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Summary: Lan Wangji breaks
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A loud bang brought Lan Zhan out of his miserable thoughts and he looked up to meet the piercing, disappointed, and furious eyes of his uncle, "Wangji!" Lan Qiren shouted, glaring.
Lan Zhan sighed lightly, his eyes swaying back down to the floor as he was yelled at, his brother standing by, "Do you regret your actions?!" Lan Qiren questioned, slapping the desk again.
Lan Zhan didn't answer, no.
Lan Xichen gulped, it pained his heart so much to be able to do nothing but stand by as his clearly already devastated brother was scolded.
"I didn't punish you when you broke into the forbidden library for I wish you'd self-reflect, but now you have gone to Qiongqi Road and let Wei Wuxian and his army go?!" He shouted, "You are making mistake after mistake!"
Lan Zhan refrained from gritting his teeth. He didn't need this, he was broken enough already.
He had just lost the man he loves, powerless to help, his soulmate had become the enemy of the cultivation world, and now, his uncle was once again scolding him.
No matter what he did, no matter how many time he changed himself, moulded himself to his uncle's image, he still wasn't enough.
"What is the fifty-second rule?!"
"No association with evil." Lan Zhan numbly replied, his tone worn and tired. After walking back drenched in the cold rain, paralysed to everything but his shattered heart, he for the first time just wanted to sleep forever, to hide from the world as his father did.
Lan Qiren scoffed, "Did you forget your father's mistake?!" He screamed and both twin jades flinched.
Lan Zhan gasped softly, "My mother was unconsent-"
"Silence!"
Lan Zhan bit his tongue hard, but no matter how hard his teeth clamped down his words ripped free, "No." He seethed, shocking his family into silence, "Uncle. What would you have had me do?" He asked, breath held, eyes sharp and glaring, his tone was no longer tired, it was angry.
Lan Qiren raged at his nephew's audacity, "Punish him!" He screamed.
And with that, Lan Zhan let his breath free with relief. If his own sect was as cruel and blind as this, then he was relieved.
Standing without permission, Lan Zhan glanced briefly at his frozen brother, noticing the confusion on his features as well as the crippling concern, before acting.
He avoided his uncle's eyes as he raised his hands to his head, freeing his hair from his large headpiece which he placed on his uncle's desk; followed by his money pouch, full of his clan's money, his forehead ribbon, and his Lan embroidered outer robes and everything else owned by Lan under the eyes of his family.
