You could hear them coming a li away. Lan XiChen and Gan chono had killed the jar of Emperor's Smile between the two of them. Now, it has to be said, that for every modest sip of XiChen's, Chono had knocked back a good five swigs himself; that meant an equal amount of inebriation for each, considering the entire Lan Sect had the notorious reputation of being delicate flowers when it came to alcohol.

They had linked arms and were supported on either side by two brawny Eunuch warriors and closely followed by Han. In hilariously off tuned voices they were singing one of Lan XiChen's little collections of naughty ballads at the top of their lungs. They were both drenched, head to toe in river water.

When they arrived at the yurt circle, Anshi and Lan Zhan were waiting, arms crossed. Half the camp had gathered to witness this extremely unusual site. They looked as stern as possible, but it was damned hard. The pair was one of the most surprisingly ludicrous sights they had ever seen.

"Chieftain Gan Chono! Lan Sect Master Lan XiChen, how dare you show up drunk in the middle of the day! Minister Han, you were supposed to watch out for them."

"Chieftan Anshi. We had no idea that...someone...would sneak them a jar of Emperor's Smile! Then they somehow got the fantastic Idea to jump in the water and swim back to Cloud Recesses, when we tried to take the jar away from them! Lan Xi Chen said he wanted to show him Lan Zhan's bunnies."

Oh, OH!!!" Gan Chono's cheerful voice rang out. "That was our good friend Wei Ying! He gave us one of his precious Emperor's Smiles."

Wei Ying began to wave his hands, shaking his head and looking for an escape route.

"His very own jar. Ying?Ying! Come here! We have to thank you properly, good friend!"

"Yeah! Properly.! Give us a hug!" Slurred Lan Xi Chen.

Wei Ying attempted to ease his way from the knot of people when a steel hand fell onto his shoulder and he lifted innocent silver eyes and batted lashes at his husband.

"Oh no, you don't! You stay and accept your responsibility in this!"

"But..."

"No buts. "Lan Zhan pushed his husband down on a bench. His side-glance did not bode well for his hapless mate.

Sya Mu gingerly approached the sodden pair.

"Sect Master. Chieftain...Why don't you go to your yurts and get these robes off. We'll get you to the bathing tent, get you cleaned up"

Lan XiChen's eyes widened. "Oh no!!! No, no, no! We can't have our own cousin, a proper young woman, clean us up. It would not be decent. would it, Mya Shhhu?"

"Our cousin?" Lan Sya Mu scratcher her head in puzzlement.

"Sworn Brother, that would not be decent. Would it?" Lan XiChen appealed to his soused counterpart

Gan Chono shook his head solemnly. "No, Sworn Brother, it would not be! Young ladies should not clean up young men." He tried to raise an admonishing eyebrow at Anshi and failed as they both shot upwards at once making him look like an inebriated owl. It took all of Anshi's willpower to maintain his strict facade.

"Chieftain! You might want to speak to her about that. I am shocked!" Added a blushing Lan Xi Chen.

Lan Zhan muttered, "Sworn Brothers? Dear gods, what next?"

Seeing am opportunity to deflect away from his own culpability, Wei Ying piped up. Voice oozing with honied sympathy. He patted lan Zhan's arm and whispered, "Calm down, dearest. I know you had a long conversation with him last night. His switch of allegiance must hurt."

"A good try, Wei Ying, but not biting. We will still speak about this later."

Anshi motioned to Han. "Could you and your Guard help Gan Chono to his yurt? And Lan XiChen, please allow your assistant to take you to yours. Both of you need to change immediately before you catch cold. Lan Sya Mu, head to the kitchen and beg Dawa Tuya to prepare her largest available kettle for a batch of Hangover Soup."

"WAIT!!!" Shouted Gan Chono. "I've gotta great idea! HAN! Get alla your men, get your pallets and come join me and XiChen at my place. You gotta be tired too. Let's all have a nap together then let's continue this party tonight...All night long."

"Great Idea, Brother!" Replied Lan XiChen."Geniussh idea!. See you in an incense ssshtick!" He staggered off with as much dignity as he could muster. Gan Chono did the same.

Lan Zhan sighed. "What just happened?"

Anshi sat heavily at the table, head in hands as the crowd, laughing, began to disperse. "I do not know. But this is going to be a long day if we cannot get them to settle in."

"Get ready, I see Yenay and Qinyang heading up from the kitchen already."

Just then, there came a shout from XiChen's yurt. "LAAAN ZHAAAN! COME HELP ME! ICAN'T GET MY BELT OFF!"

An answering bellow came from Gan Chono's yurt. " DON'T BOTHER HIM, BROTHER! HE'S GOT A LOT TO DO FOR THE PARTY TONIGHT! I WILL BE THERE IN A MINUTE!"

The two younger brothers stared at each other in horror as that was followed by a large crash that came from Gan Chono's vicinity.

"OWWWwwww...!"

"Go strip your brother down for his bath. I'll check mine to see if he needs stitches."

They both walked to aid the other two, as loud waves of laughter erupted throughout the camp.