The meaning of protecting you with my life

Too shocked for words

Jiang Cheng was tired. He had just finished with the sect leader duties for the day and finally had enough time to go check on Wei Wuxian. For some reason, he realized that the duties of a sect leader were somehow harder to do in the time of peace, or at least in something resembling peace since there were still threats and intrigues to take care of, but it was not war anymore and that had to count.

During the Sunshot campaign, he simply dealt with everything as it came and focused on rebuilding the sect while fighting on a battlefield. Now however, there was no more fighting and the common citizens started to go back to their lives. And that brought with it also the change of their behaviour. Where they had laid low and just tried to survive before, they were now requesting assistance for everything they could not deal with, from help with rebuilding their homes to support for their starving families to night hunting monsters and walking corpses.

He understood them, he really did and wanted to help them, there were simply too many requests to go through. He could not just send all his disciples out, he had to plan ahead and put everything together so that there would be a sufficient number of people still protecting Lotus Pier and watching over his brother. It was not easy; but now, he had his father there with him and they were spending a lot of time together, he was finally learning how to run the sect properly.

It was good that they had managed to find their way to each other at last, Jiang Cheng was very happy to finally have his father's approval and guidance. However, at the same time, it felt too stuffy and too like they were both walking on eggshells. They did not know how to approach each other and more than once, it would end up in an awkward silence. Nevertheless, it was still better than before when his father barely spoke to him and if he did, it was to correct him, not to encourage him.

Jiang Cheng's hurried steps brought him to the door of his brother's door. He stopped in front of it minutely, taking a deep breath before knocking quietly. He had learned the hard way that when Lan Wangji was the one in Wei Wuxian's room, things could get really awkward. One intrusion on the Second Jade sitting by Wei Wuxian's side and holding his hand while whispering he loved him was enough for Jiang Cheng to learn his lesson.

He did not even dream to discourage Lan Wangji from taking care or his brother or from loving him in the way that Wei Wuxian did not seem to love or value himself. His brother needed this, he needed people to take care of him so he would not act recklessly. Even when Jiang Cheng did not like to see the Second Jade in this kind of position and situation, he just sucked it up and started approaching the room more cautiously. Perhaps it would do Wei Wuxian some good to find out that there was someone madly in love with him, it would serve him right.

Suddenly, he heard a quiet sob from inside the room and he did not hesitate to open the door anymore. To hell with propriety, if Lan Wangji was the one crying, he would just look away politely, but if it was someone else, he had to know what had happened.

Sure enough, it was not the Second Jade. Jiang Cheng saw that Jiang Yanli was sitting by Wei Wuxian's side, clutching one of his hands in her own and caressing his hair with the other. Jiang Cheng was alarmed at once. It was very unusual to see his sister cry, not anymore anyway, she seemed to have become stronger, just as the rest of them, only in a different manner.

He quickly closed the distance between them and joined his sister at their brother's bed. One look at Wei Wuxian's face had told him what was wrong. His brother's head seemed to have been in a slightly different position than all the previous times he had visited. Unless it had been Jiang Yanli who had moved it, it could only mean one thing, Wei Wuxian had woken up. At least for a moment because his eyes were still closed just like before.

What struck Jiang Cheng however was seeing tears on his brother's cheeks. They could not have been Jiang Yanli's since they were forming two small rivers streaming from his eyes and into his hairline. His sister had done nothing to wipe them away, she only continued to silently cry and pat Wei Wuxian's hair. It looked like she had even yet to notice Jiang Cheng's presence.

The Yunmeng Jiang sect leader was wondering what had happened and more importantly, why was Wei Wuxian crying. He wanted to ask but no words left his mouth, he was too distressed for that.

He did not know how long he just stood there like that, watching his siblings' tears fall until he hesitantly reached out and gently squeezed Jiang Yanli's shoulder to let her know that he was there. His sister finally acknowledged him and turned around abruptly to see who was there. She let out an audible sigh when she realized it was just her brother.

Jiang Cheng could still not say anything but he did not need to, his sister was already talking: "Ah, A-Cheng, I did not know you were coming this early." There was a short awkward pause during which Jiang Yanli discreetly wiped away her tears and made a visible effort to smile. "A-Xian had just woken up for a minute. I was too happy and I started to cry. I think he is finally coming back to us. We should probably call for Wen Qing to check up on him, just in case."

Jiang Cheng nodded, happy to hear that his brother was perhaps finally waking up. That however did not explain the tears on neither of his siblings' faces. He rose an eyebrow to prompt Jiang Yanli to tell him more. Just to make sure that she understood his question, he shot a look at Wei Wuxian. His brother was now looking like he was sleeping again but the sight of tears on his cheeks was very disturbing and worrying. It was not something that Wei Wuxian would usually do.

Jiang Yanli seemed to have understood his unvoiced question and she shook her head. "I do not know why he is crying either. I think that he must have been overwhelmed. After all, he had been sleeping for three weeks now, I would expect him to be confused. And perhaps he was just happy that he had seen me as well."

Jiang Yanli stood up with one last look at her sleeping brother and took a deep breath, seemingly to calm herself down a bit. "A-Cheng, stay with A-Xian in case he wakes up again while I am gone. I am going to find Wen Qing."

Jiang Cheng wanted to tell his sister that there was no need to leave to look for the Dafan Wen clan doctor, she could just send someone to bring her. But he could tell she needed some time for herself right now and he would not deny her this. That was why he only nodded his head in acknowledgment and sat down by his brother's side.