𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓━━━J. Cheng

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿

004—The Brother and the Father

When she finally opened her eyes, she saw a completely different ceiling. It wasn't the usual ceiling she would see whenever she woke up in her room. And so, she could only sit up and look around the place immediately. And a white towel fell on her lap as soon she did. She stared at the white folded cloth for a few seconds. And then raised her hand to touch her forehead. "Ah." The towel is still cool and wet, which means somebody just recently wet it and placed it on her head. 

'But it's not like I am sick though.' 

She glanced around cautiously. Although she had only gone there a few times long ago, she does remember this extremely neat and tidy room. Lan Wangji's, her cousin. Her lips parted in awe. He rarely lets anyone enter his room.

[First Name] fell into a daze. She had no recollection of whatever happened that made her end up here before passing out. 

Passing out? Her eyes slowly widened in realization and she felt a surge of memories coming into her. And so, her face ended up red in embarrassment. No matter how many faces she lost in front of all the dignified relatives, disciples, and seniors from the sect, to act like that in front of strangers, she felt an extreme urge to bury herself. 

And! Of all strangers, it had to be that young master from Yunmeng Jiang Sect, whom she felt strangely and unusually flustered and nervous. She really dug her grave during a moment of weakness. She groaned, covering her burning face with her hands. "How should I face Wangji-xiong later too...?" to act like that in front of him, surely, he must be disappointed in her. 

All of a sudden, a pair of light and gentle footsteps, as well as a quiet noise of the door opening, made [First Name] finally calm down. She recognized whose footsteps this was and so, she changed the direction of her gaze from her lap to the entrance of the room and met eyes with her other older cousin. 

He looked a bit surprised but then a gentle expression replaced that in a split second. "How are you feeling, [First Name]?" he concernedly asks as he comes closer to the bed. [First Name] was about to stand up and greet him properly but he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "It's fine, just stay still and rest properly. No need to tire yourself out."

She felt bad, unable to greet him properly but to be honest, she still felt light-headed. She sighed. "I'm sorry for the trouble, Xichen-xiong." she could only lower her head and sincerely apologize, though, again, Lan Xichen shook his head. "Don't apologize, you didn't cause any trouble." after saying that, there was a bit of silence from him. [First Name] raised her head curiously but her head was rubbed gently instead. "Though, the young masters from Yunmeng Jiang Sect and Qinghe Nie Sect were surprised. Brother was quite flustered too when he called me." 

"Ah..." she didn't know what to say. She just recalled how embarrassing she was, fainting in front of them. Xichen smiled and continued, "He couldn't bring himself to bring you to your quarters so he ended up bringing you here."

That's understandable. Female cultivators going to the male cultivators' area and vice versa is strictly forbidden. She nods. 

"Brother went to our uncle to tell what happened. [First Name], look at your hand." she obediently followed the instruction and glanced at her hands. It was wrapped in bandages. Despite covering her face with both her hands earlier, it's a wonder why she didn't notice these in her hands. "[First Name], you passed out from exhaustion and your hands were all red. The cleaning duty every week is assigned to ten disciples and the laundry is taken care of by their own owners. So why did you take the responsibility of cleaning everyone's laundry? You were under the sun for who knows how many hours, no matter how good you are in cultivation, even the strongest cultivators can exhaust themselves and fall down after doing normal tasks."

[First Name] is speechless. Think about it, in the first place, wasn't it her fault that everyone's laundry got drenched since she left those out during the rain? However, what Lan Xichen said was true. There were nine others on cleaning duty with her. However, before the rain arrived, she was all alone in the building. Those who had no cleaning duty for that week didn't join the night hunts. 

Lan Xichen finally pulled his hand back but continued to look at you with his stern yet gentle gaze. He sighed, "Brother told me to tell you that you can rest in his room until you're fine. Hand me the towel and I'll wet it again." 

[First Name] said nothing and only followed what he said. Holding the warm yet moist towel in his hand, he used the other to gently push her back to bed. "Rest up, you can go back to your quarters later but for now, take as much rest as possible. Alright?" He gently smiled, pulling the blanket over her. She nods, returning the smile. "Thank you, Xichen-xiong." and he gave her one last pat on the head before leaving beside the bed. He was going to the table, there was probably a basin of water over there, and [First Name] didn't notice when she took a look around earlier.

Her eyelids felt heavy and her eyes were on the verge of closing. However, just as she was about to fall asleep again, she wondered how she could thank the young master from Yunmeng Jiang Sect. She did fall to him when she fainted after all. Feeling a cold and wet object compressed on her forehead, [First Name] finally dozed off. 

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Lan Qiren brushed his fingers on his goatee, a stressed-out expression strained on his face. He is known for his strictness, even his nephews and daughter couldn't escape his strict demeanor. He opened his eyes, looking at the female elder who sat across from him. "I am aware that I should not meddle with the affairs of your area. However," putting his hand down, Lan Qiren raised his head and continued to stare at the other elder, who felt uneasy at the stern gaze.

"Lan [First Name] passed out after doing something that was not part of her responsibility. Both of the brothers told me what happened themselves." 

He is not siding with his daughter. He knows how mischievous his daughter could be when given a chance. But he had to make things straight. As the person who sternly taught the disciples about proper conduct, he knows that what happened to [First Name] was because the rules were not understood properly and were misused against her. Although there are thousands of rules about unnecessary things, there was no such thing written in the Wall of Discipline about those who ignored laundries and left them outside to get drenched will be given punishments. So [First Name] did not really do anything wrong. Besides, there are also nine others who are in charge of the housework and they did nothing at all too. To give punishment to an innocent person is wrong.

"Whether she'll grab the sheets and blankets of the others depends on her, doesn't it?"

Those words were enough to make the female elder understand and Lan Qiren doesn't have any intention of discussing this issue any further. And so, he stood up and left the room immediately. Though, before he exited the room, he uttered a few words. "I hope that no such thing will happen again in the future."

Published: December 31, 2021