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]

He does change his underlayers as well, grateful for the privacy however unnecessary it feels - the fact that Jingyi thinks it's necessary is what makes him smile.

When Jingyi compliments the robes, he almost says they were a gift, but bites back on it, trying to push the thought out of his mind - he's been doing so well this last part of the journey, he doesn't want to ruin it. Instead he sits quietly and enjoys the feel of somebody else combing his hair, letting it calm him.

Zizhen nods at the assurance "Exactly, you'll make the perfect young master and nobody's going to think you're anything else. Because, well, I guess you're not anymore, right? You're one of us now, and Jingyi's right, we're going to do everything we can to help you. You've got both of us, and your fathers too."

"Thank you." Yuan says softly, genuinely, fighting back the tears that threaten to spill. Everything's changing so quickly. He takes a deep breath to centre himself.

"I might write to my father and tell him I'm going to stay a few days, would that be allowed Hanguang Jun?" he asks, turning to the older man. He thinks it might be nice for Yuan to have an extra friendly face around for a little longer, that's all, it's definitely nothing to do with wanting to make absolutely sure Jingyi makes a full recovery.

[unlanylikebehavior]

No matter how Yuan has treated his body in the past, he was a Lan now. That thing was a temple and deserved to be respected. Unless Jin Ling was around and then he knew only naughty, bad, fun was happening but.. the Lan elders didn't need to know that. Serious, Ling, you needed a silencing talisman last night whew that was hot.

Jingyi's grin widens at Zizhen's offer and he looks hopefully at Hanguang Jun. He cheers softly when he sees Lan Zhan nod.

"I'll sign it," the older Lan offers, knowing if he does the Ouyang sect leader really won't have a problem with Zizhen's absence. It was a minor reward for Jingyi and Zizhen being so kind to Yuan.

It's not too much longer before the carriage reaches the top. A quiet murmur of voices can be heard outside the covered walls. A field of white robes and head ribbons gather around as they are helped out of the carriage. An old man who now walks with a cane has a long pointy beard receives a respectful bow from Lan Zhan once he's on the ground. "Shufu."

Jingyi gets out next and then offers a hand up to help Yuan down. He makes sure his robe hangs perfectly as every eye falls on him.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen grins broadly, bowing as best he can to the chief cultivator.

"Thank you, Hanguang Jun."

Yuan gives the man a grateful look as well - Zizhen's thoughts were right about him, he will appreciate having a familiar face around, especially someone who's promised to help him. He deeply hopes he can trust the both of them, but so far they've given him no indication that he can't, and as much as the world he grew up in has tried to make him cynical, he clings to that trust.

As they arrive and it's clear there are a number of Lan disciples there to greet them, Yuan feels his nerves grow. He strightens the front of his robes at least three times when they didn't even need it once, and then moves to fidgeting with the ring Jin Ling gave him. He forces himself to be calm as he takes Jingyi's offered hand, though, remembering everything he's learned at the Golden Hare and plastering a serene look on his face as he steps down, moving to stand just behind Hanguang Jun with his hands tucked neatly in front of him, waiting politely. He's hyper aware of the eyes on him, of the curious whispers wondering who he is, but he ignores them all.

[graceandguqin]

Lan Qiren bows in return to his nephew and the traveling party. "Welcome home! I hope you had fair travels. I see we have a guest among us."

Wangji moves and puts a hand gently behind Yuan's back. He brings the boy forward. "Shufu, meet Lan Yuan, my son. A-Yuan, this is my uncle, Lan Qiren."

There's a shock and a much louder murmur goes through the crowd as this news ripples over them. The old man looks.. horrified. "W- Wangji? What are you saying? You're just announcing in front of everyone you had a son w- with.. with.. who's his.."

"My husband. Lan Yuan is our son." He puts the lightest pressure on Yuan's back to encourage him to start walking forward with him, passing by a sputtering old man and a crowd with the jaws on the ground. "We'll take a meal in the Jingshi. Jingyi, his things."

