Brothel meme continued

[lastjinstanding]

Continued from here

Jin Ling had really hoped he'd have A-Yuan at his side for this, but he didn't blame the sweet man for being ill one bit. In fact, he really enjoyed holding him as they finished traveling up to Lotus Pier. He sends servants off the boat to arrange a discreet delivery of his ill and subdued guest to private chambers following Ling's disembark. He instructed only Fu Geming to carry A-Yuan with Liling.

Sadly, after that, he had to leave his pets in his servants care. Squaring his shoulders, he stepped onto the pier. He bowed humbly to all of his relatives and gave them each a proper greeting- or in Wei Wuxian's case, a cheeky one.

He was brought into the main hall and given the seat next to Jiang Cheng's throne. Wei Wuxian was seated beside him with Lan Wangji at the next seat. And yes, Wangji had been offered the throne but had chosen to stay at Wuxian's side. It was Jiang Cheng's wedding, after all.

Jin Ling is happy sitting to a nice cup of tea and some wine after a long day of travel with promise of dinner coming.

~~~

"Jin-Guniang, is the young master Zheng in this room?" A young, unfamiliar male voice asks. "I have some medicine I wish to offer if you'd announce me."

"Of course. Let me ask for you," Liling says in a warm tone. She knocks on Yuan's door and peeks in. She smiles when she sees him awake. She comes in and shuts the door behind her. "Zheng-gongzi? How are you feeling? A friend of Jin-zongzhu from the Lan Clan is here to offer you some medicine. Would you feel up to seeing him?"

Comments

[graceandguqin]

Liling thanks Zizhen and also gives him some quick instructions if/ when Jin Ling wakes up or has some immediate issues. She advises also that Jiang Cheng would likely come in and check on Ling at some point, but he won't likely wake them.

Sometime after Zizhen has settled, he'll end up feeling someone snuggling up against him no matter where he is on the bed. Like a cuddle-lured moth, Jin Ling sub-consciously curls into his side seeking both his warmth and comfort.

~~~

After his brother's behavior, Lan Zhan is regretting waking Wuxian up. He's sure he'll hear about this later.

"Sizhui, that's a lovely name," Xichen remarks, having moved on from his own silliness ages ago (stop dwelling Lan Zhan!). "I'm certain you will. Shall we?" He gestures toward the Chamber of Ancients. As they walk, Lan Qiren explains a very general history of the clan. Once they reach the chamber, there are panels on the walls that show pictures of their founding clan members. In the center of the room is something called the Mo Incense Burner and it is lit as they perform a brief rite. The elders swear to teach and lead Sizhui while asking that he obey the rules, learn their ways, and honor their purpose.

By the end though, he's officially a disciple and earns a kiss on the head from each of them.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen is half dozing when Jin Ling cuddles up to him and he almost wakes, but he just ends up smiling a little and letting it happen - Jin Ling probably has precious little physical affection in his life (especially with Yuan at Cloud Recesses) so he's willing to give it when the other young man is injured and miserable. Besides, it's kind of comfortable.

Elsewhere in Carp Tower, a servant is searching out Jiang Cheng again with a troubled expression.

"E-excuse me, Jiang-zongzhu?" He asks politely "there's a woman here advising her name is Madame Su, she says she needs to speak to Jin-zongzhu on a private matter."

~~~

Yuan is nervous all the way through the ceremony, terrified he's going to do something wrong and fall at the first hurdle, but everything goes perfectly and by the time it's over he's fighting not to grin like an idiot and keep his smile serene and dignified.

He's officially a Lan disciple, he can't quite believe it. He smiles gratefully at them all - his family - ready to begin this new chapter.

Later, he finds Jingyi, putting on his best polite-Lan-disciple expression as he taps his new friend on the shoulder.

"Excuse me? Lan Jingyi?"

[jiang_cheng]

Jiang Cheng opens his eyes where he'd been meditating in the courtyard near the lotus garden. It had felt good to have a chance to rest away from his nephew and know someone trustworthy was watching over him. It hadn't felt like he'd hardly been sitting there for ten minutes before some servant was bothering him though- despite it being much longer in reality.

He sighs heavily. "Send her to the private hall on the south side and bring us some wine to share. I'll be along shortly." 'Madame'. That didn't sound good. He takes his time to get up and head to the indicated meeting room.

Stepping in, he eyed the woman curiously, remembering the last time a strange, lady prostitute came to him needing a private word and turn the political world on its head.

