Pitched Normal

52

The first thing Huaisang did when he returned from Caiyi was hunt down the Jin heir. He was not hard to find, decked in golden accessories. Really, Huaisang had always felt that a bit dangerous when wandering around, it put a price tag on their head. Perhaps a few chains or bracelets but the way the Jin Heir was decked out in almost head to toe gold was rather...presumptuous at best. Still, he had another reason to visit him, and judging his appearance was not one of them. 

The biggest question was how he was going to talk to the Jin heir without drawing attention to himself. ZiXuan was a...well an arrogant man, but he had a sense of honor and morality that his father lacked. Though he supposed having to watch as your mother falls into sadness with the whoring that his father did would do that to you. Huaisang also knew that was why he was so against the arranged marriage. His own parents were arranged, and he did not want to risk having another marriage like his parents. It was, sort of sweet, honestly, but Huaisang did think that he should have at least gotten the chance to know the Yanli girl. From what he could tell she could be rather sweet, when the time called for it. It was obvious that Wangji did not like either Jiang Cheng, or Jiang Yanli, though, and so it would seem the girl had done something to raise that ire. He could not help but wonder what it was. 

Pushing the thoughts aside, he slid up to the Jin heir effortlessly, silently, and cleared his throat, waving his fan over his face as the Jin Heir turned to him, startled. 

"Young Master Nie, good to see you, what has caused this abrupt meeting?" The Jin heir asked questioningly. One thing that was good about the relations between the Nie and the Jin is that after the outbursts of Jiang Cheng they had gotten along quite a bit better than before. If nothing else, he could thank Wei WuXian for this. If he hadn't caused the Jiang to blow up, then he probably wouldn't have managed such a...lesser strained relationship with the other heir. His brother would certainly be pleased.

"I have a question for you...something that was brought up to my attention that I felt maybe should be addressed." Huaisang said softly, almost whispering behind his fan. The Jin heir stared down at him but sighed, relaxing his posture after a moment. 

"Very well," He reluctantly sighed. "I suggest we go somewhere a bit more...private, then." He said simply, striding forwards, causing Huaisang to slightly stumble as he raced after him. The Jin heir waved his guard backwards, and they obediently stepped out of line with them, lingering behind them. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?" ZiXuan asked, walking with Huaisang along to wood. 

"What responsibilities do your Head Disciple have? My brother has them lead night hunts, and lessons, assess abilities, and assign classes, but that is about it. I know the Lan Head Disciple is roughly the same, so I was just curious if yours was the same." The Jin heir furrowed his brow downwards, confused.

"Well, yes, those are standard. A Head Disciple is just the most promising Disciple. Nothing more. To have them take on anything else is simply dishonorable." Huaisang groaned softly. 

"That was what I feared." ZiXuan hummed at Huaisang's groan.

"What happened?" He asked Huaisang. Huaisang fanned his fan fervently. 

"It seems that the Jiang have...quite a bit more responsibilities for their Head Disciple." 

"Such as what?" Huaisang recognized the digging for information, but in this case, he had no issue divulging. In fact, he did so with glee. The Jiang had ruined their relationship with the Lan, but Huaisang liked to call Wei WuXian his friend, and since the latter was clearly not going to take revenge for himself, Huaisang has no problem doing it for him. 

"They have him planning and scheduling night hunts, lessons, training regimens, as well as all of the standard things as well." He said with no small degree of glee glinting in his eyes, and just barely hidden from his voice. ZiXuan stopped, turning sharply to face him, waving for his guards to stop their movements. 

"What do you mean? That is simply irresponsible. When did Young Master Wei become Head Disciple?" Huaisang snapped his fan closed, tapping it on his lips. 

"As far as I know, he was not yet fourteen. It's been I think a year and a half, roughly. He is fifteen now." ZiXuan shook in incadecent rage.

"That is not acceptable!" He hissed lowly. "There is a reason the sect leader takes care of those things. It is definitely not the responsibility of a child!" The Jin heir had his fists clenched tightly. 

"Well, it seems because of this, they are having some difficulties now that Young Master Wei is leaving the sect." 

"He is leaving?" Huaisang flicked his fan back over his face, glancing up at the Jin Heir.

"You heard nothing from me, but I suspect an announcement to be made soon," He whispered softly. "I overheard talk of it. Still, I am not entirely sure how certain it is. It does seem pretty set in stone from what I heard though." 

"Well, if that is how they treat their head disciple, I can't say I am very surprised. I know that the Jiang had issues, but to go so far?" ZiXuan sighed and shook his head, almost disbelieving. "I wonder where Young Master Wei will end up, or if he will end up wandering like his parents did." 

"You didn't hear it from me," Huaisang said again, and Jin ZiXuan leaned forwards slightly. "He is joining the Lan sect." The words hung in the air, suspended in shock. 

"The Lan? Young Master Wei? He hates rules!" 

"That is what I thought as well, but I think having someone like Young Master Wei will do the Lan quite good. Plus, you know him, he quite enjoys finding loopholes in the rules. I am sure he will give them a run for their money."