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

[notaturnip]

Zizhen just gives him a little smile and bumps his shoulder back - he gets it, it's okay, he's familiar with Jin Ling's temper and he can understand why he might be on a shorter fuse than usual right now.

"Did Liling bring food yet? Let's get back on the bed and have some dinner, then we can figure out how we're going to get to the bottom of this while your uncle's away." he decides. They've been sitting on the floor long enough, he hopes it's enough time for Ling to recover his strength, but he scrambles to his feet and offers his friend a hand - a totally normal, casual move, just silent support offered if Jin Ling needs or wants it.

~~~

A couple of the juniors who were closest come running at the sight of the signal flare, but they're not the only ones - Wei Wuxian had ever so slightly modified the talismans before handing them over to Sizhui; the signal that they sent up was subtly different to the usual one, just so he'd know it was Yuan's talisman that had been activated. It isn't that he wouldn't come running for any of the other juniors, he just wanted to know.

When he comes running in and sees the slumped, white-robed figure behind Jingyi, he sees red, darkness already beginning to swirl around him as he brings Chenqing to his lips - he knows he isn't supposed to fight like this anymore, but if they're going to hurt his son they deserve every bit of resentful energy he can summon. These people claim their village is being attacked by ghosts? He'll show them ghosts.

[young_mistress]

"No not yet," Jin Ling says. He shouldn't be worried about that, should he? He's really not sure anymore. The suggestion that they get back to his bed is met with a sigh, but he accepts the subtle offer for help. It takes some effort to get back to his feet as he's noticeably not using his injured arm and keeping it more tucked against him than normal, but once he's walking he's not that bad at it.

He slips back in bed and breathes a sigh of relief. He wasn't going to attempt that again without help for a while! (Yeah, right). In fact, the more he thinks about it, the more he worries about how much he can't do yet alone. He glances over at Zizhen. It feels so selfish, especially since he knows what he is looking forward to back in Gusu, but he can't let his friend leave yet. He desperately needed him here and he would for much longer than a few more days as he'd said in the letter.

A tap at the door and a servant comes in carrying a platter of food. He bows at the two of them. "My apologies, my lords, Liling asked me to deliver this for her as she's be detained by Jiang-zongzhu and his guest."

"Oh, yeah thanks. Bring it over," Jin Ling says with a grin. That made sense to him, given what he knew just happened with Zizhen. He snatches one of the steamed buns before the platter is even fully on the bed besides them.

~~~

As Wei Wuxian starts to play, the last of the raiders come racing in from the forest. They see what has become of their backup. As they scream and start getting torn to shreds by the ghosts being summoned and the juniors getting more united, one brave/ stupid soul comes and throws himself in front of the Yiling Patriarch.

"Please! Please have mercy! We were forced into this by the late Master Mo's widow! Please! We didn't know you had a child or we never would've harmed anyone here! We'll tell you everything and help you capture her! Just please stop the ghosts!" He begs. "And him! Please stop him!" The man shrieks as Hanguang Jun appears on the rooftop over Wei Wuxian's shoulder. Bichen drips with blood and some of his robes are tainted red, but he stands just as tall as he would if he didn't have a scratch on him.

The juniors would've cheered if they weren't also scared of what Wei Wuxian was doing but trying to hide it.

Once Jingyi was done slaughtering to a bit excess the man with the spear, he uses all the distraction to sheath his sword and drop down next to Sizhui. "Hey, hang in there! Stay awake for me! You're going to be okay."

He rips at his robes and presses a clump of fabric against the bleeding shoulder. His other hand, he touches Yuan's forehead and tries hard to concentrate on providing energy. Unfortunately.. he's terrified of ghosts. So this is much harder than it should be as he starts recognizing the signs around him of just what creatures Wei Wuxian has summoned!

[notaturnip]

Zizhen pretends to stay casual, but he's keeping a close eye on Jin Ling as he helps him back to the bed. He's a little concerned about the usage of his injured arm, but tells himself it's still healing and it doesn't mean anything, he'll be able to use it again soon and be strong again in no time - right?

