Thread by @sheehan_sidhe

Concubine LWJ, Prince Wei Wuxian. Ready? Go!

Of the three kingdoms that rule over the land, the Southern Kingdom (ruled by the Jiang dynasty) is the most powerful one. It became such after it, alone, pushed back against the Northern Kingdom’s invasion and defeated it.

When the Northern kingdom's king attacked Yunmeng, every other kingdom would have had to form alliances left and right to resist it (especially with the very powerful Eastern Kingdom, ruled by the Jin dynasty), but not Yunmeng.

You see, Jiang Fengmian put at the head of his army his two sons: they alone were able to annihilate the Wen’s army, completely destroying the main branch and forcing all the others into hiding or exile.

There has been peace ever since the end of the Yunmeng-Wen war, but after a couple of years some of the smaller territories that managed to remain independent are starting to feel the Jin’s eyes upon them. Gusu is one of these territories.

Gusu isn’t a kingdom and the Lan isn’t its royal family, but as a distinguished cultivation sect, it always believed it was its duty to protect the people that shared the same land as them.

This is also the reason why, when the sect leader died, leaving only two sons, the Lan elders decided to teach the older one how to be a leader, and to teach the younger one how to be a concubine instead.

The need to look for powerful allies has always been a reality in this kind of sect, and without any daughter to aspire to the role of wife, all they could do was to prepare a son for the role of concubine.

Things went like this: when Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen started getting news of the Eastern kingdom annexing some of the confining territories to their jurisdiction (and often not through pacific means) they contacted the Southern kingdom, asking for an alliance and for protection.

The letters they exchanged directly with the king were very agreeable. In the end, in exchange for protection, what Jiang Fengmian asked was for their most precious jade as a tribute.

To be fair, the letter was a bit weirdly worded, but the Lan Sect knew of course that what the Southern kingdom was asking for was for one of the twin Jade of Gusu as a concubine. No doubt about that. After all, that’s what Lan Wangji prepared for his whole life!

So, when it’s time to leave, Lan Wangji takes his oils and his jewellery and his pretty dresses. He wears makeup to make his face look as alluring as possible and takes a long last look at his room, and at his guqin in particular.

He is taking it with him, but he has no idea of what his life is going to be from now on. He is to become the first prince’s concubine… will he be allowed to keep playing? Will he be allowed to cultivate?

Is the first prince violent? Cruel? He has heard about his ruthlessness during the war, he just hopes he is softer than that at home.

Now, here’s the problem. While Wen Ruohan of the former Northern kingdom had several concubines (at least 20, it is rumoured) and while Jin Guangshan is known to have so many he needs several months to visit them all, the kings of the Southern Kingdom… never had concubines.

Everyone in Yunmeng knows that for centuries the Jiang kings only ever had an official wife, and that’s it. If they felt like they lacked heirs, they would adopt the sons of their most loyal servants. Unfortunately, such information never seemed to reach Gusu.

When Jiang Fengmian asked the Lans for “their most precious jade” as a tribute… he literally asked them to send them a tribute of jade, since Gusu’s jade was renowned for its quality. He definitely did NOT ask for a concubine.

For him or for his son (he wrote in his letter that his first son was very keen on jade, that’s why the clan thought he was looking for a concubine for Jiang Cheng!)

Lan Wangji gets in Yunmeng during a hot summer afternoon, but when the Jiang’s servants welcome him, they do it while throwing at him and at each other confused glances. So much that Lan Wangji doesn’t know if he is sweating because the temperature is unbearably hot, or because

he is getting extremely nervous. The situation becomes immediately awkward, and he doesn’t even know why. The servants bring him to a hall and tell him to wait there. Lan Wangji thought he would meet the first prince right away, but they tell him that he and the second prince are

out for a night hunt.

Lan Wangji waits and waits, with too many clothes on and all the jade that makes his dowry around him. Then, the hall’s door opens and he finds himself under the scrutinising looks of the king and queen of Yunmeng.

“So it’s true,” Yu Ziyuan says, her voice loud and angry. “They sent a male concubine.” She proceeds to berate the king right in front of LWJ. How could he misinterpret their letter exchange? Why wasn’t he clearer? They asked for a tribute of jade, and they sent them a person!

“Can we send him back?”
“We can’t,” it’s Jiang Fengmian’s replies. If they send Lan Wangji back, they would be officially refusing Gusu’s offer, they would be saying that their tribute isn’t adequate

(and it very much is, only the jade they sent with Lan Wangji is more than what they would have asked for the next three years).

Yu Ziyuan talks about Lan Wangji like he isn’t even there in front of him. At least, that allows him to puzzle together the pieces and understand what’s happening. By “your most precious jade,” the Southern Kingdom was simply asking for a tribute of jade. Lan Wangji’s head spins.

He wishes he could sit down. The hair is so hot and humid, he feels like he’s breathing underwater. His underobes are drenched with sweat.
“Such a barbarian costume,” Yu Ziyuan sneers, sizing Lan Wangji up.

“Your son will have to deal with it,” Jiang Fengmian says, putting an end to their argument. He turns around and leaves the room without sparing even a word for Lan Wangji. 
“It’s your son too!” Yu Ziyuan yells, running after Jiang Fengmian.

Lan Wangji gets sent to a guest room. He really doesn’t know how to feel. He was preparing for the worst but, somehow, the uncertainty for his future is even worse than everything he imagined. What will his clan do if he gets sent back?

His brother would be happy, he’s sure, or at least he would welcome him, but Lan Wangji would be seen as a failure by everyone else. He presses his hands against his face and breathes.

At that moment he realises that he’s still wearing all the heavy makeup around his eyes and on his lips. He gets up and finds a basin that he fills with water.

He washes away his makeup and the perfume, then he crouches down, raising the hem of his robes, and slowly removes the jade plug he wore that morning to prepare his body for the first night with the Jiang prince.

He cleans it and hides it away, just like he was taught, then he tries to get some rest. Falling asleep is difficult, and even when he does, his dreams are dark and heavy.

He feels like he was asleep for maybe five minutes when he gets thrown out of bed and brought back to the hall by some servants. The princes are back, they tell him. Lan Wangji doesn’t have time to prepare. Everything is going the wrong way, and he hates it.

When he gets to the hall, he finds the first prince, Jiang Cheng, and the queen arguing animatedly. “I refuse to have a concubine!” Jiang Cheng is yelling. “Our family has managed without them since the Southern kingdom was founded and I intend to keep doing just that!

I don’t even like men, what the hell!”

Mother and son keep their back and forth (and Lan Wangji notices that despite being the one complaining earlier, now that Jiang Fengmian is absent, she is supporting his words from the afternoon. That’s what a queen does, he supposes).

“Just send him back! Have them send a hundred jade guqin in exchange or something!”
“They already sent the equivalent of a hundred jade guqin, and we cannot send him back. First, it would be an insult to the Lan Sect. Second, we would be declaring to the world that the concubine

they sent us is damaged or inadequate. They wouldn't be able to use him again for another alliance or for a trade of some kind, he would lose all his worth. “He was raised to be a concubine” Yu Ziyuan explains. “He can’t do anything else. If we send him back, he’d become useless”

Her words hurt, but Lan Wangji barely flinches and remains silent. She isn’t wrong.
“I don’t care how, get rid of him”, Jiang Cheng snarls.

“Admit it, Jiang Cheng, you don’t want him just because he’s way prettier than you”, someone chuckles from a corner of the hall. Lan Wangji turns his head — he didn’t notice a third person when he entered — and sees a handsome young man.

His robes are black and he has a red ribbon tied in his hair. In his belt, he is carrying a flute. Despite this being the first time Lan Wangji sees him, he recognises him right away: that’s the second prince of Yunmeng, Wei Wuxian.

Everyone has heard of Wei Wuxian. First of all, he isn’t really Jiang Fengmian’s song, or rather, he probably isn’t. Officially, there were complications after Jiang Chen’s birth that left Yu Ziyuan unable to bear more children, so, with only a daughter and a son as heir,

when Jiang Fengmian’s best friend died in an accident with his wife, Jiang Fengmian decided to adopt their orphaned son, making him the second prince of the southern kingdom.

(Of course, some people suggest Wei Wuxian is actually Jiang Fengmian’s bastard son, but there are no proofs to support that. And it isn’t even the first time that the Jiangs adopt children into the royal family, despite how strange that sounds to some people).

But the reason why Wei Wuxian is famous isn’t his unorthodox origins, but rather his unorthodox cultivation. First of his generation, during the war against the Wens, he developed a new, powerful way to cultivate.

Despite Jiang Cheng’s skills and power, everyone knows that if Yunmeng won, if the southern kingdom became the most powerful kingdom, it is thanks to Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji is both intimidated and enthralled by him.

Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian’s chuckle has caught Jiang Cheng’s attention, who turns towards him with a flash in his eyes. “You know what? You’re right. He’s too pretty for me. You should have him. There, fixed,” he turns towards Yu Ziyuan. “Give him to Wei Wuxian.

He’s sure to enjoy him more than me anyway.”
Wei Wuxian’s laugh freezes on his lips. “No, wait a minute."

”Yu Ziyuan rapidly turns towards Lan Wangji, addressing him for the first time since he got there. “Will it be enough to fulfil our agreement if you get assigned to the second prince instead of the throne heir?”

Lan Wangji feels so utterly humiliated, there, in his nightgown, no makeup, with people talking about him like he’s nothing more than a piece of jade. He nods anyway.
“Good. Tomorrow we’ll move your stuff. Go back to your room for today.”
“But mother,” Wei Wuxian whines.

“Shut it, Wei Ying,” Yu Ziyuan barks. And that’s the last thing Lan Wangji hears before he gets escorted back to his room by a servant.

(Aaand that's it for today! I'll try to continue this tomorrow, but it's more likely that I'll see you on Monday).

Continuing this before I have to go to work. (And if the mention of the butt plug didn't tip you off, this is going to be nsfw 🔞).
Link to the top:

https://twitter.com/sheehan_sidhe/status/1418594737238515716?s=19

The next day, they move Lan Wangji into the second prince’s quarters, right next to his private room. Lan Wangji knows that, as a concubine, he wouldn’t normally be allowed to sleep this close to the prince, and that shows him yet again how little the Jiang family has familiarity

with concubines: this is the kind of room that one would assign to the official wife, not a concubine. Well, they’ll move him again when Wei Wuxian marries, he is sure of that.

It seems that Lan Wangji is the only one aware of what his role is, what he needs to do. So, after dinner, he waits for the sun to go down. He stands up from his bed and takes off his robes, one by one. He knows his role. He knows what he needs to do.

He takes his favourite perfumed oil and rubs it all over his skin until it becomes smooth to the touch and pleasant to the nose (he always liked smelling nice, but even more so now that he constantly feels sweaty and hot.

He was told about Yunmeng’s weather, but he wasn’t able to grasp how unbearably hot it would actually be).

After that, he takes a small jar of salve and crouches down. He coats two of his fingers with it before slipping his hand between his legs. He circles the rim of his hole with his fingers, making it glisten with the slippery stuff, before pushing them inside.

First one finger, then the other immediately afterwards. His hole gives easily, used as it is to being breached and stretched. It is all part of his training as a concubine. As soon as he was deemed old enough, he was taught to do this to himself.

He still remembers how ashamed he felt the first time he did it, spilling all over himself as soon as he pushed the second finger inside and brushed against the part of himself his teacher had told him to look for.

He remembers the feeling that took him over, leaving him panting and trembling in his own bed.
He thought he did something wrong, by the way his future duties were described to him, they didn’t sound like something he would enjoy.

At all, and certainly not this much. When he recounted what happened to him to his teacher though, the teacher looked relieved. He smiled at him, saying that he was lucky to enjoy it so much. “Not everyone is so lucky,” he said.

Lan Wangji didn’t understand his words right away, but as his studies went on and he read books and books on all the ways a man can take another man, he started to understand.

Nevertheless, he never stopped feeling ashamed by the wanton moans that left his mouth every time he touched himself during his training. Despite the teacher's words, he wishes he didn’t enjoy it so much.

When he believes that his hole is stretched and wet enough (and before his erection becomes too hard between his legs), Lan Wangji stands back up and takes his most beautiful bed outfit out of his bags: it is made white of lace, and it is completely see-through.

He goes to Wei Wuxian’s room.
He thought he would find him there, ready to go to sleep if not dozing off already, but the room is empty.

Unsure of what he’s supposed to do now, he looks around himself. For a moment he considers the idea of kneeling on the floor while he waits, but that’s not… he is a concubine, with his role and his duties, he cannot aspire to be anything more than that, but despite that,

he wishes at least to be seen as a person, not an object. He doesn’t think that kneeling on the floor would help him there. 
He shyly sits on the edge of Wei Wuxian’s bed and waits.

Lan Wangji doesn’t have a way to measure the passage of time there, but at every breath he takes he worries that the salve might be drying, that his hole might be tightening again (he knows that it needs more time than this, but he struggles to not let his anxiety take over).

He wishes he could have worn the jade butt blug tonight too, but he knows that there is no way he could have removed it and hide it in time if he found Wei Wuxian already in the room, and a buttplug is the kind of item a prince is not supposed to know about.

Finally, when he’s starting to nod off, the door opens and Wei Wuxian enters. His steps look unsteady and his cheeks have a lovely red hue on them.

His eyes widen when he sees Lan Wangji sitting on his bed, then rapidly run up and down his body, taking in his transparent outfit and his shiny skin.

.....AND SORRY I'M LATE FOR WORK 🙈🙈 *runs awau*
Enjoy the

Wei Wuxian leans against the door frame and passes the back of his hand over his forehead. “I think you misunderstood,” he says, his voice tired. He walks to the bed, his steps unsteady, and starts undressing without sparing another glance towards Lan Wangji.

