Backlash Part 1

Chapter 21: The Infirmary

Lan Xichen felt like this week was the most difficult week he had experienced since taking over the duties of Sect Leader. Every day felt like it was adding another concern, another task to his ever increasing pile. Most of these accumulating concerns were related to Wei Wuxian. Mostly they were related to the way other people were reacting to Wei Wuxian. Some of this Lan Xichen had expected. He expected to have some issues with his uncle. He had expected to have worries about Wei Wuxian's safety. He had expected the Jiang siblings to be distressed. Unfortunately the reality was exceeding his expectations at every turn.

Wei Wuxian's first night had been relatively peaceful, but the second night Wei Wuxian apparently woke up screaming. Lan Xichen didn't learn about this until the next day when he asked for an update. Since then talismans were being used nightly to prevent Wei Wuxian's screams from frightening those in nearby residences. Wen Qing had been preparing medicine to help Wei Wuxian sleep. She had tried two different ones so far, but didn't seem happy with the results. They did not seem to be helping much, but she wanted to give them a chance before she tried stronger medicine.

Lan Xichen had not released any statements to the other students and hadn't expected to need to for a while. He assumed the Jiang siblings would be in no condition to attend lectures. As such Lan Xichen didn't think anything would need to be explained for at least a week if not more. This was apparently a poor assumption. The Jiang heir returned to class after being absent for two days. As soon as he came back other students began asking him questions. Why was he absent? What happened? Where is Wei Wuxian? Jiang Wanyin's temper seemed even shorter than usual. It took no time at all before every disciple realized that they should not ask Jiang Wanyin anything about his absence or Wei Wuxian.

To Lan Xichen's surprise his uncle assigned minimal punishments to Jiang Wanyin. Cloud Recesses's normal quiet had been broken many times by the Jiang heir's shouting and cursing. Lan Xichen had hope that perhaps his uncle had taken their conversation to heart and taken into account the emotional distress Jiang Wanyin was under. Even if this turned out to be the case Lan Xichen expected to still need to talk with his uncle further.

For one thing Lan Xichen had not informed Lan Qiren about Lan Wangji's desire to court Wei Wuxian. He fully intended to eventually. It was just that there were a hundred things to do and Lan Xichen had not even had a chance to speak with Wei Wuxian's guardians about the matter yet. Also, whether he wanted to admit it or not, Lan Xichen had somewhat been avoiding Lan Qiren since their last talk. His uncle had not sought him out either. So Lan Xichen concluded it was mutual.

Lan Xichen approached the infirmary hoping to find one or more of the Jiang siblings there visiting Wei Wuxian. As he approached Lan Xichen found a group of five or six disciples all attempting to peer inside the infirmary. Before Lan Xichen could process what was going on he heard a confident female voice coming from the other side of the group.

"If you're here for treatment I have some free time." The group of boys suddenly scattered, revealing Wen Qing standing just inside the entryway with an acupuncture needle in her hand. She smirked as the boys fled and tucked the needle away out of sight before she turned her gaze to Lan Xichen. She did not seem surprised by what just happened and she had chased the disciples away with practiced ease. Lan Xichen greeted her as he entered then glanced back at where the boys had been standing.

"Has this been a frequent problem?" Lan Xichen asked. Wen Qing heaved a sigh and her expression shifted into one he recognised as fatigue and frustration.

"It started after Jiang Wanyin returned to classes. They used to be more subtle about it, but they've been getting more and more obnoxious. That is the third group I have chased away today." Wen Qing spoke with clear annoyance in her voice. She shook her head gently. "Some of them I understand. They're probably worried about Wei Wuxian, but many of them are just overly curious." Lan Xichen frowned.