Wen Qing was still seething as they made their way across the Cloud Recesses. If she were a bit calmer she wouldn't have grabbed Lan Xichen's arm like that. She had heard what he said to Jiang Fengmian.

'It is no trouble for us to look after Wuxian. He and Wangji are in love, and we will look after Wuxian as we would any other member of our family.' He'd addressed Wei Wuxian the same way he addressed Lan Wangji. Prior to this she only ever heard him refer to Wei Wuxian as Wei-gongzi. It was a surprising move from Lan Xichen. Wen Qing still thought of him as that Sect leader who quietly protested but then just went along with what the louder voices said. It wasn't that she thought he agreed with the horrors people suggested. She recalled the look on his face at her execution after all. His expression had been pained.

It just seemed he was either too afraid of conflict or too unwilling to offend people, she really couldn't say which. His entirely too polite protests immediately quieted the second anyone became upset at his suggestions. She couldn't say he always responded that way. During and after the war her encounters with him were almost non-existent. Maybe it was selfish of her, but she felt like protesting that it was inhumane to burn someone alive was a rather clear cut example of a righteous versus cruel decision.

She was expecting to die, and really she expected the death to be brutal. She had little to no faith in the righteousness of the cultivation world, but that day had truly crushed what little faith she had left. Of those there, only one person had to be physically held back from interceding. Lan Wangji had reminded her a lot of Wei Wuxian in that moment. Unwilling to listen to the decision that he could not tolerate the injustice of. She was glad he was held back. Him physically intervening would not have changed her fate. Only an actual sect taking a stand might have been able to change her sentence.

Lan Xichen had protested the cruelty, but almost immediately he was met by cries of those asking if the Wen's had shown any mercy.  Jin Guanyao, the hypocrite who actually had innocent blood on his hands from the war, had oh so apologetically and rationally explained the justified need for vengeance. With pained eyes Lan Xichen didn't protest anymore. Lan Xichen watched as she burned. That was something she would give him credit for.

Despite supporting her brutal execution method, most of the cultivators did not actually watch her die. Once the fire began to blaze they averted their eyes. Most of the cultivators were cowards. They demanded a brutal execution, but couldn't even watch the fate they had subjected her to. Most of the eyes that actually continued to watch her were filled with anger, resentment, or emotions more sickening than she cared to recall. Lan Xichen was one of the few people who condemned her to death, felt her death too cruel, but still watched. He had not ignored the consequences of what he had allowed. She respected him for that.

Lan Xichen's words to Jiang Fengmian had been a firm and somewhat presumptuous statement. He had basically declared Wei Wuxian as a member of their family already, without the betrothal agreed to. Granted there was no good reason to turn down the betrothal offer, but that didn't mean it would go smoothly. Jiang Fengmian was clearly resistant to the idea or he would have already agreed to it. Wen Qing could feel her temper rising inside her. She took a slow breath to maintain as calm of an outward appearance as possible. She could not imagine how she was going to handle Wei Wuxian's insistence on saving Lotus Pier.

The more she learned about his so-called family from there, the more she hated them. Hated how they treated her didi. Hated how accepting he was of their treatment, like it was normal. It made her so angry. They had her didi first. They had him there since he was so young. They had every chance to be his family. Her didi, her family, was everything to Wen Qing. Every decision she ever made was always about them. Wei Wuxian was part of that family. He came later, but was no less valuable. The thought that anyone had the chance to be family with her didi and did not treat that chance like the invaluable treasure it was, infuriated her.

Wen Qing did not even look into the room as they entered. She followed behind Lan Xichen using all of her energy to maintain as calm and professional of a countenance as she could. Tea was served in front of her and she lifted the cup to her face. She slowly inhaled the steam focusing on the fragrance, identifying the variety by its scent. It was something she did to help herself focus and calm down. She did not remember when she started, probably sometime after she started learning to prepare medicine. She could identify quite a lot about a medicine from the scent. At some point she had discovered focusing on the scent of tea, like she was trying to dissect everything about it just from the smell, helped her focus and calm herself.

"Has your meeting finally ended? Done discussing Wei Wuxian so you can finally hear what happened with your own son?" Madam Yu's voice was hostile and sharp, even though the volume was a relatively normal level. Wen Qing briefly glanced around the room to take in who was there. She didn't spend too long before focusing back on her tea. Aside from Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen, the entire Jiang family was present. No one in the room looked particularly happy.

"Our discussion is not quite concluded. We can finish it once we have been caught up on what has happened with Jiang Wanyin." Lan Xichen responded calmly before Jiang Fengmian found his words. Yu Ziyuan's eyes narrowed in irritation toward Jiang Fengmian.

