Wen Qing heard nothing from inside the room. No sounds of conversation or movement before the door suddenly opened before her. The result of a silencing talisman clearly. Whatever Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao had been discussing they had wanted it to remain private. Wen Qing kept her expression calm and even as she could. Despite the terror that came unbidden whenever she was near the man who had tortured her. Jin Guangyao's eyes narrowed in anger at her before he pasted a meaninglessly polite smile on his face.

"Wen-guniang." Jin Guangyao said politely. Wen Qing could feel the venom lurking beneath Jin Guangyao's words. It wasn't sharp enough that she could call him out on it, but it was certainly growing more pronounced.

Wen Qing had known she had angered Jin Guangyao greatly when she freed Sect Leader Nie. Meng Yao, at the time, had made it clear that he intended to take his time with her. Made it clear that she would have a future as one of the subjects he experimented upon.

Wen Rouhan had visited her once. He had beaten her bloody and branded her for her disgrace. Then he had been done with her. As enraged as her betrayal was he had not deemed her worth his time beyond that first brutal day. Everything after that was all Meng Yao.

That last day of the battle Meng Yao had hastily attempted to clean house. If he had had the time and resources, the soldiers available, Wen Qing would have been dead. As it stood he only had servants free who could serve poison to his prisoners. Starvation and drugged food were a common practice in the Flame Palace. Even if the food tasted off, most of the prisoners would have had little choice but to eat and hope for the best.

Most prisoners did not have Wen Qing's knowledge. Wen Qing could identify much of what was being given to her. It gave her a power to be able to choose which substances she permitted them to give her and how much. It was not perfect, but for times like that last day it was enough. Enough for her to know that nothing offered should enter her mouth. Enough to keep her alive.

Wen Qing expected Meng Yao, Jin Guangyao, did not like that, but his venom towards her seemed to be growing every day. She wasn't entirely certain as to why. She had not slandered him. Had not brought up to the sects the sorts of things he had done. Had not even brought up to Lan Xichen the specifics of Jin Guangyao's actions.

Near as she could tell Wen Qing presumed herself to be little more than an inconvenience. Since Lan Xichen had picked up on Wen Qing's unexpressed discomfort around Jin Guangyao, he had limited having them both in the same place. Wen Qing spent a lot of time with Lan Xichen. Mostly because the LanlingJin sect made it unsafe for her to be without powerful company.

Well, that might have been giving them too much credit. Wen Qing did rather enjoy Lan Xichen's company. He was calm and intelligent. Still far too trusting, a trait that was simultaneously endearing and frustrating. Wen Qing's personal feelings around Lan Xichen were complicated by a traumatic past that was not truly Lan Xichen's fault, but affected Wen Qing all the same. It created a layer of hesitance and anxiety that she felt would probably not have been present otherwise.

Wen Qing wondered briefly if Jin Guangyao was able to recognize that tension, but dismissed the thought quickly. If that were the case she doubted Jin Guangyao would be as frustrated and angry as he seemed to be. As far as Wen Qing could tell she was a small risk to his reputation.

She had survived the Flame Palace and he did not like that. On the other hand Nie Mingjue had also survived the Flame Palace. Wen Qing mostly recalled Jin Guangyao making wounded puppy eyes around Nie Mingjue and making large displays out of placating him. Of course, Nie Mingjue was the leader of a great sect. He was important. Wen Qing was not... Or at least she was not supposed to be.

Wen Qing still had no ability to leave something alone when it was being done poorly. Lan Xichen was often on the receiving end of this and Wen Qing was somewhat shocked he hadn't politely asked her to stop. As it turned out Lan Xichen had taken much more of her advice to heart than Wen Qing expected.

Lan Xichen was still diplomatic and polite, but he was much more firm in the discussions than the other sects may have been expecting. Wen Qing knew exactly how much Lan Xichen struggled with conflict and maintaining a strong opposition to others. She had spent a lot of time working with Lan Xichen to identify ways that he could stay firm to what he believed to be the correct course of action without shying away from the displeasure it might cause.

Wen Qing considered it a work in progress. Lan Xichen was often exhausted and stressed following those discussions. It clearly took a toil from him that Wen Qing recognized but did not quite understand. She had spent a lot of time avoiding offending people because it was the only way to protect herself and her family. It was not because she felt some sort of responsibility over their feelings.

As Jin Guangyao left Wen Qing could feel the tension that had been left in his wake. Lan Xichen's expression looked pained. His posture was still Lan perfect, but it was tense and rigid. Wen Qing recognized the signs. The same tension. The same almost painful silence that followed particularly difficult 'confrontations'.

