Chapter Text
Wei Ying heard the boy even before he caught a glimpse of his face. That lively, boyish voice of his—Wei Ying couldn’t mistake it for anyone else.
His sweet Jingyi…!
He was alive!
Wei Ying couldn’t possibly ask for anything more!
“Your imperial highness, you imperial highness—!” Lan Jingyi’s excited voice rang out, and within moments, the spry young man was coming into view, his white and blue robes swishing around him as he rushed right toward Wei Ying lying on the ground. “You’re safe!”
Despite carrying a bundle of logs on his back, Lan Jingyi haphazardly threw them all onto the forest floor before kneeling right beside his consort.
Wei Ying’s eyes blurred with tears, his arms instinctively reaching out to be held.
His sweet boy!
“Jingyi… Jingyi!” he aimlessly called out, relief washing over him at the sight of his face. “You made it out!”
It was his greatest wish!
Lan Jingyi practically tackled him into a hug in turn, wrapping his arms around Wei Ying tightly. The sheer joy—and over eagerness—of his embrace left Wei Ying’s chest stinging with emotion, though the rough impact soon made him wince.
“Ow, ow, ow!” Wei Ying groaned, as he felt his ankle throb in protest. He instinctively tried to move his leg, but the pain that shot throughout his joints soon made him realise something was very wrong.
Lan Jingyi pulled back immediately, his forehead creasing with concern. “Your highness! You’re hurt!” Leaning closer, he quickly inspected Wei Ying’s injury and profusely apologised as he did so, “Forgive me—I didn’t notice!”
His hands fluttered nervously as he tried to figure out the best way to help. He feebly attempted to lift Wei Ying up by the shoulders, but his consort was quickly hissing in pain once more at the feeling of being overexerted, and Lan Jingyi’s hands were freezing again.
Whipping his head around, Lan Jingyi called out into the distance as though pleading with someone else. “Your royal highness! I’ve found the consort! He’s hurt! We need your help!”
Wei Ying’s heart skipped a beat at his words. Your… royal highness?
It…couldn’t be.
Besides Lan Jingyi, did someone else also make it out of the cave?
Had the Heavens been so kind…?
Turning his head, his breath quickly stuttered at the very sight of the man in the distance.
Ah!
It was him…!
—The First Prince!
Now bearing a rugged and weathered look, Lan Xichen stood tall among the trees. Though he still wore the same familiar white robes from before, his long sleeves had been rolled up to his biceps, exposing hard muscles Wei Ying hadn’t even known existed. Lan Xichen’s long hair was tied back into a low ponytail, and his chin was shadowed with the lightest hint of a growing stubble. A makeshift knife, carved from stone, hung at his side.
His amber eyes locked onto Wei Ying immediately, and to the consort’s surprise, slowly softened from apprehension to—a surprised relief.
Wei Ying tried to sit up straighter, as he watched the prince slowly make his way toward him.
“Jingyi ah,” Wei Ying happily called, grasping onto Lan Jingyi’s hands and refusing to let go. His silver eyes twinkled as he impatiently asked of the boy, “I’m so happy to see the both of you alive and safe. Please, can you tell me… what about the others? Did anyone else—?”
Lan Jingyi bit his lip, his sweet earnest eyes dropping to the ground. “Moments after I told you to run,” he began quietly, “and you left us, I felt something shift in the air. I knew something horrible was going to happen. We… acted quickly. I freed the First Prince and we made a run for higher ground. Sure enough, as we reached the exit, the cave soon flooded. Everything collapsed in on itself…” his hands clenched together at the memory, trembling just slightly. “We barely made it out before it was too late.”
Wei Ying’s heart felt heavy, with the confirmation of what he had long feared. He sighed softly, trying to temper his dashed hopes. “I thought as much. But I… I was still foolishly hoping…”
Lan Jingyi mournfully added, “We couldn’t save anyone else. That is my greatest regret. Afterward, we tried searching for you, too, but the entire cave had gone underground. There was nothing left to dig through. We thought you might even have been lost, with everyone else…”
Wei Ying gently nodded, fluttering his eyes shut in resignation. “I know,” he quietly reassured. “You did what you could. I saw the aftermath as well. There wasn’t anything anyone could have done.”
Lan Jingyi hesitated, glancing at Wei Ying’s face. His voice dropped into a fearful whisper, “If you made it out, then… does that mean his majesty, the emperor, also…?”
