After the excitement of the new arrivals dissipated, JingYi took the dragon babies and Zhitiao to the stables where they had spent some time before.

XiChen, Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling and SiZhui watched them go, crowds of people following them. When the courtyard outside the Hanshi was empty, Jiang Cheng turned to his nephews.

"I think you have some explaining to do." And with that, he grabbed XiChen's hand and marched back inside his home.

"Damn....I thought we got away with it." Jin Ling mumbled under his breath.

"I can hear you." Jiang Cheng yelled back, clearly losing patience.

"Wait." SiZhui held his hand. He couldn’t risk saying anything out loud in case either of his uncles overheard and asked questions pertaining to what he did not want to reveal.

The main problem was, his Father Zhan had explained a long time ago, that SiZhui's birth had been among innocent people caught up in a tide of hatred. The cultivation world had suffered great losses through the greed of one man and his Sect, and they needed someone to blame.

Oversimplified maybe, but to his young mind, it made sense and even he could recognise how wrong that was. Father Zhan had told him how only one person had stood in the way of injustice and how much he had wanted to join him.

But the revelation of his Wen surname was perhaps his biggest fear. Hanguang-Jun had told him countless times that no one would understand that he was just a child at the time, or recognise his innocence. His very name meant death, and he had to keep it a secret.

So without saying a word, SiZhui communicated through his eyes, wanting Jin Ling to understand that his heritage had to be kept hidden. They could talk about everything except that.

Jin Ling smiled at him, giving his hand a firm squeeze. He leaned in and kissed SiZhui's soft cheek.

"Don't worry." He said, meaningfully. And then he added as a cover, "my uncles are very understanding, especially JiuJiu. All that anger is just for show."

"Is that so?" Jiang Cheng yelled, followed by the placating tones of someone trying to talk him down.

"Absolutely." Jin Ling came into the Hanshi, leading SiZhui in as they were still holding hands.

"Sit down." Jiang Cheng ordered.

XiChen poured some tea for everyone and rested his warm palm over Jiang Cheng's knee under the table.

"Let them tell us everything first, and then, you can ask your questions." He suggested.

Jiang Cheng gave him a beatific smile.

Then he turned to the kids and...simmered.

"How does he do that...?" Jin Ling mumbled, taken aback.

He had yet to see anyone who could switch emotions as fast as his uncle.

"So...we're extremely sorry." SiZhui bowed while still sitting.

Jin Ling sighed and joined him.

"For what?" Jiang Cheng sounded friendly.

But Jin Ling knew it was a trap.

His uncle had been playing this game since Jin Ling was a child.

The question was, how much trouble could they avoid/get into, and how to limit the number of people implicated.

Jin Ling squeezed SiZhui's hand to stop him talking. At this rate, they would be copying out rules of conduct until they were gray. And then he shuddered, because after taking the Dragon pearl and swallowing it, they might never change...

"It's kind of hard to begin." He hedged. "Why don't you guys ask us questions and that will make it easier." He put on his most innocent voice.

Jiang Cheng, a seasoned interrogator, narrowed his eyes at him.

You can do this....you can do this...Jin Ling repeated in his head, maintaining eye contact with his scariest uncle.

"That sounds reasonable." XiChen, who really was the most innocent one in the room, agreed.

Jiang Cheng scowled at the easy acceptance.

"Alright. We can do it your way." He said, gazing intensely into burgundy eyes.

This child, the last of the bloodline of the Jiangs, the only remaining piece he had left of his sister...could be worse than the most tight-lipped criminals Jiang Cheng had ever come across...but luckily, Jiang Cheng was well experienced.

All he had to do was lull him into a false sense of security and the truth would come tumbling out like an avalanche. All because Jin Ling had a disadvantage: SiZhui.

And actually, if he thought about it, so did he. His husband.

Both XiChen and SiZhui were way too noble to indulge in playing games like this. They did something wrong? They would freely admit to it, take the punishment and move on.

But Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling? They were made from a different mold and they played to win. Besides, punishments were overrated if you were on the receiving end.

The only person missing here was Wei WuXian.

That thought brought a pang to his heart, and Jiang Cheng found himself rubbing that space with the heel of his hand, missing him terribly. Wei WuXian was particularly skilled at switching sides too...

"Where did you all go?" XiChen interrupted his thoughts.

Jiang Cheng snickered in his head.

Sure, that was what they wanted to know...but they wouldn't get the truth if they asked directly.

"The Dragon's Graveyard." SiZhui answered honestly.

Jin Ling slapped his forehead.

Did his husband understand nothing about how this worked? He caught Jiang Cheng's eye and saw the same comical frustration mirrored on his face. It was followed by disbelief.

Jiang Cheng looked between XiChen and SiZhui, not believing it was so simple. XiChen wore a smug little smile, as if he knew exactly what he was doing.

"How did you get there?" XiChen continued, taking a controlled sip of his tea when in reality, he wanted to pick up the edges of his white robes and do a victory dance. The look on Jiang Cheng's face was simply priceless.

This was the way it had always been in the Lan Sect. You asked the questions, you got the answers. Simple.

"We flew on the dragon babies. JingYi said we could." SiZhui continued, glancing at Jin Ling when he groaned in disbelief.

Stop talking ...he willed.

But SiZhui was on a roll.

