Troublesome Lotus

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/26477161.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/M
Fandom: 魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī (Cartoon), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī
- Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Relationship: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Character: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng
Wǎnyín, Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī, Wēn Qíng (Módào Zǔshī)
Additional Tags: Female Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Alternate Universe - Canon
Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Implied/Referenced
Rape/Non-con, Unplanned Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Lán Yuàn | Lán
Sīzhuī is Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī and Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn's Child,
Baby Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Pregnancy,
Pregnant Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies,
Childbirth, Wèi Wúxiàn dies in Qiongqi Path, Implied Sexual Content,
Parent Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Good Parent Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn,
Single Parent Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Sad Ending
Series: Part 1 of Troublesome
Stats: Published: 2020-09-24 Completed: 2020-10-25 Chapters: 10/10 Words:
20982

Troublesome Lotus
by Junesohye

Summary

Wei Wuxian is a very troublesome person. Especially since he revealed to the whole world
before his death that he was in fact a woman and had a son. Now everyone is wondering
who Wei Wuxian really was
______________
Chapters on Thursdays and Sundays

Notes

The first chapters may be a little chaotic, but they are about the first months before
revealing to the world that Wei Wuxian was a woman and A-Yuan's biological mother. I
wanted to write a sweet story about Wei Wuxian as a mother. It turns out the story has
some angst in, but I have no regrets.

This story will have three parts.

The first will be about Wei Wuxian's life before her death in Qiongqi Path. (We are right
here!)
The second will be after Mo Xuanyu summoned Wei Wuxian (he is also female because
you can't forbid me to do so)
The third part will probably be the final one, but I don't promise it.

I hope you will like my story. If so, please leave your kudos and a comment to let me know.
This is my second attempt at writing a story in this fandom, so please be patient with me.
I promise it will be worth it :>

WARNING!
If you don't like the idea of Female Wei Wuxian then don't read it and you'd better look for
another story that you feel comfortable with.

SECOND WARNING!
English is not my native language, so there may be some mistakes in the text.
 The Most Important Unwritten Rule In Lotus Pier

Wei Wuxian knew she screwed up. Very, very much.

There was one unwritten rule in the Lotus Pier. A rule that no one should ever break. It was about
intercourse. Every female disciple in Yunmeng was obliged to remain a virgin and not have sex
with anyone before they married. Especially when they were outside of Yunmeng.

Wei Wuxian, as the main disciple of the Yunmeng Jiang sect, had to follow this rule. After all, that
was what was required of her. Even though she dressed like a man, she was still a woman (which
wasn't comfortable for Madam Yu). Even though she practiced cultivation, there was still a chance
someone would want to marry her as his wife. So she had to be careful not to accidentally lose her
virginity in some stupid way.

Unfortunately for her, while she and Lan Wangji were confined and wounded in Xuanwu Cave,
she fell ill and was losing her spiritual energy. Lan Wangji somehow noticed that she was losing
her strength, no matter how much Wei Wuxian tried to hide it.

It was the first time she had allowed herself moments of weakness when she lost consciousness.
Her mind was darkened and she didn't know what she was doing. She was not aware of it. Later it
was hard to remember if she had started it all. All she knew was Lan Wangji had let her kiss him.
He even kissed her back.

Moments later, they were already having sex. Wei Wuxian lost her virginity. In the cave where she
was imprisoned with Lan Zhan, who did not let her out of his arms for long hours.

It was not a painful experience for her as Lan Zhan took her hymen from her. It was a little
uncomfortable, after all, her body was not used to being filled by the male sexual organ. She may
have read the erotic books that Huaisang had given her, but she had never touched herself in this
place. She may be shameless, but she never dared to touch in such an intimate place. Wei Wuxian
soon discovered that Lan Zhan turned into a real animal during their lovemaking. And it wouldn't
bother her at all if they were older and already married. But they weren't.

And this whole story stopped here. At Lotus Pier, where Wei Wuxian lay sick in her room. She
had been ill for two weeks and each time she vomited what she had eaten. Madam Yu has never
liked Wei Wuxian. She hated her. But hearing that the girl suddenly fell mysteriously ill and
stopped eating anything, she went to see what was happening with the main disciple of the Sect
Yunmeng Jiang. She even called on a healer to examinate Wei Wuxian.

When they both heard the diagnosis, Wei Wuxian wanted to cry. She really screwed up. She put
her hands on her stomach in disbelief in her eyes. She was pregnant. She will be a mother. The
mother of a child that she and Lan Zhan created together. She's gonna have a baby.

She began to cry. She couldn't believe it. She broke the most important unwritten rule at the Lotus
Pier.

She waited for Madam Yu to start shouting at her, waited for Madam Yu to tell her never to show
up at the Lotus Pier again. But it never happened. Instead, Madam Yu asked.

"How long has she been pregnant?"

"Not more than a month, My Lady," replied the healer.

This was what Madam Yu needed. She sent a healer who announced that she would come in a
month to check how the pregnancy was going.

Wei Wuxian tensed knowing she was alone with Madam Yu.

"You are causing too much trouble, Wei Wuxian," she said resentfully. "Who's the father?" she
asked after a moment, much calmer.

Wei Wuxian couldn't tell the truth. She could not admit having sex with the Second Young Master
Lan.

"I ... I don't know ... I haven't seen his face," she said after a moment's hesitation.

Sorry Lan Zhan, but no one can find out that you are the father. Even you can't know.

"Are you saying you were forced to have sex?" Madam Yu spoke with anger in her voice.

"Yes ... I was weak then. I couldn't fight it."

"Stupid girl!" Madam Yu said angrily, hitting her lightly on the head, "We trained you to defend
yourself against such situations, and you say you couldn't fight it!"

I couldn't fight it, I was barely aware of my own actions, and Lan Zhan wouldn't let me go. But I
will never tell Madam Yu about it.

"You have no choice but to give birth to this baby," said Madam Yu. " No matter how much I don't
like it, you're part of the family. We will help you during pregnancy, with childbirth, and with your
baby when it is born."

Wei Ying felt like she was about to cry again. She threw herself on the floor and kowtow in front
of Madam Yu.

"Thank you!"

"Get off this floor at last. It's not good for the baby," said Madam Yu and left Wei Ying's room.

‘I really screwed up,’ Wei Wuxian thought. ‘Sorry Lan Zhan, but you'll never know about this
baby. If you and your uncle found out about this baby, you'd take it from me’

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Only two people at Lotus Pier knew Wei Wuxian was pregnant. Madam Yu and a healer. Only
they knew about the baby that was to arrive at Lotus Pier in a few months.

Madam Yu, did not tell the Sect Leader about Wei Wuxian's pregnancy. When asked about it, she
replied, "You are still at risk. Better not to look too far into the future. You never know what might
happen."

Wei Wuxian knew what Madam Yu meant and the thought of a miscarriage terrified her. She
wanted this baby. She knew she was still young. She knew that having a child out of wedlock was
not welcome. Her child will be a bastard. But she didn't care. It was her baby. And she will love
them no matter what.

The second person was the healer who monitored and diagnosed Wei Wuxian's pregnancy. The
elderly woman did not judge her and did not ask who the child's father was. And to Wei Wxian's
surprise, she didn't treat her any worse for being pregnant outside of her marriage. The elderly
healer was extremely nice to her and did everything to comfort the young girl in some way. She
answered her questions and explained what Wei Wuxian should expect during pregnancy.

"As you probably already know, nausea is common in the first few months. Sometimes there is
also a lack of appetite, drowsiness, and sensitivity to smells."

What shocked Wei Wuxian the most was that she wouldn't be able to drink alcohol even after the
baby was born, for at least a year. The healer explained to her that she would have to breastfeed her
baby for the first year. But when she found out there was a chance she wouldn't be able to eat the
spicy foods she used to eat, she was devastated. For a while, at least, because the healer told her
she could still eat spicy food, but she needed to reduce spicy levels.

At Lotus Pier, only two people knew about Wei Wuxian's pregnancy. But after the Lotus Pier
massacre, two outsiders found out. Wen Qing and her brother Wen Ning found out about the
pregnancy before they chopped off Wei Wuxian's golden core and transplanted it to Jiang Cheng.
Wen Qing did not agree to the cutting of the golden core, knowing that a different life was
developing in Wei Wuxian's body. But she succumbed to the girl's persuasion and did it. At the
same time, she used her cultivation to protect this child during surgery.

Wei Wuxian was then in her second month of pregnancy.

To the delight of Wei Wuxian and Wen's siblings, the baby was already strong enough to continue
to develop without the help of a golden core. Wei Wuxian was to meet Jiang Cheng at the foot of
the mountain after the surgery.

Unfortunately, Wen Chao showed up. Before he threw her into the Burial Mounds, he decided to
strip her of her honor. She was bleeding when he did the same to her as he did to his miss. She cried
when he pulled her hair too hard. She screamed in pain as he entered her harder and harder. This
was different from what she was doing with Lan Zhan. When she and Lan Zhan were trapped
together in the cave, although the Second Young Master Lan also entered it more and more, he did
everything so that she would not feel pain. Not like Wen Chao. When he felt that he had already
disgraced her enough, he threw her into the Burial Mounds.

She broke the most important unwritten rule in Lotus Pier for the second time.

Wei Wuxian prayed throughout her entire stay at the Burial Mounds that her child would survive
Wen Chao's brutality. She prayed it would be true. But she knew there was little chance of it.
Therefore, when she left the Funeral Mounds after three months, the first thing she did was take
revenge on Wen Chao. And she had the perfect idea of how to get revenge.

After Wen Chao's death, Wei Wuxian joined the fight against Wens. Thanks to demonic
cultivation, she didn't have to fight at the front. She could easily resurrect fallen soldiers and order
them to fight. She did not go to healers then either. She did not see such a need, since most likely
her child was already gone. When she was left alone, she allowed the tears to flow from her eyes.
She knew her baby was gone. She knew it. There was no chance that the fetus would survive the
fall to the Burial Mounds. And resentful energy told her the baby was dead. She was devastated by
this fact.

During the war, Wei Wuxian became cruel. She did not spare Wen's soldiers. She revived the dead
with Chenqing, spilling her anger, despair, and desire for revenge in the melody that she had
controlled her corpse army. And this is how the heart-breaking melody, which was filled with
anger, became her herald. Whoever heard this melody knew that Wei Wuxian was nearby and she
probably animated another corpse to make it her soldiers.
After the war ended and Wen Rouhan was dead, Wei Wuxian traveled to Yunmeng to help rebuild
Lotus Pier. Then Lan Zhan came to Yunmeng. Wei Wuxian flirted with him as usual, and to her
surprise, Lan Zhan began responding to her flirting. He was flirting back with her!

She invited him to the tavern to drink something together. She immediately said that she would not
force him to drink alcohol. Of course, she was lying, but Lan Zhan didn't need to know that.
Besides, she had nothing to lose anyway. Her child was no longer with her. Or so she thought.

Lan Zhan surprisingly accepted her invitation. But Lan Zhan ended up getting drunk and Wei
Wuxian was unaware that drunk Lan Wangji would be courting her. In a more shameless way. At
first, he just hugged her and wouldn't let go. Then he kissed her. They ended up in one of the tavern
rooms having sex a second time.

They stayed in the tavern all night. They made love as if they were a married couple that had not
seen each other for years. Lan Zhan was very gentle with her. And Wei Wuxian liked it. She
adored this man. She loved him. It was in this tavern in Yunmeng that she and Lan Zhan made
love as if there was no tomorrow.

In this tavern, Wei Wuxian realized how she felt about the Second Young Master Lan.

In this tavern, Wei Wuxian broke the most important unwritten rule in the Lotus Pier for the third
time.

And this time she didn't regret it.

 Only Two People in Lotus Pier Knew
Chapter Notes

Thanks for all your kudos!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Only two people in Lotus Pier knew.

And one of those people was not Jiang Cheng.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing from the elderly healer who was standing in front of him.
He really couldn't believe that his mother had hidden such an important fact from everyone and
told no one. That she didn't tell him.

Wei Wuxian was pregnant. And that's one month before the Lotus Pier massacre.

"Why didn't she tell us? Why did I only find out about it now, a few months after the end of the
war?" he asked, frowning.

Jiang Cheng wanted to know why his foster sister and mother did not deign to inform him that he
would have a nephew or nieces? Did both think it was so insignificant that they chose not to inform
him? Did they want so much to hide it?

"There was no time, Sect Leader. Madam Yu and Miss Wei wanted to wait a few months before
sharing this information with the rest of the family. Miss Wei was only in the first month of
pregnancy at the time." said the healer "I also didn't tell anyone about it, at Miss Wei's request.”

Jiang Chen now understood his mother and sister's decisions. Wei Wuxian was still at risk of
losing her baby. That's why she and his mother said nothing.

"But during the fights with Wens, I haven't seen Wei Wuxian's belly grow with the baby," he
replied after a moment's thought.

Indeed, he hadn't seen Wei Wuxian's belly grow over the months. He was watching her all the
time. She had only just come back from the Burial Mounds and no one knew what she might have
gone through there.

"I suspect Miss Wei had a miscarriage before she returned. That's the only answer to why Wei
Wuxian's belly didn't grow."

It was ... sad. Jiang Cheng couldn't imagine how Wei Wuxian must have felt when she found out
that her child was dead. Presumably, she had a miscarriage shortly after the Lotus Pier massacre.
At first, his parents died, then the unborn child that Wei Wuxian carried under her heart died. It
was really sad. And cruel.

