The meaning of protecting you with my life

Uncomfortable compromise

The next few days were uncomfortable for everyone to say at the least, especially for Lan Wangji. Although Wei Ying had promised his sister to be patient and focus on healing, it did not really take him too long to start complaining. He was recovering quickly now and he did not spend majority of his days sleeping anymore. It was getting steadily harder to keep him confided to his room, much less to the bed.

It was not that Wei Ying had been difficult to deal with, but he was complaining a lot and was he was bored too. Lan Wangji could understand; his husband was a free spirit who needed a lot of stimuli to keep himself occupied at all times now that he was feeling well again. He could also tell that even though Wei Ying refused to say anything, there were times when the resentful energy in his body which refused to be exorcised no matter how much Lan Wangji played Clarity for him started acting up.

The Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple would then become quieter but more restless at the same time. He would start pacing through the room and would look like a caged animal. Lan Wangji hated to see him like that. It was painful to watch. What was even worse was however that Wei Ying would pretend that nothing was wrong as soon as he noticed someone had been observing him with worried eyes or if they asked.

It really seemed like this compromise of a few days was doing him more harm than good. Wen Qing had said so herself when Lan Wangji consulted her, desperate to be advised some way to help his husband. She only told him to try and keep him busy which was easier said than done really, given that there was only so much they could do inside a single room. He at least tried to spend all his waking time with his husband to keep him company.

Also the members of the Yunmeng Jiang clan came to visit regularly. Whenever they would come, the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple immediately cheered up and would chat animatedly with them. He would however have a sad hidden edge inside his eyes which he was masterfully masking with a smile. Lan Wangji could see it though and his heart was breaking with the knowledge.

Curiously enough, no one else seemed to have noticed anything weird and they were even happy that Wei Ying was getting better. Then again, perhaps it was not all that surprising after all. They came only for short visits, no one aside for Lan Wangji himself would now spend all their time with Wei Ying. They were busy rebuilding the Yunmeng Jiang sect. The Second Jade did not blame them for that but he could tell that it saddened his husband deep down and wished he could do something about it.

He had tried to explain the situation to them but it did not work too well. He was lacking words to describe what exactly had been bugging him and the members of the Yunmeng Jiang clan were not his brother to be able to understand him with just a few words. Only Jiang Yanli had gotten somewhat concerned but she did not act on it in the end, saying that Wei Ying simply needed more time to recover.

Actually, the whole Yunmeng Jiang clan seemed to be walking on eggshells when it came to their interaction with Wei Ying. It was not that they did not care about him, they did, maybe even too much for their concerns to be comfortable. But they seemed strangely afraid to dig any deeper, as if there was some kind of an unsaid line that none of them, including Wei Ying himself, was willing to cross. From what Lan Wangji could see, they were not talking about what had happened at all. They just supposedly waited for things to go back to what they had been before the war.

He did not believe this was the right approach to go about this. Not that he could or should for that matter do anything about it though. He was not from the Yunmeng Jiang sect and he had no say in the way how they treated one of theirs. After all, they were clearly caring about Wei Ying very much. He was not the one who would reprimand them for that.

On the morning of the third day, Lan Wangji could not take it anymore. He positively hated seeing Wei Ying on the edge and sad like this. Wei Ying's smiles for him were now becoming scarce, though no less bright, as he was slowly spiralling into a place that Lan Wangji would not be able to reach sooner or later. So he decided to put an end to this torment.

Despite Jiang Yanli's previous insistence that Wei Ying stayed in his room and Wen Qing's less than tentative confirmation that his husband was healing properly – she still insisted that he should stay in bed and would frown every time she saw him outside of it though –, Lan Wangji acted on his own accord.

He had picked up a breakfast and headed to his husband's room. He had already asked a servant he had seen around if they could bring a table outside of Wei Ying's room. He decided they would have their meal in the courtyard. The place was not ideal but he wanted to let his husband see sun at last and enjoy some time outside. They would still be close enough to his room if he should feel too tired and the guards would also be able to keep an eyes on him just like before.

It would not be enough, he knew, but it was a kind of a compromise. Un uncomfortable one, but still something he was sure Wei Ying would enjoy.

When he came into the room and invited his husband outside, Wei Ying looked at him with a curious and slightly pained expression.

"Lan Zhan, you know what Shijie said. I need to stay here for now."

Lan Wangji shook his head vehemently. He could see that his husband wanted to take him up on his offer but for some reason, he hesitated because of his sister's words. The Second Jade was adamant to make Wei Ying feel better so he was ready to argue with Jiang Yanli if need be. Not that he really thought any true argument would erupt even if the said sister learned about Wei Ying's short stay outside of his room. Lan Wangji could tell that she loved her brother too much to deny him anything he enjoyed for too long.

"Wei Ying, it will be fine. I want to have breakfast with you out in the sun. Do you not want to come?"

His husband still looked reluctant but that expression was quickly overridden with longing and then eagerness when Lan Wangji opened the door for him and Wei Ying could see the sunny courtyard. He still stood in place however. The Second Jade was at a loss what to do to convince him that he did not have to torment himself and stay only inside.

Luckily, it was one of the Yunmeng Jiang sect disciples who had been guarding the room who left his post by the door and came into view. She was smiling and when Wei Ying saw her, he returned the greeting earnestly, it was clear that he knew her and liked her.

"Senior Martial Brother, please come to the courtyard, we have set the table for you. If you are feeling good enough, you should enjoy the sun for a while." Then she winked at Wei Ying and there was a little mischievous glint in her eyes, her smile remained gentle though. "Do not worry, we will not tell this to anyone, it is not like we are guarding you because you are under house arrest."

Those words made Lan Wangji frown minutely. He did not even know why but they were very unsettling. He let go of that thought the next second though because Wei Ying shot a blinding smile in the Yunmeng Jiang sect disciple's way and then hurried outside.

He first greeted both disciples and talked with them for a minute, immediately spreading a joyful atmosphere all around. Then the disciples ushered him towards the table for him to start eating while the foot was still hot. The breakfast itself was a short but enjoyable experience and it was over before Lan Wangji even noticed.

Wei Ying had gradually relaxed and now he was leaning back on his elbows, his legs spread in front of him and his face turned up to the sunny sky. He was clearly happy to be outside and Lan Wangji wanted for him to never be confined again. From now on, they would eat outside unless the weather made it impossible.