The Legend of Moonflower

Chapter 8 -Restraint and Rejoice

Lan Zhan dropped to his knees and forced himself to not chase after Wei Ying. The omega's hasty departure left behind ambrosial echoes of his scent. He tried not to breath in the heady scent and crossed his legs taking a meditative pose. With great difficulty he compelled his wolf to stop. Sweat dripped down the edge of his chin and his face was red from the effort it took to calm his wolf. It whimpered and howled at him for letting the omega get away.

With a swipe of his arm, his gujin appeared on his lap. He began to play 'Restraint' to try to temper his wolf and regain full control. Not since the early days of when he first presented had he'd been unable to control his wolf. It surprised him how his wolf reacted to Wei Ying and how it wanted so desperately to claim the omega as his own.

When his wolf was fully calm and contained, Lan Wangji stood to make his way back to the entrance only to find Eunuch Nie standing not more than ten paces away from him.

"On his way out, manservant Wei advised I come in to check on you," Nie Huaisang said. "Is your majesty all right?"

"Mm," he nodded. "Send word to Wei Wuxian that I will be unable to come to the practice arena for the next few days."

"Yes, your majesty," Nie Huaisang replied without question.

His wolf wouldn't be happy with that, but he needed to put some distance between himself and the omega. "Also let Consort Xingchen know that I will come see him tonight." He knew the consort had been disappointed that he had not conceived after his last heat.

He hated to admit that perhaps the empress dowager had been correct. Maybe his neglect for his harem and the time spent with Wei Ying was driving his wolf to behave this way. It didn't make sense to him. His wolf never behaved this way before, even when he went a long time without being with an omega. He needed to take some time to meditate and reflect on it and to make sure the next time he saw Wei Ying, he wouldn't lose control of his wolf.

It had been over a week since he'd seen Wei Ying. He stared past the outer palace doors at the spot where the omega once knelt for punishment. The pot of moonflowers on his desk was a poor substitute for the omega's scent. He sighed and spread out a fresh sheet of paper. The servant by his side placed the weights on the edges to keep the paper from curling back into itself. He picked up the brush and in broad strokes wrote down two characters.

Restraint.

Numerous pages with the two bold characters for restraint littered his desk.

"Your majesty," Nie Huaisang addressed him hesitantly. "There is something I wanted to bring to your attention, but..."

"Speak freely."

"The Jin manservant..." the eunuch started to say.

Lan Wangji's brush paused mid-stroke. "What about him?"

"He has been to your majesty's personal training ground every day."

"Every day?"

"He stays for at least a shichen before leaving," Nie Huaisang relayed. "Your majesty, didn't give the order to keep him from entering."

It was true, he had given no such order. He grimaced at the blotch on the paper from where his brush had stopped. He waved a hand at his servant who quickly removed the paper and spread out a new one. The emperor stared down at the blank paper before him, meditating on his intent and picturing how the characters should appear. He dipped his brush into the ink and removed the excess. With a deep breath, his brushed flowed across the paper with purpose, the characters written in free-flowing cursive instead of the more standard style he had employed previously. He stared down at the finished characters admiring the balance and composition of his strokes.