Chapter Text
Throughout Jiang Cheng’s life, a single name has hung over his head, like an imminent execution, a countdown until his eighteenth birthday when his world will change forever - and not necessarily for the better.
Wei Wuxian.
Disciple of the Baoshan Mountain sect, fox-shifter, the son of Jiang Fengmian’s childhood best friend, and the terror of his parents’ generation’s Gusu study days.
Jiang Cheng’s fiancé.
Arranged marriages aren’t uncommon in their world - like Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli was also engaged from the moment her husband Jin Zixuan had been born, but Jiang Cheng isn’t foolish enough to believe that his own marriage will be as successful as his sister's.
Jin Zixuan may have been a right jerk in the beginning, but they had grown to care for one another as they spent more time together, to the point where the proud avian had built his jiaoren bride a bathing pool filled with lotuses to remind her of home - and with his own hands, at that.
Jiang Cheng isn’t so lucky.
He’s never even met his future husband.
He hasn’t had the same chance as Jiang Yanli to get to know his fiancé, to grow fond of (or, at the very least, tolerant of) the man he’ll be spending the rest of his life with.
So yes, Wei Wuxian has been a shadow over Jiang Cheng’s entire childhood - but it doesn’t quite feel real until six months before the wedding, when he’s called to the main hall one morning.
He’s training with some of the other disciples, running them through drills that require them to quickly switch from fins to legs - drills that were usually fine with the older disciples, but often results in a few embarrassing half-shifts with the younger ones - when the messenger arrives, a look of urgency on his face.
“Jiang-zongzhu and Yu-furen request your presence in the main hall, immediately,” he says, and Jiang Cheng quickly shifts out of his finned-form, pulling on his clothes and handing over drill instruction to his oldest shidi before hurrying after the messenger.
“Do you know what it’s about?” he asks, and the messenger shakes his head.
“Yu-furen just returned from her night hunting near Jinlintai, and one of the guards told me she’d brought someone with her,” he says, hesitating a moment before continuing. “A’Hui told me she seemed…displeased.”
Jiang Cheng sighs and files that information away, smoothing down his hair and making sure his robes are tidy - something that’s always a bit tricky right after a shift, when he’s still a bit wet from being in the water. He would have liked time to bathe before having to deal with his parents and a potential stranger, but he’ll work with what he has.
At least he has pants on.
Inside, both his parents are seated on their thrones - his father in his finned-form, violet fins gently wafting through the water, his mother in human form, permanent look of displeasure on her face and not a hair out of place - while an unfamiliar young man sits in one of the chairs reserved for visitors to Lotus Pier without tails.
“Fuqin. Muqin,” he says, bowing to his parents.
“Jiang Cheng, thank you for coming,” Jiang Fengmian says. “Please meet Mo Xuanyu.”
He gestures to the stranger, who gets to his feet and bows to Jiang Cheng. Black feline ears peek out through unruly hair, while a long tail contrasts starkly from where it rests over white robes accentuated with silver and black, and when he straightens from his bow, Jiang Cheng is greeted with some of the prettiest silver eyes he’s ever seen.
“Jiang-gongzi,” Mo Xuanyu greets him. “This servant brings greetings from the Baoshan Mountain Sect.”
Jiang Cheng blinks.
The…Baoshan Mountain Sect?
“Mo-gongzi is here on behalf of Wei-gongzi, to oversee preparations for the wedding in six months,” Yu Ziyuan says, and Jiang Cheng can hear the distaste in her voice.
He doesn’t blame her - sending someone ahead like this without any notice they were coming is almost the same as saying ‘I don’t trust the clan I’m marrying into’.
“I see,” he says evenly, looking at this Mo Xuanyu with fresh eyes and the knowledge of where he’s come from - and what he’s doing in Lotus Pier.
His robes are well-made and intricate, more appropriate for a disciple - especially one visiting another sect. It does beg the question of what, exactly, Mo Xuanyu’s role within his sect is; he’d referred to himself as a servant, but the sword at his waist and the tassel hanging from it speaks of a cultivator.
