Came Because of Our Song ✔️

Encounter

The days following the letter and pouch incident were unusually frosty according to any sane person present in the conference, which apparently sect leader Yao and few others certainly didn't feel or understand.
The meetings were short and Hanguang-Jun dismissed anyone who said even a word out of the discussion's topic.

The competitions were swift, it seemed that the incident had provoked a fire in all the GusuLan disciples, especially Lan Suzhui, who won the sword fighting and night hunt reporting/questioning swiftly not giving others even a chance to counterattack.

Suzhui had always been taught like any other Lan disciple to never allow his emotions to control his actions. So when he had once asked Hanguang-Jun naively what should he do when he was angry or frustrated, his teacher had advised him to spar or practice his sword or maybe play music.

He still remembered, as little A Yuan who was full of energy and could never see his Zhan gege ( the name he bestowed upon Lan Wngji when he got know his Gege's given name) more than a few times which he could easily count on his little fingers.
FLASHBACK

Little A Yuan had always loved a certain melody played by his Zhan ge whenever he had nightmares or when his Gege was sad.
Of course, no one could tell if Lan Wangji was ever feeling anything apart from his brother and now the new little addition to Lan Clan.
And A Yuan was proud of the fact, he got to know this when he once visited Lan Wangji but the latter was laying on his stomach with a blank look on his face and wasn't responding to anyone; Zewu-Jun had not allowed him to visit his Gege at that time and all A Yuan could do was watch how his Gege lay there like a corpse ( a word he now  avoided  at all cost when thinking of his Hanguang-Jun and Xian gege). The healer was talking to Zewu-Jun and A Yuan snuck to his Gege when no one was looking. He stood in front of Lan Wangji and brushed his face with his tiny hands. The heavenly touch of a child seemed to break the trance Lan Wangji was in and he blinked. He focused his eyes to find A Yuan standing there with tear filled eyes and an expression of hurtful wonder on his face. " A..Ah..Yu..an.." The boy crinkled his eyes and smiled brightly at having got the attention from his Gege but the next moment his hands brushed something wet from Lan Wangji's eyes and cheek. " Don't be sad Gege...." Lan Wangji simply stared at the boy, but the child seemed to think he wished to know something and answered " Gege I know, whole day you were sitting in silence, you didn't even talk to Xichen ge. Do you miss someone?"  Obviously in a moment of panic Lan Wangji's eyes widened and he tried to get up but the next words from the boy made him even more stunned while filling him with a sense of guilty relief at the same time, " Your eyes shine like Sun gege! I saw they were dim today, so I thought..." At these words, Lan Wangji was touched and his heart ached for the boy. He managed to lift his hand for a moment, laying it on A Yuan's head and the boy beamed.
" Mn. I miss..."He couldn't say he missed a person because A Yuan would ask whom and Lan Wangji wasn't sure how to answer that without telling the boy his past and triggering his memories. He couldn't say he missed anyone in the Cloud Recesses, couldn't say he missed those memories in the Cloud Recesses attached to a certain person because they were just like nightmares now without the person, and so he didn't miss them.
There certainly was another person whom he missed and even though he would always, at least a childish part of him which he had shielded and blocked for years always would; at the moment he didn't miss his mother and so couldn't say so because that was a lie and even if lying hadn't been forbidden by rules, Lan Wangji couldn't have lied to a child, he couldn't have and wouldn't ever lie to A Yuan.

And so Lan Wangji did what he always did when he didn't have a truthful answer to a question, he kept silence. But the boy didn't mind his silence nor did he question why he hadn't finished his sentence but simply filled the silent Jingshi with his cheerful chatters as he talked about his day with his new friend Jingyi while Lan Wangji listened and was gradually lulled to sleep by the child's voice whom he now considered and raised as his own.
As he drifted to sleep, Lan Wangji thought,
One year Wei Ying. One year without you, I hope you are happy wherever you are and your soul is at rest. I hope you can see that A Yuan is happy and hadn't lost his cheerful sense. I hope you can see that your child is glowing....I hope you are glowing...like the sun you always  were. I miss..you.

