It’s important to note that while the Lotus Pier Massacre is often depicted as the pier being set ablaze, that’s not actually the case
Unlike the Cloud Recesses, the only damage explicitly mentioned as having been inflicted on the Pier is when Wen Chao demanded that the lotus symbols be removed
In fact, the fact that the Pier seems superficially identical is even used as an added gut-punch. When Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng sneak back into the Pier, we get this scene :
“ The gates of Lotus Pier were tightly shut. Outside, lights glowed brightly. Fragments of moonlight flowed along the crystalline water. Dozens of large lanterns in the shape of nine-petaled lotuses floated by the dock in silence. Everything was the same as before. Yet, it was because of how everything was the same as before that it tormented the heart.”
So why is it rebuilt by the time Wei Wuxian is reborn ? It’s probably meant to be yet another sign of Jiang Cheng’s insecurity. After all, remember what Wang Lingjiao said when she stormed into Lotus Pier ?
“Lotus Pier really is quite nice. It’s so big. It’s just that all of the houses are a bit old.”
And again, when Wei Wuxian revisits the Pier after the Second Siege, we get this scene, that - on top of telling us of Lotus Pier’s new state, is meant to be yet another depiction, I feel, of how the Pier is no longer Wei Wuxian’s home
“The training field was two times larger. Each new building seemed to be taller than the previous, adorned with curving roof decor. It seemed grander than before and had more splendor. But, compared to the Lotus Pier of his memories, it had changed too much.
Wei WuXian felt a sense of loss from deep within. He didn’t know whether the old buildings from the past were blocked behind these impressive new buildings or if they were torn down already.
After all, they were indeed too old”
Now that’s a deliberate echo if I’ve ever seen one. Wang Lingjiao’s catty little jab - especially paired with her subsequent role in the massacre - stung Jiang Cheng so much that he ultimately rebuilt Lotus Pier over it
It also stands as a nice little contrast with the Lan Sect. Because - again, contrary to popular belief, the Lan Sect was not massacred in Wen Xu’s attack. In fact, it kind of seems like it wasn’t an attack at all
“One of the disciples beside them whispered, “Of course his face isn’t so great. Last month, the Cloud Recesses was burnt down. You didn’t know yet, did you?”
Hearing this, Wei Wuxian jolted, “Burnt down?!”
In the past few days, Jiang Cheng had heard too many of these stories, so he wasn’t as surprised as Wei Wuxian was, “By the Wen Sect’s people?”
The disciple, “You can say that. You can also say… that the Lan Sect itself burnt everything down. The eldest son of the Wen Sect, Wen Xu, went to Gusu. He accused the Lan Sect’s leader of something and forced the Lan Sect’s people to burn down their own residence! It was given pretty names like cleaning up the place so that it’s reborn from the firelight. Most of the Cloud Recesses and its surrounding forest has been burnt down. Just like that, the hundreds of years old paradise had been destroyed. The leader of the Lan Sect was heavily injured. We don’t even know if he’s still alive. Well, well…”
Wei Wuxian, “Is Lan Zhan’s leg related to this?”
The disciple, “Of course. The first place that Wen Xu ordered them to burn down was the Library Pavilion. He declared that he’ll teach anyone who wasn’t willing to do it a lesson. Lan Wangji refused. He was attacked by Wen Xu’s people and they broke one of his legs. It hadn’t even been healed yet, and he was dragged out here again. Who knows what they’re trying to do?!”
It kinds of sounds like Wen Xu pulled something similar to what Wang Lingjiao attempted in Yunmeng - only, you know, successfully. Wen Xu simply walked in the front doors, accused the Lan of wronging them, and demanded that the Lan burn Cloud Recesses themselves… and unlike the Jiang, the Lan did so.
It seems only Lan Wangji spoke out against the burning - getting his leg broken as consequence. As for Qingheng-Jun… we’re never TOLD he fought the Wen or the Wen attacked him. It’s entirely possible the building he was in was just set on fire and he couldn’t escape in time.
That’s probably why the Sects were able to continue to delude themselves regarding the true state of affairs, and are still able to pretend that war wasn’t on the horizon - the Cloud Recesses wasn’t massacred, it was “disciplined”, and by it’s own people, no less
I wonder if that was the plan at Lotus Pier, too - if, like the Recesses, the Pier was simply supposed to be burned - before Wang Lingjiao overstepped by demanding personal, petty, revenge against Wei Wuxian, and then misspoke again, prompting an attack from Madame Yu that blew the entire operation’s cover.
Maybe Wen Zhuliu was lying in wait just below the Cloud Recesses with an army of his own, like the one that took the Pier, waiting for the Lan to make any attempt at resistance.
I wonder if that was the plan for all the Sects, with the Nie being saved for last, because Wen Ruohan knew that the Wen-hating Nie Mingjue would refuse any attempts at “discipline” out of hand, prompting an attack that would set off a war against a much, much, weaker foe, with three of the four sects weakened by “Wen discipline”, and the fourth hopefully massacred
Now that I think about it, that was probably the case for the Wen Indoctrination, too. Before, you know, Wen Chao blew it