“You’re here only because we cannot send you back. I have no use for you. Just… go back to your room and, I don’t know, do whatever you were doing before coming here.”

Wei Wuxian takes off his last layer of underrobe, remaining only with his trousers on. Lan Wangji can’t stop himself from staring at Wei Wuxian’s upper body: tan and compact. Different somehow from the warriors he saw in the Gusu Lan Sect.

“Are you listening to me?” Wei Wuxian asks, stopping right in front of Lan Wangji and looking down towards him. “Are you dim?”
Lan Wangji frowns, offended. “I am not.”

Wei Wuxian sighs. “So, since I’m drunk, do be specific and try to explain to me just exactly what you're doing here.”

Several answers run rapidly through Lan Wangji’s head, but they all make him sound pathetic. Especially the first one that popped into his head, which sounded awfully close to “Even if you didn’t want a concubine, now I am yours and I’m here to pleasure you.”

He… doesn’t know how Wei Wuxian would have taken his words: he’s considered more ruthless than the first prince, and he doesn’t know if he also has a temper to go with it. He doesn’t know what will really anger him.

But he was sent here as the most precious jade Cloud Recesses could produce, Lan Wangji can’t be known as the concubine the Jiang gave the second prince out of pity.

“You know why,” is what ends up falling out of Lan Wangji’s mouth. He lowers his head before he can’t stop himself, embarrassed. This is even worse than the first sentence.

Before Wei Wuxian can reply, Lan Wangji takes a deep breath and lays his hands on Wei Wuxian’s thighs before he can be stopped. His fingers move clumsily as they try to untie Wei Wuxian’s trousers and reach for his cock.

link to the top:

https://twitter.com/sheehan_sidhe/status/1418594737238515716

(YES I KNOW IT'S VERY BRIEF OK?)

Tiny cw for the next scene: drunken sex. And also, while I wouldn't call it dub-con, I won't even call it enthusiastic consent. (I would call it "poorly made choices"). But still. You've been warned.

Wei Wuxian grabs Lan Wangji’s wrists and holds him still, pushing them away from his half untied trousers.

“I told you there is no need for it, and yet you’re still here. Why?” Wei Wuxian asks, his eyes narrowing as he lowers his face closer to Lan Wangji, his breath fanning over him. It smells of alcohol.

“This is my duty. I was taught–”
Wei Wuxian interrupts him with a harsh kiss. It is over before Lan Wangji can kiss him back.

“You were taught… what?” Wei Wuxian asks, once again pressing his lips, hot and bruising, against Lan Wangji’s mouth. “To beg until I fuck you into this mattress? Will you be happy then?”

Without waiting for a reply, Wei Wuxian uses his grip on Lan Wangji’s wrists to push him back, making him lie onto the mattress, and pinning his arms above his head. He kisses him again.

Everything is moving so fast; Lan Wangji’s head is spinning. He barely has the time to part his lips and try to kiss Wei Wuxian back, that Wei Wuxian is leaning backwards. He slips his free hand under Lan Wangji’s hip and flips him over, pressing his front into the mattress.

Lan Wangji tries to keep his breathing under control. It’s alright, he knows about this position. He’s not scared. He tries to turn his head, see what Wei Wuxian is doing, but he gets pushed back down.

Next, Wei Wuxian slips his hand between Lan Wangji’s legs, closing his fingers around Lan Wangji’s cock and giving it a pump. Lan Wangji gasps at the sensation, surprised at how easily he became hard under Wei Wuxian’s touch.

“Is this what you want?” Wei Wuxian asks, moving his hand at an unforgiving pace. He tightens the other around Lan Wangji’s wrists. It should feel painful, but Lan Wangji can barely hold back a moan.

Everything is happening all at once and not...not how he was told things would happen. He nods anyway. Yes, this is what he wants. This is his duty: the words have been hammered repeatedly into his head. Even if he’s scared.

Even if – as he is starting to realise – there is no training in the world that could have prepared him for what’s about to happen. This is his duty.

Wei Wuxian pushes the lace robes up, around Lan Wangji’s waist. Lan Wangji shudders at the sudden gush of air that brushes over his lower half, naked and exposed.

Lan Wangji hears the sound of a bottle being uncorked. He gasps, a moment later, when he feels something cool being poured over him, sliding down his cleft and being smeared over his inner thighs by Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian leans over Lan Wangji’s body, covering him with his weight. “Keep your legs close for me,” he whispers in Lan Wangji’s ear, pressing his hand against his hip. “Tightly.”

He wants them… closed? This… Lan Wangji wasn’t told about this. He shuts his eyes, confused and frustrated. He does it anyway. He squeezes his thighs together, feeling how slippery they have become as he presses them against each other.

“Good,” Wei Wuxian says and Lan Wangji hates the way a hot rush of satisfaction runs through him at the knowledge that he managed to please the second prince.

Wei Wuxian rapidly finishes untying his trousers and rocks his hips, making his hard cock slide against Lan Wangji’s lubricated cleft. Lan Wangji holds his breath as his hole quivers in anticipation. In a moment, Wei Wuxian is going to push into him.

For the first time in his life, he’ll experience the feeling of a real cock breaching into him. He waits, trying to accomplish the impossible task to both keep his thighs clenched together and to relax his body at the same time.

Nothing happens.

Or rather, nothing of what Lan Wangji expected happens. Wei Wuxian changes the angle of his hips… and then pushes between Lan Wangji’s legs.

His cock slides between Lan Wangji’s slippery legs over and over again, and as it does that, it brushes teasingly against the back of Lan Wangji’s balls. It’s like he’s fucking and NOT fucking Lan Wangji at the same time, and Lan Wangji feels like he’ll lose his mind.

Every time that Wei Wuxian thrusts his hips, he also pushes Lan Wangji further into the mattress. Lan Wangji’s cock is getting unexpected friction in return, and he feels a warm tension building inside his stomach. His breath is laboured. He moans, his head spinning.

He’s really going to lose his mind. Nothing is going like he thought it would. Nothing is going as he planned.

He expected the second prince to use him, use his body, but not like this. He thought he prepared for everything, but this… He prepared himself to be taken and instead...

The friction against his cock and the pressure around his wrists become too much too soon and Lan Wangji comes with a cry. His body shivers as the orgasm courses through his body in waves.

At the same time, Wei Wuxian continues thrusting between Lan Wangji’s thighs until he too comes with a groan.

Right afterwards, Wei Wuxian rolls onto his back – away from Lan Wangji – and throws an arm over his face. “Are you happy now?” he asks.

Lan Wangji doesn’t know what to say. Doesn’t know what to do either. Should he cover his body with the lace robe and risk staining it with the oil that is still covering his legs? What… what’s supposed to happen now?

He feels his eyes pool with unshed tears and he hates himself for it.

Not hearing a reply, Wei Wuxian sighs.

“There should be a bathtub full of water behind that privacy screen, over there,” he says, gesturing blindly towards a corner of the room. “You can use it to clean yourself up. Then go back to your room. Or stay here. I don’t care.”

That said, Wei Wuxian takes the dirty blanket from the bed and throws it on the floor. Then he rolls on his side and closes his eyes.

Lan Wangji gets off the bed, careful to keep his lace robe from touching his hips and legs. Behind the privacy screen, he does indeed find a bathtub full of lukewarm water. It was probably very hot when it was first prepared, but now it’s just the right temperature for

Lan Wangji’s overheated body. He lowers himself in it and remains seated in the tub long enough that his body starts shivering. When he gets out, Wei Wuxian is already sleeping soundly.

Not wanting to wear the lace robe again, Lan Wangji takes the dirty blanket from the floor and uses it to cover his body. Without being seen by anyone else, he slips back into his room.

Bump to the top of the thread:

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Lan Wangji doesn’t go back to Wei Wuxian’s room after the first night. The second prince didn’t like that, he reasons, that’s why he reacted poorly. So he waits in his room.

Every night, after dinner, he prepares his body, covering his skin with the perfumed oils and stretching himself. Then he sits on the bed, wearing his most alluring clothes (and sometimes nothing at all).

Every morning he wakes up on top of the covers, in the same position he fell asleep in. Every morning he has the servants draw him a bath, then lowers himself in the always too hot water, where he cleans himself from the oils and the salve.

It’s been a whole week now, and Wei Wuxian didn’t visit him once. During the day he trains with the First Prince and his soldiers – Lan Wangji walked by the training courtyard once and saw him – and during the night he goes out drinking with those same people.

Thoughts of Lan Wangji don’t seem to cross his mind, and yet Lan Wangji can’t stop himself from waiting.

Lan Wangji runs his hands over his body, rubbing away the last remnants of oil, and wonders what he did to make the Second Prince so uninterested in him.

His body is lean, his skin fair, his muscles compact. His teachers in Cloud Recesses always described him as a beauty. Sure, he doesn’t even remotely look like a woman, and in other circumstances, he would think that’s what’s putting Wei Wuxian off,

but that first day the First Prince clearly hinted at the fact that Wei Wuxian could appreciate both women AND men, so that can’t be it. It must be something in Lan Wangji in particular.

Was he that wrong in his approach? He knows that normally a concubine is supposed to wait in their room, waiting for the other to come to them. He waited at first, that first night, but as more time passed and no one came, he thought that maybe – not being accustomed to HAVE a

concubine, not knowing what it meant – Wei Wuxian didn’t know he was the one supposed to go to him.

He thought, ‘If I can show the Second Prince my usefulness, if not my skills… If I can pleasure him enough...”

He thought… but he was wrong. Even with Lan Wangji wilfully throwing himself at him, Wei Wuxian refused to fuck him and did… that other thing instead. Lan Wangji doesn’t understand.

While his mind goes back to the memory of that first night, of Wei Wuxian’s cock sliding between his clenched thighs and at the friction against his own hardness, Lan Wangji lets his hand run down his stomach and slip between his legs.

A whole week of fruitless waiting, and of working himself up for nothing, left his body and skin buzzing with pent-up arousal. He was taught that he is supposed to touch himself only in preparation to please, but he can’t hold himself back anymore.

He closes his fingers around his length with a sigh and starts stroking himself, slow and lazy at first, then progressively faster, frantic.

The only sounds that can be heard in the room are the sloshing of his hand moving through the water and the soft gasps and moans that escape his lips.

“I won’t wait for him tonight,” he tells himself afterwards, tilting his head back and resting it on the side of the bathtub. “Tonight I’ll just go to sleep.”

When night comes though, he finds himself staring at his oils and his lace robes, and before he can stop himself – before he can tell himself how stupid and useless his actions are – he grabs the small jar of salve and crouches down to prepare himself.

Once again, he falls asleep by himself. After that, he stops fooling himself and just accepts that he’ll keep waiting for a man that will never come for him.

It takes a while before Lan Wangji feels comfortable enough to leave his room to go anywhere that isn’t the dining hall.

One day, after it rained for the whole night and a cool breeze offers Lan Wangji a blissful reprieve from the sweltering heat that haunts his days, he finally dares to venture out.

He makes his way down the corridor, past the several rooms that belong to the Second Prince’s quarters. If this household were accustomed to host concubines, some of those rooms would belong to Lan Wangji (or at least would be shared between him and Wei Wuxian).

As things are, Lan Wangji doesn’t dare to enter them and, until now, kept to his single room.

It is very early in the morning and the air is still blissfully cool, almost chilly. It reminds Lan Wangji of how much he misses the temperature of the mountains back home.

The way the scent of wet grass and leaves would fill his nose.

It is strange to see the palace this empty, with only a few servants around, doing their chores.

Even the training courtyard that Lan Wangji needs to cross every time he leaves the Second Prince quarters is still empty. Before, every time he walked by it, it was full of soldiers and cultivators training or sparring: Wei Wuxian always between them.

Lan Wangji doesn’t linger, not wanting to still be there when the first soldiers arrive.
With no one to stop or question him, Lan Wangji gains some courage and pushes further and further into the palace, until he turns up on the other side of it, the one that faces the river.

There, at the end of a long pier, he finds a wooden pavilion built over the water.

A gentle breeze coming from the river blows over it and, being so distant from everything, the only sounds that reach it are the waves splashing against the posts and the cormorants diving in and out of water.

Lan Wangji goes to sit on its edge, letting his feet dangle over the water. He looks around himself, it seems like this place hasn’t been used in a while. He wonders if maybe he can come back here with his guqin.

Until now, he hasn’t dared to play it in his room, afraid of disturbing Wei Wuxian: he is a soldier after all, and Lan Wangji doesn’t know how he feels about music. Maybe if he asked him to play… but he hasn’t.

Lan Wangji wouldn’t disturb anyone here. His notes would barely reach the people in the palace.

He remains there until it’s time for breakfast, and he’s almost late. When he gets to the dining hall, Wei Wuxian is already sitting at his table, chatting animatedly with the First Prince.

When Lan Wangji silently sits at his side – pretending he doesn’t feel Yu Ziyuan’s eyes on him – without stopping talking and laughing, without even looking at him, Wei Wuxian grabs a bowl of white rice and one of vegetables from his table and places them in front of Lan Wangji.

Lan Wangji eats in silence. Sometimes he wonders if he should ask the servants to deliver his meals directly to his room, but these are the only moments Wei Wuxian seems to be at least marginally aware of his presence.

Lan Wangji is afraid he will forget about his existence if he stops coming here to eat.

Lan Wangji goes back to the pavilion on the water the next day, and the day after that. No one seems to ever be there so, on the third day, he wakes up, as usual, washes his body from the oils, and takes his guqin with him.

He rapidly slips past the training courtyard, today already occupied by several people (he doesn’t dare to look in their direction and see if Wei Wuxian is among them) and reaches his secret place with no one stopping him.

