I will take care of you, I promise (Between a rock and a hard place 3)

Chapter 7

Lan Xichen woke up and contrarily to what he had hoped the day before, his worries were no lesser, if anything, they just grew overnight. He slept very poorly and had woken up from bad dreams bordering with nightmares several times. He had been seeing his family, torn apart and persecuted because of his father's behaviour. He may have loved his wife, but he certainly did not choose a good way of showing it.

Now it seemed like Lan Wangji was walking the same path and it was making Lan Xichen very sad. His brother had been too young to really understand anything but he himself had not been. He had seen the sadness in their mother's eyes when he and Lan Wangji had to leave after their monthly visits and she had to stay basically imprisoned inside. When he had been officially acknowledged as the Gusu Lan sect heir, he had been brought to see his father, the only time in his life, and he understood what loving his mother and being kept away from her did to him. He was a broken man.

Lan Xichen did not want that fate for his little brother whom he had wowed to protect the very day he had seen him for the first time. If Lan Wangji would however continue with behaving like their father, Lan Xichen would not be able to do anything but punish him, just like their father had been. Lan Wangji would be forced into seclusion and Lan Xichen would never be able to see him again. It would be a great blow to the Gusu Lan sect reputation and to the strength of their sect as well. There was no one else in their generation who would be so powerful and so apt at musical cultivation as his brother.

He could not let that happen, never!

Lan Xichen quickly prepared for the day and went to the dining room to take his breakfast. He was hoping to come across Lan Wangji there and to be able to talk to him more. He did not have too much time yesterday and he had let himself be distracted by his brother's words that he had only been caring for Wei Wuxian, nothing more.

While this could still apply, Lan Xichen wanted, needed even, to check for himself. It was not that he did not trust his brother, he only needed to reassure himself. He would ask him how the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple's recovery was coming along and then he would go check directly to the Jingshi just as he had decided yesterday. He would go listen if Lan Wangji would indeed be playing healing music.

His hopes were in vain because he had been stopped on his way to the dining room by a disciple who had a message for him about some trouble which some of the Gusu Lan sect juniors had run into during a failed night hunt. He dismissed the messenger as soon as he could and promised to go take care of the issue in the afternoon. He would have to listen to the disciples' story and send someone more experienced to deal with the rest.

Not right now though, he needed to talk to his brother first. Perhaps he could even send Lan Wangji to finish the night hunt and in this way separate him from Wei Wuxian. He was sure that he himself would be more than apt to take care of the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple. There were healers as well to whom he could entrust the boy once he made sure they would keep his condition a secret.

Or he could take care of Wei Wuxian himself, better to have matters in his own hands and be sure that no rumours would spread and the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader would not come to the Cloud Recesses to demand some kind of retribution for having his ward qi deviating during the guest lectures. Yes, that was perhaps a better option after all. Lan Xichen was confident enough in his musical cultivation, he could play healing songs to the boy instead of Lan Wangji.

Unfortunately, due to the time passed with the messenger, Lan Xichen had arrived to the dining room as one of the last. His mood dropped even lower when he realized that there was only unseasoned porridge left for him and that it was already mostly cold. It did not taste good at all.

Moreover, his mood did not get any better when he was told that Lan Wangji had already left. He would have to go talk to him directly to the Jingshi. Then again, perhaps it would be for the better. If he would insist enough, he would be able to see how Wei Wuxian was doing with his own eyes.

He finished quickly and immediately went to the Jingshi. He was stopped by Lan Qiren on his way. His uncle did not look too pleased and he was scowling. Lan Xichen could already guess what had angered him. He never liked Wei Wuxian too much and now the Yunmeng Jiang sect disciple was holding Lan Wangji up from his studies. Lan Qiren must have surely not liked that at all.

"Xichen," he inquired quickly, his frown deepening, "do you have any news about Wei Wuxian's recovery? The boy should really go to the infirmary and not trouble Wangji. I am sure that it was all his idea that Wangji would have to take care of him and would miss lectures."

It looked like Lan Qiren wanted to say something more but he stopped himself and only scoffed quietly. His eyes were burning holes into Lan Xichen and he was asking himself why did he had to deal with this. He was not the culprit, if anything, he was the one who was trying his best to discourage his brother from becoming even closer with Wei Wuxian. Instead of a sharp glare and cold words, Lan Qiren should be thanking him, came a fleeting thought.

But he was able to deal with his uncle's question swiftly: "Uncle, I am just on my way to see Wangji and to ask him how Young Master Wei is doing. I will inform you once I come back. However, since I was told that Wangji did not eat in the dining room together with the others this morning, I am assuming that he and Young Master Wei will be absent from the lectures today as well."

Lan Qiren looked more displeased than before but it seemed like he let the matter go for now. He stroked his beard and nodded. Lan Xichen did not wait for anything more and he quickly excused himself. His steps were taking him to the Jingshi, perhaps at a faster pace than would be strictly accepted.