"Yes, Hanguang Jun!" Jingyi squawks, as he is trying so very hard not to laugh.

[notaturnip]

Yuan steps forward as Wangji nudges him, trying to keep his expression from giving him away when he's introduced as Lan Yuan. Instead he bows deeply.

"It's an honour to meet you, shifu." he says politely, suspecting it might give the old man a heart-attack to call him great uncle just yet (and also not quite feeling ready to do so).

He's not entirely sure it makes the best impression to just walk away, but he lets Hanguang Jun steer him away, his gaze fixed straight ahead so he didn't have to look at the people staring at him. Jingyi's right, though, it is kind of hilarious.

Zizhen helps Jingyi grab Yuan's things, mostly to hide his own laughter.

Someone in the crowd, quietly, makes the suggestion that Yuan must be Wei Wuxian's son, and this seems to be met with a little less horrified surprise - the idea of Lan Wangji having a youthful indiscretion was ridiculous, but Wei Wuxian? With his reputation (however unearned)? Honestly it's a surprise there aren't more bastard children running around.

[graceandguqin]

Lan Zhan is quite sure if they wait and let people start asking questions, particularly his uncle, something was going to come up that they didn't want to address yet. Although, to be fair, his solution is often to let other come up with their own conclusions while finding something better to do with his time.

Once they set Yuan's stuff in Wangji's room and confirm food is coming, he leaves to go deal with the trouble he's stirred up. He tells all three boys to make themselves at home.

After he's gone..

"This is so weird.." Jingyi admits, looking at Zizhen. He starts making tea for everyone. "He's letting us hang out in his room. I think I've been in here like.. twice maybe? And for about three seconds each. Have you ever been in here?" He asks his friend.

[notaturnip]

"Me?" Zizhen shakes his head "I barely even knew this place existed."

Yuan, meanwhile, is looking around. The place is so clean and tidy and calm, he thinks he might have fallen a little bit in love with it already. The views are particularly stunning, the garden is beautiful, it feels so far from anywhere else he's ever been - the Golden Hare had been ostentatious in a tacky way, desperately showing off wealth that wasn't really there, the gold all simply painted on. Carp Tower had been the most opulent, wonderful place he'd ever seen. This, though? It had an understated elegance, obvious wealth without showing off, there was something wonderful about that.

Zizhen is sitting at the table partly to wait for tea and partly because he doesn't dare stray too far - it's alright for Yuan, this is his home now, but he's too scared to touch anything.

Yuan does come back and join them at the table eventually, sitting down with a smile.

"This place is beautiful." he comments "Cloud Recesses, I mean, not just here."

What he'd seen of it walking up, anyway. He can't wait to see more.

[unlanylikebehavior]

"I can take you on a tour of the grounds as long as it's not too late. There are some places that are restricted but since you're going to be one of us I can probably..." He wants to say bend the rules, but maybe he's not quite that brave. "I could ask?" Maybe. Hanguang Jun was being really lenient right now, but he needed to remember how unusual this was and there were limits.

"I can at least show you our library, our class rooms, where the guests houses are, and the Back Mountain." He leans in and puts a hand by his mouth. "Hanguang Jun keeps a secret nest of rabbits out there!"

[notaturnip]

Yuan was about to say he appreciates it but he'd rather stay here, for now, just in case - Hanguang-Jun hadn't indicated they were free to leave, and while he also hadn't said they couldn't, he wasnt sure arguing over that kind of technicality was such a good idea on his first day here. He's sure he'll get a tour soon enough.

He was about to say all of that. Then Jingyi mentions rabbits.

"Oh," he perks up, eyes wide "I love rabbits."

[unlanylikebehavior]

Jingyi's grin widened and he looks at Zizhen. Ah-ha! He found something to make Yuan even more happy! This was great!

