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Wei Wuxian clapped his ornate black and red fan closed, opened it again, then clapped it closed once more and waved it at the small crowd of cultivators who by some miracle had managed to gather in Lan at his invitation.
It is not unreasonable, brothers and sisters, so please, he pressed his hand to his large belly for emphasis, consider my request as coming from the whole of Lan and not myself, if I still displease you.
Junior Wei, one of the clan leaders said, his fluffy forehead furrowing into a unibrow, are you trying to tell us you are-
Wei Wuxian cut that one off, drank some water out of the assigned cup with perfect etiquette, then answered in an exquisite string of rapid fire nos, peppered with eyelash batting and eye lowering.
What trying?
Ah, Martial Brother, you still suspect me of colluding? With whom or what?
he smacked his crosslegged knee and exclaimed with a pointed finger, OH! You all think I am plotting to rule the cultivation world with these three little cabbages!
His fingers flowed over his huge belly as he glared at everyone who didn't have a nervous smile on their face.
Then he pouted, popped his eyes for emphasis and swallowed again, feeling dry.
His eyes fell to his cup, but he had already drained it three times.
I am thirsty again... at this rate, these cabbages I am growing will stomp me and flood Cloud Recesses...
Wei Wuxian sighed, then blew out as deep a breath as his big belly would allow and reached for his Little Carrot, Lan Sizhui.
I need to take care of it, Lan Sizhui?
Senior Wei! Lan Yuan called, rushing over to Wei Wuxian to help him up.
He managed it, finally, with one hand on the small of his back and the other draped around Little Carrot.
As Lan Sizhui guided him away along the walls so he could lean, Wei Wuxian smiled.
Still, he was panting too hard for his liking, and his bladder was yelling like old Lady Yu.
---
It had been necessary, Lan Sizhui told himself, to have First and Second Masters Lan go far enough away from the compound, leaving only Senior Wei and the Juniors, to insure that the culprit would show themselves.
Senior Wei had insisted on being the bait.
Everything up to this point had been Senior Wei's plan, after all, to which the Twin Jades had objected quite strongly... Although they had agreed at the end of the argument when Senior Wei pretended to faint.
Although, it wouldn't be a surprise if Senior Wei collapsed for real this time.
His head had been hurting a lot lately, ever since the Twin Jades had left to try and route the dark presence that was hounding the mountains of Lan and the Cloud Recesses.
And, someone at their little conference had their fingers in it.
The plan, then, was to pull a few strings and see who fell from the rafters, then for Senior Wei to...
---
Wei Wuxian slowly backed away from the spirit inhabiting the Cloud Recesses plumbing, who was pointing to the thing he'd just found.
Oh my, I found a stinky treasure! he murmured, as he held up the object someone had thrown into the toilet room up in the air with tendrils of his own dark power.
He was pregnant, not crazy, ehe- no touching until he'd cleansed it.
The weight and color of the thing in question told him it was another chunk of iron with a binding paper on it.
Why... why this object, he wondered aloud, turning it this way and that way, trying to read the odd spell on the stinky paper.
The characters were a bit blurred, but...
Hrm, ah!
Wei Wuxian stumbled out of the bathroom area and into the hallway, still floating the iron chunk in front of him.
Good thing he was only wearing the under-robes he wore when he was injured, otherwise with his pregnancy he would have had trouble moving so quickly.
He frowned at Sizhui, who was looking away from him, waiting for his Junior to notice he'd finished his business.
Finally the child turned, so Wei Wuxian smiled and held up his prize.
Little Carrot Sizhui took one look at the sealed iron chunk and held his nose.
Senior Wei, what is THAT?
With a practiced sigh, Wei Wuxian channeled more dark power into the chunk, and the smell, among other things, dissipated.
Here, he said softly, hold it- it's safe to touch now, as long as you watch the seal.
Sizhui looked at Wei Wuxian, then took the sealed iron chunk and examined it, paying careful attention to the lightly billowing seal.
