It's often said that Jin Ling would have the most elaborate insults because he was raised by Jiang Cheng.
But that's because they've never seen Lan Shizui in the middle of summer, drenched in sweat and missing out on precious hours of sleep because of the heat.
Ouyang Zhizhen says it's like listening to a celestial god, but instead of chants he spits out the most vulgar words imaginable.
Lan Jingyi, used to hearing him since childhood, is still amazed by Lan Shizui's memory for cursing the dead of every family tree in every sect.
Jin Ling is almost certain that he heard 9 of those 50 insults from his jiujiu (little a-yuan remembers the funny things the pretty purple boy said to Wei Ying while holding him).
If anyone is wondering, Lan Qiren and the jade twins pretend not to hear Lan Shizui's murmuring.
Sin of the fathers pt9 / On A03
Hello Lan Wangji, hope you like meeting your son lol
While Jin Ling had expected they might need to take breaks on their way to meet the Lans, Wen Yuan's endurance proved higher than expected. Jin Ling was proud of his student, and happy to arrive at the meeting point after only a day of flying. He’d never admit it out loud, but he’d missed Lan Jingyi.
The moment he saw Lan Jingyi waiting inside the inn and noticed the suspicious glance his friend threw at his husband, any fondness evaporated. Certainly Lan Jingyi couldn’t be blamed for having some negative preconceptions regarding Wen Yuan, but did he need to make it so obvious? Couldn’t he make an effort to be polite, just once?
Lan Wangji, seated across the table from Lan Jingyi, noticed them and unlike some people he had manners. His eyes fell on Wen Yuan, but nothing in his expression changed. He looked neither happy nor unhappy, neither suspicious nor trusting. Complete neutrality was probably the best Jin Ling could hope for, coming from adults who had fought in the Sunshot Campaign.
While Jin Ling and Wen Yuan made their way to the table, the Lans rose to properly greet them. Jin Ling spoke first, thanking Lan Wangji for sparing the time to oversee them, then Lan Jingyi for sending the invite in the first place. Lan Wangji merely nodded in answer, while Lan Jingyi grinned like the insufferable pest that he was.
“Well, I was curious about that husband they got you,” he said. “I figured I’d never get to meet him if I didn’t organise it. I always have to do everything, I swear.”
“Hm,” Lan Wangji said, pouring just enough of a warning into it that Lan Jingyi looked a little guilty and did not insist.
A brief silence fell between the four of them. Wen Yuan, awe-struck by Lan Wangji, as many people tended to be, remained frozen until Jin Ling discreetly nudged him.
“Hanguang-jun, I am honoured to meet you,” Wen Yuan said with a graceful bow.
Lan Wangji elegantly nodded.
“We have met before,” he stated, startling all three boys around him.
Wen Yuan looked the most perturbed among them. A deep crease appeared on his forehead, his eyebrows tightly knit as he tried to remember that occasion.
“You were very young,” Lan Wangji clarified, taking mercy on him. “You might not recall it. It was in Yiling. You were with Wei Ying. We shared a meal.”
“Oh, I do remember that!” Wen Yuan exclaimed, a bright smile on his face. “Yes, of course I remember! Wei zongzhu spoke of it for months, that time we met rich-gege and had such a nice meal. Even to this day, he still sometimes mentions it. It was such a good day for all of us.”
To Jin Ling’s shock, the corners of Lan Wangji’s mouth lifted. It might have been called a smile, except it was well known that Lan Wangji never smiled. Jin Ling glanced at Lan Jingyi, whom he found just as confused as he was.
Lan Jingyi silently mouthed ‘did you know this?’. Jin Ling could only shrug. That his husband’s past was a little mysterious, he knew. But this went beyond ‘mysterious’ and straight up into ‘unbelievable’.
“That day, Wei zongzhu promised to treat you to a meal but left you to pay the bill,” Wen Yuan noted, before bowing again. “It is a debt he has often regretted in the past. I hope you will let me repay it in his name during this Night Hunt.”
Something changed in Lan Wangji's face. That slight hint of a smile disappeared, replaced by a sterner expression. Some might have called him angry, but to Jin Ling he looked almost sad.
“When Wei gongzi leaves the Burial Mounds again, he will repay me himself,” Lan Wangji said. “Do not take the burden of others.”
