It was early morning when Wen Qing made her way to the Hanshi. It had been the better part of a week since Wen Qing had last spoken with Lan Xichen and instructed him to begin keeping the journal. She knew Lan Xichen had been trying to clear a day for them to sit down and discuss the events of the future. Since she hadn't heard from him, Wen Qing assumed he hadn't been able to clear a day yet. Still it had been long enough that they should sit down at least long enough to compare journals. If there were lingering effects from the accident that occurred during empathy, then they needed to know about it sooner rather than later.

Wen Qing knocked lightly on the door and waited patiently. She had learned quickly that the easiest time to try and find Lan Xichen was in the early morning hours. Lan Xichen had approached her a few times during that hour for updates on Wei Wuxian, much to her irritation the first time. Wen Qing was not Wei Wuxian, but she was not all that amicable to unexpected disruptions to her sleep. That first day she had been woken in the middle of the night because of Wei Wuxian having a nightmare. He had dreamed about Nightless City, when the clans had scattered her ashes, and would not calm down until he saw that she and Wen Qionglin were okay. So when Lan Xichen knocked on her door barely ten minutes after five am, she had not been particularly happy.

Part of her wondered if perhaps this was a similar situation now. It was barely past five am. It was possible he was not up and about yet. She heard movement from inside. The door opened only moments later. Lan Xichen invited her inside with a polite smile. He didn't seem to be in a rush, or caught off guard. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised. He was raised waking up at this time every day. He invited her to sit and offered her tea. She brought the cup up and inhaled deeply, focusing on the scent. She looked across the table and immediately frowned. Lan Xichen's eyes were slightly bloodshot and he looked a bit paler than usual.

"You do recall I told you to take it easy while you are healing, correct?" She inquired with a mildly disapproving tone. Lan Xichen paused for a moment but quickly gave her a polite smile.

"I have been using minimal spiritual energy." He assured her calmly. However, Wen Qing did not seem to be appeased.

"You also need to take care of yourself. Pushing yourself physically is not going to do you any favors." Wen Qing scolded. She stood up and promptly moved next to him. Without a word of warning she took his wrist and examined him. Lan Xichen was a bit taken aback. Having someone scold him for pushing himself was a completely foreign experience. His parents were not really a part of his life. His uncle was emotionally distant. He was not the sort to directly tell you to take it easy. Lan Xichen had no older siblings. He was the one who had to try and tell Lan Wangji to take care of himself. Something he honestly never felt he was very good at.

"You've been overworking. You need to either hand off some of your duties to others for a while or find things you can postpone." Wen Qing stated firmly as she sat back.

"Thank you Wen Qing. I'm fine. I've just been working a bit late so I can clear a day. We need to have a discussion about upcoming events, and it doesn't seem to be the sort of conversation that you squeeze in between other duties," Lan Xichen said with a small appreciative smile. Wen Qing's scowl deepened and she levelled him with an un-amused glare. He had seen her direct this look to Wei Wuxian several times.

"Did I give the impression this was a suggestion?" Wen Qing inquired. Lan Xichen suddenly felt like he understood how Wei Wuxian must feel when Wen Qing was threatening him to comply with treatment. Wen Qing's entire demeanour was somewhere between intimidating and caring. It was incredibly difficult to argue against, but at the same time it wasn't as though he could ignore his duties. Further his uncle was busy teaching the guest disciple classes. He didn't have as much time to be able to help. Wen Qing seemed to sense his resistance as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Is there anything you need to do today that is confidential or needs to remain private to your sect?" Wen Qing asked flatly. Lan Xichen was confused about the question, but he gave it some thought.

"Nothing confidential, no." Lan Xichen said slowly.

"Excellent. I want you to write down everything you want to get done today. While you do that I will compare our journals and mark anything of interest." Wen Qing stated firmly. Lan Xichen felt like there was definitely more to this, but he got his journal and handed it to her. He didn't think she was ready to relent regarding his work load, but he didn't see how writing out what he needed to do would accomplish anything.

