✧𝔻𝔼𝕍𝕆𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ~ 𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃~✧

✧ Wen Ning- Enemy of my Enemy ✧

A/N- That fanart is so cute yet also makes me so sad. Poor baby sitting alone and looking scared... I love Wen Ning so much that it hurts me to see him scared. Please be okay...

AS A HIGH-RANKED member in the Jin clan, you knew all about the murder of Young Master Zixuan. It was so tragic, especially since he had a one month old son to take care of. Now his poor wife, Jiang Yanli, was suffering through the challenging task of raising a son alone while also seeking time alone to mourn her husband's death.

When you heard Master Guangshan's edict that declared that all the Wen clan would be punished for the murderer, Wen Ning's, mistake, you were appalled. Although you felt great hatred towards the killer of your young master, you also knew that Wen Ning was nothing but a puppet. As brutal as it was, he could be ordered around by his master, Wei Wuxian, at will, and it had been an order from Wuxian that had killed his brother-in-law. So not only was it not Wen Ning's fault, but his entire family was being punished for it, which was nothing more than pointless murder.

Because of your opposing views to their execution, you did not go to see the Wen clan be murdered. You stayed in your rooms, praying for their departed souls and also praying for those who killed them, that they would feel remorse. But you already knew that Jin Guangshan never felt remorse for anything he did. And he had committed some truly egregious acts. It was only his inflated ego and harsh punishments that kept him from being dethroned. But you had a great desire to dethrone him after this pointless murder.

All of this culminated into murderous desire when you heard that Wen Ning hadn't died, so he had been placed in the prison for life and was being tortured. You also heard whispers of throwing him into the dungeon and allowing him to rot there without food, which terrified you. The poor young man was probably suffering so much. You wished you could do something to help him. And then you realized you could.

You went to the doctors of the Jin clan and asked for pain relief herbs, claiming that your knees had been aching due to the rainy weather. They gave you the herbs without question, knowing you to be a good person. You then went to the prison with the herbs, ready to begin the tumultuous and challenging process of getting Wen Ning to trust you.

You were shocked when you saw what had happened to the poor young Wen man. His snow white skin had been cut into and was covered in dark blood, which freely flowed from the many dark veins that were exposed underneath his skin. Since he hadn't been fed, it looked as if his spinal cord was going to tear out from under his skin. The soles of his bare feet were being eaten by rats, and dried blood was taking the place of the disappeared skin. His dark eyes were rapidly looking all around the room, and he was murmuring unintelligible words under his breath while rocking his emaciated body up and down. He had clearly been broken in a way that looked beyond repairing, but when there was a will, there was a way.

You opened the door of the cell and closed it behind you, opening a scroll you had brought and placing it on your lap so that it would look like you were simply interrogating a prisoner if anyone came to bother you. Then you opened up the bag of herbs and held them out in your hand. You quickly realized that he was in his own world, and that he didn't notice you. The only way that you knew to break him out of it was to yell at him. But what if that triggered something in him? You had to try...

"Wen Qionglin!" you yelled at the top of your lungs. "I need to talk to you!"

He shook his head violently and began to sob, pulling his long beautiful black hair out and wailing in pain. You held the herbs to his mouth and said, "Take these herbs right now, Qionglin!"

"J-jie-jie-jiejie-" he gasped, calling for his dead older sister. "H-h-help m-me!"

"Wen Ning," you whispered, choosing a more gentle way to interact with him. "Wen Ning, do you want your pain to end?"

He breathed in and out shakily, then met your eyes with his tear-filled brown ones. He was confused about your motives behind helping him. You were wearing a Jin robe, and the Jin clan had killed his family, but the gentle smile on your face and your kind voice showed him that you were really trying to help him. But why would you, a high ranking Jin member (based upon the richness of your clothes) want to help him?

He hesitated for a moment, then reached out with his hands, which were now constantly shaking in fear, and took the herbs from your hands. Without thinking, he put them in his mouth, and winced at the bitter taste. Was he not supposed to do that? His jiejie had always given him medicine. Without her, he didn't even know how to take medicinal tea. He didn't feel comfortable taking medicines unless his jiejie assured that they were okay. And now that she was gone...

"Tastes bitter, right?"

The voice of the friendly Jin clan member rang out in his ears, driving out all thoughts of his jiejie from it. As a puppet, Wen Ning had a small mind, almost constantly filled with trivial  thoughts. He had to focus on something seriously if he was to glean anything from it. And right now, you were going to teach him how to take this medicine, which was something he knew he needed to know. So he focused.

"You're not supposed to eat it. That's why it tastes so bad. Crush it and put it on your wounds. Like so."

She took some of the herbs back and crushed them, releasing a minty scent into the air. When she had crushed them into small pieces, she smeared the goop all over Wen Ning's injured face. He cried out when the cold feeling herbs touched his skin, but they brought almost instant relief, so he learned to appreciate the cold feeling that ran down his body when it came the other times he applied the herbs.

When he was done applying the herbs, you smiled at him and said, "Good job, Wen Ning!" The way you spoke and acted reminded him of Wei Wuxian. Young Master Wei... the poor man was probably suffering so much at the moment. Even though it wasn't his fault, Wen Ning felt like he should be punished for this. So he punished himself, digging his wrists into his rusty shackles until they bled.

"Wen Ning!"

No... he had made the friendly Jin angry! That wasn't good, not good at all! When the Jin clan was made angry, he would be beaten. He had to run! He had to get back to his jiejie. She would protect him.

But his jiejie was dead. He had watched her get touched improperly by the men, ridiculed by the women, and then beaten to death. So he knew that she was dead. But if she was dead, who would comfort him? Thinking too much of this hurt, so he brought his chin down to his chest and cried instead. He had been doing a lot of crying lately.

You watched silently as he cried, knowing you would have to leave soon, leave this poor suffering man by himself. What could you say to comfort him? What could you do to help him?

Finally, you decided against saying anything. You simply got up and left, knowing how much it would hurt Wen Ning, but knowing you could do nothing about it. But you knew someone who could.

A/N- Another one shot will be part two to this storyline and finish it off. I hope you enjoyed this one, though. See you later!