The Lans were awake with the first brush of sunrise. The sky was just barely pale enough for the stars to fade from view. Wei Qing was never a late sleeper, even if she had stayed awake into the long hours of the night she would rarely manage to sleep much more than an extra hour. That said, she does not appreciate being woken earlier for anything short of a medical emergency. A-Ying and Nuan-er both remained stable throughout the night, which Wei Qing is grateful for. She would be more grateful if she had been allowed one additional hour to sleep. Unfortunately, Wei Qing can recognise that the situation they are in is urgent, if not currently requiring emergency medical intervention. The day was young, someone would probably require emergency medical intervention before it was over.

Wei Qing was dressed and seated at a table with Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji. Both seemed anxious. Lan Xichen, in that quiet but obviously fretful way of his. Lan Wangji, in the way his eyes continued to slide towards the stairs that would take him back up to the room where A-Ying and Nuan-er currently slept. They were not alone. No one was likely to be going anywhere alone while they were still in Lanling.

There are two disciples in the room guarding and monitoring A-Ying and Nuan-er. There are disciples outside their door, patrolling around the inn, even those sitting at other tables in the dining area where Wei Qing and the Twin Jades were seated. Wei Qing supposed that the group at the other table might actually be waiting for breakfast rather than acting as guards, but she doesn't doubt they would be quick to step in should any trouble arrive. It makes them about as good as guards as far as she is concerned.

They might be the ones that will accompany her and Lan Xichen to Lanling. Wei Qing suspecting at least half of the cultivators present would be staying behind. It might be counter intuitive, given that Wei Qing and Lan Xichen would be the ones accusing the Jin while inside Koi Tower, but Lan Xichen was confident that they could rely on the Nie to defend them should anyone try to attack them or prevent them from leaving.

"Wei Ying would not want you to go without him." Lan Wangji's voice was tinted subtly with disapproval. There was the smallest furrow between his brows which Wei Qing interpreted to mean either displeasure or perhaps an expression of Lan Wangji's own conflicted feelings.

"A-Ying won't want any of us to go without him, but it will be better if he is not there." Wei Qing insisted.

She had talked it over with Lan Xichen. He had been wavering about the importance of first hand testimony versus the danger inherent to asking A-Ying to enter Koi Tower and be surrounded by the people who had held him captive. When he shared his concerns with Wei Qing she did not debate the options. A-Ying would enter Koi tower today over her dead body. Given that she vividly remembered being burned alive inside the glittering walls of the LanlingJin sect this was not how she planned to articulate the sentiment out loud and deeply regretted using the phrase within her own head.

With much less unfortunate phrasing Wei Qing vehemently opposed bringing A-Ying with to confront the LanlingJin sect. Convincing Lan Xichen had not been difficult when he was already uncertain about which course of action would be best, but Wei Qing outlined her reasoning anyway. As much as she appreciated Lan Xichen seaking her advice, she didn't want him just giving way to her opinion instead of ceding to the opinions of every friend, elder, and temperamental person he wanted to soothe.

So Wei Qing was firm, but she was also very clear about her reasons. It was not safe for A-Ying in Koi Tower, and his presence would only create an easy target for the Jin to deflect blame. The Jin had been working hard to tarnish A-Ying's reputation almost before the war was even over. Nothing that they could be accused of directly, but Wei Qing knew how many rumors she had only heard about when they were whispered from Jin Guangyao's lips. She didn't doubt they were behind most of them, nor did she doubt that they were behind the supposed "sightings" that Jin Guangyao had fretted over during his unannounced visit. It would be easy to turn public sentiment against Wei Wuxian, demonic cultivator, and son of a servant. The groundwork had already been put into place.

"The Jin have been specifically targeting him. Last time," She referred vaguely to the future that had been left behind when she closed her eyes to fire and opened them in the Cloud Recesses. "They spread rumors and set ambushes, and turned public sentiment until he was isolated and vulnerable. He is powerful, and they want that power for themselves, or they want no one to have it at all. They will try to put the blame on him and even if he arrives visibly hurt he will be more of a target then if he is out of sight recovering. He should be out of sight recovering. He never takes his wounds seriously enough. His meridians are fragile. His core is still healing and I'm not going to approve leaving him unaccompanied until the best curse breaker you know has checked him thoroughly."

That seemed to get Lan Wangji's attention. He'd gone more still, which Wei Qing hadn't realized was something he could do. His eyes widened slightly with concern.

