It wasn't long after Wei Wuxian stormed out of the meeting that they finally managed to come to something like an agreement. A lot of people were unhappy with the agreement, but finally the details were ironed out. Unfortunately moving an army was not the same thing as two powerful cultivators racing off on their swords.

The troops that ended up departing were comprised, primarily, of QingheNie cultivators. Since the main goal was to rescue Sect Leader Nie, this wasn't really a surprise. What was surprising was that Nie Huaisang marched out with them. He stated fervently that he would be hanging towards the back and not engaging in the fighting, but he absolutely would not stay behind.

The rest of the troops were comprised of a portion of GusuLan cultivators and about a third of the YunmengJiang cultivators. This time Jiang Yanli led the YunmengJiang cultivators heading to battle, while Jiang Wanyin led those who remained behind. He was not happy about this arrangement.

Jiang Wanyin had been very adamant about keeping Jiang Yanli out of the fighting as much as possible from very early in the war. He'd only had limited success. He had mostly kept her away from the front lines, but that did not keep her out of the fighting. Jiang Yanli had still commanded the YunmengJiang cultivators in a number of battles defending territory that the allied sects had claimed.

Lan Xichen had made it clear that he was going to lead the rescue mission. With him and Sect Leader Nie gone the leaders of the minor sects were nervous about being without a sect leader of one of the major sects. When Jiang Yanli stated that she would go with the forces to Dafan, many sect leaders were quick to commend the decision.

Jiang Yanli's authority was roughly equivalent to Jiang Wanyin's in practice, but the title of Sect Leader Jiang still belonged to Jiang Wanyin. That meant something to the other sect leaders. Jiang Wanyin was left unable to protest.

The other sect leaders were asserting the wisdom of this decision, claiming they needed one of the major sect leaders to remain. Even if Jiang Wanyin had thought of a reasonable argument, he was stopped from using it because Jiang Yanli agreed with the minor sect leaders enthusiastically. It meant that to keep her in camp he would need to argue against the leaders of the minor sects and undermine Jiang Yanli in front of outsiders. Jiang Wanyin wasn't willing to do that.

"So, why this battle?" Luo Qingyang inquired as they set up a temporary camp for the evening. "You've mostly let Jiang Wanyin have his way. He goes off for all the offensive battles. You hang back to lead things more in camp and defend the territories we have reclaimed."

Luo Qingyang was technically not part of any of the sects going on this mission, but ever since Langya she had had enough of feeling useless. Nie Mingjue was thankfully sensible and did not believe in wasting resources. Luo Qingyang had been more or less part of the QingheNie contingent ever since.

"Dafan is Wen Qing's home. It's where her family lives." Jiang Yanli said quietly.

Luo Qingyang blinked at Jiang Yanli. She had expected this to be about Wei Wuxian. Luo Qingyang thought this would be about Jiang Yanli ensuring a comfortable distance between her two didis. There had been a few questionable exchanges between the two near the beginning of the war.

Luo Qingyang didn't think it was quite right to call them arguments. They might have been arguments, if Wei Wuxian had participated in them with anything other than slightly pained acceptance. Luo Qingyang had witnessed one of these exchanges and it was actually a little uncomfortable how passive Wei Wuxian had been during it. Jiang Yanli shared her thoughts with Luo Qingyang regarding the other supposed arguments. Luo Qingyang was at least grateful that Wei Wuxian seemed to become a little more assertive in defending himself.

The arguments had been big news around camp. Not quite as big as the rumours about Wei Wuxian's cultivation, but still a hot topic. Luo Qingyang had heard a few different versions of events. One of the more embellished ones claimed that Wei Wuxian used demonic cultivation to seal Jiang Wanyin's lips, like a tainted version of the Lan's silencing spell.

Luo Qingyang thought that version was hilarious, but completely ridiculous. As far as Luo Qingyang could tell, the closest Wei Wuxian could come to being hostile towards Jiang Wanyin was to speak in a slightly stern tone. Luo QIngyang had heard Jiang Yanli scold Jiang Wanyin with more heat than she had ever witnessed Wei Wuxian manage toward Jiang Wanyin. Not to mention Wei Wuxian had no need to silence Jiang Wanyin. Everyone should know at this point that Lan Wangji would do it for him.

Jiang Yanli eventually took steps to minimize how much Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin were around each other. They were never around each other without her present, and usually it was only in very public settings. The two rarely spoke directly to one another and as far as Luo QIngyang had heard they had remained civil over the last two years. Luo Qingyang had thought Jiang Yanli's decision was about maintaining that careful distance.

