[ closed post: hold fast to the center ]

[lightbearinglord]

With Dark behind them, most of Lan Wangji's routine has managed to reassert itself. He awakens at mao hour and disentangles himself from his clinging cultivation partner, who tends to sprout several additional limbs in the night. He dresses and slips away for his morning meditation. He takes Bichen to the air, circles the grounds of the mansion and checks the woods for any changes beyond the known quantities of Ragnelle's nest and Magnus' camp, and runs through his sword forms. He stops in the kitchen and makes breakfast for his husband. By that point, his day can branch in several ways: he can, upon bringing the breakfast to Wei Ying, also opt to return to his bed, a perpetually tempting option. He can find Magnus and indulge in listening to him talking about whatever strikes his fancy. He can practice his qin, work on his calligraphy, retreat to the library for the endless project of educating himself, or embark on some more ambitious culinary endeavor.

Recently, however, Lan Wangji was reminded of a promise he made to someone important. Where possible, he prefers to keep his promises. So this morning, after he has sufficiently fed Wei Ying, made his apologies in the form of several lingering love-bites along his neck and shoulders, and changed his boots for house slippers, he approaches Claudius and Galahad's room. This route is one of the few persistently familiar paths that seem to exist in the ever-changing mansion.

It is early, but not so early. And Claudius did ask him for this, not once but twice. He lifts a hand and knocks crisply at the door.

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

Rather than saying yes, I do aloud, Lan Wangji contents himself with a single fondly smug glance before he resumes the story. "Nie Huaisang arrived, too. As another hostage, but I am certain he intended for Su Minshan¹ to capture him." Even then, it was so easy not to suspect him of anything as he was bundled into Guanyin Temple, complaining and disheveled.

¹Another burn book guest star.

[wickedwit]

"Clever Nie Huaisang," Claudius says with amusement. "Using his reputation for uselessness to his own benefit once more."

[lightbearinglord]

Nie Huaisang could not have let the final pieces of his revenge fall into place without his watchful eye, after all. "More truths came out. I told you of the curse whose blame was falsely assigned to Wei Ying. Su Minshan had cast that curse, and Jin Guangyao had used it to arrange the ambush that led to Wei Ying's death." Briskly, he continues rather than pausing there: "Nie Huaisang had placed a poison trap within the coffin of Meng Shi, Jin Guangyao's mother, and already removed her body. He had also unleashed Nie Mingjue's corpse to hunt Jin Guangyao. When the corpse arrived, Jin Guangyao had Wei Ying's nephew held with a qin string around his neck. His fear of Nie Mingjue was so strong that he could not hold it steady. That is why I removed his hand."

[wickedwit]

"Well-done," Claudius says, rather mild, but sincere. Plain congratulations can't capture how much he admires Lan Wangji, and not simply for the skill it takes to remove a man's hand without harming the hostage in his grasp. (Though of course Claudius has no doubt it was impressive. He's seen how graceful Lan Wangji is with Bischen.)

[lightbearinglord]

"Wei Ying and I were able to seal Nie Mingjue's corpse in Meng Shi's coffin. My brother had no choice but to believe the truth of Jin Guangyao's crimes, but he still loved him. He silenced him and treated his wounds." Having come finally to, arguably, the culmination of this story, Lan Wangji returns his gaze to Claudius' hands in his own. "Nie Huaisang could accept nothing less than Jin Guangyao's death. When xiongzhang turned to Nie Huaisang to request the pain medication he had lent him for a previous wound, Nie Huaisang screamed for him to look out behind him. He turned back and ran Jin Guangyao through with his sword, Shuoyue."

[wickedwit]

Claudius presses Lan Wangji's hands in his. Both the Lan brothers, it seems, love deeply and (some would say) unwisely. With all his imaginative empathy, Claudius can only begin to envision what Lan Xichen must have felt, running through the sworn brother he'd hoped to heal and reform. Lan Wangji would've seen it, seen the hope draining from him. Even if it was a fool's hope, it should've been Lan Xichen's to keep. "Let me guess," Claudus says dryly. "Nie Huaisang's screams were less than sincere?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Jin Guangyao had not moved," Lan Wangji confirms. He watches, and feels, Claudius' grip on his hands tighten, and he lets himself take a little comfort in it, even if it is not comfort to which he feels wholly entitled. Jin Guangyao's death was not painful for him, but Lan Xichen's anguish still stings to have witnessed, and it is an anguish that has only barely begun to abate. "The blood from his wound broke the seal on the coffin that contained Nie Mingjue. Nie Mingjue rose and attacked them both, but Jin Guangyao pushed my brother to safety before Nie Mingjue broke his neck. Both are still in that coffin."