This paper, he said, is not like the seal paper we use; it has a slight burned scent, almost of that burned-wood building technique I've heard they use in Dongying.
Wei Wuxian looked at Little Carrot and smiled with pride at his studious Junior.
Good student! he said, with a whispered Xian-ge.
Lan Sizhui nodded and then turned back to the sealed iron chunk.
Is it really safe now, Senior Wei?
Wei Wuxian patted him on the shoulder then took the sealed iron back, laughing as he told Sizhui to return to the little conference, present the cleansed iron and observe who flinched.
After watching his Little Carrot disappear into the meeting hall with the iron chunk, Wei Wuxian let his smile drop, stuck a hand in his robe, and brought out another sealed iron, then walked outside, in the direction of the Gentian House.
He'd already found the one in the earth-feeding room earlier and replaced it with a prepared fake before the morning bell.
Now, he said, his eyes glowing red as he kissed the first two fingers of his casting hand, let us see who dares burn snow in the Cloud Recesses.
---
Lan Sizhui apologized to the gathered elders in the meeting hall, then held up the sealed iron, looking around at every face.
As expected, the elders were all flustered, either blustering or squinting like ripe lemons, but... there was a Junior from Mo village who had since joined the Ezhou near the entry of the hall, watching everything.
When the Junior saw Lan Sizhue, he froze and ran after throwing something into the middle of the hall.
A dark energy emanated from the thrown object, piercing the elders of the small local clans in their chests and throwing them back from their tables and rattling the teapots.
Lan Sizhui looked down at the sealed iron in his hand and gaped.
How many of these were there?
Then the elders began to lift up into the air, proving Senior Wei's theory that there might be an attempted possession.
Clearly, it was quite similar to what Senior Wei had described.
Lan Sizhui called out to the Juniors to rally with him, and they all took corners around Lan Sizhui, readying their casting hands and their weapons.
The possessed elders began to float and amplify the building darkness, pointing curse-fingers in random directions as they continued to absorb energy from the sealed iron.
The seal on the iron was struggling; it would not be long before the strange binding paper broke and inflicted the sealed spirit's wrath on Cloud Recesses.
This larger spirit stone was too much for the Lan Juniors; if only the Seniors Lan or Senior Wei would-
An elder with long white hair and a black mustache snarled as his eyes turned to black marbles, and then he leaped across the room, bearing his teeth at one of the smaller Lan Juniors.
Lan Sizhui stepped in front of the boy and held up his elbow, his trembling casting fingers wielding a seal-paper.
He could feel the terror flowing from the Juniors behind him; he was almost seniormost among them now, but, he still...
The elder's body twisted in mid-air, his long hair and moustache spinning in a fantastic farce of the most basic corkscrew attack taught to first-years.
But, many elders naturally had more skill and power than most of the Juniors combined.
All that could be done was to hold out till the Seniors returned.
So Lan Sizhui raised his sword, and-
---
Lan Wangji gave another spirit-infused strum of his guqin Wangji, then rested his hand atop the strings as the echo of spiritual force from his brother Lan Xichen's flute Liebing combined with his note to expel the dark energy inside the sealed iron.
Brother Wangji, I am worried about why these stones were all partially sealed...
Lan Xichen said as he bent to pick up the iron chunk, which had melted a hole in the fresh powder.
It is just as Wei Ying thought, Lan Wangji said softly as he watched his brother replace his Liebing back at his belt, there are so many of these mass-produced inferior Yin Irons, they are like old dried lotus seeds; of course they would at least require a partial seal that could release over time, just to be handle-able and ensure their deployment when the moment was ripe.
Lan Wangji looked back toward the way they had come and sighed.
Did you ever notice how lotus heads look similar to the Hundred Holes Curse, Lan Xichen added, looking at his brother's wind-apple face, which flushed a little.
In any case, Lan Wangji muttered, I am worried about the Juniors and Wei Ying.
