Wei Wuxian was a master at finding amusement, especially in the direst of circumstances. With nothing else to entertain himself, he decided to make Lan Wangji his unwitting playmate. "Brother Wangji," he called out, his voice lilting with mischief.
Lan Wangji remained motionless, a statue of perfect composure.
"Wangji," Wei Wuxian called out, his voice playful and teasing.
Silence met his words, as if they had never been spoken.
"Lan Wangji," Wei Wuxian tried again, his tone more insistent.
"Lan Zhan!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed, his voice rising with each attempt.
Finally, Lan Wangji paused his writing and lifted his gaze, his eyes cold and distant as they met Wei Wuxian's. Wei Wuxian instinctively leaned back, raising his hands in mock defense. "Don't look at me like that," he said, a hint of laughter in his voice. "I only called you by your name because you wouldn't respond to anything else. If you're not happy about it, you can call me by my name too. Fair's fair, right?"
Lan Wangji's voice was cool and controlled as he spoke, "Put your leg down."
Wei Wuxian had been sitting in an extremely improper manner, his body slanted and one leg propped up. Realizing he had finally provoked a response from Lan Wangji, he felt a secret thrill of victory. He lowered his leg as instructed, but unconsciously leaned closer, his arms resting on the desk in a still less than proper posture. With exaggerated seriousness, he asked, "Lan Zhan, let me ask you something. Do you... do you really dislike me that much?"
Lan Wangji lowered his eyelids, his long lashes casting faint shadows on his jade-like cheeks. Wei Wuxian hurriedly continued, "Don't be like that. Don't go silent on me again. I want to apologize to you. Look at me, please?"
After a pause, he added, "You won't look at me? Fine, I'll just say it then. That night, I was wrong. I admit it. I shouldn't have climbed over the wall, I shouldn't have drunk alcohol, and I shouldn't have fought with you. But I swear! I wasn't trying to provoke you deliberately. I really hadn't seen your family rules. In the Jiang family, rules are just spoken, never written down. If I had known, I definitely wouldn't have..." He thought to himself, "...definitely wouldn't have drunk that entire jar of Emperor's Smile in front of you. I would have smuggled it back to my room and drunk it in secret, every day, sharing it with everyone, drinking to our heart's content."
Wei Wuxian continued, his voice taking on a more reasonable tone, "And let's be fair here, who struck first? It was you. If you hadn't made the first move, we could have talked it out, cleared things up. But when someone hits me, I have to hit back. You can't blame me entirely for that. Lan Zhan, are you listening? Look at me. Young Master Lan?" He snapped his fingers. "Second Brother Lan, do me a favor and look at me, won't you?"
Without even lifting his eyes, Lan Wangji said coolly, "Copy it one more time."
Wei Wuxian's body immediately slumped. "Don't be like that. I said I was wrong, didn't I?"
Lan Wangji mercilessly exposed him: "You have no intention of repenting at all."
Wei Wuxian, abandoning all dignity, pleaded, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll say it as many times as you want. I'll even kneel down and say it if you like."
Lan Wangji put down his brush. Wei Wuxian thought he had finally pushed him to the point of violence and was about to flash a cheeky grin when he suddenly found his lips stuck together as if glued, unable to smile.
His face changed dramatically as he struggled to speak, managing only muffled sounds: "Mmph? Mmph mmph mmph!"
Lan Wangji closed his eyes, exhaled softly, then opened them again, his expression once more calm and composed. He picked up his brush and resumed writing as if nothing had happened. Wei Wuxian had heard of the Lan Clan's Silencing Spell but had never believed it could be so effective. After struggling for a while, even scratching his mouth red, he still couldn't open it. So he grabbed a piece of paper, wrote furiously, and tossed it over. Lan Wangji glanced at it and said, "Childish," before crumpling it up and throwing it away.
Infuriated, Wei Wuxian rolled on the mat, then got up and wrote another note, slapping it down in front of Lan Wangji. This too was crumpled and discarded.
The Silencing Spell wasn't lifted until he had finished copying. The next day when he came to the library pavilion, all the paper balls that had been strewn about the day before had been cleared away.
Wei Wuxian, always quick to forget past injuries, found himself itching to speak again after just two incense sticks' worth of time, despite having suffered from the Silencing Spell just the day before. Recklessly, he had barely uttered two sentences before being silenced again. Unable to speak, he resorted to scribbling on paper and passing it to Lan Wangji, only to have it crumpled and thrown to the ground. The third day proceeded in the same manner.