Jiang Cheng realized that only the Wens could kill an unborn child. And that made him hate them
even more. The Wens took almost everything from him. His parents, his house, his sect, his
friends, and his sister's child. Unborn child. A child who could now live and learn about the world
from a family that survived the war.
Jiang Cheng was furious. Now he understood why Wei Wuxian would go to taverns so much and
get drunk sometimes until she passed out. Wei Wuxian wanted to somehow forget that now she
could hold her baby in her arms. But it was impossible now.

Because her baby was dead. And she couldn't accept it.

If only everything had turned out differently. If only he had known otherwise. He knew that if Wei
Wuxian hadn't had a miscarriage, she would have disappeared for a few months in which her
stomach would have grown bigger, then had a baby secretly from the others, and would finally
come back and tell him with a smile on her face that he had become an uncle. He would have
broken her legs if she did, and he knew perfectly well that she would.

Now he could only wonder how it all could have happened if he had found out about Wei
Wuxian's pregnancy earlier. He felt terrible. He didn't know what to do. Go to Yiling, where Wei
Wuxian was currently residing with Wen's leftovers? Or should he tell A-Li about it? She should
know. She deserved to know that she had almost become an aunt.

Jiang Cheng didn't feel like himself. He did not recognize himself at the moment.

He sent the healer away and was left alone in the main hall to think about what he should do the
next time he saw Wei Wuxian. Should he ask about pregnancy right away? Or should he wait for
her to tell him about it? What if she never tells him? Should he act as usual or be more careful
about his words?

"Wei Wuxian, what have you gotten yourself into?" Jiang Chen asked himself.

Before the massacre, only two people in Lotus Pier knew.

And now, a few months after the end of the war, still only two people in Lotus Pier knew about the
secret Wei Wuxian held.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Only two people in Lotus Pier knew.

But two other people outside of Lotus Pier knew about Wei Wuxian's secret. And these people
mourned with her a life that had no chance to come into this world. Wen Qing felt guilty about
letting Wei Wuxian come down from the mountain alone. She wished she hadn't forced her to stay
with them on that goddamn mountain a moment longer. But it was too late now. There was nothing
else to do about it. Wei Wuxian's baby was dead. And Wen Qing could feel guilty for the rest of
her life.

She saw this pain in Wei Wuxian's eyes as she looked at the playing children she had managed to
save from the labor camps in the Qiongqi Path along with the rest of the Wens. She saw Wei
Wuxian imagining what it would be like if the child had survived. Would Wei Wuxian be sitting
with them now with her baby in her arms? Would this child be playing with other children in the
Burial Mounds now? Wen Qing didn't know, but she liked to imagine a little child who could bring
a little light into their lives.

Wei Wuxian never blamed her for what happened to the baby. But she avoided talking about it all
the time. Wen Qing saw Wei Wuxian withdraw more and more into herself together with her
despair. Everyone in the Burial Mounds had seen Wei Wuxian lose her joy in life every day.
Maybe she hadn't talked about her miscarriage, but that didn't mean she wasn't thinking about it.
This made Wen Qing feel more guilty.
It took two months for Wei Wuxian to smile again. Wen Qing was relieved when Wei Wuxian
asked her if they could talk. Wen Qing felt calmer when she saw Wei Wuxian laughing in the
company of the children. A stone fell from the hearts of all of them.

But no one had seen Wei Wuxian gaining weight despite the famine in the Burial Mounds. But
everyone noticed how tired she was getting lately.

Wen Qing was not worried. At least not in the beginning.

Wen Qing did a routine check to see if Wei Wuxian was okay. Did she take care of her health?
Then she felt a second pulse. Small, delicate, and very faint, but still palpable. Wen Qing knew
what that meant.

"Wei Wuxian, have you ... have you had sex with someone lately?" she asked very seriously.

"Why are you asking that? Isn't it shameless to ask about someone's sex life?" Wei Wuxian replied
laughing at the same time.

Wen Qing knew the girl was teasing her. But this time it is impossible to provoke her.

"I'm asking because I want to know who the father is"

"Father? What are you talking about?" Wei Wuxian asked in surprise.

Wen Qing sighed deeply.

"Wei Wuxian, you are pregnant. Again"

"Impossible," said Wei Wuxian, terrified.

"It's not impossible"

"But ... the child is ..."

"Just because it failed the first time, doesn't mean it won't work the second time," Wen Qing
replied after a moment's thought.

They still had to be careful with Wei Wuxian. There was not even a word to mention her
miscarriage. At least they couldn't talk about it directly. This time, however, there was no reason to
be so careful as Wei Wuxian was already pregnant again. Wen Qing found it a miracle. She knew
that some time ago Wei Wuxian had a little adventure in one of the taverns in Yunmeng with the
Second Young Master Lan. They didn't leave this tavern until the morning of the next day. It really
must have been a miracle Wei Wuxian was pregnant again on the first hit.

It was a miracle.

Wei Wuxian put her hands on her belly while not holding back her tears. This time, Wen Qing
rejoiced at Wei Wuxian's tears because she knew that this time they were tears of happiness.

"I ... will I really be ...?"

"Yes Wei Wuxian," Wen Qing replied, watching Wei Wuxian's every move.

"How long?"

"Four months. The risk of miscarriage is lower now. But you must follow my advice if you want
 your baby to be healthy!"

Wen Qing saw Wei Wuxian smile through her tears. A child will appear in the Burial Mounds. A
little child who will need care, warmth, love, and safety. The Burial Mounds were not the warmest
and safest place in the world, but this child will find a lot of love and care from the locals here.

Only two people in Lotus Pier knew Wei Wuxian was pregnant.

Only two people at Cloud Recesses knew Wei Wuxian was hiding something.

But only the people in Burial Mounds knew that Wei Wuxian would have a baby in a few months.

Chapter End Notes

Leave your kudos and a comment!

 A Secret That Only He Knows

Lan Wangji knew Wei Wuxian was not a man.

Maybe not from the beginning, but he knew Wei Wuxian wasn't a man.

And this knowledge made Lan Wangji want to know her better.

Until now, he remembered the moment he found out that Wei Wuxian was a woman. It was right
after they were both punished for fighting. He was then in cold springs. Wei Wuxian came shortly
after him. He knew his brother had sent him here to ease the pain from the blows. But instead of
undressing and jumping into the water, Wei Wuxian was embarrassed and said she would wait for
him to come out.

It was very unlike typical Wei Wuxian behavior.

Moments later, however, Wei Wuxian fell into the water. Without undressing at all. At first, Lan
Wangji didn't react when he saw Wei Wuxian's wet robes stick to her body. Then he saw the bulge
on his chest. This made Lan Wangji suspicious.

The suspicions were confirmed a few days later. Wei Wuxian did not come to class for a week. As
he was passing the guest rooms, he heard Wei Wuxian talking to Lady Jiang.

"Why does it have to hurt so much?" he heard Wei Wuxian's voice filled with pain.

"A-Xian, the healer says the pain should go away in two days"

He heard a painful cry. Wei Wuxian must have been in great pain.

"How does every monthly bleed keep my body healthy?" Wei Wuxian asked, "I feel like I'm
dying!"

Lan Wangji did not want Wei Wuxian to die. He didn't like his teasing, but he didn't want her to
die. Lan Wangji saw the door to the room where Wei Wuxian and Lady Jiang were staying slightly
ajar. He shouldn't peek. It was against the rules. But he had to know what was wrong with Wei
Wuxian. He just had to.

He glanced through the slightly ajar door and saw Lady Jiang kneeling beside the bed, where Wei
Wuxian was lying, wincing in pain.

"Sorry A-Xian," said Lady Jiang. "The healer said monthly bleeding says you'll be able to have
children."

Have children? Wei Wuxian is not a man? he thought.

"It's not fair that it doesn't hurt you," Wei Wuxian said, wincing even more.

He/She made a sound that reminded him of a scream. Wei Wuxian seemed to be in pain.

"I know, A-Xian. They say the first bleeding hurts the most."

"Why did my first monthly bleeding have to happen now?" Wei Wuxian sobbed.

Lan Wangji felt the tips of his ears redden. He really shouldn't be eavesdropping, much less
peeping. But now he knew why Wei Wuxian had not attended lectures. Did his uncle know about
this? Or maybe he did not know, and Wei Wuxian managed to convince everyone that he/she was
simply ill. He moved away from the door slowly and walked away.

From that moment on, he was sure Wei Wuxian wasn't a man.

Should he tell his uncle? Or should he tell his brother? He knew he had to tell someone about it.
Lying was against the rules at Cloud Recesses. Wei Wuxian lied to them about his or rather her
real gender.

Lan Wangji decided to tell his brother first. He will know what to do next. He changed route and
immediately went to Hanshi, where his brother was residing.

He told him that he had caught Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli in a lie about the real sex of the
former. Lan Xichen sighed hearing his brother.

"Wangji, maybe she had a good reason why she wanted to hide it?" Lan Xichen asked him.

"What reason?"

"From what I've heard, Wei Wuxian's golden core is strong for someone her age. Not many
women are allowed to cultivate. Maybe Wei Wuxian wanted a chance to learn cultivation since she
has a strong golden core. We can only speculate. Nothing wrong will happen if we turn a blind eye
to it and don't tell anyone about Wei Wuxian's secret "

"But..." Lan Wangji began but was stopped by his brother.

"Wangji, our rules do not prohibit women with a strong golden core from cultivating. Until the
truth about her real sex is known to the Elders and Uncle and decides that she should be punished,
we should not punish her."

Lan Wangji was torn. Lying was forbidden. And his brother told him to get into this lie with Wei
Wuxian. He felt bad about having to lie to his uncle, but on the other hand, he felt bad that Wei
Wuxian would be punished for wanting to cultivate.

In the end, he said nothing to anyone.

Sometime later, Wei Wuxian was kicked out of Cloud Recesses because she got involved in a
fight. He hadn't seen her until the Archery Competition in Nightless City. It was then that she
removed his headband in front of everyone. He was mad. He was so angry with her, but seeing her
sad face made him feel guilty immediately. Wei Wuxian shouldn't be sad. She looked so much
more beautiful when she smiled.

He was surprised that he had even thought of something like this. But when he thought of Wei
Wuxian again, he felt a strange warmth in his heart. A strange desire. He wanted to be with her, he
wanted to make her happy. In the evening he went to his brother to ask him why he felt like that.

"You love her Wangji," Lan Xichen replied to him then.

He loved her. Lan Wangji loved her. He didn't know since when. Maybe he loved her from the
very beginning when he didn't even know she was a woman? Very possibly because when he
discovered that Wei Wuxian wasn't a man he wasn't angry. He was terrified. Terrified that when
his uncle finds out about this, Wei Wuxian will be sent back to her home. And Lan Wangji will not
be able to see her anymore. That's why he went to his brother right away. This is why it was so
easy for him to continue on the Wei Wuxian 'lie' later.
And that's why he allowed her to kiss him while they were trapped in Xuanwu Cave.

And that's when things got too far. He knew he wouldn't be able to touch her the way he wanted to.
Because they weren't married. And then Wei Wuxian did something that made him lose all of his
self-control. Wei Wuxian began to take off his robes. Lan Wangji forgot the rules for a moment
and gave himself up to the moment. He knew he had done wrong. But he didn't regret it. Because it
meant Wei Wuxian could become his wife to avoid a scandal due to pre-marital intercourse. As
long as Wei Wuxian would tell anyone about it.

He wanted her so much that he didn't hold back. He was very rough at the end. But Wei Wuxian
seemed to like it. She didn't ask him to stop. Instead, she encouraged him to enter harder and faster.
He obeyed her every time. When they finished Wei Wuxian fell asleep and Lan Wangji continued
to transmit the spiritual energy to her. She was still weak. Besides, she was sick.

He still remembered her calling his name. Then he wished she would call his name like that
forever.

He wanted to send a letter proposing an engagement between him and Wei Wuxian. However, he
decided to court her first. But she was gone for three months.

For three months, no one had heard of Wei Wuxian. She showed no signs of life. As if it dissolved
into thin air. And then she appeared and killed Wen Chao. But she wasn't the Wei Wuxian he
loved. It was someone else, but still the same person. She used demonic cultivation.

After the war, their paths diverged again. Lan Wangji didn't like it. He did not want to part with
her. That's why he came to Yunmeng. To be able to see her. He accepted her invitation to drink
something together because he wanted to be close to her. He knew Wei Wuxian had given him
alcohol. And he knew they ended up having sex in one of the tavern rooms, yet he couldn't
remember the entire act. But he knew they had been doing it all night. And he did not regret it.

He wanted Wei Wuxian to come back to Gusu with him. But he knew the answer would be the
same every time. No.

He didn't regret ending up having sex in a tavern with Wei Ying. All he felt was guilt, but he didn't
know why.

He also did not know that it was in this tavern that they conceived a miracle that would turn out to
be Wei Wuxian's last gift to Lan Wangji.

Lan Wangji knew Wei Wuxian was not a man. And only he and her brother, apart from her
siblings, knew about Wei Wuxian's secret.

But Lan Xichen knew that this troublesome lotus was hiding from his brother something other than
her true gender. Something very important that could make this whole story turn out differently.

But he didn't know what Wei Wuxian was hiding.

 The One Who Came Too Early
Chapter Notes

Warning!
Childbirth scene, probably not well written, but it's here!

Wei Wuxian finally started listening to Wen Qing's advice.

