It was Nie Huaisang who produced two large jars of water and steamed buns for two bright red and visibly steaming pair. Using only his face, he tried to get Jiang Cheng to start, what has to be the biggest secret ever ... Hauisang never would have guessed this!!!
Not in a million years would he have believed that scene before him was real... Right at this moment, the ever-so Pristine and Honourable Twin Jade Lan WangJi was gasping and gulping mouthfuls of liquid while cussing out Wei WuXian?!
Jiang Cheng just watched as his ShiXiong whined, with liquid and crumbs falling out of his mouth in a revolting mess, while trying and succeeding in calming down the once frigid twin Jade of Gusu.
Blinking in confusion he mugged back at Nie Huaisang, who only tried to look pathetic and motioned a 'no you' gesture, this went on for longer than necessary, so long it was the polite voice of Lan WangJi that snapped them back to the strange pair.
"Thank you for the water and bread, Nie Huaisang. Now what do you two want to keep your mouths shut about this?"
"Eh, huh, I." Huaisang stuttered.
"Well, obviously you guys want something in return for keeping my secret. That is how blackmail worked, last time I checked." Wangji said quite a matter of factly.
"Aiya, ZhanZhan, don't be so frigid~" Wei Ying teased while a vein popped in Wangji's forehead, while Huaisang and Jiang Cheng's jaws hit the floor.
"Excuse me?!" Wangji was embarrassed and blushing intensely, his ears resembling the colour of chilli powder.
"Well, what would you rather I call you? A-Zhan, Zhan-er, Ji-er, Jiji? I could go on forever really."
Wei Ying teased while Huaisang and Jiang Cheng felt more and more like third wheels with each passing second.
Wangji expressed his frustration by puffing his cheeks, crossing his arms, and turning his head away. While Wei Ying tried to push down the strong urge to pinch his cheeks. Tried and failed.
"Aiya, okay I'm sorry." He said as he pinched Wangji's adorable cheeks.
"Will you stop that!" Wangji batted away Wei Ying's hands in a swift motion, similar to that of a cat.
"AHEM!" Jiang Cheng's loud fake cough interrupted the two lovebirds. Looking over at him, Wangji raised his eyebrow as if to ask him what his problem was.
"So let me get this straight," Jiang Cheng said, finally getting their attention. He held his head in confusion, while Huaisang just fanned himself harder than ever.
"You're not stuck up?"
"Odd choice of words, but no, not really," Wangji replied, still feeling a little embarrassed, while Wei Ying just smiled down.
"You're really not stuck up?" Huaisang muttered, closing his fan in thought.
"Yep, that would be correct. I think you'll find that I'm a pretty good troublemaker." He promptly flicked an errant strand of hair away from his face.
"No, I refuse to believe it. It's impossible, I would have noticed." Huaisang declared. In all honesty, he was rather hurt at the fact that he didn't notice it earlier, what with his intelligence. It seemed like a bit of a blow to his IQ, so he was now in denial.
"It was a shock to me as well when I discovered it." Wei Ying added, his face hurting from both grin ache and spice.
"You tripped me up and made me fall on my face; I don't really see how you consider that discovering." Wangji crossed his arms, while Wei Ying ducked to avoid his gaze.
"Anyway, "Wangji exasperatedly scoffed, pointing at Jiang Cheng and Huaisang. "You two both witnessed me eat a bowl of spicy noodles, what more do you need?"
"More." The two of them simultaneously said, both now staring profusely at Wangji as though he had grown a pair of wings.
"Well, I guess you've already been there," Wangji looked towards Wei Ying as he put his hand to his chin in thought, his ears still a little red.
"Been where, exactly?" Huaisang asked, edging closer to Wangji, determined to know absolutely everything.
"It's going to be a long day." Wangji sighed as he got up and went towards the door. Wei Ying just followed after him with an amused expression, while Jiang Cheng and Huaisang sat stationary at the table.
"Are you two going to just sit there?" Wangji huffed, as he looked back at the pair, who did a half scramble, half shuffle as they got up and followed Wangji through the door.
Wangji led the unlikely group through the courtyards with a neutral expression as they followed behind him like ducklings.
Jiang Cheng had a look of pure bewilderment on his face that he was doing his best to cover up, while Huaisang was questioning his entire existence. Meanwhile, Wei Ying had to shove his sleeve in his mouth to stop himself from giggling at the two.
Nonplussed, Wangji just elegantly glided through Cloud Recesses with them on his tail as they arrived at the mahogany double doors of the Jingshi.