Today, the weather is back to its oppressive temperature, yet somehow the pavilion always feels a bit cooler than the rest of Lotus Pier. Lan Wangji thinks he might be happy if he is allowed to come here and just play from now on.

The feeling of the strings under his fingertips bring him a relief he didn’t know he was missing. He loses himself into the music, playing one song after the other.

He doesn’t realise how much time passes when, suddenly, he hears a voice coming from behind him.

“I was starting to wonder if what they told us about your musical skill were wildly exaggerated.”

Cliffhanger 😱 and bump to the top:

https://twitter.com/sheehan_sidhe/status/1418594737238515716?s=19

Who do you think it is?

The voice belongs to Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji starts scrambling to his feet to bow, so fast that he almost lets his guqin slip on the floor. Wei Wuxian shakes his head and gestures to him to remain seated before Lan Wangji can fully stand up.

“So,” Wei Wuxian continues, slowly moving to Lan Wangji’s side and facing the river. He doesn’t sit down. “Why did it take you so long to start playing that guqin of yours?

The king has been exchanging several letters with your clan in order to establish the last details of our alliance: your uncle seems unable to talk about anything else.”

Lan Wangji lowers his eyes, his hands nervously moving over the strings without producing any sound. “I did not wish to disturb. I didn’t think I would, here.”

Wei Wuxian hums and tilts his head, letting his eyes roam over the pavilion. He brushes one hand against its wooden frame before leaning against it.

“This place here,” he says, his voice softer than Lan Wangji has ever heard him use.

“It was built for my sister. She loved spending her time here. From here, she used to say, she could watch over the river every time we were away from home, and be the first one to see us coming back.”

Jiang Yanli, Lan Wangji recalls. The older Jiang sister, who has been living in Lanling for a few months now, married to the Jin heir. Lan Wangji winces internally. Of all the places, he managed to find the one Wei Wuxian’s beloved sister preferred.

No wonder it was always empty: no one dared to come here. No one was supposed to come here.
Lan Wangji hurriedly puts his guqin aside and kneels in front of Wei Wuxian, his forehead pressed against the floorboards, ready to beg for forgiveness,

ready to promise that he will never step foot in a place so important to the Second Prince’s sister again. Wei Wuxian stops him before he can say anything.

“You can come here, if you want,” Wei Wuxian says, his voice calm. “She wouldn’t want to leave it empty and it should be used by someone who can appreciate it. From today, I will let the servants know they need to keep it ready for you.”

He turns around, ready to walk away. He clears his voice. “We were never formally introduced. It is Lan Wangji, isn’t it?”

Lan Wangji blushes, and he is glad to still have his face hidden against the floor: Wei Wuxian doesn’t even appear sure about his name. That’s… Lan Wangji nods anyway. ‘The Second Prince can call me Lan Zhan,’ he should say, wants to say. The words refuse to leave his throat.

“You won’t disturb anyone if you decide to play in your room as well,” WWX adds after a moment. “I do enjoy your music,” he pauses again. “Actually, there is a study right next to your room. I don’t use it much anymore: you can use that too.”
He leaves then, rapidly walking away.

After that, Lan Wangji starts spending almost all his days in the pavilion at the end of the pier, but he needs to walk past the training courtyard to get there.

He doesn’t ask himself why he only goes there after breakfast, when he knows for sure that Wei Wuxian is going to be training. Lan Wangji barely throws a quick glance in his direction before quickly moving on.

He doesn’t ask himself why but, every day, he lingers a bit longer. He looks at Wei Wuxian laugh and joke with the First Prince, spar with the soldiers, show the other cultivators a new talisman he created.

Every day Lan Wangji remains there, hidden in the shade, until Wei Wuxian finally starts feeling his eyes on himself and turns in his direction. Lan Wangji hastily walks away when their eyes meet.
Every day, Lan Wangji gets to the pavilion a few minutes later.

When he gets there, he always finds it ready for him, just like Wei Wuxian promised. There are clean pillows and blankets, and a tray full of some kind of sweets, typical of Yunmeng, that Lan Wangji discovered during the meals served in Lotus Pier. He doesn’t know what they’re

called, but he fell in love with them. One of the servants must have noticed the way Lan Wangji always eats some at every meal and decided to serve them next to his tea. Or maybe, more probable, it is something they were already used to do for Jiang Yanli.

Link to the top:

https://twitter.com/sheehan_sidhe/status/1418594737238515716?s=19

Sometimes, when the rain falls heavy and insistent over Lotus Pier, and Lan Wangji can’t justify walking across the whole palace in order to reach his beloved pavilion, he sits in the study next to his room instead. The study is still full of Wei Wuxian’s stuff:

war manuals, talisman diagrams and doodles (and if Lan Wangji’s heart does a little jump when he sees several drawings of little rabbits, that’s only for him to know). True to his word, Wei Wuxian never seems to go there, at least not when Lan Wangji can see him.

At first Lan Wangji thought he would bring his guqin and play there too, but having already found a place where he can play freely, he uses the study room to read or write instead.

During one of those days of heavy rain, Wei Wuxian enters the study room in a huff. He moves loudly, mumbling something under his breath.

He sits, loudly, behind the main desk (Lan Wangji always uses the second, smaller one, knowing that that one probably belonged to Wei Wuxian) and starts pulling out paper and writing brushes.

“Where are you going?” Wei Wuxian asks when he notices Lan Wangji closing the book he was reading and start moving towards the door.

Lan Wangji pauses, unsure about what he’s supposed to say.

Wei Wuxian shakes his hand. “Sit back down, keep me company or my head will explode from the boredom.”

Lan Wangji turns around and sits back on his stool, the book he was reading folded into his lap. He silently watches Wei Wuxian move around the study (loudly), going through the drawers and the cabinets, looking for something.

“Where the hell did I put the ink?” Wei Wuxian complains after a while.

Without saying a word, but frowning lightly, Lan Wangji stands up and moves to the cabinet right behind Wei Wuxian. He opens the very first drawer Wei Wuxian searched in, and hands him the ink. Wei Wuxian looks at it like it personally insulted him.

“Thanks,” he says to Lan Wangji, his gaze intense. He takes the ink and sits behind the desk. “Mother got mad,” he explains while he prepares the ink, even if Lan Wangji didn’t ask any question.

“I’m banned from the training field until I copy the Classic of Filial Piety thirty times.” Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes and stretches his back (as he does, he arches and groans in a way that doesn’t at all send a shiver coursing through Lan Wangji).

“It’s been years since she decided to make me copy something as punishment. What am I, sixteen?” He moves his eyes to Lan Wangji, who’s feeling slightly out of breath.

”What was your mother’s idea of the perfect punishment when you were young? You don’t look like the kind of person who would suffer particularly if he had to sit down, copying lines.”

He chuckles to himself. “To be fair, you don’t look like the kind of person who gets punished, period.”

Lan Wangji lowers his eyes, bringing himself back to the present. He is unsure of how much he should tell. “The clan elders were in charge of my education,” he ends up saying.

“They would make me kneel holding some branches in my arms. If they believed a harsher punishment was necessary, they would strike me with the rule.”

The face that Wei Wuxian pulls at that is extremely displeased. “Did they now. Did it happen often?”

Lan Wangji shakes his head. “Only when I was younger.” Only when he disregarded their orders and went to visit his mother in secret. Only before they decided he would become a concubine. After that, they couldn’t face the risk of leaving him with scars, they said.

Wei Wuxian nods, accepting Lan Wangji’s explanation, and goes back to copy his lines.

Lan Wangji doesn’t know what Wei Wuxian wants him to do. If he had the guqin with him, maybe he could play, but Wei Wuxian didn’t tell him to go fetch it.

Should he go back to read his book? Offer his help? In the end, he doesn’t move and keeps staring at Wei Wuxian instead: the way his eyebrows furrow in concentration, the way his tongue runs over his lips when he is lost in thought.

After a while, Wei Wuxian groans and leans back (arching his back, groaning), massaging his wrist.

The words leave Lan Wangji’s mouth before he can stop them. “You hold it wrong,” he says.

Wei Wuxian glances in his direction. “I... what?”

Lan Wangji’s ears burn as he feels himself blush. He clears his throat. “The brush. You hold it wrong: that’s why your wrist hurts after a while.”

Wei Wuxian lifts an eyebrow and cocks his head, regarding Lan Wangji pensively. He extends the hand holding the brush towards Lan Wangji, inviting him to show him the proper way.

Lan Wangji stands up and walks around the desk. He lowers himself beside Wei Wuxian and gently moves his fingers, positioning them differently.

Wei Wuxian’s hand is cool despite the hot weather, Lan Wangji hates himself a little bit for imagining how they would feel to have them slide across his naked chest.

Lan Wangji looks up, and his eyes meet Wei Wuxian, who is staring intently at him. He is so close that Lan Wangji can feel his gaze upon his skin like a physical presence. He suppresses a shiver. (Later, he knows, he’ll need some extra time to prepare himself for the night).

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian says and Lan Wangji feels himself blush harder. “That’s your birth name, right?”

Lan Wangji lets go of Wei Wuxian’s hand like it suddenly became scalding hot. “Yes,” he replies, only barely stopping himself from stammering.

“Should I call you that? Or do you prefer Lan Wangji? Lan’er?”

Lan Wangji blinks. The sound of his birth name as said by Wei Wuxian echoing through his mind.

“Lan Zhan is fine,” he replies breathlessly.

Wei Wuxian nods and goes back to his lines. Lan Wangji leans back, but doesn’t move beyond that. He spends the rest of the afternoon right there at his side.

Lan Wangji can’t call what they have a proper conversation – it is mostly Wei Wuxian talking, doing small talk – but he doesn’t get treated like a piece of furniture either.

Lan Wangji thinks he would like it very much if they could spend some more afternoons like this, but he knows he can’t become greedy like that (he wishes anyway).

The next day the sky is clear, the lines have been copied, and Wei Wuxian is back to train in the courtyard.

When Lan Wangji walks past it on his way to his pavilion, he finds himself lingering even longer than usual, his eyes caught by the way Wei Wuxian’s body moves while sparring (by the way small drops of sweat gather on his forehead, making his skin look bright and alive).

Finally, Wei Wuxian notices Lan Wangji looking at him from a distance. He stops mid-sentence whatever he was telling the First Prince and turns towards him. “Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian exclaims. “Came to scold me about my form again?”

Lan Wangji blushes and lowers his head. He leaves quickly, followed by Wei Wuxian’s laugh.

When he gets to the pavilion, he finds a vase full of tiny white flowers on the tray with the usual tea and sweets. The Jiang servants really take care of everything.

(Double update 😌 today was a good day. See you back soon! I'm loving all of your reactions to this thread! Thank you so much 💕💕).
Man, the servants the Jiangs chose for the palace are really next level! 🤔

Lan Wangji feels confused, and doesn’t know what to do about it.

On his way to Lotus Pier, that day so many weeks ago, he envisioned a very different life for himself. He was taught that the prince would take him and use him, dote on him for a bit maybe, if Lan Wangji’s beauty struck his fancy, and that’s it.

At the time, he thought it would be enough if the prince didn’t act violently towards him. He would have endured it anyway, for the sake of his clan, but he thought that was all he could wish for.

He never would have thought he would end up longing for Wei Wuxian’s attention, wondering (as still every night he prepares himself for a visit he knows just won’t come) how his touch would feel.

Even more than that, he wishes Wei Wuxian would see him. Was a rainy afternoon spent together in the study enough to make him become so greedy? (so unreasonable? His uncle, if he was there, would scold him for allowing himself to think like that).

Despite Lan Wangji’s best efforts, he finds himself enthralled by Wei Wuxian. He tries stopping himself from lingering near the training courtyard (he was already foolish enough to impose his presence over Wei Wuxian that first night, and he doesn’t want to repeat that mistake),

but his feet still bring him there every morning. The fact that he needs to walk by it to reach Jiang Yanli’s pavilion isn’t really an excuse, and he knows it perfectly even while he tells it to himself: he could just keep walking.

Instead, every morning, he stops there, by the shade, not really hidden at all, and watches Wei Wuxian train until he gets spotted by him. When he notices him, Wei Wuxian always turns towards him, calling his birth name in front of everyone, and teases him, one way or the other.

He asks him to join in the sparring, he asks if he has composed a new song lately, what book he is reading, if he is enjoying Yunmeng sweets. Lan Wangji both hates and loves it at the same time.

He never replies. He lowers his eyes and leaves rapidly, a pink hue colouring his ears. Shy and embarrassed, Lan Wangji fails to notice the way Wei Wuxian’s expression turns softer every time he sees Lan Wangji.

(and he also fails to notice the way Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes every time Wei Wuxian abruptly stops whatever he is doing in order to pay attention to Lan Wangji).

((Teeny tiny update today! I should be able to write more tomorrow 😘😘))
Link to the top:

https://twitter.com/sheehan_sidhe/status/1418594737238515716?s=19

I just want to add: dm me if you want me to send you a notif when I update 😘

Wei Wuxian’s voice breaches through the silence of the night. Alarmed, Lan Wangji shoots up from his bed. What’s happening? He can’t make out his words, so loud that they reach his room from across the corridor, but he knows they sound distressed.

Not having the time to clean his body from the perfumed oils or to get rid of the salve that is still wetting his hole, Lan Wangji grabs the first under robe he can reach and rushes out of his room and into Wei Wuxian’s.

Once there, he gasps out loud. The whole room appears invaded by… black tendrils of smoke. They reach every corner of the room, but they seem to concentrate especially over Wei Wuxian’s still sleeping form.

“Your highness!” Lan Wangji calls, taking a step forward, ready to go to him and shake him awake if he needs to. Wei Wuxian doesn’t seem to react to being called. He continues to whimper and thrash between the covers, in clear distress.