It’s not unheard of to be both, of course - his mother’s twin attendants are some of the best cultivators to come out of the Yu sect in nearly fifty years - but so little is known about the reclusive sect that never leaves its mountain that Jiang Cheng isn’t sure what would count as normal for them.
Since the founding of the sect, only two of their disciples have ever left the mountain, after all - and even then, only one ever went back.
“My master sends his apologies for not sending a letter ahead announcing his intentions for me to visit,” Mo Xuanyu bows again. “This servant understands that his arrival could be considered…rude.”
Jiang Cheng has to fight back a disbelieving snort.
He may have only just met Mo Xuanyu, but he can see the glimmer of mischief in his eyes. He’s acting the part of a respectful servant well enough, but Jiang Cheng is certain it’s only that: an act.
What a pain.
“Of course, Yunmeng Jiang understands your situation,” he replies smoothly. How long does Mo-gongzi expect to be in Lotus Pier?”
“This one has been instructed to stay until the wedding, and oversee the preparations in his master’s stead, Jiang-gongzi.”
So, six months then.
How…irritating.
The Baoshan Mountain Sect had given very few instructions regarding how they wanted the wedding itself, and Jiang Cheng had been working under the assumption that the Jiang were going to be allowed free reign over the preparations.
Evidently not.
Idly, he wonders what it is that Mo Xuanyu has been instructed to oversee in particular, and how much of a say in the proceedings he expected to have.
“Of course,” Jiang Fengmian says pleasantly. “Lotus Pier is happy to host Mo-gongzi during his stay. Now, I am sure you must be tired from your journey. I will have our staff prepare you more appropriate quarters, but if Mo-gongzi is amenable, I will have Jiang Cheng show you to our guest quarters so you can rest in the meanwhile.”
“This servant appreciates your hospitality, especially given the circumstances of my arrival,” Mo Xuanyu says, bowing again. “Again, I apologize on behalf of my master.”
Jiang Cheng wants to scoff at that - Mo Xuanyu looks sincere enough in his apology, but he doubts that Wei Wuxian actually cares about his rudeness.
If he did, he wouldn't have done it in the first place.
“We understand that this is an…unconventional situation, of course,” Jiang Fengmian says. “Jiang Cheng, can you please show Mo-gongzi to his rooms?”
“Yes, Fuqin,” Jiang Cheng says, bowing to his parents, before turning to Mo Xuanyu. “Please follow me.”
Mo Xuanyu nods, following Jiang Cheng out of the main hall, his tail flicking behind him.
“So you’re the famous Jiang Cheng,” Mo Xuanyu says as they walk, hands held behind his back in a position that seems carefree, except Jiang Cheng can see the way his ears are constantly flicking, and his eyes are darting all over.
He especially notices the way he keeps glancing towards the water, almost as if he’s afraid of falling in.
Honestly, what was Wei Wuxian thinking, sending a cat-shifter to a place like Lotus Pier, which is surrounded by water and primarily designed for people who can swim?
Sure, there are walkways for land-folk, and the disciples train in both forms, but it’s almost universally accepted that anyone who has a tail would much prefer it if they could stay in their finned-form permanently. It’s only the fact that so much of society occurs above the water that led the Jiang to the surface in the first place, after all.
Even the Yu, who are technically land-folk, prefer their snake tails to legs.
“I suppose so,” Jiang Cheng says, not really interested in conversation at this particular moment, too busy silently seething about the disregard his fiance seems to have for his home and people.
“Look, this one really is sorry for arriving without an invitation or anything,” Mo Xuanyu says, leaning forward and slightly in front of Jiang Cheng, hair falling into his face. “Truly!”
At least this time he actually looks apologetic, his ears drooping a little like one of his dogs when he scolds them, and Jiang Cheng sighs.
In the end, it's not Mo Xuanyu's fault he's in this mess - Wei Wuxian is the son of the current sect heir, and the cat beside him is only a servant. It's not like he could have said no.
“It's fine,” he says. “You're here now.”
Immediately Mo Xuanyu brightens.
