Intellectually Lan Xichen knew that the QishanWen sect was the most powerful cultivation sect. He knew that the numbers, and the sword skills of the QishanWen sect were nothing to joke about. Still, Lan Xichen had not thought the QishanWen sect could hope to stand if the rest of the sects banded together.

Lan Xichen had known this war was coming. He had seen evidence of future knowledge in Wen Qing's mind. He had believed Wei Wuxian when Wei Wuxian told him about the coming war. Lan Xichen believed that a war was coming and that Wei Wuxian had fought in it before. Lan Xichen did not like what he had heard about Wei Wuxian using resentful energy. Lan Xichen fully believed Wei Wuxian felt it had been necessary, but resentful energy was dangerous. It damaged those who used it, physically and mentally.

Lan Xichen had felt certain they would not need it. If all the sects worked together, and if they were able to get reliable intelligence, Lan Xichen felt confident they could overcome the QishanWen sect. Within this mindset Lan Xichen had believed himself prepared for what was to come. He was not prepared.

Getting the sects to agree to work together was a struggle. A greater struggle than Lan Xichen anticipated, especially whenever Jin Guangshan was in the room. To say Jin Guangshan was reluctant to offer support for the war effort was an understatement. Jin Guangshan had undermined the confidence of those who had been in agreement as much as it communicated Jin Guangshan's reluctance to do anything that he felt might be too costly to his sect. It was an obstacle that Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue overcame, with a surprising amount of help from Jiang Yanli.

Jiang Wanyin had been missing during the start of the war. Wen Qing had informed Lan Xichen that she helped Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Jiang Wanyin escape Lotus Pier. She had also stated that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had informed her they would be missing for some time.

'No more than three months.' As Lan Xichen recalled the message saying. Wen Qing stated she did not know where they were going. She also stated that Jiang Wanyin received medical care from her and buried his parents. She then helped him leave Yiling and told him that the YunmengJiang disciples had planned to regroup in Gusu. Lan Xichen had expected to see Jiang Wanyin within a week, maybe a bit over. Except Jiang Wanyin did not arrive in Gusu.

Lan Xichen was very nervous about that, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Lan Xichen did not know why Jiang Wanyin did not arrive. He could have gotten captured. Wen Qing could have been lying, although Lan Xichen had a hard time giving that idea much credit. Jiang Wanyin's absence was a concern, but in his absence Jiang Yanli had risen to the occasion.

Lan Xichen had seen Jiang Yanli mediate before, within her family. Seeing those skills turned to outside of her family was a sight to behold. The soft spoken woman seemed to have a particular skill with handling boisterous and obstinate sect leaders. Jabs that many sect leaders would bristle under seemed to wash over her like water. Jiang Yanli was more than happy to offer apologies, even when they were not called for, or acknowledge her own lack of experience.

Lan Xichen had a very fond memory of Jin Guangshan apparently swallowing his own tongue. One minute Jin Guangshan was smiling smugly, preening as Jiang Yanli acknowledged her lack of experience with leadership. The next minute Jiang Yanli was very politely explaining what she 'had thought' were the duties of a righteous cultivator and sect leader.

The curious inquiring tone being used immediately after her acknowledgement of Jin Guangshan's experience had left Jin Guangshan stuck. He could not accuse Jiang Yanli of trying to ridicule him or attack him. The young woman had just phrased these things as a questions that she was asking in order to defer to his wisdom. The words chosen made it quite clear what the righteous thing to do was, and what the responsibilities of what a sect leader were. Those responsibilities being to the common people as well as the disciples under said sect leader. To try and argue that a sect leader had no such duty would fly in the face of every description of a righteous cultivator.

Jin Guangshan was not a particularly righteous person, but he could not afford to throw away the pretense of righteousness. While Jin Guangshan did not immediately consent to contributing soldiers and resources to the Sunshot campaign, Lan Xichen knew that conversation had been the tipping point. Jin Guangshan's arguments after that conversation had been weak and cautiously worded. It took a rather small push from Lan Xichen to finally secure Jin Guangshan's support by the end of the meeting.

That support was still rather pathetic. LanlingJin was one of the great sects, yet they hardly contributed more cultivators than the largest of the minor sects. It was just enough to look like the LanlingJin sect was contributing. To the minor sects it probably even looked impressive, if they did not remember how large the LanlingJin sect was. If every one of the LanlingJin sect cultivators present were to die in the war it would hardly dent the power of the LanlingJin sect. Where as the minor sects were contributing everything they could. If they lost everyone in the war, most of the minor sects would cease to exist.

Nie Mingjue was particularly infuriated by this, but if they pushed it there was a chance Jin Guangshan would use it as an excuse. He might pretend to take offence and pull out the cultivators he had contributed to the war effort. They could hardly afford to lose soldiers. Especially when they were already losing them in battle.

When Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji entered the Sunshot campaign, Lan Xichen was torn. Lan Xichen could not deny the relief of seeing both of them alive. Even though Wen Qing had seemed confident in their well being, the truth was that Lan Xichen and Wen Qing didn't know each other that well. Empathy had given him a bit of insight, but Lan Xichen had seen very few of Wen Qing's memories and at least one of those memories was of her dying at the hands of the entire cultivation world. There was also the fact that Lan Wangji was his didi, and Lan Xichen would never be able to stop himself from worrying about Lan Wangji.

