Unruly (Between a rock and a hard place 4)

Chapter 3

Just as he had done that morning with the door to Lan Qiren's quarters, Lan Xichen was now impatiently and quite rudely banging on the door of the Jingshi. Truth to be told, Lan Qiren was getting somewhat uneasy himself as seconds went by and no one came to open them. Were Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian even inside? If not, where would they have to go to find them? He did not want to be running all around and searching for that mischievous menace of a guest disciple.

It seemed like Lan Xichen had the same concern, or maybe he had just come to a conclusion that no one was going to open the door even if he continued knocking. His voice a little bit strained and his posture even more so, he called to anyone who could be inside the Jingshi: ""Wangji, Young Master Wei, please pardon the intrusion, we are coming in."

Lan Xichen did not wait for any verbal invitation, it would have surely already come if those inside wanted to give it, and he opened the door. Lan Qiren watched his back disappear in a strangely dim Jingshi and he quickly followed.

Once he was inside, he almost run to his older nephew who stopped dead just a step into the room. Lan Qiren was immediately even more annoyed. What was Lan Xichen doing at a time like this? But then his eyes searched the room for any occupants and he immediately froze on the spot as well.

He had expected many things, they were talking about Wei Wuxian after all, but certainly not something like this. It seemed like the boy was not beneath doing just about anything to cause trouble and have his fun at the same time. Just like his mother had been once upon a time. The troublemaker and manipulator must have convinced Lan Wangji to cooperate with his idea. Was he perhaps even threatening him with something? Lan Qiren could not see any other explanation for what was in front of his eyes.

Had Wei Wuxian perhaps learned that Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen were coming and that was why he had wanted to play a tasteless prank on them? Or was he playing some sick game that Lan Qiren did not even want to think about? He could not tell and he did not want to think about this too long. All of this was extremely unbecoming of any respectful human being, not even talking about a cultivator who should be an example for common people.

The boy was laying on Lan Wangji's bed, completely naked and sticking his butt into the air. It almost looked like he was greeting them in an obscene way. And the worst of all, there was something stuck inside of it. Lan Qiren started immediately feeling lightheaded, he could not tell if it was because of his rage, or because he was alternating between having a heart attack and spitting out blood, most probably both of them at the same time.

How did the boy even dare to do something like this in the Cloud Recesses? And in the Jingshi, no less! How could have Lan Wangji allowed such a disgrace to be present in his personal quarters? Did he not care about his ancestors anymore? His mother must have been turning in her grave seeing this being exhibited in her former home.

But no, just as Lan Qiren had been fearing, Lan Wangji had not said anything against this because Wei Wuxian made him participate in this distasteful prank or game. His nephew was holding a bowl of congee from the dining hall and must have been forced to handfeed the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple as if he had been a child.

If that was not already too much, Wei Wuxian apparently wanted to shock them even more. He turned his face away and buried it into the pillow so his backside would be even higher and wriggled it around which nearly gave Lan Qiren a heart attack for real. He had to close his eyes and start counting his breaths when he noticed that there was something suspiciously similar to a Gusu Lan sect forehead ribbon tied around the boy's obscenely hard member.

Lan Qiren almost did not dare to open his eyes to check it again. He knew that one look at Lan Wangji's forehead could confirm or dissolve all his worries but he was just not strong enough. If his nephew had even agreed to lend his precious forehead ribbon for something like this, then Lan Qiren felt like Lan Wangji was lost forever. There was no amount of reformation which he could provide in that case.

His eyes still shot open only a second later when he heard rustling of robes as if someone was moving around very quickly. He did not want to look but he knew he had to take control of the situation before it would escalate even more.

Suddenly, Lan Wangji was standing in front of Wei Wuxian, clearly in an attempt at protecting and defending him. This really was too much for Lan Qiren. His heart was breaking seeing his nephew whom he had painstakingly brought up with his own hands to sink this low. It looked like Lan Wangji could no longer see what was right and what was wrong.

Lan Qiren heard Lan Xichen talking to his brother in a horrified and disappointed voice. This was soothing his heart at least a little bit. It seemed that his older nephew could still differentiate between what was right and permitted and what was not. At least he still had one of his boys who was not completely corrupted by Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji was lost forever it seemed.

"Wangji, how could you... I thought I have brought you up better than this..."

Lan Qiren's lungs had a hard time letting anything out as he was still concentrating on breathing slowly and deeply in order to not spit any blood. He closed his eyes again for a second and finally found both his voice and his usual resolve. If Lan Wangji was acting like this, there was no other way, even if Lan Qiren did not really want to punish his nephew this harshly.

He addressed the disciples who had come to the Jingshi with him and Lan Xichen: "Seize him and examine Wei Wuxian. Until his fate will be decided, Wangji is to be confided to seclusion in a separate building."

Although he did not believe that Wei Wuxian was ill in any way, or inconvenienced or under someone's influence, Jiang Fengmian still would want to know that Lan Qiren had not overlooked any possibilities of the boy not doing this out of his own free will. Lan Qiren knew that as an adoptive parent himself, one who loved his nephews, he also would have been sceptical to believe they had done something wrong unless he would have substantial proof. Luckily, there was abundance of it everywhere around, this would be Wei Wuxian's downfall.

He watched with sad, indifferent eyes how Lan Wangji started fighting the members of his own sect for someone like Wei Wuxian, it was too heart-breaking. He let Lan Xichen deal with everything as he saw fit, he could not take any more. Even if Lan Wangji would be pleading with them and explaining himself, there was nothing he could say in a situation like this. His fault was clear, and so was Wei Wuxian's.

With a heavy heart and feeling like he had suddenly aged by at least ten years in a span of mere minutes, Lan Qiren turned around and walked out of the Jingshi. He could not watch this anymore; it was too much for his heart. He needed some rest and then he would be able to deal with Wei Wuxian.

There was also another reason why he had to hurry back to his own rooms, a more shameful one that no one could ever learn about. One which was making it almost impossible for him to walk normally and pretend like nothing was happening.