While her brothers are learning in Cloud Recesses, Jiang YanLi visits a fortune teller to learn about her future marriage. Instead she learns of an unsettling future.
One where her parents and sect are murdered. The other sects are decimated. Her h...
Jiang YanLi firmly placed her brother's potential wedding aside, and headed to the Jin camp; Jin ZiXuan was more important right now. She found him in their small training grounds, facing spiritually enhanced wooden dummies and trying to hack them to pieces. Even with her limited knowledge of how to use a sword, she could see he was using no finesse, just anger.
"Leave me alone," the Jin heir growled.
"If you wish," she replied softly. "Or you can talk and I can listen? You should try to get your feelings under control, more or less. Your disciples here are just as scared as you and want to lean on you for advice and comfort." When his response was to try to cut the 'head' of the dummy off, she sighed. "A'Xian will find your mother."
"You told him not to."
"And he listens to me?"
"You're his senior and the daughter of his sect leader. He should listen to you."
Jiang YanLi smiled. "He does listen to me. And he respects me. And then he does as he pleases. As all younger brothers do with their older sisters. Which means he will find your mother because he knows that's something important to me."
Jin ZiXuan made another futile attempt to damage the dummy and dropped his sword to his side. "Why is my mother important to you? It's not like we're going to get married anymore!"
Jiang YanLi stilled as if she'd been slapped. "Your mother is a good friend of my mother. My mother will be worried when she hears of Koi Tower being overrun and your mother vanishing. Unless Jin Furen is currently with my parents, my mother will want to know that her friend is safe. Which means it's important to me to know where Jin Furen is. Which means it's important to A'Xian to know where Jin Furen is.
"As leader of this little enclave, it is my responsibility to make sure the people are are well, both physically and mentally. That includes you and the rest of the Jin disciples. Which means finding your mother is important to me. Which means finding your mother is important to Wei WuXian.
"That we were once engaged to be married didn't factor into this decision at all. In fact, if it did? I think Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian would have rearranged your facial features when you spoke to me the way you did when we first heard the news. Perhaps made you eat your tongue."
"Jiang Guniang...."
"Pull yourself together and start acting like the sect leader you might already be. If you need help, you can talk to Lan ZongZhu instead of me. I am not yours to lash out at." She walked away, fighting back tears. She had loved him, probably still did love him. But he didn't deserve her. And she didn't deserve his disparaging remarks.
Not then. And not now.
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Dear readers.
I've spent the weekend trying to decide whether to write a chapter from WY's viewpoint or LZ's. They're going on their journey together, so telling that part of the story from their view is probably better than JYL reading their letters. But both of those alter egos are demanding that if I write them, i need to write them actually talking about that ribbon. And, as we all know, talking to each other about what they're feeling is NOT their strong point. So while I'm not adverse to writing the story of their journey, I'd prefer to keep them flirting warily and dancing around each other and they're NOT letting me.
Why can't alter egos just shut up and do what the author wants sometimes?
Thank you for reading and for your comments. - Aitch.