Lan Xichen also could not deny the relief Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji brought to the battlefield. They made their entrance amidst a battle that had been functionally already lost, until those two showed up. The victory had been swift, and Wen Chao's death had been an incredible boost to morale. Lan Xichen only wished demonic cultivation hadn't had anything to do with it.

Wei Wuxian's new cultivation was the topic of many conversations in camp. Sometimes it was praising Wei Wuxian for his exploits. Sometimes it was harsh whispers about how Wei Wuxian was disturbing the dead. The overall sentiment seemed to be that people were happy Wei Wuxian was killing their enemies so effectively. That did not mean they were comfortable or happy with how he was doing it.

Lan Xichen was worried. Resentful energy was dangerous. Cultivators exposed to it were known to suffer from a wide range of consequences. Physical symptoms could range from physical injuries that were difficult to heal, damage to their meridians or cultivation, all the way up to fatal qi deviations. The effect on a cultivator's mind could include changes in temperament, altered mental state, and hallucinations.

Wei Wuxian's mental state had been somewhat fragile before the war. Lan Xichen could not ascertain how much of that was from the obviously unhealthy environment Wei Wuxian grew up in, the effects of living through a war, or from using demonic cultivation. No matter the cause, Wei Wuxian had made significant improvements while at Cloud Recesses. Lan Xichen had been happy to see it, and even happier to see the mirroring effect those improvements had on his didi.

Wei Wuxian had still had struggles. Certain things could still trigger reactions that were painful to witness. Lan Xichen did not see these reactions himself. Lan Wangji was too skilled at assisting Wei Wuxian in calming down, or whisking him away. Now Wei Wuxian was channelling resentful energy through him during every battle, often in alarming quantities. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji often immediately retired to their tent when the battles ended.

Lan Xichen had little to go on in trying to gauge how much Wei Wuxian was being affected by the resentful energy. Lan Xichen's attempts to inquire were shut down almost before the words could make it past his lips. Lan Xichen had tried asking Wei Wuxian, only to receive bright reassurances that might have been true or might have been Wei Wuxian pretending to be alright so as not to be a burden.

Asking Lan Wangji had been similarly useless. Lan Wangji seemed to take questions about Wei Wuxian's mental state as personal offence. Lan Wangji would immediately, and forcefully, tell Lan Xichen that Wei Wuxian was in control. He would continually tell Lan Xichen that he did not need to worry about the resentful energy. When pressed Lan Wangji would state that he would play Cleansing for Wei Wuxian. This made Lan Xichen feel a little better but, as powerful as Cleansing was, it could only do so much.

Lan Xichen had tried proposing in the strategy meetings to reserve Wei Wuxian's skills for emergencies or particularly difficult battles. This received an even worse response. Even though Lan Xichen knew at least half of those present in the meeting spoke negatively about Wei Wuxian and his methods in private, they seemed to find the idea of reducing how much they took advantage of it preposterous. When Lan Xichen had expressed concern about the damage that over using these methods could cause, Jiang Wanyin had come dangerously close to trying to break Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's betrothal.

Jiang Wanyin stated something to the effect that if the GusuLan sect could not tolerate Wei Wuxian's methods then they could stop concerning themselves with Wei Wuxian completely. Wei Wuxian was as disciples of the YunmengJiang sect, and as long as Wei Wuxian was 'killing Wens,' then what was the problem? Jiang Yanli had not had much luck in calming Jiang Wanyin down, especially when multiple sect leaders seemed to take up the mantra of, 'As long as Wei Wuxian is killing Wens, who cares how he kills them?'

Lan Xichen did not try to bring it up in a meeting again. Lan Xichen did not know if Jiang Wanyin was ignorant of the risks, or if he was just looking for a way to keep Wei Wuxian in the YunmengJiang sect. The betrothal currently established meant one way or another, Wei Wuxian would eventually be leaving the YunmengJiang sect for the GusuLan sect. Lan Xichen was aware Jiang Wanyin had never been fond of this idea, at least as far as Lan Xichen could tell.

Lan Xichen would not risk giving Jiang Wanyin an excuse to break the betrothal. It would break Lan Wangji's heart, which was the exact opposite of what Lan Xichen was trying to do. Lan Xichen was trying to make sure Wei Wuxian would make it out of this war intact, not changed by the resentful energy into someone unrecognizable. Lan Xichen did not want to witness that, and he was not certain how his didi would cope with it.

Lan Xichen checked to see if Wen Qing had written anything new.  Meng Yao had a much more difficult time getting information out of Qishan.  He had not been there for very long yet and was still attempting to earn Wen Rouhan's trust.  Until Meng Yao was better positioned Lan Xichen would have to rely solely on Wen Qing's intelligence. 

Wen Qing did not always have very detailed information. She was apparently not usually included in such meetings. Early on the the information she provided often served better as a warning for places to avoid, or when to leave an area. They did not have the forces to deal with the threats. Wei Wuxian's demonic cultivation had bolstered their forces dramatically. It was a fact, even if Lan Xichen did not like it. He knew now it had been foolish to think they would win this war without it.

Maybe it had been ignorance, or maybe just wishful thinking. Lan Xichen did not even like verbal disagreements, let alone the sort of violence that was part of war. Lan Xichen always wanted the solution that would appease everyone. He wanted arguments to end in compromise. He did not want this war to cost Wei Wuxian's sanity or well being. He did not want this war to cost Lan Wangji's happiness.