"You believe he has been cursed?" Lan Xichen asked the question that was clearly burning in Lan Wangji's eyes. Wei Qing pressed her lips together in a tense line.

"I haven't found a curse mark or anything to say that he has been, but he has been held captive for two months. The Jin were in charge of sorting through and suppressing the cursed artifacts recovered from Nightless City. This is not the time to be taking chances." Wei Qing stated firmly.

"Wei Ying will want to be there." Lan Wangji said quietly. He was right. A-Ying wouldn't want her going there without him. He would hate the thought of her in Koi Tower without him there to protect her. He hates anyone going into a confrontation without him or instead of him. Too used to being the one who jumped into conflict so that no one he cared about could be hurt.

"Jiang Wanyin, have we received any news about his condition?" Wei Qing inquired.

"Mingjue is looking after our disciples that are in Koi Tower. I have not informed anyone where we are staying. They wouldn't know where to send a messenger." Lan Xichen spoke with obvious concern. It is something they should be concerned about because it is likely to be the biggest obstacle to holding the Jins to account for their actions.

"So we don't know if Jiang Wanyin is dead or seriously injured. We only know that A-Ying said he killed him, and that he was bloody and either unconscious or dead in Jiang Yanli's arms." Wei Qing was unflinching as she laid out the reality of what they had all been avoiding.

"Wei Ying would not kill Jiang Wanyin." Lan Wangji stated firmly.

"No, not willingly." Wei Qing agreed.

She had the nightmares to prove just how far A-Ying would go for his shidi. Nightmares of her hands covered in A-Ying's blood while he screamed at her to keep going, keep cutting his golden core from his body. All because Jiang Wanyin had sunk into depression following the loss of his golden core. Wei Qing took a slow breath to recenter herself, pushing that particular memory away.

"We don't know what happened. We only know that A-Ying said he killed him. It could be that it was an accident, it could have been someone else's doing entirely. A-Ying is very skilled at blaming himself for things that go wrong, we can't take what he said at face value and we can't pester him for more answers.

"He hasn't said anything about Jiang Wanyin since he woke up here, and he hasn't gone into a guilt riddled depression. It is very likely that he doesn't remember. Heavy use of resentful energy often results in dissociation. It helps the mind cope with the mental and emotional strain of the resentful energy, but also interferes with memory formation. This is why victims that are possessed often have little to no memory after the incident." Wei Qing said grimly.

Wei Qing had read several medical texts discussing the effects of resentful energy on the body; both in the medical library in Nightless city and the library at Cloud Recesses. No one had ever achieved what A-Ying had, but Wei Qing would take any information she could. It could all provide information to support insights and treatments, should the need arise. A-Ying always seemed to manage to get hurt, usually in devastating and inventive ways. She wished he would stop doing that, but Wei Qing was taught to be prepared, not expect the impossible to occur.

"Wangji, you are not alone in trying to protect him this time. Allow me to do what I failed to do in your memories." Lan Xichen spoke earnestly, back straight and gaze determined. Lan Wangji's eyes slid towards Wei Qing, then back to Lan Xichen. Lan Xichen's back straightened further, surprising given how rigidly perfect both Twin Jades held themselves. "I will ensure Wei Qing returns unharmed. Wuxian will not lose any more family as long as it is within my power to prevent it."

At that moment one of the workers arrived at their table placing bowls of savory soy milk soup and fresh youtiao in front of each of them. Wei Qing thanked them politely before she turned back to focus on the two Lans sitting with her. The two brothers were sharing some intense eye contact, but Wei Qing couldn't say what exactly they were saying to each other with their stares.

"Mn." Lan Wangji hummed, then redirected his gaze to the food that had been served to him. Lan Xichen seemed to relax at that point, so Wei Qing presumed that meant Lan Wangji had agreed with them.

"After we eat Wei Qing and I will depart. We will take a few of the senior disciples with us, but we will leave the majority of them here to guard the inn." Lan Xichen announced. Lan Wangji had already begun eating and so made no verbal response, but Lan Xichen did not seem concerned as he began to eat as well.

Notes: This chapter is both late and not what I expected it to contain, but here you go.  Have some more recipe links.

https://thewoksoflife.com/soy-milk-soup-w-fried-dough-dou-jiang/

https://thewoksoflife.com/youtiao-recipe/