Wei Ying offered a small, comforting smile in return, remaining oblivious to Jingyi’s uneasiness. “Yes. He helped me get A-Cheng out too. We wouldn’t have made it otherwise.”
Lan Jingyi’s eyes widened slightly, his mouth opening in surprise. “Ah? It appears his majesty has… had a change of heart.”
To even go to the extent of saving Jiang Wanyin... was something the past emperor would never have done!
Wei Ying nodded back. “I think he did,” he whispered, in affirmation.
Lan Jingyi watched him for a long moment before nodding again.
“Then maybe…” he murmured, looking to his feet. “there’s hope for the future.”
Wei Ying merely smiled at the thought. “Mm.”
They didn’t dwell on the moment for long.
“Wei Wuxian,” came Lan Xichen’s voice, having taken no time at all to make his way to the pair on the ground, his heavy footsteps coming to a standstill right before the kneeling consort.
His eyes swept over Wei Ying’s dishevelled form, taking in the dirt-streaked robes and the bruises all over his body.
Crouching down, Lan Xichen asked of him, taking extra care to be gentle with the injured man, “Can you walk?”
Wei Ying tried his best to pull himself up, but as soon as he tried, a mounting pressure in his ankle made him stumble forward. Only one leg felt sturdy enough to support himself.
With a defeated sigh, Wei Ying shook his head. “I might have hurt my leg,” he admitted, looking frustrated at the fact.
With no reservation whatsoever, Lan Xichen offered his back to him and crouched his knees even lower. “Hop on, I’ll carry you in the meantime,” he kindly instructed him. “Where is Wangji? Did he make it out with you?”
Wei Ying hesitated for just a second before deciding to lean forward and shift his body weight against Lan Xichen’s back, shyly slinging his arms around the older man’s sturdy neck. “He did,” Wei Ying said, glancing over his shoulder toward the cliff edge where he’d fallen from. “He’s probably up there, still looking for me, I think.”
Lan Xichen followed his gaze, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied the high terrain. “He’ll be here in no time,” he said.
He knew his brother well—Lan Zhan would not rest easy until Wei Ying was safely back in his arms.
Before he could utter another word, a loud, frantic noise could be heard emerging from within the trees. The sound of large, hurried footsteps skidding down the incline reached their ears, the sudden rush of movement giving way to a breathless shout:
“Wei Ying!”
Coming to an abrupt halt at the spot where Wei Ying once stood, Lan Zhan’s golden eyes searched the clearing, his panic quickly melting into visible relief at the sight of his lover alive and safe.
Completely ignoring his brother’s (well and alive!) presence, Lan Zhan—with his one-track mind and laser focus—leapt forward and pulled Wei Ying off of his brother’s back, drawing the smaller figure right into his arms.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan breathed out, his hands urgently brushing away the leaves and dirt from Wei Ying’s shoulders and cheek. He couldn’t help himself and rained soft kisses all over his lover’s scuffed cheeks, as though he’d earlier momentarily thought he wouldn’t be able to do such a thing anymore, and furiously demanded to know, “Wei Ying, are you hurt?”
Wei Ying chuckled weakly, revelling in the sudden outpouring of affection.
“Um… I might have sprained my ankle?” he sheepishly admitted, much to Lan Zhan’s horror. Wei Ying quickly waved it off though, like it was nothing. “But I’m okay! What’s most important is… I found Jingyi and Xichen-ge!”
Lan Zhan did not care one bit for that new piece of information. Getting onto his knees, his hands immediately reached for his lover’s injured ankle. Gently pulling up the hems of Wei Ying’s red robes, Lan Zhan was devastated to see that Wei Ying’s soft, pale skin was already darkening with bruises.
“I was negligent,” Lan Zhan reproached himself, cursing his own faults. “I still forget sometimes that your body is that much smaller, frailer. Because of my oversight, I have allowed Wei Ying to suffer. If I had not let you out of my arms, out of my sight…”
It was just like Lan Zhan to put it all on himself!
Besides, Wei Ying really wasn’t as weak and feeble as Lan Zhan was making out…!!!!!!
The way Lan Zhan described him, you would think Wei Ying to be an eighty-year old man close to the very tail end of his life!!!!
It was just that—compared to the monstrous, towering statures of Lan Zhan’s kind—Wei Ying was unfortunately much smaller!
