Chapter Twelve

After the events in the library with the rabbits, Wei Wuxian continued to find ways to annoy and bother Lan Zhan. He changed his seats three times before finally settling behind Lan Zhan and his sister, this allowed him to hide behind the two figures sitting in front of him; the model students who Lan Qiren never looked at, the ones that only moved to write something on their fine paper, to stand when asked a question, or to stand to come and go. The young cultivator began to sleep, draw, and throw papers at people while sitting behind the two pupils, the papers often being blocked by either Lan Zhan or Wei Ying's twin as they managed to focus on their lessons and make sure he wasn't as bad of a distraction. When Lan Qiren became aware of what Wei Wuxian was doing, he switched Lan Zhan's seat with the troublemaker and sat Wei Wuxian beside his sister and in front of Lan Wangji. It was not his favorite seat to be in, seeing as when he slouched even an inch out of line, two pairs of cold eyes would glare at him until he fixed himself.

Soon, Lan Qiren had decided Lan Zhan would not attend the lessons anymore, afraid that the likes of Wei Wuxian would rub off on his pure nephew. As time went on and a month passed, Wei Yue was finally able to stop her services to the Lan family as peace fell in both class and Gusu in regards to her brother. All she did now was study with Lan Zhan in the library pavilion to make up for his lack of lessons, giving him exact notes of the lesson, as well as reading lists that they were made to read in class. It was upsetting to Wei Yue as she was separated from Lan Zhan when it came to class, seeing as being around him made her want to work harder. Now, sitting next to her twin brother, Wei Yue always felt anxious he would do something to make Lan Qiren angry and lash out at him next to her.

It had now been a month since Lan Zhan had stopped attending classes and the class had taken a break from the standard classroom and had gone to the wall of the ancestors, Lan Qiren explaining what the designs on the wall meant and how they showed the history of the GusuLan Sect. It was one of the days that Wei Wuxian actually paid attention to the lesson, listening to the history of the Sect. Once the lesson finished, Wei Yingyue stayed with her brother and their adopted siblings, Jiang Yanli lacing arms with the younger female as they stood beside their brothers.

"So, the founder of the Lan Sect was a monk. No wonder! He ventured into the mortal world to meet one person and, as she went, he went as well. Leaving nothing behind on this Earth. But why would a person like him produce such unromantic descendants?" Wei Yue rolled her eyes at her brother's words, pinching his arm before frowning.

"They're not all unromantic." She corrected, shaking her head as her fiance flashed through her mind, as well as the pin that was now holding her hair into a high ponytail.

"Ah, yes, Meimei. I forgot, you are betrothed to the mighty Zewu-jun!" Her brother mused, grinning as blush creeped into his sister's cheeks. The girl went to bite back when two voices reached her ears, her muscles tensing at the words spoken by said voices.

"Zixuan-xiong, who do you think is the best girl?" Wei Yue's eyes shifted towards the voices, following her twin and Jiang Cheng's gazes as they looked over too. Jiang Yanli froze slightly at the name spoken, grabbing Wei Yue's hand as the girl listened in.

"It's best for you to not ask Zixuan-xiong about this. He's already got a fiance, so his answer would definitely be his fiance."

"Really? Which Sect is she from? She must be extremely talented!" The voices continued, Wei Yue tensing further as her eyes watched Jin Zixuan's lips twitch, an expression of displeasure at the thought of his engagement to her Senior Sister was spoken of.

"Forget it." He ordered, raising a brow.

"What do you mean by 'forget it'?" Wei Ying asked as Wei Yue scoffed, narrowing her eyes as she stepped beside her brother, blocking Jiang Yanli from Jin Zixuan's view. Everyone looked over to them then, surprised as the expressions of the twins had completely changed; Wei Wuxian was always grinning, as Wei Yingyue was a spitting image of Lan Wangji with a permanent stone face. The other's had never really seen them angered, they had caught glimpses of Wei Yingyue giving Wei Wuxian angry glances but this was different. Now, both twins held a streak of hostility on both of their faces. Jiang Cheng stood beside Wei Ying with a dark face now, though his body was turned slightly as he watched his older sister from the corner of his eye.

"Is the phrase 'forget it' too difficult to understand?" Jin Zixuan asked, an arrogant tone evident in his voice that made Wei Yue clench her fists.

"The phrase isn't hard to understand." She bit back, watching him as Wei Ying crossed his arms beside his sister.

"Instead, it's hard to understand how on Earth you are unsatisfied with my Senior Sister." Everyone began to whisper after the exchange of words, realizing Jin Zixuan's fiance was the girl standing behind Wei Yingyue, Jiang Yanli.