Wen Qing still had to use the term 'confrontation' in relation to Lan Xichen with quotes in her own mind. Lan Xichen's version of confrontation was little more than not immediately placating the other party in a disagreement. Lan Xichen was particularly sensitive to conflicts between people he cared about. If their shared connection had been a bit more active today, Wen Qing expects she would be feeling the distress and panic that she knew accompanied Lan Xichen's pained silence.

Wen Qing checked the teapot on the table. Finding it empty she began the process of preparing a new pot of tea. She moved calmly around the room. She poured two cups of tea once it was ready. Then settled at the table.

Wen Qing did not try to get Lan Xichen to speak, nor did she try to fill the silence herself. She went through the stretches for her hands before practising her calligraphy. At this point in her healing Wen Qing needed to use her hands as much as possible without straining them. Practising calligraphy, with pauses to stretch every few minutes, was one way.

Playing an instrument would have been better for the range of motion and building strength in her fingers. Wen Qing was not an especially gifted musician, but she could play the guzheng with reasonable skill. The thought of playing made Wen Qing wince internally. Her fingertips were still hypersensitive. It might have been good for the muscles of her fingers and hands, but Wen Qing could practically feel how painful it would be for her fingertips.

"Thank you," Lan Xichen said with a quiet sigh.

Wen Qing cast her gaze towards Lan Xichen quietly. He still looked drained. Exhaustion clung to him that Wen Qing expected wouldn't clear until tomorrow. At minimum the tension he had been holding seemed to have lessened while she was writing.

"You're welcome." Wen Qing replied calmly.

Her tea was barely lukewarm now, but she could hold the cup without discomfort. Wen Qing waited a bit to see if Lan Xichen would say anything more. After she had finished her tea she poured another cup. Lan Xichen had yet to speak anything else.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Wen Qing asked calmly. "Or should I speak about something else?"

Lan Xichen usually preferred to talk through what had happened. Wen Qing would go so far as to say he often needed to. Having verbal reassurance from someone else went a long way in helping him to feel better about holding his ground in a disagreement. However, sometimes he wasn't ready for even that. On those occasions they would sit quietly together until he had relaxed enough to talk. Often about the disagreement, but sometimes Lan Xichen preferred to be distracted by talking about something else instead.

"Sect Leader Jin has been insisting on creating settlements to relocate the surviving Wens. He is making strong arguments for the LanlingJin sect to take the responsibility of supervising them." Lan Xichen said in a strained tone.

This wasn't a surprise. The LanlingJin sect had been pushing to take responsibility for dealing with the surviving Wen soldiers for weeks. They insisted often that it was out of a sense of duty. Being the sect with the greatest resources, they wished to take this burden off their allies. They had tried to use that argument for a lot of the tasks that needed to be done at the end of the war.

It was not wrong that it was a lot of time and resources to deal with the aftermath. War prisoners, civilian survivors, sorting through the property that needed to be tested for safety and catalogued before it was divided. Wen Qing had strongly advised Lan Xichen to push back against this. It would be too easy for the LanlingJin sect to take advantage.

"Did they insist I should be treated as a war prisoner?" Wen Qing asked quietly. Lan Xichen flinched immediately at her words. That was all the answer Wen Qing really needed, but Lan Xichen responded anyway.

"Sect leader Jin has continued to express concern regarding retaliation and the revival of the QishanWen sect. He has the support of several minor sects. A-Yao..." Lan Xichen broke off mid sentence.

Lan Xichen didn't usually struggle with his words so much. Wen Qing waited patiently for him to continue. There were a lot of things Jin Guangyao could have said. He had saved Lan Xichen's life after Cloud Recesses had attacked. He was not Lan Xichen's sworn brother yet, but Wen Qing didn't recall what the time frame was of that. She didn't know if it was delayed, or if they just hadn't reached that point.

"I don't know if he was just repeating his father's concerns, or if A-Yao really believed it. He said a lot of things about your family, and you in particular." It sounded like the sentences had been pulled from Lan Xichen's chest one word at a time. Wen Qing took a slow breath and let it out.

"Do you believe whatever it was?" Wen Qing asked at last, doing her best to keep her voice even and calm.

