THE GRAND BET

Chapter 3: Not A Secret.

Morning came too soon and the three Lotuses struggled to stay awake through breakfast. Last night may have ended on a bad note but luckily Huaisang got them home on time to sneak back in unnoticed.

"What's wrong with you three...", Madam Yu's voice startled them awake. "Nothing, mother." YanLi put up a sweet smile.

Fengmian, "You look stressed, did you three stay up all night again?". "Mnm" The youngest nodded, his eyelids dancing with the breeze from the air conditioning.

Madam Yu, "Your father and I will be staying for two more days. We plan on going shopping this afternoon, do you three wanna tag along?"

"Thank you but I have to take care of some school work with my brothers," YanLi saved the situation with an excuse.

Fengmian, "Mnnn, okay."

Madam Yu, "A'Li, isn't the university on a break?"

"It's a project for the charity foundation, Mother, and I have more work to do," YanLi answered.

Done with their food, their parents left the dining area to get ready. YanLi accompanied them to the staircase and leaned against the handrail while her parents went up. A spontaneous bang and the sound of cutlery landing on the floor quickly drew her attention back to the dining area.

Met with a rather amusing sight, she took out her phone and made a small video. YanLi walked around the table, making sure she got a good angle of her brothers sleeping. Wei Ying had dozed off; landing his face on a bowl of rice porridge. Jiang Cheng had also collapsed into his seat, holding onto his fork and knife like a child eagerly waiting for his food.

YanLi gently pulled Wei Ying's head up, revealing the beard-like decoration of porridge on his face. As if things could not get any messier, Wei Ying scratches his cheek when he felt a tickle and ended up rubbing the porridge further up.

Giggling softly, Jiang YanLi lowered his head back down. She then turned the camera to Jiang Cheng and said, "A'Cheng, do you not like your food?...A'Cheng," she picked up a chopstick and poked him.

"Wei Wuxian, stop touching my stuff...", Jiang Cheng reacted with his eyes still closed. YanLi cupped her mouth and laughed. But much as she thought it to be funny, she couldn't bring herself to wake them up. So she wiped Wei Ying's face and left them there for a while.

***

Jade Mansion.

The Cloud Recesses is home to the Gusu Lan's heritage and its leaders. The family prides itself on perfection and above all righteousness. Any form of misdemeanour was not welcome no matter the status of the individual.

Lan Wangji was lying in the chaise lounge, his head buried in a thick book on astronomical powers and their connection with cultivation when Lan Xichen walked in. They had sword practice at three but it was almost two-thirty on the dot.

"Wangji," Lan Xichen's outward appearance came off as troubled. Unlike Wangji who had a habit of acting like steel, Xichen was very flamboyant and positive. So seeing him distressed did trigger Wangji.

"What's wrong brother, you look distraught?" Wangji closed the book to give the other his undivided attention.

"Have you been here all this while? Father is upset with us Wangji! Do you know at all- what they're saying about us?" seeing that the television was off, Xichen dashed for the remote and turned it on. Lan Wangji's brow twitched slightly, awestruck to see he and his brother's image plastered beside that of two people he deemed unbearably annoying. The captions only get worse as they change channels.

'Gusu's Ice Prince Caught In 4K At The End Of Year Party.'

'Jades Of Lan and Prides Of Yunmeng Brouhaha.'