Butterfly Effect: Wangxian

16

The following day, Wangji went to speak with Lan Qiren alone, "Shufu?" Wangji greeted with a bow.

"What is it?" He asked calmly.

"Wei Ying was upset yesterday," Wangji told him.

"Did he say why?" Lan Qiren questioned. He was concerned as he was only here for a short period of time. He shouldn't be struggling about anything.

"Said this isn't his family, not his home," Wangji explained, "said he feels if he does something wrong he will get kicked out."

Lan Qiren sighed, "it's going to take time for him to get comfortable here. He only just lost his parents not long ago. You know how it is to lose a parent. Be there for him. Assure him that he is welcome here. Gain his trust. He is your soulmate, after all. I will do what I can to guide him and protect him."

Wangji nodded, "he was like before. Likes being hugged for comfort."

Lan Qiren nodded, "thank you for letting me know. I will look over him. Go get prepared for class."

"Yes Shufu," Wangji said and left.

After Wangji left, Lan Qiren prepared his syllabus for class that day. Wei Ying was actually only in the other room. He was given ink and parchment and he had been painting for most of the morning. He seemed content, which to Lan Qiren was a good thing. He did not know that Wei Ying was holding his feelings back. He did that so well in the past that it always seemed like the boy was happy. He never let anyone know that he was hurting inside.

Lan Qiren did not want that this time. He wants Wei Ying to be comfortable with talking about whatever is bothering him. He wants Wei Ying to accept that this is his home now and that Lan Qiren as accepted him as his own. It may seem weird later on as Wei Ying and Lan Wangji were soulmates but Lan Qiren wanted to prove to Wei Ying that he belongs by formally adopting him as his own.

Lan Qiren set his duties aside to go speak with him. He entered Wei Ying's room and saw that he was painting a scenery similar to that of Cloud Recesses. So there was something to be said about this. Maybe it was his desire to call this place home, or maybe he fears losing it so he appreciates it more than anyone else.

"A'Ying?" Lan Qiren called out.

"Hello," Wei Ying greeted.

Lan Qiren sat down beside him, "Wangji told me that you were upset the other day."

Wei Ying nodded and sat his brush down, "I do not mean to sound unappreciative, I am just not comfortable here yet."

"I know," Lan Qiren said, "would you be comfortable if I adopted you as my own? You can call me father if you like?"

Wei Ying looked at him, "you want to adopt me?" He asked.

"Yes, I do," Lan Qiren said, "I want you to know that you belong here. I want to call you my son."

Wei Ying smiled and hugged him, "I would like that very much, Father."

Lan Qiren smiled and hugged him in return, lightly patting his back, "then I will set up everything. You can keep your name if you want, but now you will need a courtesy for the registry."

"My parents told me that they wanted Wuxian as my courtesy," Wei Ying said.

"Then I will go with Wuxian. Are you okay with that?"

"I am," Wei Ying said with a smile.

"Alright," Lan Qiren said, "you can go back to your painting."

"Okay," Wei Ying replied and did as he said but so much happier.

Lan Qiren nodded and sent for a disciple to call his brother in. It was his job to make the final changes as he was the sect leader. Lan Xiang agreed to this arrangement immediately. He felt it was the best way to let Wei Ying know that he belongs in the family.

"Though he will be adopted as your son, you know that even if he isn't blood he will now be third young master Lan and because you are my brother he can be heir," Lan Xiang told him.

"I told him he could keep his Wei family name and he was happy about that. He is the youngest of the three anyway so it shouldn't matter. This is going to make things a bit difficult for the future possibly as he and Wangji are soulmates," Lan Qiren said.

"The two will be fine, and it shouldn't affect anything," Lan Xiang said, "and he may keep the Wei family name but he will still be known as Third Young Master Lan as he will now be recognized as your son."

"I will talk to him about that," Lan Qiren said, "I just need your permission to make it official."

"Did you want a ceremony?" Lan Xiang asked.

"I don't think he will be comfortable with that but as tradition it is needed to grant him his own ribbon," Lan Qiren answered.

"We will keep it within the sect for now. When word gets out about him being here, I am not sure of Jiang Fengmian will come here for him or not," Lan Xiang said.

"He can come but he cannot take him. I am not subjecting Wei Ying to that abusive family. He just wants that boy for his own selfish purposes. It may be an excuse to say Wei Changze was his friend but if he really was and he cared about Cangse at all, he wouldn't have let Wei Ying get abused back then. As soon as Wei Ying is announced as my son, he has no rights to him. He didn't before but now he definitely does not," Lan Qiren fumed.

"I know, thanks to Baoshan's magic, I saw his and Wangji's fate," Lan Xiang said, "and the fact that you technically lived it all once is very hard to imagine. Wei Ying does not belong to that family. Yu Ziyuan would just rip him apart the moment he steps on to the sect grounds."

"It will not happen," Lan Qiren stated, "I will make sure of it."