Wei Ying pouted heavily in response. “Aiyaaa, Lan Zhan!!! It’s not your fault. I was being overly excited! But honestly, I don’t regret it. If I hadn’t tripped, we might not have crossed paths with them!”
He nodded toward Lan Jingyi and Lan Xichen, sending a grateful smile their way.
His majesty merely frowned.
Finally tearing his gaze from Wei Ying, Lan Zhan glanced at the other two. He did not look overly pleased at the sight of them, but did not look completely opposed by their presence either.
He understood that Wei Ying would have wanted them to have been safe, no matter what.
“Brother,” Lan Zhan greeted Lan Xichen with a curt nod, keeping his voice tight. Then, turning to Jingyi, he acknowledged with a quiet call of his name, “...Jingyi. We thought everyone dead.”
Ha! Lan Xichen thought, asking point-blank of him, “Would you have preferred that?”
Lan Zhan stiffened in reply. Sensing the growing tension between the brothers, Wei Ying hurriedly reached out to place a calming hand on Lan Zhan’s arm.
It seemed like the scars of the brothers’ history together would not fade so easily, after all; it still ran deep.
Lan Jingyi broke the silence, forcing a smile to hopefully defuse the arising friction between the two. “Your majesty, you have earned the consort’s forgiveness, and have kept him safe and sound. That is all we could ever hope for. We simply feared you might have… bore him vengeance.”
“Vengeance?” Lan Zhan tersely questioned, his gaze hotly snapping toward Jingyi. His tone ran cold as he flat-out stated: “I would never hurt Wei Ying. How little do you think of me?”
Not knowing how to respond to such an accusation, Lan Jingyi awkwardly grasped his other arm, glancing uneasily at the First Prince for help.
Before the situation could escalate even further, Wei Ying piped up playfully, hoping to draw all their attention back to him. “Ow,” he whimpered dramatically, waving a hand at his ankle. “Hey, look, we could talk all day here. But can we take it someplace less muddy?”
Lan Zhan’s anger was quickly forgotten in place of his consort’s pressing needs. “Forgive me,” he murmured, immediately scooping Wei Ying into his arms. “I will take you someplace more comfortable.”
“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying yelped, though he made no move to resist. “I can still hobble, you know.”
“You will not hobble,” Lan Zhan sternly answered him, accepting no other argument. He threw his brother and Lan Jingyi a careless glance over the shoulder. “Night will soon fall. It is not safe for Wei Ying to continue roaming blindly in the forest. We need to make camp.”
Lan Xichen remained tight-lipped. “Very well. Jingyi and I have been taking shelter at an abandoned cabin in the woods. We can lead you there.”
That plan seemed fine and dandy and all, but…
—Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Weren’t they forgetting somebody???????
“Lan... Lan Zhan!!!” Wei Ying cried out, nearly leaping from Lan Zhan’s arms in his panic. Raising his gaze desperately to the cliff’s edge, he asked, his eyes wide with terror, “Where’s A-Cheng? Is he still up there?”
Lan Zhan’s foot had been poised to take another step, but he froze mid-way when he realised his very unfortunate mistake. “Ah…”
Well. He’d just abandoned Jiang Wanyin carelessly, hadn’t he? Tossing his unconscious body aside if he were no more than a scrap to be thrown to wild beasts, in favour of looking for Wei Ying?
This really wasn’t a good look on him...
“A-Cheng!!!” Wei Ying wailed his brother’s name out loud, fists worriedly pounding against Lan Zhan’s chest in the process. “We can’t leave him up there! Quick, someone get him—before he gets eaten by wolves!”
Lan Xichen thought to make himself useful. “Don’t worry,” he quickly stepped in to offer. “I’ll go retrieve him.”
Wei Ying shot him a grateful glance, while Lan Zhan hesitated briefly, but ultimately murmured to his brother a quiet, “Thank you.”
Lan Jingyi, standing a few paces behind, did not make a sound. Truth be told, he was silently wondering if Lan Zhan had meant to leave Jiang Wanyin behind on purpose…
.
.
.
To Wei Ying’s relief, Jiang Cheng’s unconscious body remained unharmed. The time Lan Zhan had left him on the cliff had not exposed him to wild animals or any other dangers. Though his brows remained furrowed as if he were deeply displeased even in his unconscious state, Jiang Cheng showed no signs of waking just yet.