“Exactly!” he says, straightening up. “And, uh, if it's too much of a hassle, I don't mind the guest rooms. I'm just a servant, I don't need anything fancy.”
“It would be an insult to the Jiang if we didn't provide our best for a disciple of the Baoshan Mountain Sect, given our relationship,” Jiang Cheng replies, forcing down the budding annoyance. “It's the very least we can do.”
And it is.
Honestly, this Mo Xuanyu may demure properly enough, but it's like he has no idea of the rules of polite society.
...Actually.
The Baoshan Mountain Sect is known for being reclusive, with strict rules. Anyone who leaves the mountain can never return - the only person to ever go against this rule was Cangse Sanren, the mother of Wei Wuxian, who had left the mountain to attend the guest lectures in Gusu and returned with a husband and a baby on the way.
Jiang Cheng has heard stories of Cangse Sanren and her husband, Wei Changze, his entire life.
The stories his father tells are full of fondness for Wei Changze, given their childhood friendship and Wei Changze’s role as a disciple of the Jiang sect prior to his marriage. He knows that Jiang Fengmian still mourns the distance between him and his childhood best friend, who had once promised would stand beside him as the sect’s second in command.
Yu Ziyuan’s stories, on the other hand…
Well, if Wei Wuxian is anything like what Jiang Cheng’s mother has told him of Cangse Sanren, then Jiang Cheng is in for a…chaotic marriage.
Apparently ‘loud’, ‘rambunctious’, and ‘utterly impossible to teach’ were all things the Lan teachers had said about her at one point or another during her studies.
But all that aside, if Cangse Sanren is the only known person to have left the mountain and returned…
“Mo-gongzi,” Jiang Cheng begins, wondering how to phrase his question politely. “Is this your first time leaving the mountain?”
That stops Mo Xuanyu in his tracks - he trips over nothing, and would have fallen in the water if Jiang Cheng hadn't caught the back of his robes and hauled him back upright.
“Ah, is it that obvious?” Mo Xuanyu asks sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, tail swishing around his legs.
There really isn't a polite way to answer that, though it does explain a few things.
“So it’s true then, that people from your sect aren’t allowed to leave the mountain?”
Mo Xuanyu nods.
“The servants can, since they have to go down to the village to get supplies, but disciples are forbidden.”
Jiang Cheng pauses at that, suddenly presented with confirmation that Mo Xuanyu might be more disciple than servant, as he’d suspected.
He doesn’t push it, though.
Just files the knowledge away, for later.
Possibly until he meets Wei Wuxian, and can properly berate him for sending Mo Xuanyu here in the first place.
Sensing Mo Xuanyu’s discomfort with the direction of the conversation, though, he drops the subject.
Instead, they continue the rest of their walk in silence, even if he can see Mo Xuanyu taking in his surroundings - seeming to devour everything in sight.
The phrase ‘curious as a cat’ comes to mind.
The guest quarters aren’t too far from the main hall, so it isn’t long before Jiang Cheng is showing Mo Xuanyu where he’ll be staying for the moment.
“Our evening meal will be in the main hall tonight, at yǒu-shi. Do you think you’ll be able to find your way back, or would you like me to come fetch you?” he asks, opening the door to one of the nicer rooms - one he privately thinks is the best, with its balcony over one of the prettiest lotus pools.
“I think I’d probably get lost and drown,” Mo Xuanyu admits, after a moment’s consideration. “If it’s not too much trouble, this servant would appreciate Jiang-gongzi’s assistance.”
“Of course,” Jiang Cheng nods. “In that case, I’ll be here a half-shichen beforehand. I’ll send a servant to fill a bath for you - I’m sure you’ll want to wash after spending so long travelling.”
From what he knows of cat-shifters (which is, admittedly not much), they prefer being clean, after all.
Fox-shifters like Wei Wuxian are supposed to be the same.
“Thank you,” Mo Xuanyu bows. “I’ll see you this evening, then.”