As if THEY heard him though, the black tendrils turn towards Lan Wangji, springing in his direction like angry snakes.

Without a sword at his side, and having left his guqin in his room, Lan Wangji can only jump back, closely dodging their attack. Instinctively, he raises his arm, forcing a surge of spiritual energy to materialise in front of himself like a shield.

The tendrils bounce over it before recoiling rapidly, acting like they have been hurt when they came into contact with it. After that, the smoke retreats from the edges of the room, moving over Wei Wuxian’s bed instead.

In the span of a second, Lan Wangji reaches two conclusions. Those dark tendrils of smoke are a weird manifestation of dark energy; and that, while it does indeed look like they are hurting Wei Wuxian… they are also coming FROM him.

Thinking at light speed, Lan Wangji swirls around and runs into his room to get his guqin.

Once he gets back with it, he gets as close to Wei Wuxian as he can before he sits on the floor, guqin in his lap. He lets his spiritual energy flow through his body, through his meridians, tapping into the reserves of his golden core like he hasn’t done in years.

He plays Cleansing. As always, the notes he plays are perfect, but it takes him a moment to infuse them with the right amount of spiritual energy.

The dark tendrils cannot produce any sound, but Lan Wangji could swear he hears a screeching noise coming from them when the right notes finally reach them and start to wear their power down, purifying Wei Wuxian’s golden core until they dissolve into nothing.

Afterwards, Lan Wangji sighs and leans forward, resting his forehead against the cords of his guqin as he tries to catch his breath. It’s been… a while since he last practised music cultivation. For a moment, he didn’t think he would remember how to. He is so relieved it worked.

He hears a groan coming from the bed and he lifts his head just in time to see Wei Wuxian blinking awake: his whole body covered in sweat, despite the cool autumn air making the nights at Lotus Pier more bearable (though never cool enough for Lan Wangji).

Wei Wuxian sits up in his bed and lets his eyes wander around the room until they land on Lan Wangji, still sitting crossed-legged on the floor in the middle of the room.

Lan Wangji blushes under his scrutiny, feeling Wei Wuxian’s eyes roam over his body, taking in his see-through night robe and the way his skin is glistening with oil (Lan Wangji is so grateful Wei Wuxian cannot also see how still slick and soft he is between his legs).

Before Wei Wuxian can tell him off for entering (again) into his room without permission, Lan Wangji hurriedly collects his guqin and tries to leave, an apology already half-formed over his lips.

“Wait,” Wei Wuxian’s voice calls him back. It doesn’t sound angry or reproachful. It sounds soft instead, and tired.

Lan Wangji stops mid-steps and then slowly turns around. Wei Wuxian isn’t looking at him anymore though, he turned on the side, letting his legs dangle off the bed for a moment before he puts his feet on the floor.

“There is a pot of tea over there, somewhere,” Wei Wuxian makes a vague gesture behind himself without turning around.

Lan Wangji looks around – his eyes linger for a moment over the wooden tub in the corner of the room – until he finds the pot Wei Wuxian is talking about. He hastily pours a cup and rushes back at Wei Wuxian’s side.

Wei Wuxian doesn’t look up at him, so Lan Wangji kneels on the floor at his feet and gently puts the cup in his hands. Wei Wuxian frowns at the cup for a long moment, and Lan Wangji fears he did something he wasn’t supposed to.

Wei Wuxian sighs instead, pushing the cup back into Lan Wangji’s hands.

“I meant, for you.”

Lan Wangji stares at the cup (and at the way Wei Wuxian’s hands are still covering his). Why would Wei Wuxian have HIM drink a cup of tea now? He shakes his head. “I will be good for you too,” he insists. “You take this, please. I will make another for myself.”

That said, he lets go of the cup, forcing Wei Wuxian to hold onto it to stop it from falling to the floor. Lan Wangji pours a second cup of tea and then goes back to kneel at Wei Wuxian’s feet, bringing the whole pot with him.

He sips at his own cup as he watches Wei Wuxian drink. He fills both cups twice over as they drink in silence.
Wei Wuxian makes a displeased face every time he takes a sip of the tea, but he diligently drinks it all (& doesnt even complain when Lan Wangji keeps refilling his cup)

When there is no more tea to be drunk, Wei Wuxian remains still, staring at his empty cup in silence, his knuckles turning white with how strongly he is tightening his fingers around the fine ceramic.

Feeling incredibly bold, Lan Wangji leans forward and gently unwraps them, once after the other, before putting the empty cup on the nightstand. As soon as his hands are free once again, Wei Wuxian presses them against his face.

“I have nightmares,” he confesses, his voice muffled, after a long moment.

Lan Wangji hums, looking down at his own empty cup, turning it distractingly into his hands. ‘That wasn’t just a nightmare’, he thinks.

What he ends up asking instead is, “From the war against the northern kingdom?” He did hear about soldiers being haunted by the memories of the battle even years after that is long over.

Wei Wuxian laughs bitterly. “They were so strong. Overwhelming, really. They defeated us, over and over. For every victory Jiang Cheng and I accomplished, they wiped out half of our soldiers. I had to find a way to defeat them, once and for all.

And I had to do it quickly. I had to protect my family, my people. So I did.” Wei Wuxian lowers his hands, letting them slide down his face, to properly look Lan Wangji in the eyes. “I invented a new method of cultivation.”

Lan Wangji blinks at him, trying to wrap his head around the concept. He… “How?”

“There was a theory I had come up with, back when I was a teenager. That was all it was for the longest time… just a theory.

And a crazy theory at that. Resentful energy is still energy, I told myself, can’t we use it just like we use spiritual energy? Why can’t we use the resentful energy of the dead to turn them against the people that wronged them?”

Lan Wangji frowns. “Because...”

Wei Wuxian cuts him off. “I know. I know everything you want to say, trust me. That’s what everyone told me for years, every time I happened to bring it up. Hell, that’s what I used to tell myself. But then the Wen’s troupes reached the outer gates of Lotus Pier and we found

ourselves backed into a corner. So I used the resentful energy that had gathered around the corpses of all the people killed by the Wens, our soldiers and the villagers, and found myself with a tireless army. And I killed them all.”

Silence falls between the two of them once again as Lan Wangji tries to wrap his head around it. This goes against everything his uncle has ever taught him, but...

He tries to put himself in Wei Wuxian’s shoes. To imagine being the last hope against the destruction of his home and his family. He can understand that feeling at least.

“You did not have a choice,” he whispers.

Wei Wuxian laughs darkly at that. “You always have a choice. You don’t have a good choice, but you have a choice. That was mine. I don’t regret it, but I cannot forget it and… I’m still paying the price for using that kind of power that long.”

Lan Wangji wants to ask about the dark smoke that seemed to attack and come from Wei Wuxian’s body at the same time, but Wei Wuxian shakes his head before he can say anything.

“That’s enough talking for today,” Wei Wuxian says, his fingers brushing gently over Lan Wangji’s arm. Lan Wangji flushes crimson at the touch as he remembers how his skin is still covered with perfumed oils and how revealing are his robes.

He shoots to his feet and rushes away with an embarrassed ‘goodbye’ whispered from the door.

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian stops him one last time before he can disappear down the corridor. “Thank you.”

Once back in the safety of his own room, Lan Wangji closes the door behind himself and leans against it with a whimper. His skin is on fire, heat rippling down his body from the spot where Wei Wuxian touched him.

He is such an idiot.

The way Wei Wuxian touched his arm… that might have meant… maybe he wanted… and instead Lan Wangji ran away like the idiot that he is.

He shudders realising that, if only he remained there, he might be sprawled over Wei Wuxian’s bed by now, legs in the air while Wei Wuxian thrusts mercilessly into him. He feels his hole clench, yearning to finally experience the stretch of a cock (of Wei Wuxian’s cock).

Lan Wangji throws himself on the bed, face pressed into the pillow and hips raised.

He pushes two fingers into his mouth, sucking at them hungrily, urgently, before pressing them into his hole, fingering himself until he comes with a loud moan (and if that moan happens to shape itself into Wei Wuxian’s name, that’s only for him to know).

((AAAAAND THAT'S IT FOR TONIGHT! Was WWX really going to offer LWJ the D? WHO KNOWS)).

((I am going to use a very tired cliché AND I REGRET NOTHING. You can come screaming to me in frustration later.))

Lan Wangji wakes up early the next day, earlier than usual. Despite the lack of sleep he just… can’t stop thinking about the night before.

About the quiet intimacy he and Wei Wuxian shared in his room – the image of one of them on the bed, the other kneeling at his feet on the floor makes Lan Wangji shiver – the look that Wei Wuxian gave him and his parting words before Lan Wangji ran away to his room.

That’s… progress, right? Wei Wuxian is finally accepting Lan Wangji’s presence in his life and they are starting to get closer, right?

Lan Wangji takes particular care to dress that morning, wearing his most flattering robes and taking some extra time to apply his makeup (the importance of looking nice being ingrained into his brain by his teachers).

He is the first one to enter the dining hall, hoping he’ll have a few moments alone with Wei Wuxian during breakfast.

“Maybe, today, I will try to talk to him before his attention can be swiped away by the First Prince,” Lan Wangji thinks to himself as he waits for Wei Wuxian to arrive. The king and queen are the ones to arrive next though, and after them so do the servants with the food.

There’s no sight of Wei Wuxian, nor of Jiang Cheng.

“They went to train earlier today,” a servant girl explains to Lan Wangji, after he finally forces himself to ask. Lan Wangji nods, disappointed, and ends up eating his breakfast alone, only Yu Ziyuan’s piercing gaze upon him to keep him company.

As soon as he can be dismissed, Lan Wangji leaves the dining hall and hurries towards the training courtyard. Maybe it’s better this way, Wei Wuxian is used to teasing him and calling upon him when he is training, it will be easier to talk to him then.

A tiny smile spreads across his face against his better judgment.

When he gets there, he spots Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng from a distance. They are the only ones there, and it doesn’t seem like they have started training yet.

They are talking animatedly with one another instead. Jiang Cheng is scowling, his arms crossed, as per usual. Wei Wuxian is laughing (is he embarrassed?), rubbing the back of his neck.

Lan Wangji walks in their direction, mustering the courage to just come out in the open and greet Wei Wuxian. Before he can be seen, though, he realises they are speaking about him and he freezes mid-step.

“You don’t understand,” Wei Wuxian is saying, passing his hands through his hair and pulling at it.

“I think I understand everything quite clearly, and far better than you apparently, thank you very much,” Jiang Cheng replies, rolling his eyes.

Wei Wuxian shakes his head and continues talking like he didn’t hear Jiang Cheng’s words. “I mean, have you seen his clothes? Does everyone in Gusu dress like that or that’s just him? And some of them… Jiang Cheng, I swear to you, I could see his nipples. His nipples!”

Jiang Cheng sighs. “Only because you...” he tries to interrupt Wei Wuxian’s stream of words, but he gets ignored once again.

“And his makeup?” Wei Wuxian continues, pointing at his own face. “I thought he would stop painting his lips red after the first day but NO! Every time I see them I just want to… to… and the eyeliner?” Wei Wuxian groans and presses the palms of his hands against his eyes.

Jiang Cheng at that point looks exasperated. He laughs, but he doesn’t seem to find anything Wei Wuxian is saying funny at all.

Before Wei Wuxian can add anything else to the list of things he apparently LOATHES about Lan Wangji, he takes a step forward and pats Wei Wuxian on the shoulder.

“Come on, let’s spar. Isn’t that why we came here? So that you can take your mind off YOUR concubine?” he says with an eyeful glance.

Wei Wuxian sighs. “Fine.”

Lan Wangji turns around and runs away. He feels humiliated. And stupid. In his foolish desire to be loved back (wait, love? Oh, gods, please no) he built a whole fantasy around meaningless events. Did he really think they were having a moment the night before?

He just worked himself into a delusion. He made absolutely no progress since the first night, didn’t he? Not physically, not emotionally. Wei Wuxian just doesn’t want him, will never want him.

He isn’t even good enough to be used as a fucktoy and Lan Wangji needs to stop making a fool of himself.

His eyes burn and he feels tears roll down his cheeks. He lowers his head, blinking rapidly and he resists the temptation to rub at them with his sleeve and smudge the black eyeliner Wei Wuxian seems to have so much.

As he rushes towards Jiang Yanli’s pavilion, he is only barely enough aware of his surroundings to stop himself from crashing into Yu Ziyuan. He immediately takes a step back, bowing deeply and apologising to her.

She doesn’t say a word. She just looks at him, calculating, her eyes moving all over his body and lingering on his wet red eyes. Then she dismisses with a movement of her hands.

Only when he reaches the pavilion, Lan Wangji allows himself to breathe again. Everything looks as it always does, ready for his arrival. Flowers in a vase (every day a different colour, a different kind), clean pillows, and a tray full of his favourite sweets.

How dares everything look so mundane when Lan Wangji feels so awful? With a sudden outburst of anger and frustration, Lan Wangji grabs the tray of sweets and hurls it into the river, watching it sink with satisfaction.

He looks around, feeling unhinged, but he knows he needs to stop himself before he can take it out on the rest of the furniture. The only people who would face the consequences of his foul mood would be the servants after all.

He lets himself fall on the nearest pillow and presses his hands against his face, feeling it wet. Before he can think about the wisdom of such an act, he rubs his hands all over his eyes and mouth, roughly removing some of his makeup.

When he looks at them, his hands have turned all black and red. He grabs a napkin and uses the water from a jar to wet it. He then rubs his face with it, taking away all the remaining colour at the best of his possibilities.

He’d need oil to truly clean his face, but this will have to suffice from now.