"Make sure you note down any meetings. Include times and expected duration. Also note the purpose of said meeting." Wen Qing said in the same professional commanding tone she used when giving Wen Qionglin instructions. Lan Xichen began writing out as she instructed while she silently went through the journals side by side. When he finished he set the brush down and watched as she carefully made small markings in the two journals. After a moment she seemed to sense his gaze and looked up.

"You finished?" She asked. Lan Xichen nodded.

"I did." He replied calmly.

"Alright, let me see what is more important than your health." Wen Qing's tone had a distinct disapproving edge to it. She took the list and began reading it carefully. Lan Xichen suddenly felt like he was in classes again. Like he was watching his teacher review his homework. The comparison almost made him chuckle, but he held back.

Wen Qing read through the list with a furrowed brow. The more she read the more she began to frown. She had several questions about this list. Wen Qing looked at Lan Xichen, then down at the list again.

"So... you are trying to coordinate meetings with three different sect leaders for within the week. Individually. What is it you are meeting with them for? Does it need to be individual?" Wen Qing asked. Two of them were minor sect leaders and one of them was Nie Mingjue.

"They requested to visit and discuss their disciples' progress. Two of them have children in the class this year and Nie Mingjue's didi is here for his third attempt. As it is somewhat personal it wouldn't be appropriate to hold it as a joint meeting," Lan Xichen explained calmly. Wen Qing waited for a bit to see if he was going to add anything more. When he didn't she began to feel an odd combination of dread and pity.

"What's your relation with the sect leaders?" Wen Qing asked. "Are you close with any of them, like friends? Important allies you need to impress? Fragile or stressful sect relations?" Wen Qing inquired. It was possible these meetings had additional functions or importance based on information she did not have. Lan Xichen seemed confused by her questions, but didn't see any harm in answering her.

"Dage, Nie Mingjue is a good friend. The others are allied sects. They don't have any notable ties or strained relations with GusuLan sect." Lan Xichen replied calmly.

"Invite Nie Mingjue for a casual visit. Update him if you want or ask Lan Xiansheng to do it, since he is the one running the class. Don't schedule visits for the other two." Wen Qing said flatly. Lan Xichen opened his mouth to protest, but Wen Qing didn't give him a chance. "These meetings can be a letter. There is no reason to both put together a summary of how their children are doing and clear your schedule to meet with and entertain their parents. You can mail them a summary report. If they want to ask more about behaviour, simply tell them that you will contact them if there are any problems." Wen Qing said firmly.

Lan Xichen frowned, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. It felt rude to decline the meetings they requested and insist on a brief letter instead. He looked up expecting Wen Qing to be waiting for a response, but she was again focused on reading the list. He noticed her nod slightly as she read a few items. He watched as her eyes began to narrow again. She looked up at Lan Xichen seeming a bit confused.

"I see your list includes placing orders for the kitchens and also ordering cloth. Is this for some special event?" Wen Qing asked curiously. Lan Xichen immediately shook his head.

"No it is just the regular resupplying of the kitchens and acquiring fabric for sect uniforms." Lan Xichen replied calmly. A large event would be much more work. For these he only needed to check with the respective people in charge to find out how much they needed. Wen Qing was now even more confused.

"Is there a reason you have to be the one to place the orders?" Wen Qing asked. Lan Xichen found her question very strange.

"What do you mean?" Lan Xichen asked.

"Do you trust the people that are in charge of the kitchens and uniform making?" Wen Qing asked.

"Of course." Lan Xichen said immediately.

"Does GusuLan sect have financial concerns?" Wen Qing inquired. That was technically kind of a rude question, especially since she was not part of the sect.

"No." Lan Xichen replied, still seeming confused by her line of questions.

