An Almost Lan

Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for reading, voting and commenting. You really motivate me to continue writing.

Thanks to @CALActorsTypist on Twitter for editing this.

Yu Ziyuan stared at her silently. She opened her mouth trying to say something, but no sound came out of it. She blinked, then she tried to speak again, failing to do that for a second time.

"I beg your pardon," Yu Ziyuan said, "I think you said I'm marrying Lan Qiren." This must be some kind of joke, she thought.

"Because you are," A-Lian said, "marrying him I mean," she clarified.

"Lan Qiren? The Lan Qiren? From those Lans?" she really thought she had misunderstood her friend.

"If you are talking about that  Lan family, the family that seems to have more money than God, yes he's one of them, the acting head of the family to be exact," Madam Jin stated.

"Lan Qiren, the most prude man in the universe, that one?" Madam Yu still couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Come on Ziyuan! He's not a prude, he's righteous and there is a fucking difference. That's why he's just perfect for you," Madam Jin explained to her in a patronizing tone.

"What exactly makes him perfect for me?" Yu Ziyan asked, incredulous.

"Really Ziyuan? Okay, if you marry any other man on the planet less than two years after Jiang Fengmiang's death you would be called an adulteress, never to your face of course, because nobody would believe you were not sleeping with him before your husband passed away, but..." she stopped briefly to breathe and to let her words sink on her friend's mind, "nobody would ever think you cheated on your late husband with Lan Qiren. Because, well he's Lan Qiren so that's just impossible therefore your reputation is completely safe. Sure, the polite society will raise their eyebrows at the news, but their mouths will be shut because nobody will cross the Lan family. "

"But..." she tried to refute her friend's reasoning.

"No buts, his righteousness is just perfect," Madam Jin countered, "besides he's a Lan. He would make Wen Rouhan run for the hills while pissing in his pants. In terms of money and business there is no one better than him and the Lan army of elders slash financial advisors. He manages the Lan family fortune for God's sake! Even my scumbag husband won't mess with him. Ever. See? He's perfect!"

"What about my kids?" Madam Yu dared to ask, looking for a loophole in her friend's reasoning.

"What about them, Ziyuan? He will protect them, of course. Don't forget he's raising his nephews by himself. I think that might be one of the reasons for him to go ahead with the marriage. He needs help with those kids," Madam Jin explained.

"Help? Why? I have heard they are as close to perfection as a human being can be," Yu Ziyuan all but spat these words. Lan Qiren's nephews were celebrated for their virtues. They were even called the Jades of Lan, and Yu Ziyuan wouldn't confess it, but she was a little bit envious of the Lans for having such perfect children.

"And that's exactly the problem. Every child needs to eat chocolate and smear their faces with mud once in a while. Such paragons are unnatural. I think he worries about it," she verbalized her thoughts about Lan Qiren's possible misgivings regarding his nephews.

"You said the kids might be a factor in his decision, what else could motivate him to accept this marriage?" Madam Yu inquired, genuinely interested in her friend's response.

"Well, it's obvious there is something else in it for him," A-Lian said with a smirk on her face.

"I don't follow you," Yu Ziyuan asked, nonplussed.