"Jiang Wanyin fought with Jin Zixuan. My understanding is that Jin Zixuan said something dismissive about Jiang Yanli." Lan Qiren explained. He was quite frustrated, but did his best to keep his voice calm. Jiang Fengmian frowned before he let out a long sigh.

"Perhaps we should dissolve the engagement between them." The words barely left Jiang Fengmian's mouth when Yu Ziyuan slammed her hand on the table.

"What?!" Yu Ziyuan sounded outraged. "Jin Zixuan's mother and I set their engagement years ago. You want to destroy your daughter's future?" Yu Ziyuan demanded. Jiang Fengmian frowned slightly, looking at his wife with tired eyes.

"If the children do not care for each other we should not force it." Jiang Fengmian's voice seemed to be somewhere between patient and exhausted. Wen Qing did not care too much about this part of the conversation. She only glanced at Jiang Yanli briefly to see the dejected expression on her face.

"Nonsense. The boy is young, he will learn to care for her." Yu Ziyuan insisted with outrage. Lan Qiren cleared his throat.

"Whatever your decision, I do not believe this is something you need to conclude here? More pressing is the most recent in a long string of rule violations. Jiang Wanyin has had increasing outbursts of shouting and cursing within the Cloud Recesses prior to this fight. It has become far too disruptive. I think it would be best for Jiang Wanyin to return home early. Given the circumstances he would be welcome to return next year." Lan Qiren's tone was stern and unhappy, but he was trying very hard to be fair. He used to think he was always fair, but the recent brutal awakening had confirmed this was clearly something he needed to work on. Jiang Wanyin wilted under the disappointed gazes of his parents. One gaze was heated with anger, the other seemed depressed. Both of the gazes stung deeply for Jiang Wanyin.

"Rushing here over Wei Wuxian's antics and now this?" Yu Ziyuan scoffed. She glared fiercely at Jiang Wanyin. "I've told you being too close with that son of a servant would only bring you trouble. Now you lose face for the YunmengJiang sect, and why? Because of that brat? Either you have learned too many bad habits from him or you've allowed him to affect you far too easily." Yu Ziyuan turned her head away dismissively. Jiang Wanyin's face seemed to be going red with held back emotions, but he kept his mouth sealed shut. Yu Ziyuan snorted at him dismissively.

"You never listen." She complained. "Let's collect that son of a servant and go. We can discuss the rest at home." Yu Ziyuan said with a tone of finality. Wen Qing's grip on her cup tightened.

"Why would Wei Wuxian be returning?" Lan Qiren interrupted before Wen Qing had the chance. Yu Ziyuan raised an eyebrow at Lan Qiren.

"Have you not grown tired of his mischief yet? I saw him playing games with another disciple this morning. He even riles A-Cheng into misbehaviour. I can only imagine the problems he's caused for you with the rest of your students." Yu Ziyuan's tone of superiority grated on Lan Qiren. Though possibly what bothered him more was how similar her words matched his own words. Had he not said something equally dismissive and hurtful?

Lan Qiren would have been lying if he said that Wei Wuxian was no trouble. The boy had caused much trouble. Lan Qiren wasn't sure how much of it may have just been exaggerated in his own mind, but the boy had most certainly been at least a bit mischievous. However, Wei Wuxian had served his punishments and at this point was not even really in any condition to cause trouble even if it was what the boy wanted. Lan Qiren was not entirely happy that Lan Wangji had chosen Wei Wuxian to be his partner, the boy reminded him much of his elder brother's wife. Lan Qiren dreaded the thought that a similar fate could befall his nephews.

"Madam Yu, you were not present for our meeting before. Sect Leader Jiang is already aware of our betrothal offer. Wangji and Wuxian are very fond of each other. Of course we would like Wei Wuxian to stay so they may continue to get to know each other." Lan Xichen replied calmly. Wen Qing had no idea how he managed to sound so at ease. Wen Qing did not trust herself to hold back from saying something unfortunate. If possible, it was safer to let the Lan's handle these negotiations.

Madam Yu was silent. Completely stunned and silent. Wen Qing had never been so happy to hear someone stop talking in her life. Yu Ziyuan turned to Jiang Fengmian. Her gaze was fierce and demanding, even if still a bit confused. He handed her the documents Lan Xichen had presented to him. Wen Qing watched the expressions on Yu Ziyuan's face carefully. She had no trust in this woman. She watched Yu Ziyuan's slightly unhappy scowl as she started reading. Then saw her eyebrows climb and a soft gasp as she reached a later section. A sickening smile spread across Madam Yu's face. There was a hungry pleased expression in her eyes as she set the paper down.