~~~

Jingyi is in the dormitory common room, quietly playing a solo version of 'Go' or weiqi, a wooden board game with white and black stones. As he stares at the board, he's not really thinking about the game so much as Zizhen and Jin Ling. He misses someone's presence until he hears his name.

He looks up, expecting to see one of his sect brothers given the white robes and springs to his feet with a bright smile when he sees who it is. He was right! It IS a sect brother! "A-Yuan! Wow! You look amazing! How do you feel?!"

[notaturnip]

The woman bows deeply, giving the unfamiliar man a polite smile

"I'm sorry, I was expecting Jin-zongzhu, is he not available?" she asks cautiously, judging how much she was able to say in front of this man - Jin Ling had paid her handsomely for her discretion, after all.

"I came looking for Zheng-gongzi, he was supposed to return home this morning." she elaborates.

~~~

Yuan's polite smile spreads into something wide and genuine as he grins at his friend, cheeks turning a little pink at the compliment.

"I feel like a whole different person," he admits, "I suppose I am, in a way. Lan Sizhui, disciple of the Gusu Lan sect..." he jokingly introduces himself with a little bow.

At the other side of the room, one of the disciples who hadn't been present the other night for Yuan's dramatic arrival, frowns in confusion at the elegent young man with the silver cloud on his ribbon that indicated he was part of the main family. He leans over to his friend and whispers "Who is that?"

[jiang_cheng]

Jiang Cheng quietly assessed her for a moment, trying and failing to understand exactly who she was or what she wanted.

"Zheng-gongzi?" He asks before it abruptly clicked. "Yuan?" He asks for clarification.

He sighs and gestures for her to sit. "I'm Jiang Cheng, sect leader of the Yunmeng Jiang Clan and Jin-zongzhu is my nephew, whom I have raised. I'm here serving the Jin Clan and conduct their business in my nephew's temporary absence."

He sits down with her and pours both of them a drink. To indicate it is perfectly safe to drink, he takes the first sip (and he outranks her by a million degrees, so there's that too). "You're the Madame Yuan has been working for?"

~~~

"You look like it! I mean, not that there was anything wrong with you before, but wow! You're like an angel!" His eyes widen even further at the courtesy name. He snickers and bows back. "Sizhui? I like that. Do you know what it means?"

Lan Bao leans back to the other disciple. "Speak carefully, Lan-xiong. That is Hanguang Jun and Wei-qianbei's son. Hanguang Jun sentenced Lan Rong 50 strikes by the bastinados for unwise words."

[notaturnip]

Madame nods at the clarification, confirming Yuan is who she means.

Upon hearing that she's speaking to her client's uncle (wasn't it his wedding Jin-zongzhu had hired Yuan to attend? Curious that he should be here so soon after it) she is about to be extra careful not to give anything away - until the sect leader asks her directly and she reassesses how much he knows.

She takes a sip of the offered drink with a polite thank you and inclines her head in agreement.

"I am."

~~~

"Mm, it means something like 'longing', doesn't it?" Yuan asks with a tilt of his head. He likes the name, but it had made him a little curious, he just isn't sure if he dares ask why they chose it.

Lan Hua's eyes widen in surprise "Hanguang Jun has a son?" he gasps. He tries to hold back his curiosity but he simply can't, and just has to follow up with "What did Lan Rong say?"

[jiang_cheng]

He rubs his face annoyed. Of course she was..

"I see," Wanyin sighs. Why was it his responsibility to clean this mess up? He could guess what his brother or his self-righteous brother-in-law would do if this woman had come to them. If she'd come while it was just his nephew, he could also guess how his nephew would've blundered this. In both cases, it would've turned this into a political issue instead of what it was.. a breach in a business contract.

"Madame Su, we have a situation. Yuan will not be returning to Lanling or to you, though he is very healthy and well. On the trip through the most.. unexpected of fortunes, he found his rightful family. He's set to start a new life with them," he explains as decently and honestly as he can.