Stepping inside, Jiang Cheng and Huaisang immediately rushed over to the table and sat down, expecting a point-by-point explanation as to why the emotionless Second Young Master of Lan was being so Un-Lan. Ignoring them completely, Wangji just went over to the corner of his room.
"... What? Where is he?" Huaisang perplexedly breathed out.
The two of them went over to the corner but were stunned to find nobody there, and as Wei Ying had done, they searched every nook and cranny for some hidden exit.
When finally, Wei Ying couldn't hold it in any more and started laughing his head off at the two, they looked at him with incredulous expressions.
"And what's so funny!? If you know where he went, just say it!!"Jiang Cheng screamed with a scowl.
"Alright, enough cloak and dagger," Wei Ying jested, wiping a fake tear from his eyes.
Fake adjusting his robes, he dragged the two by their sleeves and pulled them through the mirror.
Their screams abruptly stopped when they felt themselves land in a soft pile of cloth.
"Took you long enough." Wangji huffed, flipping his now high ponytail off of his shoulders in an overbold manner.
The two gaped at him as he was no longer wearing his Gusu Clan robes and forehead ribbon, but was dressed in dark purple satin and bright red brocade robes that had a pearly shimmer to them and were topped off with a glistening gold sash and belt pendants.
"What was that? where are we?" Huaisang said, looking around frantically, and immediately untangled himself and started investigating every corner of the room. "How on earth did he?!"
Jiang Cheng spluttered, pointing at Wangji's robes, as Wangji just crossed his arms with the smuggest expression ever to be seen.
"Don't question it, it'll only make your head hurt. He was even quicker the first time I was here. Had a matching fan and everything." Wei Ying huffed in delectation, while Jiang Cheng looked like someone hit him on the head, and Huaisang's ears perked up at the word 'fan'. Wei Ying circled Yanshi taking in this new design.
"Red satin and purple brocade, huh?"
"Yeah, it wasn't easy, but I played with textures and shading a bit. And I figured some gold elements would offset it nicely." Wangji casually replied, ignoring the two very confused boys.
"YOU TWO STOP IGNORING US AND EXPLAIN BEFORE I BREAK SOMETHING!!!" Jiang Cheng roared as he went over to a large white vase threateningly. He was fully fed up with the behaviour of his shixiong, and this apparently not so stuck up Second Young Master Lan.
"Alright, just don't break anything. That's a Goreyo celadon vase, you couldn't afford to break it." Wangji sneered with his hand over his mouth, while a large vein bulged in Jiang Cheng's forehead as he edged forward.
Foreseeing an argument, Huaisang scurried over from the pile of fans he was eyeing up with intrigue and stepped between the two as a human shield.
Meanwhile, Wei Ying just enjoyed the drama from the sidelines with no intention of intervening whatsoever.
"Okay, let's not have a fight right now!" Huaisang clapped his hands skittishly, while Jiang Cheng slowly backed off with a venomous glower, and Wangji just haughtily huffed with a wry laugh as he looked down at him.
"Okay, but I really would like an explanation, because, this unquestionably isn't Cloud Recesses."
"We're in Jiangnan," Wangji answered, while the two just tilted their head like how a confused dog would.
There was a rather loud silence before Jiang Cheng turned red again and was about to start shouting the house down.
"I'm serious," Wangji held up a hand before Jiang Cheng could open his foghorn mouth.
"He's not kidding, check if you don't believe him." Wei Ying said with an annoying goofy smile, gesturing over to the double doors. In a scramble they were rushing over to the double doors, Huaisang threw them open, and his arms stayed up in the air as he froze in place as he looked out onto the breathtaking Jiangnan skyline.
A peculiar sound escaped Jiang Cheng's lips that could only be described as a cross between stubbing one's toe and a large fat man passing gas. For a good thirty seconds, the pair didn't say a word but just looked out among the buildings and pagodas.
"We're in Jiangnan." Jiang Cheng hollowly asked.
"Yep." Wei Ying answered.
"We're in Jiangnan?" Huaisang asked, fiddling with his fan.
"That would be an accurate statement, yes," Wangji responded.
"We're in Jiangnan?" They both asked this time.
"Look, I'm not going to say it a third time!" Wangji snapped with a raised eyebrow.
"What Wei Ying-"
"AHeM" Wei Ying fake coughed with an expectant look on his face. WangJi did a double take at the pay-up motion he was now making.
"I'm not saying it." Wangji frostily replied.
"I drank the whole thing, or are you not a man of your word?"
Wangji took a deep breath in and clenched his fist. Just how much humiliation was he going to be subject to today?