“Hanguang-jun may wait a long time then, while I am here and willing,” Wen Yuan pleasantly insisted. “Nobody but me has left Yiling in years, nor do they plan to, I fear.”
“Some others have left Yiling,” Lan Wangji simply replied. “One passed near Caiyi Town recently.”
For some reason, Wen Yuan's face turned bright red as he stared at Lan Wangji with something akin to fear. Why that exchange should have caused such a strong reaction was beyond Jin Ling's understanding. All he knew was that his husband was unhappy, and it was his duty to rescue him.
“Hanguang-jun, will you tell us more about the case at hand?” Jin Ling asked. “And would it be acceptable to order food? We’ve had a long journey, I hope you’ll understand.”
He had the impression that Lan Wangji was not pleased with his intervention, though nothing in his cold face really betrayed it. Annoyed or not, Lan Wangji sat down again, and so did the three boys. Food was ordered, and received. When they were done eating, Lan Wangji shared what he had been told of the case, then let Lan Jingyi fill in the gaps with what they’d discovered while waiting for Jin Ling to arrive.
From what the Lan had gathered, in recent months people travelling alone at dusk in a nearby forest sometimes encountered a monk who seemed to have been beaten, his skin scratched badly in places, his clothes torn. The monk, whom they all described as kindly looking with a gentle voice, explained to them that he’d been travelling with a novice but they had been attacked by bandits. They’d managed to run away, but the young novice had fallen down a ditch and was seriously hurt. The monk would then beg them for help, and lead them deeper into the forest. After a while they would feel faint, and eventually pass out. They would then wake up back on the road at best, in the care of locals at worst, their energy so drained it took them weeks to recover. One unlucky man was found dead, just a week earlier.
“That could be a ghost,” Jin Ling said, eyeing Lan Jingyi’s reaction. As expected, his friend grimaced. “Hanguang-Jun, didn’t a lot of people die around here during the Sunshot Campaign?”
Lan Wangji nodded.
“We tried to perform appropriate rites for the souls. It was not always possible.”
He did not elaborate, and Jin Ling dared not ask for details, not with Wen Yuan right next to him. After all, there were only two possible reasons why rites to calm the unresting dead might have been botched during the war: either the Wens had prevented it, or Wei Wuxian had needed their corpses and bodies to fight for him.
“Nobody I asked knew anything about a monk dying around here,” Lan Jingyi remarked. “But that might just mean his body was never found. Supposing it even is a ghost. It could be something else. It could be a demon.”
“Then we need to prepare for all possibilities,” Wen Yuan said. “We should plan how to neutralise a ghost, eliminate a demon, or arrest a human, depending on what we find. And we’ll need to be careful, if that monk has stolen the energy of many people, he will make for a dangerous opponent.”
As he spoke, Lan Wangji gave one brief nod, as if particularly satisfied with those remarks. Jin Ling, who didn’t care about anyone’s approval, felt a pang of envy which he managed to turn into pride that his husband had impressed even the mighty Hanguang-Jun.
A little time was spent establishing their strategies. When they had exhausted every possibility they could imagine, Lan Wangji rose from his seat and retired for the night. He allowed the boys to stay up and talk a little, within reason. Since there wasn’t much they could do until the following evening, it did not matter too much if they went to bed late.
As soon as Lan Wangji was gone, Jin Ling felt tension melt from his shoulders. He was pretty sure Lan Jingyi too relaxed, but Wen Yuan remained a little stiff.
“I know this is a delicate case, but do we really need such close supervision from a senior?” Jin Ling asked. “Didn’t you tell me he usually stays at a short distance so he can help when juniors are on a Night Hunt, but he doesn’t intervene himself?”
“Blame yourself and your husband for that!” Lan Jingyi retorted. “When I told him about this case I’d heard about, and how I wanted to invite you and your husband, Zewu-Jun said Jin zongzhu might not like to have you two in the wild like that, so Hanguang-Jun offered to come so we’d be kept safe.”
“Couldn’t he just have said that and then left us alone?” Jin Ling grumbled. “Every time he’s near me, I feel like I’m in the middle of an exam and I’m failing it.”
Lan Jingyi rolled his eyes, probably to signify that it was not just stupid but also ridiculous to think Lan Wangji would do something as human and normal as lying. Which was probably fair. Jin Ling and Jin Dongmei had often speculated that Lan Wangji wasn’t a human, but maybe a god in a tribulation who had no idea how mortals were supposed to behave.
