Thread by @gooseislands

After wwx and jyl died, JC was terrifyingly alone

And with 3zun newly sworn, he was politically alone as well (except for JGS.. but the less said the better)

And it wasn't that JC needed a wife (heavens no!) It's that he needed help.

Sect Leader Yaos 2nd daughter, Yao Taisi, was one of the girls who was paraded in front of him in the hopes of securing the title of Jiang Furen and SLJ as an in-law.

She was also the only woman who had a head for business (later he would realize she was a natural at numbers)

Every other woman who he entertain he'd have to small talk (and try not to scare them off with his face when they wanted to talk about stupid things... he was less successful at that one).

He had heard of Yao Taisi, who was mouthy, unruly, and uncontrollable.

All in all, a bit of a bitch.

Which wasn't as big of a problem. Despite his *list*, JC was raised by a powerful woman and he wasn't a doormat waiting to be tread upon either

No, the problem was that with TWO ppl with a temper they'd burn the house down before

their one year anniversary.

Anyway. Back to the speed dating.

She was the last woman to have the honor of meeting SLJ (as the one who met the least amount of his requirements, but with a father that could buy favors with matchmakers)

And there was fire alright
--
'I'm surprised you're still putting up w these *dates*'
'I surprise myself sometimes'
'It's not too late to board up your doors an swear yourself into monkhood. Might save you a lot of trouble'
'Aren't you supposed to be convincing me to marry you?

--
'Your father is not someone I had considered as a father in law'
'You can just say he's obnoxious. I *live* w the man and I'm not blind'
--
The last person he had any sort of connection with, with banter, had been wwx

And it felt... good. Really really good to finally

have a connection to someone like that again.
-
The matchmaker was more than puzzled when the woman who was thrown in for a bribe ended up being the only one SLJ expressed interest in.
-
The courting was a standard period, longer than most women were afforded but allowed

Bc of JCs status (and no one was brave enough to start an argument with both SLY and SLJ about it)

To say SLY was over the moon was an understatement. If he was insufferable before he was unbearable now.

And SLJ, who's impending marriage to his daughter would

elevate his sects status, had his unconditional support. (Not so secretly, JC thought this was hilarious)
-
The marriage between SLJ and the 2nd daughter of the Yao Sect, Yao Taisi was a grand affair and doubled as a statement of wealth and power as a recovered

Great sect.

It was held a mere 2 years after the siege, but as a decimated clan SLJ really couldn't afford to wait. And the promise of rebuilding the Jiang was in itself a statement

(And with none of the other young SLs getting married, it would give him a slight leg

up - not to mention having a wife gave him a stronger argument with JGS to help raise JL)
-
Their 1st child was born 10 months after the wedding, a healthy baby girl .
Their 2nd two years later, another girl.
(Ppl would cluck about the lack of male heir, but not within

earshot of a protective father or an emotional grandfather- SLY, despite being the father of the bride had taken to spoiling his grandchildren)
--
But every 2 or 3 years, it became normal to hear of another child borne to SLJ and his furen.

And every single time, another girl was announced

(JC and his wife had already had this discussion. Bc his clan was decimated, he needed to have more children than was typically common for cultivators. Boy or girl, they'd be Jiangs. And Taisi had agreed, knowing

she'd spend the next 30+ yrs with children underfoot and a team of nannies on call)

There was talk that SLJ was trying for a boy and that's why he had so many children, despite it being tacky for a cultivator to have more than 2

Others argued that he was singlehandedly

repopulating the Jiangs (and they were right) and that he was duty bound to have children.

No matter the reason, by the time wwx resurrected, he was an uncle 6 times over (Technically 7 with JL, but he knew about that nephew)

And JL, who had been raised part time in YMJ

as an older cousin (brother) to all his cute nieces knew damn well that they were willing and able to commit war crimes the minute daddy wasn't looking

(Look. Girls were evil)

Amd each and every one of them was a daddy's girl and the feared SDSS was wrapped tight around

their small little fingers.

And if you think SLJ was protective of his nephew (which he was) he was a downright dragon where his baby girls were concerned.

No one dared to offer a marriage alliance (not after what happened to the first guy), any sort of visits or

Playdates were supervised (and no one really wanted helicopter mom SDSS breathing down their neck), and the less said about the 6months after JRS's assassination the better.
-
After wwx came back, no one was willing to stick their neck out and tell the man that he had

six nieces and counting.
(Lxc was in seclusion, lwj didn't talk about jc if he could avoid it, and Lans don't gossip- and it's considered common knowledge, so no one really realizes that wwx has no idea at all about JCs kids)

This all came to a head when, several

Yrs after his resurrection, JL shows up to a night hunt with the Lan boys with a 14 year old girl and SLJ in toe.

(She wanted to have her first night hunt with her gege, but like hell JC was letting one of his girls out of his sight)

Wwx is quiet for a long time

during the hunt. Just watching JC and his daughter interact, how he dotes on her (and hovers), how his face softens to an expression he's never seen before

And

He missed his shidi grow up. He missed his shidi fall in love, he missed his family live and create a life without

him and he didn't know what he was expecting. That in the 16yrs he was dead, that the world would have stood still and waited for him. That the ppl he left behind would be the same ppl now

Perhaps after lwj remained untouched by time, he realized how naive it was to assume

everyone else would be too.

-fin
#MDZS #JiangCheng

(Idk where I was going, I just really, really like the idea of JC, fierce SDSS, having only girls and being wrapped around their evil little fingers.

Him having SLY as a father in law makes me giggle- especially if he's the only one that can tolerate him is hilarious)

Also, if anyone was curious about ages here's my quick and dirty list. I couldn't think of names so 🤷🏼‍♀️

The night hunt happens like a yr-ish after wwx comes back, so the oldest daughter would be 14 ish