Since Lan Zhan’s arms were occupied carrying—the recently injured—Wei Ying, Lan Xichen agreed to take Jiang Cheng for the rest of the journey.
Lan Jingyi collected from the forest ground the abandoned logs he’d dropped earlier, and led the way toward the cabin.
“Follow me,” he said, already heading toward the path. “It’s not far from here. It’s rather old, but it’ll give us some shelter.”
The cabin was nestled in a quiet clearing by a lake, which meant they had easy access to fresh water for both drinking and cleaning.
It was also dilapidated, just like Lan Jingyi said, its walls weathered and its roof patched in places with crude repairs by the First Prince and his nephew to make the space more livable. It looked like the place had once been used by hunters, many moons ago, before the humans deserted the forest for good. Still, the place was good enough to spend the night.
There was old bedding and blankets tucked into a corner, mouldy but still usable. Lan Jingyi quickly spread them out, brushing off dust and debris as he got them ready for Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng.
“We didn’t need them, but you might,” Lan Jingyi said, stepping aside to allow Wei Ying to settle upon them. “You and Jiang Wanyin can use these to rest tonight, your highness.”
Wei Ying gave him a small, grateful smile as he peered at them from Lan Zhan’s arms. “Thank you, Jingyi.”
Lan Zhan carefully set Wei Ying down against the bedding. Wei Ying immediately turned his attention to Lan Xichen, and gestured toward Jiang Cheng. “Lay him here first,” he instructed the prince. “I want to make sure A-Cheng’s comfortable.”
Lan Xichen complied wordlessly, lowering Jiang Cheng gently onto the blankets. Wei Ying crawled closer, his fingers brushing over Jiang Cheng’s face to check for any signs of discomfort.
Satisfied, Wei Ying let out a soft sigh and nodded.
Lan Jingyi began tending to the firepit in the corner of the cabin with the logs he’d gathered from before. “I will have a fire going soon,” he said. “Rest easy, your highness.”
Lan Zhan was reluctant to leave Wei Ying like this, but he knew he needed to gather supplies. “You will need food for sustenance,” he noted. “I will go hunt, and at the same time find some medicinal herbs.”
Wei Ying immediately sat up, alarm flashing across his face. “Wait!” he called out. “Take Xichen-ge with you. The curse is gone, so you’re no longer indestructible. I’m worried you’ll get hurt out there. You’ll be safer together.”
Lan Xichen raised a brow. He looked to his younger brother with a low shrug. “Fine by me.”
Lan Zhan gave a quiet nod, not wanting to go against Wei Ying’s wishes. “Mm.”
“I know the lay of the land here,” Lan Xichen added. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
Lan Zhan moved toward the door, but just before he stepped out, he turned to Lan Jingyi, his golden gaze suddenly turning dangerous. “Jingyi,” he warned, “don’t let Wei Ying out of your sight.”
Lan Jingyi straightened. “Never!”
Lan Zhan relaxed at that, though only just slightly. He glanced back at Wei Ying, who was now smiling softly at him.
“I’ll be fine, Lan Zhaan,” Wei Ying sang, his sweet silver eyes shimmering in the darkness of the night, and it finally moved the emperor enough to go.
.
.
.
Lan Xichen said he knew the area well, but Lan Zhan pompously took the lead without so much as a glance back. So Lan Xichen quietly trailed behind him in silence, knowing better than to challenge his brother.
This was how it had always been, since the early days. Lan Zhan stubbornly walking ahead, and Lan Xichen following after him.
They hardly had any relationship left. It wasn’t lost on him that Lan Zhan had only agreed to hunt with him at the request of his beloved consort.
Uneasily watching his brother’s back, still draped in the red wedding robes he refused to relinquish, Lan Xichen suspected Lan Zhan still carried treacherous secrets of his own.
Quietly, his hand clasped over the knife at his belt, feeling the cool stone underneath his fingertips.
Within a heartbeat, Lan Xichen unsheathed the blade and raised it high, breathing sharply just as he lunged forward.
Ha—!
Lan Zhan reacted in an instant, hearing the change in Lan Xichen’s steps, his golden eyes narrowing as he masterfully swerved right to evade the strike. The sharp edge of the blade kissed his cheek, leaving a shallow line of blood trickling down his skin.
