Jiang Cheng's Honest Feelings (Xicheng)

Chapter 7: No Longer Sober

Before he could even enter Hanshi Lan Huan overheard loud talking coming from inside.

"So why is it that you chose..." Bang! "Hey, no fair you're only supposed to drink after I asked the question!" Wei Wuxian whined.

"I wasn't going to answer anyway" An equally drunk Jiang Wanyin responded. He sounded annoyed at his brother.

"Of course not, but asking is the fun part"

"You do enough speaking as is." Jiang Cheng retorted.

Lan Xichen could hear the glass being filled once more. Feeling like this was the best time to enter, that is what he did. The instant he stepped inside he met sect leader Jiang's eyes.

Bang, the Jiang emptied his glass and slammed it down onto the table once more.

"Are you too far gone? You were supposed to ask me a question" Wei Wuxian waved his hand in front of his brother's face, but his gaze was stuck on the man who had just arrived. It was only now that his brother-in-law realized that he had returned. Perhaps he was the one too far gone.

"Zewu-jun! Do you want to join?" He waved his hand wildly in the air, as though shouting at him wasn't enough to catch his attention.

"No thank you. It seems like I'll be the one to bring Jin Rulan back as well" Jiang Wanyin had been drinking, a lot from the looks of it, and for as much as Lan Xichen wanted to stay and watch, Jin Rulan was more important.

He was Jiang Cheng's beloved nephew and as such he needed to be prioritized over the Lan's entertainment. If he was lucky, they might not be done by the time he returned. But he knew that was just wishful thinking, judging by the amount of empty jars that were scattered on the floor, they were both pretty much done for the night.

Seeing that his brother had yet to move a muscle, Wei Wuxian decided to fill his glass for him so that they could continue playing. This however did not sit right with his husband.

"You filled his cup" he stated, holding out his own.

"Haha, Lan Zhan. Are you jealous?" Wei Ying joked, but Lan Wangji didn't respond. Instead he simply looked at his still empty cup. Was he drunk as well? Lan Huan wondered. As far as his knowledge went his brother was about as good with alcohol as he himself was. Absolutely terrible. To the point that Lan Zhan, whilst drunk, had branded himself with the same mark Wei Wuxian once bore.

"Wei Ying, don't kill them from alcohol poisoning" he shouted as he walked towards the man dressed in yellow, who was now fast asleep, still leaning against the wall where he'd been left.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry" He said in a nonchalant and very much NOT reassuring tone. But there wasn't much to be done. It wasn't like he was forcing them to drink. They were all adults, fully capable of making their own mistakes.

Unable to stop the drinking Lan Xichen Instead he focused on what he could do, he lightly shook the Jin's arm to try and get him to wake up. There wasn't much of a reaction, but he did raise one of his eyelids slightly.

"You need to get up. I'll help you get home"

"B-.. uncle?" he fumbled with getting his mouth to act the way he wanted.

"Your uncle is busy. Come on, let's get you standing up" but as he tried to help the Jin to get onto his legs, he simply fell down to the floor again. Even with Lan Xichen's support he was too drunk to even stand.

"Take it easy on the boy. He actually lasted a lot longer than I thought he would" Wei Wuxian shouted. Translation: He drank far past his limits. "I'm proud of you" Wei Wuxian said as he blew a kiss in their direction. One which his husband reached out to grab, or he would've if it had been a tangible object. But Jin Ling either didn't hear, or didn't care about his uncle's supportive cheer, for there was no further reaction from him.

"Are you able to hold on if I were to carry you?" Lan Xichen asked.

"Mm" It was soft, but enough of a confirmation. Hunching down in front of the Jin, they both struggled to get into position. Eventually Lan Xichen had a good enough grip around Jin Rulan's legs to hoist him onto his back. With little energy the Jin's arms wrapped around his neck to stop himself from falling as Lan Xichen stood up.

"I'll be back soon, make sure not to destroy anything while I'm gone" Lan Huan reminded them.

"Okay!" Wei Wuxian happily replied "Come o-oon It's your turn! Doo i-it" he shook his brother's arm, still intent to get him to keep playing.

"That includes people" Lan Xichen teased before walking out into the cold air.

Stepping outside once more, Lan Xichen headed straight towards where the Jin lived. It wasn't that long since the Wens had burnt down the Cloud Recesses. The rebuild, although most of it was simply recreating what was there before, had allowed sect leader Lan some freedom in changing some things up. Things such as which sect lived where during their visit. So after the fire he had made sure that whenever his sworn brothers came to visit they could live close to him. As such the temporary residence of the Jin clan and the Nie clan's leaders had been built within a five minute walking distance of Hanshi.

But they were no more. Wanting to live closer to his nephew, Jiang Wanyin had requested a move. Something which after they consulted Nie Huaisang was an easy change. Especially after Lan Xichen gifted him a bunch of expensive fans. It wasn't really a bribe though, just a simple gift for his late friend's brother, nothing more. If it happened to convince him to move, that was just a bonus.

"Mpphff" Lan Xichen let the man down on the ground. The bumpy ride in combination with his previous drinking had seemingly not sat well with him. Putting an arm around his chest Lan Xichen made sure Jin Rulan wouldn't fall face first in what he had just produced.

"Zeeu-jun"

"Yes?" He said whilst softly patting the back of Jin Rulan.

"...name?" The Jin's drunken mumbling made it difficult to make out what he was saying. But whatever he'd asked for must've been important to him, because similarly to Lan Yuan he was using puppy eyes to try and convince him. However, unlike his nephew who was easy to deny, this one had a secret weapon.

His eye color was a matt purple. One he had surely inherited from his mother, as they were the same as his uncle's. Still feeling guilty about what happened before, Lan Xichen couldn't very well deny those eyes, even if they belonged to someone other than Wanyin himself.

"Sure, whatever you want" It wasn't like Jin Ling was going to remember any of this tomorrow. He was far too drunk.

The Jin smiled.

Not wanting to struggle with getting him back onto his back, it had been difficult enough the first time when they had a wall to lean on, Lan Xichen picked him up maiden-style. No one would see them and the Jin was too far gone to be embarrassed. So much so that he was snuggling up against his chest the way a kitten would. Only this little kitten needed to find a different sleeping spot.

It wasn't long until they arrived and he could put the young man to bed. Wrapping him up tight, Lan Xichen turned to leave.

"Goodnight uncle" just from the sound of his voice it was clear that the Jin was still smiling. Not wanting to ruin his fantasy of his uncle being the one to tuck him in, Lan Huan played along by addressing the young Jin using his given name.

"Good night Jin Ling"