Backlash Part 2

Chapter 223: History of Lan Weddings

The ninth day of Lotus Month was supposed to be the day Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji married. The GusuLan sect had not celebrated a wedding in the main family in generations. Lan Xichen's great grandfather had eloped with an outer disciple who had joined the GusuLan sect after being orphaned as a young girl.  The elopement alone implicated that said outer disciple was probably not considered a prestigious match.

Lan Xichen's grandfather had married a non-cultivator, a woman from humble backgrounds that he had saved on a nighthunt.  Another match that would have been deemed scandalous for a future sect leader.  Lan Xichen was still young when his grandparents passed, but he recalled his grandmother having a kind face and warm smile. 

Lan Xichen's grandfather passed eight days after she died.  He had decided many years before to age and die with his wife, rather than extend his life through cultivation.  Lan Xichen didn't have many memories of his grandfather either.  The man had stepped down from sect leadership before Lan Xichen was born.  Most of what Lan Xichen knew about them was that they spent their later years travelling outside of the Cloud Recesses for most of the year, only staying put when his grandmother's health began to fail.

Of course, the most shameful marriage would be between Qingheng-jun and his wife.  The less said about the marriage of Lan Xichen's parents the better. It was considered one of the biggest scandals in the GusuLan sect's history. The shadow of that scandal had followed Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji throughout their childhoods. 

Lan Xichen had always hoped to be able to see his didi happily married.  By the time they had set a date for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's wedding, Lan Xichen had been determined to make it a celebration worthy of them.  Lan Xichen had been prepared to fight to give Lan Wangji the wedding he and Wei Wuxian deserved. Lan Xichen had been concerned that Wei Wuxian's cultivation or pedigree might have led the elders to push for a small quiet wedding. Lan Xichen had been pleasantly surprised when he found that any such protests had been silenced before Lan Xichen could even hear them.

Lan Qiren didn't seem to have much of an opinion about the details of the wedding. To an outsider that might be mistaken for a lack of support, but Lan Xichen knew that it was mostly a lack of knowledge. Lan Qiren had never married. He had never courted anyone as far as Lan Xichen knew, and Lan Xichen thought it was possible his uncle had never had any romantic desires in the first place. Lan Xichen wasn't certain Lan Qiren had much of an opinion regarding weddings in general.

That didn't mean Lan Qiren didn't support the wedding. If anything, Lan Qiren demonstrated much more support than Lan Xichen had expected. Lan Qiren smoothed the way with the elders to the point that Lan Xichen needed to only mention something he wanted to request and Lan Qiren would have secured approval for it by the next day. If Lan Xichen was concerned that ordering the new marriage bed for the Jingshi to be crafted from red sandal wood might be seen as too extravagant, Lan Qiren was insisting Lan Xichen should order nothing less.

Every step of the way Lan Qiren offered his support in quiet, but notable ways. Including when Lan Wangji informed Lan Xichen that Wei Wuxian wished to wear a phoenix crown. Something Wei Wuxian down played when asked about directly, but which Lan Xichen had noticed a certain amount of self-conscious longing when it was brought up in conversation. Lan Qiren hadn't even blinked when Lan Xichen brought it up. Lan Qiren had only nodded his agreement and informed Lan Xichen he should inquire whether Wei Wuxian also wished to wear a veil.

Lan Qiren himself had suggested the accommodation of alcohol for the wedding banquet. Something that Lan Xichen had not even considered attempting to request. It was clear to Lan Xichen that his uncle wanted to make it clear that Wei Wuxian was both welcome in the GusuLan sect, but also highly respected. When the gifts, decorations, attire, and details of the wedding ceremony and banquets finalized; the message was perfectly clear. Nothing had been cut or compromised on. It was a wedding fit for a sect leader. Wei Wuxian would marry into the GusuLan sect with honour and prestige.