He wonders if they should worry about Liling being held up by Jin Ling's uncle, if maybe she's getting in trouble for telling them about the two of them, but he really hopes that's not the case - maybe they're just giving her instructions for when Jiang Cheng is away, he doesn't think they'd do anything bad to Jin Ling's most trusted servant. He hopes. Jin Ling doesn't seem too worried about it, so he settles on the bed and turns his focus to the food.

He hides a smile when Jin Ling snatches the bun right away, pleased to see his appetite seems to be increasing.

"This looks delicious as always, thank you." Zizhen tells the servant with a smile.

~~~

The problem with begging Wei Wuxian for mercy is that the person who is usually the best at making him calm down and actually consider mercy in the midst of his rage is the very person he's also being begged to stop.

More of the villagers join the man in begging for mercy, realising just how badly they have messed up, and for a very long moment it's looking bad for all of them.

Then Yuan stirs enough to croak out a pained "Baba..." and the chaos stops as abruptly as it began. The resentful energy dissipates as Wuxian stops playing and takes in a shuddering breath. He turns dark eyes on the pleading man.

"Stay there. Do not move." he says harshly, stalking past the terrified villagers to drop down beside Yuan.

The young man is only really half conscious, his eyes glazed and unfocused. His fingers are curled into Jingyi's sleeve, clinging onto him, and he reaches his other hand for his father as he approaches.

[young_mistress]

It isn't anything too serious. He just wrenched it a bit when he tripped trying to walk around on his own. It's sore right now but as long as he doesn't do anything else to it tonight, he should be okay- not that he is sharing any of that with the person trying to take care of him.

He takes a big bite of the bun and swallows just as Liling comes bursting in the room. "Jin-zongzhu! Jin-zongzhu! Stop! Stop!" She cries. She races toward the bed. Jin Ling stares at her with wide eyes as she snatches the bun out of his hand. "Have you eaten anything else?" She looks to Zizhen too, hoping she isn't too late for him too.

While Liling is stealing everyone's attention, the servant who brought the food takes off running. Unfortunately for the servant, that gets Fairy's attention. She gets to her feet and with a loud bark bolts out the room.

~~~

Hanguang Jun ignores the villagers too as soon as he sees Wei Wuxian rushing toward their son. Jumping down, he puts a hand lightly on Jingyi's shoulder. He watches intently as his husband assesses the injuries, waiting to hear just how badly he was going to burn this village to the ground.

Jingyi's hands are shaking, but even with Wei Wuxian there, he doesn't stop what he's been trained to do. He knows battle first aid and healing magic. He has a good balance between healing, fighting, and guqin skills. There were those stronger in one or the other, but combined, he was the strongest. But right now, he has to be the best there ever was in healing and somehow he was going to do that.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen stares at her with his own bun half-eaten (he figured he'd grab one just in case Jin Ling ate them all), though he quickly spits out the bite in his mouth in the face of her panic. They've probably had about the same amount as each other at this point.

"Liling what's going on?" he asks "Weren't you with-" he looks down at the food and back up in horror as realisation dawns. Oh no.

The servant who ran is having a very bad day, because Fairy's barking draws the attention of one of the guards who's loyal to Jin Ling and he catches the man a little way down the corridor from the sect leader's room.

~~~

Yuan blinks up at his parents and Jingyi hovering over him, idly wondering why they're all so worried. He feels fine. Actually he feels a little bit like he's floating, and everything seems very far away.

"He's lost a lot of blood." Wei Wuxian comments grimly - there's a heavy red stain spreading from Yuan's shoulder and an unpleasant amount pooled on the ground, but Jingyi's makeshift bandages and input of spiritual energy seem to have stopped the bleeding for now, at least. "I'll know more once we can get a proper look at him."

They need to finish up things here, need to speak to the villagers about what happened, tend to the few other (much less) wounded juniors, but he's hard pressed to want to do anything other than whisk his son back to Cloud Recesses to be looked after properly. He wants to place his hand over Jingyi's and give his own energy to Yuan, but he can't. He looks up helplessly at his husband.

"Take him home? I'll- I'll handle this place."

[young_mistress]

"They hadn't asked for me! I was watching the food get prepared and he came in and told me your uncle was asking for me. When I went, Jiang-zongzhu and Nie-zongzhu were surprised to see me. They hadn't asked for me! I came back as soon as I could. I'm so sorry!"

Jin Ling looks at Zizhen and then points to the strange mirror in the room. "Go through there. It's a door leading to the Jin clan treasure vault. There's a desk on the right with a bunch of vials on it. One of them is green and separate from the others." As the sect leader, this was a huge display of trust. As Jin Ling, it felt.. oddly natural. Like, of course Zizhen would be trustworthy enough to go into a room full of treasure and sect secrets, not harm anything, and come back. Had things changed that much between them?

While they were doing that Liling takes the platter and sets it on a table, high enough that it wouldn't tempt Fairy. She then brings some water over for them, upset that she hadn't gotten there in time to prevent this.

Outside, Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang are alerted there's a commotion. The acting sect leader complains they're never going to finish their dinner and asks the guard to bring the servant to an interrogation room.

