Beautiful (Between a rock and a hard place 2)

Chapter 16

The trip to the dining hall was quick and uneventful. On his way, Lan Wangji saw more disciples and servants than in the morning, but luckily none of them approached him. He did not know what kind of expression he had on his face, he could only hope that it was his usual expressionless mask and that no one would see anything out of the ordinary.

In the dining hall however, he run straight to Lan Xichen. He scowled minutely, displeased with the interruption of his errand but he still bowed politely and waited for his brother to tell him what he wanted. It was clear that Lan Xichen came to talk with him and it would only raise unwanted suspicion if Lan Wangji refused or would seem like he was in too much hurry. So he controlled his expression even more meticulously and hoped this would be over soon.

"Wangji," started Lan Xichen and the Second Jade could hear worry from his voice, "I heard that Young Master Wei had fallen ill again and that you are taking care of him. I hope it is not something serious. Have you taken him to the infirmary?"

And here it was, this was the moment Lan Wangji had been fearing the most. He would have to actually lie to his brother, or at least not tell him the whole truth. He was pretty sure that Lan Xichen would not understand his urge to protect Wei Ying in the way he had just done so. It was now hard for Lan Wangji to put his trust in his sibling anymore as he had refused to help Wei Ying when the Second Jade had begged him to.

He tried his best to not sound annoyed and he replied shortly: "Wei Ying's qi is disturbed." That was not a lie; he was certain that it would be after what the younger boy had just gone through. "He needs calm to rest." That was also something which he could say with a clear conscience, he was not lying. Wei Ying had spent the whole day sleeping so it must have been true that he needed his rest. "I will play music to him until he recovers." That was also not a lie as per say, he would of course play for his beloved, only it would not be healing music as Lan Xichen had probably assumed. He already had his own composition he wanted dearly for Wei Ying to hear now that their feelings were mutual.

Lan Xichen's face grew more concerned with each of Lan Wangji's statements. When it became clear to him that his brother would not add anything more, he nodded his head, visibly trying to remain calm himself.

"I see; still, I hope it is nothing too serious. It would not be good if Young Master Wei became ill because of his time in the Cloud Recesses. What would his guardians say? He is after all the adoptive son of the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader and his wife. It would not be good for the Gusu Lan sect if anything happened to him during the guest lectures. We have been entrusted with his wellbeing so we need to prove ourselves as good hosts. Please take good care of him Wangji. And if his state should worsen, please do not hesitate to call upon healers to check on him."

Once again, Lan Wangji was disappointed in his brother. It seemed like Lan Xichen cared more about the Gusu Lan sect's reputation than about Wei Ying's health. He however swallowed his anger and put it deep inside. It was perhaps good that he now had an explicit permission to keep his beloved by his side and hidden in the Jingshi. He would not complain about that at least. The rest, he would not really mind as long as it let him do what he wanted.

He had initially thought that he could perhaps tell his brother about Jiang Wanyin's abusive ways and have the Yunmeng Jiang sect heir punished accordingly. It was tempting really. There was just one problem, well two as per say. First, he would probably not be able to have Wei Ying to himself anymore.

And second, he had no more faith that his brother would be standing strong and would be able to protect Wei Ying. With his last words, Lan Wangji had grown suspicious that he would just not want to anger the Yunmeng Jiang sect and would instead disregard Wei Ying's pain in favour of retaining good relationship with them. After all, it surely sounded safer to just quietly put the whole affair away and had Wei Ying sent back to Lotus Pier in secret. Lan Wangji had heard enough rumours to understand that his beloved's status was not one of the son of the sect leader but a servant of the sect leader's family.

And so his lips remained sealed and he did not denounce Jiang Wanyin's behaviour despite having solid proof now. He could still change his mind in the future when Wei Ying would want to seek justice. Nevertheless, it could wait for now. The Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple should be given time to recover first, Lan Wangji would not force him to rush into things when his heart was this vulnerable.

Lan Xichen was still looking at him, apparently expecting a reply to his words. Lan Wangji did not know if he would be able to keep his voice steady enough to not let his brother suspect anything so he only nodded his head. Lan Xichen seemed satisfied with that.

"Good. I am glad you understand, Wangji. Please let me know if you need anything. I will speak to Uncle and let him know that you and Young Master Wei would be absent from the guest lectures for the foreseeable future. Please come to report to me about Young Master Wei's progress. It would not do if anyone started asking and we did not have an answer already prepared."

Another nod of Lan Wangji's head seemed to have been enough to reassure Lan Xichen and the First Jade left his brother alone to go fetch the food.

He could only get the usual Gusu Lan sect cuisine today as there were no spices available when he asked. He had wanted to bring Wei Ying something he would truly appreciate and like but he was out of luck for the day. Although he would definitely ask someone to go to town tomorrow and buy chilli oil for his beloved's meals. It was against the rules to overindulge oneself but Lan Wangji would do anything for Wei Ying, what was one broken rule, or ten, or even all of them.

With a selection of steaming dishes on a tray, he quickly made his way back to the Jingshi. He was excited as he was about to see his beloved again. It had not even taken him fifteen minutes and he was already missing him. He wondered whether he would even be able to do his duties again and leave Wei Ying alone for any longer period of time. He was extremely nervous as well because he could not know if his loved one was still safe and sound.

There were many possibilities things could go wrong. With Jiang Wanyin still in the Cloud Recesses, the Yunmeng Jiang sect heir could seek Wei Ying out and try to snatch him for himself again. Lan Wangji had seen how furious he had been when his brother had been taken from him. There was a very real possibility that he would want to either take Wei Ying away or exact some kind of revenge on Lan Wangji or his brother, or possibly both of them. After all, Jiang Wanyin had always struck him as a particularly petty person who would hold onto grudges for a long time. He would have to do something about that as well in the near future.

Not right now however, now was time to have Wei Ying eat something and to see how much it had hurt him to be assaulted so cruelly by his own brother. Lan Wangji would do all he could to help him overcome all obstacles, he wanted to have his Wei Ying smile at him just as beautifully and breathtakingly as before all of this.