"Anyway, what gege dragged you through was a teleportation mirror. I've got one in Gusu, the other is here." He pointed to the mirror, his face becoming redder and redder by the second, while Wei Ying looked triumphant.
The two weren't sure what they were more stunned about. the fact that they were taken through a teleportation mirror and were now in Jiangnan, or the fact that Lan Wangji had just called Wei Ying gege.
"And why do you have a teleportation mirror that leads to Jiangnan?" Jiang Cheng crossed his arms as he looked up at Wangji with an interrogative glare.
"Have you two heard of someone called Fuyu ShangYe?" Wangji asked, this time not expecting a positive answer.
"Hold on, you said that the illustrious Fuyu ShangYe was defeated by a bowl of noodles, but he's not, but..." Huaisang trailed off in deep thought, while Wangji looked down irksomely.
"I once heard some Jin disciples going on about this wealthy young master who owns a prominent clothing shop in Jiangnan..." Jiang Cheng said. You could see the cogs in their brains working as they both simultaneously figured out the answer.
"YOU'RE FUYU SHANGYE ?!?!?!" They both screamed.
"Then this is the clothing shop we're in right now, isn't it?" Huaisang said as he looked around "Well, I thought you just knew him or something, not, well that... "
"That I was him," Wangji said, opening a door, while Huaisang gave a huff as he fanned himself.
Wei WuXian skipped happily over to the door leading to the stairs and bellowed out"Li Shen'an! Get your tape measure out, I've just got House of Fuyu two new Original models!"
WangJi heaved a huge sigh before smiling and chuckling at Wei WuXians antics, following in his wake, he told the two new models for Fuyu's House of Design.
"Come on, if you two can manage to look even half decent then I'll buy you a meal at Huanyi and I'll even get Han Jihua to perform! That is if you guys are up to it?"
Wangji tilted his head to the side and looked at them up and down, brows beetling together and sighing even deeper as if he was very disappointed but resigned to work with what he had "If not, then that's all right. Not everyone can pull off a Fuyu, never mind be an Original."
"Huaisang, come on." Jiang Cheng said while everyone could see the purple aura surrounding him menacingly.
He'd be damned before he let this flower boy insult him. Stomping passed a giggling Wei WuXian, when seeing the store properly he stopped in amazement.
It was huge! Everything that was needed to outfit a person and house was crammed and tastefully arranged for display. Jiang Cheng's eyes were caught in a rainbow of silk ribbons on display when Wei Ying's giggles were heard.
Nie Huaisang was staring at a wall artfully displaying an arrangement of opened fans when the giggling Wei WuXian said "Come on guys! Plenty of time to shop later! You've been offered a chance of a lifetime here! A chance to be dressed by the great Fuyu Shengye himself and be an official Fuyu Original!! And Yanshi said he buy us a meal! Come on let's go! "
Wei Ying bounced down the stairs happily and patted Li Shen'an on his head hearing his new robes were ready then he was racing off to the back.
A smiling Li Shen'an was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and was half surprised to see two young masters behind his boss. Just where did these people come from anyway? Oh well, maybe there was a secret door or something. He was about to open his mouth to say something to them all when he was rudely cut off.
"I won't tolerate anything but purple!" The angry young master who was already wearing purple proclaimed as he walked past him.
"Um, I" Li Shen'an started, but his boss just waved it off.
"Don't bother with him. " Wangji huffed, but then a mischievous glimmer twinkled in his eyes. "In fact, I'll give him exactly what he wants. Shen'an, last week's Daydream collection should work nicely. The 'purple' one."
Wangji gave an eyebrow raised towards Li Shen'an as if to tell him something.
Confused he scratched his head, then Li Shen'an stopped for a moment, clapped his hands together and nodded.
"Right, I'll get them from the back!"
"Um, I'm fine with anything." Huaisang timidly raised his hand like he was in class.
Wangji and Shen'an both looked at Huaisang and then back at each other, before simultaneously saying."Ebony Mountain set."
Fuyu Shangye tilted his head and gave Nie Huaisang a smile before saying "With the gathered gauze belt and fan set."
Huaisang's eyes glistened at the word fan, and happily followed Li Shen'an towards the dressing areas.
"Absolutely not!!! I said Purple!!! This is Pink!! It's. it's... "
Jiang Cheng stopped complaining about his robes as he watched what he thought might be his brother entering the room. Stunned he watched as Wei Ying walked elegantly like a fairy Prince coming down from the clouds.
He was dressed in gauzy layers that floated around him like a gentle breeze, the light blues and dark smokey grey layers showing pictures of rabbits playing as he walked, his hair was tamed into a half pony, and the long length was shining with a delicate headpiece in the shape of a bunny.