"You should have the heads of your respective departments do their own ordering. They can write out what they ordered and the cost of it, then submit it to you for record keeping. Even better actually would be if you have someone in charge of managing the sect finances. The department heads could send it to them, and said person can review them to make sure nothing is out of place. If you had any questions or concerns regarding the sect finances you could then simply direct them to said person as needed." Wen Qing stated calmly.

Lan Xichen stared at her, for much longer than was polite. Wen Qing took out another sheet of paper and began making notes on it while crossing out things from Lan Xichen's list. Technically there weren't any rules saying that Lan Xichen needed to place the orders himself. It was just how it had always been done. Additionally the managing of the sects finances and record keeping had always been completed by the sect leader, or acting sect leader. It did make a lot of sense to put someone in charge of that though. Lan Xichen certainly didn't need to know the exact state of their finances at all times.

"Checking the wards around Cloud Recesses. Is this a routine thing or something noteworthy?" Wen Qing inquired. Lan Xichen was pulled out of his thoughts by her next question.

"I am planning to petition the elders to allow for modifications to the wards. So I need to inspect the wards so I can put together a detailed report of weaknesses. This is also the first step in determining what changes are needed and then being able to describe how those changes address the issues." Lan Xichen explained.

Wen Qing considered that for a bit. She was surprised such loops needed to be gone through just to improve the wards around Cloud Recesses. In Nightless city it would only matter if Wen Rouhan approved the change. Such a conversation would only take a few minutes. The GusuLan sect seemed to rely very heavily on the sect leader, and also seemed to require more approval from the sect elders for things. Or she assumed so since her next question was going to be about a daily meeting with the elders that she saw noted toward the end of the list.

"You should ask A-Ying to take a look at the wards." Wen Qing said after a while. "He's probably one of the best there is when it comes to finding weaknesses in barriers as well as breaking them. He is also extremely skilled with wards and talismans. Let him do the examination and make some recommendations. You can discuss it with him and then present it to the elders." Wen Qing recommended. Lan Xichen was surprised that she was suggesting he ask Wei Wuxian to perform duties.

"Has he been doing better?" Lan Xichen asked. Wen Qing had a sad smile on her face.

"Zewu-Jun, that question is not as straightforward as it sounds." Wen Qing replied calmly. "His sleep has been atrocious since that night. He is not willing to take any sleeping medications. He only sleeps when Lan Wangji manages to coax him, or when his body crashes from exhaustion. Honestly this is still better than how he was before coming back here. On the other hand he has been opening up more with Lan Wangji. In the long term he is doing better, but with situations like his you can expect things to often look worse even as he is improving." Wen Qing explained calmly.

"Then should I really be asking him to perform duties?" Lan Xichen asked. Wen Qing smiled at him like he had said something amusing. It made Lan Xichen feel like she was much older than him, even though they were practically the same age. Then again she had experienced some unknown amount of the future, so perhaps in a way she was older than him.

"A-Ying may be struggling, but that does not mean he is incapable. Besides, poking holes in your wards and designing a new barrier? A-Ying will love it. It is exactly the kind of thing he would find fun." Wen Qing said with a warm smile.

"Very well. Wuxian did break through our wards on his first night here. This is clearly something he has a talent for." Lan Xichen said calmly.

"Now then, I have one more question about your list of duties." Wen Qing said, looking down at the paper again. "Why do you meet with the GusuLan elders daily?" Wen Qing asked.

"It is to update them on the sect." Lan Xichen replied calmly. Wen Qing stared at him like he had grown two heads.

"Every day?" She reiterated. Lan Xichen nodded. "What if you are away at a conference?" Wen Qing asked.

"Shufu will give the update. If we are both gone we will sometimes forgo it. For more lengthy conferences we will assign a disciple to give a weekly update." Lan Xichen explained. Wen Qing continued to stare at him.

"If that can suffice while you are gone, then clearly this is not something that needs to be done every day." Wen Qing said firmly. Lan Xichen was not certain what to say to that. It wasn't that he disagreed with her, but the thought of telling the elders that filled Lan Xichen with an intense sense of dread. Wen Qing could practically feel the discomfort radiating off of him.