"Why don't you ask me how on Earth can I be satisfied with her?" Jiang Cheng stepped forwards but Wei Wuxian pushed him back, walking forwards with his sister slightly behind him, standing in front of the siblings.

"You sure think that you're pretty satisfying, don't you? Where did you get the guts to be all choosy here?" He sneered, growing more defensive of his Senior Sister.

"If she's unsatisfied, then tell her to get rid of this engagement!" Wei Yue was inching closer with every negative word about Yanli, one of the people who she'd lay her life down for, as anger began to fill her heart. "In conclusion, I don't care if she's your Senior Sister. If you care for her, ask her father about it! Doesn't he treat you and your sister better than he treats his own child or something?" As soon as he mentioned how Uncle Fengmian treated Jiang Cheng, everyone sucked in a surprised gasp as Wei Ying was pushed aside by his sister. The girl who followed Lan Wangji around, the girl who never put a foot out of line had just landed a hard, powerful punch to Jin Zixuan's smug face. A millisecond after the blow, Wei Ying felt even more anger well in his chest as he watched Jin Zixuan strike his twin across her face. The power behind his strike had been meant for Wei Wuxian, meaning that it was strong enough to send Wei Yue crashing to her back as she closed her eyes, groaning as her head cracked against the ground.

Wei Wuxian didn't hesitate a second after his sister had been hit, turning and throwing a blow into Jin Zixuan's shocked face. He reacted quickly as everyone watched everything happen with shocked expressions, their eyes shooting from Wei Ying and Jin Zixuan and back towards the girl on the floor. As Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan continued to throw blows at each other, Jiang Cheng helped Wei Yue over to Jiang Yanli, waiting for the two girls to leave the hall before returning to help Wei Ying. Jiang Yanli guided her sister towards their room but Wei Yingyue paused, frowning as she turned to look at her Senior Sister.

"Jiejie, don't take what he said to heart." Wei Yue whispered, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders. The older girl nodded before wrapping her arms around Wei Yue's waist, hugging her tightly as they rested their heads one each other's shoulders.

"Wei Yingyue." The girls pulled away and Wei Yingyue turned, her eyes landing on Lan Wangji as he stood a few steps from them. She frowned as she stepped towards him, her eyes to the ground as she bowed to him deeply.

"Second Brother Lan, I need to be punished as I have broken the rules of the Lan Sect." She stated in an even tone, ignoring the sounds of protest from Jiang Yanli.

"Second Brother Lan, this is a misunderstanding." Jiang Yanli started, stopping as Wei Yue shot her a glance, shaking her head slightly before straightening, only to lift her robe and fall to her knees. Lan Wangji's eyes widened as she did so, shocked as he watched his friend kowtowed before him.

"Lan Wangji, please serve me my punishment as you see fit." She stated, closing her eyes as she waited. She heard nothing until the soft clink of metal on stone reached her ears, then a hand was placed on her shoulder before the person pulled her up.

"Wei Yingyue, why not explain what happened before I punish you for it." Lan Zhan whispered, holding her shoulder before his eyes drifted to her cheek, his eyes hardening when he saw the handprint. He lifted her chin and narrowed his eyes, the cold irises holding anger as he tilted her head towards her sister to get a better look. "Who did this?" He asked, his voice giving nothing to how he felt away.

"We were in class and it had just ended when we overheard someone-"

"Jin Zixuan." Wei Yue cut Jiang Yanli off, spitting out the name before her sister continued.

"We overheard Jin Zixuan and a few others talking. Young Master Jin said some mean things about me, and when Ah-Xian and Ah-Yue confronted him about it he continued to say hurtful things about me and how my father treated Ah-Cheng." Jiang Yanli whispered to the man, Lan Zhan never taking his eyes away from Wei Yingyue's cheek as he listened.

"He was being rude, so I punched him in his smug face." The girl murmured, looking down at her hands as she tightened them into fists. "As soon as Jin Zixuan struck me back, Wei Ying attacked him and Jiang Cheng got me and Jiejie out before going to get Wei Ying." Wei Yue finished, looking up into Lan Zhan's light-colored eyes. He frowned slightly before grabbing Bichen, holding out a hand to the girl.

"Since this is only your second slip up, though the first was not due to you directly, you will only rewrite the Gusu rules one hundred times. You will do that tomorrow, return to your room for now. My brother may come to see you, as will I in a few hours after checking in with my Uncle." He instructed, she nodded once before stepping back and bowing to him. He returned the bow to both Wei Yue and Jiang Yanli before walking in the direction where the girls had come from, a grim look on his face.