~~~

"Longing? Aw, that's sweet. It must mean something about how they were missing you," Jingyi says with a romantic smile. It sounded like something Zizhen would do. "It's a very nice name. Does this mean I can assign you a room? I'm in charge of that here in the dorms."

Lan Bao nods. "Yeah.. shocking right?" He leans in closer and lowers his voice. "Well.. I mean, you know which one of them you'd expect to have a son but.." He glances around again just to make sure no one could hear them. "Who does he look like?"

[notaturnip]

Madame frowns with obvious concern. She's definitely thinking about the money she's still owed, and the money Yuan would have continued to earn her, but that's not the only thing on her mind...

"I never would have suspected such a subterfuge from Yuan, of all my charges," she says delicately - she's seen prostitutes and beggers of all kinds try this scam, but Yuan had always been such a sweet boy "but I must be honest with you, Jiang-zongzhu, to save any embarrassment... Wen Yuan has no family..." certainly none that would be found at a clan leader's wedding, anyway.

~~~

"Oh," his eyes widen in understanding - Jingyi must be right, he thinks. He smiles softly, knowing that he'll think about that every time he hears his courtesy name.

"I'm not sure, I think so, though? Perhaps check with a-die? Sorry, with Hanguang Jun." Every time he calls him father, it feels a little more natural.

Lan Hua would have assumed just the same as the rest of them, but looking at the young man in his white robes, even with a smile on his face, the resemblance was uncanny.

"But Hanguang Jun would never, surely!"

[jiang_cheng]

"Madame.." He pinches the bridge of his nose in irritation, his tone a warning of his lack of patience. Although, as he says it, he decides he owes the woman some credit. What she just voiced was probably very self-serving but there was some element of concern for his own family's welfare. He could appreciate the sentiment. It also took some guts to speak back to him like that.

However, as easy as it might be to declare to her that questioning the former Yiling Patriarch about Wen's was incredibly stupid, he refuses to give away just where Yuan has gone. It would put his family, his brother, his new nephew all at risk of being exposed in this new life. It would be far better Madame never knew where he went, what his new name was, and had no chance of finding him ever again. If it made the Jiang clan look a little stupid and naïve.. he hates that he has to keep making the sacrificial play here!

"Thank you. I understand what you're worries are here and that part, is not either one of our problems. However, you have paid for Yuan's care. I'm not an innocent, I know how this works." Sort of. He had to learn because of Jin Guangyao's nonsense. "Do you have the ledger for what Yuan owes you or do you need to go get it? My nephew's actions have cost your business and I don't intend to let you suffer for his actions or to allow you to use this as a reason to break any promises of discretion you've made to him. You will not pursue Yuan, his parents, or trouble Jin-zongzhu with this again? I'll pay what's fair to you given the circumstances. Do we have an understanding?"

He wishes he knew what was a reasonable amount, but the only one who might have known that would've been one of Jin Ling's dead uncles.

~~~

Jingyi shakes his head with a laugh. "Okay, I shouldn't have phrased it like that. Sizhui! Hehe, I like that.. but Sizhui! I'm the lead junior, I'm in charge of room assignments. Let's go pick out a room for you!" He slings an arm around his shoulders and steers him toward the stairs. "Plus a tour! This is your new home! And the common room.. that's Lan Bao and Lan Hua over there. Oh, I should introduce you. Hey guys!"

He snatches Sizhui's arm and drags him over.

Lan Bao is just finishing nodding at Lan Hua. It was such juicy gossip! Who would've thought? Hanguang Jun had a bastard! Now he thinks he's so high and mighty he's adopting him as a legitimate son. He's even beating anyone who says it like that aloud.

