Unrestrained Heart

Chapter 18

Notes:

This chapter happens after a thirteen-year time skip. In that time WWX and LWJ have been living a relatively peaceful life at Cloud Recesses, teaching and going on hunts.

Wen Qing has joined the Lan Clan as a lead physician. Wen Ning is pretty much just around somewhere in this chapter.

There have been two important deaths in the time period. One we will mourn and one not so much.

Granny Wen lived a full life and not only got to meet help raise Lan Yuan, but also to a certain extent Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's other two children before passing away peacefully in her bed at a good age three years before this chapter.

Jin Guangshan died of mysterious causes two years before this chapter.

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The sole occupant of the children's classroom, a five-year-old girl, had been slumped in her seat, her head resting on one hand while she was drawing on a spare piece of paper. However, the minute she hears Lan Qiren enter the room she sits up straight and picks up the book she is supposed to be studying as punishment. The book is a simplified version of the Lan precepts that have been used to introduce the clan's youngest students to the rules for decades.

Lan Qiren strides across the room and stands by the girl's desk. He can't help but inwardly sigh at her appearance. No matter how neatly her parents dress her in the morning, by the time she makes it to the classroom her face always seems to be smudged, her robes always seem to have ribs from climbing trees or crawling through bushes, and most shockingly her forehead ribbon always seems to be in danger of slipping off. Lan Qiren thinks that he has never had this much trouble with her older brothers.

"Lan Daiyu, can you tell me why you are being punished?" Lan Qiren glances around the classroom, which hasn't been cleaned yet after this morning's chaos. There are half chewed papers littering the floor, a puddle of ink is near one desk and the floor is decorated by criss crossing paw prints. The offending pair of bunnies have been caught in a makeshift bamboo cage sitting on the teachers desk. They look back at Lan Qiren innocently as if they hadn't disrupted this morning's studies.

A-Yu gives him an equally innocent look and says, "I shouldn't have hidden bunnies in my robes and let them loose when Lan Lao Shi's back was turned."

"You should not bring animals into the classroom at all, it is a time for scholarship and you disturbed everyone's studies." Lan Qiren corrects her as sternly as possible.

"Yes, shu gong," She answers respectfully.

Lan Qiren nods in approval at this. "Now why don't you take these animals back to the field where they belong?" He suggests.

A-Yu bounces out of her seat, grabs the cage and runs from the classroom.

"Running is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses," he calls after her. She slows down slightly, but he knows as soon as she is out of sight she will run at full speed again.

His lips twitch slightly upwards before he catches himself and schools his expression back into a stern master's look.

The keeping of pets is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses, however the meadow that Lan Daiyu races to now is one of the worst kept secrets of the clan. Children and many of the adults often come to play with the rabbits. Everyone usually brings food as well, so the rabbits will gather close to visitors, hoping for a treat of torn lettuce or other vegetables.

Lan Daiyu releases the two rabbits to join the others. Then she looks around. There is a twelve-year-old boy sitting under a tree nearby, reading a book. His robes are pristine and his posture is straight. He doesn't look up when she sits down next to him. Lan Daiyu pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her head on her crossed arms, watching the rabbits play.