Lan Xichen nodded and turned to walk with his brother, who had already started on the path back to the warm Gusu Lan compound.
Yes, let them return to the Cloud Recesses and assess the situation there.
---
Wei Wuxian settled himself down on the cushion in the Gentian House with a newly-blood-marked blanket wrapped around his shoulders and swollen waist, then positioned his elbows and closed his eyes.
He preferred to have someone with him, considering his last use of the paperman, but this was an emergency, and between Little Carrot and the Lans, the Cloud Recesses compound was well-protected.
That... only left him, and his babies.
Lan Zhan's children, growing inside him.
Hurry back to us, Lan Zhan, he whispered, before he set a portion of his spirit within the three papermen he'd laid out.
He would have been able to control ten or more papermen in his original body, at the height of his strength as Yiling Patriarch, but Mo Xuanyu's smaller, weaker form just wasn't that capable.
The boy had been so abused and disturbed, he'd been unable to form the golden core that would have allowed him to advance his cultivation to that point.
But, having worn Mo Xuanyu's body for a while, Wei Wuxian had been practicing.
If he had to, he could safely infuse two more papermen with a piece of his consciousness while the other three were active, but it would shorten their use-time.
There was a chance he could do more, but in his condition, with Mo Xuanyu's low stamina, it was simply unwise.
He had to keep a bit of himself back, for the babies' sake.
As the control paperman, Wei Wuxian looked back at his pregnant self, slumped on the cushion in meditation.
Then he hopped over and checked his pulses in all three places, neck, wrist and belly, before returning to the task at hand.
One paperman he sent to the meeting hall, to help Little Carrot.
The second, he sent after the culprit who must have run from the hall; he himself had not seen it of course, but the traces of dark magic were all over the foolish boy, who would not be able to hide from him.
The third -and he hoped, the last- he sent to check on Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen.
The only real danger was that he would be too exhausted to return to the meeting hall afterward, regardless of the outcome, or the height of the snow.
---
Lan Sizhui swung the flat of his sword at the frenzied elder, holding up his arm to protect the younger Juniors behind him, when-
The old man with his long, long white hair and fancy black moustache flew back as if struck into a far away wall, splintering the wood of a darkly painted column.
Lan Sizhui looked up, and saw that there was a paperman between him and the other possessed elders, sucking up the darkness roiling about the room and purifying it.
Senior Wei!
Senior Wei!
The Juniors gathered close to watch the paperman, which then floated to rest on Lan Sizhui's shoulder as the possessed elders dropped onto the floor in wrinkly piles.
Each elder, it was noted, had fallen in a formation around the sealed iron now sitting quietly in the center of the meeting hall.
The paperman imbued with some of Wei Wuxian's spirit shivered a little from the stress, then flew over to tap the chunk of sealed iron, which puffed into black smoke and disappeared at the contact.
Feeling the beginning of its end, the paperman floated unevenly back to Lan Sizhui, then sank in his hand, exhausted.
Senior Wei? Lan Sizhui said softly, holding the disintegrating paperman to his ear so he could hear it.
The paperman looked sharply to the right, then whispered something before dissipating.
The other Juniors crowded around Lan Sizhui, hoping for a tidbit of what had been said.
Lan Sizhui felt his face go numb as he related Senior Wei's words.
Senior Wei said that he is conducting the papermen from the Gentian House, but, he says we shouldn't go there right now, because... that Ezhou is right outside.
One of the Juniors grabbed Lan Sizhui's sleeve, breaking decorum.
But, Lan Sizhui- Senior Wei is with child!
Lan Sizhui grabbed his fellow cultivator's hands and said, I know his situation is dangerous, but we must listen to him; nothing will be protected if we go.
The other Juniors frowned nervously, too worried to relax despite their training.
Then, who is left to protect Senior Wei?
The question was on more than a few lips.