Jiang Cheng bows in return, before turning from his visitor and heading back the way he'd come. He makes sure he's out of sight of the guest quarters before ducking down an empty pier, quickly stripping off his boots and trousers (knowing someone will come past and collect them, given their sect's habit of leaving their clothes wherever is convenient), before diving into the water.
His fin-form flows over his skin like the water that surrounds him - not painful, never painless, more a homecoming than anything else - and he lets out an exhausted breath, bubbles escaping his lips and flowing upwards.
He dives down deep, as far from the surface he can go without going out into deeper waters. The sun can still reach him here, filtering through the green leaves of the lotuses above, but surrounded by thick stems the way he is, he feels like he’s somewhere far away.
If he's supposed to babysit Mo Xuanyu for the next few months, all while preparing to marry a stranger, he's going to be spending every free moment in the water.
He's going to need the strength - and the moments of quiet.
—
Of the long list of admittedly stupid things Wei Wuxian has done over his eighteen years of life, sneaking off the mountain to go scope out his fiancé while disguised as one of his best friends is probably the stupidest.
He’d known it when he’d crafted the glamour spell using pieces of Mo Xuanyu’s hair and a drop of blood, and he’d been reminded every step of the way - no more so than now, as he rereads the letter that had been sitting in his bag, signed with the scrawling script of his shibo’s handwriting.
The same shibo he’d left a letter for when he’d left, explaining his latest bout of insanity along with a plea to not tell his parents - or worse, their sect leader.
If Baoshan-zhangmen finds out what he’s done…
Well, he’ll be thankful he’s going to spend the rest of his life in Lotus Pier, since it’s the only thing that would stop him from being forcibly kept on sect grounds for the foreseeable future.
Wei Wuxian,
I wish I could say I am surprised, but I fear I would only disappoint myself. Your Mo-shidi told me everything I needed to know, considering how brief your own letter was. I can only hope you know what you are doing; no successful relationship can be built on a lie, and you are going to have to confess your identity to Jiang-gongzi sooner rather than later.
Please do not do anything
foolish
more foolish.
Xiao Xingchen.
P.S - Your parents already know.
P.P.S - Baoshan-zhangmen also knows, I don't know why you thought she wouldn't. Your lack of presence is as damning as it is obvious.
Wei Wuxian groans as he throws himself down onto his bed - which is surprisingly comfortable, given a significant portion of the people living in Lotus Pier do so below the waterline.
He’d known coming here that while most of the population were fin-folk - jiaoren and their ilk, for the most part - their home was accessible by both water and land, of course. His father is from Yunmeng, despite not being of the fin-folk himself, and he’d told his son more than enough stories to give him an idea of what the place would be like.
His father’s quarters had been above water, and quite pleasant according to Wei Changze. Overlooking the lotus lakes, with a balcony he used to sit on and dangle his feet off of, while Jiang Fengmian swam in the water below.
But stories didn't prepare him for the reality of it. Being told something and seeing it for yourself are very different, after all.
He just hadn’t thought the land part of Lotus Pier would be so…
Pleasant?
Welcoming?
All warmly stained wood carved into waves and lotuses, with purple banners flying wherever there’s space, the sound of disciples training and laughing in the background. No one is being asked to be quiet, to sit and meditate.
He’d heard children, for fuck’s sake.
It feels so alive here, and he’s only just arrived, and seen so little.
Considering the mountain they live on is designed to be as inhospitable to strangers as possible, to deter any troublemakers from trying to get to them, it’s almost unusually so.
It makes him wonder where he’ll live, once he’s married.
He hasn’t seen Jiang Cheng’s finned form, but the way Lotus Pier is designed tells him that his fiancé’s rooms are likely below water. Everything he’s read about jiaoren (which is, in all fairness, not much - his sect’s library had far less literature on the subject than he would have liked) says that they prefer their fins over their legs, after all.
It’s just frustrating, because when it comes down to it, he doesn’t know anything about the man he’s supposed to marry, or the world he’s supposed to live in, and it’s infuriating. Everything he knows about Lotus Pier comes from either the scant books in the sect’s library or his father’s stories - so all his information is out of date, and doesn’t tell him anything actually useful about what he’s getting into.