~~~

Hanguang Jun nods at his husband and looks like he wants to make Jingyi let go, but.. the two boys are holding onto each other fiercely. Since they're so close, only the bottom of the mountain, he tells Jingyi to lift Sizhui. The two of them ride swords back up to the top, leaving Wei Wuxian and a bunch of enraged ducklings juniors to deal with the villagers.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen is mostly trying not to panic. They don't know the food was poisoned, and maybe it wasn't all poisoned, or it's been done with something you need to eat more of, it's totally possible they're going to be absolutely fine, right? Right?

He's going to be so pissed if he dies a virgin.

Jin Ling seems to be taking it in stride, at least, and Zizhen appreciates having something to do. He nods - he's a little surprised by the obvious trust being placed in him, but gratified too, and he slides off the bed to quickly head through and fetch the green vial as instructed.

He's almost desperate to take a look around, but he's focused on the task at hand - there are more important things at stake than his curiosity. He's back in only a couple of minutes.

~~~

Yuan continues to drift in and out of consciousness, though it's hard to tell if it's simply the blood loss or if there's something more to the injury.

Wuxian watches them go with a worried frown and then turns to the remaining juniors.

"Okay, you two, continue to tend to the wounded. Everybody else, round up the wounded and gather them over here. You," he points to the man who had been begging with him "Come here and tell me everything."

[young_mistress]

For saving his ass, Jin Ling will gladly let Zizhen go snoop around the vault for a while if he wants to later.

The sect leader can feel his heart racing painfully fast and the sensation he got last time in his fingers and toes. He didn't know what it meant exactly, but he knew it was related to the poison. If they waited much longer with this, their bodies when slowly get really cold and last time it made him really sick to his stomach.

Liling takes the vial and pours half of it into one of the little cups for tea. She passes it back. "Do your best not to get sick on this."

Jin Ling lifts his cup like 'cheers' and tosses it back. The taste of the medicine is vile. Whatever is in it should definitely not be for human consumption! Ling gags and puts a fist to his mouth to keep from throwing it back up.

~~~

Lan Zhan helps Jingyi get Yuan to the healer's room, laying him down on a medical table. With the young man's assistance they get his robes out of the way and clean the wound. As Lan Zhan works, Jingyi whispers encouragements to Yuan, who he's apparently decided he's allowed calling 'A-Yuan'. Lan Zhan side-eyes him a little, but doesn't say anything.

He's more focused on the fact Yuan's getting worse. As long as Jingyi keeps feeding him spiritual energy, Lan Zhan's okay with him calling his son whatever he wants (obviously there's limits to this).

Back in the village, it comes out that Jingyi high insulted Madam Mo and this whole set up was to kill him. The villagers tell Wei Wuxian where he can find her, since she's obviously cowering in one of the houses.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen honestly can't tell if his racing heart is because of panic or poison, but he knows he doesn't like it. He sits on the bed after passing the antidote to Liling and tries to stay calm for the sake of his friend. It's not easy.

He frowns in confusion at Liling's comment when she hands over the tea, though as soon as he downs the cup he realises what she means. He thinks he might prefer to be poisoned. Much like Jin Ling he has to put a hand over his mouth to try and keep from throwing up.

