I Will Always Protect You

chapter 17

Wei wuxian pov

Night had fell upon cloud recesses. The disciples where rushing outside my room as far as it as not running. The affairs of today were still in my head, I remember asking Lan mu for confirmation. It was true, the rumors were painfully true.

Everybody seemed to know about this except for me, which was weird as I usually one of the very few ones to hear of it first before it spreads through cloud recesses like wildfire.

Did lan zhan ordered it to be kept from me ?

He does realize that eventually I will find out about it even if no one tells me . How can the news of the highly esteemed Hanguang Jun's engagement go unnoticed.

Just then I heard a knock from my door. Who could it be at this hour ? It was half a sichen ( 1 hour ) before curfew. I opened the door to see the man in question.

"Lan Zhan"

I opened the door wider for me to enter. His handsome face showed emptiness as he walked into my room. I closed the door and walked towards him. Just then I felt two strong arms pressing against my sides.

"Lan zhan?"

"Wei Ying, I owe you and explanation"

I pulled away from him and looked at him expectingly.

"I had no choice but to be engaged as it was the only way to ensure the safety of the innocent lives beyond our borders"

His molten golden eyes looked at me pleadingly. Without a further I thought, I reached out and hugged him. I inhaled his natural sandalwood scent as I thought back to my mistake. How could I be so inconsiderate as to not think about the situation he is facing?

I mentally cursed myself for it. We pulled back from each other and Lan zhan caressed my cheek gently.

"Wait for me, I will find a way to break this engagement. I promise"

He placed a kiss on my forehead and went out.

Qin yang pov

"It is said that Hanging Jun is very fond of this disciple, there were even reports of the two of them going on night hunts together"

My fingers started clenching on the teacup I was holding. Lan zhan is mine and he was promised to me, how dare someone steal him away?

"Wei wuxian, have you investigated his background ?"

"Based on the rumour I heard, he brought back by Hanguang Jun on his way back from the mortal realm. Many are suspecting that he is a mortal"

A mortal. How interesting is this getting ? A mere mortal being brought into cloud recesses isn't it agaisnt the heavenly laws. Cloud recesses being so rule-bound would have cast him down the moment he stepped a toe into the heavenly gates.

But no, instead they left him here and even took him in as a disciple. Cloud recesses are very strict on choosing their disciples. Low immortals who seek to be so, must sit an exam where those from the 8 influential families are excluded.

Him as a mere mortal, it is impossible for him to passed the exam as he has low cultivation base and it is impossible for him to be from any celestial family.

"However, those suspicions were died down after he started excelling in all the heavenly arts. He is one of the best disciples here and is also one of grandmaster lan's favourite"

This Wei wuxian is a complicated person. Could he be an immortal who used to reside at the mortal realm? And if so, why ? Most beings after ascension to immortality who have fled to heavenly realm. Only a fool who remain there.

"This Wei wuxian is not that simple, find more about him"

"Yes"

Su qing turned around to leave but just as she was about to step out of the door, I stopped her.

"No, we should get to know him physically. I fear that if you continue asking around, people will find you suspicious. Let's meet him"

She looked at me confusingly. I looked towards the tea set infront of me.

"Let's invite him to tea"

Lan wangji pov

"Wangji, the fire realm has been more obedient to us since your engagement was made public"

"Mn"

I nodded and continued drinking my tea. I thought back to Wei Ying's teary eyes when I met him last night. I must find a way to end this engagement and at the same time maintain the peace between the fire realm and Gusu.

"Wangji, is there something you like to say?"

Xiong zhang looked at me with an encouraging smile. He can read me like and open book since we were young. People were always surprised by the way the he could interpret my facial expressions which they claimed to be 'expressionless'.

"Xiongzhang, how much more time to the wedding ?"

He looked surprised by my question, but he answered me after giving a smile.

"We planned to be in three months time, but the fire realm is pushing us to have at an earlier date"

"Xiongzhang, I don't want to get married"

He froze in his spot, like he was struck by lightning. The smile on his face fell slightly as he his hands slightly clenched. I knew that by saying this, I would add more burden onto his shoulders but he needs to know about this.

Otherwise, in the future, he would blamed himself for pushing me into something I didn't wanted.

"Wangji-ah, your engagement has been successfully on taming the fire realm's cruelty towards our people. If we were to withdraw from this, the consequences would be severe"

Xiongzhang said in a strain voice which made me realized how tired he was. Duty most always come first. I reminded myself of shufu's teaching. Was I pushing Xiongzhang too far?

"Xiongzhang, I don't ask for you to break of this engagement but to delay it until I can find a reason to break it off"

Xiongzhang looked slightly more relaxed with this. He looked at me with a smile.

"Very well"

Wei wuxian pov

Cloud recesses was awfully quite today, I could only see a few disciples walking by from here and there. But I enjoyed the silence, it gave me room to think about yesterday.

I should believed Lan zhan, he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. He is after all the highly esteemed Hanguang Jun who do should whatever he could for the better of his people.

"Disciple Wei"

A woman called from behind. I turned around to reprimand her about how cloud recesses forbids loud noises but the words stuck in my mouth when I saw who was calling me.

It was the lady from the library pavillion. If I was not mistaken, her name is Su Qing. I walked towards her and bowed.

"Is there anything I could do to help?"

"My lady requested your presence in her chambers. There are some things she wanted to discussed with you over some tea"