‘The Jiang are prideful, A’Ying, so don’t offend them’, and ‘Jiang Fengmian is a calm and steady leader, but watch out for Yu-furen’ will only get him so far. It’s been eighteen years since his parents met and his father left Yunmeng - so much can change in that amount of time.
Though that advice about Yu-furen sounds like it’s probably still accurate…
(Seriously, that woman is scary!)
(And his mother used to flirt with her??)
He doesn’t mind marrying Jiang Cheng - really, he doesn’t, he knows that this union between their sects is important, knows that the success of his marriage would mean the possibility of his sect rejoining the rest of the world - but he doesn’t like the idea of going into his marriage blind.
There's just too much he doesn't know, and Mo Xuanyu's constant assertion that Wei Wuxian is a 'nosy bastard with more brains than you know what to do with, I swear, Wei-shixiong' isn't entirely incorrect.
“Sorry Xiao-shibo,” he mutters to himself. “'Foolish' is kind of what I'm known for.”
Two servants come to bring water for a bath, and Wei Wuxian is careful to make sure they've long gone and do not intend to disturb him before disrobing and dropping his glamour, sinking into the water.
While Mo Xuanyu's feline form is fun, and close enough to his own that it's fine that the magic is only skin deep, the singular tail leaves him feeling almost naked.
He’s used to three of them, after all.
He quickly washes himself, wishing he could risk falling asleep in the tub the way he was known to back home, but knowing it would be too dangerous.
He'd breached enough protocols in even coming in disguise - Yu-furen had looked ready to murder him when she'd come across him just a couple of li away from Lotus Pier, once he'd explained why he was there.
He may have been brought up away from polite society, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been trained in it. He's grown up with the expectation of marrying into an outside sect, it would have been cruel to let him leave the mountain without knowing any of the rules he's supposed to follow.
So he's not completely socially inept.
It’s just that knowing the rules and putting them into practice are very different things.
He imagines he's going to get in a lot of trouble when they actually get to the wedding ceremony and it's revealed that 'Mo Xuanyu' was actually the disciple marrying into the Jiang sect. He'd known that was the risk when he'd first hatched the plan - and if he hadn't, well, Mo Xuanyu had made sure he was well aware of it when Wei Wuxian had asked for the materials to craft the spell that let him borrow his form.
He'd known it, but had decided it was worth it.
And who knows, maybe in the next few months, Jiang Cheng might grow to like him enough to forgive him for the...secrecy.
Yeah.
Sure.
And maybe Baoshan-zhangmen would actually show up to the wedding.
---
Dinner is a...strange affair.
Wei Wuxian does feel more like himself once he's bathed and slept a bit - he hadn't taken much money when he'd left, so for the most part he's been sleeping in trees or people's barns during his journey - and after changing into clean clothing, he's definitely feeling a lot more prepared for whatever the universe throws at him.
Except clearly no one had told the universe that, because he finds himself faced with a sect leader and his wife who clearly don't like each other very much (or maybe they do? It's hard for him to tell, between the passive aggressive remarks from Yu-furen and the way Jiang-zongzhu keeps putting the best cuts of meat in his wife's bowl) and a fiancé who probably thinks he's doing a good job at hiding how much he doesn't like having 'Mo Xuanyu' present for what feels like a fairly standard family dinner in Lotus Pier, but really isn't.
Honestly, Wei Wuxian can't remember the last time he found someone whose emotions were so clear on his face, other than Xiao Xingchen, who has the worst poker-face of anyone in the world, probably ever.
So he tries to make up for his rude arrival by being the perfect dinner guest, only commenting when directly spoken to, and making sure he eats slowly and carefully, without making a mess.
It's so bizarrely different to back home that Wei Wuxian doesn't think he could do anything else - dinners are communal on the mountain, with everyone eating in the same dining hall, even Baoshan Sanren (when she isn't so lost in her cultivation that she forgets it's meal time). The meals aren't exactly loud, considering one of the draws of their sect is that it's quiet and peaceful, but it's impossible to get a dozen children to be entirely silent and most of the elders don't even bother.