“So, you’re the infamous husband,” Lan Jingyi said, turning his attention to Wen Yuan, who slightly flinched. “You’re not at all how I expected.”
“In good or bad?” Wen Yuan asked.
His voice was steady and calm, but under the table his hands were clenched tight on the fabric of his robes.
“Oh, definitely in good!” Lan Jingyi exclaimed. “I can’t believe that little mistress got to marry someone so pretty! And you seem so well mannered too! And not too stupid either! Really, you’re wasted on someone like Jin Ling. You should divorce him and find someone better. I’ll help, if you want. I know many pretty girls and boys who’d be happy to marry you, and they all have much better personalities than that guy!”
In response, Wen Yuan let out a nervous giggle.
“That’s no way to speak of your friend, Lan gongzi,” he gently chastised.
“Oh, we’re not friends. Are we, little mistress?”
“Certainly not,” Jin Ling bitterly replied. “I don’t know why I put up with you.”
Puzzled by that exchange, Wen Yuan’s eyes jumped between them a few times before he smiled again.
“I see, how foolish of me to assume that,” he said. “How could I think that, just because you go on Night Hunts together, and write to each other, and trust each other? I feel silly, I should have understood the truth. I know what you two are.”
In spite of himself, Jin Ling tensed. He recalled his father’s stupid suspicion that Lan Jingyi and him were in love. If Wen Yuan too believed it, it would be the worst.
“Obviously, you two are sworn enemies,” Wen Yuan placidly concluded. “There is no other explanation.”
Lan Jingyi burst out laughing so loudly that other patrons of the inn turned to look at them, while Wen Yuan chuckled at his own joke. All Jin Ling managed was a tense smile.
Now fully convinced that Wen Yuan was the funniest person in the world, Lan Jingyi started freely chatting with him, asking him all sorts of rude questions about his life in Lanling and Yiling. Wen Yuan answered some, quietly ignored others, but most of the time he instead got Lan Jingyi to talk about the Cloud Recesses, for which he had a great curiosity. His father had briefly studied there for a series of lectures, so Wen Yuan had heard many things and wanted to know how much was true.
As for Jin Ling, he mostly stayed out of the conversation. Every so often Wen Yuan tried to bring him into it, but Jin Ling was reluctant. He couldn’t have said why at first. Things were going well, he should have been happy to see his friend and his husband getting along so well. Instead, he was filled with the same bitter envy he felt when watching Wen Yuan chat with his siblings or his mother.
They really got along better these days, but sometimes Jin Ling still got that feeling that Wen Yuan would rather have spoken only to other people. That Wen Yuan liked others better than he liked Jin Ling. And he had a right to that, of course. They might be married but they weren’t lovers, Jin Ling had no rights to Wen Yuan’s affection, and yet…
He wasn’t jealous. Of course he wasn’t jealous. It was just that he’d worked so hard to get Wen Yuan to be at ease around him, and it wasn’t fair that someone as unpleasant as Lan Jingyi could get it to happen immediately.
It was a relief when they finally all went to bed. Jin Ling was getting tired of watching his husband have so much fun with someone else.
The following day was spent preparing for their investigation. As they had decided the previous night, they all purchased commoners’ clothes so they could walk in the forest and attempt a meeting with the monk. Two of them would enter the forest from the side close to town, the other two from the opposite side. The people within each duo would walk at a little distance from each other, so they would be close enough to intervene, but far enough to trick the monk into thinking they were alone.
Naturally, Jin Ling had expected that he would be paired up with his husband. It was thus a rather disappointing shock when, instead, Lan Wangji announced that Wen Yuan would work with him.
“Those who are used to Night Hunts need no supervision,” Lan Wangji severely stated when Jin Ling tried to protest. “Wen gongzi has less experience.”
It was hard to argue with that logic, but Jin Ling tried anyway. As much as Lan Wangji impressed him, he could tell that Wen Yuan was uneasy about being alone with a stranger. His expression was tight, almost reminding Jin Ling of the early days of their marriage.
And yet all his arguing was in vain. Lan Wangji had decided. They could either accept or go home.