Lan Wangji remains there for the whole day. He skips both lunch and dinner, not feeling hungry in the slightest, the sun moving across the sky, the only thing that informs him of the passing of time. He only leaves when it’s dark and it’s time for him to go to sleep.

Once he is back in his room, despite how exhausted he feels, he can’t fall asleep. 

His thighs are slippery as always, not even his new awareness of his own delusion being enough to stop himself from preparing his body for a visit that, he is aware now, will never happen.

(‘But what if TONIGHT...’ he keeps telling himself, against his better judgment, every time he tries to convince himself to just go to sleep. He then slicks his hole with salve anyway.)

He lies on his back, naked, staring at the ceiling as he gently brushes his fingertips over his skin, giving himself goosebumps.

He wishes he could say he doesn’t know what he is waiting for without lying to himself. But Wei Wuxian doesn’t have any nightmares that night, nor the night after.

He can’t talk himself out of preparing for Wei Wuxian’s impossible visit but, from that day, he stops lingering near the training courtyard. He just walks by it, his head kept low and his steps fast.

He wants to say that it’s better this way, but he really doesn’t know if that’s true. He just feels empty.

Link to the top 😌

https://twitter.com/sheehan_sidhe/status/1418594737238515716?s=19

Avoiding Wei Wuxian is… easier than Lan Wangji hoped.

Of course, he feels nauseous every time he walks past the training courtyard, his heart clenching painfully as he forces himself to keep his eyes low (‘It’s better this way. It hurts now, but it will become easier with time’ he repeats to himself like a mantra).

No, what makes it ‘easy’ is the fact that Wei Wuxian is incredibly busy (Lan Wangji can pretend he WOULD come looking for him if he had the time).

The Palace is filled with guests. Noble families coming from all over the Southern Kingdom… with their daughters. Candidates for the future role of queen of Yunmeng. Wives for Jiang Cheng.

Apparently, Jiang Cheng isn’t happy with this choice. Not even in the slightest. Lan Wangji has the dubious honour of watching him and Yu Ziyuan argue about it almost every day. After a week of it, Lan Wangji would probably be able to rehearse the whole dialogue all by himself:

“Your father is not getting any younger. When you’ll succeed him, you need to have a wife at your side!” “I won’t marry a woman I don’t like, MOTHER!”. Their shouting can probably be heard all the way to Gusu, probably.

(Unfortunately, Lan Wangji is too busy pretending he cannot hear their arguments, his eyes kept low as he eats his lunch in silence, that he doesn’t notice Wei Wuxian trying to exchange an amused glance with him).

So, every night there is a banquet and Wei Wuxian has to attend all of them. “Be charming, but not too charming. Entertain the guests, BUT DON’T STEAL THE ATTENTION FROM YOUR BROTHER!” are Yu Ziyuan’s instructions for him over every lunch.

Lan Wangji frowns at her words, feeling a painful throb going through his heart at the thought of Wei Wuxian inevitably flirting with the young guests attending the banquet.

(but also a mild scepticism: does Yu Ziyuan really think Wei Wuxian could walk into a room and not steal everyone attention right away?)

Lan Wangji doesn’t know if he should consider himself lucky or unlucky for the fact that, with him only being a concubine, he is not required to attend these banquets.

He COULD, if he wished to, but he doesn’t think he could stand being the only one to whom Wei Wuxian doesn’t pay the slightest hint of attention. So he stays in his room and eats his dinner alone.

On the last day of banquets (after Jiang Cheng has utterly FAILED to choose a wife, as lamented by Yu Ziyuan over lunch) Lan Wangji is getting ready to go to sleep.

He just finished bathing. He wears one of his lace night robes (the new, cool autumn air finally allowing him to not sleep naked anymore) and goes to collect his jar of salve, ready to lie face down on his bed and prepare his body as usual.

Before he can do that, his door slams open.

Lan Wangji turns around, startled, and finds Wei Wuxian looking at him, slumped against the door frame.

“Is THAT really what you wear to sleep?” Wei Wuxian asks, stepping into the room, his words mumbled together. He brings a jar of alcohol to his lips and takes a long gulp from it.

Lan Wangji’s heart is hammering in his chest. Is this… is he her for…? He gulps and hides the jar of salve under a pillow.

“Among other things,” he replies.

“Among other things,” Wei Wuxian repeats under his breath. He walks around the room, his eyes roaming up and down Lan Wangji’s body. Lan Wangji hates that he can’t stop his ears from flushing red under his gaze.

Wei Wuxian sits down on the floor, resting his elbow over the low table Lan Wangji uses to eat his meals when he doesn’t feel like going into the dining hall.

In the middle of it, rests the small bouquet of flowers he brought back from Jiang Yanli’s pavilion. He always brings them with him when he goes back to his room.

“Do you like them?” Wei Wuxian asks, toying with one of the petals.

“Ah, yes, your highness,” Lan Wangji replies, unsure of why he is asking.

“What’s your favourite flower? Orchids?” Wei Wuxian asks with a lopsided smile.

“...gentians,” Lan Wangji replies after a second.

Wei Wuxian’s face seems to crumble. “There are no gentians here.”

Lan Wangji doesn’t know why he looks so upset by it. “They need a cooler climate,” he agrees.

Wei Wuxian just sighs and takes another gulp from his jar. Lan Wangji feels his skin tingle with a mix of uncertainty and anticipation.

“Is there something else you wished from me?” he asks after a long moment, surprised by his own boldness. He can barely hear the sound of his own words over the mad beating of his heart.
Wei Wuxian pouts. “I’m upset.”

Lan Wangji is taken aback. He blinks, but remains silent.

“My jiejie used to sit with me and pat my hair when I was upset, but she’s not here anymore,” Wei Wuxian explains, his pout making his lips stick out enticingly. They look red, and beautiful and… Lan Wangji must remember to breathe.

He snaps his eyes up, meeting Wei Wuxian’s gaze.

“Sit down?” Wei Wuxian presses, making a vague gesture towards the cushion next to him.

Lan Wangji remains frozen for half a second longer, then he hurriedly kneels on the floor right next to him. He waits.

Wei Wuxian blinks at him, unmoving, like he didn’t expect Lan Wangji to actually do as he asked. Then he nods. He takes one last, long gulp from his jar, ending up pouring half of its content all over his chin and down his chest.

Lan Wangji feels short of air. He cannot look away. He can’t stop himself from wondering what taste he would feel on his tongue if he licked it all away. The sweetness of alcohol, mixed with the saltiness of Wei Wuxian’s skin. Would that be enough to make him drunk?

He would be willing to find out. He lets out a shaky breath.

Wei Wuxian curses when he realises what he just did, the harsh words bringing Lan Wangji back to himself. Wei Wuxian shrugs his black outer robe off and uses it to dry himself at the best of his possibilities, then he throws it aside. He remains only in his red under robe.

Lan Wangji feels dizzy.

At that point, Wei Wuxian lies down, resting his head in Lan Wangji’s lap.

Lan Wangji looks down at him, frozen in place. Uncertain (horny).

When he realises that Lan Wangji is not going to move, Wei Wuxian turns his head and looks up at him, pouting.

Lan Wangji immediately lifts his hand and starts carding his fingers through the black locks. He loves him so much. He feels like crying.

Wei Wuxian closes his eyes and sighs, satisfied. “/I want to drink and sing to stop feeling blue, but the wine is tasteless and the song has nothing new/” he says, quoting a verse from something Lan Wangji has never heard before. “Lan Zhan,” he then adds. “Sing me a song.”

Lan Wangji hesitates, one song in particular immediately coming to his mind. There is one that he… he has been composing. He tried to deny it, until that moment, but he needs to accept that the notes he has been playing on the guqin lately have come together to form a new song.

It doesn’t have any words for it, yet, but he knows who he has been writing it for.

Before he can talk himself out of it, he starts humming the tune. He never stops caressing Wei Wuxian’s hair.

Wei Wuxian nods, satisfied, a tiny smile pulling the corner of his mouth. He turns his face, pressing it over Lan Wangji’s thigh, and soon he falls asleep there.

Unwilling to wake him up (unwilling to let this moment end before it needs to) Lan Wangji closes his eyes, and keeps caressing Wei Wuxian’s hair.

The next morning, he wakes up in his bed. He must have fallen asleep at a certain point, maybe jostling Wei Wuxian awake in the process. Did Wei Wuxian take him into his arms to put him into bed? And Lan Wangji was asleep for that.

Lan Wangji sighs and glances out of the window. During the last week, it had been hard for him to wake up as early as he used to do in Cloud Recesses. He always felt tired and it was easy to convince himself to remain in bed until late.

But maybe… if he hurries, he can still get to the dining hall in time for breakfast. Sit next to Wei Wuxian for a little bit. It will be alright if he doesn’t wear his makeup, he thinks.

He gets out of bed, but before he can slip out of his night robe, the door opens again and Wei Wuxian enters his room with a tray full of food. Lan Wangji’s eyes widen at its sight.

Wei Wuxian looks down at the tray and laughs embarrassed when he sees Lan Wangji’s expression. “This is an apology breakfast. For coming here last night while I was drunk.”

“It was no bother,” Lan Wangji replies in a daze, watching Wei Wuxian display over the table all the dishes he brought with him.

“Sit, sit!” Wei Wuxian says while he finishes unloading his tray.

Lan Wangji blinks, unable to look away from Wei Wuxian. Is he dreaming? Why did Wei Wuxian come here this morning, truly? Lost in his thoughts, Lan Wangji sits down and picks a piece of vegetable from one of the plates, not realising how red it looks.

“Not that one!” Wei Wuxian exclaims, too late. Lan Wangji’s mouth is going up in flames. His eyes water and his face turns red. He tries to ask for a cup of tea, but he ends up hiccuping instead. This is mortifying.

Wei Wuxian follows the line of his eyes and immediately fills a cup with tea. He rapidly passes it to Lan Wangji, who drowns it all in one gulp. It doesn’t help as much as Lan Wangji wished it to.

When he feels like he is not going to die of spontaneous combustion anymore, he lifts his watery eyes towards Wei Wuxian and finds him looking at him with a mix of chagrin and amusement.

“That… was my plate,” Wei Wuxian explains apologetically. “This one is for you. I know you don’t like spicy things, you know!”

He pushes a different plate in front of Lan Wangji who, now that he looks at it, can clearly see it is devoid of all the spices that are instead covering the other one.

“I also brought you this,” Wei Wuxian adds after a moment, sliding a plate full of Lan Wangji’s favourite sweets over the table.

Lan Wangji feels himself blushing again, this time not because of the spices. He didn’t think Wei Wuxian had noticed Lan Wangji’s predilection towards those sweets. It makes him feel… seen. Cared for, almost. They have breakfast together.

“I am also saving us both from the shouting match that is surely going on in the dining hall between Mother and Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian confides him with a cheeky grin, bumping his shoulder against Lan Wangji’s. (Lan Wangji wishes it wasn’t so easy for him to blush).

After that, the barriers that Lan Wangji had started building around himself crumble down miserably. He felt absolutely miserable when he was avoiding Wei Wuxian, only hurting himself in the process.

It feels strange not wearing makeup anymore to walk around, he feels strangely exposed without it, but he needs to come to terms with that. Wei Wuxian doesn’t like him when he wears makeup, and that’s a fact. Lan Wangji would trade more than that to get Wei Wuxian’s approval.

In the end, he knows that it doesn’t matter what kind of lies he tries to tell himself, or how he makes himself act. All of him belongs to Wei Wuxian, body and soul. He is bound to him, through his feelings even more than through the contract between Gusu and Yunmeng.

“He came to me, looking for comfort. I can live with that,” he tells himself as he closes his powders and his blushes in a box.

As he leaves his jade earrings over his bedside table. As he leaves the room looking more like a servant of the house than the concubine of the Second Prince of the Southern Kingdom.

A couple of days later, before Lan Wangji has had the time to prepare for the night, a servant girl timidly knocks on his door and informs him that Wei Wuxian has requested his company for the evening.

Lan Wangji has to put all his effort into not jumping up and stutter his thanks to the girl. He still has to clear his throat before he’s able to utter his words of thanks, but at least his voice sounds steady (albeit a bit raspy).

As soon as the girl has left, closing the door behind her, Lan Wangji jumps to his feet, a nervous energy running through his body.

Wei Wuxian… requested his presence. Wei Wuxian… Lan Wangji’s face grows hot and he presses his hands over his burning cheeks. A tentative smile stretches over his face.

He feels elated, nervous, excited. He needs to get ready.

His first instinct is to run to his jewellery box. To take all his strings of pearls and cover his body with them, dress himself in them while remaining naked underneath. To take the silver, glittery powder and make his eyelids shine. To take his eyeliner and make his eyes deeper

To present himself as the pretty treasure he is supposed to be.

He freezes half through his movements as he remembers that… Wei Wuxian doesn’t like any of those things. Probably the only reason why he finally decided to call him tonight is exactly because Lan Wangji has stopped dressing like his concubine.

He runs his hands over his body, wondering. He could go dressed like he is right now… with just a simple white under robe, but…

He throws a glance towards the jewellery box and bites his lips. He will only take one pair of jade earrings, he decides. The jade dangles from a thin golden chain and they just… make Lan Wangji feel pretty. He thinks he’d like to feel pretty tonight.

Still uncertain on what robe he is going to wear, he first takes his favourite perfumed oil (which gives off a soft sandalwood fragrance) and with trembling hands rubs it over his body until his skin is soft and his scent sweet. Then, he takes his jar of salve and couches down.

He coats his fingers with it before pushing them into himself, using them to slick and stretch his hole. He tries to be as quick as possible (a tiny part of him whispering that if he doesn’t hurry, Wei Wuxian might change his mind), but he wants it to be perfect,

so he forces himself to slow down. He bites his lips, trying to stifle the soft moan that tries to escape his mouth. For the stimulation, for the anticipation he can feel buzzing through his body.