And the food!
The food back home isn't exactly bland, but Wei Wuxian has always had a soft spot for spice - something he gets from his father - and this is the first time he's had a meal he hasn't had to spike with some of the chilli oil he bribed one of the cooks to purchase him from the bottom of the mountain.
Even if everything else in Yunmeng sucks, at least the food is good.
It's almost enough to make up for how awkward the meal is - perfectly polite of course, but he can feel the tension like a hum across his skin, making his fur stand on end.
Jiang Fengmian makes polite conversation, and Wei Wuxian answers when spoken to, but for the most part he's left alone to eat in peace.
He uses the opportunity to watch his fiancé, since Jiang Cheng's attention seems fixed on his parents.
Jiang Cheng is...pretty.
Almost unfairly so, really.
Jiaoren are known for their beauty, but Wei Wuxian never put much stock in generalised rumours like that. Fox-shifters are known for being mischievous troublemakers after all, and while he knows that he and his mother definitely fit into that box, Baoshan Sanren herself certainly does not, and neither do several of the other members of their sect.
Jiang Cheng is very beautiful though, even with a small scowl on his face and in obvious discomfort. The purple Jiang robes - which look elegantly cool on his father and intimidatingly electric on his mother - emphasise the violet scales that dot his face like freckles, and the black of his hair contrasts beautifully with his earfins.
Wei Wuxian has always been attracted to pretty people, but it's not all he cares about in a partner. Honestly, he wouldn't have minded it if his fiancé wasn't incredibly beautiful, but having actually seen Jiang Cheng, he's not exactly complaining.
He obviously doesn't realise that Wei Wuxian is watching, which gives him the perfect opportunity to keep watching as dinner progresses - watching the careful way he picks out a biteful of each dish before going to the next, never taking two bites from the same dish in a row. Wei Wuxian finds himself charmingly endeared by the action.
He sits ramrod straight in his seat, though he somehow straightens even more when his mother's attention to him - Wei Wuxian watches curiously as the family he's going to marry into interact with one another, trying to make some semblance of sense from their behaviours so he might figure out how he'll fit in once he's married.
The hour it takes for dinner to be completed, and in all honesty...Wei Wuxian still doesn't have a clue.
Once the strange dinner is over, Jiang Cheng guides Wei Wuxian back to his rooms - though he's pretty sure he could figure out the way on his own now. A companionable silence falls between them, and Wei Wuxian gets the impression that Jiang Cheng is grateful he's not saying anything about the awkwardness between his parents.
They part outside Wei Wuxian's room, with a promise to come fetch him in the morning. Jiang Cheng suggests they have breakfast outside of the main halls, so Wei Wuxian can start to get an idea of what Lotus Pier is like outside, and Wei Wuxian gladly accepts.
Before he sleeps that night, he quickly writes a letter of his own, before using a teleportation talisman to send it to Xiao Xingchen.
He fiddles around for a few hours after sending the letter, partially in case he gets a reply (a fifty-fifty chance, Xiao Xingchen is just as likely to still be awake as he is asleep), and partially because he keeps running through the events of the day.
Not willing to risk anyone walking in while he sleeps and discovering him, he keeps his glamour up, and after such an...interesting day, he is quickly asleep, despite his usual habit of not sleeping until well after midnight.
Xiao Xingchen,
I hope you're not too disappointed in this shizhi of yours. I did what I had to, and I don't regret it. Yunmeng is like nothing I've ever seen, and that's without even considering the family I will be marrying into. Everything I see in these upcoming months will prepare me for leaving the mountain permanently, and I refuse to think I made the wrong decision.
As for Jiang Wanyin...
It's only been one day, so I cannot say for sure what sort of a man he is, but I think I could grow to...like him, at the very least.
I could live with that, I think.
Wei Wuxian
P.S. Please pass on the message to Mo-shidi that he’s a massive narc and I’ll deal with him when I see him again
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