He opens his mouth to say more when he hears his name. Springing to his feet, he drops into a deep bow. "Lan-xiong!"

"Bao! Hua! This is Sizhui. He's a brand new junior who was just initiated today. Please, welcome him in as one of our brothers. He's incredibly sweet, you guys, you're going to love him!"

[notaturnip]

Madame watches him carefully - she's familiar with the volatile moods of many of the gentry, so she's aware she may have spoken out of turn. She relaxes, a little, when he doesn't seem inclined to fly into a rage for her implication, however.

Instead, he seems dismissive of her concern. Well, she supposes, it's his own fault - or the so-called parents who have taken Yuan in - when the boy gets whatever it is he wants. Or perhaps he'll simply continue to use them to advance his own position in society, if they are known to sect leaders they are clearly important people, she supposes she can't begrudge the boy the attempt - she just hopes it doesn't all come crashing down around his ears when he's found out.

She's surprised he doesn't seem bothered about the fact he's a Wen, though - almost as if he's already been told, and isn't that interesting. Still, he then turns on to the more pressing part of her own concern, the money. She does care for Yuan, in her own twisted way, but he's likely doing well for himself now, and she has invested a lot into his upbringing in the last few years.

"I understand," she says, inclining her head "I will need to return to my house to calculate the exact totals remaining on Yuan's indenture, but I can return in two days and we can discuss that payment. Thank you for your understanding, Jiang-zongzhu. Once the matter is settled, you or your family will never need hear from me again, unless you require my services or the services of my house."

~~~

Smiling, Yuan lets himself be steered, only for Jingyi to change tactics and pull him over to meet the other disciples instead. Any shyness he's feeling is carefully concealed behind years of practice and he bows to both of them with an open, friendly smile.

"Lan Bao, Lan Hua, it's a pleasure to meet you," he tells them both.

Hua jumps up with Bao and bows as well, getting a closer look at Sizhui - he really does look a lot like Hanguang Jun.

"Nice to meet you, too, Sizhui," he says, and then he can't resist blurting out "you're really Hanguang Jun's son?"

Yuan blushes faintly and nods.

"Mmm, Hanguang Jun and Wei-qianbei are my parents," he confirms, and he really hopes they don't ask where he's been until now.

[jiang_cheng]

If the Madame was unfamiliar with Jiang Cheng's reputation now, she likely would be able to find out incredibly easily how uncharacteristic the man's lack of rage was during this meeting. Part of it was how little energy the man actually had to give to this and part of it was being resigned to the headache that would forever be cleaning up his family's messes at his own expense. It was honestly depressing on a deep level, especially when they would likely never know or understand. It reminded him of when he went to beg Wei Wuxian to come back to society only to be dismissed. Cheng had admitted there was a limit to his capabilities and so, he was tossed aside like something used up and no longer worthwhile. It had broken his heart back then.

This wasn't on that level, no matter how annoying this was. "Madame Su is an honorable woman. I won't speak ill of her house." Not until he sees that ledger of course. He stands then and bows his head to her. "Let the servants know we're to meet in this room again when you come back."

~~~

Lan Bao looks at Hua sharing again in the amazement of what they're hearing. "I really never would've thought.. er, um, I'm sorry. Sizhui, I mean, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please, let us know if there's anything we can help you with as you settle in."

Jingyi's eyes narrow at them. He doesn't have to say a word, because even that much is enough to get Bao to quickly shut up and remember his own warning earlier to be careful with what he says.

[notaturnip]

The madame rises, bowing low to him - she probably could have made a lot more money out of Yuan in the long run, but she won't deny the lump sum will be very useful - and being amenable to the gentry usually helps keep them sweet, which in the end makes her more money as well. They buy her silence and everybody wins.

