this changes everything. ⟲ wangxian

40. The Red Bride

At different times,
we each played separate
fools.
But love became
our pride,
when once we'd seen
the other side—

Every highway led me back to you.

A ripple of murmurs makes its way across the crowd of startled guests. Some people turn hesitantly toward the entrance—searching for the source of the disturbance. They find the Yiling Patriarch standing in the center of the marble archway, the slope resembling a dramatic overturned horseshoe. When Ah Xian finally dares to look up from the floor, sprinkled with red flower petals, Lan Zhan is staring at him, eyes wide and haunted with a million emotions at once. Surprise, bewilderment, fear, longing.

For a long moment, silence pertains in the Great Hall. The murmurs of the crowds have risen to restless and accusatory chatter.

"...Wei Ying." Lan Zhan. Wearing a billowing matrimonial gown, swaths of deep ruby silk perfectly encircling his broad chest, slim wrists, accentuating shadows which hang below his wide eyes like nightmares. "What are you..."

Before Lan Zhan can say more, a stout man in emerald robes has staggered to his feet, whirling to face Ah Xian. Gu Liban's face is aflame with rage.

"Wei Wuxian. You dare show your face here?" The Gu Clan Leader yells. "After everything—my daughter's wedding—guards!" He points a sharpened fingernail. "Arrest him!"

Lan and Gu Clan soldiers begin to surge forward, closing in on Ah Xian. But then a hand draws calmly into the air, stopping the soldiers abruptly—Xichen.

"Now, now, Liban," says Xichen monotonously. "There is no need to be brash. I am sure there is a perfectly logical reason for Master Wei's presence at the union of the Yujing Gu Clan and Gusu Lan Clan. Despite the absence of an invitation... Master Wei. Would you care to explain to everyone why you have interrupted us today?"

The Lan Clan Advisor can fool his student disciples with that stony serenity—eyes hardened to expressionless crisps, lips carved into the ghost of a smile, neutral. He can fool Gu Liban, Jiang Cheng, even Lan Zhan with this face.

But not Ah Xian.

"Cut the crap, Xichen. You know, it's funny! I can't even really see if you're panicking or not. I can never see behind that bewitched expression of yours, Lan Xichen. Are you really so calm, believing you've won? Or are you actually scared shitless I'll reveal the secret—between you and Gu Meiyou!"

The words echo across the grounds.

As far as Ah Xian can see, Xichen's eyes sharpen. But nothing else. "Master Wei, you are mistaken. The only secret I have ever shared with Lady Gu regards tending to His Excellency's health."

"That's bull-f*cking-shit!" It tears out of the Yiling Patriarch before he can restrain it. The crowds gasp. "You're a f*cking liar, that's what you are! And a fraud! Both of you!"

"Master Wei, I'm afraid this is unacceptable. You will leave now, or be punished for trespassing, defamation, and false accusations."

Ah Xian finds Lan Zhan's eyes again in the sea of enraged faces. Lan Zhan. It seems that he hasn't torn his gaze away since the moment Ah Xian emerged in the doorway. An unfathomable emotion swells in the dark-robed man's heart.

"Lan Zhan. He is lying to you," Ah Xian's voice softens to match the gentle pleading in his eyes. "Both of them. Gu Meiyou conspired with your brother, to take you away from me."

"Lies!" This sob comes from the bride herself. Embellished in matching ruby robes to Lan Zhan, an array of gold ornamentation across her outfit produces the effect of ocean sparkles. Her attire is truly breathtaking. Her expression, tearful and innocent. But her spirit... is curdled with ugliness. "How dare you accuse me... of such a thing... just because you're jealous."

"No. Brother Wei is telling the truth!"

A hundred heads whip around to face the enormous marble archway. Three more faces appear in the pavilion's entrance, robes winded, long hairs uncouth.

Lan Zhan's eyes fall on the junior cultivators. That frown of his beads deeper and deeper across his brows. "What... Ah Yuan, and Jingyi. Jin Ling."

"Zewu Jun and Lady Gu... it's true... they framed Brother Wei for sexual assault, even though he didn't do it!" cries Ah Yuan.

"And then they changed Master Wei's sexual orientation!" blurts Jingyi.

There are gasps and cries of confusion.

Liban leaps to his feet, "You little devils. How dare you spread lies about my Meiyou. She would never do such a thing!"

"Master Wei," begins Xichen. To Ah Xian's pleasure, the Advisor's neck and ears creep with colour. "I don't know what lies you have told these children—"

"But they're not lies. We have proof!" says Jin Ling. He rummages his pockets, pulls out a crumpled piece of paper, unfolds it, and brandishes it in the air for everyone to see. The ripped top half of a magenta-coloured talisman. Its disfigure may stop it from being recognisable to a specific spell, to many people. But Ah Xian knows it instantly. His eyes widen.

That is what the juniors went to get.

"This was found attached to Brother Wei's hanfu on the night of the assault! Isn't that right, Dr. Liu?"

The doctor is sitting meekly in the middle of the audience. His face goes bright red when guests turn their heads towards him. He clears his throat, "Well, yes... it's true, there was a pink talisman—torn in half—on Master Wei, that day... but I'm not sure if that's the one—"

"That hardly proves anything," hisses Xichen.

"Maybe. But if you compare it to this..." Jingyi slips out the torn bottom half of a second talisman, of the exact same shade of magenta. He fixes the pieces together.

The volume of the crowd's murmurs increase. Liban's scowl has vanished, replaced with puzzlement.

"What is this?" barks Ah Cheng, brows furrowed. Searching Ah Xian's eyes. The convicted only smiles sadly at his brother.

"Clan Leader Jiang. To answer your question, this was a control talisman from the Rose District!" Ah Yuan's voice rings into the air. "Shipments of talismans from the Rose District aren't common. In fact, the only Clan with a direct alliance with the Rose District is the Yujing Gu Clan."

"Are you accusing me?"

"Certainly not, Gu Clan Leader. We wouldn't dare. However..." Ah Yuan snaps his attention to the red bride. "...we have considered the situation carefully. Control talismans are only effective within a ten feet radius. And the only person within a ten feet radius of Master Wei at the time—who could have access to a Rose District control talisman—is Lady Gu herself."

Liban exchanges conflicted glances with his remaining daughters, all whose faces are increasingly crestfallen behind their emerald-green fans. The youngest is openly weeping.

Lan Zhan is staring hard at Meiyou, "Meiyou. Explain yourself."

"Wangji, you can't believe them," Fat tears stream down her cheeks, leaving grotesque black scars in the wake of ruined makeup. "Wangji—Father! They lie. Baiqian saw what happened with her own eyes... Ask her; she will speak the truth!"

"She will only speak what you paid her to."