( He offers a hollow, aching smile. No need to say, 'it would have been easier to find him if I'd been told he was there.' Tell him how, pin it to him where he lay immobile on his stone bed, hay spilling off and down like the hopes they'd held for all that time?
He pours her another drink. )
Sixteen years. Sixteen years, before someone contrived to convince a deeply unhappy man to sacrifice himself to bring back the vengeance of a family murderer.
( A dry, tired smile. Oh yes, what a reputation he'd been given, and what a siren's call that had been to the tormented, unravelling Mo Xuanyu. )
[ Sixteen years, and a-Yuan a Lan, and— her eyes widen and she picks up her cup, drinking deeply. ]
So a-Ning was under Jin Guangyao's control for sixteen years.
[ She led him to his death, or what should have been his death, and instead doomed him to torture. Her words haunt her: they were doomed long before they ventured to the Burial Mounds. ]
And you came back. Hanguang-jun is fond of you, still.
( he automatically fills her cup again, once it empties. )
Imperfectly. From what I can tell, he got away, couldn't be found. The... ones trying to use people inundated with resentment like that had low success.
( this doesn't make it better, and he knows, but... it's what she should hear. he doesn't get to decide against it. )
I know, I just... in Sa-Hareth? We were living in a run down farm. Right now, we're on a haunted road traveling with a ghost army, being attacked by tar-bird creatures and with walls kidnapping people to tombs we have yet to unlock... I was hoping Taravast would be more stable. Less survival, like this.
... You're welcome. You'd be proud of the man he became. I'm... so sorry, so incredibly sorry, you didn't get the chance to witness that yourself.
( It takes a lot not to just see about downing the rest of the wine himself. Only trying Better, thinking on how he can't spend each night in semi-drunk reverie, keeps him from downing it now. )
[ Well, it wasn't the best choice, but there had been no other path she could see then. ] I'm glad you were able to see him. And that a-Yuan knows him now.
( She'd also believed that the righteous world would hold anything righteous within it. Justice, instead, failed to exist. It wasn't convenient for the ones early in their power. )
Mm, and! You should tell A-Yuan all the stories of Wen Ning as a child. I'm sure he'd love hearing them.
[ Out of everything, that makes her smile, looking back at Wei Wuxian. ]
Those would be good to share. And the good moments in the Burial Mounds. [ There had been some. ] Does Sect Leader Jiang know about him? There's a bonding opportunity, sharing stories about your childhood with a-Yuan.
( distract the dog. he sounds softer as he asks, but... he hates it. that there are fears he can't just push aside and fake his way past, until it's slightly more like truth that he's not as afraid as he really is. )
Of course. Tell me when you would request such a distraction.
[ She has no fear of dogs, and it's easy to offer him an opportunity to talk to Jiang Cheng. She stands, holding her cup out to him so he can return it to the rightful owner. ]
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He pours her another drink. )
Sixteen years. Sixteen years, before someone contrived to convince a deeply unhappy man to sacrifice himself to bring back the vengeance of a family murderer.
( A dry, tired smile. Oh yes, what a reputation he'd been given, and what a siren's call that had been to the tormented, unravelling Mo Xuanyu. )
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So a-Ning was under Jin Guangyao's control for sixteen years.
[ She led him to his death, or what should have been his death, and instead doomed him to torture. Her words haunt her: they were doomed long before they ventured to the Burial Mounds. ]
And you came back. Hanguang-jun is fond of you, still.
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Imperfectly. From what I can tell, he got away, couldn't be found. The... ones trying to use people inundated with resentment like that had low success.
( this doesn't make it better, and he knows, but... it's what she should hear. he doesn't get to decide against it. )
Haah, much to my surprise, yes.
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Anything else I should know? Who knows about your core?
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( Not the only timeline discrepancy, he means. )
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( It takes a lot not to just see about downing the rest of the wine himself. Only trying Better, thinking on how he can't spend each night in semi-drunk reverie, keeps him from downing it now. )
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[ Well, it wasn't the best choice, but there had been no other path she could see then. ] I'm glad you were able to see him. And that a-Yuan knows him now.
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Mm, and! You should tell A-Yuan all the stories of Wen Ning as a child. I'm sure he'd love hearing them.
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Those would be good to share. And the good moments in the Burial Mounds. [ There had been some. ] Does Sect Leader Jiang know about him? There's a bonding opportunity, sharing stories about your childhood with a-Yuan.
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( it's a defense line Wei Wuxian cannot get past, which is rather ingenious, but also, hah. )
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[ Wen Qing has no strong love of animals, especially pets, but she can spend time with one without problem. ]
Or maybe I should mention it to him. A-Yuan was concerned, if he calls me "aunt," that Sect Leader Jiang might react poorly.
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( distract the dog. he sounds softer as he asks, but... he hates it. that there are fears he can't just push aside and fake his way past, until it's slightly more like truth that he's not as afraid as he really is. )
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[ She has no fear of dogs, and it's easy to offer him an opportunity to talk to Jiang Cheng. She stands, holding her cup out to him so he can return it to the rightful owner. ]
Thank you, Wei Ying.
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You're welcome, Wen Qing.
( and for everything that could not be. )
And thank you as well.
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