"Thank you, Jiang-zongzhu." she says as she leaves.

~~~

"That's very kind of you, thank you." Yuan says, but he can't help but be a little curious - there's clearly something going on there, something they're not saying. He wonders what kind of rumours are floating around (he knows there must be rumours)

"Uh, yea!" Hua nods quickly "Anything at all, happy to help!"

Yuan smiles at them both before looking back to Jingyi.

"So, a tour? Or picking out my room?" he asks - it's a convenient excuse so that he can ask Jingyi in private what people might be saying. He'd rather be prepared.

[unlanylikebehavior]

Jiang Cheng watches as she leaves before sitting back down and finishing the rest of the wine stewing over the strange turns his life has taken. Eventually, he gets up and goes back to the Fragrant Palace, Jin Ling's bedchamber, to find Zizhen in his usual place. It's a mix of emotions to see, but he's ultimately glad there's someone else watching over the young man. It's not exactly proper how he's curled up against his friend but, Zizhen doesn't seem to mind.

He steps a little closer, just to see if the Ouyang heir is awake or not. If not, he'll leave and finally get a good night's rest alone. If he is, he asks if he needs anything quietly.

~~~

"Yeah! Let me show you our personal rooms. We have a room of bunk beds on the top floor that we share but we also have these personal room for studying, meditating or.. there's a few shy boys who sometimes even sleep in their own rooms. They're just not very big. They were modeled after a monastery." He knocks on the first room and introduces another boy, who seems more friendly than the first two. He steps aside and lets Sizhui peek in. It has two desks, a small set of shelves, an incense burner, a wooden chest for personal items for each of them and that's about it.

As they keep going, they come to the end of the hall and Jingyi opens his room. It's a corner room and larger. There are two desks, but only one is being used. He has his own qin which the first boy didn't seem to and there's a couple small personal items around the chamber and some charms/ talismans. There's also a small painting.

"What do you think?"

[notaturnip]

Zizhen is not awake - he does stir a little bit when Jiang Cheng steps closer, but he only mumbles something about Lan Jingyi and falls still again, clearly fast asleep.

Jiang Cheng can get that good night's sleep after all, and he can even do whatever he likes the next morning because nobody bothers him at all until the afternoon, when a servant comes to announce that he has yet another visitor.

This one comes with a small retinue of servants because he has to as sect leader, but in deference to what's been going on he's brought only his most trusted people and he's brought the minimum number he can get away with.

He's waiting in receiving room the servant took him to, idly fidgeting with the bracelet on his wrist. He's wearing the perfume, too.

~~~

Yuan nods along with the explanation, giving the other disciple a friendly smile as he looks into the room with interest. He follows Jingyi into his room and looks around - it's nice, it has the same understated elegance as the rest of cloud recesses, and he can almost see himself sitting to work or play qin or otherwise take time to himself in one of these rooms. He's not really used to having a space that's a sanctuary - he had his own room at the Golden Hare, of course, but it was the same room that he entertained clients in, he couldn't really retreat to it because it was constantly violated by the presence of other people.

Even sharing a space like this would feel like blissful tranquility.

"It's lovely," he says genuinely.

[unlanylikebehavior]

For the first time in a while, he's in a very good mood. For someone who so recently broke off his marriage, his heart was light. He arranged for Huaisang's room to be facing the peony gardens, to have fresh, high quality wine and tea available, a box of sweets in a box with golden paper, and a set of fine quality paints with colors native to the area in lovely vials set in a basket for when Huaisang retires.

When he goes to greet him though, he has a smaller bundle tucked in his robes. The lotus cusp, proudly on display on his wrist. He enters the room and smiles, relieved that this time the friend is for him not Jin Ling (and he doesn't have to feel guilty since his nephew already has one). He bows politely to the other sect leader. There are other eyes on them or he might have greeted him another way.

"Nie-xiong, it's good to see you. I trust the trip went smoothly?" He asks.

~~~

Jingyi smiles brightly. "Great! Well, whenever you feel ready, you're welcome here. I'll clean out the other trunk for you. It.. there's nothing important in there, I've just picked up some random stuff from our travels." He smiles a bit sheepishly. They weren't really supposed to keep so many trinkets but they add up! Especially with Jin Ling as a friend.

"You're also welcome to use my qin until yours is finished. It can take a while for new ones to be crafted. They have to then be blessed and tested. So it's a bit of a process until you have your own."