[wickedwit]

It would to be an extraordinary ending for a tragedy, two men who'd been allies and enemies both locked in the same coffin, continuing the same struggle. It is a tragedy, that Lan Xichen is still living through -- only the story of it has a conclusion, because stories always do. Lives keep going.

But (Claudius thinks) a mystery always ends with some sort of parlor scene, where the detective explains everything that's happened. That's why Claudius asks, "So how did Wei Wuxian discover Nie Huaisang was behind it?" He has a fair guess it was Wei Wuxian.

[lightbearinglord]

"We both knew something was amiss when my brother attacked Jin Guangyao. Jin Guangyao was the first to accuse Nie Huaisang directly." The fury on Jin Guangyao's face is etched into Lan Wangji's memory, along with the sound of his laugh. Good one, Huaisang. Excellent work, concealing yourself for so many years. "After we sealed the coffin again, Wei Ying questioned Nie Huaisang. There were several small inconsistencies in his actions at the temple. Wei Ying pointed out that the person who sent the letter threatening to expose Jin Guangyao had done so unnecessarily, because Jin Guangyao would never confess, and that person would have known that. The goal was not a confession, it was to make Jin Guangyao as hated as possible in the eyes of the public."

Sounds like they've been plotting for a long time, Nie Huaisang had said, casually. "Wei Ying also pointed out that Nie Mingjue's body had last been left with him in Qinghe," Lan Wangji continues, "and that when we met Nie Huaisang in Qinghe, he behaved as if he had never seen Mo Xuanyu, whom he would certainly have met at Carp Tower. He was probing to ascertain whether it was truly Mo Xuanyu or if Wei Ying had returned." He lapses into silence, just a moment of it. "There was not enough proof to corner him."

[wickedwit]

“Of course,” Claudius says with a sigh. “The least likely suspect has the most time to cover his tracks. The cleverest ones leave no tracks to begin with.” Claudius can respect that; it certainly gives him a newfound respect for the Osrics of the world, who cultivate and trade upon their perceived uselessness. “What did he say when confronted? Did Nie Huaisang shake his head and say I don’t know?”

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn. I don't know," Lan Wangji says, if with considerably less quavering inflection than Nie Huaisang himself said it in that temple. "I really don't know." He lets the corner of his mouth quirk into a delicately aggrieved expression. "He is the chief cultivator now."

[wickedwit]

"Politics," Claudius sums up eloquently.

[lightbearinglord]

"Politics." Lan Wangji exhales, slow and deliberate. He is reluctant to take his hands from Claudius'. "I cannot promise a story of that length each time you join me in meditation."

[wickedwit]

Claudius laughs, appreciative of the time it took, the time Lan Wangji has shared with him. "Tell me the truth. When the two of us meet, is it the most words you ever speak in a day?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji weighs the question seriously. Admittedly, he speaks considerably less around Wei Ying unless there is an extenuating circumstance. Wei Ying can read his face nearly as well as Lan Xichen can, he was present for most of the stories Lan Wangji might tell, and Lan Wangji can always communicate with him by taking hold of him and making whatever he wants to happen a reality. "Often, yes."

[wickedwit]

"I'm honored," Claudius says with a beaming smile. "Thy words are rare, and rarity adds value. Each story thou hast told me is a treasured gem."

[lightbearinglord]

The brightness of Claudius' smile reflects onto Lan Wangji's face like the moon over water. Claudius already knows how he can find it difficult to speak and how the closer he comes to the things that matter most, the more he must pry those words from himself as if from a child holding onto a beloved toy. If they are treasures, he hands them over because he trusts Claudius to care for them.