She no longer endangered her and her child's lives. She was more careful about what she was
doing. And she tried not to use demonic cultivation. Wen Qing told her that demonic cultivation
could have a bad effect on a child. So Wei Wuxian limited herself to reviewing the notes she wrote
down. It was a much safer job for her child.

Wei Wuxian couldn't do many things. Wen's remnants, they made sure she didn't do any hard work
in the village, such as lifting heavy objects. They also prevented her from bending too much and
standing too long. It got more and more annoying with time, but Wei Wuxian understood why they
were doing it. They were simply worried about her.

Wei Wuxian did not complain about boredom, however. There were children at the Funeral
Mounds who would come to Wei Wuxian and ask her questions like "When will your belly be
bigger?", "When will the baby be born?" , "How baby got in your belly?", "When the baby shows
up, will we be able to play with them?"

It was cute of them, but Wei Wuxian didn't know how to answer these questions. Wen Lin, a
mother of one of the children, saved her from such situations. She also taught her how to take care
of the newborn baby. Wei Wuxian was grateful to her for that.

To everyone's surprise, Wei Wuxian had no pregnancy symptoms. Vomiting, mood swings,
sensitivity to smells, and pregnancy cravings were simply not present in the Wei Wuxian case. She
was only more tired, calmer, and, most importantly, she wasn't picky about food. For the Wens,
this was both uncomfortable and salutary.

Wei Wuxian spent a lot of time with the children. She loved their company and what they called
her 'Xian-Jiejie'. She thought it was cute.

But Wei Wuxian's belly didn't show for at least another month. It wasn't until the middle of the
fifth month of pregnancy that Wei Wuxian noticed the differences in her appearance. One day she
noticed that her robes were much tighter around her breasts and belly. She took advantage of going
to the bath on that day. When she took off her staff, she noticed that her breasts were larger. So is
her belly.

In the sixth month of pregnancy, Wei Wuxian felt her baby move for the first time. It was so
unexpected that Wei Wuxian gasped. This caught the attention of those around her. Everyone
asked if she was okay, and she used to smile and say it was just a kick. This puts everyone in a
festive mood.

"Everything looks fine," Wen Qing said one day, "The pregnancy is developing well, but the baby
is still weakened."
"That's something wrong?" Wei Wuxian asked worriedly.

"Considering the situation we are in? If we didn't starve, the baby would be stronger and probably
move more often"

"Will it have a big impact on the child's future?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"It may be sicker than other children, but nothing else. It may harm them more from the stress you
feel."

Wei Wuxian knew Wen Qing was watching her carefully. Therefore, the stress she felt never
escaped the doctor's watchful eyes. But Wei Wuxian couldn't help but stress that the people at the
Funeral Mounds were starving. Sometimes she wanted to give them her food portions, but
everyone always somehow knew what she was thinking and told her to think about her child.

She blamed herself for not being able to make their lives better. But they always said the life they
have is better than the labor camps. Wei Wuxian unfortunately had to agree with them.

The same month, Wen Lin took her to Yiling in search of more comfortable robes for her. Wei
Wuxian tried to dissuade her somehow from the idea of spending money on some robes, but Wen
Lin was firm.

In her seventh month of pregnancy, Wei Wuxian spent most of her time on her notes. In the
meantime, she managed to invent a few things that she wanted to patent after she gave birth. Wen
Qing was not pleased that Wei Wuxian was starting to use demonic cultivation again. But she
knew she had no other choice. After all, she knew Wei Wuxian did not have a gold core to use
ordinary cultivation for defense.

That's why she sometimes turned a blind eye to it. Sometimes. Wen Ning handled most of the
Burial Mound defense activities, so Wei Wuxian didn't have to worry about that.

Wei Wuxian was careful not to do things she shouldn't be doing. She was hopeful that in two
months she would be able to take her baby in her arms. The only thing that saddened her was that
she could not tell Lan Zhan about the child. She was afraid that if he found out about the child, he
and Gusu Lan would take the child away from her. And she couldn't allow that.

"Only two more months," she thought, sitting on one of the rocks, watching the children play.

She placed a hand on her swollen belly and began to stroke it. The child really must like this
gesture, because she felt their movements very quickly.

Wei Wuxian smiled.

"Only two more months left"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

On the eleventh day of January, everything seemed fine. Despite the cold, Wei Wuxian sat on the
rock making sure that no harm would happen to them. She had a hand on her swollen belly.

"Only one more month, right?"

Wei Wuxian jumped hearing Wen Lin from behind her back.

"Wen Lin, you scared me"

"Sorry Wei Wuxian," Wen Lin said, sitting down to her on the rock, "Your child is so calm. Not
like my A-Xin. There wasn't a moment when he didn't kick me," Wen Lin said after a moment.

"Wen Qing said the child probably got it from his father," Wei Wuxian said, looking at her belly,
"Their father is my opposite. And that probably made him angry. We didn't get along, but we
always fought side by side. Like a team "Wei Wuxian said as she saw Lan Zhan's face in her head.

"This is the first time you tell me about your child's father. What's he like?"

"He's ... very serious. He was very strict. But he was very good. Even though he didn't like me
teasing him, he was always so good to me."

"You must like him a lot," Wen Lin said.

"I love him. But I will never tell him that because he has nothing for me," Wei Wuxian said sadly.

"That is not true. After all, he had sex with you. If he hadn't felt anything for you, he wouldn't have
dragged you to bed," Wen Lin laughed.

"Wen Lin!" she cried, embarrassed.

Moments later, Wei Wuxian hissed in pain. Wen Lin looked at her in surprise and horror.

"It's okay. It's just a kick," said Wei Wuxian.

It wasn't a kick. At least it didn't feel like that. But Wei Wuxian didn't want to panic. Moments
later she felt it again. It hurt, but not very badly.

Wen Lin looked unconvinced, but she didn't pursue the topic. She didn't want to put pressure on
the Demon cultivator because she knew it wouldn't get anywhere.

In the evening, however, the pains did not go away. Wei Wuxian tried very hard to hide it but
knew everyone already knew about it. She stood for a moment near the cave entrance when she
suddenly felt something wet running down her legs. Wei Wuxian looked down seeing a red liquid
on the ground. She screamed in surprise and terror. In an instant, Wen Ning and Wen Lin appeared
next to her.

"Master Wei, what's wrong?" the corpse asked.

"Wen Lin, something's wrong with the baby!" Wei Wuxian said terrified, "Please bring Wen Qing
here!"

"There is no need," said Wen Qing, who appeared next to Wen Lin, "A-Ning, help me bring Wei
Wuxian to the cave. The baby is coming."

Wei Wuxian let out a painful cry shouting "It's too early! It's a month too early!"

"I know Wei Wuxian! But I have no control over when your baby decides to come!"

Wen Qing and Wen Ning laid her in a specially prepared place where Wei Wuxian now had to give
birth. Wei Wuxian was not happy with that. They didn't agree that it should be like this. She was to
give birth on her stone bed, not on uneven and hard ground!

"Wen Lin! Get some warm water! And tell grandma to bring something to wrap the baby in!"

"It's too early...!" Wei Wuxian let out a pained cry.

"I already told you, I know that, Wei Wuxian!" Wen Qing shouted as she pulled her legs apart,
"But now we don't have time to talk about it now. Your baby wants to come out now! So listen to
what I have to say. Will you listen to me?"

"Yes..!" Wei Wuxian sobbed.

"Okay. You haven't started pushing yet, so we have some time. Try to relax."

Wei Wuxian tried. She tried. But every time she felt another twitch, she began to get nervous
again. Wei Wuxian was immune to any pain. However, the pain she felt in labor was not on that
list. It was becoming unbearable with each passing hour. Wei Wuxian started to cry knowing that
neither she nor Wen Qin could stop it. She wanted this pain to go away.

It was not until late at night that Wen Qing told her that she could start pushing, reassuring her at
the same time that she would be able to take her baby in her arms. That she would be able to see
them. It made Wei Wuxian forget about the pain and push so hard that she had the impression that
she was about to knock her unconscious from the excessive effort of giving birth.

"It hurts! It hurts so much!" she cried for another time.

"Wei Wuxian! Some more and it will be over!"

"I will never get pregnant again! I would sooner die than decide to go through this again!" she
screamed as she squeezed Wen Lin's hands as she pressed a wet cloth to her forehead.

Wen Qing took Wei Wuxian's left hand and led her to its entrance.

"Can you feel that Wei Wuxian? It's your baby's head!"

Wei Wuxian felt. She felt a little head trying to get out of her. It was weird and disgusting.
Knowing that the baby would come out of her in labor from this place made her sick and disgusted
with the very idea of having sex. Which she will never have in her life, right after she gives birth.
Wei Wuxian nodded to Wen Qing.

"So, start pushing when I tell you. I promise you a little while longer and everything will be over.
You'll see that it will be worth it," Wen Qing said, releasing Wei Wuxian's hand.

Wei Wuxian started pushing again. She put all the strength she had left into it. Suddenly she felt a
strange emptiness. She lay down on the ground.

And then soft crying reached her ears.

She tried to stand up on her elbows to see what, or rather who was making the sound. She did it
only with the help of Wen Lin, who leaned her against the rock that was behind her. In Wen Qing's
arms was her baby wrapped in dirty and old cloth. Wen Qing quickly handed her the bundle,
showing her how to hold it properly.

"Congratulations, Wei Wuxian. You have a healthy and beautiful son"

Wei Wuxian looked at her child's face. Son. Wei Wuxian had a son. His face was plump and all
red. He was beautiful. Moments later, the boy in her arms opened his eyes. Wei Wuxian stared at
his beautiful gray eyes.

He has my eyes, she thought as she tried to hold back her tears.
"You have a name for him, Wei Wuxian?" Wen Lin asked.

Wei Wuxian nodded her head without taking her eyes off her child. He was so beautiful. Her little
miracle. Her little angel. Her little glimmer of hope.

"His name is Yuan. Wei Yuan. A-Yuan," Wei Wuxian said, looking at her little son entranced.

"Yuan. A-Yuan. It's a good name," Wen Qing said, smiling as she saw the new mother with her
baby.

Soon all the rest of the Wen's remnants came to see a new member of their little family.

Wei Yuan was officially born on the twelfth day of January. One month too early.
 Little Angel In The Burial Mounds
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

A-Yuan was the most peaceful child in the world.

He hardly cried at all. He usually did it when he was hungry and dirty, which is why it happened
quite often. When A-Yuan did not need anything, he simply looked at everyone around him. There
was no person in the Funeral Mounds that A-Yuan disliked. He was smiling literally at everyone,
and A-Yuan's smile was very bright. This tiny gesture on the part of a child could touch every
heart. However, A-Yuan enjoyed seeing his mother the most. He extended his little hands towards
her, asking her to take him in her arms. Not that Wei Wuxian had anything against it. It was her
son, and the fact that he showed his love in this way made her love him more and more every day.

Wei Wuxian could always be seen with A-Yuan. The Wens found it quite cute that she devoted so
much of her time to her baby. It was evident that Wei Wuxian took motherhood seriously. The
child didn't have a father who was probably dead, so the Wens thought. After all, since A-Yuan's
birth, no man has come to the Burial Mounds to take Wei Wuxian and the baby with him. And no
one foresaw such a situation.

Wei Wuxian herself said nothing more about the child's father than what she said before the birth.
Nobody asked for details either. They didn't want to accidentally tear one of the old wounds in Wei
Wuxian's heart. The smile she now had on her face was the most beautiful sight Wens had ever
seen in the Burial Mounds, right after the lovely A-Yuan. They didn't want to lose that lovely sight.

A-Yuan was popular in Yiling.

When Wei Wuxian left Wen Ning for a while to Yiling for shopping, little A-Yuan, who was
about four months old at the time, caught the attention of everyone in the market. People looked at
him as if they were some royalty. At first, this worried Wei Wuxian, who carried him in a carrier
on her back all the time.

"Wen Ning, go get the rest of the stuff. I have to pause for a while."

"Master Wei, are you okay?" Wen Ning asked.

"I'm fine" she replied quickly, "I'm worried about A-Yuan and I just want a carrier that he is in, in
front of me, rather than on my back"

"Master Wei, I can help you with this"

"There is no need for that. Go and buy what we need, when something starts to happen, you will
know," Wei Wuxian said.

Wen Ning finally let himself be persuaded by his master and went to buy the rest of the stuff.

Wei Wuxian stepped aside and moved the carrier to the front. A-Yuan squealed happily seeing his
mother's face and reached out his little hands to touch her cheek. Wei Wuxian laughed softly but
quickly stopped when she heard someone's voice.

"Look at that adorable baby! They're so happy to see their mother's face!" a woman croaked softly.
"They look cute that's a fact"

"I wish I had such a beautiful baby"

"Their mother must be lucky! Just look at how very polite this child is!"

"But it's a pity for the girl. Probably the child's father did not want to admit paternity or he died"

No, he doesn't know he has a child, Wei Wuxian thought.

She could no longer listen to these older women. They knew nothing about the situation she was
in. They shouldn't be talking at all.

She had walked away a bit from these women when suddenly two shopkeepers from their shops
stood in front of her.

"You look very hungry, miss. Please take these vegetables, maybe it's a little help, but at least you
won't go hungry," said the younger one.

"Please take this fabric so you can make clothes for your baby when he grows up," said the older
one.