“You—!” Lan Zhan grunted, his feet stumbling back against the mud and the soil. “What is the meaning of this—!”
Lan Xichen didn’t answer. He didn’t let up, either. He continued to pursue him with his imperceptible, chestnut eyes, forcing Lan Zhan to retreat.
Diverting his angle, Lan Xichen threw his weight into a heavy push that sent Lan Zhan backing up right against a tree. The bark groaned under the sheer force, and Lan Xichen’s knife flew past his brother’s ear, embedding itself deep into the trunk.
Lan Zhan hissed, his hands bracing against the wood as he glared at his brother. “Brother, you seek to kill me!” Dark shadows plunging the gold of his irises into blackness as he stated the fact.
The sight of it was alarmingly familiar, for the First Prince.
—The curse!
Lan Xichen leaned forward, his breathing labored. “No,” he firmly corrected. “I seek to see if you truly bleed.”
Without waiting for a response, Lan Xichen reached for the long scratch on Lan Zhan’s cheek.
Right before his eyes, the wound began to magically heal. Unlike the other scars and wounds Lan Zhan had incurred previously and that he’d deliberately kept for show, the line of skin that Lan Xichen’s blade had just touched was quickly weaving itself back together, the blood vanishing as if it had never existed.
Lan Xichen stepped back with his chest heaving. “I knew it,” he whispered out. “The curse is not dormant in you. It lives and breathes in you, and continues to thrive.”
Lan Zhan said nothing, his blackened eyes cold as he stared back at his brother.
Lan Xichen continued with accusatory eyes, “Jingyi and I, our immortality was stripped away the moment the curse lifted. But you, you still hold your powers. And yet, you have told Wei Wuxian otherwise.”
Lan Zhan’s jaw clenched. “Will you expose my lie, brother?”
“Why?” Lan Xichen demanded to know. “Why lie about something so inconsequential?”
Lan Zhan did not feel the need to explain such a thing to Lan Xichen. However, he knew he had no choice. His brother had forced him into a corner.
“I did not wish for him to continue looking at me like I am a monster,” he quietly decided to say. “I had already gravely hurt his brother, and sacrificed my people for him. I wanted to make myself… vulnerable, in his eyes.”
“To invoke sympathy?” Lan Xichen questioned, incredulous at the thought. “Did you think he’d love you more, if he thought you were mortal just like him?”
Lan Zhan could not meet his eyes. “I have wronged him far too many times. If I did not do something drastic, he might turn on me.”
His line of reasoning was ridiculous, but not unexpected of his brother.
The Prince had seen this happen far too many times.
Lan Xichen’s grip on the knife slackened as he pulled it from the tree. “You are a fool,” he muttered, shaking his head to himself. “You think you will earn his love this way, but you do not realise that secrets like these have a way of coming to light. And when it does—”
Lan Zhan’s gaze softened for the briefest moment, the darkness in his eyes finally subsiding as his thoughts turned to Wei Ying. “He would forgive me if he knew,” the emperor said softly, healthy colour now returning to his face. “Wei Ying always does.”
Lan Xichen breathed, “You would take advantage of him this way?”
Lan Zhan’s eyes lowered. “Until I am certain he will love me for the rest of his life. Until his love for me is… immutable.”
The First Prince didn’t even know how else to respond to that.
What else could he say to downright insanity?
“Jiang Wanyin has not awakened,” Lan Xichen said. “You must be afraid for the moment when he wakes. I wouldn’t put it past you to kill him.”
Lan Zhan’s lips pursed tightly. “It’s far too late for that now.”
Wei Ying would know it was him.
When all was said and done, Lan Zhan still held no love for anyone else in this world besides Wei Ying. Not even his family.
The people he kept alive, he only did so because Wei Ying would want him to.
“You would not even orchestrate an accident?” Lan Xichen scoffed.
Lan Zhan hesitated. “No,” he uttered. “Wei Ying would be broken-hearted. I can only wait for Jiang Wanyin to wake, and face the consequences.”
Lan Xichen was surprised to hear that, and took a step back. “Perhaps you really have changed.”
The emperor merely blinked slowly. Foolishly, he admitted, “After all, I still have not gotten to marry Wei Ying. It is my lifelong wish…”
His brother knew that, more than anybody else. “Do you think he still wants to?”
