Letting go of self-restraint 2 - All that is missing is a little one

Chapter 19

Wen Ning have never seen the Second Jade this distressed. He had seen him worrying for his fated soulmate ceaselessly during the time the younger boy had spent in Cloud Recess, he had seen him furious after Wei Wuxian was attacked by Yu Ziyuan, but never had he seen Lan Wangji looking this broken-hearted and lost.

Lan Xichen was standing beside his brother, hand soothingly placed on the Second Jade's shoulder and looking at the letter in disbelief and with something akin to fear in his eyes. Wen Ning could already pretty much guess the sender of the letter and its content. He recognized Wei Wuxian's handwriting when the servant girl brought it and judging by the Twin Jades' reactions there were not good news inside.

His worries were confirmed when Lan Xichen finally turned to him after a while and asked him with pleading eyes: "Young Master Wen, could you please send someone to check if anyone have seen Wuxian ever since last evening after he and Wangji retired to their room? I fear that our distressed brother-in-law had run away; and not in good spirits. I am worried he would do something foolish."

Wen Ning nodded which was rewarded by a small smile from the First Jade, he then bowed to him and quickly left to go ask around. He was now starting to get extremely worried for Wei Wuxian: "Poor Young Master Wei, he most probably does not know what is happening with him. He must be so scared and disoriented... No one explained to him how pregnancy worked and what he could expect, I am sure he is now at a loss with his emotions and bodily reactions and changes. I wish I could help him. Before that however, we first need to find him.

Seeing Sect Leader Lan and Young Master Lan so distressed, Young Master Wei must have left not only for a few days. Knowing him, he will try to deal with everything on his own. We need to find him soon. Any extended physical activity involving the use of spiritual energy can now be dangerous for him. I know he is a strong cultivator... but that is exactly why his current weakened state must be all the more troubling and frightening for him.

He needs to stay close to his Alpha partner and his pheromones to keep his emotional balance in check, he should not be running around and hiding from him. His distressed state would also affect the baby. And if he overexerts himself... This is bad, we need to find him as soon as possible!"

He stopped several servants and ordered them to look for Wei Wuxian in the Yunmeng Jiang sect main compound, a little hope for having the boy found there. He had also send several servants and disciples to town to extend the search range. If the Yunmeng Jiang head disciple had been in a weakened state, he could not have gotten too far.

Wen Ning was now heading to find Jiang Cheng, his husband should be told about his brother going missing and probably also his physical state. He was considering if he should also inform Jiang Yanli, she was in a late stage of pregnancy herself, it was not advisable to let her worry, so he decided to not go see her.

Unfortunately, luck was not on his side as he found both siblings in the dining hall enjoying their breakfast together with Nie Huisang and Jin Zixuan. Wen Ning quietly approached the table, greeted everyone and kneeled beside his husband.

Jiang Cheng pulled him possessively closer as soon as he was within reach, even after their marriage, the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader had not gotten over his jealous tendencies and was suspecting the worse every time Wen Ning was not by his side. This time however, the Dafan Wen disciple could not humour him, he had pressing matters to discuss with him. He tried to pull his husband up so they could go talk somewhere more private; Jiang Cheng would not budge.

He hissed at the other under his breath: "Jiang Cheng, I need to talk to you, it is urgent." There was no reaction from the older boy aside from an inquiring look, it was clear that he had heard him but had no intention of getting up.

Wen Ning took a deep breath to brace himself and whispered into his ear: "Jiang Cheng, it is about Young Master Wei, he went missing."

Jiang Cheng was still visibly annoyed that the younger boy had left his side before to do whatever he was doing, and now he was talking about someone else instead of taking care of his own husband; his temper was getting the better of him. He exclaimed: "What about Wei Wuxian? He is a grown up man, he can do whatever the hell he wants to! It is not like he needs a babysitter. Let him be, he will come back eventually, he always does."

Wen Ning was now also angry. He was asking himself why would Jiang Cheng not listen to him when this matter was a serious one. If he did not know any better, he would think that his husband did not care about his brother at all. The Dafan Wen disciple took a look around the table, everyone was now looking at them, Jiang Cheng managed to get their attention.

For a moment, he considered telling the truth, but it was just a passing thought. Although everyone except for Jin Zixuan knew about Wei Wuxian's true second gender, he would not divulge his friend's secret without his consent. He would not betray his trust.

So he settled on a general description of the situation: "Yes, Young Master Wei had gone missing since this morning, no one saw him, not even Young Master Lan; apparently he had gotten up and left before he woke up. We need to find him quickly; he could be in danger. I have already sent out servants and disciples to look for him and ask around if someone have seen him, no one reported back as of yet."

This unfortunately alarmed Jiang Yanli who squeezed her husband's hand and asked worriedly: "What happened to A-Xian? Why would he be in danger?"

Wen Ning knew he should not divulge any more but he needed them to help immediately: "Miss Jiang, Young Master Lan came to me this morning to discuss Young Master Wei's health, apparently he has not been feeling well for a while but was trying to hide it. If he overexerts himself in his current state, he could really be in danger."

Hearing that, Jiang Yanli immediately stood up and ordered: "A-Cheng, why are you still sitting around? We need to have everyone here looking for A-Xian. There is no time to lose! You know him, he would pretend to be fine even when he would be on deaths door. We do not know how serious his condition is, we need to act quickly."

Jiang Cheng seemed to blush slightly at his sister's determination which he lacked at the moment, then, ashamed, he resolutely stood up and started giving orders. Wen Ning was amazed by their authority because within minutes, everyone was looking for Wei Wuxian and letters carried by messengers have been sent to nearby towns and villages.

After a whole day of searching everywhere they could think of, and even with Nie Huisang's spy network at the highest state of alert, they did not find any clues as to where the Yunmeng Jiang head disciple could have gone. They had to admit to themselves that he had disappeared without a trace.