"Want to keep going or do you want a break to chill in private for a minute? I know this is kind of overwhelming."

[notaturnip]

Huaisang's eyes alight on the cuff and he hides a smile as he bows in return - he, similarly, would have a much different greeting if they weren't currently being watched. He hopes they'll get a moment alone very soon, but until that point he's going to be the epitome of perfect politeness.

"It was pleasant, yes, thank you." he confirms "I hope you are as well as can be, under the circumstances?"

~~~

"....Yes could we take a moment?" Yuan asks quietly, looking a little in shock. For the moment, the things he wanted to discuss are forgotten as he reels from the new information - he remembers that Jingyi already mentioned sharing a room, so that part he can deal with, although it does make him smile, but the way he so casually talks about a new qin being made for him.

A brand new instrument - the spiritual kind, too, not just an ordinary qin like he had at the Golden Hare - the new robes, the ribbon, who knew what else, the debt he must be incurring and-

And there is no debt. He doesn't owe anything because nobody's keeping track of all this. This is just... part of being a disciple. Or something his parents are paying for. This is what life is like for one of the gentry, he doesn't have to keep track of everything and weigh up whether it's really worth adding to his debt, he just has to ask and yes or no just determines if things happen, not anything else.

He takes a deep breath, and then another.

"I'm sorry," he says eventually, smiling sheepishly "it's just... things are so different now, and every time I think I've gotten used to it, something else comes along. I'm... I'm still adjusting."

[jiang_cheng]

This was.. really annoying. He's been dying to see the beautiful man and suddenly he was here. Now there were all these servants and Nie disciples about.

"I am. Though I did have a delicate matter that came up yesterday I am hoping to discuss with you later in private. I would be interested to hear your thoughts. I have missed how you say 'I don't know' to things." He smirks.

Okay so maybe he wasn't being entirely polite in front of others.

~~~

Jingyi clears off a spot on a mat for Yuan to sit and pats it. He takes a seat next to him and waits, curious what's going on in his head. He can see a lot of emotions floating around in there but just what has him reeling right now, he isn't sure.

"It's okay, A-Yuan. You've nothing to be sorry for. Is there something I can help you with? Or.. something in particular you're having trouble adjusting to." He glances around again wondering just what it was. "Are the rooms too small? I'm sorry we have to share them. They think it's better for us to have someone supporting us like a roommate and I really have seen it help, especially newer disciples. Usually roommates become really close friends. You're Hanguang Jun's son though so if you want, I'm sure I can get permission to give you your own space."

[notaturnip]

Huaisang flicks open his fan, looking at Jiang Cheng over the top of it as he blinks at him with wide eyes, turning on his very best headshaker naivety - if Jiang Cheng was going to bring it up, Huaisang would give him it full force.

"Oh, well, if it's something important perhaps we should discuss it now? I really don't know what help I can be but my people can rest up after their travel and we can go and discuss this matter?" He suggest innocently.

~~~

Yuan sits, smiling softly at his new friend's careful consideration - he really is very sweet.

"No I'm happy to share with you, really, and the rooms are lovely," he reassures firmly "it's going to sound so silly, it's just... you mentioned a qin being made for me. It's... I'm just getting used to so many more things being open to me, to not coming with a price. I don't have to second guess everything anymore."

He shrugs helplessly, wondering if it sounded as silly as he thought it did, but Jingyi's been so kind to him he wanted to give the truth.

[jiang_cheng]

It is so difficult to keep a smile off his face, which would just ruin his reputation as a curmudgeon. What is wrong with him? This is just like last time they were together and he hadn't been drinking yet today. It hadn't been like this before, but that was back when he thought Huaisang was in love with his brother. Now that he knew otherwise and having the man here after they'd spent far too short a time together at Lotus Pier, it was all he could do to keep this charade going long enough to get rid of these other people.

He gestures to one of the Lanling servants. "Please, escort Nie-zongzhu's men to their guest rooms and get them whatever they need." He rises to his feet and gestures for Huaisang to join him. "So long as you aren't too tired from the journey yourself, Nie-xiong, let's go somewhere we can discuss matters more privately." Like, his own guest suite, that may also have tea, wine, steamed buns, other pastries, various snacks in case things had gone this way.