Jin Ling was still upset about this when Lan Jingyi and him took flight to head for the other side of the forest. He couldn’t help feeling guilty that he’d given in. Certainly Wen Yuan had agreed to that arrangement, but maybe it had been a mistake to leave him alone with Lan Wangji. Didn’t Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian once have a feud of some sort? Lan Wangji had been as close to friendly as he ever got toward Wen Yuan, but what if that was all a deception? What if he tried to hurt Wen Yuan? What if he was mean to him? What if…
“So,” Lan Jingyi said, flying closer to him, “you know that…”
“I probably don't,” Jin Ling snapped at him. “But for being in a sect that doesn't allow gossip, you sure always know the latest rumours.”
Lan Jingyi glared at him.
“It's not my fault! It's because… Well, you know, Lan zongzhu often visits the Nie sect, right ? And sometimes, when he comes home, he brings Nie Huaisang with him, so Nie zongzhu can get a break.”
Jin Ling nodded. He had heard his mother and Jin Guangyao say once that it wasn't just out of kindness toward Nie Mingjue that Lan Xichen often invited Nie Huaisang to the Cloud Recesses. He wasn't sure what else could have motivated him, though. Nie Huaisang wasn't ugly but he wasn't particularly handsome either, and he was at least as annoying as Lan Jingyi, though in a different style. Aside from mercy toward his sworn brother, what could push Lan Xichen to put up with that?
“Whenever Nie gongzi comes, he ends up chatting with me,” Lan Jingyi went on. “And he can't seem to understand that I'm not allowed to gossip, and I can't tell a guest to shut up, right? So, I always end up knowing stuff I shouldn't know.”
“That's fair, but it's your own choice to repeat that stuff after,” Jin Ling pointed out.
Unable to find a good argument to defend himself, Lan Jingyi simply stuck out his tongue at him.
“Shut up and just let me talk, this time it's stuff that interests you. Like how the Nie are really pissed off about your marriage. Apparently Nie zongzhu is really furious. He thinks your grandfather is trying to get Wei Wuxian to build him a corpse army to conquer the world, so he can be a new Wen zongzhu.”
Jin Ling grimaced, and looked down at the forest below them, considering what to say.
The way things worked, he'd noticed, was that Nie Huaisang often took holidays in Gusu right when tensions were high between the Jin and Nie sects. He would gossip to Lan Jingyi, who would gossip to Jin Ling during a Night Hunt, who repeated that gossip to his mother. Naturally, she would then share things with her husband. Jin Zixuan would go on Night Hunts near the territory of the Nie, and have a chance meeting with Nie Mingjue. They would chat about how difficult Jin Guangshan was, discuss how to deal with problems more reasonably, and things would calm down for a while.
It had been months since Jin Ling had seen Lan Jingyi. Not since his marriage was announced in fact. And at the moment, it was unlikely Jin Zixuan and Nie Mingjue could speak as easily as they once did. But if Jin Ling told Lan Jingyi something, it would almost certainly be repeated to Nie Huaisang, who was such a gossiper that of course his brother would hear about it, right?
“Jin zongzhu would probably like that,” Jin Ling huffed. “But Wei Wuxian just took his money and hasn't been in touch even once since then. He never agreed to do anything, after all. He just gave a vague promise of alliance that lets him pretty free to refuse to help, honestly. Jin zongzhu was just ripped off, and I don't give it more than two years before he gives up on Wei Wuxian and looks for a better ally.”
“Will you divorce Wen Yuan when that happens?”
“Why do you care?” Jin Ling snapped, still suspicious of Lan Jingyi's earlier friendliness.
Lan Jingyi shrugged.
“Isn't it a normal thing to ask? You’re only married to him because your grandfather forced you to.”
Only some weeks earlier, Jin Ling might have needed to think about politics and his sect’s image before answering that question. But that evening, while flying over a haunted forest, he knew that unless Wen Yuan himself begged to be released, he would never be willing to let him go.
“Hm. Well… I don't think I will,” Jin Ling said with affected casualness. “Wei Wuxian might not be helpful, but he's still dangerous, so i don't think Jin zongzhu will dare to send Wen Yuan back. And I can’t just decide that on my own, right? So, he’s got to stay, there’s no choice.”
“I'm glad of that,” Lan Jingyi retorted. “You two seem to get along pretty well. Better than I’d have expected when people told me about this. It helps that he’s really nice, not at all like what people were saying.”
“And what is it Nie Huaisang told you about my husband?”
The way Lan Jingyi laughed confirmed that he’d guessed the right source for his previous information.
