Backlash Part 1

Chapter 159: Early Morning Meeting

Since Nie Mingjue's capture Lan Xichen had been increasingly distressed. Lan Wangji knew it was not only the stress of losing a friend. The tension in camp had spiked. It grew with each passing day. Strategy meetings devolved into bickering even more than usual. Progress in planning the next steps of the Sunshot campaign had ground to a halt. Jiang Yanli, who had stepped back to allow Jiang Wanyin to be the voice of the YunmengJiang sect, had begun to take a much more active role in the discussions.

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian had both noticed the change. Even though they usually stayed out of the strategy meetings, only participating when they absolutely had to, both of them recognized the weakening in leadership. Lan Wangji had begun meeting with Lan Xichen regularly and had started to attend the strategy meetings more frequently in order to lend Lan Xichen more support. Wei Wuxian was not certain an increase in his presence would do any favours to reducing the bickering, and so had largely stayed away to work in the privacy of their tent.

Lan Xichen was now shouldering the brunt of the responsibilities. Of the four great sects he was the most respected sect leader present. YunmengJiang had just lost their sect leader at the start of the war, and many of the leaders of the smaller sects looked at Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli like they were inexperienced children. Jin Guangshan was still back in Koi Tower, his son and heir was leading the LanlingJin forces.

Lan Xichen himself had only technically become Sect leader just before the start of the war. He had the advantage over the Jiang siblings only because his father had been in seclusion. As such Lan Xichen had already been attending to the duties of a sect leader with the support of his uncle. He was not quite considered an experienced sect leader, but was not exactly a young heir suddenly in a position of authority.

Nie Mingjue had been the only one of them that had actually been sect leader for years before the war began. The sect leaders from the smaller sects were already used to his authoritative presence in discussion conferences. They had spent years already asking favours, negotiating trade, and deferring to him. That combined with his forceful personality made Nie Mingjue a powerful leader in the Sunshot campaign. Capable of overriding protests with little more than force of asserting his own decision.

Lan Xichen had their respect and confidence, but he had never been aggressive. He had the reputation of being calm and diplomatic. Excellent for negotiating treaties, better at it than Nie Mingjue was. It was less efficient in terms of forcing a decision for the army to move forward. They expected Lan Xichen to listen to every protest and give it equal weight. Lan Xichen was known for patience and fairness. Lan Xichen was desperately struggling at trying to fill the void Nie Mingjue had left behind.

Lan Wangji had woken this morning alone in bed. Across the tent Wei Wuxian was passed out across his notes. Lan Wangji felt a small pang of disappointment. He had hoped Wei Wuxian would sleep through the night. Wei Wuxian had been throwing himself into working on the Yin Hufu with such abandon that it made his focus on his previous projects look timid.

Lan Wangji had to drag Wei Wuxian from his work, more than normal. Instead of adorable whines of complaint, Wei Wuxian would react somewhere between aggressively resistant to actively hostile. It had been a gradual change that had been worsening in the last six months. It had reached new heights since Nie Mingjue was captured.

Lan Wangji could no longer pull Wei Wuxian into his lap to feed him. Wei Wuxian wasn't willing to stop working for meals, but had acquiesced to Lan Wangji feeding him while he worked. Lan Wangji still diligently dragged him to bed, sometimes enduring Wei Wuxian snapping at him. Small almost-arguments that ended after a few words were enchanted with Wei Wuxian apologizing and cuddling as close to Lan Wangji as he physically could.

There was a brief moment when Lan Wangji had feared that the resentful energy was hurting Wei Wuxian. The thought was short lived. When Wei Wuxian was frustrated he lashed out. It was something Lan Wangji had to learn about Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian was extremely frustrated right now. He was frustrated that the war was still going on. He was frustrated that Nie Mingjue had been captured. He was frustrated that his family was still in danger. He was frustrated that he had not found a way to make the Yin Hufu safer.

