Confessions || A WangXian fanfiction (most likely will not be updating, sorry!)

Chapter 31

They left the kitchen, and entered another room, where Jiang Yanli invited him to sit.

"You're doing this for my brother, aren't you?" she asked him gently. "A-Xian." Lan Zhan lowered his head, but didn't reply. Yanli smiled sweetly and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, Lan Zhan. I'm his sister. I've seen the way you've stared at him in Cloud Recesses, the amount of concern you showed for him when he changed his methods, and the amount of loyalty you have for him. I've noticed it all. And I'm extremely glad that A-Xian has someone like you that cares about him so much. Because he truly deserves someone that treats him right." She paused for a second.

"A-Xian cares about you too. You know that right?" Lan Zhan looked up at her.

"Even if he doesn't, I will always be by his side," he vowed. Yanli smiled sweetly at him. 

"I'm glad to hear that." She looked at him in the eyes.

"Hanguang-Jun, I'm curious on what you're going to do in the future," she gently said. Lan Zhan bit his lip.

With full honesty, he didn't know what he was going to do either. He hadn't planned on telling Wei Ying what he felt. He wasn't necessarily scared about what his reaction would be...but he wasn't really looking forward to finding out.

Yanli seemed to sense this and her lips curled upwards.

"You're unsure, aren't you?" she asked. Lan Zhan dipped his head. 

"Have you talked to him?" Lan Zhan nodded.

"We saw each other once. He invited me to a meal, but we had to leave due to an emergency," he said. He looked at Yanli.

"Jiang Gu-Niang, how did you and Jin Zixuan get together?" The words felt awkward and foreign out of his mouth, and he turned his head away in embarrassment. He never spoke about love out loud, and hearing the words come out of his mouth sounded strange. Jiang Yanli laughed.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Hanguang-Jun! For us, it was probably a lot easier, since we had an arranged marriage since birth. We weren't on good terms in the beginning, but slowly, we began to bond." She scooched forward towards Lan Zhan.

"Say, isn't that what happened to you and my brother? You didn't like him when he first came to Cloud Recesses. But now you guys are so close!" Lan Zhan looked down.

"I did not dislike him," he mumbled. Jiang Yanli stared at him in confusion for a while, before giving him a knowing smile.

"OhHhhHhh I see..." she said slyly. Lan Zhan turned away, feeling exposed. 

"Jiang Gu-Niang..." he muttered. "This secret remains between us." Jiang Yanli straightened up and nodded seriously.

"Of course," she said. "You can trust me." Then, she added, "But do you think you will ever tell my brother about this?" 

"I am not afraid of him not loving me. But I am afraid he won't accept help when he needs it. I am afraid one day...I will not be able to help him." he replied. "I do not want to risk these things." 

Jiang Yanli stayed quiet for a while. Finally,  she let out a small, solemn sigh.

"Even if you did tell A-Xian, he would not believe you." she said sadly. Lan Zhan turned towards her, his eyes showing the slightest bit of confusion.

"I do not understand,"

"A-Xian was taken into our family when he was really young. People neglected him, because they didn't think that the son of a servant should be taken in to our family. He grew up hearing people say these things about him. And although he was able to wear a happy smile, I know this affected him deep inside." She took a deep breath.