"That's disgusting." he finally manages to get out.

~~~

Yuan is delirious, feverish, and when he opens his eyes they're unfocused even as he tries to look at Jingyi and his father. The whispered encouragements seem to be doing something to keep him calm, though, and he continues to cling to Jingyi - though his fingers are not particularly strong.

Wei Wuxian decides to bring Madam Mo back to Cloud Recesses - he'd like to have a nice long talk with her, and he feels as though his husband is going to want to as well, but right now he'd much rather be at his son's side. She can sit and stew while he deals with that.

He does make sure she knows, though, exactly who's been caught in the crossfire of her little plan.

[young_mistress]

"Yeah, Xiaoshu was a little crazy, but I swear this stuff works," he promises. He takes the cup Liling hands him with the juice he'd been drinking before in it. The mix of that plus the antidote is pretty revolting, but after another swig it doesn't taste as bad. He offers it to Zizhen.

He takes a few more shaky breathes before continuing. "Liling go back and tell Jiujiu we're okay and see that the servant is found." After she leaves he shakes his head. "I'm so sorry you just got caught in this too. I can't believe even with everything this is still happening! Why am I so hated?" Just how many people wanted him dead? Why couldn't they be stopped?

~~~

When they get through another round of bandages and Yuan is still struggling, Lan Zhan decides the only explanation is there's a poison. An infection wouldn't have hit this quickly though if they aren't careful he could have poison and an infection, which would no doubt be deadly.

He takes over providing spiritual energy and he slips his hand where Jingyi's was, allowing the exhausted sect brother to finally get medical treatment himself. Lan Xichen plays the qin for Yuan and his brother.

Lan Qiren shakes his head as he bandages Jingyi's arm wondering just what kind of trouble Wei Wuxian was going to cause once he arrived. The Yiling Patriarch wasn't known for having a mild temper, after all.

[notaturnip]

A little crazy? Zizhen's heard the stories, he thinks a little crazy is putting it mildly, but he's not going to call Jin Ling out on it - especially not right now, when an attempt on his life has literally just been made.

"It's not your fault," he tells him quietly once Liling leaves, frowning at the question "I don't think you're so hated. I think it's just a group of stupid people who have decided to dislike you for their own stupid reasons, and your uncle just hasn't managed to get rid of all of them yet. I'm sure it's not that many, they're just good at hiding."

He hopes, anyway.

"They'll get them all, and you'll prove them wrong, because you are a good leader."

~~~

Yuan seems to panic for a moment until his questing fingers curl around Lan Zhan's sleeve instead, and then he calms a little. He's at least still awake, sort of, though he's very much out of it and his breathing is weak.

Once Wei Wuxian hands Madam Mo over to some disciples to guard and warns them of the hell there will be to pay if she is not kept secure and ready for him and Hanguang Jun to interrogate, he goes immediately to find his family.

"Lan Zhan?" he almost bursts through the door, eyes seeking out their son and widening a little in panic - he had hoped to find something a little more sedate, a dozing junior freshly bandaged, or even awake and talking. The scene that greets him is... not that.

"What's happening? What's wrong?"

[young_mistress]

Look some people have daddy issues, Jin Ling had uncle issues. And daddy issues. And mommy issues. And just.. issues.

"How big though? Do you know how many people we've locked up or executed? I lost so many soldiers during that mutiny. What if I'd been alone tonight?" The last question being what he was really upset about. That was the current source of freak out even if he was tossing in the others. He couldn't walk. If Liling hadn't gotten back here in time and if Zizhen hadn't been here he would've had to try and crawl into that other room. He looks down at the vial. "I don't know how many of those are even left. How many times can it work before they find a poison this doesn't work on?"

If only Xiaoshu was still alive! Who else was even like him? Who else could do half of what..

"Wait a minute.." His uncle falling for Huaisang was incredibly hard to believe. Huaisang falling for Jiang Cheng? That might not be as hard to see. "What if Jiujiu is the one.. Zizhen! You gotta take those lessons and stay until we figure this out! I think Jiujiu is manipulating him!"

Jin Ling may have gone a little nuts.