Wei Wuxian was too surprised to refuse them. It was strange, but it was a pity for their momentary
mercy to endure. With each step she was approached by someone new, offering help. It always
happened when A-Yuan made a happy squeak, when Wei Wuxian looked at him, smiled, or
simply put her forehead to his little head. People automatically went crazy and offered to help.
Therefore, when she finally found Wen Ning, she had several men next to her who was carrying
her things so that she would not have to wear them, explaining that she was carrying a child. It was
really weird.

Since then, when Wei Wuxian came to Yiling, even for a short walk, she was always approached
by someone from the city and asked about how she was doing, if she needed help, how was the
child feeling, if his teeth were growing, and other things like that.

In the long run, this behavior irritated Wei Wuxian. Therefore, she began to refuse help from some
people, especially the pushy ones. After a short time, people started offering her toys. Most of them
were toys for a larger child, not a toddler, but that was a nice gesture from the inhabitants of Yiling.
A-Yuan liked one of them in particular and refused to give it back to anyone, even if he still
couldn't play with it. It was a figurine of a bunny with a red ribbon tied on the right ear.

It was a really lovely figurine. It wasn't small enough for A-Yuan to accidentally swallow it, but it
wasn't too big for his little hands either. The figurine was the perfect size for him.

A-Yuan also played with other toys. But he always came back to his favorite bunny.

Everyone loved A-Yuan.

No person in the world wanted him hurt.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

When A-Yuan was six months old, he fell ill for the first time since his birth.

Wei Wuxian noticed immediately that there was something wrong with the little one. Daily, A-
Yuan was very calm and did not cry often. But today he woke up his mother crying out loud. It was
a painful cry. Wei Wuxian immediately jumped to her feet and tried to calm him down. A-Yuan
couldn't be calmed down. Wei Wuxian put her forehead to his little head and became alarmed. His
forehead was hot.

Wei Wuxian immediately went to find Wen Qing.

"Wen Qing!" Wei Wuxian shouted from the exit of the cave.

Wen Qing was helping Granny when she heard Wei Wuxian scream. And then she saw her with
little A-Yuan in her arms.

"What's going on Wei Wuxian?" she asked.

"Something is wrong with A-Yuan. I think he has a fever."

Wen Qing immediately checked the baby's forehead, and then her face took on that doctor's
expression.

"Give him to me! We have to beat the fever!"

Wei Wuxian gave A-Yuan Wen Qing. The little one was not happy about it, but his pained crying
was perceived quite differently.

Wei Wuxian never stepped away from her son as Wen Qing examined him and quelled his fever.
She was terrified that her little son was sick. She had expected this and thought she would be
prepared for it, but she wasn't. After Wen Qing overcame A-Yuan's fever and gave him medicine
in goat's milk, A-Yuan finally calmed down after a few moments. Wei Wuxian rocked him in her
arms and sang a lullaby to help him sleep.

Wen Qing watched them and listened to a lullaby sung by Wei Wuxian. She saw A-Yuan slowly
calming down, closing his little eyes with fatigue.

Wei Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief seeing her son fall asleep peacefully. He still had irregular
breathing but his fever dropped and it made Wei Wuxian calmer.

"Everything should be all right now," Wen Qing said.

"Thank you"

"It's my job, Wei Wuxian. I'm a doctor after all."

Wei Wuxian smiled sadly. Wen Qing watched her closely.

"I told you before that A-Yuan would be sicker than other children of his age. I'm surprised he got
sick just now."

"I know"

"We're lucky you reacted quickly," Wen Qing said, "If you waited a little longer, it could end
badly."

This time, Wei Wuxian said nothing. She knew what could have happened if she hadn't reacted
quickly enough. The thought that her baby might be in much worse condition made her want to cry.

"Everything's fine now. A-Yuan is all right," Wen Qing said.

 Wei Wuxian nodded and let the tears fall from her eyes. Moments later, the rest of the Wen came
to see what was happening. Everyone was worried to see A-Yuan in the arms of a tearful Wei
Wuxian.

They asked themselves questions that they didn't want to know the answers to. And then A-Yuan
moved. The Wens breathed a sigh of relief knowing the baby was alive.

Lan Zhan, I need you here, Wei Wuxian thought.

It was true. Wei Wuxian needed and wanted Lan Zhan to be here with her. That he would support
and console her. But he wasn't here. Lan Zhan did not know that she had a son, and Wei Wuxian
did not want them to take her son from her for anything in the world.

For the next few days, everyone walked around tense. Their little angel was sick and it was not
known when he would recover. A-Yuan was only six months old. Even a simple cold could be
fatal to him. When Wei Wuxian left the cave with the little A-Yuan, who already looked much
better, the Wenas could breathe a sigh of relief.

The laughter of the little one returned to the Burial Mounds. And Wei Wuxian was calmer.

Their little angel was completely healed.

Chapter End Notes

A little explanation:
In my story, Wei Wuxian did not often leave the Burial Mounds to Yiling in the time
before giving birth.
She only went out once for a new robe, so the townspeople didn't see her often.
Additionally, Wei Wuxian started wearing more comfortable robes after giving birth
to A-Yuan and tied her hair slightly differently, so there is a good chance that the
people of Yiling may not recognize her as Yiling Patriarch.
In normal life, there is a chance that even if you change your hairstyle and dress
differently, people may not recognize you and I wanted to use that in the story.
 The Truth Is Almost Revealed

Wei Wuxian sometimes wanted to punch herself for her stupidity.

As usual, Wei Wuxian took A-Yuan out to Yiling for a walk. This time, Wei Wuxian did not have
a baby carrier on her back. It was more convenient for Wei Wuxian to have a baby carrier in the
front, where she could easily see what was going on with her baby. Following the incident with A-
Yuan's disease, Wen Qing stated that she had acquired paranoid behavior. The doctor immediately
told Wei Wuxian that it wasn't healthy. Wei Wuxian was reluctant to admit that she needed help
but agreed to talk to Wen Qing. She was slowly making a slump. Slowly.

Wei Wuxian was surprised that Yiling's people treated her so kindly. They always gave her a
helping hand, even if she looked very much like Yiling Patriarch to them. But to the people of
Yiling, she was simply A-Ying. A young and loving mother with a lovely baby, not a cultivator
walking down the wrong path.

There was weishi, the time Wei Wuxian put A-Yuan for his afternoon nap. During the walk, she
was again accosted by the inhabitants about various things. A-Yuan at that time had his head
placed on his mother's breast and was dozing sweetly listening to her heartbeat.

It was a really lovely sight. Wei Wuxian stroked the little boy gently on the head with a smile on
her face and a gentle look. Suddenly there was a thought in her head how the whole world would
react when seeing her like this.

Probably most of them would have had a heart attack, she thought.

Suddenly the smile faded from her face to another thought that had been tormenting her for
months.

How would Lan Zhan react if he saw me with his son?

"Wei Ying?" someone said from behind her back.

Wei Wuxian turned to the voice. When she faced the person who said her name, she froze. The
golden eyes that looked at her split in shock.

"Lan Zhan?" she asked surprised not believing what she saw.

Lan Zhan stood in front of her. The same Lan Zhan whom she loved and from whom she hid his
son. In fear, she instinctively embraced the carrier more, delousing herself that this would hide A-
Yuan. They stood there for a moment staring at each other in shock, afraid to break this unpleasant
silence.

Wei Wuxian saw Lan Zhan looking at the sleeping child in her arms. She wondered what she
should do.

"Wei Ying, who is ...?" Lan Zhan asked in surprise.

"Just look! She's so confused!" she heard

"Maybe it's the father?"

"Impossible! For nothing in the world, they look alike!"

"Maybe it's someone from her family?"

"Let's get out of here. Somewhere where we can talk quietly so that no one can hear us," Wei
Wuxian said, wanting to escape the eyes of Yiling's prying eyes as soon as possible.

"Mn"

Wei Wuxian led Lan Zhan away from the crowd. They went together to one of the restaurants
where they ordered food.

"How are you, Lan Zhan?" Wei Wuxian asked in confusion.

She avoided his gaze at all costs. Instead of him, she was looking the other way or at her child.
Seeing that the toddler was still sleeping, she was calmer.

"Fine."

"Lan Zhan, as usual, you don't say much" Wei Wuxian said.

Moments later she heard soft moans from the carrier. She looked quickly at A-Yuan, seeing that
the baby was still asleep. She sighed feeling relieved. Even though A-Yuan was a quiet child, he
could be fussy when he was sleepy.

"Wei Ying"

Wei Wuxian instinctively looked at Lan Zhan. He looked at her intensely, then looked again at the
child that was with her.

"Yes, Lan Zhan?"

"Who is this?" Lan Zhan asked.

"His name is A-Yuan. He is ... the son of one of the women in the Burial Mounds who died a few
days after giving birth. I adopted him."

She was lying. Wei Wuxian lied to him in vivid eyes. But she couldn't tell him that she gave birth
to A-Yuan and that he was the boy's father. She simply couldn't. So she quickly made up a story
that A-Yuan had been adopted by her.

"Mn"

Wei Wuxian wasn't sure if Lan Zhan believed her, but she didn't try to continue with A-Yuan's
topic.

"So what brings you to Yiling, Lan Zhan?" she asked, changing the subject.

"A night hunt. Just passing by" he replied shortly.

"I understand. What are you hunting? I know these areas so..."

Before Wei Wuxian was able to add anything more to their stolid, a waitress came up with their
food.

For the first time by herself, she did not break one of the three thousand rules in the Wall of Rule in
Cloud Recesses. Not once did she speak to Lan Zhan during their meal together.
When they finished eating, A-Yuan began to wake up. He yawned softly and began to open his
eyes. As soon as he saw his mother, he immediately started babbling. Wei Wuxian looked at the
boy and laughed softly.

"Are you awake already? You haven't slept for a long time," she said and smiled gently at the
baby.

"Wei Ying, come back to Gusu with me"

Wei Wuxian looked at him in surprise.

"And you again with this. Lan Zhan, I won't come back to Gusu with you just to be locked up like a
criminal. Wens needs me. Me and my protection. I can't leave them. Them and A-Yuan."

"Wei Ying ..."

"Lan Zhan, let it go. I'm not going to ..."

Before Wei Wuxian could finish her sentence, they both heard a happy laugh from A-Yuan. Wei
Wuxian looked at her son. When Wei Wuxian unconsciously turned sideways to Lan Zhan, the
boy looked at him and laughed seeing him reaching out his little hands to him.

As if he knew Lan Zhan was his father, Wei Wuxian thought.

A-Yuan continued to extend his little hands as if he wanted Lan Zhan to hold him. Lan Zhan
looked confused and surprised.

"He wants you to hold him," Wei Wuxian said.

Before Lan Zhan could react, Wei Wuxian took A-Yuan out of the carrier. The boy immediately
extended his little hands again to Lan Zhan, who did not object too much. He took the boy in his
arms. Happy A-Yuan began to touch Lan Zhan's face. Wei Wuxian found it a lovely sight.

Suddenly, Wei Wuxian's eyes widened in surprise. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a slight
change in Lan Zhan's face. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised and he was looking at the
little boy with a kind of fascination.

His gaze was gentle, and he seemed to ignore the fact that A-Yuan was touching his ribbon on his
forehead.

He wouldn't even let me touch it, Wei Wuxian thought.

Moments later, they both heard a soft rumble in A-Yuan's stomach, who began to moan softly. Wei
Wuxian quickly asked for goat milk for A-Yuan and took him from Lan Zhan's arms.

The waiter brought the warmed goat's milk to their table. Wei Wuxian quickly checked that the
milk was warm enough, and when she was 100% sure, she placed A-Yuan in her arms and began to
feed him.

Wei Wuxian was still breastfeeding A-Yuan but slowly began to feed him with goat milk from a
cup as well. Wen Qing said it was a good way to slowly wean A-Yuan from her breasts.

Lan Zhan watched her actions carefully. Wei Wuxian did not pay much attention to it. After all,
she wasn't breastfeeding A-Yuan next to him.

They spent the rest of the day in the Burial Mounds. Lan Zhan escorted them and did not want to
leave for a long time. It wasn't until Wei Wuxian told him that his brother and uncle would
probably worry about him. As Lan Zhan left, Wei Wuxian watched him for a moment longer.
After a while, she sighed, confident that she had managed to convince Lan Zhan that A-Yuan was
adopted. And the fact that he is not their biological child. Then she looked at her son again and
laughed at the careful gaze of the child.

"Sorry, my little radish. I had to tell your dad you were adopted. If he found out the truth, he would
have taken you from me."

The little boy put his little hand on Wei Wuxian's cheek as if to comfort her. Wei Wuxian smiled at
the baby and slowly started walking towards the cave entrance.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A few days later, she wanted to hit her head again for her stupidity, but this time twice as hard.

This time she did not go out to Yiling with A-Yuan. The little one fell ill again, and it had barely
been a month since A-Yuan's last cold. Wei Wuxian was with him all the time and did not leave
him behind.

Wen Qing was preparing medicine for A-Yuan when a loud screech was heard all over the Burial
Mounds.

"WEI WUXIAN!"

She knew whose scream it was. She didn't want to leave A-Yuan, but she had no other choice.

"Wen Lin!" Wei Wuxian called.

"Yes?" Wen Lin asked her to enter the cave.

"Could you stay with A-Yuan for a while? I have to meet the person who visited us," Wei Wuxian
said as she waded from the ground.

"Of course I will stay with him for a while. Go and see who was shouting so loud."

Wei Wuxian emerged from the cave and headed for the entrance to the Burial Mounds. She
immediately noticed a person dressed in purple robes, and the ring on his finger sparkled with
purple lightning.