"You do? That's great! I do too! It's like you really are just like them! How have you been away from Hanguang Jun and Wei Wuxian all this time and still be so similar? It's funny isn't it?" He pours tea and as he moves around the table, he drops a handkerchief from his sleeve. Stepping over to get it, his foot taps on a piece of flooring that doesn't sound quite like the rest.

Thunk thunk, dunk, thunk. "What? Is there a hidden compartment?"

[notaturnip]

Yuan blushes, a small, pleased smile on his face.

"You really think I'm like them?" He asks quietly. Zizhen nods his agreement.

"Yea! You-" he stops, looking over at Jingyi with wide eyes "a secret compartment?" He repeats with a gasp.

"...I wonder what's in there...." Yuan can't help but be curious. He doesn't intend to look, he's really just musing out loud, but Zizhen looks equal parts fascinated and terrified, he's desperate to know but this is Hanguang Jun's house, can they really get away with looking?

"Should we look?" He whispers

[unlanylikebehavior]

Jingyi is frozen in place for a couple of long moments as he inwardly debates. He knows he shouldn't look. This is Hanguang Jun's house and he's finally been trusted to be in here alone. However, the idea that Lan Wangji of all people might have some kind of hidden anything was so hard to believe, it wasn't going to be real until he looked. It is possible he's just been away from Cloud Recesses' discipline for too many days and that hit in the head really did some damage, who knows.

Either way, he's going in!

"Zizhen! Watch the door! Okay, Yuan? Never ever ever ever ever ever do this!" He crouches down and with a little more hesitation, he pulled the floor board up.

His jaw drops as he sees several black jugs of liquor, a books with poorly sewn on covers, a bottle of liquid fire (peppers), some makeup, Mo Xuanyu's mask, some well put together books, some treasure, and a few other things that were very 'non-Lan'. Jingyi picks up a small wrapped silk cloth and finds within it a white comb with beautiful silver and blue painted design and a little rabbit pair on it. Scrawled on a note under says, 'You'll never use this but I bet you keep it or my name isn't Wei Wuxian!'

Jingyi hands the card and the comb over to Yuan to see.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen nods, running over to the door to keep watch, though he keeps craning his head back and hissing 'what is it?' as Jingyi looks inside.

Yuan looks over Jingyi's shoulder with a little frown - some of it made sense to him, but why hide things like liquor alongside treasure? And books? Yuan was no stranger to hiding things you owned to protect them, but why would Hanguang Jun need to do it?

He takes the comb and reads the little note with a giggle, smiling softly at the painted rabbits.

"That's so sweet," he murmurs, carefully wrapping it again and passing it back to him, before looking over to Zizhen who looks about ready to come over himself.

"There's some liquor for some reason, some pornography-" he'd recognise those books anywhere even without looking inside "-a mask, some treasures, and a few other odds and ends. I don't know why he's hiding some of it."

"Liquor isn't allowed in Cloud Recesses."

"...why?" Yuan blinks.

[unlanylikebehavior]

"Forget the door! Get over here!" Jingyi calls. He can't even describe how interesting this is! Zizhen was not going to believe what they just discovered. "It's Mo Xuanyu's mask!"

His cheeks flush red at Yuan so casually mentioning the porn. He wasn't as naïve as a few of the disciples but he was a Lan boy, after all. Not only that but this was Hanguang Jun and Wei Wuxian's porn! No! No way was it Hanguang Jun's! He was sure the younger Jade never looked at this stuff. He couldn't. That.. oh he was getting lightheaded!

The question about the alcohol is also surprising. "All of this stuff is! Well.. not the.. mask?" Depending on what was in those books, pretty much everything else was. The liquor, the porn, the comb was too expensive and showy for something here in Cloud Recesses- not that Lan Wangji wore combs, the treasure was excessive and should be given to the poor and there was no good reason to have makeup that he could think of. "It's one of our disciplines. We're supposed to be focused on cultivation and peace here. Alcohol can affect our qi and cause disorderly conduct."