~~~

"It's alright, my érzi," Lan Zhan says gently, brushing a hand along his forehead above his ribbon. "A-die is here and Jingyi is still very close by. He has a few cuts too, but he's okay. He'll be back at your side shortly. Your uncle, Xichen, is playing for you, can you hear it?"

He leans down and presses a soft kiss to his son's temple. He frowns at how hot the skin is. As he straightens, he hears his husband's voice. If Wei Wuxian was already back here that means they've been working on Yuan for a few hours already. He's gotten much more skilled since he had to hum/ sing and channel spiritual energy in a cave so long ago. He can continue the flow of healing magic even while speaking to his son and his husband.

"There's something in the wound that he's been fighting. A poison. I've tried drawing it out and giving him energy but it's resisting." He still has plenty of spiritual energy to give their son, but he doesn't know what else to try to pull the poison out that they haven't already. He's failing.

[notaturnip]

"...you think your uncle is manipulating Nie-zongzhu? Why?"

Because, yea, he's going to need a little bit of explanation for that one, Jin Ling, you're starting to sound a little bit unhinged. Still, it's kind of understandable given how many attempts had been made on his life recently.

"You don't have to worry about what if you'd been alone, because you're not. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere as long as you still need me." he'll have to send a grovelling apology to Jingyi, but they'll have their time together, right now their priority needs to be their best friend.

~~~

"A-die..." Yuan mumbles, his unfocused gaze landing on his father briefly, the tiniest spark of lucidity showing there. Everything feels so far away and hard to grasp, like he's dreaming - has it all been a dream, maybe? Every moment since he first lifted his gaze to look at Jin Ling... that seems a thousand years ago now, but his heart still aches for it, for him. He wants his family, too, and dimly he wonders if it's selfish to want both, to want all the things he never could have dreamed of before. He doesn't want to lose it now. He has to stay strong, for them.

Wuxian frowns at the news, considering their options for a moment before offering them to his husband.

"We would try Wen Qing's charm, try and draw it out together... or go and have a talk with Madam Mo and see if she knows what's been used." his tone is dark as he finishes.

[young_mistress]

Jin Ling stops himself. He can't really bring himself to admit Nie-zongzhu and his Xiaoshu are similar people even if maybe it was true to an extent. Also what would that say about his Jiujiu?

"No.. you're right. There has to be another explanation.." Which isn't exactly what Zizhen said. He rubs his temples feeling a headache coming on. He just really needs to get to the bottom of this. What if he built a really big army? They could just go and.. well, there wasn't a given entity to go fight. That was the whole problem! If there was a clear enemy Jiang Cheng would've cut them down by now.

"How do I fight something like this?!" He shouts in frustration. Wasn't there some spell the Lan clan had that could talk to dead people? What if he talked to his Xiaoshu? Who could cast that spell for him? Could he do it? He looks toward the mirror, lost in thought, not really hearing anything Zizhen might be saying.

~~~

"I'll go," Jingyi interrupts them. He gets to his feet and starts straightening his arms. "Trust me, Wei-qianbei, I can get it out of her."

Lan Zhan frowns uncertain he likes this plan, but considers their other options. "How long did it take you to make the last charm? Wasn't it several hours?" Although maybe it wouldn't take as long since he made one before. He wasn't sure.

[notaturnip]

The explanation is that they're very clearly in love, but Zizhen wisely does not voice that opinion. Besides, Jin Ling did point out how convenient it was that he overheard the things he heard, so maybe it was all just an act.

(It didn't seem like an act)

"I don't know." he admits with a sigh - he's never had to deal with anything like this "but I bet your uncle does, I mean he rebuilt the Jiang sect himself, I bet he had a bunch of enemies trying to take advantage of him while he was weakened, and... well, Nie-zongzhu probably had a lot of enemies too, people who thought they could do better than him, he had to deal with them, right? I know you don't like him, but you could use his expertise, right?"

~~~

Wuxian gives Jingyi an assessing look - he's not entirely sure he wants to encourage the kid to violence and intimidation, but he can also see the determination in his eyes.

"It took a few hours," he admits "I can do it quicker, now I know how, but we're still talking an hour or two... Jingyi, you shouldn't go alone... you're her target, we can't trust she won't try and take advantage."

He maybe shouldn't have said that so bluntly, woops.

[young_mistress]

Jin Ling's attention is brought back to the present and away from his mental breakdown he is edging toward when Zizhen mentions when Wanyin had been weakened. He also has a really good point about the Headshaker. That guy had to have lots of enemies with how ineffective he'd run Qinghe for a while there.

"Yeah, I think you're right. I think he could be helpful.. even if I don't like him." He rolls over onto his side and curls up a bit with a groan. He puts a hand on his pained stomach. Fortunately he didn't feel like he was going to throw up anymore, just like he swallowed a hot coal. "Fuck! This part lasted a while last time!"

It wasn't helping that he'd been hungry before this happened.