"GusuLan Sect is quite generous." She commented lightly. Jiang Fengmian looked deflated at Yu Ziyuan's response.

"What? Why would you discuss marriage between them?" Jiang Wanyin was visibly distressed. Had he somehow not realized the relationship between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji? Wen Qing supposed it was possible, especially with how little Jiang Wanyin had been around.

"A-Cheng. The two of them like each other very much." Jiang Yanli said softly.

"Both of you, quiet." Yu Ziyuan was not yelling, but her tone was a bit sharper than the situation called for. She turned to look at Jiang Fengmian with a slightly impatient and expectant expression.

"A-Xian had just recently attempted to end his life. He is clearly unwell. I think it would be best for him to return home to recover. They are still young. Once he is doing better we can discuss the betrothal." Jiang Fengmian's words sounded like a firm decision, but his tone sounded quiet and almost meek. Yu Ziyuan let out a short malicious laugh.

"You were just suggesting ending our daughter's engagement. You clearly have no issues about terminating a betrothal after it is agreed upon. Why wait? Lan Clan has made a very generous offer. That boy will certainly never receive a better offer than this one. If he puts up a fuss later you'll certainly swoop in and dissolve the engagement regardless of any damage to our sect relations." Yu Ziyuan's voice was angry and mocking the entire time.

Wen Qing had never wanted to slap someone so badly in her entire life. The only thing keeping her silent was that Yu Ziyuan was technically speaking in favour of what Wen Qing knew Wei Wuxian needed. The woman's goals were clearly entirely financial and political. Maybe even happy to not deal with Wei Wuxian. Wen Qing loathed the way this woman spoke of her didi, but if it would result in her didi safely in Cloud Recesses Wen Qing would restrain herself.

"A-Die." Jiang Yanli spoke very softly. "A-Xian likes Lan-er-gongzi very much. He would be very happy to be able to court Lan Wangji." Wen Qing did not know if it was Yu Ziyuan's menacing or Jiang Yanli's soft pleas, but Jiang Fengmian finally agreed to the betrothal. Wen Qing was so relieved that he had finally stopped resisting it. Much of her protective anger began to melt away. Keeping Wei Wuxian safe and happy was more important to protecting him than exacting revenge on those who hurt him. While she might personally want to confront those who hurt her didi, at the end of the day what she wanted most was for him to be safe and happy.

"We can arrange for them to spend some time together for courtship once A-Xian is feeling better." Jiang Fengmian's words broke Wen Qing from her thoughts and brought all of that anger back to Wen Qing immediately.

"Sect Leader Jiang. We have already said it is no trouble for Wuxian to stay. Especially since he and Wangji are courting, we would like to continue to support his recovery as we have been doing." Lan Xichen replied in a tone very similar to his normal polite and calm voice.  Wen Qing's eyes snapped up. It seemed she was not the only one surprised based on the odd expressions she caught from those in the room.  Lan Xichen had recovered a bit faster than Wen Qing expected, but his argument was not as assertive as she had hoped for.

"When I saw A-Xian today." Jiang Fengmian shook his head in quiet distress. "I have never seen him in such a terrible state. I need to get him back home where he can focus on his recovery in an environment he is comfortable in."

Yu Ziyuan snorted quietly, but didn't seem to care about this part enough to comment. Jiang Wanyin, who had been looking betrayed ever since the betrothal was mentioned, was now looking slightly relieved. Jiang Yanli had gone pale again. Her expression was concerned, but her eyes held absolute horror. Lan Qiren seemed troubled, but Wen Qing was not really expecting any complaint from him given his previous interactions with Wei Wuxian. The look on Lan Xichen's face filled Wen Qing with anger and dread.

Wen Qing had seen this look before. Wen Qing knew this look. This was the look that Lan Xichen got when he was feeling cornered in a conversation. She had seen it in discussion conferences when she had nothing to do but observe the debates of the sect leaders from her seat at Wen Rouhan's side. This was the look that Lan Xichen got when he was running out of ways to debate without offending someone. It was the look she saw on his face when he stopped protesting her execution in favour of protesting the method. Protests that were entirely too polite to ever be successful. This look was the last straw for Wen Qing at the moment. She would not wait to see what Lan Xichen would say to protest further. She would not wait to see if his expression would change to the softly troubled look he had when he gave up.

"Sect Leader Jiang. It seems you have little regard for Wei Wuxian's life." Wen Qing's voice was very quiet, but every person in the room immediately turned to her.