Fluffy WangXian Oneshots Book Two

Come Back To Gusu With Me Part 13

Wei Ying follows Lan Zhan's lead when they enter the Hanshi, bowing immediately towards both of the older members of the Lan Clan. Lan Qiren glowers at the newcomers, but he doesn't say anything while XiChen wears a tight smile on his face that doesn't reach his eyes. He gestures towards the bamboo mats in front of him, with the small table left between them. Steaming cups of jasmine tea lace the air, chasing away the coolness of outside.

"I received a missive from JinLinTai a shichen ago, and I've been puzzling over the contents since then." XiChen hands over a golden parchment with a border of pink and white peonies decorating the border. The discarded matching envelope on his desk wears a broken seal made from gold wax torn across the stamp of another peony across its surface.

"Greetings, Er-Ge,

I trust this letter finds you well. Unfortunately, the urgent situation makes for getting straight to the point. As you know, Yunmeng shares a border with Yiling, and there have been a significant number of fierce corpses roaming the land in that area. Furthermore, the worrying rumours are increasing that it is the work of the Jiang Clan, most notably their Head Disciple, Wei WuXian.

To this end, we are calling an emergency meeting of all the Clan Leaders to come to Koi Tower and discuss what the next steps should be. Something must be done to discourage this young man's arrogance, for surely he is aware enough not to take a tiger by its tail. Wei WuXian needs to be caught and punished as soon as possible, however, his unorthodox cultivation gives him a superior advantage over those who would never stoop to such underhanded means.

I hope Er-Ge and any willing disciples able to fight and hold their own during a battle will accompany him as soon as possible and help end this terrible outcome of a man who clearly thinks he is above any moral discipline.

Hoping to see you soon,

Jin GuangYao."

Lan Zhan is gripping the good quality paper so hard, tiny fissures have appeared next to his pale fingertips on either side of the offending message.

"Xiongzhang?"

"Yes, WangJi, I am fully aware of the lies saturating that letter." XiChen rubs his chin thoughtfully, staring at both of them. "Since A-Ying has been staying with us, he is clearly not responsible for whatever the Jin Clan is accusing him of. I believe we were right to keep his presence here completely secret but I had never imagined my sworn brother would start spreading a litany of falsehoods."

"He might not be directly responsible," Wei Ying says, slouching back on his arms after draping himself over Lan Zhan to read the letter with him. "His awful father is just as capable of pulling the strings."

Both Lan Qiren and Lan Zhan give him identical looks of disapproval for his bad posture, which both Wei Ying and Lan XiChen ignore.

"True. That is why, instead of attending the meeting straight away as I would have done normally, I've asked A-Jue," XiChen clears his throat and corrects himself, "that is, Nie-Zongzhu to arrive as soon as possible, so that both of us can go to Yiling and investigate by ourselves first. Once the situation is cleared up, we will take our findings to Lanling and present them in the meeting."

"Xiongzhang, should we go with you?" Lan Zhan offers, his golden eyes intense as he stares at his brother.

"No need. Nie-Zongzhu says Baxia could do with a workout, and I confess, the recent discoveries leave me itching to expel an excess of energy. We will take enough disciples on both sides to get rid of the threat, but it leaves us with an obvious question."

"Yeah, if I'm here, then who's making the fierce corpses?" Wei Ying offers with a resigned smile.

"Exactly." XiChen gives him a proud look.