"Jiang Cheng, how do I owe this unexpected visit?" she asked looking at her shidi.

Jiang Cheng looked nervous and irritated at the same time.

"Let me in to the Burial Mounds and I'll tell you"

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but finally lifted the barrier over the Burial Mounds
for a moment and let Jiang Cheng in.

"So? What did I do this time ...?" Wei Wuxian asked, but she quickly ran out of words as she saw
another person in purple-pink robes coming out from behind Jiang Cheng.

"A-Xian," said the new person.

"Shijie .."
Wei Wuxian couldn't believe her eyes. Her Shijie was here. Jiang Cheng came to the Funeral
Mounds with Shijie, who was pregnant. Plus, she had a bigger belly than Wei Wuxian when she
was pregnant!

"Shijie"

Wei Wuxian stepped up slowly to Jiang Yanli, who unexpectedly hugged her.

Suddenly she heard a soft cry. Wei Wuxian looked up and her heart broke in two as she saw her
Shijie cry. She already wanted to ask why but was overtaken.

"A-Xian, why didn't you tell us? You know we would help you"

"I didn't say what?"

"That you were pregnant and that you miscarried," said Jiang Cheng.

Wei Wuxian couldn't see his face, but she could hear from the tone of his voice that he was hurt.

"Ah, that's what you mean," she said for a moment as if detached from reality "Wait! How do you
know about this?"

"The old healer who was handling your pregnancy told me that, and then I told A-Jie about it," said
Jiang Cheng.

"Why didn't you tell us anything?"

"Shijie, those were the first months, there was always a possibility that I might have a miscarriage
and I didn't want to tell anyone until I was sure the baby would survive."

"But it didn't make it," said Shijie.

"Is it because of the Wens?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Jiang Cheng ..."

"Even when you know they made you lose your baby, you still protect them," he said, angrily in
his voice.

"Jiang Cheng, not all Wen's are the same," Wei Wuxian said.

There was silence for a while between them. Neither of the siblings wanted to bring it up, but
someone had to.

"A-Xian," Shijie began, "I'd like to ask you to pick a name for my baby," Shijie said, taking Wei
Wuxian's hands.

Wei Wuxian thought for a moment. The curious thought of a baby's name for her Shijie appeared
on the back of her head.

"Rulan"

"That's an interesting name," said Jiang Cheng sardonically.

"At least I didn't name the dogs' Jasmine, Love, and Princess," Wei Wuxian said with a smirk,
"Shijje, Shijie! How long have you been pregnant? You've recently got married."
"Five months. It was a surprise to all of us to discover that I was pregnant so soon after I got
married," said Shijie.

Wei Wuxian was about to say something when she heard crying behind her. She quickly turned
back to see Wen Lin running towards her.

"Miss Wei!" Wen Lin cried in tears.

"Wen Lin, what happened?" Wei Wuxian asked in surprise, departing from her cross.

"I was watching over A-Yuan in the cave, but suddenly his fever got higher. In a panic, I called out
to Qing-Jie, who told me to bring you back immediately!" Wen Lin said in tears.

Wei Wuxian no longer thought about her siblings, who were waiting for an explanation. Instead of
telling them what is happening in panic, she ran to the cave where she had left A-Yuan.

Wen Qing was kneeling beside him, her hand resting on his forehead as if checking the level of his
fever.

"Wen Qing," Wei Wuxian said kneeling next to her "What's going on?"

"His fever has risen," Wen Qing said, "But you can rest easy now. I managed to bring it down."

Wei Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed the boy by his little hand.

"Don't worry. His condition should improve in a few hours," Wen Qing said, but then added, "You
should explain the whole situation to your guest."

Wen Qing pointed to the cave entrance where Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli were standing. One of
them had a worried expression on her face, and the other had a little anger in his eyes.

Damn, I didn't think it through! Wei Wuxian thought.

"A-Xian, what's going on?" Shijie asked her "Who is this boy?"

"Wei Wuxian ..." Jiang Cheng spoke impatiently.

"He's A-Yuan. He's ..." Wei Wuxian started, but didn't finish the sentence.

"He is...?"

"He's the son of one of my cousins who died a few days after giving birth," Wen Qing interjected,
"Wei Wuxian is helping us raise him."

"It's sad," said Shijie. "Poor little boy."

"He's very sickly and I got very attached to him and that's why I suddenly ran away," said Wei
Wuxian.

Let them believe, let them believe, she repeated in her head.

"It's very nice of you to help them raise this boy," said Shijie.

"I live with them in poverty and hunger, it's normal for me to help them," she said with a forced
smile.
She was still worried about A-Yuan. However, she and her siblings were kicked out of the cave so
they could talk to each other longer. They talked for a while in a rather uncomfortable atmosphere.
Wei Wuxian didn't smile as often as her Shijie took as the stress of the baby's illness from the
cave.. Jiang Cheng, however, did not say a word to Wei Wuxian after expressing a rather unkind
opinion about A-Yuan. They had even argued that she lived in the Burial Mounds and defended
the Wens. As Jiang Cheng puts it "The same Wens who took her baby away". And now they
couldn't even look at each other.

‘I can't blame him for that, Wen Qing said A-Yuan was her cousin,’ Wei Wuxian thought. ‘Jiang
Cheng will find out that he is A-Yuan's uncle over my dead body,’ she promised herself silently.

Then everyone said goodbye at the entrance to the Burial Mounds.

After Jiang's siblings disappeared from her sight, Wei Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief and headed
back to the cave, glad that no one questioned that A-Yuan, according to Wei Wuxian's story, was
Wen.

When she re-entered the cave, Wen Qing spoke to her.

"You know someday you'll have to tell them A-Yuan is your son"

"I know. But I would sooner die than tell them in person that A-Yuan is my son."

"Don't say such things," Wen Qing said indignantly.

"We both know very well that this can happen. That's why I have a request for you," Wei Wuxian
said and knelt before Wen Qing.

"Wei Wuxian! What are you doing ?!"

"If I die soon, please take care of A-Yuan. But if possible, please make sure that his father takes
care of him," Wei Wuxian pleaded.

"How should I know whose A-Yuan's father is, if you never did ..."

Wei Wuxian knew Wen Qing knew who A-Yuan's father was. But she still managed a
mischievous smile.

"I thought it was obvious, but I'll say it anyway. A-Yuan's father is Lan Wangji"

"Wei Wuxian ..."

"Promise me Wen Qing. Promise me," Wei Wuxian pressed, "Otherwise I'll be kneeling in front of
you until you do."

"All right, all right! I promise you Wei Wuxian," Wen Qing said irritated, "Now get up from this
dirty ground. You'll get your robes dirty."

Wei Wuxian got up from her knees, glad that she had convinced Wen Qing to make this promise.

Someday the world may find out that A-Yuan is her son.

Someday.
 All His First Times

When A-Yuan was eight months old, everyone in the Burial Mounds was eager to make him say
his first words.

For a good few days now, Wen Lin had been trying to get the eight-month-old boy to say
something. Usually, these were simple words like "A-Niang", "bunny" or her name. Wei Wuxian
could only laugh at what Wen Lin was doing, but she never forbade her to do so. Wen Lin, after all,
could not have a small child herself since her husband died in the Qingqi Path Labor Camps and
her son was eleven already.

However, this did not prevent her from taking an active part in raising A-Yuan. Wen Xin, Wen
Lin's son, even complained to Wei Wuxian that he was sometimes jealous of little A-Yuan because
his mother spends more time with him. Wei Wuxian then told him to go and told his mother that he
felt jealous of her. Of course, the eleven-year-old denied doing it, but Wei Wuxian knew hers.
Especially since Wen Lin came to A-Yuan a little less than before.

She also happened to have a conversation with Lan Zhan about this when he visited the Burial
Mounds. To her surprise, he brought toys for A-Yuan.

"Lan Zhan! What's that supposed to mean?" she asked in surprise to see Lan Zhan carrying a sack
of toys.

"Toys for A-Yuan," he replied.

"I know, I see they're toys, but why did you bring them? I didn't ask for them!"

"A gift for A-Yuan"

"Gift?" she asked surprised.

For nothing in the world, she did not expect Lan Zhan to go to the Burial Mounds with a sack of
toys and hand them over as a gift to a child. Especially for her baby. Even if he didn't know A-
Yuan was her biological child.

Wei Wuxian watched the pace at Lan Zhan as he crouched down next to A-Yuan, who began to
play with the bag, not quite knowing if it was a toy. Lan Zhan opened the bag and took out the
rattle drum and spun it. A-Yuan looked pleased because he immediately reached for the toy. Lan
Zhan gave the boy a toy and looked at him softly.

"You really didn't have to do this Lan Zhan. If every time you come here with toys for him, he'll
get spoiled," she said looking at him.

"I wanted to," he replied, standing on par with her and meeting her eyes. Perhaps they were only
two centimeters apart in their height, an outsider could say that Lan Wangji seemed much taller
than Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian, in a way, felt much shorter than him than she was. When she felt her cheeks slowly
turning pink, she looked away from Lan Zhan and looked in the other direction.

"How many months is he?" Lan Zhan asked unknowingly.

"You mean how many months A-Yuan has?" he nodded, "Eight months. Why are you asking?"
"He should start talking"

"Ah Lan Zhan, you are not the only one telling me that. Everyone in the Burial Mounds has
recently taken on a mission to make A-Yuan say his first word."

"Mn," Lan Zhan agreed.

"Everyone repeats their name to him and tries to make him repeat it"

"Bunny!"

Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan turned to A-Yuan, who was holding a toy bunny in his hands. Unlike
the one A-Yuan had had for a long time, the new one had a white ribbon on the ear.

A-Yuan was proud to show them his new toy. Wei Wuxian decided to use this situation to check if
she heard it right. She walked over to her son and knelt beside him.

"A-Yuan, what is this?" she asked him pointing to a bunny with a white ribbon.

"Bunny!" A-Yuan said cheerfully.

Wei Wuxian took him on her lap and hugged him.

"I'm so proud of you A-Yuan! Finally, you said your first word!"

Honestly, Wei Wuxian felt a little hurt. On the one hand, deep down she was hoping that A-Yuan's
first word would be "A-Niang". On the other hand, she was glad that A-Yuan's first word was
"bunny" because Lan Zhan was with them.

"All good?" Lan Zhan asked unexpectedly.

"Yes, why shouldn't it be?"

"You adopted him. He did not call you Mother."

Wei Wuxian forgot that she told Lan Zhan that she had adopted A-Yuan. She forced a smile on her
face and turned to Lan Zhan.

"This is normal. The first word of a child is not always ‘A-Niang’ or ‘A-Die'. The most important
thing is that he started speaking at all."

"Right," said Lan Zhan.

"A-Niang! Bunny!" A-Yuan laughed again.

Wei Wuxian laughed as she stood up and held the boy in her arms.

"Lan Zhan! Did you hear ?! My A-Yuan is learning very fast!" Wei Wuxian said excitedly.

"Mn"

A-Yuan looked at Lan Zhan with a smile.

"A-Die!" he squawked happily extending his little hands towards Lan Zhan.

Wei Wuxian squawked in surprise and probably all red in the face. She looked at Lan Zhan,
wondering what to say.
"Lan Zhan ... I ... sorry for him. He must have considered you as his father because you brought
him toys and ..."

"Wei Ying, it's nothing," said Lan Zhan.

"Huh?"

"It's not a big deal"

"Are you sure Lan Zhan? A-Yuan is still small, but I'm sure if I were to explain to him that ..."

Wei Wuxian started to talk panicked but didn't know how to put the whole situation into words. A-
Yuan called Lan Zhan his dad! He was right, Lan Zhan was his biological father after all, but the
tale of adopting A-Yuan was slowly starting to fall apart.

"It's nothing," Lan Zhan replied, "He doesn't know I'm not his father."

Lan Zhan's ears turned pink and her heart snapped in two. In Lan Zhan's voice, she sensed the
sadness that A-Yuan was not his son.

'Sorry Lan Zhan, but you really can't know. At least not now’, thought Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian felt a great sense of guilt. She should have told Lan Zhan the truth. She should tell
him she gave birth to A-Yuan. But she didn't feel ready to tell him the truth yet. He would wait a
few more months. This will be the best option. And when A-Yuan will turn one, she will tell him.

She definitely will tell him

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A few weeks later, she was sitting in a cave with A-Yuan, who was playing with his toy bunnies.
To everyone's surprise, A-Yuan slowly began to speak a little more than at the beginning. Wei
Wuxian was reviewing her notes from time to time, glancing at the boy, and making sure that he
was okay.

One day, when Wei Wuxian couldn't find him anywhere and she wanted to panic, Wen Qing came
to her with a lost boy in her arms, who, as it turned out later, was crawling around the camp without
any care. Wen Qing scolded her for not guarding her son, but when she saw Wei Wuxian's terrified
face, she immediately quietly rebuked her to be more careful about A-Yuan.

That is why Wei Wuxian could not concentrate all the time, glancing at the place where A-Yuan
was playing.

It was not her fault that she was simply afraid of the health and safety of her little son. Were it not
for the fact that they lived in the Funeral Mounds and she would not be currently the number one
enemy of the whole cultivation world, she probably would not be so worried. She would probably
allow A-Yuan to walk all over the house they would live in. But it wasn't like that. They were in a
very dangerous place not conducive to raising a small child. There were so many dangers
everywhere that lurked for her son.

