The Last Phoenix

Chapter Four

Thank you so much for your nice comments! Here is chapter four!

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It had been several days since the incident, and Lan Wangji was finally allowed to walk wherever he pleased.

He had to be careful, though, as he was now under what Wen Qing liked to call 'house arrest'. 

That meant watching him constantly and refusing to let him go anywhere outdoors whatsoever. 

She made his diet strict, even though it already was, but his routine when it came to slumber was just the same. His meditative state as well.

Being inside nearly bored Lan Wangji to death, but A-Yuan's joyful presence and the Prince's cheerful smile kept him alive and well.

Lan Wangji could only hope he'd stay that way.

Wei Wuxian also liked to hang around the bed when Jiang Yanli brought him food.

He would talk rings about the soup he loved so much, while she ushered him out of the room.

The Princess was able to keep the secret, as well as A-Yuan.

They both did their best at pretending to not know who he really is. 

Lan Wangji was grateful for their discretion, and everything was going well.

But the time also went downhill the longer he stayed there.

There had been more questions, more talking about how much Wei Wuxian wanted to see his face, and more that Lan Wangji wanted to run away from. 

And the main problem was all the flirting.

Wei Wuxian had flirted with Lan Wangji constantly years ago, and he was doing it now. It humiliated him, and it also made him want to leave. 

He had tried to convince him to take off the mask a number of times, and he was starting to give up on it, as Lan Wangji was too stubborn.

It turned out that not only the Queen wanted to speak to Wei Wuxian with Lan Xichen, but to Lan Wangji as well.

He nearly slipped up and told him the truth because of it.

Ever since Wei Wuxian asked if Lan Wangji had been there, Jiang Yanli was the only one to speak up. 

Lan Wangji was thankful for her interference. It was obvious to her and everyone else in the room that he was too afraid to say anything. 

When he asked about the man in the mask, he seemed hesitant, as if he were feeling guilty.

He must've felt that way since he'd have to stay around a total 'stranger' he didn't know while he missed someone else.

Lan Wangji wished that he was at home instead, sitting on his bed and reading the fantasy historical fiction books his brother had brought to him every once-in-a-while.

Lan Xichen guessed that he enjoyed the genre more than any other, and he was right.

Every now and then, he would move himself over to the sappy romance novels he had hidden beneath the floorboard beside his bed. 

They weren't the erotic texts that the Prince had pranked him into looking at.

He had laughed himself to tears, watching Lan Wangji's ears flame. The blush had quickly migrated to his neck.

He hasn't been so embarrassed in his life.

He remembered how he stood to his feet with his sword half-unsheathed rapidly, rage in his light brown eyes.