Lan Sizhui called to one of the shorter Juniors and said, go and fetch a few sticks from where Brother Xichen keeps the signalling fireworks! Quickly! We must signal First and Second Seniors Lan before Senior Wei is harmed by that troublemaker!
---
LAN ZHAN!
Lan Wangji stopped running over the snow and caught the paperman just as it disintegrated in front of him.
He turned to his brother Lan Xichen, not caring how the terror on his face was making him look.
Lan Xichen nodded his understanding, and then they turned as one creature, leaping high across the landscape to watch for signals as they retraced the shortcut path to Cloud Recesses.
When the first firework flared into the sky, bursting in sparks of color in the shape of Gusu Lan's sigil, they landed on a low peak and waited for any others that might appear for a few moments, before picking up the pace back toward Gusu Lan's meeting hall.
At length, they reached the main compound, arriving near the egress that led to the back hills and the Cold Pool.
Running swiftly over the steps, they reached the hall and ran into Lan Sizhui and his group of Juniors.
Seniors Lan! Lan Sizhui called with a slight bow before waving them on.
Senior Wei is at the Gentian House, and-
Lan Wangji spun in the direction of his deceased mother's confinement, balling his fists in his robes.
Seeing this, Lan Xichen took Lan Sizhui's shoulders and said, please continue.
Lan Sizhui swallowed and added, Senior Wei said that... the culprit, that Junior from Ezhou that used to be Mo, was right outside the doors! Then the paperman he was using to contact us dissolved, and... I think he must have been using more than one.
More papermen? Wei Ying! Lan Wangji breathed in a strangled tone as he stalked off further down the path to the Gentian House, Bichen in hand.
Lan Xichen looked from his departing brother to the gaggle of Juniors, worry creasing his otherwise fine face.
What did Senior Wei say exactly? he asked, trying to put on a calm face for the younger Lan members.
Lan Sizhui nodded, then recounted it.
He told us that he was using three papermen, that he had sent one of them to us, one of them after the culprit, and the other to find the two of you.
Lan Xichen bade him continue, nodding with a growing frown as the young man spoke.
After resting in my hand, his paperman turned to the right, as if something bad was happening, and disintegrated; I think he may have had to charge more of them.
Lan Xichen patted Lan Sizhui's shoulder and gave the group of Juniors a collective nod while considering whether to follow his brother up the way to the Gentian House.
Hold the hall and keep your distance in case the elders start showing signs again, he said before he looked down the path with his fingers on his flute, and, Senior Wei is going to need our help, very soon.
Then he calmed himself to make his guqin appear, and as he played, the Qing Xin Yin rang once more in the Cloud Recesses.
---
Wei Wuxian felt sweat bead and fall from his face as he charged and Sent paperman after paperman, imbuing them with his special binding technique.
This would allow them to seal anything within the large radius of a normal paperman using the powers of a short-range binding paper, but leave the seal intact after the paper had disintegrated and the little piece of consciousness inside had returned.
He was still the Yiling Patriarch, and as that being, he was fully capable of maintaining the number of papermen that now floated in the air inside the open door of the Gentian House, acting as a giant sealing array to keep the Junior from Ezhou from entering.
But, the young man's face was twisted in a grimace of desire; he deeply wished to kill Wei Wuxian, and that drive, which had caused all of this, was giving him strength enough to be a trouble.
Wei Wuxian could feel his nose starting to bleed from the stress of charging so many of his special papermen at once.
He was pregnant; if he did not hold the boy and his pesky iron off, what would happen to his three little cabbages?
How could he look Lan Zhan in his pretty face again if something happened now?
And Little Carrot!
His little A'Yuan would be so upset with him, haaa.
Things were compounded by the fact that the cabbages were getting rowdy and kicking him again, as they had all day.
His womb felt... very bruised.
Yet he could not break concentration to attend to them with a nice long rub.
If he did, the young man standing and staring outside would soon come in, and the little cabbages would suffer.