~~~

"Me? No! It can't be!" Jingyi gasps, feeling an enormous wave of guilt rush over him. His gaze moves from Wei Wuxian to Yuan and pales. This happened because of him? He doesn't understand why that would be but if Wei Wuxian says it, it must be true. All the juniors ended up getting banged up and Yuan's here dying because of him. He'd wanted to be brothers, not be the reason he suffered!

Lan Zhan looks from Jingyi back to his husband with a stern frown. Look what you did!

[notaturnip]

"...you mean I'm going to feel like this for a while?" Zizhen pouts - he's been trying to ignore the pain in the hopes it would go away, but apparently not. It must be worse for Jin Ling, he thinks, who was already still recovering, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant for him.

"We'll make sure to have Liling approved sweet buns waiting as soon as you're feeling better." he reassures, flopping back onto the bed beside his friend with a slight groan. "Why don't we just try and sleep it off?"

And tomorrow they could have a proper conversation with the two other sect leaders, unless Jiang Cheng decided to stick with his plan to go back to Lotus Pier.

~~~

Wuxian winces, pouting briefly at Lan Zhan before stepping away to put a reassuring hand on Jingyi's shoulder.

"When enemies do something like this, they are the one to blame and them alone, not you." he says firmly, guessing immediately what the cause of Jingyi's distress was "I just mean the last thing we want is for you to get hurt as well. I'll get the truth out of her and this will all be fine, okay?"

[young_mistress]

Jin Ling groans and decides his friend is secretly a genius. He doesn't bother hiding it anymore as he scoots up against Zizhen's side. He usually lays his head on the Baling native's chest with his arm around Zizhen's waist, but with how they're feeling he knows to avoid that. He settles for resting his head on his shoulder instead. His injured arm he keeps tucked against his own side cautiously not moving it as it quietly throbs.

It was too bad Zizhen was so in love with Jingyi, Jin Ling thinks idly as he closes his eyes. When this awful feeling goes away and his shoulder was feeling better he could really use a good fuck. His friend was attractive too and he could certainly show him a few things.. sigh. He won't be a bad friend though and try and seduce him. He won't. Probably.

Hmm, how could he find out if Zizhen even remotely saw him that way?

~~~

"But.." Jingyi begins, unsure. He's been through a lot over the last couple years, but his youth and inexperience could still be seen at times, like now. However, he trusts and looks up to the man talking to him more than his own family. "He wouldn't have been hurt if it wasn't for me?"

The concern for his safety while Wei Wuxian had to be losing his mind with worry over his own son brought tears to Jingyi's eyes. Lan Qiren shakes his head from nearby. Jingyi was so emotional! He was such a bad Lan! Xichen was also nearby thinking the exact opposite. He was so proud of him!

"I can be strong if I should learn to do this," he offers. He's willing to be taught and try to face his fear and this woman who wants to hurt him. Isn't it weak to let others protect him like this? If she's after him, then maybe this was his fight.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen is even happier than usual to allow Jin Ling to snuggle up at his side, since he's feeling pretty miserable himself. He gets comfortable with Jin Ling curled up at his side and closes his eyes as well, oblivious to what's going through his friend's mind in that moment.

Despite that, his thoughts are... not dissimilar, they're simply a much more innocent version. He's thinking about Jingyi, and how much he wishes he could curl up at his side like this, how nice it would be to wake up next to him - and whether or not he should be guilty for how much he enjoys sleeping like this with Jin Ling. He mostly wishes he could invite Jingyi here and they could all just sleep together in a comfortable tangle of limbs, though he'd feel bad leaving Yuan out. Maybe if he's getting settled Zizhen could convince them both to come for a visit, that would be nice.