Wei Wuxian couldn't imagine what her life would have been like without A-Yuan. The idea of
losing another child hurt her heart so badly that over time she began to have nightmares in which
she held her son's weightless body. He was covered in blood, and there was a dagger in his chest.
Wei Wuxian woke up from a nightmare when she in her sleep felt that familiar feeling of being
impaled on a sword.
"A-Niang?" she heard her son's voice from a distance.

Wei Wuxian only then realized that she was covering her mouth with her hand, and that tears were
flowing from her eyes. She forced a smile and looked at her baby.

"It's nothing A-Yuan. A-Niang remembered something sad. Don't worry about me," she said
sweetly.

A-Yuan didn't believe her words because he made a dissatisfied face. Wei Wuxian laughed softly
seeing how sweet A-Yuan looked with a puffy face.

Her son went back to playing with his bunnies, and she sighed softly and went back to her notes.

After a while, Wei Wuxian heard crying from the side where A-Yuan was sitting. She looked
quickly that way. She saw her boy on two legs. In his right hand, he had his toy bunny with a red
bow on his ear, and in his left hand, he held the paw of the toy that was detached from the body.

"A-Yuan what happened?" she asked him calmly.

"A-Niang... bunny," he said through tears showing the bunny.

"Come to your A-Niang and show him to me," she said, reaching out to him.

A-Yuan nodded slightly and looked down at his legs. Wei Wuxian smiled gently at him.

"Relax. If you don't feel strong enough, you don't need to walk on your feet yet. A-Niang is not
rushing you."

To her surprise, A-Yuan moved one leg and carefully put it in front of him. He paused a moment
and looked at Wei Wuxian, who was still smiling gently at him. He put the other leg in front of
him. He hesitantly took the next steps ahead. It took him a while to get to her. But when he did
that, Wei Wuxian took him in her arms and put him on her lap.

"Poor thing," Wei Wuxian said, picking up a torn plush bunny. "His paw is torn off."

Wei Wuxian remembers this bunny. Lan Zhan gave A-Yuan this stuffed animal right after he lost
his bunny figurines, which he loved so much. A-Yuan was so sad when they couldn't find the
figurines for several days. And then Lan Zhan came with two plush toys. One of these stuffed
animals looked exactly like lost figurines. A-Yuan immediately cheered when he saw a toy similar
to the one he loved so much.

"It's the toy Lan Zhan gave you, right?" she asked.

The boy nodded, hiccuping softly through his tears.

"I'll try to fix the bunny. A-Niang promises to fix it."

"A-Niang... sad?" A-Yuan asked.

"A-Niang is not sad, sweetheart. A-Niang is happy that you are here," she said smiling at her son
and wiping his tears. "A-Niang wants A-Yuan to be happy too. So promise your A-Niang that you
will not cry anymore "

"A-Niang... cry," A-Yuan said, touching her cheek.

"I promise I won't cry either," said Wei Wuxian and smiled at her son, while glad that he managed
to take his first steps.

She was happy with her son's progress.

But at the same time, she was sad to see how quickly her boy was growing up.
 Incident on Qiongqi Path: Part One
Chapter Notes

The long-awaited doom has come.

Wei Wuxian did not expect anything in the world to find out about her nephew's birth so quickly.

She knew her Shijie was pregnant, but she did not expect that one day in December she would be
invited to celebrate her Shijie's son one month. She found it quite a nice gesture to have been
invited. She read the letter with blurry eyes following Lan Zhan's beautiful calligraphy. She felt a
little unusual, but she wasn't going to deny that her heartfelt warm. Lan Zhan, her Shijie, Jiang
Cheng, and even this peacock. They all wanted her there.

Wen Qing was not happy with the idea of going to the Carp Tower. But she was even more
unhappy when Wei Wuxian refused to take Wen Ning with her. She knew why Wei Wuxian didn't
want to take A-Yuan with her, and no one forced her to do so, because everyone knew how it could
end. But the very idea of going without Wen Ning seemed absurd to her.

"It's not a good idea for you to go there alone," Wen Qing said.

Wei Wuxian was slowly getting ready to leave the Burial Mounds as Wen Qing stood in front of
her, A-Yuan in her arms.

"Wen Qing, take it easy. I will only go there for a moment and give them my present, then I will
return to the Burial Mounds. You have nothing to worry about."

"What if it's a trap?" Wen Qing asked worriedly, "What if they invited you only to imprison you,
take the seal or kill you?"

"They won't get the amulet, believe me. I won't let them take it," Wei Wuxian said confidently.

"What if they kill you? Don't forget that you have a child to take care of"

"If that happens, you will have to fulfill the promise you made to me," Wei Wuxian said. "Besides,
I'd like to see Jin Rulan. And Shijie. I haven't seen her in a long time."

"I can't convince you not to go, right?" Wen Qing asked.

Wei Wuxian nodded, answering the doctor.

Wei Wuxian understood perfectly well why Wen Qing was so suspicious and refused to let her out
of the Burial Mounds. The cult people considered Wei Wuxian a monster and a traitor who was
preparing an army in the Burial Mounds to conquer the world. Of course, Wei Wuxian didn't plan
or do anything like that. But after she saved the wen from the Qiongqi Path, people stopped feeling
good about her. They started spreading a rumor that she was preparing an army after she
disappeared, when in fact she was heavily pregnant and could barely walk out on her own.

However, outsiders did not know this and therefore speculated. And so Wei Wuxian became the
new enemy to the world. Sects began to express an interest in the Stygian Tiger Seal. This fact
alone was disturbing, but Wei Wuxian knew that this interest would fade quickly as she planned to
destroy the amulet soon. Every day she felt the seal grow more powerful and slowly slipping out of
control. Wei Wuxian could not let such a powerful and dangerous weapon that she created herself
fall into the wrong hands. The only way to prevent this from happening was to break the seal.

Wen Qing looked uncertainly at Wei Wuxian, still holding A-Yuan in her arms.

"At least take A-Ning with you. I'll feel better if you take it with you."

"This is not a good idea. They will think that I prepared myself to attack them in case of need,"
Wei Wuxian said shortly.

"You don't take Chenqing either. They'll be able to attack you more easily"

"Don't worry Wen Qing. I'll be fine. Besides, I know you would send Wen Ning to keep an eye on
me."

Wei Wuxian put her hands on Wen Qing's shoulders and smiled at her.

"You're right. I would do it," Wen Qing said shortly.

Wei Wuxian just laughed again.

"I know. But nothing will happen to me. I'll be back here safe and sound. Besides, we don't want
these beautiful robes to go to waste, do we?" Wei Wuxian asked as she moved slightly away from
Wen Qing and twisted around herself to show herself in all her glory.

"A-Niang, pretty," A-Yuan said, looking at his mother with adoration in his eyes.

"Thank you A-Yuan," Wei Wuxian said, placing a gentle kiss on the baby's forehead.

To Wen Qing's surprise, Wei Wuxian put a lot of work into presenting herself at the celebration of
the first month of Jin Rulan. Although they had no cosmetics in the Burial Mounds, Wei Wuxian
looked as if she was wearing makeup that was supposed to enhance her natural beauty. The robes
were also beautiful. They might not have been rich, but Wei Wuxian still looked beautiful in them.
The robes she was wearing made her look more feminine than normal.

"I'll be back soon. Don't worry about me so much," Wei Wuxian said and left the cave with a smile
on her face.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

As Wei Wuxian entered the Qiongqi Path, she began to feel uncomfortable. She sensed that
something bad might happen, but didn't let the anxiety show on her face.

She clutched the invitation Lan Zhan had written in her hand and smiled instantly. Since Lan Zhan
wrote to her, nothing bad could happen. Lan Zhan wouldn't lie to her. Lying was forbidden in his
sect, so there was no option for him to lie to her.

She smiled under her breath seeing in her head her Jiang Cheng, Peacock, Shijie, and their little
son. And most of all, Lan Zhan. She wanted to see them so much. But she wanted more to tell them
the truth about A-Yuan. She took a deep breath and decided to tell them about it today.

He will tell Jiang Cheng and Shijie that A-Yuan is their nephew.
He will tell Lan Zhan that A-Yuan is his son and that she gave birth to him. And if Lan Zhan
wanted to take their son from her, she would fight him.

And suddenly an arrow flew in front of her, which lightly touched her cheek, leaving a small
oblong wound on her face.

She looked at the direction the arrow flew from. At the edge of the escarpment stood a very ugly
man dressed in yellow robes. He was surrounded by other men, guns in their hands. Each of them
wore yellow robes. There was an image of a peony on their chest. Members of the Lanling Jin sect
stood there aiming their weapons at her.

"Wei Wuxian! How dare you show up here?!" A really ugly man shouted.

"I have an invitation to the Carp Tower. I didn't expect the Lanling Jin Sect to greet their visitors
like this! They aim their weapons at them!" Wei Wuxian shouted indignantly.

"You are not allowed to enter the Carp Tower!"

"Who are you?" Wei Wuxian asked.

"How dare you pretend you don't know who I am right after you cursed me?! I'm Jin Zixun!" Jin
shouted upset.

"I didn't curse anyone. Especially not you."

How was I supposed to curse him if I didn't even know his name? I was preoccupied with
babysitting than cursing people, Wei Wuxian thought.

Jin Zixun didn't believe her because he opened his robes and showed her his abdomen.

"Hundred holes? If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't even know what killed you!"

"Stop pretending!"

"Jin Zixun! What are you doing?" Someone shouted from the crowd.

Moments later, Jin Zixuan stood next to slimy Jin.

"Cousin! Do not intervene! I will let him go as soon as this curse is lifted from me!"

"I already told you I didn't curse you!"

"Then show us your abdomen! If you didn't curse me, your abdomen will be smooth!"

Wei Wuxian did not open her robes. If she does, she will reveal to them all that she is a woman.
And then they could do something really bad to her.

She stared at the Jins with indignation and horror. She will not open her robes. She will not be
exposed to them. Only Lan Zhan could see her like this.

"You haven't opened your robes, it means you're guilty!" Jin Zixun shouted

"I do not...!"

"A-Xian!" someone shouted from the crowd.

Wei Wuxian recognized the voice immediately. Her Shijie was standing next to Jin Zixuan, who
was trying to reason with his cousin. She had a yellow roll on her hands.

"Wei Wuxian cursed me and I demand a more appropriate punishment for it!"

"I didn't curse you! How could I do that when I don't even remember your name?!" Wei Wuxian
shouted, not even trying to manipulate her voice to make it sound more masculine.

"What evidence do you have that Wei Wuxian cast this curse on you?" another person in the crowd
asked.

That person turned out to be Jiang Cheng, who was holding a Zidian in his hand.

What are they all doing here? Wei Wuxian wondered.

"And who else would do this? Besides, Wei Wuxian is a haunted woman who practices demonic
cultivation! It was her!" Jin Zixun shouted again

Everyone fell silent at the words of indignant Jin. Wei Wuxian didn't just look surprised. She was
terrified.

"How do you know...!"

Wei Wuxian didn't have time to finish her sentence when she heard a whistle. Then she felt a
piercing pain in her abdomen that brought a shrill scream from her throat. She looked at her
stomach, and more precisely to the place where the seal was hidden. An arrow protruded from her
stomach.
 Incident on Qiongqi Path: Part Two
Chapter Notes

I recommend that you turn on music for the atmosphere while reading.
Seriously, I was crying while I was writing this chapter.

Moments later, the only thing that could be heard was a shrill scream mixed with crying.

It was obvious that the cry belonged to her Shijie. Wei Wuxian looked up with difficulty. Even
from the distance between them, she was able to see the terrified faces of her siblings. And then
Lan Zhan joined the terrified faces. She put her hand to the place where the wound was. However,
she quickly pushed her hand away, seeing a red liquid appear on her skin. She looked at her
siblings again.

The image began to blur, and everyone standing on the escarpment became one huge blur of color.
Her legs refused to obey her and after a while she was lying on the ground, her eyes starting to
close.

"A-Xian!" Shijie shouted at her.

She heard other screams, but everything was mixed up and she couldn't understand another word.

Then she felt someone gently lift her slightly to a semi-recumbent position. She barely opened her
eyes to see Lan Zhan's face above her. On his once unwavering face, she could still see the terror
from the moment before.

"Lan ... Zhan ..." she said with difficulty only to hiss in pain in a moment.

"Do not move" he said and reached for the arrow sticking out of her stomach.

Lan Zhan grabbed an arrow and broke off the arrowhead. As soon as he threw the arrowhead aside,
he quickly pulled out the rest of the arrow. Wei Wuxian screamed in pain, feeling the arrow being
drawn from her.

"A-Xian!"

Wei Wuxian barely turned her head towards her Shijie. Her step-sister had tears in her eyes and she
was holding a yellow blanket in which her son began to move nervously. Jin Zixuan and Jiang
Cheng stood next to Shijie. They both had unidentified expressions.

"Shijie... hurts," Wei Wuxian said in a pained voice.

"I know A-Xian," she said, quickly handing her little son back to her husband and kneeling beside
Wei Wuxian. Shijie started gently stroking her head, "But soon everything will be fine. Hanguang-
Jun said he would give you spiritual energy from himself. It will stop hurting soon."

Wei Wuxian knew it would not stop. Lan Zhan could not give her his spiritual energy because she
could not befriend it. She no longer had a golden core and thus could not cultivate as she used to.
Lan Zhan may have tried to give her his spiritual energy, but that won't help her heal the wound
caused by the arrows. It was too late for that.

