Courtship Rite

Memorial Plaque

Of the few guests Meng Yao had let into his apartment, only Huaisang had shown any interest in the spare room, and he'd dismissed it once he'd taken in the wooden cabinet and altar. He may not have even looked closely enough to read the name of Meng Yao's mother on the memorial plaque. He certainly hadn't bothered to look into the cabinet and see the few things of hers that Meng Yao had kept. In secondary school, on a museum trip, she'd bought a reproduction, a painting of dragons. She'd hung it in their living room where she could see it every day. He also had a stuffed animal he'd played with as a child. He hadn't known she'd kept it until after she'd passed away. He didn't know why he'd kept the cheap set of dishes they'd eaten off of. He certainly couldn't use it in his new life.

Standing before the altar, Meng Yao lit three sticks of incense. He spoke to his mother, telling her of his day, and then added a final prayer in silence. If Xichen had bugged his home, praying to his mother wouldn't raise suspicions, but begging for Pan Wenshi's forgiveness would. He apologized for causing the man's death and promised to watch over his family.

That evening, Meng Yao visited a retired Lan enforcer, one who'd taken up wood carving in his free time. He placed an order for a memorial plaque carved with the names Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren and paid extra for speed and discretion.

Two days later, he picked up the plaque and brought it to courtesan room four. He found Wei Ying wearing lingerie, completely transparent if you ignored the few scatterings of bird silhouettes. "Oh," Wei Ying said. "Let me just put this on." Wei Ying donned a robe, something blue and serviceable. "I apologize. I wasn't expecting company or I would have dressed. My Wangji prefers thinking of me in lingerie when he can't be with me. It's not as comfy as sweats and a t-shirt, but he's so amorous when he does get here that I don't mind. Ha ha ha."

Wei Ying had not caught Meng Yao's gaze. In fact, he'd looked down at the floor for his entire speech. Meng Yao had felt disconcerted at first but the reason came in a flash. Lan Wangji had beaten Pan Wenshi over what had been, on Wei Ying's part, mere friendly chatter. Of course Wei Ying didn't know what was too much, what would set off Lan Wangji's jealousy. Meng Yao couldn't thank Wei Ying for his consideration, but he was grateful that their interactions wouldn't put him on the wrong end of Lan Wangji's suspicions.

Unsure how to transition from Wei Ying's words, Meng Yao held the box forward. The plain wood wasn't carved but was well put together. "I brought you a gift."

Wei Ying glanced up at that, his face a mask of terror. His gaze quickly dropped back to the floor. "I'm not sure my Wangji would want me accepting gifts from other people."

"I've already discussed it with the young master." He spoke the truth. Meng Yao wasn't stupid. He knew better than to surprise Lan Wangji.

"Oh, I guess that's alright then."

"It's a memorial plaque," Meng Yao offered. "For your parents." If Wei Ying chose to pray for anyone else, a music instructor perhaps, Lan Wangji would never have to know. "The box holds the plaque as well as incense sticks. You can ask the young master for more when you run low. I'll light them for you today, but, and I apologize for this, you'll have to ask the young master to light them for you in the future." Meng Yao didn't know what Wei Ying could do with a box of matches, but security had nixed the idea of giving them to him.

"I'm sure my Wangji will be delighted to help meremember my parents." Meng Yao couldn't tell if he was sincere or not. As heleft Wei Ying to his prayers, Meng Yao wondered if all he'd just seen had beenan act.