"You're not very comfortable with saying 'no' to people are you?" It was a question, but Wen Qing's tone clearly stated that she knew the answer already. Lan Xichen felt incredibly embarrassed, he could already feel his face heating up. Wen Qing sighed.

"Today will be an excellent day to practice. We can probably finish most of this before lunch, depending on how many letters and requests you have to go through. If you'd like I can assist you with those to cut down the time. That would leave the entire afternoon and evening free to meet with our didi's and discuss the upcoming disasters." Wen Qing's voice was very professional, and almost bright as she explained this. It was a bit improper to have a disciple of another sect assist with his duties, but Lan Xichen had to admit she seemed to know what she was doing.

"You can worry about appointing someone to manage finances another day. For now just ask those in charge of their given departments to do their own ordering and submit an itemized summary to you after the fact. Before then we can first finish the letters for these meetings that will not be happening." Wen Qing set the list down and looked at Lan Xichen expectantly.

Lan Xichen assented and began writing the letters with Wen Qing observing him like a tutor. She didn't bother to check the letter for Nie Mingjue, but when he wrote his first letter declining to meet with one of the minor sect leaders she shook her head.

"You're softening your words too much," Wen Qing said as she set the letter down. "This sort of language is very apologetic in tone and you are spending a lot of time explaining why you are not meeting with him. This just opens you up to them being able to give all the reason in the world for why you have to meet with them and already implies that you are not firm in your decision." Wen Qing truly sounded like an instructor giving a lecture. "All you need to say is something to the effect of, 'A summary of your disciples' current progress is included.' Add a sentence or two about how they behave in class. Then say that you will update them if there are any major concerns. Then include the summary or summaries from Lan Xiansheng."

"Without saying anything about not scheduling a meeting?" Lan Xichen questioned.

"You don't need to. You have already provided all the information that they wanted the meeting for. This also indicates there will not be a meeting, because they now have the information, you did not mention a meeting, and you told them you would contact them if there were any concerns." Wen Qing said calmly. "Sometimes when you are refusing someone, you don't actually have to say 'no'. In this case you are giving them what they asked for, just not in the format they requested it in."

Lan Xichen wrote the two letters, and Wen Qing nodded in approval. To Lan Xichen's surprise he actually didn't feel bad about declining the meetings. Probably because what Wen Qing said really made sense. He was giving them what they wanted, he was just adjusting how he was giving it to them. That didn't feel so bad.

"Alright, then I assume you can ask Lan Xiansheng for the summaries yourself. Probably first thing after the breakfast hour you should meet with the two people who need to do ordering. Ask them to do their own orders from now on and submit an itemized summary to you afterwards. You can worry about appointing someone to manage finances on another day. I'll join you after that for going through the letters and requests." Wen Qing said standing up with the two journals.

"I'll borrow your journal in the meantime so I can finish comparing them." Wen Qing said calmly. Wen Qing spent the next two hours going through the journals. There were a few things that could be examples of each of them perceiving the emotion or physical pain of the other. Of course how exactly was she supposed to confirm if the fatigue she had felt was actually coming from Lan Xichen and not just her own? A sharp stinging sensation on her finger a couple days ago did coincide with a small cut Lan Xichen noted. He had also noted several emotions that he felt were unusual for his circumstance, and they did fit with what she would have been doing at the time.

Wen Qing scowled down at the journals in front of her. She did not like the implications. It was still too soon for her to say that it wasn't a coincidence, but there was definitely the beginning of a pattern forming. So far only a couple instances of experiencing pain and a few instances of experiencing emotions. Or at least it looked that way. Wen Qing was not willing to accept it as a certainty yet. More time. She'd give it more time with the journals to see if the pattern persisted.

A few hours later Wen Qing was sitting next to Lan Xichen going through requests. She had already insisted on dividing them into categories after reading, based on urgency and topic. This wasn't a foreign idea to Lan Xichen, but Wen Qing certainly took it to the next level of organizing. Wen Qing glanced at a letter Lan Xichen added to the urgent pile and frowned.

