Hunxi!!!! How are you? I’m sorry this answer is so late, real life unexpectedly imploded on me. Hopefully this makes up for it ^.^. It’s a little post-canon scene that combines a few of my personal hcs for resident best boy and un-lannest-lan to even lan, Jingyi!
Junior Quartet are out on a night hunt, with Wen Ning following/watching over them (as he does)
Whatever they’re hunting is stronger than expected, and breaks through their defenses
Wen Ning jumps in to protect them, putting himself in front of Jin Ling and shoving him out of harms way with his hand on Jin Ling’s chest, accidentally cracking a couple of ribs
After the monster is defeated Jin Ling (who is trying but is still not great with emotions) starts screaming at Wen Ning, very hurtful things (being hit in the chest by the Ghost General brings up a lot of trauma for him okay?)
Lan Jingyi, noticing how much his words are hurting Wen Ning and Sizhui, starts yelling at Jin Ling
Jin Ling snaps that Jingyi doesn’t get it, doesn’t understand what it’s like, what would he know about it?!
Jingyi replies sarcastically and a little too pointedly that of course only young mistress would know what it was like to lose one’s parents at Nightless City and Qiongqi Way and storms off
Wen Ning follows him, and finds Jingyi sitting by a nearby stream
He sits down next to him and they both sit quietly, watching the water flowing past
Wen Ning breaks the quiet to ask ‘Your father was as Qiongqi Way?’
Jingyi shakes his head, says ‘My father died at the Nightless City.’ he pauses then adds quietly. ‘My mother was at Qiongqi Way.’
Wen Ning flinches and then says ‘I’m sorry’
Jingyi shrugs, tells Wen Ning he doesn’t blame him, and he hasn’t grown up having the ‘the Yiling Patriarch and Ghost General were evil and ruined your family and orphaned you’ speeches Jin Ling did, and he had his aunt (who, btw, I have stolen Lan Tayun for, I love her too much, in my mind she is Jingyi’s aunt/big sister/mentor and quietly horrified at how involved Jingyi was in the whole post-resurrection arc. Did I teach you nothing about flying under the radar Jing-er?? those people remember your name!)
Wen Ning counters that Jin Ling had his uncles, it’s not that different. He queries whether he, Zizhen, and Sizhui know?
Jingyi smiles and shakes his head, says resignedly that no one cares what happened to a sect leader’s third-cousin-twice-removed and his wife from a tiny sect with no political clout
Wen Ning hums in agreement (afterall, no-one cared when his parents were killed, the first victims of Wen Ruohan’s obsession with power)
Jin Ling, Sizhui, and Zizhen eventually track them down, and Jin Ling mumbles an apology
The five of them make their way back to Cloud Recesses, and if Wen Ning makes sure to pay a little more attention to Jingyi after that no-one notices (they’re just a couple of third-cousins-twice-removed after all)
