A Family Contest

Wei Ying

The next morning, Wei Ying wake up when he hear someone calling him, from outside. At his side, Lan Zhan was oddly still asleep, then he remember that he had been drunk last night. Then the memories of his doing rushed in, remembering the many I love Wei Ying and hearts, his husband left all around the Clan, up to the Lotus Lake.

He hastily got out of the bed, removed the seal and open the door, expecting either Jiang Cheng to yell at him from turning his clan into a love board or Wen Ning telling him about Lan Zhan's writing confessions all over the place, but he was surprised to find his son, Sizhui and his close friend Jin Ling waiting for him.

"Father Xian, good morning." Sizhui said and Wei smiled. It sounded good to be called father and more so when it was Ah Yuan.

"Wei Wuxian, just what did you did last night? Sizhui and Jingyi had to help Wen Ning to delete some embarrassing messages done on trees and other places." Jin Ling said, quite annoyed.

"You brat, what are you calling embarrassing? Lan Zhan's love for me is beautiful, get familiarize with it, because not even your uncle mess up with it." Wei said and Ling looked away.

"Don't mind him, mother... I mean, father..." Sizhui corrected, making Jin Ling chuckle. "The writing, we took care of it, but I'm afraid Clan leader Jiang will be enraged when he sees that a big part of the Lotus Lake is now lotus-less." Ah, that... Wei sighed.

"They will grow back. He was a bit drunk last night, you know he gets a bit wild when drunk." Wei explained.

"Ah, yes, the Light Bearing Lord drunk stunts are legendary even in the Cloud Recesses." Sizhui agree.

"Hum, Sizhui, care to tell me some? I just know of only a few..." Wei asked, as he moved closer to put one arm over his son's shoulder.

"Good morning, Wei Ying..." Wei jumped, turning to see his husband, dressed in immaculate white and smiled to him nervously.

"Ah, Lan Zhan, you wake up... good morning." Wei said, scratching his nose.

"Light Bearing Lord, good morning." Sizhui make a respectful bow to his father, so did Jin Ling, following his example.

"Good morning, Sizhui, Ling Jing." Lan Zhan bowed back, then look at his husband.

"Oh, the kids came to ask me to teach them some archery at the training ground, right?" Fearing Lan Wangji reaction to his 'embarrassing' comment, Jin Ling assented.

"Were you not going to have a duel with Clan Leader Jiang?" Wangji asked.

"Ah, we will have our duel, alright... don't worry, Lan Zhan, I will not overdue myself. Want to come?" Wei asked, although the answer was obvious for everyone, as Lan Wangji will follow Wei Wuxian to the end of earth.

Thus they walked toward the training ground, passing by the garden that had odd cuts on them. Wei Ying was hoping that Lan Zhan will not ask for why the trees had been cut like that and luckily, he didn't, although he may already imagine it had something to do with him, not remembering what he did last night.

"Young Master Wei, we took care of all the..." Wen Ning came from a corner, followed by Jingyi and stopping midway, when he saw Lan Wangji by Wei Ying.

"Wen Ning, you came to train with us too? And you also brought Jingyi with you, that's even better." Wei hastily said. "It's archery, this morning, your favorite..." Wei said, changing the topic.

"Mn, oh yes... yes, I will like that." Wen Ning agree, visibly happy for the offer.

"Alright, then you show Sizhui and Jinjyi how good you are with a bow, while I take care of the brat." Wei joked.

"I'm not a brat!" Jin Ling protested.

"Sure you are, a troublemaker one at that." Jin snorted and Sizhui and Jingyi smiled.

"As if you can talk about that. The biggest troublemaker of them all!" Jin retaliate.

"Well, yes, but I was a fearsome one... what about you? Who fears you these days, huh? Did you stop having bullies after you?" Wei teased, expecting the coming explosion from his nephew next.

"Shut up! I can defend myself just fine, my Uncle teach me a thing of two while you were gone." He said, trying to keep up with Wei's fast pace.

"I see, so, did your Uncle's moves worked?" Wei asked and Jin Ling open his mouth, then close it, then open it again to argue, but as he still had some problems with some bullies, he close it again.

It was not like his Uncle didn't teach him something useful, but it didn't worked out as he was expecting and that was why he was so impatiently waiting for Wei Wuxian to come down the mountains, so he could learn from the master of mischievousness himself. Although he was not going to admit he had been counting the days for his second Uncle to come back home.

"Jin Ling, stop doing that, it's not cute. Don't you want to find a girlfriend?" Wei asked, looking at the troublemaker kid.

"Why will I want that? Girls are noisy." Wei laughed.

"That's what they all said, but end up marrying them at the end anyways." Wei said humoredly.

"But you didn't." Jin Ling remained him.

"My Lan Zhan is way better than any woman." Wei said without hesitation, which make Jin Ling blush in embarrassment and Lan Zhan smirk in bliss, the others laughed.

"Indeed, only the Light Bearing Lord can handle mother... I mean, father Xian." Sizhui joked and Jingyi chuckle.

"The same applies to the wicked son. Lan Zhan, how come Sizhui became so damn serious and wicked at the same time?" Wei asked him, who smirked again.

"Inheritance from both of us." Wangji answer and Jingyi had to put his hand over his mouth in order not to laugh his heart out, while Jin Ling blushed harder.