"Shijie ..." Wei Wuxian began.

"Say nothing, save your strength. Everything will be fine!"

"But..."

"It doesn't work," said Lan Zhan.

Shijie, Jiang Cheng, and Jin Zixuan all froze at Lan Wangji's words.

"How does it not work? There is no way it would not work!" Jiang Cheng shouted.

"Wei Wuxian's body does not receive spiritual energy."

"It's impossible," said a new voice.

Wei Wuxian did not know why Lan Xichen and Sect Leader Nie, Nie Mingjue also joined the
small crowd around her. And she didn't want to know. She was so tired. She wanted to close her
eyes and go to sleep, but couldn't. She was held back by the fact that they had to tell their siblings
and Lan Zhan the whole truth. And A-Yuan. Her dear sweet and tiny A-Yuan who was waiting for
her with the Wens at the Burial Mounds. Her little son was probably following Wen Qing all the
time and asking when his A-Niang would be back.

"Wei Ying" Lan Zhan suddenly spoke, breaking her from the idea "Where is your core?" He asked.

And suddenly she heard a heavily inhaled air. Now she has two truths to reveal.

"There is no way to restore the melted core." she said with difficulty quoting Wen Qing's words
from that day.

Then she looked at Jiang Cheng. At least she tried. She didn't know if Jiang Cheng would
understand what she meant. If he even gets a lead, telling him that she gave him her core would be
a little easier.

"Don't say the Wen's..." Jiang Cheng began.

"I had no core before they attacked me and threw me into ... Burial Mounds ..." she said, looking at
Jiang Cheng "I was lying about ... Baoshan Sanren ... Your new core... Was mine"

No one could say a word. Jiang Cheng stared at Wei Wuxian in disbelief as did everyone else
around them. She felt Lan Zhan's hand tighten on her shoulder.

"No... You didn't..." said Jiang Cheng.

"I did," Wei Wuxian admitted again and hissed in pain.

For a moment it was quiet and no one spoke, looking at Wei Wuxian with disbelief. Now everyone
understood why she had gone towards demonic cultivation.

"Why ... Why didn't you say anything?" Shijie suddenly asked her in tears.

"There were more important things"

"Like hiding Wens in the Burial Mounds?" Jiang Cheng asked with anger and pain in his voice.

"Like hiding... old people... children and... not cultivators"

"The kids are there?" Nie Mingjue asked.

Wei Wuxian nodded her head and immediately began to cough up blood to everyone's horror. It
was a sign that there was not much time left for Wei Wuxian. She was dying before their eyes and
they couldn't do anything.

"There ... there are many children," she said after a while, "Most of them are orphans. They have
lost their parents in the Qiongqi Path."

The bundle in Jin Zixuan's hands began to squeal slowly overwhelmed by the heavy atmosphere
around. Wei Wuxian looked at the bundle, then at Jin Zixuan, and finally at her Shijie, who gently
stroked her head.

"Congratulations Shijie ... You are a mother now"

"Thank you, A-Xian. Do you want ... do you want to see him?" Shijie asked, knowing these were
probably the last moments she could spend with her younger foster sister.

Wei Wuxian nodded gently. Jin Zixuan walked over to her, knelt beside her, and revealed the
baby's face. Wei Wuxian smiled gently seeing the little boy wrapped in a yellow blanket.

"He's beautiful Shije... He is similar to my A-Yuan... when he was one month old," she said, barely
conscious.

"You mean that boy from the Wens of the Burial Mounds? The one you adopted?" Jiang Cheng
asked.

"He ... is not adopted" Wei Wuxian said.

"What? How is it not..."

"A-Xian ..." Shijie started but paused at the thought of what her Shimei wanted to say.

"I gave birth to him. A-Yuan ... is my biological child," she said, barely conscious.

"A-Xian. Why ... Why would you say otherwise then?" asked Shijie who, being the only one, dared
to ask Wei Wuxian about it.

Wei Wuxian knew her Shijie wanted to know why she was hiding the fact that she had a child from
all of them.

"I was scared." Wei Wuxian coughed "I was afraid that if you found out ... you would take him
from me"

"We..."

"Even if we do not support your cultivation method" started Lan Xichen, who had been silent so
far. "We would never take your child from you"

"You're telling me this now when we all know ... it's too late anyway." Wei Wuxian said
sarcastically.
She turned her head towards Lan Zhan but didn't look at him. She just nestled her head in his robes.

"Lan Zhan can I ... ask you for something?" she asked

"Mn"

"Could you please ... keep A-Yuan and the Wens safe?"

"Mn" Lan Zhan agreed.

"Thank you ... Lan Zhan," she said after a while with a slightly hushed voice, "Lan Zhan there is...
one more thing ... I want to tell you"

"What's this, Wei Ying?" Lan Zhan asked softly.

"Remember when A-Yuan called you ... 'A-Die'? It was no accident"

"Wei Ying, what do you mean?"

Wei Wuxian once again gasped, knowing it was time for Lan Zhan and her siblings to learn the
truth about A-Yuan. A tear fell from her eyes at the thought that she would never see her son's
laughing face again, his lovely gray eyes. A-Yuan's joyful laugh rang in her head for a moment.
She will miss what he called her 'A-Niang' so much, their walks and naps together, and their cuddly
hugs. She will miss all the beautiful moments with her little son and regretted she could not see him
grow up anymore. She will regret leaving him. But there is also Lan Zhan who will definitely take
care of him.

"A-Yuan ... is yours. Lan Zhan you are his father," said Wei Wuxian.

Moments later, she closed her eyes and stopped breathing. Before the darkness swallowed her
completely, she heard someone cry her name. She lost the power over her body, her hand, which
she was holding on her belly, fell limp to the ground, and she plunged into eternal sleep.
 Their Side Of The Story

Lan Xichen still remembered the crying of his nephew who cried out after his mother.

When he and Lan Wangji arrived at the Burial Mounds to inform the Wens that Wei Wuxian was
dead and would now be driven to the Lotus Pier, he did not expect to hear them cry of despair.
They were reluctant to ask them where Wen Qing and A-Yuan were.

The woman who was called Granny Wen showed them the cave where Wei Wuxian used to sleep
with A-Yuan. When they entered the cave, they probably saw Wen Qing kneeling next to a stone
bed on which a little boy was lying. He looked healthy but was smaller than any other child he had
seen before.

Wen Qing, as soon as she noticed them, immediately knew what had happened. Wei Wuxian was
dead, and her A-Ning was missing before Wei Wuxian reached the Qiongqi Path. Wen Qing, even
though she was a tough woman, or so Wangji said, she cried out.

A-Yuan looked at the newcomers and brightened at Lan Wangji's face. Lan Xichen sadly watched
as his younger brother approached the boy and hugged him.

And then A-Yuan asked where his mother was. Lan Wangji hugged his son tighter, and Xichen
looked away from his nephew's eyes. A-Yuan asked why Wen Qing was crying, calling her
"Auntie".

Wen Qing wiped her tears and walked over to the boy.

"A-Yuan. Your A-Niang ... she just went to sleep"

"A-Niang... sleep?"

"Yes. Your A-Niang is asleep. And ... she will sleep a very long time," she said.

"A-Niang up?"

"Not A-Yuan. Your A-Niang won't wake up anymore."

Lan Xichen wasn't sure A-Yuan knew what Wen Qing might have meant. After all, it was just an
eleven-month-old baby who might not have understood the concept of death.

But then he heard that soft question that broke his heart. It made him dare to look at the little boy's
face.

"A-Niang... gone?" he asked, tears welling up in his little gray eyes.

As soon as Wen Qing confirmed, A-Yuan started crying loudly and calling after his mother. His
brother was hugging and stroking his head all the time, trying to calm him down. Lan Xichen,
although he did not see his brother's face, knew that he cried silently for his beloved.

It was only after A-Yuan fell asleep from exhaustion that they and the Wen decided to slowly leave
the Burial Mounds. Nothing kept them there anymore. The woman who saved them and lived with
them as if they were equals was dead. Lan Xichen saw Lan Zhan take something from the stone
bed in the cave. To his surprise, they were two stuffed bunnies. One was white with a white ribbon
and the other was black with a red ribbon.
Oh, Wangji ... I'm so sorry you have to go through this, he thought.

To begin with, they helped the Wens reach Lotus Pier where Sect Leader Jiang was waiting for
them. He greeted them with a straight face and eyes full of pain. Lan Xichen then went to discuss
with him who should take care of A-Yuan. The Lan and Jiang families had the same right to take
the boy to them. A-Yuan's father was Lan Wangji, but the boy did not have his father's last name.
A-Yuan's surname was 'Wei' after his mother, who was adopted into the Jiang family, so he was
just as much Lan as Jiang. Even though Wei Wuxian was never formally accepted as Jiang.

At first, they couldn't agree at all. Each of them drew an argument that contradicted the other side's
argument, which caused dissatisfaction and fatigue on both sides. Only after a few hours did they
decide that A-Yuan, as long as he is small, each of them will take care of him equally. He will be
in Cloud Recesses for one week and will travel to Lotus Pier the next week.

They were both satisfied with the decision so that A-Yuan would be able to meet both of his
families. However, Jian Wanyin was reluctant to allow Lan Wangji to visit Lotus Pier with his son.
But he knew Lan Wangji was the only person A-Yuan knew. He didn't want to make the child
traumatized by moving from one place to another over and over again.

It turned out that while Lan Xichen and Jiang Wanyin were talking, A-Yuan suddenly developed a
high fever. And this prevented them from going back to Cloud Recesses, so they stayed in Lotus
Pier until A-Yuan recovered. Lan Wangji followed A-Yuan one step, and Lan Xichen knew
perfectly well why. Everyone knew why. A-Yuan was his son. His and Wei Wuxian. His son was
the last thing Wei Wuxian gave him.

A-Yuan kept calling out to his mother in his sleep during his fever. Lan Xichen could not bear his
nephew's tears. No child should suffer the loss of a parent. Especially as small and young as A-
Yuan. For God's sake, A-Yuan was only eleven months old and already half-orphaned!

Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli demanded appropriate punishment for murdering Wei Wuxian in
cold blood. And they got it, because Jin Zixun was severely punished, and then locked in a
dungeon to rot there for his crime. Because taking a mother from an eleven-month-old child could
not be called anything other than a crime.

Wei Wuxian was buried in the Lotus Pier. In the place where she grew up and once called home.
Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji stayed a few days to say goodbye to Wei Wuxian. After a few days,
they returned to Cloud Recesses, where A-Yuan officially became a family member and was given
the surname Lan.

Lan Xichen took a deep breath waking up from painful memories. This should never happen. Lan
Yuan, his nephew should never have suffered from the loss of his mother. Not like he and Lan
Wangji had to when their mother died. But it did. His nephew was suffering because someone in
cold blood decided to lynch Wei Wuxian. And for the actions of that person, the child must now
suffer for nothing. His mother died for nothing. She became the martyr of the Lanling Jin Sect by
one stupid and thoughtless act of one of their members. One of the members who knew about Wei
Wuxian's true identity. But from where? Jin Zixun still hasn't answered that question. Now
everyone knew that Wei Wuxian was really a woman, so finding the person who had told Jin
Zixun about it was impossible.

This year marks the sixth anniversary of Wei Wuxian's death. Lan Yuan only had one month until
his seventh birthday. It is said that time passes quickly and heals all wounds. But for all of them,
time seemed to drag on and only deepen the wound in their heart. Wei Wuxian did not have the
opportunity to even experience her son's first birthday, which Lan Xichen regretted very much.
The A-Yuan grew very fast. He was a quiet child who heard his father and uncle. After his
behavior, no one could doubt that Lan Yuan was indeed Lan by birth.

Lan Xichen left his office and walked towards the gardens. He felt that something was tormenting
his nephew.

When he reached the gardens, he saw no one. It was quiet and empty there. At least at first glance,
it might seem so. As he listened more closely to the quiet he was able to hear the faint squeaking of
the tree. Lan Xichen looked up and immediately saw A-Yuan on the tree branch.

"Lan Yuan," said to get his nephew's attention.

Lan Yuan jumped in surprise, stopping his sobbing. He looked at Lan Xichen, who immediately
noticed tears in his eyes. He felt sadness overwhelm his heart at the sight of it.

"Uncle Xichen"

"A-Yuan what are you doing on that branch?"

"I'm hiding" replied the boy covering his face with sleeves from his robes.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want others to see and hear me cry because I remembering my mother," he replied
softly, pausing now and then to suppress the sudden urge to cry.

Lan Xichen knew perfectly well why Lan Yuan remembered his mother alone. Today was the
anniversary of her death. So he wasn't surprised that Lan Yuan was hiding in the garden. Today, he
just wanted to be alone and cry, to live the anniversary in silence.

"Lan Yuan, get down from the tree," said Lan Xichen.

Lan Yuan quickly wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve and came down from the tree. He
stood uncertainly in front of Lan Xichen.

Lan Xichen raised his hand and started stroking A-Yuan on the head.

"Lan Yuan, I know you miss her. And I know you're angry that this man took her away from you.
But know that you are not the only one who misses her and you are not the only one who mourns
her death. We all mourn her death. "he said," We all wish we had been able to do anything to
prevent it. We blame ourselves for what happened”

"But it wasn't your fault," A-Yuan replied.

"We know"

"Uncle?" A-Yuan asked after a long moment.

"Yes, A-Yuan?"

"What was mom like?"

