The Troublemaker Trio (Xicheng)

Chapter 12: Young Master Jiang

Lan Xichen was out patrolling the cloud recesses, making sure everyone was doing okay. When he encountered a disciple carrying around a rather large pile of papers he offered to help. After arriving at the disciple's residence he bowed in gratitude and Lan Xichen went on his way. Except there was a loud crashing sound coming from behind one of the dormitories.

Looking around the corner he was faced with Jiang Wanyin dragging a ridiculously large amount of empty jars, specifically jars which used to contain emperor's smile. As a result of it being far too many for a single man to carry on his own he had dropped a few, which had resulted in the previously heard clanging sounds.

"Young master Jiang?" The young man twirled around, dropping another couple of jars.

"Zewu-jun..." the teen looked up at him with wide eyes. This was almost too easy, was he trying to get caught? Whether that was the case or not, there was no way all those jars belonged to him alone. The guest cultivators had only been here for a week and unless young master Jiang was secretly an alcoholic, at least some of those jars belonged to his brother.

But it wasn't Wei Wuxian he had caught lugging liquor jars around. It was Jiang Wanyin.

"I'll expect you in the library pavilion in an hour" he said before leaving the Jiang to clean up the jars himself as part of his punishment. As a result he ended up arriving long before him. After preparing ink and writing utensils he sat down to meditate at his desk.

Lan Xichen wasn't usually responsible for overseeing the guest cultivator's punishments. That job was his brother's duty. The disciples found him more intimidating and since Wangji didn't seem to mind doing it, both Lan Xichen and their uncle had left it up to him. But this time around Lan Xichen had insisted on watching over the guest cultivator's punishments, all but one. Whenever it was time for Wei Wuxian's punishments, Lan Xichen just so happened to be 'busy'.

His brother had most likely noticed the pattern and caught onto what he was doing at this point. Taking over the other punishments to allow him more free time. Free time, during which there was a bigger risk of him stumbling upon that new friend of his. But even if he had noticed there wasn't much he could do to stop it from happening. Lan Huan had more influence and could do as he pleased, to the dismay of his younger brother.

But it wasn't like he enjoyed seeing Lan Wangji in pain. Every now and then he made sure he got real time off to make sure his younger brother didn't get too overwhelmed by the rather rambunctious teen.

"Zewu-jun" Lan Xichen opened his eyes to a Jiang Wanyin bowing his head before sitting down. Given that Lan Huan had already completed all of his own work there wasn't much for him to do as he was overseeing today's detention. Instead he looked over at the teen who was already deep in concentration.

Young master Jiang was known to prefer work which required physical rather than mental labor. But looking at him right now, diligently copying the rules Lan Xichen wouldn't have been able to tell. If this is what Jiang Wanyin was like when doing things he didn't like, then Lan Xichen was curious to see what he would look like when doing something he did enjoy.

Perhaps he would smile like he did a couple of days ago. That would be nice. Once they both became sect leaders Lan Xichen would get the opportunity of seeing more sides of the man in front of him. Lan Huan couldn't wait to watch his skills with a sword out on a night hunt.

As time passed and there still wasn't anything for him to do Lan Xichen's fingers started to itch. Removing Liebing from his waist he asked

"Would it bother young master Jiang if I played?" Looking up seeing the xiao in his hands the young man shook his head in response before once more burying his head in the papers.

Lan Xichen raised Liebing to his lips and began to play a soothing melody which helped clear the mind. The sound which filled the pavilion created a mood perfect for studying. Hopefully allowing Jiang Wanyin to complete his punishment faster. Once he was done playing he looked over to find a set of light gray eyes looking at him. He wasn't paying attention to his work anymore.

"What a beautiful melody. I've never heard it before, is it one of the Lan sect's special songs?" He inquired. Caught off guard by the genuine interest, Lan Xichen answered honestly.

"No, It's an original piece of mine"

"That would explain it. Of course something composed by someone as great as Zewu-jun would sound amazing." Lan Xichen couldn't help but blush at the sudden compliment. The way young master Jiang had said it as if it was just common sense had made it even more embarrassing. Did the Jiang really think so highly of him or was he just trying to get a lighter sentence? Lan Xichen hoped it was the former.

During the following days Lan Xichen spotted the trio continuing to take the long route to class. The route which led them right by his place of residency. He couldn't come up with an explanation, but surely there must be a reason for taking such an unusual path.

As they walked by Lan Xichen could see Wei Wuxian chattering as usual, whilst Nie Huaisang attentively listened along, every now and then offering up his opinion on the topic. One person however was not taking part in the conversation.

Jiang Wanyin was walking a few steps behind his companions and from the looks of it he was keeping lookout for something... or someone. Lan Xichen's heart skipped a beat but quickly composed himself. It had been a ridiculous thought. There was no way Jiang Wanyin was looking out for him.