He falls asleep imagining all four of them sharing Jin Ling's bed - there's more than enough space, after all.

~~~

"Still doesn't make it your fault." Wuxian tells him patiently "There's a dozen different decisions by different people that led to what happened today, and the only person truly to blame is the man who did it, and the woman who paid him to do it, the woman currently waiting for us to go and talk to her."

He frowns thoughtfully at the offer, considering how good of an idea it was. After a long moment, he nods.

"You don't have to do this, but if you really want to, you can. Not alone, though, it's not safe. I can come with you, or you can choose somebody else to accompany you."

[young_mistress]

Jin Ling doesn't sleep well and unfortunately since he's sleeping against Zizhen- or started out that way- his friend might not either. He moans from the pain in his stomach and from visions in his mind. The past attempts on his life from these poisonings to a wire around his neck that broke his heart, he shudders and whimpers.

If Fairy was still in the room, this wouldn't be so bad since she'd likely be on the bed by now helping comfort him but she's not. She's still helping torture deal with the servant and the subsequent perpetrator behind the attack. For the rest of Carp Tower, the night is raw with purple electricity and an irate uncle. Fortunately Huaisang is there to keep him from literally burning the place to the ground.

~~~

Jingyi slowly relaxes as he's reassured he's not to blame for this- at least not completely. It might take a while longer for him to convince himself he doesn't share some portion however small for Yuan being hurt.

"Okay," he says, giving in. He considers the options and gives Wuxian a pleading look. "Would you? Then I'll know I'm not being tricked." He has faith in his elders with the Lan clan but he also wasn't blind to how 'street smart' Wei Wuxian could be in comparison. If he was being allowed to learn with this, he should do his best to minimize how long it'll take to get what they need for Yuan to recover.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen isn't sleeping all that heavily because of the pain anyway, so he's quick to stir when Jin Ling's distress becomes more obvious. At first he isn't sure what to do, whether to leave him to sleep through it and comfort him in the morning, or whether to wake him up. When the latest heartwrenching whimper makes him almost flinch, his mind is made up, and he shakes Jin Ling's good shoulder gently.

"Hey... Ling? C'mon wake up." he whispers softly "It's okay, it's just a nightmare."

~~~

"Of course." Wei Wuxian says firmly - he likes Jingyi, especially considering the way he worries about Yuan, and he wants to support him in this.

He steps back over to his husband, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking down at their son.

"Just keep him stable for a little while longer. We'll find out what she knows and fix this, I promise."

[young_mistress]

Jin Ling whines softly in his sleep. The subtle reminder he's not alone was so nice and he curls tighter against Zizhen's side. Whatever this warm, wonderful thing is he wants more of it. He wraps his arm more firmly around his waist and if straight up bear hugging him wasn't shameless enough, he hooks his leg around his friend too. Zizhen you always wanted to know what it was like to be used as a body pillow, right?

He snuggles his face against the nearest part to him and sighs contently. This was better. He didn't even remember those awful things that were bothering him a few moments ago. He'll have to remember to ask Jiujiu if he can keep this.. whatever it was.

~~~

Jingyi bows with gratitude. This was one more time among dozens Wei-qianbei has gone out of his way to treat the young man well- better than his own family. If it wouldn't be frowned on severely and make him feel too weird about it, he just might have been grateful enough to hug the man. Fortunately his pride held and they were all spared that unlanylike-display.

As they left, Lan Zhan places a light hand on Yuan's forehead and closed his eyes. He feels for his son's spiritual energy while his other hand on his wrist was channeling in his own. Was this working? Was there any improvements? If he has to endure the death of his son after everything he's had to handle with Wei Wuxian, he's not sure he's that strong.

[notaturnip]

Well, Jin Ling was definitely not waking up, but he also doesn't seem to be having a nightmare anymore, so that's.. Good, right? Zizhen isn't sure, his best friend is wrapped around him like an octopus with his head on his shoulder and he's kind of glad they've slept at least vaguely cuddled up the last few days or Jin Ling would be really embarrassed when he wakes up.