All at once, Lan Zhan looked helpless again. Like the younger brother Lan Xichen still fervently remembered. “I do not know,” Lan Zhan quietly confessed. “But it is not the time to ask.”
Until he had gotten Jiang Cheng to safety, Wei Ying would not concern himself with anything else.
The two brothers stood in the silence of the forest, the tension between them no longer hostile.
As though they’d finally reached an understanding of some sort.
Lan Xichen sighed, sheathed his knife and turned away.
“Let us hunt before it is too late,” he said. “You may not need food, but the rest of us do. Besides, we shouldn’t leave them in the cabin alone for too long without our protection.”
Lan Zhan readily agreed.
.
.
.
Wei Ying did nothing but watch over Jiang Cheng for the most part, as though hypnotised by the steady rise and fall of his brother’s chest. His brother never smiled, keeping his lips tight even in unconsciousness. Wei Ying wondered if Jiang Cheng was mentally in pain, even if his body was at rest. It ached him to think of such a thing.
The crackling of the fire meant that Lan Jingyi’s job with the logs was done. Making his way toward Wei Ying, he decided to tear the hems of the spare white sheets he’d found and use them temporarily as bandages for the consort.
“Here, give me your ankle,” Lan Jingyi asked, kneeling before Wei Ying. “I will wrap it up so you don’t accidentally hurt it against anything else.”
Wei Ying didn’t protest, lifting his injured leg slightly to let Lan Jingyi work. “Thank you, Jingyi,” he murmured, his voice warm with gratitude.
Lan Jingyi did a great job at bandaging him, wrapping the fabric snugly around Wei Ying’s swollen ankle as though he had done this a hundred times before.
Sneaking a glance at the unconscious Jiang Cheng, Lan Jingyi frowned slightly. He decided to casually comment, “He’s very badly injured.”
Wei Ying went back to worrying. “Yeah,” he sighed.
Lan Jingyi couldn’t help himself and asked his consort, “You know who’s responsible for it, right?”
Wei Ying’s body visibly tensed, but he didn’t look away. “It was the curse,” he insisted. “I do not blame him.”
Lan Jingyi’s lips pressed into a thin line, swallowing the harsher words threatening to escape him. “Jiang Wanyin might think differently.”
Wei Ying shook his head. “I’ll explain it to him.”
Lan Jingyi sighed, sitting back on his heels, finally giving up. “His majesty is unbelievably lucky to receive your highness’s grace.”
A soft smile tugged at Wei Ying’s lips. “Jingyi ah, there’s no point in holding grudges. I have done him wrong, as he did me. We’ve both made our fair share of mistakes.”
But the emperor has done you far worse…
Lan Jingyi bit his lip, glancing away as if to hide the emotions that were transparent on his face. “Where do you plan to go with him after this?”
“Oh!” Wei Ying remembered he wanted to ask. “I want to get back to the city. I’ll call jiejie for help then. You should come with us—you and Xichen-ge.”
Lan Jingyi looked uncertain. “The city? With the rest of civilisation?”
Wei Ying nodded, his smile growing brighter. “Yes! I’ll help you both assimilate. Jiejie and jiefu will help us with food and lodging. You won’t have to worry about anything.”
Lan Jingyi couldn’t imagine it. A world far removed from the existence he’d always known. What did the world look like now?
Would they accept beings like him?
Would they welcome them with open arms?
Still, he wanted to go where his consort would go.
He didn’t want to be left behind.
“I will ask the First Prince,” Lan Jingyi finally said, though he was starting to believe it might be possible. “I do not believe he will be opposed. We have just lost our home, and would not have anywhere else to go.”
Wei Ying’s eyes glimmered happily. “Great! I would be too worried to leave you guys here, otherwise. You shouldn’t have to hide away from everybody else. Plus, Lan Zhan will need the company.”
Lan Jingyi wasn’t as confident. “Perhaps he might prefer being alone with you.”
“Nonsense,” Wei Ying insisted. “I want you guys to follow us, so naturally, Lan Zhan will want such a thing as well.”
Lan Jingyi couldn’t resist a chuckle. “Your highness, you remain blissfully oblivious of his majesty’s true feelings and intentions.”
“Mm?” Wei Ying blinked, in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Nevermind,” Lan Jingyi sighed softly, smiling at his beautiful consort. “I can only wish for you to remain in innocent bliss, forever.”