Mama Lan and WangXian and XiYao
When you reread the chapter where Lan XiChen tells Wei WuXian about their mom and realize how Lan XiChen and Lan WangJi interacted with their mother foreshadows how they interact respectively with Jin GuangYao and Wei WuXian.Â
Madame Lan was always teasing Lan WangJi, much like Wei WuXian is always teasing WangJi:Â
She especially liked to tease WangJi, but WangJi, the more you tease him the less willing he is to talk, the worse of an expression he puts on. He has been like this ever since he was young. However,â he chuckled, âeven though WangJi never said it, I knew that every month he was looking forward to the day he could see Mother. He was like this, and I was the same.â
When Wei WuXian dies, Lan WangJi spends thirteen years playing Inquiry for Wei WuXian and getting no response, but he never gives up. Similarly, when Madame Lan died, Lan WangJi refuses to accept that she was gone and waited for her no matter how long it took:
âHe was still too young to understand what âgoneâ means. No matter how much others comforted him, how much Uncle scolded him, he would continue to come back here every single month, sit down in the hallway, and wait for someone to open the door for him. When he grew older, he understood that Mother would not come back anymore, that nobody would open the door for him, but he kept on coming here.â
As for Lan XiChen himself, he specifically comments about how he doesnât want to know why his mom killed his dadâs teacher:
He spoke, âMadam Lan mustâve been a very gentle woman.â
Lan XiChen, âIn my memories, Mother had indeed been so. I do not know why she did such a thing back then. And, in truth, IâŠâ
He took in a deep breath before confessing, âDo not want to know either.â
Aaaaand this is exactly what led to the tragedy with Jin GuangYao: Lan XiChen was afraid of asking the hard questions and learning things he would rather not of loved ones:
Lan XiChen sighed and didnât continue. Jin GuangYao, âArenât you going to ask me why?â
Lan XiChen shook his head. A moment later, he spoke, but without answering the question, âIn the past, it was not that I did not know what you did, but that I believed you had your reasons behind doing them.â
He continued, âBut, you have done too much. And I⊠no longer know if I should believe you.â
Lan WangJi put on a stoic face and therefore Wei WuXian truly thought he didnât even like him, much less was in love with him, and Wei WuXian died; Lan XiChen put on a happy face and never pressed Jin GuangYao (as opposed to Nie MingJue who pressed him too much), and so he spiraled and died. Not blaming WangJi or XiChen because letâs be real: Wei WuXian made his own choices and so definitely did Jin GuangYaoâbut itâs striking to me how this brief anecdote about their mother emphasizes their tragic flaws. (Itâs also cool to me because in Jungian literature, itâs pretty common for love interests to take after the parent of the opposite gender, even if the love interest is of the same genderâyes I know XiYao isnât canon and Iâm not saying it is, Iâm just commenting on the fact that they fit this pattern.)
It kind of ties into a recurrent theme in MXTXâs works, emphasized with BingQiu in SVSSS, Xue Yang, Song Lan, and Xiao XingChen, Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian also in MDZS, and in TGCF with Mu Qingâs relationship with Xie Lian and Feng Xin, and with Jun Wu and Mei Nian Qingâs relationship: communication. How can you know someone cares unless they tell you? How can you know youâre not alone if no one tells you theyâre staying by your side?
WangXian found a way to communicate, ironically with the help of Lan XiChen and Jin GuangYao; XiYao didnât until it was too late for them both to survive. But at least Jin GuangYao died at his best moment, saving Lan XiChen, and hopefully that at least speaks to Lan XiChen eventually.
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