~~~

"A price?" Jingyi is dumbfounded as he listens. It never occurred to him before, being the son of a gentry family and then a disciple, that there would be a cost to any of this. He remembers when Wei Wuxian, as Mo Xuanyu would point out things like this to them over the years and it always caught him by surprise. He didn't mean to, but he was rich and had never experienced what it was like to be without anything he wanted or needed.

"But the house you worked for, didn't they buy you the things you needed?" He asks unaware of the ignorance in his question. "Ji- er, um.. I heard you played the qin before. Didn't they pay for your lessons? I don't understand."

He definitely didn't think it was silly, but it was so foreign, he didn't fully understand it! He was trying to though.

[notaturnip]

"Of course," Huaisang inclines his head politely, following Jiang Cheng to his suite as his men are shown out.

When they arrive and he sees the spread already laid out, he hides a smile behind his fan and then pretends to look shocked.

"Why, Jiang-zongzhu, look at all this! Were you expecting company?" He asks, as though entirely innocent of the fact that he is the company.

~~~

Yuan smiles sadly at the question - Jingyi's innocence was so endearing, and he hated to have to give him such harsh reality checks all the time.

"Yes, Madame would get me what I needed, or wanted - like the qin, and lessons - but those things cost her money, and so she would take that money out of what I earned. The more things I asked for, the more money I would owe. It adds up to a debt that must be paid if I ever wanted to leave..."

And that makes him worry, too, because in all the excitement he doesn't actually know if that's been taken care of, or if Madame is going to come looking. Not that she knows where to find him, but she'll go to Lanling to bother Jin Ling about it, and now he's concerned about that, it's the last thing Jin Ling needs right now... he'll need to speak to his parents about it later.

[jiang_cheng]

He chuckles at the tease and rolls his eyes. "I was, but you will have to do until they arrive. Think you can entertain me that long?" He steps closer and reaches into his robes' sleeve. Drawing out a small gift, wrapped in a silk cloth, he passes it over. "A-Sang, I've missed you."

Inside the bundle is a gold necklace with a gold and jade pendant with the words 'Little Nightingale' on it.

~~~

Jingyi's eyes widen as he listens with growing horror. "W- was she.. was the debt even fair? Like how would you even know? She could make up whatever number she wanted and say you owed some crazy number. You just.. you just had to pay it? So.. all of that time.. you weren't really working for you, you were working off this debt?" Yuan was sleeping with people just to pay back some arbitrary debt?

He reaches out and takes Yuan's hand. "No! I know this is hard to adjust to, but no. You won't have to pay the Lan Clan back for anything except with gratitude and respect which we both know you'd already do anyway. There's no keeping scores or.." He gets up and opens one of the chests. He pulls out a small purse and hands it over to him. "This is yours." He has no idea how much is in it, but he has a couple of them. Which.. how sad is that? He has a couple of money purses and doesn't even know how much is in them!

[notaturnip]

"I'm sure I can think of something," Huaisang agrees with a flutter of his fan, though he snaps it shut and tucks it in his belt in order to take the gift, eyes already shining with gratitude. He opens the cloth and looks at the pendant with a delighted gasp, tracing his fingers over the lettering.

"A-Cheng, it's beautiful." He says, immediately fastening it around his neck, the silk wrapping falling forgotten to the floor as he flings himself at the other man, throwing his arms around his shoulders and kissing him soundly.