There had been an increasing number of nights where Wei Wuxian would wake up after a few hours of sleep and leave the bed to continue working. Sometimes he was still working when Lan Wangji awoke. It was somewhat a relief to see his face sticking to the paper in front of him while he snored softly.

Lan Wangji lifted Wei Wuxian in his arms and tucked him back into bed. Wei Wuxian barely even shifted once he was under the covers. A very typical sign that he was a long way from waking up. He would certainly sleep through breakfast. Lan Wangji resolved to pick up food to bring back once he was done meeting with Lan Xichen so that Wei Wuxian would have something to eat once he awoke later.

Meeting with Lan Xichen in the morning had become the new norm. Lan Wangji did not worry about leaving a note. In the unlikely scenario that Wei Wuxian woke up while he was gone, he would already be aware of where Lan Wangji had gone to. Wei Wuxian was focused enough on what he was working on that he did not mind staying alone in their tent.

Lan Xichen shared the messages he had received from Meng Yao and Wen Qing. They were short. Almost as minimal as something Lan Wangji might write. More surprising was the content of Wen Qing's messages. Lan Xichen had not previously shared that Wen Qing was looking for a way to break out Nie Mingjue.

Lan Wangji's first instinct was to ask her not to. Nie Mingjue's absence was certainly hurting the forces of the Allied sects, but Lan Wangji could not imagine there was a safe way for Wen Qing to break Nie Mingjue out. Except, the look on Lan Xichen's face was somewhere between exhausted and hopeful. It stopped Lan Wangji from voicing his thoughts.

Lan Xichen naturally saw Lan Wangji's concern, immediately asserting that he trusted Wen Qing to tell them if it was too dangerous. Lan Xichen talked about Wen Qing not being the sort of person who would blindly follow a request. The tone was fond and Lan Wangji could hear a note of admiration. Lan Wangji did not have the heart to dampen Lan Xichen's hopes. Nor did he feel it was his place to question Lan Xichen's faith in Wen Qing's willingness to push back against an unreasonable request.

Lan Wangji knew Wen Qing had caved under Wei Wuxian's request to cut out his golden core and transfer it to Jiang Wanyin. It was a decision she deeply regretted, but it was not Lan Wangji's place to tell Lan Xichen about this. Wen Qing had a strong personality, but Lan Wangji was not certain he trusted her to pull back for her own safety if her family was involved. If Wen Qing thought saving Nie Mingjue would save her family's lives, Lan Wangji suspected she might choose to throw herself into certain death.

After he finished meeting with Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji stumbled upon Jiang Yanli in the kitchens. She had apparently been planning to cook something special for Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin. When she learned Lan Wangji had been looking for something he could bring back for Wei Wuxin to eat later she switched what she was going to make to something that would keep better.

Jiang Yanli asked if Lan Wangji would like to help her since it was not a recipe she had taught him yet. Lan Wangji weighed his options. He could go back to the tent where Wei Wuxian was most likely still asleep and ask Jiang Yanli to bring the food when she was done, or he could stay and prepare the food to bring to Wei Wuxian himself.

Lan Wangji decided to stay and learn more about preparing foods that Wei Wuxian enjoyed. Wei Wuxian was most likely still asleep. If he was awake he probably assumed Lan Wangji was still meeting with Lan Xichen. Lan Wangji had not had a chance to cook for Wei Wuxian since they joined the Sunshot campaign and Lan Wangji had missed it. It had also been long enough that having Jiang Yanli available to provide her expertise was more than welcome.

Jiang Yanli quietly explained the recipe and for a short while Lan Wangji could pretend he was just visiting with his fiance's family. Quietly spending time in the kitchen to surprise Wei Wuxian. No war to worry about. No distasteful rumours to worry about. No need to worry about where the rest of his fiance's family was. Lan Wangji was beginning to understand why Jiang Yanli found her way to the kitchens on a semi-regular basis.