"Did you hear about the recent scandal in the Gusu Lan Clan?"
"I did!"
"It's awful, isn't it? Poor Lady Gu!"
"It is; I can't say I'm surprised, though. What else can we expect from the Yiling Patriarch? He might've done the same to others and worse."
"Hanguang Jun will surely not let that scoundrel get away with this."
"Hey!"
The two Lan Clan disciples, seated under an oak tree in the middle of the campus, glance up to see Lan Jingyi march right up to them.
"Jingyi! What brings you here?" The first disciple inquires.
"Your incessant gossiping, that's what! Don't you know it's bad omen to talk about other people behind their backs? What, do you have nothing better to do with your lives?"
"Well, what's it to you if we talk about Wei Wuxian?" The second disciple snaps.
"I've met Master Wei a few times now, and I can guarantee he would never do such a thing, even if he was paid!" Jingyi snarks. "And need I remind you that you're currently violating Rule 492–Talking behind other people's back is prohibited."
"Well you're breaking Rule 201–Do not mix public and private interests."
"I'm following Rule 2021–You can refute Rule 201 if you see others being nosy assholes."
"That's not even on the Wall of Discipline!"
"It might be. Why don't you guys go check for yourselves? Go on, shoo! Get outta here."
"You—well, er... I... whatever! Come on, Liwan. Let's go."
The disciples stand up, gather their materials, and stomp away, their heads held high.
"Jerks," Jingyi grumbles.
He looks around, observing the campus: Lan Clan disciples fill the wooden gazebos and the Library Pavilion, hunched over books and paperwork; the oak tree sits unoccupied in front of him; the Lan Clan elders usually surveying the disciples are nowhere in sight. Jingyi smiles mischievously. Making sure no one's watching, he grabs a branch and quickly scales up the tree. Its leaves twist and curl around him, shielding him from view.
He leans back against the trunk, closes his eyes, and drifts off to get some much needed sleep.
•••
The sun is beginning to set when Jingyi wakes up. He yawns, stretches his arms—and tumbles out of the tree with a startled yelp. He lands on his backside with an unsavoury whump!
"Damn," he mutters, rubbing his sore backside. He's about to rant out loud how much his butt hurts when he catches sight of Zewu Jun's study room. The doors to the study have opened, and a cloaked figure steps out. Jingyi scrambles behind the tree and peeks out. Xichen has also emerged at the doorway. He appears to be speaking to the hooded figure. Then he ducks back into the room and slides the doors shut.
The silhouette scours the campus, and removes its hood. A woman's face appears in place of the dark coif. She's petite, slender. The bottom half of her face is swathed in a red veil, but she has big eyes. Big eyes. Like the Ghost General. Like Sizhui.
Sister Wen.
Jingyi's brows furrow.
What is she doing here? How long has she been in Cloud Recesses? And why was Xichen with her?
YOU ARE READING
this changes everything. ⟲ wangxian
Fanfiction"Wangji... Rule 2982-" Lan Wangji stiffens. "-you know you can't be with him. It's been many moons for you two now, so I can predict you'll feel... energised. Obviously, your health will improve. And that's what we want; that's what's good for you...
