed to elude that Wei Wuxian would not like the conclusions he had come to. That something found on their persons, among their injuries, suggested one perpetrator, however other wounds suggested a potential cover-up of sorts.” he spoke, eyes flickered towards Lan Wangji as he tightened his grip on the small book in his hands.
“Wen Ruohan thinks the ones responsible for their deaths…made it look like someone else killed them?” Lan Qiren spoke, eyes wide as Wen Xu nodded.
A loud sob from the receiving hall broke the silence that had surrounded them - Lan Wangji quickly handing the book to his uncle before running up the stairs and into the room. With a shared look, they quickly followed Lan Wangji up the stairs, only to be met with the sight that they had been expecting.
Lan Wangji had fallen to his knees, pulling Wei Wuxian into his arms. Wei Ying’s arms tightly gripped the back of the Lan’s robes, looking almost as if he was seconds away from ripping them. Lan Wangji had tucked Wei Ying’s head into his neck, pulling the boy as close to him as he could.
Lan Qiren had to turn around and walk away from the building, lest his own tears spill at the sight of his friend’s son having to grieve them, of himself and his grief.
It would be the following day that the contents of the medical report would get read.W en Xu left the night prior, saying that all he was there for was his father’s comfort at Wei Wuxian receiving his parent’s ashes and belongings.
Lan Qiren, the Wen siblings, and Lan Xichen walked into the Jingshi, Lan Wangji’s call for them to come in finally coming after a few minutes.
The pair were sitting at the table, cups and a stewing pot of tea on the table in front of them. Wei Ying was tucked against Lan Wangji as he sat in his lap, hiding his face in the safe, dark space of Lan Wangji’s neck.
It was Lan Qiren who spoke first, pulling out the medical report and setting it onto the table in front of his youngest nephew.
“Are…how detailed would you like-”
“Please speak plainly Jiufu.” Wei Ying softly spoke, turning his head out from Lan Zhan’s neck, revealing a slightly puffy face and red, watery eyes.
“Injuries sustained by Wei Changze are consistent with an ambush, a targeted attack towards him specifically. There were multiple stab wounds across the span of his back, bruising on the backs of his wrists suggesting that someone stood on his hands as they stabbed him. Wen-Daifu describes the amount of wounds as “overkill,” that it wasn’t a simple attack but rather that someone wanted Changze dead.” He paused, opening the book and flipping to a specific page.
“There were…whip marks…across his legs. I beg of you, A-Ying, to let me finish speaking before you jump to conclusions. I believe this is what Wen Ruohan meant when he said that it looked like someone else had committed these acts.”
Wei Ying nodded, and Lan Qiren continued.
“Whip marks consistent with Zidian’s lashes spanned across the lengths of both Changze’s legs, likely they were immobilized first, then his wrists were restrained. It is likely that Changze never stood a chance against his attacker, nor did he sense them coming. No wounds on his person indicate that he fought back or that he did more than fight against his restraints.” Lan Qiren took a deep breath - Lan Wangji sensing that his uncle was attempting to calm his own growing anger.
“Your mother…Tengfei’s injuries were far different.”
Wei Ying met Lan Qiren’s gaze, his heart dropping as a tear fell down the Lan’s face.
“Her wounds were consistent with the action of taking one’s life.” He closed his eyes, more tears falling. “One sword wound in the center of her chest, the trajectory of the blade could only have come from an angle suggesting she was the one who inflicted the wound. As well as a solid cut across the entire length of her neck. Wen-Daifu’s notes suggest that the chest wound occurred first. Tengfei also had Zidian wounds, however hers suggest that she had been bound, her knees tucked to her chest and Zidian wrapped around her calves and back.” Lan Qiren trailed off, turning towards Wen Qing with a pleading look in his eyes for her to continue.
“Baoli Tengfei was assaulted postmortem.” Wei Wuxian jolted in Lan Wangji’s grasp as he turned towards her. “My mother had spent most of her life on how to detect whether an injury had occurred before or after death. Based on her account of the state of Baoli Tengfei’s body when she performed her examination, she had been repeatedly assaulted following the moment of her death. If the lack of defensive wounds were not enough proof, the trauma her body received among the area of her assault was enough proof.” Wen Qing met Wei Wuxian’s gaze - knowing that they were both thinking the same name.
“Jiang Fengmian.” Lan Wangji whispered, his eyes wide as he tightly held onto Wei Ying.
“Zidian being used was a means of deflecting what happened onto Yu Ziyuan if their bodies were ever found. Everyone knows that Yu Ziyuan despised Baoli Tengfei so it wouldn't be a surprise to find Zidian marks on them.” Lan Xichen spoke in horror.
The room fell into silence, realizing that the accusations and allegations towards the Jiang Clan just got exponentially more serious, more necessary that they get justice.
Wei Ying abruptly sat up, the sudden movement startling the room.
A determined look crossed his face.
“We need to find Baoshan Sanren.”