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[consignation]

jiang wanyin

missives | encounters

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un: sect leader jiang | audio

[consignation]

[ There's a long buzzy silence like someone who's picked up a call on their cellphone but is having reception issues. Jiang Cheng can hear just fine, however. It's the processing that's the problem.

A proposal. A mediation of a proposal, between Jiang and Lan. It can't be about the Lan child, and there are no Jiang sect children here, not even Jin Ling. His dear sister is not here, nor is the esteemed Zewu-jun. He does frown a moment, disturbed by the connections of his own mind. Lan Xichen would hardly be a bad husband, certainly a caliber above the man his sister did marry, however⁠—

Jiang Cheng physically waves that thought out of his mind.

Jiang and Lan.

The obvious solution is the only viable one, and it feels like someone is trying to drag Jiang Cheng's soul out of him with butcher hooks. When he speaks, his voice is low, patience already pulled taut. ]

And just what did you do to offend Lan Wangji so badly that he set you upon this task? Or are you the kind of fool who befriends my brother?

[ It's not that only fools befriend Wei Wuxian, of course, but one hardly sees Wen Qing here trying to broker a marriage. ]

[rumorate]

I was a matchmaker in Taravast.

[It was a matter of practicality, not offense.]

But I do also consider Wei Wuxian a friend.

[consignation]

[ And there it is. The fact that Wei Wuxian is also close with Wen Qing only proves that stopped clocks are right twice a day. The sigh caught on the device is quiet, but it stretches on into eternity. ]

And I was a devout clergyman. [ This is not an accurate retelling. ] Does that make me qualified to preach?

[ No. Does that stop him from doing it anyway? Also no. But this ain't about him. ]

[rumorate]

They certainly paid me well enough.

[So whether or not her matches were successful - she can't say for sure, there was a coup - people certainly were satisfied.]

This is more of a formality than anything else. Lan Wangji is a man set on decorum and tradition. I was the option available.

[consignation]

Fine, tell me then. How are these two well-matched?

[ Jiang Cheng's question comes out a scathing damnation, even though he's... honestly not that adverse. He just never learned how not to be contrary, and doesn't plan to start now. ]

[rumorate]

[She could, counter his scathing damnation with the idea that he might be protesting a bit too much, deflect from the fact that while she knows Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian separately, she can't really speak to the two of them together.

But she can speak of what she's seen.]

They love each other. They love each other enough that Wei Wuxian was willing to shout it at the top of his lungs for the whole world to hear, even if it was embarassing. And enough that Lan Wangji would swallow enough of his pride to ask me to do this for him, and stand on ceremony. Not for his own benefit, likely because he knew you would be a dick about it, but because they wanted it to be real.

[Yes, she's calling you a dick. No she won't take it back.]

I could list all the tiny, minute details of their relationship - things you likely already know far better than I do. But I think that when it comes to marriage, it's the compromises you're willing to make for each other that matter most.