Besides the Lan school robes, Wei WuXian was always dressed in dark colours, mostly red and black, despite being Head Disciple, Wei WuXian has never worn Jiang Purple.
Seeing him dressed up in such light and delicate colours, and looking so happy had him smilingly back at his brother. Right up till Wei WuXian started laughing and hiding behind a fan painted with a black and white bunny saying "A-Cheng is the prettiest Lotus of Yunmeng! I dare anyone to call you the Angry Grape in this! "
Wei Ying was laughing at the angry and sputtering sight of his Shidi dressed in long flowing robes. The upper shoulders and upper sleeves started out the darkest of purples that slowly faded and fanned out as the lines reached the high waist before turning into the skirts, which petals out in pinks and pale purple, looking so much like a fairy flower-made clothes, as he stomped in place on the platform.
"Oh my! Wow! Cheng-ge! I don't know! I really didn't know you had such a tiny waist! That skirt is amazing against your colouring and build! Wow, I don't think anyone but you could pull this look off!"
Nie Huaisang said as he strutted in his cream and gentle yellow layers artfully arranged to show a mountain scene along the skirts, gauzy clouds and scattered flower petals dotted throughout, with a giant smile he unfurled the fan, pleased with Wei WuXians coos of delight seeing the mountain scene painted on one side, his cries of envy when he flipped it over showing the poem in Lan WangJi's perfect calligraphy, was fun to hear.
"You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain; I smile and make no reply, for my heart is free of care. As the peach blossom flows downstream and is gone into the unknown, I have a world apart that is not among men."
"Wow, Ji-xiong, I didn't know your painting skills were this good!"Huiasang said gleefully, as he examined his fan.
"HEY, BACK TO ME! This is pink, not purple, pink! Care to explain?!" Jiang Cheng screeched while Wangji was openly laughing.
"What? You said purple, you didn't say how much. So in fact, I'm not at fault here. if anything it's your fault for not being specific enough."Wangji covered his mouth with his sleeves.
"Ey, ChengCheng, if it's any consolation, you look very nice." Wei Ying fought a snicker as he looked him up and down.
"Don't make me come over there."Jiang Cheng growled as he lifted up the hems of his robes roughly and bundled them up in his fists. Wei Ying quickly ducked out of the way of Jiang Cheng's fists as the pair were roughhousing each other.
"Ey! Don't just grab at the hems so haphazardly! You know how much those robes cost!?"Wangji yelled at him as he pointed a reprimanding finger.
"That's made with real Lotus blooms, you think it's easy to manufacture?!"
"Is that even possible?" Huaisang asked while Jiang Cheng stopped his assault on his brother.
"Lotus blooms?" Jiang Cheng asked as he felt up the fabric. Now that he thought about it, they did smell heavily like lotus bloom. It reminded him of Yunmeng Lake.
"Mn, we harvest the stems and pull apart the fibres and weave them in with silk to make it stronger. Then we keep the fabric in a sealed box filled with the petals for at least a week. After that, we dry the remaining flowers and use them in fragrance pouches." Wangji pointed to a rack of gorgeous fragrance sashes of different shapes and colours.
Jiang Cheng blinked slowly and then put down his hems and carefully smoothed out the creases he had made. Brushing some nonexistent dirt off his shoulders he just awkwardly cleared his throat.
"That much effort, huh?" Jiang Cheng mumbled under his breath as he pretended to cough and cover his mouth, but everyone saw him take a sneaky inhale of the fragrant fabric as he fixed his belt and adjusted the accessories.
"Oh, just admit that you like them. And that you like how you feel in them."Wei Ying huffed as he patted Jiang Cheng on the back.
Jiang Cheng looked down irksomely and just muttered something that sounded like"Yeah, thanks."
"It's fine, I'm glad that you like them," Wangji said with a genuine smile, while Jiang Cheng's lips formed a thin line, he mumbled as he was now looking at a pair of shoes like they were the most important thing in the world.
Wei Ying shook his head in fake disapproval, while Huaisang was fishing through his Qiankun pouch for some taels so he could buy some stuff.
He rarely got the chance to shop in the Unclean Realm, and shopping in Gusu was more boring than watching paint dry, only for WangJi to stop him by saying
"What are you doing?! A Fuyu Original doesn't pay! You'll see! Now let's go and show Jiangan my latest designs as we stroll to Huanyi and get Han Jihua the Pearl of Jiangan to perform while we dine."
This chapter was co written by NixieEver.