"I've missed you too."

~~~

Yuan shrugs helplessly - technically, he's right, he wouldn't know, Madame could have said he owed anything, it's not like he really had any idea how much instruments and tutors and robes cost, not to mention the daily costs of housing and feeding him and the others.

"Essentially, yes," he confirms. From what some of the other said, he didn't think Madame was too unreasonable, certainly better than some brothel owners out there, but none of them really knew how accurate her numbers were.

He smiles softly at the reassurance, taking the offered purse with confusion.

"Jingyi I- it's okay, you don't have to-" he sighs softly, giving up and tucking the purse away in his sleeve "thank you."

He takes Jingyi's hands and squeezes them reassuringly.

"It's better now. I know that. And I'm so glad to have you as my friend, Jingyi, I hope you know that."

[jiang_cheng]

Wanyin is ready to go into some more preamble, like maybe telling Huaisang about the origins of the necklace, or some other unimportant thing when his arms are abruptly filled with gold and black robes and a beautiful man. He lets out a surprised but very pleased laugh before he embraces the man more properly and returns the kiss eagerly. His hand smooths down Huaisang's back as he lets one kiss melt into two, then three.

He crouches a bit, as his hand slips further along Huaisang's hip and thigh to sweep the smaller man from his feet. With a wolfish grin, he carries the Nie sect leader to a couch covered in pillows. He sits down and settles Huaisang in his lap. "Just how much?" He practically purrs.

~~~

Jingyi can't stand what he's learning about prostitution! He thought the worst part was sleeping with people you didn't know but- okay that still might be the worst- but this was a bad part too! How does someone handle the fact there are these kinds of places in the world controlling people? They should all be shut down! Except.. what would happen to people like Yuan if they didn't even have that job? Life was hard.

It makes him smile when Sizhui takes the money. It's such a simple thing and it might not even mean anything, but maybe if he had some money that was never taken away from him it might help. It might feel more real than telling him if he ever needs money to just ask one of the elders and they'll just hand it to you.

"I do! And I know you're just getting used to this, not that you can't. It's okay to think we're weird!" He snickers. "You know, Wei-qianbei used to hate it here! When he first came back to life, he was brought here and he cried at the gate because he thought it was so boring here. He's obviously gotten over it and loves it here now but it takes time to adjust."

[notaturnip]

Huaisang gasps against his lips as he's lifted off his feet, arms tightening around Jiang Cheng's shoulders to hold himself up - not that he thinks it's really necessary, he's pretty sure the other man could carry him anywhere he wanted. He settles comfortably in Cheng's lap and brings his hands round to his chest, curling into the collar of his robe.

He smiles sweetly at the question and leans in to whisper, close enough that his lips brush against Jiang Cheng's ear as he speaks.

"Why don't you check if I've followed your instructions, Jiang-zongzhu?"

~~~

Yuan giggles a little at the thought of his father crying over how boring it was - it didn't seem boring to him, it seemed fascinating. Peaceful, serene, beautiful - but not boring, not at all.

"I think he would love anywhere a-die was." he comments lightly, thinking about the way his parents look at each other, the overwhelming love they obviously have for one another.

Although speaking of his parents... he bites his lip thoughtfully.

"Jingyi... downstairs... those disciples we met. It seemed like they weren't saying something..."

[jiang_cheng]

[ooc: Sorry! I'll hit up Jiang Cheng's half in the next tag or two! Sunday = family day and I'm running short on time.]

Jingyi snickers. "That part's a long story! But he was really crazy around here for a while. He was purposefully trying to scandalize Hanguang Jun and make him kick him out of Cloud Recesses! It was terrible at the time but now looking back, it's really funny. It also was confusing since he was in the body of a known insane person. Do you know who Mo Xuanyu was?"

His humor fades though at the question. He knows how sensitive Yuan is about his place here, but he also doesn't want to lie to him. "Um.. well.. people uh.. we may have noticed- er not we- but some of the disciples have noticed how similar you look to one of your dads and it's um.. it's not the one we were expecting." He runs a hand along the back of his neck.

"I thought maybe Wei Wuxian had you with one of the Wen clan members? But.. it was Hanguang Jun, wasn't it?" He can't meet Sizhui's eyes as he asks. He knows it's not fair and that Hanguang Jun is so much more than whatever mistake this was in the past (which turned out to be something wonderful!) but, it was a little bit of realizing his hero wasn't maybe as great as he thought he was.