So Wei Wuxian redoubled his efforts, strengthening the papermen he'd already set, and replacing them when they dissolved.
Once in a while, he would place one on the back of the boy, slipping it through the temporary opening in his wall of seals.
When that happened, the boy would take a step, and smile in pure defiance until the new paperman had set.
He was already so close to the doorway.
If he reached it, the strain would be immeasurable.
There was power in this lad, far too much power for someone from Mo.
Had he not been in dire straits, Wei Wuxian would have liked to trace the foolish child's lineage, as his energies felt familiar, yet the bloodline was obscure enough to muddy the trail.
As the snow grew heavy in the outside air again, Wei Wuxian felt his hair ribbon break, and his hair flew around him, lifted by the crackle of his ambient power.
His eyes, bloodshot and focused on the Mo interloper from Ezhou, began to drip blood with the force of holding the seal and changing out the special binding papermen; dimly, he could sense another footstep being taken while he rushed to exchange fresh for old among the floating paper figures.
He smiled.
The boy smiled.
It was clearly a standoff, except that blood was only running from HIS nose, mouth and eyes.
How had the child obtained such phenomenal power, and so quickly?
It had to be dealt with.
Lan Zhan, Wei Wuxian thought to himself as his body shook and his lips blued, Lan Zhan, I want some lotus heads...
---
Mo Yinhao glared at the bright-eyed, youhtful man sitting cross-legged in the Gentian House.
The Yiling Patriarch's body was heavy with child, his dark hair loose and spilling.
This was not the way he had wanted to approach his teacher, and the things they had mouthed to each other at first had not been the things he had wanted to be spoken.
You are the very best student, Mo Yinhao!
You are most worthy of my legacy, Mo Yinhao!
Please succeed me, Mo Yinhao!
Those things would not be said now; but that was as it was.
Mo Yinhao looked down at his free hand and sighed, as his other was busy incanting, fighting off Yiling Patriarch's impressive barrage of innovated papermen.
Was that his skin tearing off his skull?
He couldn't feel anything anymore, but at least he wasn't bleeding like his master.
He almost felt sorry for... well, no need to go into that.
Another paperman slipped outside and found its way to his back.
Can't you just give up? Yiling Patriarch called out, smiling warmly at him while casting out another three papermen with that odd hybrid spell on them, I'm hungry!
You should wipe your nose, Yiling Patriarch, Mo Yinhao retorted, waving his free hand and smiling at his Senior, too much more and your unborn children will become vengeful spirits...
Yiling Patriarch smiled again, showing bloody teeth as he patted his swollen stomach and beckoned Mo Yinhao inside.
If you can manage to get in here, I'll have a fourth... but did no one tell you this was a very troublesome way to get adopted?
Mo Yinhao cried openly as he took another step, temporarily freed by the moment it took Yiling Patriarch to switch out papermen.
Wei Wuxian nodded at this, and smiled a little.
Call me Master Wei, Wei Yinhao, and consider this your first lesson!
The paperman on Wei Yinhao's back began to pull him backward, and the one on his chest did the same, working in tandem to keep him away from the door.
Wei Yinhao cried out eagerly, Are there snacks, Master?
Wei Wuxian collapsed onto his side, swiping at his nose as he panted a counter while dismissing the papermen holding Wei Yinhao.
Can you cook, apprentice? My three cabbages and I are partial to hot spicy soup!
Wei Yinhao put the rock he was using in his pocket and walked inside, checked his new Master's pulse, then started searching for a cookpot.
Do we have congee if I can't find pork? he called back as he rummaged through the dishware in the cooking area.
No answer.
Wei Yinhao got up from the pile of pots he was sorting and went back into the sitting room, where his Master lay fanning himself and sniffing.
Are you all right, Master Wei?
His Master chirped weakly from the floor, admonishing him in as cheerful a tone as he could muster.