"This one is in the wrong place." Wen Qing said immediately. Lan Xichen blinked at her a few times.

"Sect Leader Yao's description is quite severe." Lan Xichen pointed calmly. Wen Qing shook her head.

"Sect Leader Yao always speaks in hyperbole." Wen Qing countered. "Whenever he describes something negatively he inflates it to being the greatest tragedy. Whenever he brags about his prowess he multiplies the difficulty of the task and amount of his contribution." Wen Qing explained. "To translate what is actually going on you have to reduce whatever he says dramatically towards a mid line." Lan Xichen looked bewildered.

"You should also keep that in mind for the dates. He will exaggerate how long it has been a problem. His sect is not close with GusuLan sect. If he needs help he should be going to the LanlingJin sect. Asking GusuLan could actually be considered rude, so I can only assume he is doing this because he thinks you are too nice to refuse." Wen Qing said firmly as she moved his letter to the lowest priority. "Save his to review later. If you decide to help you should make him the absolute last thing you go to assist with."

"Wen Qing..." Lan Xichen began slowly. "Where did you learn all of this?" Lan Xichen finally asked the question that had been gnawing at him all morning. Lan Xichen had grown up being taught to take over the sect by his uncle. Yet the way she organized and distributed tasks was efficient and fair. More importantly it was not something he had ever seen his uncle do. She seemed as in her element managing the logistics and sect politics as she was when she was diagnosing and preparing medicine.

"I have two questions for you. The first is, what do you think I was doing while sitting in on all those discussion conferences? The second, do you really think Wen Rouhan is the kind of person who does all his own administrative work?" Wen Qing asked. Lan Xichen blinked in surprise. "I don't do all of it, QishanWen sect is huge after all. Still, if I am not being shown off or exploited for my medical knowledge then I am spending my days up to my neck in paperwork that Wen Rouhan should be doing. He has a lot of staff that take on most of his duties, but it is still an absolute mess." Wen Qing said bluntly.

"You're very talented. In truth I didn't think the list I wrote out could actually all be completed today. However, with your assistance we really will be done before the afternoon. I'm a bit disappointed with myself." Lan Xichen admitted. Wen Qing smiled.

"Most of what I've been doing is honestly just what I have learned through instruction or observation. You're not at fault for the things you weren't taught," Wen Qing said calmly. "I will say you need to practice refusing people a bit more. You're kind. Politics are not a kind place. It's easy to be taken advantage of," Wen Qing said gently.

"I've been learning from my uncle my entire life with how to run the sect. It never occurred to me that how he did things might not be the best," Lan Xichen said quietly.

"I don't mean to overstep, but your Shufu... Was he actually trained to run the sect?" Wen Qing asked. "Your Fuqin is the sect leader, but my understanding is he abruptly went into seclusion and your Shufu had to take over. Did your Shufu actually receive support and instruction for those duties, or did he just figure it out himself?" Wen Qing inquired. Lan Xichen paused thinking about what she said.

"I... never considered that." Lan Xichen said quietly. He fell silent in contemplation. Wen Qing looked at the amount they had left. She opened the last few letters while he was thinking. She skimmed them and sorted them. Then organized the piles and set them aside.

"Let's go. I'll help you with the responses this evening." Wen Qing said firmly. Lan Xichen looked at her with confusion.

"Where are we going?" Lan Xichen asked.

"I don't know yet, but I am prescribing half an hour of a relaxing activity before lunch. I also have not forgotten that you have been overworking of late which means you will also get to enjoy medicine with your lunch and dinner." Wen Qing said sternly. Lan Xichen smiled lightly as Wen Qing forcibly dragged him from his room and insisted he not only name a relaxing activity but also followed to make sure he was not going to sneak back to keep working. Lan Xichen wondered if this was perhaps a habit she had developed from treating Wei Wuxian.