Backlash Part 1

Chapter 11: The Infirmary

Wen Qing spent the walk back to the infirmary thinking through the coming events. If she could anticipate the ones Wei Wuxian would want to change she could start to try and come up with ideas. He would certainly want to save their family after the war. It wouldn't matter if she didn't ask him for help. He would never leave them to die. So they needed to either prevent people from wanting to target Wei Wuxian so they wouldn't cause problems when he saved them, or get one or more major sects involved in protecting them. She loved the idea of preventing anyone from targeting Wei Wuxian. She really wanted that to be a feasible option. Unfortunately it was probably unrealistic.

Wei Wuxian had gone to great lengths to both be very intimidating and very out of the way. He practically imprisoned himself for the sake of not aggravating the sects, but that had not stopped them from ambushing him and trying to kill him. She knew Wei Wuxian had tried talking before he aggressively took them away from Qiongqi Path. So just talking wasn't likely to be successful. Wen Qing's branch of the family was composed entirely of healers. She and Wen Qionglin were the only ones who had any training with swords, and neither of them had ever killed. This fact had not been enough to spare their lives, so what could she do differently?

Wen Qing frowned as she walked. She had not wanted to take an active role during the war, because she feared Wen Rouhan. She had feared his wrath and what he would do to her family. Of course that strategy had still resulted in her family's death, so perhaps that risky approach was the only option? She decided to make a note to herself to discuss options for what she or her family could do to ingratiate themselves to the major sects. If they could find a way to save their family without Wei Wuxian's intervention, then they might be able to avoid much of the horrible events that occurred after the war. Wei Wuxian would not have to offend the other sects in their defense or attack their guards. He would not have to turn Wen Qionglin into a fierce corpse that would terrify them. She wasn't really convinced that it would be enough, but if they could remove these excuses it should be much harder for them to justify attacking Wei Wuxian.

Wen Qing paused as she let out a deep sigh. She'd love to devise an elegant solution to this mess. She'd love to devote all of her time right now to finding one. Unfortunately, for her most of these problems were overshadowed by one big looming issue that was approaching much faster than the others. Lotus Pier. The Lotus Pier massacre was the most brutal of the attacks on the major sects. It was gruesome, and nearly ended the YunmengJiang Sect completely. Wei Wuxian would absolutely not be able to leave those events as is. It was also the events around the massacre that cost Wei Wuxian his golden core. Wen Qing was certainly not about to let that event continue unchanged. But she had an even more pressing concern than just the impending massacre.

Wei Wuxian had been away from Lotus Pier for a long time. Wen Qing knew he missed it terribly, but she also knew that Lotus Pier was no longer the same for him. He was haunted by what happened to it, and what happened to him. After everything that happened it seemed like he could never relax in Lotus Pier, or at least that was what it had sounded like from his descriptions. Wen Qing felt apprehensive about the idea of him returning to Lotus Pier without someone with him. Specifically someone who knew at least somewhat of what he was struggling with. Wen Qing would have been happy to go with, except that if she suddenly left without warning Wen Rouhan would certainly slaughter the rest of her family in retaliation. Right now there were very few people that she would be willing to trust with her didi. Even if Wei Wuxian might protest, the Jiang's did not make that list for her. She did believe that Jiang Yanli probably wanted to be there for him, but that desire alone wouldn't be enough.

'If what I have been doing doesn't work, then what do I do?' Whether it was because Jiang Yanli wasn't firm enough to get him to talk, or because he was too worried about her to let himself receive support. Both reasons still had the same result. Wei Wuxian wandering through a sea of ghosts with no one to help him if it became too much. Wen Qing frowned. That was it. He could not return to Lotus Pier unless at least one support person went with him. Unless something changed, the only person she'd consider suitable would be Lan Wangji. Wen Qing nodded to herself then stepped into the infirmary.

"I don't know what the right thing is anymore Lan Zhan. I tried to always do the right thing. Every time I made a choice I thought it was the right thing to do, but everything just seemed to get worse. I don't know how to tell anymore what I'm supposed to do." Wen Qing could hear Wei Wuxian's pain-filled raspy voice coming from the other side of the door as she approached his room. His throat actually sounded worse than last night. Her guess the other day had probably been right. He must have injured it.

Wen Qing felt her heart break as she heard the sound of soft sobs from the other side of the door. Wei Wuxian, her didi that always chose to protect the innocent no matter the personal cost. Her didi, who was always the first to offer himself in the defence of others. Her didi, that defied the world to do the right thing. Her didi who could do the impossible when it was for others, but could never forgive himself for things beyond his control. Wen Qing remembered the voices screaming about justice from beyond the smoke. Smug conceited faces watching her as the heat blistered her skin. Wen Qing took slow deliberate breaths to calm herself down. Those were the people who made her righteous didi feel like he didn't know right from wrong.

"Decide together." Faintly she heard Lan Wangji respond to him. Wen Qing let out a slightly relieved sigh. At least Lan Wangji was with him. Wen Qing turned and walked to the other end of the infirmary. She'd give Wei Wuxian some time to calm down while she prepared medicine for his throat.

Wen Qing looked through the herbs and supplies. She couldn't suppress a small smile as she took in the sight. It had been so long since she'd had so many resources available to her. She didn't have to cut corners or use second or third best ingredients. Wen Qing's fingers itched with excitement. If Wei Wuxian had trouble sleeping later she'd be able to make medicine for him. Something she had wanted to do for years, but lacked even the most mediocre of ingredients for it. Wen Qing's hands moved swiftly as she took measured amounts of the required ingredients. The quality of the ingredients was excellent. From the color to the strength of the fragrance. Wen Qing felt like she was handling pure gold. Every item in the infirmary felt precious, but especially those incomparably valuable ingredients.

Wen Qing did not waste any time preparing the medicine. The whole time she worked there was a faint smile on her face that she could not suppress no matter how hard she tried. Knowing that she had access to this infirmary. Knowing anything she might need was there, or could be easily requested. It brought an immeasurable sense of relief. Years of knowing how to help, but being restricted by the limitations of their circumstances. It had been so frustrating to watch the health of her own family deteriorate. Not enough food to support them, not enough resources to be able to make the medicines they truly needed.

Wen Qing took a breath to calm herself. Hopefully this time they would manage to not only live, but live with a slightly better quality. Wen Qing wasn't expecting to have the wealth and luxury of a wealthy sect. She just wanted her family to have enough food to eat, and be able to make medicine when they needed it. Wen Qing carefully transferred the prepared medicine to a bowl and carried it with her into Wei Wuxian's room.

Wen Qing opened the door to find Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji standing in the middle of the room. Wei Wuxian was hiding his face in Lan Wangji's shoulder. At the sound of the door opening Lan Wangji glanced up. Wen Qing let her eyes shift to Wei Wuxian before she returned her gaze to Lan Wangji. Her eyes held a concerned question that she hoped Lan Wangji would be able to read.