Time... to make yourself scarce, new apprentice- my Hanguang-Jun... is coming, ehe! If you copy the rules out front... at least 500 times, Lan Zhan might not eat you.
If he still tries, come here to me.
Wei Yinhao thanked his Master, bowed and scampered away, then tucked himself into one of the pantry cabinets and shut the door.
---
Wei Wuxian listened to the footsteps crunching outside in the snow and rested as he rubbed his belly; discipline was such hard work!
His tired eyes wandered toward the cupboards.
Wei Yinhao, come out, come out! he called, his voice cracking a little as he struggled to get enough air to be heard, it's only Zewu-Jun, who can't eat you if he tries.
Lan Xichen shut the door behind him and smiled at the mess of unused papermen lying all around Wei Wuxian.
How are you, Junior Wei?
Wei Wuxian bowed his head, then looked up with a weak smile.
I won our debate, but now that I'm cold, I really need hot soup.
He managed to pat the top of his stomach before an involuntary shiver struck him, then reached behind for the fallen blanket.
Wei Yinhao brought the blanket to his hands, but Wei Wuxian mock-glared at him, saying, AH! AH! Go and make us soup!
Then he finished with a pout and smiled as the boy dutifully went back to the kitchen.
Lan Xichen noticed the blood-marks on the blanket, and frowned.
Maybe another blanket? he said softly, gesturing to the one covered in marks.
Wei Wuxian brought out the arm he'd used for blood, examining the cut he'd made in his palm before wrapping it thickly.
Where is Hanguang-Jun? he whispered, shivering again as he nodded forward.
Lan Xichen caught him as he fell, checked every pulse point, then channeled some energy into the small, hot wet slash, closing the wound.
Junior Wei's skin was so chilly... whatever had possessed him to take off his robe?
I heard from the Juniors you had gone off without it, so I sent Hanguang-Jun to fetch it for you, along with some extra blankets.
As Lan Xichen settled him against the pillows and blankets, Wei Wuxian drew a shaky breath, coughed and panted a bit more before answering.
I am... so big with these cabbages, he said, if I had tried to... enter the bathroom and retrieve the stone there with my robes on, the door... would have become a demon of infinite bother.
He closed his eyes, swallowed twice, then spoke again.
And, it was chaos in the hall; that fool in the kitchen I just adopted was creating a lot of problems for the Juniors... if I hadn't rushed off... someone might have gotten... the wrong idea... and we would not be having tasty soup... so soon... after...
Wei Wuxian trailed off, thoroughly out of breath as his eyes rolled up and he swooned, going limp against the pillows.
Lan Xichen felt his own breath catch while he checked Wei Wuxian's pulses again, but as he did so, a new set of footsteps approached over the fresh snow outside.
He looked up, relaxing as the steps stopped.
His brother Lan Wangji stood in the threshold of the Gentian House, hanging there as if sealed, his chin shaking as he called his husband's name in horror.
Wei Ying? WEI YING!
---
Lan Sizhue did as Zewu-Jun had instructed, and stoked the fire in the warmest room of Cloud Recesses.
After setting out extra blankets and pillows, he sat down on the bed and shut the door, worrying into his hand about the Juniors, and Ezhou Clan, and... Mama.
if the other Juniors ever saw him like this, they would-
The doors opened; Zewu-Jun looked at him, then around the room, then back to him, and smiled with a nod before giving him a new instruction.
When you are finished in here, please join us in the hall, Lan Sizhui- Junior Wei wishes to speak with you before warming up.
---
Wei Wuxian peeked from the blanket cocoon Lan Wangji was holding him in, then cast a narrow gaze at his new pet, Wei Yinhao.
Wei Yinhao, he said softly with smirk, you can't cook anymore until you can make Lotus Rib Soup.
Wei Yinhao took this ribbing to heart, and knelt on his hands and knees before his new Master.
Master Wei, Master Wei, I beg you, please don't cast me out! I promise I'll learn to cook well!