After being repeatedly silenced, on the last day of his punishment, Wei Wuxian's behavior seemed unusual to Lan Wangji.
Since arriving in Gusu, Wei Wuxian had always carelessly tossed his sword about, never wearing it properly. But today, he brought it with him, placing it with a loud thud next to the desk. Even more surprising, contrary to his usual persistent attempts to provoke Lan Wangji, he sat down silently and began writing, his obedience bordering on the uncanny.
Lan Wangji had no reason to use the Silencing Spell on him, and even found himself glancing at Wei Wuxian more than usual, as if unable to believe this sudden change in behavior. Sure enough, it wasn't long before Wei Wuxian reverted to his old ways, sliding a piece of paper across the desk, gesturing for Lan Wangji to look at it.
Lan Wangji had expected more nonsensical scribblings, but as if possessed, he glanced at the paper. To his surprise, it was a portrait. It depicted someone sitting upright by a window, reading quietly, with features unmistakably his own.
Wei Wuxian, noticing that Lan Wangji's gaze lingered on the drawing, smirked and raised an eyebrow, winking at him. Without words, his meaning was clear: Does it look like me? Is it good?
Lan Wangji spoke slowly, "If you have this much free time, you should be copying instead of doodling. I don't think you'll ever be free from punishment at this rate."
Wei Wuxian blew gently on the still-wet ink, responding nonchalantly, "I've already finished copying. I won't be coming back tomorrow!"
Lan Wangji's long fingers, resting on the yellowed pages of his book, seemed to pause for a moment before he turned to the next page. Surprisingly, he didn't silence Wei Wuxian this time. Seeing that his provocation hadn't worked, Wei Wuxian casually tossed the drawing onto the mat, saying, "It's yours. Keep it."
The drawing lay on the mat, and Lan Wangji made no move to pick it up. This had been the fate of all the papers Wei Wuxian had written over the past few days - whether they contained insults, flattery, apologies, pleas, or random doodles. Lan Wangji was used to it and didn't care. Suddenly, Wei Wuxian said, "Oh, I forgot. I need to add something to it."
He picked up the paper and his brush, made a few quick strokes, looked at the drawing, then at the real person, and burst into laughter, falling back onto the ground. Lan Wangji put down his book and glanced at the drawing. Wei Wuxian had added a flower to the side of his hair.
The corner of Lan Wangji's mouth seemed to twitch slightly. Wei Wuxian scrambled up, saying quickly, "'Childish,' right? I knew you were going to say that. Can't you use a different word? Or maybe add a couple more?"
Lan Wangji said coldly, "Utterly childish."
Wei Wuxian clapped his hands. "You really did add two more words. Thank you!"
Lan Wangji looked away and picked up the book he had set aside earlier, opening it again. He had barely glanced at it when he threw it away as if it had burned him.
What he had been reading was originally a Buddhist scripture, but when he opened it just now, what met his eyes were explicit images of intertwined naked bodies, too vulgar to behold. The book he had been reading had been swapped for an erotic art book disguised as a Buddhist text.
It didn't take much thinking to know who was behind this mischief. It must have been done when Wei Wuxian distracted him with the portrait. Moreover, Wei Wuxian made no attempt to hide his involvement, laughing uproariously at the table: "Hahahahahahahahaha!"
The book landed on the ground, and Lan Wangji retreated to the corner of the library as if avoiding a venomous snake. Furious, he shouted, "Wei Ying!"
Wei Wuxian was laughing so hard he nearly rolled under the desk, barely managing to raise his hand and say, "Here! I'm here!"
Lan Wangji swiftly drew his sword, Bichen. Wei Wuxian had never seen him so flustered before. Quickly, he grabbed his own sword, drawing it slightly from its sheath, and warned, "Manners, Second Young Master Lan! Mind your manners! I brought my sword today too. If we fight, what will become of your family's library?" He had anticipated Lan Wangji's anger and brought his sword for self-defense, to avoid being accidentally stabbed in a fit of rage. Lan Wangji pointed his sword at him, his pale eyes almost shooting flames: "What kind of person are you?!"
Wei Wuxian replied cheekily, "What kind of person could I be? A man, of course!"
Lan Wangji berated him, "Shameless!"
Wei Wuxian countered, "Is this really something to be ashamed of? Don't tell me you've never seen this kind of thing before. I don't believe it."
