Could this day get any worse?
Lan Qiren resists the urge to fling the inkstone in the general direction of the messenger, who must have caught the vibes he's sending out, since the young man is inching towards the door in a bid to escape.
Suddenly, there's a cracking sound, and when he looks down, the jade handle of his writing brush has snapped in half, and now his fingers are covered in ink. Lan Qiren carefully puts the mess down, keeping his lips tightly shut in case an expletive leaves his mouth.
"I'll just send them in," the messenger squawks and leaves hastily.
Lan Qiren has just enough time to hide his hands under the table to save himself any embarrassment in explaining his predicament. There's still so much to do, and it's one of those days that's shaping up to be incredibly memorable for all the wrong reasons. Not only does he have to explain to the Elders Lan WangJi's ultimatum (read: Tantrum), and sell it to them in such a good way that no more feathers are ruffled, but then he'll have to make sure the Wei Family is on the same page, too. After that, wedding preparations must begin in earnest and speedily, and that's alongside everything he neglected or delayed while they dealt with the destruction of the Yin Iron pieces. He had mistakenly assumed that things would have calmed down by now, but he's even more busy than usual, and those stupid breathing exercises Healer Fei told him to do are cutting down on zero stress.
Then the door opens, and the envoy from the Meishan Yu Sect enters.
Lan Qiren tells himself he should be grateful that the matriarch of the Sect has sent a practical nobody instead of turning up unannounced herself.
The envoy is not a single person, though.
There are twelve of them, eleven carrying assorted chests that are chained shut, and the twelfth one steps forward with a letter.
Lan Qiren eases the wax seal open and reads the contents.
The envoy begins to speak. "Greetings, Lan-Zhongzhu. Yu-Zhongzhu has instructed us to deliver the amount as agreed for the punishment of her third daughter's reckless conduct upon the Second Heir of the Lan Clan during the stay in Nightless City. It is Yu-Zhongzhu's suggestion that since the child of Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren was also affected, the compensation be shared between the two young masters."
Lan Qiren stands up.
"Well then, you better follow me," he says, leading them out of the office.
He isn't sure why or what caused this sudden change of heart by the Meishan Yu Sect Leader, since discussing anything with her is like bashing his head on a stone cliff face, but really, he'll take it. Any victory today is most welcome after the morning he's had, and honestly, he thought he'd have to go and visit Meishan in person to get any kind of response back from the not-so-vile-anymore woman.
Though that opinion depends on whatever these chests contain.
So lost in his thoughts he is, that when he finds himself knocking on the door of the guest house so suddenly, he's surprised. A voice calls out, giving them permission to enter, and then they're suddenly in the middle of chaos.
Meihua is screaming her head off and while Wei Changze is attempting to calm her down, (seriously, there's absolutely nothing wrong with her lungs, that's for sure!), and Cangse Sanren has just finished doing whatever An Jing needed and is coming around the privacy screen. She steps up to her husband and tells Meihua to stop it, taking her tiny fist and gently biting down on it. The child is so startled that she shuts up immediately.
Cangse Sanren throws back her head and laughs deeply, while every single eye in the room is watching her with unabashed awe and disbelief. Then, after she lays her son on the bed next to her, she turns around to greet them.