In the end, he still wears one of his night robes. It is the most modest he has, of a light blue shade, with a cut that only barely makes it inappropriate to wear during the day. He takes a deep breath and leaves his room.

Tonight, the distance that separates his room from Wei Wuxian’s, only a few steps, feels like a journey. When he finally gets there, he lingers just outside the door, his heart hammering like crazy in his chest.

He closes his eyes, trying to ground himself. His hands feel clammy and unsteady. He rubs them over his thighs and then knocks.

“Lan Zhan? Come in!” Wei Wuxian’s voice welcomes him with cheer.

Lan Wangji pushes the door open, his eyes immediately searching for Wei Wuxian, who looks up from the documents on the low table in the middle of the room and smiles at him.

He looks him up and down, taking in his appearance (Lan Wangji hopes he finds him pleasing), and frowns. Lan Wangji’s heart skips a beat.

“Where’s your guqin?” Wei Wuxian asks, sounding confused.

Lan Wangji blinks. “My…?” Why would he bring his guqin with him?

Wei Wuxian tilts his head. “Why did you think I...” he shuts his mouth before he can finish his sentence. He looks away, his cheek colouring a dark shade of pink. He clears his throat.

“I’m having nightmares again,” he explains, fidgeting with the papers in front of him. “I thought… the song you played the other day helped and I thought you might be willing to play it for me again.”

“O-of course,” Lan Wangji stutters, already half-turned away. He bolts to his room, his whole body aflame with humiliation. How could he misunderstand Wei Wuxian’s intentions so deeply?

Has he learnt NOTHING? Of course Wei Wuxian didn’t want him for THAT. Of course. Of course. OF COURSE. How many times will he keep making a fool of himself?

He almost trips over his own feet in the rush to grab his guqin and run back to Wei Wuxian’s room.

When he gets back there, Wei Wuxian has put away the papers that were crowding his table and has sat on the bed, resting his back against the wide headboard.

Too embarrassed to meet his eyes, Lan Wangji lays his guqin on the table and sits in front of it.

“I will start playing then,” he murmurs as he starts moving his fingers over the cords. This time, it is easier to tap into his golden core and instil the right amount of spiritual energy into Cleansing.

Only after he is done playing the whole score does Lan Wangji find the courage to lift his eyes and look over Wei Wuxian, ready to ask if he should play it again, or if Wei Wuxian prefers to listen to another song instead

(the still unnamed song he composed almost prickling on the tip of his fingers). When he does, though, he sees Wei Wuxian sleeping softly, his head lolling over his own shoulder.

Careful to not wake him up, Lan Wangji puts the guqin aside and walks over to the bed. He slips one arm under Wei Wuxian’s neck and the other under his legs in order to make his body slide down and lie comfortably on the bed.

Then, he grabs the covers that Wei Wuxian crumpled in one corner of the bed and slides them across his chest. The air has been colder than usual these last few days, and he knows that Wei Wuxian doesn’t share his love for the new temperature.

He stops there. He should stop there. He surely should not touch where he isn’t allowed to touch. No matter how much he wants to brush his fingers over Wei Wuxian’s fingers, he cannot do that. Yet, he lingers, incapable (unwilling) to pull away.

Before he can force himself to move, warm long fingers close around his wrist.

Lan Wangji’s heart jumps in his throat and he turns his head. His eyes meet Wei Wuxian’s.

“Lan Zhan.” Wei Wuxian blinks at him through the haze of sleep. “What if you… slept here tonight?” he murmurs, closing his eyes again. “I didn’t have any nightmares when I fell asleep with you the other night.”

Lan Wangji’s heart hammers in his chest. He can’t allow himself to misunderstand again. He can’t HOPE, but what if… What if. He nods. He tries to step away from the bed first, to blow off the candles, but Wei Wuxian doesn’t let go of his wrist.

“I...” Lan Wangji murmurs, feeling himself blush. “The lights.”

“Mn,” Wei Wuxian hums, his eyes still closed. He moves his other hand in a circular motion, and just like that he snuffs all the little flames at once.

Completely surrounded by darkness, Lan Wangji slips under the covers right next to Wei Wuxian. He rests his cheek on the pillow, head turned in Wei Wuxian’s direction and holds his breath.

His heart is beating so hard, he is almost sure it can be heard from across the room. Surely it can be heard by the person lying right next to him.

He extends his trembling hands across the bed and presses them over Wei Wuxian’s chest. He leaves them for a long moment, waiting to be pushed away. To be scorned. He can feel Wei Wuxian’s heartbeat under his fingertips.

When it seems like Wei Wuxian isn’t going to react, Lan Wangji tries to open his robes. His hands are trembling so hard he almost can’t close his fingers around them.

He exhales, trying to steady himself. When he tries again, though, Wei Wuxian covers his hand with one of his and stops him.

“Sleep now,” he murmurs, giving Lan Wangji’s hand a gentle squeeze.

Lan Wangji shuts his eyes tightly, feeling the harsh sting of rejection. He ignores the familiar way he can feel them burn and nods anyway.

“Sleep,” Wei Wuxian repeats, his voice soft, but doesn’t remove his hand. He keeps it pressed over Lan Wangji’s, right over his heart.

Lan Wangji falls asleep feeling the steady rhythm of Wei Wuxian’s heart under his fingertips.

Link to the top:

https://twitter.com/sheehan_sidhe/status/1418594737238515716?s=19

Yu Ziyuan has a headache. When she woke up that morning, her head was already pounding unpleasantly with it. She doesn’t know why, but she has had a bad feeling for days and it finally resulted in a headache.

She is making her way towards the dining hall while rubbing her fingers against her temples. Breakfast, she hopes, will help. Although she is fed up with the sickening sweet looks Wei Wuxian exchanges with his concubine. So much for not wanting him.

He fell harder than a sack of potatoes. She’ll need to talk with him: he had months with him already. Those kinds of glances belong in the bedchambers, they should keep them there. It is unbecoming for a Prince to look like a love-sick teenager in front of everyone.

She hears giggling in the distance and she rolls her eyes. How did they manage to fill the Palace with servants so shallow, she has no idea. She sighs, ready to give them a good scolding, but then their voices reach her and she freezes in her steps.

“Yes, it was this morning!” One of them is whispering to the other between a giggle and the next. “I saw Lan-gongzi coming out of the Second Prince’s chambers!”

“Finally!” the second girl replies, covering her mouth with her hands. “I couldn’t bear to see him sigh all day!”

Yu Ziyuan has the feeling that her headache is only going to get worse.

“What’s going on here?” she asks, sharply, walking towards them.

The two girls gasp at her sigh and immediately kneel on the floor, aware of having been caught gossiping. “Your Majesty.”

“Don’t grovel. Tell me what you were talking about. Now!” Yu Ziyuan barks.

The two girls exchange a quick look. “We… saw Lan-gongzi leaving the Second Prince’s chambers this morning.”

Yu Ziyuan presses her lips together, trying to keep her cool. If she starts yelling, she won’t get anything out of these two. “And what’s new about that? Lan Wangji has been a concubine for months now.”

“I… well...” the other girl stutters, lowering her head even further. “They never… we don’t think they...”

“Speak, girl!”

“Lan-gongzi never spent the night with the Second Prince. Not… not like that,” the girl sobs. “We were wrong to gossip, your Majesty. Please punish this lowly servant.”

What. They never… Yu Ziyuan’s eyes burn like a blue flame. "You’re dismissed.”

Yu Ziyuan watches the two girls do their best to not run down the corridor, away from her. She grits her teeth and she proceeds towards the dining hall.

If what the two girls said is true… suddenly, the sickening glances Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian keep sending towards each other start making sense.

She knew that Wei Wuxian was reluctant to take the Lan boy as concubine, but she thought that was behind them at this point. Yu Ziyuan herself was opposed to having a concubine in their Palace at first… but do it properly or not at all, that’s what she taught her children.

(Which, together with the Jiang’s “Attempt the impossible”, creates a deadly mix). Wei Wuxian sure treated Lan Wangji as his concubine OUTSIDE of the bedchambers. So what is keeping him back?

She needs to see it for herself. Watch them through this new information.

During breakfast she observes them. Lan Wangji blushes, keeps his eyes low, while Wei Wuxian fills his plate with a selection of vegetables and sweets. Her idiot of a son is clearly smitten with the Lan boy. Which means it’s not him who is holding them back.

She sighs. Fine. She’ll need to take the issue in her own hands, apparently. Like she always does.

https://twitter.com/sheehan_sidhe/status/1432444476883193858?s=19

Meanwhile, casually pinning this here.
(Hold your horses, it has nothing to do with the next scene. Probably.)

Lan Wangji feels himself being watched. More than usual that is. Yu Ziyuan’s piercing gaze follows him during breakfast & all the way through lunch. He thinks it is probably due to the way Wei Wuxian is jokingly doting on him today & he feels warmth creep up the back of his neck.

Lan Wangji lowers his head, embarrassed. He feels like she’s telling him he is not allowed to lean into the tiny bit of attention that Wei Wuxian is giving him and he resents her for it. Is he really not allowed even this much?

When Wei Wuxian laughs, playful and soft, and tries to feed Lan Wangji a piece of sweet, Lan Wangji lowers his eyes and shakes his head, afraid that Yu Ziyuan will judge him shallow and vapid otherwise. Wei Wuxian pouts, but he doesn’t insist.

((Cw: drugs and 🔞. Also, things were supposed to go worse than this 😂 then @humanformdragon reminded me that they needed to talk about STUFF™️ first... so you can blame her for what's going to happen 😂)) #cryptic

That evening, when Lan Wangji gets back to his room, he finds it enveloped in the sweet scent of the incense that someone has lit in it while he was away. The relief of being finally alone, away from Yu Ziyuan’s scrutinising stare,

is so great that he doesn’t stop to find the fact weird. The fragrance is nice, and he lets the incense burn while he takes his evening bath.

That’s also why it takes him a while to realise he is starting to feel weird. He sways when he exits the bathtub, his head suddenly feeling incredibly light.

He wraps himself in a towel, trying to stop the shivers that have started to run through his body, then he throws it on the floor a moment later. His skin is burning, he doesn’t feel cold. And yet he can’t stop shivering.

He should get dressed, but as he eyes his most veiled set of robes, he knows they would hurt over his hypersensitive skin. He shudders at the mere thought of having the fabric brush against his nipples.

He wants to see Wei Wuxian, he realises as another shiver courses through his body. He takes a step towards his door, unable to CARE about the fact that he is completely naked and that the simple thought of Wei Wuxian is enough to make his cock grow hard between his legs.

Wei Wuxian is waiting for him, Lan Wangji is supposed to play Cleansing for him every night.

His knees tremble, and his legs give out under him, making him fall to the floor with a whimper.He presses a hand against his aching cock, trying to make the throbbing sensation go away.

That’s a mistake. His cock leaks copiously at his touch, warm liquid dripping between his fingers, and Lan Wangji can’t pull his hand away. He rocks his hips, pressing harder against his own hand, rubbing against it.

Despite it, he can’t bring himself to close his fingers around his length: pleasuring oneself is forbidden. Gusu Lan’s teachings echo through his head with his uncle’s voice.

Even if it wasn’t, he KNOWS that his hand wouldn’t be enough. He needs… he needs…

“Wei Ying,” he whispers, the Second Prince’s birth name falling from his lips with a whimper and the taste of the forbidden.

Lan Wangji crawls into his bed, his limbs shaking. He presses his face into the pillow, warm tears of frustration and confusion rolling down his cheeks. He can’t go to Wei Wuxian like this. Desperate. Needy.

He knows that Wei Wuxian doesn’t want him and he would only make a fool of himself. He is TIRED of feeling humiliated. But the way his skin buzzes and tingles is driving him crazy.

Coming to a sudden decision, he lets himself fall on the floor again. On all fours, he starts moving towards his hidden box, the one where he hid the jade plug that he hasn’t worn since the first night, hoping that THAT at least will allow him some form of relief.

He takes the box between his trembling hands but, before he can lift the lid and retrieve what’s inside, the door opens behind him. He freezes, almost dropping the box.

“Lan Zhan, I was waiting for you,” Wei Wuxian says as he enters the room.

Lan Wangji can hear the pout in his voice before he even sees it. He lets the box fall to the floor and turns around.

‘Wei Ying,’ he thinks. ‘Wei Ying is here.’

Wei Wuxian freezes, caught off guard by the sight of Lan Wangji on all fours on the floor, stark naked and with his face wet with tears, crawling towards him.

“What the...” he starts. Then, his eyes widen and he rapidly looks around. Immediately, he covers his nose with his sleeve and rushes to the window, throwing it open.

He then kneels in front of the incense, still burning on the low table in the middle of the room, and dunks it into a jar of water. “Lan Zhan, who gave you that incense?”

Lan Wangji doesn’t reply. He doesn’t know and he wouldn’t know how to reply and… is that even important? Wei Wuxian is there, in front of him.

He shakes his head and silently crawls into Wei Wuxian’s lap, his fear of rejection and humiliation flying out of the window together with the sweet aroma of the incense.

“Please, please,” is the only thing he can say, begging Wei Wuxian for he doesn’t even know what, as he throws his arms around his neck.

Wei Wuxian’s hands rise immediately and come to rest on Lan Wangji’s waist. Lan Wangji sighs at the touch, his hips unconsciously thrusting forward. The faint stimulation he receives in return as he rubs against Wei Wuxian’s thigh is enough to make his cock twitch and leak.

The wretched moan that escapes his lips catches even him by surprise. Mindlessly, he turns his head towards Wei Wuxian, trying to kiss his mouth.

