WangXian: The Arrangement ✔️ [Untamed Fanfic]

2-That Boy

"I think," Lan Wangji replied, remembering Madame Yu's earlier words, "you're going to get what you deserve."

He stalked off and was still fuming when he entered the meeting room attached to his uncle's quarters. With both their parents dead, his elder brother, Lan Xichen, was technically head of the clan, but his uncle had assumed that role when they were still children, and they were happy to let him keep it. Uncle Qiren was a stern man, but he loved them and had tried to raise them up well.

With all the goings-on, Lan Wangji knew he'd find them both still up. 

"All well?" his brother asked him, looking up from behind his uncle's desk. 

Wangji didn't know where to start. "Wei Wuxian," he said, thinking that fairly summed it all up.

His brother arched a brow at him. "He's arrived?"

"Just now. Over the wall, carrying two bottles of wine." 

"That boy!" Uncle Qiren exclaimed. "He digs his own grave almost daily. I don't know why Jiang FengMian puts up with him."

Lan Wangji knew Uncle Qiren was close to Wei Wuxian's father. It seemed he was privy to more tales of Wei Wuxian than he'd shared. 

"It may not be his burden much longer," Wangji replied, filling them in on what he'd overheard from Madame Yu.

He was surprised to see his brother frown. "What do you think, Uncle?" Lan Xichen asked. "Would the Jiangs really let a strong cultivator like Wei Wuxian go to another clan?"

Those were the rules of the marriage mart. Whoever was offered had to be of the main clan lineage, with a high level of cultivation. The auction price had to be paid in gold and the one bought became part of the purchasing clan. The new clan had to provide a suitable cultivation partner for the offeree and the binding ceremony was to be held within one month. Usually, the offerees were female, but not always. Sometimes they were second, or more often third or fourth sons.

Uncle Qiren shook his head. "It's foolishness," he said, "but Madame Yu sometimes gets her way. And right now, with the daughter's broken engagement, and the Jiang treasury stretched thin from repairing last year's storm damage..."

His brother gaped. "They wouldn't? Just for that?"

"He has to marry sometime," Uncle Qiren responded. "And Madame Yu only cares about good matches for her daughter and Jiang Cheng, the rightful heir."

"Even if Wei Wuxian is as powerful as they say?"

"He is," Lan Wangji stated.

Both men turned to look at him. He didn't usually interrupt. 

"We fought." He tamped down the urge to sugarcoat it. "He's as good as I am."

His brother lowered his quill and sat back. "Is Madam Yu trying for an alliance with Wen Clan?"

"Why Wen Clan?" Lan Wangji asked. 

His uncle stroked his beard, nodding. "Perhaps. Foolish woman. Even if she succeeds, it will only mean Wen Rouhan comes for them last. I fear his appetite for power cannot be contained in the north. Didn't he offer his own son to the barbarians on his other border just to secure the right to wage war up there unimpeded? And now all the northern lesser clans are under the Wen banner. There's little doubt where his eye will turn next."

"You think he won't be content with the northern territory?" his brother asked. 

His uncle replied with a scoff. "Content? When has a Wen ever been content?"