Halfway through the chatter, a figure had turned up at the door but seeing the conversation the figure realised that the child had figured out what he himself had forgotten and was slowly healing the figure on the bed. He stayed there until they talked and then left after some time.
FLASHBACK ENDS

Today had been another silent and tense day. Somehow words had gotten around that the gifts were for the Chief Cultivator and he had been receiving them for a while.
This spurred the sect leaders to somehow start their own political efforts towards the Chief Cultivator and so every day three or four servants would bring gifts for Hanguang-Jun when he was just retiring to his room,many bold ones showed their gifts while in the conference giving the excuse that they wished for a political alliance and were just showing their respect for the Chief Cultivator.
Lan Wangji had no choice but to accept the gifts directly given in the discussion hall because refusing them would mean disrespect and showing disrespect to others was forbidden in Cloud Recesses.
Though he turned away any gifts brought directly to his chambers with a impassive stare towards the servant or the disciples who came with the gifts.
The smaller ones were dealt by  Lan disciples even before they were within walking distance of their Hanguang-Jun's chamber.
If an escort carrying gifts tripped or if a few boxes and gifts disappeared, it was no one's fault but the sect's own. If Jin Ling insisted that he was simply strolling near the gates then it was no one's but his business and if the Lan disciples called Hanguang-Jun their Hanguang-Jun then also it was no one's  business!
Suzhui and Jingyi knew without being called upon that Hanguang-Jun knew that the Lan disciples were up to something but what were they up to, he didn't know and so Suzhui consoled himself that he wasn't lying to his teacher and parent.

It was the second half of the discussion conference and most sect leaders appeared adamant on having Hanguang-Jun's full attention to themselves. Right now sect leader Ouyang looked as if winning, as he was trying (and failing miserably) to make Lan Wangji agree to form any sort of alliance between the two sects. He didn't have a chance at offering a *political alliance*, so he wanted to get his disciples trained at Cloud Recesses. Obviously Cloud Recesses still conducted guest lectures but the chances of having Hanguang-Jun's class was null. Lan Wangji  was a famous teacher among Lan disciples and it was no secret at Cloud Recesses. But he never volunteered for guest lectures nor did he taught any disciples of other sects even on request. Though Jin Ling was an exception to this but Lan Wangji was never going to admit that he did it for Wei Ying.

When sect leader Ouyang concluded that by no means he would get his disciples a chance to learn from the Chief Cultivator, he retreated to his seat and Lan Wangji deemed it enough for today. He dismissed the conference and with the other Lan disciples left the hall. He dismissed the disciples at the corner of their rooms and then departed to his own chamber.
It had been a rough day for him, with the conference, competition and that mysterious courter there were now the sects present at the conference who were all trying to woo him.

He sighed, when someone asked the sect leaders about it directly, they would sneer at the subject grumbling about 'cutsleeves' but when it came to him, Lan Wangji was just a pretty thing they wanted to own. He was aware of the fact that his beauty had attracted attention, what with all the glances and Lan Xichen trying to keep him at his side always instead of letting the prince or the head disciples accompany Lan Wangji while he discussed sect politics. It was the sole reason Lan Wangji avoided sect political meetings.

Now as he removed his forehead ribbon and untied his hair letting it fall around him like a waterfall; Lan Wangji reminisced about the one thing he was happy about amidst all these things— it was nothing but saving A Yuan from the Burial Mounds and raising him as his own.
Putting his sleeping robes on the privacy screen, he stepped in the bathtub and allowed the tension of the whole day to flow away from his muscles as he closed his eyes and relaxed against the edge.
He lay there for a minute simply enjoying the coolness of water and then started cleaning. But as he turned to take the washcloth from the table beside the tub, his eyes landed on a shadow just below the privacy screen visible only at the edge and his hand stopped mid air.

************************************
So how's the story so far? Who do you think is on the other side of the privacy screen? How did the stranger enter Lan Wangji's room? What will happen next ?
Let me know and just a warning:
I won't be able to update for a while now. So be patient. Hope you are enjoying my story and don't forget to vote and comment! Comments always encourage the writers and votes work like magic you know.