Past is set in stone, only your feelings may change

Marriage

„Do you want to go inside?"

That was what Lan Zhan had asked him before and at first, Wei Wuxian had considered going inside the Yunmeng Jiang clan ancestral hall to be a terrible idea. He could already picture how furious it would make Jiang Cheng to find him there. He had no right to go see his former family from which he had defected in his previous life and whose deaths he had caused.

And yet, he could just not resist. There were two reasons for his decision. He wanted to apologize to his adoptive parents and show then that he was alive again and well. Although Madame Yu never liked him too much, she had not kicked him out which had to amount to something, moreover, Uncle Jiang and Shijie loved him, each in their own way. He wanted to pay his respects.

And there was also a second reason, a more selfish one. He wanted to show them Lan Zhan. Now that he was sure that the Second Jade indeed had never hated him and instead always worried about him, perhaps even liked him, he wanted the whole world to know that. His name had just been cleared, at least partially and the true villain had been unmasked, he now had no reason to fear that his past reputation would reflect poorly on Hanguang-Jun. They could stay together and Wei Wuxian could let himself be spoiled by how good his Lan Zhan was to him.

They went inside the ancestral hall and Wei Wuxian picked three incense sticks. He had expected Lan Zhan to take his own as well, but the Second Jade made no movement to do so, he only smiled at him and whispered so quietly that Wei Wuxian had doubts he had heard correctly: "I have the same wish."

He let it go though, it did not matter. And perhaps, just perhaps, Lan Zhan really knew what he wanted more than anything else in the world right now. The thought that it could be that the Second Jade also wanted to stay close to him and be friends was making Wei Wuxian's heart race. He smiled back and nodded.

They kneeled in front of the memorial tablets and they bowed, three times.

Suddenly, Wei Wuxian had a district feeling that this almost felt like a marriage, him bowing to his ancestors, to the heaven and earth the third one... During the third one, he had caught himself glancing at Lan Zhan and turning his body slightly in his direction. It was only after they had finished their bows that Wei Wuxian realized what he had just done.

Marriage!? Was he seriously thinking about marrying Lan Zhan, especially in a situation such as this? No, that was not possible! It just could not be. Lan Zhan was not a cut sleeve and he was surely not harbouring any feelings of love towards Wei Wuxian. There was only friendship between them, nothing more. Wei Wuxian should not be getting ahead of himself and wanting something which would disgust the other. After all, in the past, Lan Zhan had liked MianMian, he had liked women! And most importantly, who would ever like the Yiling Patriarch?

But why had Lan Zhan been returning Wei Wuxian's look when they had been doing their third bow? Was this really a marriage? Was Wei Wuxian actually in love with Lan Zhan? Had that been what he had been feeling all this while when he looked at the Second Jade and had thought that the other was beautiful? Had this been why he did not want to leave Lan Zhan's side? Wei Wuxian was confused by his own feelings and thoughts.

Should he consider this as a consensual marriage, or not?