Courtship Rite

Medical

Lan Qiren's office looked almost exactly like his nephew's down to the brand and placement of furniture. When Meng Yao had asked, Xichen had confirmed his suspicions that Lan Qiren would have preferred an office as sparse as Lan Wangji's. Unfortunately, as CEO, Lan Qiren couldn't avoid hosting meetings and his sour expression often confirmed that dislike.

That morning, Lan Qiren's expression was even more sour than usual. Lan Wangji was late for their mid-morning meeting. Xichen put down his cell with a worried expression. "He didn't answer. He always answers."

"I could look into it." Meng Yao had started the offer when his phone rang. According to the screen, the call came from the medical department at the Lan residence. "Excuse me," he said. "This may shed some light on the situation." The person on the other end would not say what had happened. He did confirm that Lan Wangji was there and unharmed but would not discuss Wei Ying, only repeating that Meng Yao needed to see for himself. The lack of information suggested an act on the wrong side of legal, but Lan employees were trained for any contingency. For this to need Meng Yao's personal attention, something must have gone very, very wrong. He hung up and apologized to the old man. "I'm afraid I must be excused from this meeting."

Xichen jumped to his feet. "What is it?"

"It's unclear at this time."

"I'll come with you."

"You will stay," Lan Qiren barked. "He can handle it," he added with a hand-wave towards Meng Yao. "Our meeting has already been disrupted enough." Xichen gave his uncle a rebellious glare but dropped back into his seat.

When Meng Yao arrived at the Lan residence, two medical attendants were waiting in the lobby. "What happened?"

"An altercation, sir, in room four. We took the beau to medical."

"His name is Wei Ying," Meng Yao shouted.

The two men glanced at each other. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. We took Wei Ying to medical."

Meng Yao, embarrassed by his outburst, asked, "Is he still there?"

The men shared another nervous glance. "He'd have to be."

Meng Yao punched the button for the elevator and waited until they were rising up the floors to ask. "What do you mean?"

"The beau, uh, I mean Wei Ying was raving, sir, thrashing about and ranting like a wild man. It took the three of us to restrain him."

"Three of you?"

"Including Lan Wangji. The beau, uh, Wei Ying nailed him with an elbow. I think he'll end up with a black eye, but he wouldn't accept treatment."

When they stepped off the elevator, Meng Yao led them into the closest empty room which seemed to be someone's office. "You said Wei Ying was ranting. Was he coherent?"

"Yes, sir. He was upset about the other man."

Other man? Pan Wenshi? Meng Yao felt his heart start to pound. I gave him this assignment, he thought. "Older man? A bit heavyset?"

One of the men nodded. "He'd been beat ... He was in a bad way. The beau, Wei Ying I mean, was screaming for us to save him."

"We wanted to help him," the other medical attendant added, "but Lan Wangji told us to leave him."

"Go back. Get him into an examination room and get him treated." Neither man moved. "My authority." Meng Yao counted to ten in his head and added, "Cover him up so it looks like you're moving a corpse. If anyone asks, you're taking him to the morgue so that the room can be cleaned before Lan Wangji's beau is returned to it. Make sure the room gets cleaned so your excuse is plausible. Go. Now."