Stop kowtowing, Lan Wangji said, hiding a rare smirk worth its weight in ingots.
Wei Yinhao became rigid at once, sensing that some kind of commotion was about to present itself.
Wei Wuxian took a breath through his nose, then another, then another, and rested his body until he finally felt ready to speak again.
Lan Zhan be nice to him, he murmured as he snuggled back in under his husband's chin, he's only stupid because he grew up in Mo Village- there's still hope for his brain.
Lan Wangji adjusted himself, then nodded a slight acknowledgement to Wei Yinhao.
Wei Yinhao bowed his head to the floor, then got up and ran for the kitchens with a beaming YES, MASTERS WEI AND LAN!
He's worse than you were, Lan Wangji said, easing Wei Wuxian against his body again as he walked with care toward the Warm Room Lan Sizhui had prepared for them.
Wei Wuxian shivered in the blankets, then whispered against Lan Wangji's chest.
No, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, nobody's as horrible as me!
They murdered me... remember Lan Zhan? They... murdered me, they murdered... me, they... murdered me, they-
Lan Wangji hissed as his husband shuddered and went quiet in the blankets.
Wei Ying? he said, shaking Wei Wuxian a little in an attempt to wake him.
He felt his face freeze as he pushed his feet forward, striding hard toward the prepared room.
Then Lan Sizhui appeared from that direction, wiping his nose on a cloth as he neared them.
The sight of Senior Wei passed out in Hanguang-Jun's arms was enough to remind him of that cave in Yiling, enough to snap him out of his worries, and he directed them toward the Warm Room with sure, quick hands.
---
Wei Wuxian petted his Little Carrot's hair as he watched the boy sleep.
Mama... Lan Sizhui murmured, snoring.
Lan Wangji stood in the doorway to the Warm Room, watching in silence as the smallest of smiles teased across his full lips.
With his free hand, Wei Wuxian rubbed his huge belly and grinned at his husband.
How are the elders, Lan Zhan? Have they recovered?
The light in Lan Wangji's face dimmed a little as he glanced toward the direction of the meeting hall.
They are resting, Wei Ying, he whispered, mindful of Lan Sizhui's sleeping figure.
Wei Wuxian's whole body breathed with relief, and after he blew that out, he took another, slower, easier breath, then sniffed and smiled.
That's... that's good, Lan Zhan, he murmured, feeling tired.
Lan Wangji opened his mouth a slit, then licked his lips, then opened them again.
They know you saved them, Wei Ying- they ARE grateful, for once.
Wei Wuxian's smile grew a little, but his head lolled on the wall of the Warm Room; he was asleep again.
As he watched his husband sleep, Lan Wangji allowed himself a larger smile before he knelt to check Wei Wuxian's pulses, then quietly left, shutting the doors behind him.
How is he? Lan Wangji turned to find his brother Lan Xichen standing there, wearing a grin of his own.
Lan Wangji sighed.
Zewu-Jun, we mustn't let the other Juniors hear Lan Sizhui call Wei Ying Mama; they will tease him.
Lan Xichen's nod was heartfelt, as always, and his presence was reassuring.
Of course, Lan Wangji would never admit that to his brother.
But this, too was something Lan Xichen knew.
They WERE brothers, after all.
How is he, really, Lan Wangji?
Lan Wangji frowned at his brother.
I... am not entirely sure, but I think he will give birth soon; his lifeforce is steady and he seems quite relaxed, despite the tiredness.
His brother nodded again, casting his eyes toward the Warm Room.
And the bleeding, Lan Wangji?
A rare shuddering gasp escaped Lan Wangji's body.
Not as bad... it has lessened considerably now that he is resting.
Lan Xichen smiled warmly, and his eyes widened with a sudden brightness.
That is a relief, my brother- he waved Lan Wangji away, toward the vision of melting snow outside.
-go and take the air, and check on your rabbits... I will watch over them until you return.
