Get Your Hands Off My Man (Xicheng)

Extra 1: Breaking the Cycle

After leaving the four younger cultivators Lan Qiren lead him over to a large sparsely decorated office a couple houses down the road. The older Lan was staying close to his older nephew, sect leader Jiang noted. Jingshi however was much further away, perhaps he struggled with seeing someone who was so much like his younger self early in the morning.

"So is that rule also new?" Jiang Fengmian asked, referring to who is or isn't allowed to touch a Lan's headband.

"No" Lan Qiren averted his eyes.

"Then I deeply apologize for my previous behavior. I was in the wrong for touching your headband" To his surprise Lan Qiren looked upset at his apology. Had he reacted like this back when they were both still young it would have been understandable but so much time had passed he would have thought those feelings would have mellowed out.

Taking his headband hadn't just happened once or twice either. The Jiang had constantly been playing with that white strip of fabric, quite often in public too. Doing so always gave the Lan the most adorable of expressions, his right eye twitching as he fought the urge to burst into anger and his face always turned a lovely shade of rosy red. But despite being clearly upset the Lan had never told him off for doing it, not that he remembered anyway.

"So let's hear it. Why is it that you don't believe my boys not good enough for your nephews?" He asked, straight to the point, the way Lan Qiren liked it.

"..." But the Lan had no response, there was no reason to decline their proposals. At least not one relating to the kids. The problem was more likely due to the fact that the union of their sects would lead to a lot more interactions between their sects.

Jiang Fengmian sighed. "After their marriages I'll assign my sons to handle all direct communication with the Lan clan. They could use the practice for when they'll eventually take over the Jiang sect together." Having solved the underlying issue, he turned to leave. Only to have a firm hand grip his to keep the Jiang from leaving.

"Please don't send young master Wei, I-I can't deal with him. Anyone but him" That anyone likely included sect leader Jiang himself.

Jiang Fengmian laughed heartily. "Yeah? And why is that?" he asked coyly, knowing full well why the young man was getting on the elder Lan's nerves. "Does he remind you of someone?" Reaching over he playfully ruffled the Lan's hair.

The Lan stared daggers at him, but they were nothing compared to those of his wife, and so the Jiang simply continued to laugh without a care in the world.

"You really haven't changed a bit Lan Li..." Jiang Fengmian caught himself at the last minute having fallen back into old habits. Retracting his hand from the Lan's head, he swallowed the name he had almost spoken. It wasn't appropriate to call the Lan by his given name anymore, but thinking back it probably hadn't been appropriate back then either. Especially after what he had just learned he didn't have the consciousness to do something so cruel, it didn't matter how teasable he was, for once the Jiang would need to restrain the urge, no matter how strong it was. "Fine, I will send my youngest son instead. But I hope you're aware that you won't escape Wei Wuxian as a result. He will still become your nephew-in-law and he will likely spend quite a lot of time around here"

"Oh, even if he wasn't I still wouldn't be able to escape him. He already haunts my nightmares" Lan Qiren shuddered as he spoke.

"Hey! I thought you said that was my job." Jiang Fengmian pouted. "Has it really been that long that I've faded into oblivion? Am I so unimportant to you that I no longer play pranks in your dreams?"

The Lan's ears went bright red, a fact the Jiang spotted before the Lan was able to hide behind his hands.

"Oooh, or perhaps you don't classify them as nightmares anymore" the Jiang smirked, having completely forgotten all about his previous decision not to tease the Lan the moment he spotted the Lan's embarrassment.