“Lan Zhan, stop. Stop!” Wei Wuxian begs, tightening his grip around his waist and trying to keep him still. “You don’t want this!”

Lan Wangji whimpers and rolls his hips. “I want you. I want you,” he moans, closing his eyes and finally pressing his mouth against Wei Wuxian’s. “Since the beginning, I… but, ah...” he freezes,

his eyes opening wide as his head clears minutely and he remembers himself for a moment. His eyes fill with tears. “You don’t want me,” he whimpers, lowering his head. He presses his face against Wei Wuxian’s shoulder and starts sobbing.

“What?” Wei Wuxian asks, baffled, and rubs his hands over Lan Wangji’s back in the attempt to be soothing.

Except, Lan Wangji moans again. Even distressed as he is, Wei Wuxian’s hands on his skin make him arch his back in pleasure.

Wei Wuxian swallows, his Adam’s apple moving up and down in his throat. “Lan Zhan, what do you mean that I don’t want you?”

Lan Wangji whimpers against his neck. “You d-don’t want me,” he sobs, only able to repeat himself. His thoughts a jumbled mess right now. “I’m only a b-burden to you.”

Wei Wuxian takes Lan Wangji’s face between his hands and makes him look at him. Lan Wangji whines, immediately missing their presence on his back.

“Lan Zhan, I… that first night,” Wei Wuxian winces at his own words. He clenches his jaw before continuing. “I was drunk. And harsh.

And I… I made you cry, Lan Zhan. You were scared. It was clear you didn’t want to be there, and I went on with it anyway. I wanted to make you cry. I...”

Lan Wangji shakes his head, the memory and the fear of that first night feel so distant now. They seem to belong to another person. He remembers his uncertainty in front of his new life and the Second Prince, who seemed so cold and frightening then,but…he is only Wei Wuxian now.

Lan Wangji shakes his head again, trying to clear it from the clouds that are surrounding it. He wishes it didn’t feel so light and empty right now.

It’s so difficult to focus on anything that isn’t the maddening pressure of Wei Wuxian’s leg against his crotch. He rolls his hips again, rubbing mindlessly against it.

Wei Wuxian presses his forehead against Lan Wangji’s. “You don’t need to do this. Lan Zhan, I swear, I will treat you properly. I will treat you well, even if you… you don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. I won’t force you again. I am so sorry I did already.”

New tears of frustration form at the corners of Lan Wangji’s eyes. He needs to make Wei Wuxian understand. He needs to explain. But his head is spinning and when he opens his mouth, what he ends up blurting out is: “I love you.”

His eyes widen as he hears himself say those words, but now that he has, he can’t take them back. “I love you so much,” he repeats, and he starts sobbing in earnest.

Wei Wuxian winces at his words. “No you don’t.”

Lan Wangji closes his hands around the lapels of Wei Wuxian’s robes. “I do. I love you.”

“B-but… you were trembling, Lan Zhan. Even the other day, you… your hands were shaking.”

“I was nervous,” Lan Wangji sobs. “I want to please you, but… I… I read so many books, but I don’t… I don’t know how.”

He shudders, a new shiver of pleasure running through his body, and he can’t stop another moan from escaping his lips. His skin feels on fire. He wants Wei Wuxian to touch him. Kiss him. TAKE HIM. “What’s happening to me?”

Wei Wuxian wraps him into his arms, pressing him against his chest. Every part of Lan Wangji’s skin that brushes against him lights up. His hips thrusts forward against his will, and he stops fighting to keep them still. “Please, please, please,” he begs, seeking more friction.

“What do you need?” Wei Wuxian asks, his voice soft and gentle. Lan Wangji loves him even more.

“F-fuck me,” he whispers, lifting his eyes to him, looking at him pleadingly. “Please.”

“That… ah. Lan Zhan, you are under a very strong drug right now.” Wei Wuxian cups his cheek with his hand. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I always want you to fuck me,” Lan Wangji insists, the rocking of his hips turning faster and frantic. It’s like a dam has broken inside of him, and now words just keep spilling out without any restrain.

He opens his mouth and turns his head, closing his lips around Wei Wuxian’s thumb. He sucks on it greedily. He lets it slip out after a moment, and takes Wei Wuxian’s middle and forefinger in his mouth.

He swirls his tongue around them, looking at Wei Wuxian with pleading eyes. He needs him to understand. He needs him to fill him. It doesn’t matter how. He has waited so long for this.

“Oh, gods,” Wei Wuxian pants when he realises what Lan Wangji is asking. He lets him suck on his fingers for a little longer, until they are properly coated with his saliva. He tightens his other arm around his waist then, and holds him close.

Lan Wangji whimpers as, in this position, it becomes hard for him to keep humping against Wei Wuxian’s leg. Wei Wuxian shushes him gently, pressing his lips against the crook of his neck.

Lan Wangji quietens when he feels Wei Wuxian’s hand press against his lower back, slowly trailing down his cleft.

“Oh,” Lan Wangji moans then, spreading his knees further, trying to give him better access.

His head spins when he feels Wei Wuxian’s fingers circle his hole. He immediately feels himself relax, melting in his arms, and when Wei Wuxian’s fingers press gently inside, his muscles give way easily after months of preparation.

“Oh,” he repeats once again, his head lolling to the side, his voice rising high through the room. This is what feels to be run through a lighting, he thinks. All his nerves are on fire. He never wants this to end.

He holds on Wei Wuxian as the blissful warmth grows and grows within himself, until it explodes in a blinding pleasure. He closes his eyes, losing himself in the sensation. He turns his head, seeking the comfort of We Wuxian’s lips against his own, and he spills between them.

Wei Wuxian holds him as he shakes in the aftermath of his orgasm. Lan Wangji collapses against Wei Wuxian’s chest afterwards, panting heavily as he is held up only by the arms around his waist.

Suddenly, his head seems to clear all at once and he freezes, horrified. The full realisation of what just happened falling over him like a ton of bricks.

“Your Highness,” he says, his voice unsteady, trying to get away from Wei Wuxian’s embrace. “I shouldn’t have, I...”

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian says, his voice soft. He plants a gentle kiss over Lan Wangji’s neck, and Lan Wangji melts. “I love you too.”

Lan Wangji starts crying for an entirely different reason.

“Come on,” Wei Wuxian says after Lan Wangji has stopped weeping. He pulls them both up. “Let’s take a bath.”

Lan Wangji is extremely grateful for Wei Wuxian’s arms around his waist: he isn’t sure his legs would hold him up otherwise.

“Your Highness,” Lan Wangji says, embarrassed, keeping his eyes low.

Wei Wuxian shushes him. “Wei Ying,” he corrects him.

Lan Wangji swallows, a tiny, shy smile stretching his lips. “You still haven’t...” he says, gesturing vaguely towards Wei Wuxian’s crotch.

Wei Wuxian blushes and averts his eyes. “Oh, no,” he clears his throat. “I have.” He laughs. “That’s also why I suggested a bath.”

In the end, they lower themselves together in Lan Wangji’s small tub, and Lan Wangji falls asleep with his back pressed against Wei Wuxian’s chest.

Wei Wuxian’s arms wrapped around him. What happened tonight… it doesn’t feel real. ‘If it is a dream,’ he thinks as he closes his eyes, ‘I hope I don’t ever wake up.’

When he DOES wake up the next morning, he immediately knows what happened the night before is real, as he wakes up to the screaming of Yu Ziyuan and Wei Wuxian reaching him from down the corridor.

Lan Wangji hears Yu Ziyuan laugh. “Shut it, Wei Ying. It worked, didn’t it.”

Wei Wuxian groans. Lan Wangji can almost see him rubs his hands against his face.

“Mother, from now on, please kindly abstain from meddling in my businesses!” Wei Wuxian yells in the end, before stomping away.

The door to Lan Wangji's room opens a few moments later.

"That woman is a monster!" Wei Wuxian complains. "Comfort me?"

Lan Wangji blushes, but opens his arms, and Wei Wuxian is all too happy to throw himself back in bed with him.

((Ok, fair warning: I didn’t have time to read it over before posting because I'm already late to work 😂 so, apologies if this section is filled with even more mistakes than usual!))

🔞 Yu Ziyuan becomes unbearably smug after that, but neither Lan Wangji nor Wei Wuxian seem to care too much about it, in the end.

(frankly, they start to skip breakfast after that, but they can’t say it’s completely related to her presence in the dining hall. And honestly, they know that their absence only ends up making her even more smug)

Despite her methods surely not being considered orthodox, they did force them to face each other’s feelings. Now, it’s more common to see them leave each other’s room in the morning than not.

And Lan Wangji would lie if he’d say that he didn’t enjoy the way some of the servant girls giggle, thinking they are being subtle, when they see him walking through the corridors.

There is also the mortifying episode, a couple of days later, in which Wei Wuxian happens to find Lan Wangji’s secret box (and the plug that’s hidden inside). Frankly, it is Lan Wangji’s fault for not putting it properly away after the night with the aphrodisiac.

At first, Wei Wuxian laughed at its sight, thinking it was a joke, or something. Something they gave Lan Wangji when it left Gusu without expecting him to actually ever use it. He immediately falls silent when Lan Wangji decides to tell him that no, he did use it.

That he was expected to use it way more often than he did. Wei Wuxian’s laughter dies at that, his eyes fixed on the jade plug with renewed interest.

“Will you show me?” he asks, his eyes burning with arousal.

Lan Wangji doesn’t even consider telling him no, his skin already buzzing in anticipation. He disrobes slowly, loving the feeling of Wei Wuxian’s gaze upon his skin. Wondering if a part of him finds what he is seeing pleasing.

He shudders at the thought: there are moments in which he still struggles to believe that the last couple of days are real, but… “I like you, I adore you, I love you,” Wei Wuxian keeps murmuring against his lips every morning, while he kisses Lan Wangji senseless.

It becomes harder and harder NOT believing it.

Once naked, Lan Wangji takes his jar of salve and goes to lie on the bed. He takes the jade plug and spreads his legs wide enough to allow Wei Wuxian to SEE.

It feels like his whole body is going up in flame with arousal and embarrassment. Suddenly feeling shy, he hesitates for a moment. He turns his face away, avoiding Wei Wuxian’s eyes as he coats his fingers with the slippery salve and circles them around the head of the plug.

Before he has found the courage to look back, he feels the mattress dipping under the weight of another person. A warm hand brushes against his inner thigh and he gasps, surprised.

He turns his head back and finds Wei Wuxian knelt between his legs, caressing his skin while gently smiling at him.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Wei Wuxian says, leaning forward and planting a kiss on the tender skin of Lan Wangji’s leg. That’s enough to send a thrill of excitement through Lan Wangji’s body. They have been… close, in the last few days.

There have been touches, but they haven’t… they didn’t yet… and so, even a feather-like kiss is enough for Lan Wangji to start getting hard. He struggles against the impulse to close his legs, shield himself from Wei Wuxian’s eyes.

Then he remembers that he IS allowed to desire Wei Wuxian, and with that renewed awareness he feels his body starting to relax.

“I want to,” he replies to Wei Wuxian’s kind words and he moves the jade plug between his parted legs. He spreads them further, lifting his knees just enough to keep himself stable.

He circles the head of the plug around his entrance and immediately his muscles start to relax and open, reacting to the touch of the familiar object.

It was hard to admit it to himself before, especially when the rules against pleasuring oneself kept echoing in the back of his mind, but he always loves feeling his hole stretch around the plug, giving in before clenching down again around the narrower base,

locking it inside himself. Now, he loses himself in the pleasure for a moment, and he moans loudly when it happens.

“Does it feel good?” Wei Wuxian asks tenderly, his fingers brushing against Lan Wangji’s soft skin, moving softly, almost teasingly, down between his legs. In the next breath, his hand closes around the flared-out base of the plug before giving it a gentle tug.

Lan Wangji can’t stop another moan from slipping out of his lips. He throws his head back and throws his arm over his eyes. He nods in assent, words already out of his reach.

“Good,” Wei Wuxian whispers. “Relax,” he adds, before taking Lan Wangji’s hard and leaking cock in his other hand and guiding it into his mouth. Lan Wangji has never felt this kind of pleasure before.

Wei Wuxian licks and sucks at Lan Wangji’s cock, his lips wrapped beautifully around its length as he keeps pulling at the jade plug, making it slip out of Lan Wangji’s hole just for a moment, and never completely, just enough for Lan Wangji to enjoy its stretch,

before pushing it back inside, over and over again.

Lan Wangji clutches at the covers, holding so tightly that his knuckles turn white around it, like that feeble contact might stop him from losing himself in the pleasure that Wei Wuxian is giving him.

After what feels too soon and an eternity at the same time, Lan Wangji spills in Wei Wuxian’s mouth with a wrecked moan, and Wei Wuxian leads him through the orgasm by tenderly caressing his hips and humming in encouragement as he swallows all of his spend.

Lan Wangji’s limbs tremble faintly but, no matter how weakly, he grasps at Wei Wuxian’s arms anyway, pulling him atop of his body. Lan Wangji loves feeling Wei Wuxian’s weight upon him, covering him and pressing him down.

Everything feels amazing. He wants to wrap himself in Wei Wuxian’s scent and in his arms.

Needing even more contact, he cups his face between his hands and pulls it down, pressing his mouth together in a feverish kiss.

He loves the way he can immediately feel Wei Wuxian’s tongue invading his mouth, licking into it over and over. It feels like a prelude to penetration (and Lan Wangji can’t wait to finally feel Wei Wuxian’s hard cock will feel as it pushes inside, thrusting mercilessly into him).

Lost in the kiss, he gasps surprised as he feels Wei Wuxian’s hardness press against his hip and. A sudden thrill runs through his body as he realises that Wei Wuxian hasn’t come yet.