"You're worried Jiang Wanyin might be a bit too hot headed for the situation?" Luo Qingyang inquired. Jiang Yanli let out a small painful smile.

"I'm honestly glad that none of the smaller sect leaders are participating in this battle. The sentiment that all Wens must die is not rare, but innocent people should not have to pay for the crimes of those in power. Dafan is filled with healers and civilians. I'd like to be able to come up with an arrangement that allows them to live safely." Jiang Yanli stated quietly.

Luo Qingyang smiled at Jiang Yanli. It really was a shame that Jiang Wanyin had been the YunmengJiang sect heir. In Luo Qingyang's very biased opinion, Jiang Yanli would make for a better leader. Luo Qingyang considered the kind and considerate woman beside her. Thoughtful and considerate enough to be able to see the nuances despite her personal pain. Jiang Yanli had seen her home destroyed by the QishanWen's, like many others. Jiang Yanli, in contrast, did not believe that that meant every Wen carried a debt of blood.

"You're leaving early tomorrow aren't you?" Jiang Yanli inquired. Luo Qingyang nodded.

"Mn. Nie Huaisang wants someone who can assess and signal back the situation. Apparently I'm their best scout, even though I'm not technically part of their sect." Luo Qingyang replied. Luo Qingyang let her gaze slide towards Jiang Yanli.

"You gonna miss me?" Luo Qingyang asked with a small smirk.

Jiang Yanli covered her face with her sleeve, but it did not hide the light blush on her cheeks. Luo Qingyang had previously made it clear that she was interested in Jiang Yanli. It had been... a terrifyingly stressful conversation that did not quite get the outcome Luo Qingyang was hoping for. Jiang Yanli had been stunned. Jiang Yanli had been so stunned that she did not respond at all for entirely too much time. Luo Qingyang might have been a tiny bit anxious.

Jiang Yanli had been, not entirely certain how she felt about the knowledge that Luo Qingyang was interested in her romantically. Ultimately she decided that she felt flattered and a bit flustered. She wasn't adverse to the idea, but... there was a war going on. Jiang Yanli didn't feel it was the time to pursue a relationship. Not with her sect and her family in its current precarious position.

Luo Qingyang had understood that sentiment, but it didn't tell her whether she needed to drop this line of inquiry. No relationship right now did not mean no relationship ever and Luo Qingyang hated ambiguity in relationships. So Luo Qingyang pretended she wasn't nervous and asked if that meant the intention was unwelcome, or if Jiang Yanli only meant she did not wish to be in a formal relationship right now.

Jiang Yanli had flushed bright pink and her eyes had gone adorably wide. Luo Qingyang really hoped this ended with her being allowed to flirt with Jiang Yanli. The girl was too adorable for words. A few ambiguous answers and anxious questions later Luo Qingyang had more or less come to understand that Jiang Yanli did not want a formal relationship right now. However, Jiang Yanli was not averse to Luo Qingyang pursuing her.  She only asked that flirting not be too overt in public.

Luo Qingyang considered it a win. It was permission to flirt with and grow closer with Jiang Yanli. That wasn't a bad start considering Luo Qingyang hadn't been certain Jiang Yanli wasn't straight. It seemed Jiang Yanli was also not sure if she was straight and Luo Qingyang was pretty optimistic of her chances at the moment.

"You're smiling. I can tell." Luo Qingyang needled gently.

Jiang Yanli let her hands drop to her lap revealing the shy smile and adorable blush. The only thing better than Jiang Yanli smiling was Jiang Yanli smiling because of her. Luo Qingyang smiled warmly, an automatic response to seeing Jiang Yanli's expression.

"I'll miss you too, but you'll see me in Dafan. It might take a few days to figure out what to do with the Dafan Wens, and you won't have an entire sect's worth of people to keep track of. That's almost like a vacation." Luo Qingyang kept her voice upbeat.

They both knew that everything related to Dafan was uncertain at this point. Still, Luo Qingyang's optimistic warmth eased some of Jiang Yanli's anxiety. Luo Qingyang found herself feeling more optimistic about things in Dafan. The idea of getting to spend even a little more time with Jiang Yanli was all it took for her to believe things might work out well.  Luo Qingyang certainly felt like her friendship with Jiang Yanli was going well.  Maybe well enough to be more than friendship in the future.