"How could I? I've seen the future through your eyes. I have seen your family. I recognize some of them. I saw them in the Burial Mounds in your future. They were the ones being called an army. They were the 'Prisoners of war' that were unlawfully freed. A-Yuan was in that group." Lan Xichen closed his eyes in pain. "I trust A-Yao, but I can't agree with what he is saying. Not when I have seen what would happen. And it bothers me that he continues to repeat what amounts to... slander about you. I understand that he does not know you, but I wish he would trust me."

Wen Qing badly wanted to say that trust might not be the problem. She wanted to say that Jin Guangyao might have a more selfish intention in slandering her name. Wen Qing held it back. Lan Xichen was upset because Jin Guangyao had continually bad mouthed her. Probably after Lan Xichen had politely tried to shut such things down. Wen Qing wasn't going to do the same thing. Even if she was being honest while doing it. She hoped that by respecting Lan Xichen's relationship with Jin Guangyao, she could continue to have Lan Xichen's trust.

Wen Qing left him space to continue if he wanted to, but Lan Xichen didn't seem to have anything more he could say about his discussion with Jin Guangyao. Wen Qing felt it was probably the time to bring up what she had wanted to discuss. Perhaps it could resolve some of these ongoing conflicts.

"I had some thoughts about how to appease the sects." Wen Qing began at last. She waited for Lan Xichen to nod for her to continue. "The LanlingJin sect desperately insists on taking charge of the temporary settlements. In the future these settlements became labour camps. Where people were tortured and mistreated. As such I don't trust them to supervise these settlements, but... we could allow them to fund them. Agree that they take the lead in establishing the settlements, but insist on having cultivators from all the major sects stationed there. Have it made clear, in public, what sort of treatment is expected. Require the oversight of multiple sects.

"I would say that civilians should be allowed to remain in their homes, but I know exactly how that argument has been going. So these settlements should be little more than towns with cultivators to guard them. Agree then on a period of time to review whether guards are still needed. Maybe after a year, review whether public sentiment has moved on or whether continued protection is needed.

"As for the DafanWen... I understand the fear that I was a notable enough figure that I could conceivably reform the sect. I have no intention of doing so, but I think there are two things that could make this clear." Wen Qing took a slow breath before she moved to bow properly to Lan Xichen.

"I would like to petition Sect Leader Lan to accept myself and my family into the GusuLan sect. We would of course share our knowledge of healing, and... We would adopt a new surname. Our knowledge would continue as part of the GusuLan sect, and the DafanWen name would die with our ancestors." The last part was hard for Wen Qing to say.

It had been a difficult decision once to abandon their surname, but at the time it had felt more like a gain than a loss. They took the name Wei both for their own safety and as part of their adoption of Wei Wuxian. It was something Wen Qing had always planned to do again. To make the ties between them and her adopted didi unquestionable. Wen Qing's family had been eager in the Burial Mounds, many of them suggesting the idea before Wen Qing ever mentioned it.

Her family now was very fond of Wei Wuxian. They had spent time with him in the war camps, and more time now as they continued to assist in the aftermath of the war. It was not quite the same. Her family was fond of him, and happy to accept him. He was still their savior, but her family had not spent years struggling to survive with him.

Wen Qing wasn't sure if it was something she was simply projecting. If perhaps she only felt the rest of her family didn't understand. They had all agreed. Popo still scolded and spoiled Wei Wuxian like was one of her children. Si-shu still drank with Wei Wuxian and bonded over wine making. A-Yuan still adored Wei Wuxian, and now Nuan-er followed him around with an adoration that bordered on obsession.

Perhaps it was only because Wen Qing knew in her bones that Wei Wuxian would and had died for them. As his jie, she loved him and desperately wanted to protect him. Perhaps she was now too critical of her own family, questioning whether they truly understood what he would be willing to do to protect them.

Lan Xichen was quiet for several long minutes. Maybe in shock. Wen Qing would not look up to check. Finally Wen Qing felt a warm hand land gently on her arm. Wen Qing looked up and found Lan Xichen smiling fondly at her.

"Do you have a surname in mind?" Lan Xichen asked. There was a small glint of humour in Lan Xichen's eyes that told Wen Qing that he absolutely knew the answer.

"We do. We will adopt the surname Wei." Wen Qing said firmly. Lan Xichen's smile widened.

"Sect Leader Lan accepts your proposal, Wei-guniang... Wei Qing." Lan Xichen said, his eyes curving slightly with joy. Wei Qing found herself smiling, even as her eyes began to sting with tears. She hadn't realized that she had missed being called by that name. Hearing Lan Xichen call her Wei Qing felt like coming home.