Silent in his Obedience

Ch. 5

A/N: I'm alive! In terms of writing anything I've been pretty dead. I'm not gonna make any excuses but what happened basically is my writing at the time was fuelled by pure depression, loneliness, and anxiety. I used writing to vent my emotions but I met someone who made me happier and thus I didn't have to vent through writing. I really struggled to write without that raw fuel of emotions that I had no where else to put. Learning to write without it was like a curveball lol but I'm going to try to get back into.

Wei Ying slowly opened his eyes sleepily to the Lan Zhan's hand still in his and the lesson still going on. His neck and back ached awfully because of his wounds and how he fell asleep sitting up.
Wei Ying doesn't know where it came from but suddenly the boy that looks like Lan Zhan placed a bowl of some sort of soup in front him. Wei Ying looked at him confused and the boy smiled before explaining "it's vegetable soup with potatoes, carrots, and squash in it. Oh and my name is Lan Xichen, I'm Lan Zhan's brother and this man is Lan Qiren, our uncle."

Wei Ying grabbed the brush and paper they gave him and wrote "what is squash?"
They all looked surprised but Lan Qiren answered kindly "it's soft and mild in flavour with a little sweetness to it."
'Is it ok to eat?' Wei Ying wrote, his stomach ached but knew better than to eat unless told you can. In lotus pier he only got to eat what Jiang Yanli would make him or the leftovers at eating area after all the disciples left and sometimes there was nothing to eat.
"Of course this soup is for you." Lan Xichen reassured

Wei Ying picked up the spoon and took a bite with squash in it and he liked it, it's simple but very yummy compared to cold leftovers abandoned by everyone.

After Wei Ying finished the soup, Lan Qiren had a satisfied look as he said
"Now that you've eaten we should take you to the elders so we can discuss our next course of action to protect Wei Ying."
Wei Ying nodded and to the brothers surprise Lan Qiren picked up Wei Ying and carried him on his hip as if he weighed nothing

Wei Ying had never been picked up and treated like a normal kid and all he could think is... 'how warm'. Wei Ying felt warm inside and unconsciously gripped Lan Qiren's robe. The brothers watched obviously happy that they're uncle had opened up and that Wei Ying was acting like a kid his age.

They started walking to the meeting room and Wei Ying enjoyed looking at the flowers and trees along the way. Once they got there all the elders were already there sat at the table. All the elders looked shocked seeing Lan Qiren carrying a child and they were even more shocked as he sat down, letting the child sit in his lap. Lan Qiren cleared his throat before speaking
"I know this meeting is sudden but there's a urgent matter to discuss in regards to the crimes of Madam Yu of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. During my visit to the Yunmeng Jiang Sect for the meeting held there, I was approached by a distressed Jiang Yanli begging me to take her brother Wei Ying away from her mother."

Silence fell on the room quickly the elders wanting Lan Qiren to continue.
"Jiang Yanli witnessed her mother whipping her brother with Zidian for merely coming into contact with Lan Zhan. She also saw many scars on his body from other whippings, a slave brand mark and the cruelest of all the markings of a slave obedience curse carved into his skin."
Lan Qiren said and all the elders faces paled at the information they just received.
One elder sighed before speaking,
"Is there a way to break the curse?"

Lan Qiren pulled some papers out of the sleeve of his robe, setting it on the table for the elders. The papers talked about the curse effects, medicine that can dull the curse effects to a certain extent with minor side effects like excessive sleepiness. It also talks about how there is only 2 ways to relieve the curse, one of which was impossible because it required Madam Yu to willingly give control of the curse to someone else. The second option was incredibly unlikely as Wei Ying would have to marry someone and it is unlikely someone would willingly marry a 'slave'.

Lan Zhan tugged gently on Lan Qiren's robe, silently asking to lifted to Lan Qiren's lap too. He lifted Lan Zhan into his lap without a thought.
"Can't I just marry Wei Ying?" Lan Zhan says innocently.
Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan wide eyed and the elders were silent for a moment before responding.
"Second young master Lan, Wei Ying is a boy. We won't mind because you are showing how kind and righteous you are but many inside and outside our sect will not think kindly of this."
Lan Zhan had a determined look on his face as he said "I will protect Wei Ying."
Lan Qiren was proud Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen for the good people they're becoming.

The elders all came to an agreement and the engagement ceremony would be held properly in a month. At the engagement ceremony they will promise to marry when they come of age. The engagement ceremony should transfer ownership of the curse to Lan Zhan. However if they don't get married when they come of age the curse ownership will go back to Madam Yu.

Lan Qiren adjourned the meeting with that and brought the three kids back to his nephews shared room. He figured it'd be best for Wei Ying to stay with Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen as much as possible.
It was no surprise when Lan Zhan, Lan Xichen, and Wei Ying all got in one bed with Wei Ying in the middle.
"Sleep well kids, tomorrow we'll show Wei Ying around the Cloud Recesses." Lan Qiren said with a slight smile.
"What about our lessons?" Lan Zhan asked confused.
"They'll be put on hold until you and Wei Ying are engaged in a month." He said, leaving the room for them to go to sleep.

Wei Ying hated the dark, it reminded him of when Jiang Fengmian would take his kids to meetings and Madam Yu would lock him in a pitch black shed the whole time they were gone. It didn't matter if he banged on the door, the servants would just get angry at him. It was dark in the shed night and day, the only indication that time had passed being the one plate of scraps the servants would bring once a day. Well... he thinks it was once a day...

Both Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen held onto Wei Ying. They wanted to make sure he knew that they cared about him, and that they would protect him. Wei Ying was pulled out of his thoughts by they're embrace and he couldn't help but think 'the dark doesn't seem so bad tonight...'.
Wei Ying couldn't help but let a small smile appear on his face.

⊹₊⋆☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆☁︎⋆₊ ⊹

When Lan Qiren went to wake the kids at 6am he saw that his nephews were already awake and dressed, helping Wei Ying to wake up. They both helped the very sleepy Wei Ying out of bed, helping him put on one of Lan Zhan's white robes.
Despite Wei Ying being the same age as Lan Zhan, the robes were a size too big due to Wei Ying's malnourished body.
Lan Qiren grabbed a light blue ribbon and a comb. He knelt behind Wei Ying and began combing the boy's hair, tying it up into a simple ponytail.

Wei Ying looked adorable as he sleepily rubbed his eyes in his oversized robes. Lan Qiren picked him up and all of began walking to the family dining hall where they'd eat breakfast.
Once they'd arrived, a few servants brought food and set it on the table. Lan Qiren sat the still half asleep Wei Ying on his lap. Wei Ying grabbed a spoon and slowly got a spoon full of rice, stuffing it in his mouth. Everyone in the room thought he looked like a squirrel gathering nuts for the winter with how full his mouth was.
"Eat slowly Wei Ying, the food isn't going anywhere." Lan Qiren chided with a small smile.

Lan Qiren watched as Lan Zhan started placing some of his own veggies in Wei Ying's bowl, even making sure they were small pieces so he wouldn't choke from eating too fast.

Lan Qiren was happy. He was happy that his nephews were happy despite their foolish father. He's also happy that he's able to bring happiness to Wei Ying despite his awful past and swears he'll never compare Wei Ying to his troublemaker mother like Madam Yu did. It's not fair to Wei Ying to be compared to his mother, and it's not fair for him to be treated poorly for the things his mother did.

Life is not fair and it never has been, but Lan Qiren hopes to make the best of it with these three kids.