Lan Xichen froze. He didn't know what to say to his nephew.

"I didn't know your mother well enough to tell you what she was like. I only knew her from your
father's stories and from rumors about her that weren't always favorable," he replied and seeing the
disappointed expression on his nephew's face he immediately added, "But Sect Leader Jiang and
my brother will be able to tell you more about your mother "

"I understand," replied A-Yuan.

Lan Xichen knew Lan Yuan felt a little disappointed. Lan Wangji did not talk to A-Yuan about
Wei Wuxian. Her death was still very painful for him. His brother still couldn't come to terms with
it.

"Tomorrow I and your father are going to the Lotus Pier. Would you like to come with us? You
would have the opportunity to ask your other uncle or aunt about your mother," he suggested to the
boy.

Lan Yuan beamed and nodded. Lan Xinchen smiled and watched A-Yuan return to the Jingshi.
Lan Xichen stood still for a moment wondering what life in Cloud Recesses would be like if Wei
Wuxian were still alive.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Every time Jiang Cheng saw Wei Wuxian's son, he saw her in him. And not just his eyes, which he
had after Wei Wuxian. He even looked like her from the face. Therefore, it was often painful to
look at Lan Yuan. Because just seeing the boy half orphaned made him feel guilty and angry with
himself as he remembered what he had said about the poor boy when he and Wei Wuxian met at
the Funeral Mounds. The horrible word was still on his mind. "Wen's brat". Now that he
remembered the day he had visited her in the Funeral Mounds, he understood perfectly well why
Wei Wuxian had exploded then. She was defending her son.

However, as he now looked at the boy, sitting hidden in the rebuilt pavilion that belonged to his
mother, with a soft sob, he began to feel bad about himself. He had not spent much time with Lan
Yuan in a long time due to his duties as Sect Leader. A-Yuan had to find something to do on his
own when he came to Lotus Pier. Usually, he would go to the library and go through the books and
scrolls he found, and when they weren't too hard to read, he would start reading them. His father,
Lan Wangji was usually with him back then, and when they had to return to Cloud Recesses, he
shot Jiang Cheng a hostile glare as if he knew he was specifically avoiding Lan Yuan.

Jiang Chen knew he couldn't go on with this anymore. No, when Lan Yuan specifically pleaded
with his father and Sect Leader Lan, that he could be able to spend his seventh birthday at the
Lotus Pier. He had to stop avoiding A-Yuan eventually. For Wei Wuxian. For his adopted sister.

"Lan Yuan," Jiang Cheng spoke in his usual voice.

Lan Yuan looked up at him to see Jiang Cheng standing literally in front of him. He wiped his
cheeks on his sleeve.

"Uncle Jiang," Lan Yuan spoke hesitantly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, and after a while, he saw Lan Yuan shudder in place. Shit,
he scared the kid again, "Shouldn't you be with your father right now?"

"Father is busy. Said to go to the library and wait for him there"

"So why aren't you in the library?"

"I heard two disciples talking about mom. They didn't say good things about her," Lan Yuan said
and hid his face in his lap.
Now it's clear, though Jiang Cheng.

He knelt in front of the boy and extended his hand towards him. He hesitated for a moment as if he
was afraid Lan Yuan would run away from his touch. But it was only a moment. Jiang Cheng
started to pat the boy on the head.

"What were they saying about her?" he asked peacefully, not like him.

"That mom was a bad person and that she was hurting others for fun. They called her by bad names
too," the boy said, barely refraining from crying.

"Then know they talk nonsense"

"Really?" Lan Yuan asked.

"Really. Your mother was a good person. A bit lost but a good person," he said assuring the boy.

For a moment there was silence between them. Jiang Chen did not know what else to tell the boy.
He wondered what Lan Yuan would like to hear from him. Or would he rather be alone? Jiang
Cheng didn't know that. He had avoided the boy for so long that he didn't even know what to say to
him.

"Uncle Jiang?" Lan Yuan suddenly asked.

"Yes?"

"Could you tell me what my mom was like?"

Jiang Cheng froze for a moment without taking his hand from Lan Yuan's head. He didn't know
what to say to him. After Wei Wuxian unintentionally confirmed to the world that she women and
confessed that she was Lan Yuan's mother, he did not know what or who she really was. Just as the
whole world wondered who Wei Wuxian really was. She was now a stranger to him.

Jiang Cheng took a deep breath and looked again at the boy who was sitting in front of him with
his legs tucked up.

"Your mother ... she ... was a very annoying person. She always found a topic that she could use to
irritate others," Jiang Cheng began, "But she was a good, selfless and devoted person who loved
her loved ones. Before you were born we were live in a time of war in which I lost my core. Your
mother gave me hers without hesitation. "

"Did she really do it?" the boy asked, his eyes shining with interest.

"Yes, she really did. Your mother, she always sided with others. She always said she wanted to
protect those who were unable to protect themselves. And so she did one day. She saved one girl
from a minor sect by exposing herself to Wen's. She even let them tag herself to protect this girl. "

"Mom must have been very brave then"

"Yes, brave and stupid. And very smart. After we were trapped by the Wens in Xuanwu Cave, she
figured out how to get us out of there. She stayed there with your father for a few days, waiting for
someone to come for them."

"Were mom and father always together? Because I don't remember my father living with us in the
Burial Mound Cave," Lan Yuan asked.
"No ... they ... their situation was very complicated.

There were many disagreements between them, which made it difficult to say whether they were
friends or even hate each other. But everyone saw how your father looked at your mother and how
she looked at him. Everyone knew they loved each other, "said Jiang Cheng and hesitated for a
moment." Your mother loved your father, but when she found out that you were going to be in the
world, she went into hiding so people wouldn't know about it. "

"Why?"

"Because she was afraid that if we found out about you, we would take you from her." Said Jiang
Cheng finally sitting down next to the boy, "It was an absurd fear, but legitimate. Your mom didn't
practice the kind of cultivation that you, your father, me, or the rest of the world do. People were
afraid of her because she could summon the dead as a corpse, and would like to think that we will
want to take you away from her "

"But they took her instead," said the boy.

"Yes you are right"

"Uncle, did ... mom love me?" Lan Yuan suddenly asked.

Jiang Cheng looked at the boy with disbelief in his eyes. How could this boy infer that the woman
who gave birth to him didn't love him ?!

"Of course she loved you! If she didn't love you, you wouldn't even have a chance to be born!" he
shouted upset.

Moments later, however, he calmed down seeing the boy's stressed expression. Jiang Cheng sighed
to calm down and continued.

"If your mom didn't love you, she wouldn't have given birth to you, wouldn't have done everything
to keep you alive, and wouldn't have worried about us taking you from her. She even gave you her
last name right after you were born."

"She gives me her last name?" the boy asked.

"Yes. Your birth name is Wei Yuan. Your surname Lan was given to you after she died and you
were taken to Cloud Recesses," Jiang Cheng replied.

For another time, there was silence between them. Jiang Cheng didn't know what to talk to this
child about. He was the son of her adopted sister, but he was also the son of Lan Wangji.

"Your mom loved you and still loves you wherever she is now." He said.

From his sleeve, he pulled the little bell that each of the Yunmeng Jiang Sects wore.

"A-Yuan," said Jiang Cheng, and then met the boy's surprised look, "It's for you. Your birthday
present."

Jiang Cheng handed the boy the bell. Lan Yuan paused for a moment but quickly grabbed the bell
in his hands.

"It's Clarity Bell. Everyone in the Yunmeng Jiang Sect has it. Your mother had it too. You are my
nephew and I wish you had one too. The bell will protect you from hallucinations caused by a dark
spell."

"Thank you, Uncle," Lan Yuan said, getting to his feet.

Jiang Cheng knelt beside him and tied the bell at the boy's belt. Lan Yuan immediately beamed as
the bell was tied. Jiang Cheng got up from his knees and stroked the boy again, this time with a
smile on his face.

"Let's go to West Hall. I'm sure a birthday surprise awaits you there."

Jiang Cheng didn't lie about A-Yuan's birthday surprise. The surprise was his sister, Jin Zixuan
and Jin Ling, who secretly came from Lan Yuan to celebrate his seventh birthday with him.

Lan Yuan nodded with a smile, and together they headed for the West Hall.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Unfortunately, the next day after his birthday, A-Yuan fell ill and his stay was extended by several
days. His father stayed in Lotus Pier as did his aunt, Uncle Jin, and Jin Ling, who were worried
about A-Yuan's sudden illness. Everyone knew he was a sickly child, so it wasn't a surprise that he
got sick, but it didn't make them worry less.

Aunt Yanli, as A-Yuan liked to call her, always came over and brought him her own made Lotus
Root and Pork Ribs Soup, which A-Yuan enjoyed eating.

However, he spent most of his time resting as recommended by his healer. And since A-Yuan
didn't have much to do, most of him slept while his father or another family member sat with him
and looked after him.

A-Yuan had very colorful dreams. He mostly dreamed of his life in Cloud Recesses and Lotus Pier.
It was a peaceful and good life where everyone was happy. But from the day of his seventh
birthday, a new figure appeared in his dream. It was a woman usually dressed in black robes and
her hair tied back. Unfortunately, he never saw this woman's face. In each of his dreams, the
woman's face was still blurry.

At first, it did not bother him. He thought he was probably dreaming about a person whose face he
couldn't remember. But then these dreams started to take on a strange tone as this character became
more and more closely connected with A-Yuan's father from night to night. And he didn't like it.
The mere fact that this mysterious woman in his dreams was so close to his father made A-Yuan
angry with him. Why in his dreams did the father seem not to remember his mother? Had he not
loved her anymore?

When on the fourth day of his illness he fell asleep again, he found himself in the place where his
father kept his bunnies. A-Yuan didn't know why he was dreaming about this place, but he felt so
relaxed being there. He closed his eyes and imagined what his mother might look like. Nobody
was able to describe to him beforehand what she looked like. All they said about her was that she
was really beautiful and A-Yuan looks just like her.

Suddenly he felt his head on someone's lap and that someone was stroking it. A-Yuan quickly
opened his eyes. A really beautiful woman with gray eyes and a gentle smile on her face was
leaning slightly over him. She was wearing black robes, as was the woman with a blurry face. To
A-Yuan's surprise, the woman's face seemed very similar to his.

"Already awake A-Yuan?" the woman asked, stroking him on the head.
"A-Niang?" A-Yuan asked uncertainly.

"You don't remember your A-Niang anymore, A-Yuan? Should I be offended that my son doesn't
recognize me?" she asked with a laugh in her voice.

A-Yuan jumped up from the woman's lap and hugged her tightly, which surprised her extremely.
She did nothing for a while, but finally returned A-Yuan's hug.

"My little radish grew into a big and good boy. I'm so happy"

"A-Niang ... is this really you?" he asked, his voice slightly breaking.

"Yes, my little radish. It's really me," she said, hugging him tighter.

A-Yuan did not want to let go of the woman who said she was his mother. He wanted to hug her
for a moment more before he had to say goodbye to her again.

"Just look at how you grew up," she said, "I hope you don't cause your father problems, you eating
well and learn well"

"Yes, A-Niang. I don't give my father problems, I eat well, and I'm the best student at Cloud
Recesses," he replied.

"I'm happy baby"

"A-Niang?" A-Yuan began.

"Yes, my little radish?" she asked.

"Why did you leave? Why did you leave me, father, Uncle Jiang, Uncle Xichen, Aunt Yanli, Uncle
Jin, and Jin Ling?" he asked in a slightly broken voice as if he was about to start crying.

"I didn't want to do that. I never wanted to leave you or your father or the others. I wanted to be
with you and celebrate your first birthday and every birthday after that. But apparently, someone up
there decided otherwise," she said.

"Will I be able to see you again sometime?"

"Of course. When the time is right, we'll meet again," she replied.

"And when will it be?" A-Yuan asked curiously.

"Soon," she replied.

They sat there hugging each other for most of the dream and needed no words. The woman
hummed something like a lullaby in A-Yuan's ear and stroked his head. As if she was trying to put
him to sleep in his dream as well. When A-Yuan closed his eyes, he only heard a soft "I love you,
my little radish. You and everyone else". Then he woke up from sleep. He looked around the room
and, seeing his father next to him. He was glad to see him, but at the same time, he wanted to go
back to sleep so that he could be with his mother a little longer.

"A-Yuan," his father said, "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, father" he replied and after a while, he added "I dreamed of my mother"

A-Yuan saw his father suddenly froze. He and A-Yuan never talked about his mother together. It
was still a fresh wound, but because his father wouldn't tell him anything about his mother, he had
to ask other family members.

"And what were you doing?" his father asked.

"We talked. Mom said she didn't want to leave and that she loves me. That she loves us all."

Suddenly A-Yuan felt his father hug him. Sam also hugged his father. They sat like that for a
moment, cuddled to each other until his father asked.

"What did she look like? In your dream?"

"She was beautiful," A-Yuan said, "She was dressed in black robes and had a gentle smile on her
lips. She looked just like me."

"Yes you are right"

"So is it true that my mother and I are similar to each other?" A-Yuan asked again.

"Yes. Very similar," his father replied.

A-Yuan was released from his father's embrace only to feel his hand on his head.

"Father..."

"Yes?"

"Could you tell me a little more about mom sometime?" He asked.

"Of course," his father replied.

A-Yuan beamed and once again he hugged him, inhaling the pleasant scent of sandalwood.

From that moment on, A-Yuan was sure that his mother had visited him in a dream and that she
had always loved him.

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