Thread by @cerbykerby

so i heard it's #WarprizeJiSeason and it's a good time to share an idea that @/phnelt and i thought up:

noble consort lan is the highest ranking consort in wen xu's harem, given as a warprize to ensure his clan's safety. when the wens attack anyways, lwj ditches to go find yllz.

lwj has been living with wen xu for two years, and it has been nothing but fruitless and humiliating. while wen xu is not as overtly cruel as his younger brother, he likes to make lwj do things for him, such as handfeed him or sit in his lap during meetings with the lan.

he gives lwj the title of 'noble consort'. an empty title, really. lwj has little to no control over wen xu's harem; as it turns out, prisoners of war are far more concerned with helping their own families than cooperating with their sibling-consorts. still, lwj tries.

wen xu likes to point out that perhaps giving lwj such a high title was a mistake. what sort of noble consort can't control a harem? and lwj has so far failed to produce any children. tsk, tsk. perhaps the lan have erred in who to give to wen xu. perhaps they can't be trusted.

lwj has lived with and served him long enough to feel more annoyed than terrified at these threats. it is no secret that wen xu favors lwj the most in his harem and would love for lwj to bear him a son—and no firstborn of wen xu's would ever come from a low-ranked consort.

then, the cloud recesses is attacked.

it is devastating news. cloud recesses, burned. lwj's father, dead. his brother, missing. his uncle, in hiding along with the rest of the clan.

lwj storms to wen xu's quarters and demands to see his lord-husband for an explanation.

wen xu just sighs at him as if he's a child. "Oh, Wangji, you know as well as I do that your family was being uncooperative. It was only a lesson. We didn't even exterminate the main branch. You should be grateful."

lwj sees red. "I see," he grits out. "A lesson."

wen xu makes a tutting sound. "Don't be so angry. If you've conceived from our last time together, then your anger might disturb the child. Then I truly wouldn't forgive you or your family for harming my own."

lwj wants, very much, to stab wen xu with his hairpin.

"Remember, Wangji," wen xu says before dismissing lwj, "you have no one but me. So you'd better behave and get my harem in line if you know what's good for you."

lwj has been raised not to lie. he chooses not to say anything.

when he returns to his room, he starts packing.

as powerful as the wens are, there is still one man that the wens are trying very hard to ignore the existence of. lwj has heard rumors; apparently at the start of the sunshot campaign, wrh tried to seize yiling as easy territory. none of the soldiers he sent there returned.

as the war progressed, wrh continuously tried to send soldiers to capture yiling—and failed, each time. infuriated and humiliated at the morale boost such losses were giving the other clans, wrh sent an army to yiling.

the wens' own dead met them in combat. it was a bloodbath.

since then, wrh has stopped trying to take yiling and has forbidden all talk of yiling. that didn't stop rumors from spreading, and lwj has heard plenty from those seeking to gain favor with wen xu through him.

apparently, the events at yiling are the work of only one man.

"The Yiling Patriarch, he's called," one subordinate had whispered conspiratorially to lwj. "Some say he's young and handsome, other say he's old, with rotted flesh. You're lucky you belong to Wen Xu. It would be a shame to lose a pretty thing like you to the Patriarch."

lwj had turned around and immediately reported the subordinate to wen xu for talking about yiling. the subordinate begged for forgiveness from wen xu and spewed curses at lwj as he's dragged away.

"I hope the Yiling Patriarch takes you, you stone-cold bitch!" he'd screamed.

now, as he's packing up his jewels and expensive clothes, lwj hopes very much that the yllz will take him. there's no one else to run to, and lwj's desire to avenge his home and family outweigh his sense of self-preservation. he cannot stay here, doing nothing. he must go.

he has no friends in the harem, and has no qualms knocking out a few of his fellow consorts on his way out of the palace. he no longer has his sword or his guqin, so he must rely on stealth. he hasn't fought for so long.

he's very careful. it takes hours for him to leave.

he almost doesn't make it out. his appearance is discovered, and wen xu predictably orders a massive search for him. lwj has no choice but to kill a few wen guards who spotted him.

the journey to yiling is hard. nobody wants to go there, it seems. lwj treks most of it on foot.

by the time he stumbles into the burial mounds, he has fully accepted the very likely possibility that he will die and be just another body in a mass grave.

he's too weak, and the resentment surrounding him is too strong. he walks for what feels like forever before collapsing.

meanwhile, wwx is chilling on one of the massive curved spikes overlooking the burial mounds and he sees this poor, poor lost soul walking in circles for hours.

wwx: huh. wonder what he's doing here.

lwj: *collapses*

wwx:

wwx: should i do something 🤔

of course wwx rescues him, because he's not an asshole. he carries lwj into the cave he has always resided in and carefully gives him some water before setting him down on his bed.

lwj wakes with a start, surprised by his new surroundings and even more surprised that he's alive.

"Hello."

lwj flinches at the voice; he wasn't prepared to hear another human. he warily eyes the man by the fire.

the man grins from where he's stirring a pot of soup. "Good nap?"

lwj looks him down and up slowly. loose, black robes that barely conceal his chest? shameless.

but.

lwj would be lying if he said that the exposed chest was… unpleasant to look at.

"Are you the Yiling Patriarch?" he asks.

the man shrugs. "Maybe."

lwj looks him over again. he is a bit young to be a patriarch, but there are few reasons for him to be in burial mounds.

"Would you like me to be?" the man asks.

lwj thinks it through. truth be told, he is not picky on who wipes out the main wen branch family and protects the cloud recesses—so long as it gets done.

"I seek help from the Patriarch," he answers. "My family is in danger."

the man raises an eyebrow. "Which family? Your lord-husband's or your birth family?"

lwj's blood runs ice-cold. "You know who I am."

"Yeah, well," the man gestures to the spilled jewelry from lwj's pack. "Kind of obvious. Also, Wen Xu likes to post your portrait everywhere."

of course. lwj takes a deep, steadying breath. how very clever of wen xu—he has managed to brag about his consort's beauty *and* significantly increase the chances of lwj's return should he ever try to make a run for it.

"My only family," he replies.

"Hm," the man hums.

"I've heard of what the Yiling Patriarch is capable of," lwj continues. "I wish to remove the Wens from power and protect my family."

the man's face scrunches up. "You mean, take the fight to Nightless City and dethrone Wen Ruohan?"

lwj nods. "I know it is a lot to ask."

the man sighs and sits on his heels. "Fight the Wens?" he says more to himself than lwj. "The amount of energy that would take…"

"More innocents die every hour that Wen Ruohan is in power," lwj says. "This is an emergency. I would not be here if it were not. Please, Patriarch."

the yllz looks at lwj. he has grey eyes—sharp, but in the intelligent way; not like how wen xu's gaze seems to mockingly cut bone-deep.

"I will think on it," yllz says.

lwj nods. "You may take anything and everything I've brought with me as compensation," he says.

yllz raises one teasing eyebrow. "Noble Consort Lan should be more careful with his words," he says with an easy smile as he looks lwj over, "lest he forget he brought himself, too."

for the first time in a long time, lwj's ears burn. "I did not misspeak," he says.