Zizhen contemplates the best course of action for a moment longer before deciding it's late, he's tired, and this is comfortable and warm. He sighs, wraps an arm around his friend and lets himself drift off back to sleep.

~~~

Wei Wuxian nods at the younger man and then leads him out to go to the guest rooms where Madame Mo is being held. He makes sure to step in first, in case she tries anything, keeping Jingyi partially shielded with his own body.

Yuan is fully unconscious, now, but his spiritual energy is still strong and he doesn't appear to be getting any worse, it's almost as though he's just in a deep sleep.

[young_mistress]

Maybe Liling should've warned Zizhen that the poison or the antidote (she isn't sure which) can have some strong side effects..

Jin Ling has his arms around a boy with a painted face and a scandalous teal blue robe that keeps sliding off his shoulders. Sometimes it's gravity and other times it's because Ling helps it along. He's nestled against the sect leader's body, in between his legs. He's on the throne in Glamour Hall with his legs spread and hooked over the arms of a prostitute. He's not wearing anything underneath his robes that have been shoved up to his waist.

There are voices behind this boy, who he can't remember in this dream, voices he knows belonging to the elders of the Jin clan and the cultivation society. They're talking over business and other boring details, as though he isn't being ravaged where everyone can see. He holds back cries, not wanting to draw any attention to himself in case somehow they haven't noticed him. But it feels so good! He also loves this boy and it's only a matter of time before he knows he'll be shrieking his name.

Outwardly he groans. He pushes his hips against Zizhen, brushing his erection mere inches from where his friend's would be if he were hard too. He presses his face under the other man's neck, breathing in his scent even if it wasn't quite the right one. He knows he likes it and it's safe. He really, really wants to have what this warm body could potentially give him.

~~~

Madam Mo is being kept in the Mingshi, the watchtower where spirits are summoned. To be honest, the other Lan disciples weren't sure if they were going to need to prepare an exorcism or some other horrible task on her (or Wei Wuxian) when this was done. It just seemed smarter to be somewhere already designed for things to go messy. There are three disciples with drawn swords around her and she's bound and sitting on a chair in the center of the room.

"You have to listen to me! You can't let him get me! I'm just an old woman! I was crazed out of grief from my dead husband and son and- Oh my god! There he is! Someone! Help! HELP!" She shrieks seeing the two enter. "You brought the little bitch with you?? How could you do that?! He's the one who botched the whole thing last time!"

Jingyi frowns and looks at Wei Wuxian. There's a moment of doubt on his face. Wait, he botched things with the severed arm? He knew they'd gotten overwhelmed quickly but he'd thought that was just because they hadn't known what they were dealing with and they were just juniors. He'd called for Hanguang Jun as soon was he'd realized they needed help. He tries to think where he might have gotten things wrong.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen is a little turned on right now, maybe it's the same effect that Jin Ling is going through or maybe it's just something to do with the warm body pressing so wantonly against him. His own dream features white robes and teasing flashes of skin, a familiar laugh and warm arms around him, innocent kisses that slowly turn into something else as those layers of robes are stripped away.

He shifts closer to the warm figure next to him, seeking out the contact and friction that match what he's experiencing in his dream. The actual press of an erection against him seems to register, though, and he blinks awake.

"Ji-" he starts sleepily, and then remembers that, no, Jingyi isn't here, and the warm figure wrapped around him, the length digging into his hip, that's-

His eyes widen in sudden embarrassment and he freezes, unsure how to react.

~~~

Wuxian folds his arms, watching her with unconcerned amusement as she rants - until she starts throwing such harsh words at Jingyi, and then his eyes go hard and he frowns, stepping forward to ensure he remains just in front of the boy.

"He didn't botch anything, you old hag," he retorts "Lan Jingyi did surprisingly well dealing with a powerful and angry ghost that any cultivator would have had trouble with. He's not his fault that something so vicious showed up where it wasn't expected to be, which you would have known if you had thought to discuss the matter with anyone instead of planning some half-baked revenge that has poisoned my son." he finishes in a low, dangerous hiss.