Lan Wangji's weakness was that he didn't know how to curse. After a moment of struggle, he raised his sword, pointing it at Wei Wuxian, his face frosty: "Get out. We'll settle this outside."
Wei Wuxian shook his head repeatedly, feigning obedience: "No fighting, no fighting. Don't you know, Young Master Lan? Private duels are forbidden in the Cloud Recesses." He moved to pick up the discarded book, but Lan Wangji beat him to it, snatching it away. Wei Wuxian, guessing that Lan Wangji intended to use it as evidence against him, deliberately said, "Why are you grabbing it? I thought you didn't want to look at it anymore. Want to take another peek? Actually, if you want to look, you don't need to snatch it. I borrowed it especially for you to see. Now that you've seen my erotic art, you're my friend. We can continue to exchange more..."
Lan Wangji's face turned completely white as he enunciated each word, "I. Do. Not. Want. To. Look."
Wei Wuxian continued to twist the truth: "If you don't want to look, why did you grab it? To keep it for yourself? That won't do. I borrowed it from someone else, you need to return it after you're done... Hey, hey, hey, don't come closer! I'm getting nervous. Let's talk this out. You're not thinking of turning it in, are you? To whom? To your eld... to your uncle? Second Young Master Lan, can you really show this kind of thing to your family elders? He'd definitely suspect you looked at it first. With your thin skin, wouldn't you die of embarrassment..."
Lan Wangji channeled his spiritual energy into his right hand, and the book shattered into thousands of pieces, fluttering down from the air. Seeing that he had successfully provoked Lan Wangji into destroying the evidence, Wei Wuxian felt relieved. Feigning regret, he said, "What a waste!" He picked up a piece of paper that had fallen on his hair and held it up for Lan Wangji, whose face had turned pale with anger, to see. "Lan Zhan, you're good at everything except that you like to throw things around. How many paper balls have you thrown on the ground these past few days? Today you're not even satisfied with throwing paper balls, you're tearing up paper. You tore it, you clean it up. I'm not responsible for this."
Lan Wangji, having endured and endured, finally couldn't take it anymore. He shouted in anger, "Get out!"
Wei Wuxian said, "Well, well, Lan Zhan. They say you're a gentleman as pure as jade, a pearl that illuminates the world, the most courteous and well-mannered of all. But it turns out you're no different. Don't you know that noise is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses? And you actually told me to 'get out.' Is this the first time you've used such a word on someone..."
Lan Wangji thrust his sword at him. Wei Wuxian quickly jumped onto the windowsill. "Alright, I'm going. I'm the best at getting out. No need to see me off!"
He leapt from the library, laughing like a madman as he crashed through the trees, where a group of people were waiting for him. Nie Huaisang asked, "How did it go? Did he look at it? What was his expression?"
Wei Wuxian replied, "What expression? Ha! Didn't you hear how loudly he shouted just now?"
Nie Huaisang's face was full of admiration: "We heard it! He told you to get out! Brother Wei, that's the first time I've ever heard Lan Wangji tell someone to 'get out'! How did you manage it?"
Wei Wuxian, beaming with pride, said, "It's a joyous occasion indeed. Today, I helped him break that taboo. You see, the composure and family education that Second Young Master Lan is so praised for all crumble in the face of yours truly."
Jiang Cheng, his face dark, scolded, "What are you so proud of? Is being told to get out something to be proud of? You're really bringing shame to our family!"
Wei Wuxian retorted, "I genuinely wanted to apologize to him, but he wouldn't even look at me. He silenced me for so many days, what's wrong with teasing him a bit? I was being kind, offering him a book to read. It's a pity about that precious erotic art book of yours, Brother Huaisang. I hadn't even finished looking at it, it was so fascinating! Lan Zhan is truly unromantic. He wasn't even happy when I showed it to him. What a waste of that face of his."
Nie Huaisang said, "Don't worry about it! I have as many as you want."
Jiang Cheng sneered, "You've thoroughly offended both Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren. You better prepare for your death tomorrow! No one will be there to collect your corpse."
Wei Wuxian waved his hand dismissively and went to drape an arm over Jiang Cheng's shoulders. "Who cares about that? Let's have fun first and worry later. You've collected my corpse so many times already, what's one more time?"
Jiang Cheng kicked at him. "Get lost! Next time you do something like this, don't let me know about it! And don't call me to watch!"