None of the three said anything. After they had walked out of the Library Pavilion, Lan WangJi finally spoke, “I will go see Uncle.”
Having been silent for a long time, Lan XiChen spoke as well, “I will bring Young Master Wei back. You can come afterwards.”
Leading Wei WuXian, he walked along the white-pebble paths of the Cloud Recesses for a while before they returned to the secluded, gentian-filled cottage in the depths of the mountains. Wei WuXian stood in front of the door, “Does Mr. Lan know that HanGuang-Jun…”
Lan XiChen, “Uncle has just woken up. I told everyone not to tell him anything unnecessary.”
If Lan QiRen knew of the things that Lan WangJi did with him under Koi Tower, he’d definitely be so angry that he passed out right after he had woken up. Wei WuXian, “Much thanks to Senior Lan for all of the work that he’s done.”
Lan XiChen, “Uncle has done a lot of work indeed.”
Suddenly, he spoke, “Young Master Wei, do you know what this house is for?”
Wei WuXian, “ZeWu-Jun, why would you think that I’d know?”
Lan XiChen glanced at him, “This was where my mother lived back then in the Cloud Recesses.”
Lan XiChen’s mother was Lan WangJi’s mother. Wei WuXian found this a bit strange. The residences of all of the GusuLan Sect’s sect leaders had been the ‘Hanshi’, which was definitely not this little house hidden in a corner of the Cloud Recesses. Perhaps Lan WangJi’s parents were in an unsuitable but pre-arranged marriage like Jiang FengMian and Madam Yu, and thus lived in separation?
No matter how one thought about it, there couldn’t be a positive reason behind how a sect leader didn’t live together with his wife. And, it was said that the wife of the previous sect leader QingHeng-Jun was quite physically weak. She was resting most of the time and it was unsuitable for her to meet others. People didn’t know much about her to begin with. Behind their backs, all of the sects guessed whether or not the ‘sickness’ was something shameful, such as a scar on the face or a handicap. And thus, Wei WuXian didn’t ask too much into it and maintained silence, waiting for Lan XiChen to explain.
Lan XiChen, “Young Master Wei, you should know that my father usually meditated in seclusion and never interacted with the rest of the world too often. Throughout all these years, the GusuLan Sect has been taken care of by Uncle almost single-handedly.”
Wei WuXian, “That I do know.”
Lan XiChen dropped his hand. The hand that he held Liebing with was hidden within his sleeve. He spoke slowly, “The reason that my father often practiced secluded meditation was my mother. This place, compared to a place of living… was more like a place of detention.”
Wei WuXian was surprised.
The father of ZeWu-Jun and HanGuang-Jun, QingHeng-Jun, used to be a famous cultivator. He made his name at a young age and had many things waiting for him in the future. However, at the age of twenty, he suddenly backed away and announced his marriage. He had also ceased to care for much of the world. Although it was called secluded meditation, it was much more like retirement. People had come up with many possible reasons, but none of them had been verified.
Lan XiChen bent down amid the clusters of gentians. He gently stroked those thin, tender petals, “When my father was young, when he returned from a night-hunt once, he saw my mother outside of Gusu city.” He smiled, “I heard that it was love at first sight.”
Wei WuXian grinned as well, “The young are often sentimental.”
Lan XiChen continued, “However, the woman did not care for him as much. In addition, she killed one of my father’s teachers.”
This was beyond imagination. Although Wei WuXian knew that asking too many questions would be very rude, whenever he remembered that those were Lan WangJi’s parents, he felt that he just had to ask. “Why?!”
Lan XiChen, “I do not know. But, I assume that it was something along the lines of ‘grievances’.”
Wei WuXian didn’t ask anymore into this and forced down his curiosity, “And… what happened later?”
“And then,” Lan XiChen explained, “When my father heard of this, of course he was in much pain. But, no matter how he struggled, he still took the woman to his sect in secrecy. Ignoring the objections from his clan, he knelt with her for the Heavens and the Earth without making a sound and told everyone in the clan that she would be his wife for the rest of his life, that whoever wanted to harm her would have to pass through him first.”
Wei WuXian widened his eyes.
Lan XiChen continued, “After the ceremony was completed, my father found a house and locked my mother inside. He found another house and locked himself inside. It was called secluded meditation, but it was in truth to repent.”
He paused before speaking again, “Young Master Wei, can you understand why he did such a thing?”
Wei WuXian answered after a moment of silence, “He could neither forgive the one who killed his teacher nor watch the death of the woman who he loved. He could only marry her to protect her life and force himself not to see her.”
Lan XiChen, “Do you think that this was right?”
Wei WuXian, “I don’t know.”
Lan XiChen looked somewhat lost, “Then, what do you think would be right?”
Wei WuXian, “I don’t know.”
A while later, Lan XiChen whispered, “It could be said that my father did this without a care for anything else. All of the seniors of the clan were enraged, but they had all watched him grow up. They could not do anything except guard the secret, hint to the outside world that the wife of the GusuLan Sect’s sect leader had an unspeakable disease and could not see others. After WangJi and I were born, we were immediately taken out to be cared for by other people. When we grew older, we were brought to Uncle to be taught.
“My uncle… has always had a frank personality to begin with. Because of how my mother caused my father to destroy his own life, he began to hate those who behaved improperly even more. Thus, he poured his heart into teaching WangJi and me. He was especially harsh as well. Every month, we could only see Mother once, inside of this cottage.”
They were two young children, who faced everyday only their harsh uncle, strict teachings, and mountains of books. No matter how tired, they had to straighten their soft backs to be the most outstanding disciples of the clan, the model students in others’ eyes. They could rarely see their closest relatives. They couldn’t fool around in their father’s arms, they couldn’t act spoiled in front of their mother.
But they had clearly done nothing wrong.
Lan XiChen, “Everytime WangJi and I went to see her, she had never complained about how tedious it was locked inside of here, unable to go out one step. She had never asked about our studies, either. She especially liked to tease WangJi, but WangJi, the more you tease him the less willing he is to talk, the worse of an expression he puts on. He has been like this ever since he was young. However,” he chuckled, “even though WangJi never said it, I knew that every month he was looking forward to the day he could see Mother. He was like this, and I was the same.”
Wei WuXian imagined a young Lan WangJi hugged inside of his mother’s arms, his snowy little cheeks flushed pink. He laughed as well. But before his smile had even melted, Lan XiChen continued, “But one day, Uncle suddenly told us that we would not need to go any longer.