Won't you believe me? (Servant no more - book 2)

Chapter 77

Jiang Yanli had been quite restless after the lunch. She had to think nonstop about what Lan Wangji had said. Apparently, Wei Wuxian was sick. This would not be too unusual if it had happened anywhere else, Jiang Yanli had seen her brother countless times getting a fever from overworking. However, in this instance, she felt like the reason had to be different.

From what she had seen, the Lans were treating Wei Wuxian exceptionally well. They have said that he was supposed to be Lan Wangji's companion, not a servant as in all other households. Lan Qiren had even offered to let him study alongside his younger nephew! So it could surely not be because Wei Wuxian had overworked himself that he had caught a fever, Jiang Yanli refused to believe anything different.

But given this, why was Wei Wuxian ill now? He had looked perfectly normal in the morning, which on second thought should not reassure Jiang Yanli in the slightest. When had her brother ever showed his pain and sickness openly to anyone at all? Moreover, it seemed like the fever must have struck immediately after he had come to the Cloud Recesses Manor, she would have noticed immediately if it had been present before their departure from the Lotus Pier Manor.

Jiang Yanli sighed to herself. She pitied her brother for the predicament he was going through. She knew very well that he must have been shocked to learn about his place in the Cloud Recesses Manor. Now, on a second thought, it was possible that Wei Wuxian had fallen sick exactly because of this revelation. He had been under so much stress lately that the sheer relief of not being sent to the Nightless City Manor again had caused him to become overly agitated. His body had been surely weakened after all the tension had left and fever sneaked in uninvited.

Jiang Yanli did not forget that she had still yet to talk with her brother. She wanted to reassure him further that his position and fate had now changed and he had nothing to fear anymore. He would never have to go back to the Lotus Pier Manor and would never have to listen to his adoptive family and a number of complete strangers, even all the other servants, ordering him around.

Jiang Yanli sat on her bed. She felt strangely exhausted herself. She had raced to the Cloud Recesses Manor yesterday and barely slept the whole night. Her fatigue was mixing with the feelings of relief that her brother would finally be safe. Just as herself, she remembered the next second. Had Lan Xichen not offered her to stay in the Cloud Recesses Manor too?

She felt somewhat conflicted. While she hated and despised what her own parents and her youngest brother had been doing to Wei Wuxian ever since Jiang Fengmian had rescued him from the streets, she could not fully hate the people in question. Even after everything, they were still her family and seeing them being accused because of her confession was leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

Of course, she knew fully well that she was being unreasonable and was only torturing herself. Her parents and Jiang Cheng had to bear the consequences of their own acts, there was no going around it. However, it did not alleviate her own conscience that to save one member of her family, she had to betray the rest of them. As illogical as if was, she could not fully convince herself that what she had done had been the best she could. She could simply not order her heart to not feel anything for the rest of her family anymore.

She shifted on the bed a little, suddenly uncomfortable with such thoughts. She had to be strong, for herself and for Wei Wuxian. She could not turn around now and go beg Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren to forget what she had told them. She would not do that either, it would mean betraying Wei Wuxian and she could not even phantom doing something so cruel to him and send him back to her family.

Suddenly, she felt something hard in her pocket. It successfully distracted her and she reached inside. She could not tell what it was at first and wanted to check it immediately. It turned out it was the bottle of medicine Wei Wuxian had given her for safekeeping earlier in the day.

She spent several minutes just staring at it. She had not even realized she had been keeping it for this long. Surely it was time for her brother to use this medicine again. After all, his hands had truly looked very painful and injured this morning. She should not be withholding the medicine he dearly needed like this.

Jiang Yanli quickly stood up, all her fatigue and negative thoughts forgotten at once. She had to deliver the small bottle she was holding on to to Wei Wuxian before his hands would start hurting again and he would endure it without telling anyone.

When she took the first step, she abruptly remembered that Lan Wangji had said her brother was resting. For a second, she still hesitated and balanced between her options: go and give Wei Wuxian the medicine, even if it could wake him from a healing sleep, or wait for tomorrow and risk his hands getting more painful.

In the end, it was not a choice at all. There was only one viable option. She turned around and left her room, going in the direction where Mo Xuanyu had shown her was her brother's room. She had not seen Lan Wangji after the lunch anywhere, so she thought he was perhaps in Wei Wuxian's room and could take the medicine for him if her brother would still be resting.

When she arrived to the door Mo Xuanyu had indicated, she was a little out of breath. She had not outright run, but it had been a close call. Luckily, no one had seen her, she did not know how Lan Qiren would react to her disturbing the peace of the silent Cloud Recesses Manor on her first day here. Although he had already spoken up for Wei Wuxian, she still thought that the master of the Cloud Recesses Manor was quite scary and strict when it came to upholding discipline and order.

She straightened up and took several deep breaths, gradually calming down both her erratic breathing and thundering heart. As she did not know if Wei Wuxian was indeed sleeping or not, she knocked on the door only very lightly in hopes that she would not wake him in any case he was resting. However, when the door opened a second later, she stood there, completely dumbstruck.

For a second, she was afraid that she had knocked on a wrong door. Surely the boy standing in front of her could not be her brother, he was too different. Wei Wuxian was wearing new white robes and there was a happy smile on his lips. He was not hunched into himself nor showing any signs of sub servitude as he would always do.

No, instead, he was keeping his back straight and looking directly at her. His eyes were shining with life so much that it reminded Jiang Yanli of the times when he was still a small child and did not know anything about being a servant. It was such a shocking and unexpected image that she reached her hand to cover her mouth so she would no show her surprise. Tears filled her eyes and she could not hold herself back. It was incredible to see her brother this lively after all those years of suffering.