[notaturnip]

"Isn't that half the fun?" Yuan murmurs quietly, causing Zizhen to snort - the Ouyang boy has joined them now and is staring down at the stash with wide eyes.

"We should close this, pretend we haven't seen it." Zizhen says, but of course he doesn't move to do anything of the sort, in fact he reaches down and picks up one of the books, flicking it open to a random page. He thought it might have been the pornography - it is not. He gasps.

"This is... these are Wei Wuxian's books," he says, looking up at Jingyi, his voice dropping to a whisper "This is demonic cultivation."

[unlanylikebehavior]

Jingyi smirks and snickers. "Well.. yes, but.. I don't know how things are going to be handled with you. I'm guessing the rules will be different given who your parents are, but if we misbehave the punishment isn't worth it. I have a couple scars on my back from the discipline rods for an indiscretion a few years ago."

He looks at Zizhen. "Because I disobeyed and fought with you and Jin Ling at the Burial Mounds? Lan Qiren was furious with how I conducted myself there." He shrugs.

For someone just admitting to getting beat, he doesn't seem too upset about it and is easily distracted by Zizhen's discovery. "Whoa! I bet he would want to hide those from the rest of us."

He picks up a jar of scented oil and looks at it funny. "What do you suppose this is?" Yuan would know there tends to be a matching much smaller jar stashed near the bed.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen's head jerks up from the book at the news of his punishment, frowning deeply.

"You shouldn't have been punished for that," he says stubbornly "that was the right thing to do."

Jingyi might not be very upset about it, but Zizhen clearly is.

Yuan looks concerned - not just about the punishment, but also the casual way Jingyi brushes it off.

"We never got beatings from Madame if we misbehaved... she wouldn't want to punish us any way that left marks," he admits "I do have a scar from- never mind."

He probably shouldn't talk about any of that, even with these two, he shouldn't remind them of where he came from, he thinks.

And then immediately glances at the oil and says, without thinking, "It's for lubrication."

Zizhen, who has read a few books of his own, immediately gets what he means and blushes - he might not be a Lan disciple, but he's still a well behaved young master.

[unlanylikebehavior]

"I know. It's okay." It was the right thing to do and Jingyi had accepted the punishment like a Lan! It was one of the only times he'd acted like one too. He'd followed Wen Ning and fought bravely with the other juniors! If it meant he lost some of Lan Qiren's approval and had to earn a few scars well.. that's what what he had to do. It would've been really nice to have another Lan disciple there to help him though. It was once everything was over, he discovered how much approval he'd gained from Hanguang Jun for the act. He'd practically been adopted for it.

"From what?" He asks Yuan concerned.

The explanation of the oil almost goes over Jingyi's head but a glance in Zizhen's direction fills in the blanks for him. He turns a dark shade of red and glances toward the couple's bed. "Oh!" He puts it back quickly. That apparently was too much for him as Jingyi starts putting everything back to hide it again.

[notaturnip]

Zizhen doesn't voice it, but he thinks that some Lans (Lan Qiren) focus too much on all their stupid rules and forget that the Lan words call for righteousness, and he personally thinks that Jingyi has that in spades - especially when he's willing to break the rules to stand up for what he believes in.

He might be a little bit biased, though, he does have nothing but admiration for Jingyi.

"I..." Yuan shrugs, looking down as he helps pack the things back into the little hiding place. He clears his throat awkwardly "I had a client who got a little over-zealous with a whip."

Only one of the marks on his back had scarred, but he hadn't been able to see another client for nearly two weeks after that.

[unlanylikebehavior]

Jingyi, who was normally so cavalier about things, was having trouble meeting Zizhen's gaze. He said it was fine, but at the time it had hurt his spirit more than anyone had a right to know. Fortunately, between Jingyi's experience and Hanguang Jun's, Lan Zhan now mostly gave punishments involving copying books, the precepts, chores, kneeling, and endurance discipline (like holding up planks while kneeling). Those were the more extreme cases though.