“Oh, you know him, it was mostly nonsense,” Lan Jingyi assured him. “He won't say one clever thing if he can say three stupid ones. But he had heard Wen Yuan had a cold personality, that he had bad manners, and worst of all that he was very ugly.”
“Whoever said that had better be prepared to fight me!” Jin Ling exclaimed, forgetting that he'd complained about all that and worse in the early days of his marriage.
Jin Ling himself may even have been the source of Nie Huaisang's impressions, probably through Jin Guangyao. Not that Jin Guangyao would have revealed much on purpose, but if Nie Huaisang had one skill in life, it was extracting gossip out of any conversation.
Had it been pointed out to him that he’d once said these things against Wen Yuan, Jin Ling would have argued his old feelings didn't count. Those days were far behind them, and his current opinion of Wen Yuan was the only valid one.
“You really do like him, eh?” Lan Jingyi laughed. “I guess I’m glad that you two managed to fall in love even if circumstances were a bit weird. Most people’s arranged marriages don’t work out that well.”
“We… we’re not in love!” Jin Ling protested, his face burning.
He hated the smirk on Lan Jingyi’s face, that knowing expression which made it very hard to resist the impulse to punch his teeth out.
“We’re not!” Jin Ling insisted. “We’re… I don’t think he sees me like that at all.”
“But you do.”
Jin Ling’s blush deepened. He was glad to notice that they’d finally reached the edge of the forest. Without a word, he flew down, ignoring the way Lan Jingyi kept teasing him as he followed him. Once the ground was close enough, Jin Ling hopped off his sword and hid it inside a qiankun pouch.
“I’ll go in first,” he coldly announced. “Wait here until you can only just see me. And don’t talk once you’re in the woods, if that’s not too much to ask.”
“Sure, sure. Just one more thing before you go…”
“What now?” Jin Ling snapped. “We need to hurry, or Hanguang-Jun will solve this before us!”
“He won’t, he’ll give us a chance first,” Lan Jingyi retorted. “Anyway, I just wanted to say… don’t be so prickly about liking Wen Yuan. There’s worse things in life than before in love with your husband, you know? And besides, from what I saw last night, I’d say he likes you well enough. Which proves some people have no taste, really.”
In response, Jin Ling tried to punch him, but Lan Jingyi avoided his fist. He only did so because Jin Ling hadn’t been serious about hitting him. And that wasn’t at all because Lan Jingyi’s words had comforted him a little, but only because they were in a Night Hunt, and those things were too serious to fight among themselves.
As he stepped alone into the forest, Jin Ling paid attention to everything around him, taking note of every shadow, every sound. But before very long, he became distracted by thoughts of Wen Yuan. How were things going for him? Was Lan Wangji nice to him? What if he’d encountered the monk? What if he was hurt?
Every time he caught his mind drifting, Jin Ling scolded himself and forced it back to what was happening around him. So little was happening, though, that he always ended up thinking of Wen Yuan again. Jin Ling was so glad that Lan Jingyi had gotten a good impression of his husband, because Lan Jingyi almost never liked anyone. And Lan Wangji too had been positively impressed, it seemed, which he would certainly tell his brother and sect leader. It was a little strange that Lan Wangji had tried to mention a previous meeting with Wen Yuan, and there had been his odd remark about leaving Yiling, but overall this was all going very well so far, and…
Nearby sounds startled Jin Ling out of that train of thought. There were cracking sounds, like fallen branches being stepped on, and, if he paid careful attention, he could just barely hear a person’s laboured breathing, as if they were unwell, or had been running perhaps. Jin Ling’s hand automatically moved to grasp his sword, but he stopped himself. He was supposed to be only a wandering peasant, he couldn’t draw his weapon until it was absolutely necessary, or the ghost monk would get suspicious. Besides, it might just have been Lan Jingyi, either playing a prank on him or having gotten spooked again at the idea of a ghost.
Jin Ling slowly turned toward the source of those sounds.
It was not Lan Jingyi he found in front of him, but that dishevelled and beaten monk others had described.
At a glance, Jin Ling could tell that the monk was not a ghost. He wished it had been. Because if it was a living man who had caused so many problems, then this case had just become something a few juniors should not have been involved with.
Ouyang Zhizen is the conqueror of all the girls because as handsome as Lan Shizui, Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling are, two of them have barely interacted with a woman and Jin Ling has interacted with disciples jiang, but 78% are lesbians.
