The Troublemaker Trio (Xicheng)

Chapter 16: A Warning to Stay Away

Was he a terrible person? Jiang Wanyin had been on his knees. His face contorted in panic and despair. Lan Xichen should've given it back. Yet he had still kept it. But he no longer had the heart to follow through with his original plan.

It didn't matter how much he wanted to know Jiang Wanyin's type. Or that Wei Wuxian had mentioned that last line, what had they called it? A love confession. Lan Xichen was once more overcome with jealousy, which wasn't becoming of him.

Perhaps just a small peak, that way he could let it all go. Because young master Jiang already had someone he liked. Just a teensy little peak.

"Brother?" He slammed the letter shut.

Lan Wangji stood at the entrance of the library pavilion with a questioning look on his face. Lan Xichen was embarrassed from getting caught red handed.

"I'm a bad person" He placed the letter on top of the paperwork he had completed whilst overseeing the trio's punishment.

Lan Wangji didn't move a muscle, awaiting further explanation. But when no elaboration came he spoke

"Uncle is looking for you"

"Alright" Lan Xichen stood up, eager to forget about what he had just tried to do. And so he followed his brother who led him to where his uncle was located. Lan Qiren had been in charge of checking the perimeter of the cloud recesses and was therefore far away from most other cultivators.

"Nephew, I have heard a most worrisome tale" Lan Xichen listened as his uncle explained. Due to the amount of times Jiang Wanyin had been caught, seemingly intentionally, and later getting punished for 'breaking the rules' there were rumors going around that he was doing so just to catch the attention of Zewu-jun. It was even rumored that Wei Wuxian was wingmanning for his brother by setting him up for getting into trouble.

A rather ridiculous tale considering he had just heard that young master Jiang had just picked out his future wife. His heart ached at the thought. But there was no way around it, rumors were rarely accurate.

Lan Xichen's own opinion on the matter was as follows. Rumors, although usually carrying a small amount of truth, shouldn't be believed. However they could be useful for determining peoples' intentions. Everyone had a reason for why they acted the way they did and sometimes those actions were fueled by the things they overheard. It didn't matter if what was said was true or false as long as they believed it to be true.

His uncle had a much more cutthroat way of dealing with the problem. Avoid them at all costs. So it must have gotten quite widespread for him to have heard about it. Lan Huan himself had heard it pass by, but similar things had been said regarding their brothers just a few weeks ago. Maybe in another few weeks there would be another two people being gossiped about.

It wasn't uncommon for people of good looks to have these kinds of rumors going around and so he had ignored them. Well perhaps not completely. Every time he heard someone mention Jiang Wanyin liking him back he had allowed himself just a second of believing it was real. Just for a second.

"Trying to cover it up will only make it spread faster. But you can't be too careful. Just make sure to stay away from him for the foreseeable future, okay?

"Of course uncle" Lan Xichen responded with a polite smile. It wasn't like he used to see young master Jiang all that often anyway. Sure they had bumped into each other an awful lot over the last few days, but it was mostly during his punishments. Something which wouldn't happen anymore as Lan Wangji would be responsible for overseeing all the guest cultivators' detention, starting tomorrow.

When the two siblings went back, Lan Xichen didn't go back home immediately. Wangji, being surprised by the direction his brother walked, stopped right in his tracks. Lan Huan, knowing Lan Wangji turned around to explain

"Remember before? I did wrong and for that I shall repent. I'm going to kneel in front of the wall of discipline for a while" He hadn't gotten over the fact that he had tried to attempt to peek at Jiang Wanyin's letter. In fact, he still wanted to do it. So it was better to get rid of that desire before returning.

"Mm" His brother nodded and then walked off. Satisfied with the incomplete story he'd been told.