"A Yuan....my A Yuan?" Wei Ying asks, eyes brimming with tears. Flashes of the past fly across his minds eyes and within a few seconds, he is reminded of all the joys and tribulations he had gone through, in the time he had stayed with and protected The Wens.

He is reminded of the loneliness and emptiness that he had felt even while smiling cheerfully...he is reminded of one of the only things that had genuinely made him smile in those hard days. A Yuan.

A Yuan, a boy, whose people had killed his family, and friends and whose family he had vowed to protect. A boy, whom he had confidently called his own, in front of his now husband, all those years ago.

A Yuan, who was sitting next to him, all grown up,  with smile on his face, and tears in his eyes, calling him Wei gege, just like years ago... and it was Lan Zhan, his Lan Zhan, who had brought him up.

Wei Ying, now looks at his husband, whose eyes reflect the emotions Wei Ying is feeling.

"How?" Wei Ying asks, cupping A Yuan's face and the man of few words speaks, "After I lost you, I went to your home, I found him there... he was burning with fever, I brought him back..." The light bearer pauses.

'He is hesitating... Why?' Wei Ying wonders.

Lan Zhan continues, "I was punished, and was in no condition to take care of him.. Brother brought him up for the first three years when he was with us."

"Lan Zhan, why were you punished?... Wait.. the whip marks!" Wei Ying exclaims, with his hands on his mouth.

"It's all in the past Wei Ying. I promise I will tell you everything, but now is not the time." Lan Zhan says putting a hand on his husband's shoulder.

"Wei gege, when the fever passed I couldn't remember anything. I was small, I was happy in Cloud reassess and it didn't bother me that I could not recall the past.... But when Hanguang Jun brought you back, you looked... felt very familiar... the way you spoke.. the way you acted... even the way Hanguang Jun looked at you... "

"SiZhui," Lan Zhan interrupts the young boy, "You can tell everything later, now, we will wake up the others, and you need to go and wait for us where we tell you."

SiZhui nods.

Wei Ying signals Lan Zhan and proceeds to wake Jin Ling up.

Having known the truth, Jin Ling agrees to cooperate with the three and they decide to carry everyone to the tunnel before waking them up.

Once in the tunnel, Wei Ying plays the music once more, and the disciples regain conciseness. In the meanwhile while Lan Zhan  goes to the hall to keep an eye on the enchantment created by Wei Ying.

A few moments later, the soldiers return, and smile at the enchanted pieces of clothing thinking them to be the disciples.

One of them leaves again.
'He went to tell Su She that everything is in order.' Lan Zhan reasons, when Wei Ying joins him.

"We need to capture Su She, without getting found out. Under no circumstances can we let him know that we have the kids." Wei Ying whispers.

"Can you play a tune to make Su She hallucinate too?"

"I think so, he is spiritually weak, I can sense that he has depleted much of his spiritual energy." Wei Ying informs.

Sensing that Wei Ying was thinking about something, Lan Zhan asks, "What is the matter Wei Ying?"

"Lan Zhan, earlier, when Su She was hurting A Yuan, I felt something strange radiating from Su She. It felt like something evil had attached itself to him. It felt old.. like it has been with him for years." Wei Ying answers and then chuckles, "Or maybe I am imagining things. In any case, something tells me, that I will be able to control him."

"What will you make him see?" Lan Zhan asks curiously.

A mischievous smile plays on Yiling patriarch's lips, "Something that will make him cry... He made our son cry, Lan Zhan. I can't go easy on him."

Lan Zhan nods. He too would have made the same choice. No one can hurt what's his, and get away with it. And Su She had indeed crossed a line when he had mistreated his son, their son. A Yuan.

*Lotus Cove*
*The grainary*

As soon as Jiang Cheng enters the grainary, he feels like he has breeched a wall. He smiles.

"Jiang Cheng, thank God you are here." A voice whispers in the semi dark room as Jiang Cheng enters deeper into the room filled with bags of grains, and utensils.

Jiang Cheng walks behind a partition and immediately finds strong, reassuring hands on his shoulder.

The young clan leader smiles. He puts his hands on top of the hands grabbing his shoulders and gives it a light squeez,
"Congratulations. It worked." He whispers, and adds, "Zewu Jun, thank you."

*Lotus Cove*
*Central Courtyard*

After having spoken to the clan leaders about the change in plans, a disciple who had accompanied Meng Yao to Lotus cove approaches him.

"What did he do when I left?" Meng Yao asks.

"Clan leader Jiang, stood there for a few seconds...he was clearly irritated. He called one of his disciple, and told him that he can't afford to waste his time worrying about Zewu Jun, when he has so many guests that he needs to attend to. Then he said that he is going to the grainary to check on things and to call him if there is any change in the situation." The spy informs.

Anger flashes across Meng Yao's face, "What has Zewu Jun ever done to him!?" He bites out before adding, "Then what happened?"

"Clan leader, he was there in the grainary for about five minutes, give or take a few and then the came out and went to the head house maid... Yenay, I think that's what she is called and called her to his quarters."

"And?"

"I discreetly followed him there, only to find him discussing the menu for dinner with the woman....He... amm." The spy hesitates.

Meng Yao narrows his eyes, "What is it? Did something else happen?"

"Clan leader, he looked very upset. And when the lady asked him about his plans to save Jin Ling, he called you names and told her that you definitely don't care about Jin Ling the way he does... and then, he added that you were his step uncle so it's up to him to save Jin Ling... then he cursed Wei Wuxian and threw a cup of tea on the floor. The old lady tried to calm him down, and he hugged her and cried." The spy smiled as he came to the end of his report.

"Jiang Cheng is weak. He has always been weak and easily influenced. The stupid man doesn't even know, that the one he is blaming, has never once hurt him. Ha!  Jiang Cheng is pitiable. That is the only reason I am letting him live even when all he does is hate Zewu Jun."

As soon as Meng Yao takes XiChen's name, he is reminded of his  Er ge's situation and he quickens his steps and within a few minutes, he is outside Jiang Cheng's room.

"Where is Clan leader Jiang?" Meng Yao asks the disciple standing guard outside the room, but before the young boy can answer, Jiang Cheng arrives.

"My apologies Clan leader, I had to take care of official matters." He says, casually before looking at the young boy and asking, "Anything?"

The young boy shakes his head and Jiang Cheng dismisses him. He turns and almost opens his mouth to speak, when the doors to his room open and the physician steps out.

The old man looks at Jiang Cheng with a grave expression, "I was not sure at first, so I did a through examination... and... I can safely say that, Lan leader Lan, has been cursed."

"What!?" Both Meng Yao and Jiang Cheng exclaim in unison.

{Note :- Aaaand we are back again with a cliffhanger. Lol

On a happy note, my WangXian inspired short story 'Enough' won honorable mention in The fire works awards and The Fine Print won second position in humor category in The Cherry Blossom Awards... *a small Yay for me*

I am still contemplating whether or not to write a special before the story is over. But if I do decide to write it, I will let you guys know.

As you guys may have noticed... or not, I am also writing a kids book called the Accidental Pet, that is my entry for Open novella contest and I need to finish it soon, as its got a deadline. So, please bear with me for a week or two, as I will be updating that story. Of course, I will be updating TLB and Mine on alternate days with a days break as well.

I wish and hope that you all are doing well. Your lovely comments and support are what gets me through the day with a smile on my face.

As always, please Vote to show your support for this update if you have enjoyed it.

Thank you for reading.
Have a nice day.}