"We followed Shen Ling and Shen Qing...when they carried my parents away. It was so exciting, Uncle XiChen! I've never ridden on a dragon before!" SiZhui said, enthusiastically, smiling at everyone.

"Neither have I." Jin Ling added despondently, chugging down his tea.

They were gonna spend years writing out the rules.

He made the mistake of looking up when his Uncle Cheng poured him some more tea. Jiang Cheng looked frighteningly friendly all of a sudden...but there appeared to be a black cloud gathering over his head.

Complete with thunder and lightning...

"And that is probably the last time too." Jiang Cheng enunciated, looking too calm for Jin Ling's comfort.

He shifted nervously in his seat.

"Where did they take you? What was this Dragon's Graveyard like?" XiChen asked.

SiZhui told them everything.

Jin Ling resigned himself to drinking more tea and watching the enfolding destruction with a curious detachment, as if this was happening to someone else.

But when he got SiZhui alone...they were going to have words.

"So...correct me if I get anything wrong." Jiang Cheng levelled his gaze at his naughtiest nephew. "You left Cloud Recesses without permission, and you neglected to tell anyone where you were going. You sat on a steed without any previous experience, and let me guess? No saddle or anything to prevent accidentally falling off a baby. And then, you all went off to an unknown destination with no idea of what you were going to find there, and no way of getting help because you hadn't told anyone, and YOU GOT YOURSELF POISONED, AFTER MEETING A STRANGER, FOUGHT OFF UNFRIENDLY AND OVERSIZED DRAGONS, NARROWLY MISSING BEING KILLED, SOMEHOW WINNING SAID FIGHT AND GETTING A DRAGON PEARL, WHICH YOU ATE WITHOUT FIRST CHECKING, AND THEN YOU'RE COMPLAINING THAT THE DEMON KING LIED TO YOU?"

"Well...when you put it like that..." Jin Ling looked down.

Jiang Cheng exploded.

His voice had steadily been getting louder but he just couldn't take it anymore.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU TWO! HOW DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE ALRIGHT? HOLD ON! DID YOU ACTUALLY TAKE THE TIME TO THINK?" Jiang Cheng stood up, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He began to pace, striding along the short distance wall to wall of the Hanshi which seemed crowded now because of his anger.

SiZhui reached under the little table to hold Jin Ling's hand.

Suitably admonished, they both looked down, ashamed.

XiChen stood up too, trying to catch their attention. He waved in front of their sad faces when he thought Jin Ling wasn't looking and pointed towards the exit.

"Leave him to me." He mouthed, smiling at them gently.

Then he stood in the way of Jiang Cheng's pacing, and it was the distraction they needed.

The kids left as silently as a shadow.

At first, Jiang Cheng paced around the obstacle in his way, thinking about how his sister would have reacted to her disobedient son. Then he felt worse thinking about how disappointed she would be in him for not looking after Jin Ling properly.

This time when XiChen stood in his way, he opened his arms and used his Lan Strength to hold Jiang Cheng firmly against his chest.

Jiang Cheng's eyes burned with the effort of not giving in to his frustration.

"They could've died!" He vented.

"But they didn't." XiChen soothed him.

"They were reckless!" He declared, passionately.

"They were." XiChen agreed in that same calm tone.

"He's going to give me gray hairs." Jiang Cheng sounded calmer though.

"If he does, you'll look rather dashing. In fact, I think you would look even better!" XiChen gave him a mischievous smile.

Jiang Cheng finally relaxed into his embrace.

"I don't know how long I can keep him alive." Jiang Cheng admitted, after a while. "I'm worried that one day, he's going to push the boundary and not come back safely.  He's just a kid, you know..." He sniffed.

XiChen stroked his soft hair in an even rhythm, breathing in longer increments. Jiang Cheng followed as he knew he would.

XiChen walked them slowly to their bed and made him lie down, still holding him close.

"We have to learn to let them go. They have to learn too, how to make mistakes and grow." He whispered into a perfect ear.

Jiang Cheng hummed.

"Sometimes...it's not in our hands...what happens. Sometimes, we have to trust in the Universe." XiChen smiled into his hair. "And this time, it seems the Universe agreed with you. Jin Ling has notoriously gotten into so much trouble all by himself that even the Universe decided to protect him for his own good."

Jiang Cheng was slowly falling asleep, but he forced his eyes open at that.

"What do you mean?" He asked, just about getting the words out.

"Don't you remember?" XiChen carried on speaking in that soothing way, lulling his tired husband into a restful sleep. "When A-Xian first returned...we were in the library and he told us that he had eaten two dragon pearls by then...and he was already immortal. I think the kids might not be sprouting wings any time soon, but they are certainly well on the way to living a long life. A protected life. A dragon pearl definitely gifts the consumer of a long life." His voice was getting quieter and quieter.

When he leaned back to check on Jiang Cheng, he was finally fast asleep with a small smile on his face.

XiChen smiled too and closed his eyes, feeling satisfied that his job was done at last.

********

A/N

Dear Beautiful Readers,

An extra long chapter for you instead of two updates. It was rather unexpected but I had such a good time writing this, giggling through all the way. I hope you guys find it funny too. It wasn’t planned at all, they just did their stuff as usual.

Happy Bank Holiday folks!

Charlie.