The Teapot Plot

The Aftermath

              Yanli waited until Wei Ying's sobs had quieted down before trying to talk to him again. Unfortunately for her, the end of his crying was also the end of his wakefulness. He grew heavier in her arms, reminding her of easier times. This... it wouldn't be as easy to fix as her mother's careless use of words and Zidan. If what she thought had happened to her child had in fact happened, then she was going to be helping him recover for a long time. Maybe for the rest of his life. This kind of horror had ruined lesser people many times before, and to have it happen on top of what Wei Ying had gone through in this was was frightening in relation to his future well being.

                     Lifting him back onto his bed, while preserving what little dignity that the sheet left him, wasn't easy. Wei Ying was a young man, and taller than her, but somehow she managed to do it even though there was some shifting in his covering. YanLi took note of the clear bruising on his hips even as she covered him back up, and methodically tucked a heavier blanket around his shivering form to try and warm him. Her mind was already moving onto the next step that she had to take to manage this. As much as she wanted to scream and shout her rage, letting the world know what had happened to her child would do nothing to help him. Letting the world know of this would only bring him shame, would only make people think him weak and then there would be dangers that she couldn't predict.

                   Jiang Cheng needed to know what had obviously happened, and he needed to know soon. If Lan Wangji confessed what had happened- what he had done to Wei Ying to his brother, the Lan Sect leader may try to defend his brother by blindsiding Cheng. He needed to be prepared for whatever the Lan Sect may try, which given Lan Wangji's many requests for Wei Ying to come to Gusu and the brother's own parent's marriage, could be devastating. If Wangji thought that she would let her child be married to him to 'take responsibility' for his crimes he had another thing coming. She would not let the man who abused Wei Ying sentence them to marriage and living in separate seclusion as some sort of sick replay of his own parents and punishment for A-Ying's path rolled into one.

                 After A-Cheng knew, they would need a healer to confirm and document what had happened. Hopefully Wei Ying woke and was able to tell them what happened in his own words, but if he couldn't bring himself to admit it they would have their own proofs to wield against the Lan's demands. The healer couldn't have anything to do with the Lan sect, which would be hard. She wasn't even sure that she trusted the Jin Sect healers, given the rumors the Jin's liked to try to spread about her closeness to A-Ying. Taking a breath, she brushed a kiss over her child's forehead, before walking to the tent door. It was only then that she noticed the talisman that would have prevented any of the sounds that occurred in this tent from being heard outside of it.

              The sight of it, and what it meant in regards to what had happened in this tent, disgusted her but she would leave it up until this was done with. She had no doubt that her didi would be expressing his anger and it would keep rumors from spreading around the camps before they were ready to address the crime. Since they were in the Jiang Sect sleeping area, finding a disciple to run and get her brother was easy enough, and didn't take her from A-Ying's side for long. After A-Cheng arrived and YanLi told him what she knew they could arrange for a healer.

                  "Remember, find Sect Leader Jiang and send him here as quickly as possible. If he's with anyone from the Lan Sect, interrupt them however you see fit." She instructed the younger man firmly, before sending him off. Turning, she looked at the sleeping figure and fought the angry tears that wanted to fall. Hadn't Wei Wuxian lost enough of himself to humanity yet? Jiang Cheng's fist's clenched and Zidan sparked as he looked over his unconscious brother, wondering how in the hell it had come to this as he listened to his sister talk. He would have had to be an idiot to not know that Lan Wangji had... feelings for Wei Wuxian after they had searched for him together, but he had thought that the famed Second Jade of Lan had more integrity than this. More honor than to force his attention onto Wuxian and leave him broken. Jiang Cheng had assumed those intentions would have been welcomed, based on how often Wuxian had chattered on about the man before the war, but it was clear that he had been wrong.