Lan Wangji frantically runs all the teaching he received through his mind, seeking the most alluring one to ask Wei Wuxian to FINALLY take him. But his mind is still clouded by pleasure and bliss, and thinking is hard.

So, in the end, he ends up pushing his hand between their sweaty bodies and closes his fingers around Wei Wuxian’s hard length, giving it a firm stroke.

Wei Wuxian moans softly at his touch and deepens the kiss. “Yes, Lan Zhan. Just like that. Keep going,” he murmurs before devouring his mouth again.

Feeling only a tinge of disappointment at the realisation that Wei Wuxian is not going to fuck him tonight,

Lan Wangji does like Wei Wuxian asked and, on a second thought, he loves feeling his cock throb into the palm of his hand as he moves his hand up and down its hard length. He is giving Wei Wuxian pleasure and that can be enough, for now.

Wei Wuxian keeps kissing him, only briefly pausing to murmur suggestions and encouragements against Lan Wangji’s lips. Lan Wangji shivers at every single one of them, loving to know he is doing what Wei Wuxian is asking.

After a short while, Wei Wuxian shudders. He presses his mouth against Lan Wangji’s lips in a bruising kiss and spills between them.

He collapses over Lan Wangji’s body afterwards, and Lan Wangji can again enjoy the feeling of being pressed into the mattress under his weight. He loves feeling like he couldn’t get again, even if he wanted. He really LOVES it.

For a moment, he considers bringing his sticky hand to his lips and licking it clean, but a seated feeling comes over him. He hastily wipes it over the covers before wrapping his arms around Wei Wuxian and falling asleep, holding him and being held in return.

((Wow, this update took forever! Almost a month, gee! Sorry for the delay everyone!! *cries in tired and busy* As mentioned earlier, I cannot grammar today, so apologies if this update sucks a bit ahah))

One month goes idly by, and then things go sour.
Jiang Cheng has been asking Wei Wuxian to go hunting with him for weeks and after receiving a refusal after the other, he decides to go by himself.

“We’ll go next week, Jiang Cheng! Today I promised Lan Zhan I would...” was always Wei Wuxian’s reply, over and over. It isn’t that Jiang Cheng doesn’t understand him, or that he’s mad or jealous. His brother is in love, and he is happy for him.

He just got tired of waiting for him. So one day he jumps on his horse, takes a handful of his most trusted soldiers, and heads off. 

He doesn’t come back.

On the third day, the hope that they have just encountered a setback and they are only running late turns into the certainty that they run into some serious trouble.

Wei Wuxian jumps on his swords and takes off, not even waiting for the royal guard to join him, and for the first time Lan Wangji really sees in him the feared Yunmeng general people talked about: shadow riding with him as he looked like he could take down a whole army all by

himself.

Yu Ziyuan goes after him moments later.

Lan Wangji can only remain at the palace, waiting together with Jiang Fengmian.

They take three days to come back, their faces haunted and Wei Wuxian’s robes dirty with what looks like old blood.

Apparently, they found one of Jiang Cheng’s guards still alive. Heavily wounded, but still alive. Before he died of his injuries he managed to tell them all he could about the attack… because they were attacked. Someone was waiting for them, he says.

They ambushed them, they went for Jiang Cheng (who, at the time, was dressed exactly like the rest of them, so the attackers must have had clear instructions regarding his appearance).

The guards did all they could do to protect Jiang Cheng, but they got separated. The dying guard didn’t know if it meant that Jiang Cheng got away or that he was killed.

“He died in my arms,” Wei Wuxian confided to Lan Wangji that night. There nothing that Lan Wangji can say to that, nothing could really comfort him, so he stays close to him and hugs him, giving him all the comfort he can.

The next morning, they set off to look for Jiang Cheng again. The whole royal guard goes with them.

They do not find him: Wei Wuxian is the new crown prince.

The kingdom prepares for several months of mourning, except, Jiang Fengmian falls ill. Some people say he hasn’t been healthy in years, others speculate that he just couldn’t stand the pain of losing a son.

No matter the reason behind it, the need for Wei Wuxian to be ready to succeed to the throne becomes impelling. Before he knows it, the palace is filled with guests: princesses and young daughters of noble families. Among them, there might be the future queen of the nation.

The day after their arrival, Lan Wangji spends the whole morning (and a good part of the afternoon) in bed. Wei Wuxian is away again, still looking for his brother despite having everyone assuring him that he must be dead. So who would Lan Wangji get out of bed for?

He buries himself deeper under the covers, surrounding himself with darkness. He feels sick in the stomach at the thought of Wei Wuxian taking an official wife and he calls himself stupid for it.

He is a concubine, a male concubine at that: he was never supposed to be anyone’s only. He arrived in Yunmeng to be the crown prince’s concubine! He knew what that would entail, he prepared for it for YEARS!

A warm, alluring body for the prince, nothing more. He could only hope to be SECOND after the official wife, and that if he was lucky. He knew that.

But then. He was given to Wei Wuxian, who turned out to be kind and funny and loving, and Lan Wangji just fell in love with him so hard. Now, the idea of sharing him with anyone makes him want to puke.

What’s worse, his plans of hiding away in his rooms until all of it is over get cruelly shattered when he gets informed by Yu Ziyuan’s servants that, as the crown prince’s concubine, he needs to attend all the meetings and the meals with these WOMEN.

So he is forced to face them, see how they look at him, sneer at him.

He hears their whispers in the corridors. He never missed Cloud Recesses’ rule against gossip more since apparently they all heard about the details of his arrival to Lotus Pier,

one way or the other: how he was supposed to go to Jiang Cheng at first but was rejected and forced upon Wei Wuxian’s instead.

“And he is a MALE concubine,” one of them snickers. “Mother said we should be wary of him, but what can he offer that we can’t?”

Lan Wangji burns with rage and embarrassment, but keeps it all inside: with his hurt and his doubts. He is good at doing that. To all those women, he presents himself as cool and unfazed, and he hopes that’s enough.

It is not.

With Wei Wuxian being either away, looking for his brother, or cooped up in his study, going over documents and bandits' roots, the princesses and the noble daughters need an outlet for their frustration. Of course that outlet ends up being Lan Wangji.

They keep talking behind his back, but always near enough to make sure he can hear all their harmful words.

One of them makes him trip. Accidentally, of course.

Whatever they throw his way, Lan Wangji is determined to endure. Wei Wuxian is so worried with his brother’s disappearance and the succession already that Lan Wangji can’t bring himself to burden him with his tiny problems. It’s all harmless pranks after all.

So Lan Wangji remains silent. At night, when Wei Wuxian joins him in his bed and snuggles close to him, Lan Wangji listens to his theories and his plans regarding where he is going to search for Jiang Cheng next and then, when he is asked about his day,

he just hums and wishes him a goodnight.

Lan Wangji is tired though. He misses Wei Wuxian’s everyday presence at his side, he misses his own visits to Jiang Yanli’s pavilion: with all the guests roaming around, he doesn’t dare going there.

One day, he just reaches the point in which going to the dining hall feels like too much. Wei Wuxian has been away for two whole days, searching for Jiang Cheng as always, and Lan Wangji just doesn’t think he can deal with the princesses’ sniggering and veiled insults.

So he skips dinner, and goes directly to bed.

Immediately, as he enters the room, he feels like there is something strange. There is nothing that looks out of place, exactly, but he can’t shake off the weird feeling.

He scans the furniture, the cabinets (his eyes dart to the place where he hid his box), then his eyes land on the bed. There is a crease in the covers. There are never any creases in Lan Wangji’s bed. So he grabs them and lifts them.

cw scorpions

He gasps out loud, because in his bed there are at least ten big scorpions. They are not of the poisonous kind, Lan Wangji recognises them immediately, but their sting hurts and in a second, he loses all the calm and composure he managed to keep until that moment.

cw scorpions

He grabs the mattress cover and folds it, making a bundle out of it, then he rushes off to the dining hall. He bursts into the room, his breathing heavy and his eyes burning with rage.

He scans the room, looking over the princesses and nobles’ daughters one by one. He immediately finds the culprits: two of the princesses, the two that more than the others always seemed to be there when something happened to Lan Wangji.

As soon as his eyes land on them, they turn their heads away, pretending they weren’t sniggering and pointing at him until a second before.

cw scorpions

Lan Wangji clenches his jaw and walks up to them, all his training in elegance and grace forgotten. He throws the bundle of covers at them and they screech, jumping back, even before the scorpions fall into their laps.

cw scorpions

“Scorpions! Scorpions!” one of them yells.

“What the hell are you doing?” the second one exclaims instead, jumping up.

Lan Wangji is so consumed by rage that he doesn’t even notice Yu Ziyuan, in the corner of his eye, standing up.

“What are YOU doing?” Lan Wangji replies. His voice sounds harsh and cold, controlled, just like he remembers his uncle’s being when he scolded the disciples in Cloud Recesses, and for a moment he feels proud of himself. “I have been patient.

cw scorpions

I have been ignoring your petty pranks, your rude words. You will stop now. You pushed this so far that you forgot about your limits. You filled the bed the crown prince sleeps in with scorpions,” he says, and his voice trembles slightly on the last sentence.

“Stop crying,” he adds to the girl on the floor, still freaking out for the scorpions. “I killed them before bringing them here.”

He closes his eyes, allowing himself a moment to breathe and bring himself back under control.

“You may be able to bear Wei Ying’s children, but you could never become queen. The first duty of every person living in the palace is to take care of the king. If you don’t understand that, then get out and leave!”

The room falls into silence. The two young women are too ashamed to even try to reply.

At that moment, Lan Wangji feels a hand pressing on his elbow and he turns around, meeting Yu Ziyuan’s eyes. He winces, reading himself for a harsh scolding, but Yu Ziyuan doesn’t say anything

to him, harsh or otherwise. She just dismisses the hall, bidding everyone a good night, and leads him away.

Lan Wangji follows her blindly, too shaken to think where they are going. Finally, she opens a door and Lan Wangji realises that they are back in his and Wei Wuxian’s

quarters, more precisely, in Wei Wuxian’s room.

“Lan Zhan!” Wuxian exclaims when he sees him. He is still wearing his travel robes, which in turn look dusty and worn out. He must have just come back to Lotus Pier.

“Lan Zhan, what’s wrong?” he adds after a moment, his eyes darting from him to Yu Ziyuan then back on him again.

“What’s wrong is that you are behaving like an immature child, and your concubine is taking the full brunt of it,” Yu Ziyuan replies. Her voice is harsh, but it almost sounds gentle to Lan Wangji’s ears.

She keeps going. She assures Wei Wuxian that what he is feeling, she is feeling too, she is probably feeling more. She lost her SON: there is no one who wants Jiang Cheng to be found more than her, but there are responsibilities.

“And while you shut yourself away, the man you claim to love is being picked on. He is more aware of his new role than you are, Wei Ying, and you could learn a thing or two from him.” With that, she leaves the room.

Wei Wuxian’s eyes are wild. He hurries to Lan Wangji’s side, almost tripping in his half discarded robes. As soon as he feels his arms around himself, Lan Wangji relaxes into them, collapsing against Wei Wuxian’s chest with a pained sigh.

He then lifts his head, blindly searching for Wei Wuxian’s mouth. They kiss slowly, languidly. After a while, Wei Wuxian starts disrobing them both and Lan Wangji shivers, lets him do it, relishing in his care.

🔞 When Lan Wangji’s head starts spinning with arousal and his breathing turns into excited mewls, Wei Wuxian takes him into his arms and takes him to his bed. There, he opens him carefully,

🔞 lovingly, paying attention to all and every moan that leaves Lan Wangji’s lips, to all the way he can make him arch in pleasure. It is funny, Lan Wangji thinks, that the day he finally gets what he wanted is when he didn’t prepare at all for it.

The next day the princesses and the nobles’ daughters get sent away. Officially, the crown believes that they spent enough time in the palace and it hopes that Wei Wuxian will be able to choose a wife soon, but everyone knows that none of them acted as befits a queen.

Especially after what happens on the last day of their stay:

Lan Wangji doesn’t know if he humiliated the two girls enough to push them into revenge or if it was their clumsy way to make amends, but during the last meal before their departure,

one of them offers a toast to Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji flushes red at that, not knowing what to do. After what happened the day before, he doesn’t want to appear ungrateful or petty but… he cannot drink.

It is not even about Gusu Lan’s rules (gods know he broke enough already after he came here), he knows what would happen if he drank alcohol.

((Let’s all pretend there has been a scene in the past in which he drank some alcohol with Wei Wuxian and it ended poorly… or hilariously. One of the two. The point is that LWJ knows he really should avoid alcohol)).

Lan Wangji’s hesitation is picked up by the other guests, some of them watch him with interest, clearly wondering what he will do (anticipating the drama, probably), others seem to get offended by his blatant disregard of common courtesy.

Fuck it, Lan Wangji thinks in the end. He can’t make Wei Wuxian lose face more than he already did! He brings the cup to his lips, ready to swallow it in one go and be done with it,

consequences be damned, but before the liquid can touch his lips, a hand appears from behind him and snatches the cup out of his hand.

“I will drink for him,” Wei Wuxian says, dawning it.

Lan Wangji shivers at his display of authority, at the way Wei Wuxian’s Adam’s apple moves up and down his throat as he swallows. Memories of the previous night crowd his mind and for a fleeting moment

he imagines himself leaning against Wei Wuxian’s leg, nuzzling into it as Wei Wuxian cards his fingers through his hair. He almost wishes Wei Wuxian would do it for real, and show everyone there that Lan Wangji truly belongs to him.

A tiny whimper escapes Lan Wangji’s lips, but he forces himself not to move.

After that, everyone finally leaves and things seem to go back to normal.