"Not you too Lan Zhan..." Wei said, while pouting.

"Shizui, behave." Lan Zhan said, unable to resist his husband and Wei smirked to his son in victory.

"Yes, father." Sizhui said, smiling. After that they reached the training ground and Wei Ying, gave a bow to each of the kids and went to the targets ground.

Wen Ning was a bit nervous, but Sizhui assured him that he will teach them well, so he loosen up and have the determination to teach his nephew well. Wei Ying then focus on Jin Ling, having a look at his stance and the way he handle the bow, making corrections as he saw the flaws.

It was a good thing Jin Ling was so eager to learn, as he took all his advices seriously and putting them in practice. With his second Uncle guidance, Jin Ling found that his accuracy improved, not that he was bad at archery before, but it was easier to shot, even when in movement, for which he was quite pleased.

Wen Ning also proved he was quite good at archery and they decided to have a friendly competition, as it was still early for most of the Jiang Clan members to be up, including Jiang Cheng. Wei Ying guide them to the kite training grounds, taking the advantage of the wind in those higher parts.

Wen Ning, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan took the kites, for the kids to have their fun and so the contest started. It turned out that Jin Ling and Sizhui were quite good at moving targets, taking down five targets each, while Jingyi did tree.

Both, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were proud of their progress and went back to the precious training ground to end their friendly competition with still targets. There, both of them proved to be good as well, but at the end, Jin Ling win.

"Ha! Take that, I won!" Jin shouted and Sizhui smiled gently.

"Congratulations, it was a fair contest." Sizhui said, giving Jin a slight respectful bow.

"Sure it was! I'm still the best!" Jin Ling said happily.

"Don't get too overboard, Jin Ling, Sizhui specialty is music." Wei said.

"It's fine, father Xian. He was really good, I don't mind." Sizhui said and Wei Ying arched an eyebrow.

"What about going night hunting tonight? It's been a while since..." Jin Ling begun.

"The hell will you go out tonight! You are grounded, remember?" Jiang Cheng remained him and Jin Ling shudder.

"But Uncle, I didn't go out last night and..."

"Shut up! There was enough mischievousness last night, which remain me... Wei Wuxian!" Wei smiled nervously. So he already know about it...

"Ah, yeah... Jiang Cheng. I'm sorry for..."

"We duel, right here, right now." Jiang Cheng cut him out, throwing Suibian to his brother, who catch it easily. Wei sighed, but seen that Jiang Cheng was already angry, there was no escaping it.

"Alright, alright, let's duel. You guys get back... we will need a lot of room." Wei said as he walked to the center of the training ground and unsheathed Suibian, ready to par with his enraged brother.

"Before we begin, I seriously apologize for the mess." Wei said.

"Did you got him drunk?" Cheng asked, although knowing the answer.

"It was just a sip! I swear, just a single sip to celebrate our wedding." Jiang Chen sighed, also unsheathing Sendu.

"You idiot, you should know he can't tolerate even a drop of alcohol. Even Xichen had troubles handling a cup of liquor and he is more experienced." Jiang assured him.

"Oh, so you had drink with him back in the Golden Tower and get him drunk?" Wei asked a bit suggestively.

"Get that dirty thought out of your mind, Wuxian." Jiang said, although not in a bad mood, which give Wei Ying room to tease more.

"But I didn't suggest anything." Wei said innocently.

"Yeah right, as if I didn't knew you." Jiang said back and Wei smiled.

"Two Jades, two brothers... that sounds about right... I assure you living with one is not bad at all." Wei teased further.

"In your dreams! Get ready to go down!" Jiang yelled as he make the first move that Wei Ying avoided with ease as he laughed.

Lan Wangji saw them dance in the training ground, exchanging blows, as Wei teased his brother and having fun. He could tell that both brothers were enjoying the normalcy, able to joke and fight, yet not offending or trying to kill each other seriously. Many thing had happen between them in the past, but they had learn from them and were trying to reconnect the served bond, with a new one, that will be far stronger.

Soon, both of them were immersed in trying to prove who was best, just like the kids before them, with the only difference that the brothers were desperately trying to be back at what they were, before tragedies set them apart, which is why Wei was teasing Jiang and Cheng was refuting back. After the first ten minutes of trying to prove one another, both of them relaxed, been more in a playful mood and into a more brotherly fight.

Jiang Cheng had indeed improved a great deal in his swordsmanship, however, he still let Wei Ying's teasing get the best of him, so after an hour of fighting, he lose. However, they hug each other affectionately, after their friendly duel, to reassure themselves that their relationship was still mending properly and that there was a brotherly care still in place.

In all, Lan Zhan smiled, glad to see Wei Ying happy and in family once more. They will not stay for too long, as Wei Ying core was still not complete, but he was sure that a huge weight had been lifted from his husband shoulder in that visit and maybe in the next, things will be normal again and they will stay for a bit longer in both the Cloud Recesses and the Lotus Pier, so Wei can share time with their son, his nephew and brother and be part of their lives as well.

AN: Sorry for the long wait, I hopes this make it up to you guys. They will spend a few more days in the Lotus Pier, so there will be a night hunt with the kids and more bonding family time. With all my love, until next time, take care. 😄💖💖💖😁