---
Lan Xichen waited until his brother was gone, then beckoned for Wei Yinhao to come across to the Warm Room.
Did you hear everything, Junior Wei? he said, grinning.
He swept his hand around and caught the boy's shoulders, patting him gently.
Your master is fine, and he should give birth soon- so be considerate, and practice your cooking skills!
Wei Yinhao bowed deeply, and with a happy look toward the Warm Room, strode off toward the cooking area.
---
As spring flowers bloomed in the mists of Cloud Recesses, so did Wei Wuxian's body.
As the birthing grew imminent, every place, path and pavilion in the mountain compound of Lan flooded with the rushing of bodies as Juniors and Seniors both ran between houses and halls, performing their duties to Lan while ensuring that Wei Wuxian and his babies would have enough of anything.
On the day the children were born, Lan Wangji held Wei Wuxian in his arms.
Wei Wuxian barely made a noise, he was so tired from all the bleeding he had done.
Lan Zhan, haaaa, do you think these cabbages want to be born, or are they teasing their poor mother? AAAAGH!
Lan Wangji adjusted his position where he sat, and looked hard into Wei Wuxian's shadowed eyes.
They wouldn't dare, he said, with his back straight as a fence rail and his face straighter still.
Wei Wuxian stared at him in genuine surprise, and a laugh took him, bubbling from somewhere deep and soft.
The laugh made him tremble, and bleed, tickling his weary muscles.
But at last, his abdomen released a great something into the towels beneath him, and he laughed again, glorying in the sound his little something made as it cried.
He pointed at the baby, sniffing as Lan Wangji wiped his bleeding nose.
That's the first sweet cabbage we ever planted, Lan Zhan! I-
Wei Wuxian bared down, calling out a breathless groan as the second baby pushed out from him and cried as well.
Gaah! GAAAH! Third one's... coming! LAN. WANG. JIIII!
The Yiling Patriarch's fingers gripped Hanguang-Jun's palm with the force of a mountain, entwining rather than crushing, and the third baby poked free and slid into the waiting clump of towels, a bawling boy eager to join his brother and sister.
Oh Lan Zhan, look! Wei Wuxian stuck his white, shaking hand out at his newborn children with the biggest smile on his tear-stained face before his eyes rolled up.
Wei Ying? Wei Ying! You have to pass the afterbirth, give one more push! One more!
But the man was deeply unconscious, having sunken against his husband's cool chest.
Lan Wangji checked his pulses, then hissed and eased Wei Wuxian down onto the floor.
His hands found his husband's bruised opening, and he eased his fingers, then his hands, then his arms inside gently, searching for the unexpelled flesh Wei Wuxian was too weak to discard while his good brother Lan Xichen herded the Juniors and kept them outside.
---
The first boy, Lan Weijing, his sister, Lan Baoan, and their brother, Lan Jinlonghua...
They cried for their mother in those first few days, and each time, someone would take turns bringing them to Wei Wuxian's slender chest to drink.
He wasn't awake yet, but that didn't matter to his children, or his milk.
Sometimes it would be Lan Wangji that held a child or two up to him, and sometimes, Lan Xichen would hog them, much to the Juniors' agitation.
It was a week of waiting before Wei Wuxian finally stirred.
His eyes opened on a soft, foggy day in mid chun-tian, when the spring blooms were following suit down the melting rivers, waking from the long freeze.
Lan Wangji was asleep, kneeling comfortably with his perfect head in Wei Wuxian's lap.
Wei Wuxian lifted his trembling hand to brush fingers over his husband's hair.
How are you now, Lan Zhan?, he whispered, closing his eyes to savor the scent of new flowers clinging in the breeze.
Lan Wangji looked up at his husband and smiled, closing his own eyes again as the right words floated up from that same warm place they shared.
The hole is filled, Wei Ying, he whispered, and went back to sleep as the morning sun filtered through the door.
END of Xuědì Wènhòu Huā.