It's been thirteen years since Lan Zhan was last in a room with Wei Wuxian, but its been five minutes since he saw Wei Ying teaching art online. Devising a complex plan to save Wei Ying from being framed from murder, Lan Zhan throws his life and he...
The genuine golden trim on the carved bench-like chairs set out in Sect Leader's hall in Lanling was as gaudy as Lan Xichen remembered from the last time he had come here. Set out in a way that apparently was for 'humbling before tradition', encouraging visitors to sit opposite each other as their ancestors would have done. But it managed to have a intensifying effect on all of the people in attendance.
Especially unwise considering how tense the situation was.
The white roses and golden peonies alone cost more than what Gusu spent on food, so clearly the 'extensive renovations to their ancestral home' had not included any form of restraint, taste or economy, he thought. The ceiling was glittering above, held aloft by pearl white pillars and banners in light blue with the golden peony symbol were draped everywhere.
A single glance to the side, told him that A-Zhan silently agreed with this assessment and shared his older brother's concealed irritation and more stringently hidden anxiety.
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They had been summoned, or rather he had been summoned to Lanling for what was being called an 'an intimate emergency conference', regarding the Jiang Sect. The wording was unpleasant and to Lan Xichen, a deeper insult than first appearance realized. One he doubted Jin Guangshan actually intended, which only made it harder to forgive.
Because there had been no emergency meeting when Gusu had burned, or when Nie Mingjue's father had so obviously been murdered, or when the far smaller Lin Sect had been nearly wiped out by typhoon flooding. Nor had there been one when the Jiang Sect had been attacked, its former Sect Leaders murdered in their own home.
But for some reason, Jin Guangshan had called one now, demanding that Nie Mingjue and he drop everything to speak with him about a crisis. To add insult to the fire, he had also invited Wen Xu. Four of the Five Great Sects, to speak freely about these 'issues.'
The only thing the crisis could be about is Lotus Pier and it had a knot of anxiety tightening with every waiting moment in his chest. The fate of Jiang Yanli and her brothers could be decided here, based some evidence and enough conviction among the sects. The fate of his little tiger was the same.
And at this point, neither he nor Mingjue believed the rumors, but there was enough weight behind them, that causally dismissing them was no longer an option.
So he had brought Lan Zhan with him in what appeared to be a respectful gesture, but in reality was combination of support, law enforcement and as someone else who had just as much to lose if the Jiang Sect was in trouble. Anything learned here would help Lan Zhan's investigations, the ones they never mentioned or prove that they really had been wrong about them once and for all.
It made Lan Xichen feel suffocated in the room, but he took comfort in A-Zhan's silent presence beside him. There was no guideline for this, no manual that could explain what he should do beyond the rules of his Sect and his Elders had little idea either, other than a no-war policy.