"Aww, Yuan!" Jingyi laments, putting a hand lightly on his shoulder. He wonders if Yuan remembers who it is. If so, he bets if he even implies the man did something bad to Yuan, Jin Ling would have the guy run through with a sword. However, they weren't going to mention that name for a while. "I'm sorry. I hate that you've had to live like that. You're such a sweet person and you didn't deserve to be treated like that."

[notaturnip]

"I had a roof over my head and food in my stomach. There are worse things." Yuan says pragmatically - he didn't always believe that. Sometimes when he had his worse clients (like Xiaowen), he wondered if maybe it would be better to still be on the streets, but there was something to be said for knowing when his next meal was coming from.

"There are better things, too, and you deserve them all," Zizhen says firmly "Jingyi's right. You didn't deserve that. I'm glad your fathers have found you and you get to stay here now, you're going to love it."

Yuan smiles gratefully at both of them.

"Thank you. I couldn't have asked for better friends to help me with this."

[unlanylikebehavior]

Jingyi glances down at Yuan's reasoning. It is so simple but it slays him. He's the second son of one of the wealthiest family in Gusu and part of a very powerful clan. Things like a roof over his head and food in his belly have never been concerns for more than a couple hours on the rarest and most temporary of occasions. He wonders what it would be like to live in a world where he be at the mercy of a whip and angry, disgusting men to survive?

He fortunately starts paying attention again right when he hears he was right about something and then Yuan being sweet. He smiles at Yuan, heartfelt, but as he does, he suddenly recalls how Jin Ling had been hiding so much behind a smile too. Well, okay, maybe not a smile in Lingy-Boy's case, but he'd convinced Zizhen and Jingyi everything was normal for so long! In a way, hadn't he been at the mercy of some angry, disgusting man as well?

he feels his heart clench painfully in his chest. Before he knows it he's telling his friends he needs some air and dashes outside.

He nearly collides with the wooden archway that leads to the Jingshi from the other buildings as he grabs it for balance. He hugs it and cries! It was like A-Qing all over again!

[notaturnip]

Both boys startle when Jingyi suddenly rushes outside and Zizhen looks after him, stuck with indecision.

"Go after him." Yuan says softly, giving him a gentle, encouraging nudge and moving to finish putting away everything they'd found and cover up that they'd looked at all.

"Are you-" Zizhen starts, but Yuan interrupts him, a little firmer but still kind.

"Go."

Zizhen nods and rushes out, coming to an abrupt stop when he finds Jingyi sobbing just outside.

"A-Yi," he says gently, the name slipping out before he can stop it "it's okay, I'm here."

[unlanylikebehavior]

"It's not fair!" He whimpers, letting go of the wood when Zizhen gets close only to switch to wrapping his arm around his friend's abdomen instead. He buries his face in his chest. "H- he's so sweet! If Ling ha-hadn't done something so utterly stupid.." He dissolves into too many tears to talk for a couple minutes.

"We always think he's so strong.. but do you realize that Yuan.. Yuan's probably the first person to ever be like that with him? To be soft with him?" He looks up, face red and swollen with tears. "We almost lost him and it's because I'm always such a dick to him! He didn't feel like he could tell us! And now we're both here with Yuan and who's with Ling?! Again?!"

[notaturnip]

Zizhen lets Jingyi cling to him, wrapping his arms around his friend and just holding him, waiting for the words to come. It takes him a little bit of time for understanding to dawn.

"It's not your fault, A-yi," he says, and he means it, but he can't help but wonder if they could have done more, if they could have found more ways to show Jin Ling he could trust them both. They were almost there, he thinks, at the wedding, but then they lost it, and it was too late anyway, and Jingyi and Yuan both got hurt.

"His uncle is with him, right? Wei-qianbei left to go after him, so he isn't alone. And- and when we've got Yuan settled in, I'll go visit him too, just to check up. We won't let anything like this happen again, I promise."