"Do what, Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying enquires, his brows knit; he notices that his usually confident husband's tone is hesitant. "Lan Zhan, whatever it is, I am ready for it." He reassures, holding the latter's hand.

"Wei Ying, I want us to visit my mother's shrine. She," Lan Zhan pauses and leaves a shaky breath, "she killed herself a few days after we met at Yunmeng for the first time."

"What!? Why?" Wei Ying blurts out before he can stop himself and immediately pulls his husband in his arms, "I am so sorry, Lan Zhan. I had no idea. You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"Wei Ying, she did not have the will to go on anymore. At least that's what brother had told me at the time." The light bearer pulls away and holds his husband's gaze, "They refused to give her a place in the ancestral shrine. So father made a different one for her and instructed uncle to place his tablet next to mother's."

Wei Ying hears in silence, his face somber, his eyes soft and accepting. When Lan Zhan doesn't continue, he guesses, "Lan Zhan, is that all?"

"Mn." Lan Zhan holds Wei Ying's hand, "Remember the place we had the lantern ceremony?"

"Yes."

"It's a little way up that mountain. Father wanted to build it in a secluded location. I was wondering if we could go there."

"Alright." Wei Ying replies, and a thought begins to take shape in his mind, "Lan Zhan, when Jiang Cheng came to visit last evening, he told me that the annual lantern ceremony is tomorrow."

"Yes. Would you like to go, Wei Ying?"

"Can we?"

"Yes." Lan Zhan pulls Wei Ying in his arms, "Wei Ying, there is one more thing."

"Yes to all." The Yiling patriarch beams, "Why are you hesitating now?"

"I want to marry you." Lan Zhan blurts, tightening his hold on Wei Ying, scared that the proposal might freak the man who hates to be tied down.

Wei Ying chuckles, "You already did, remember?"

"Yes, I did, but I had kept things from you then; our families were not with us; this time, I want to do it properly. I want to introduce you to my mother and father. I want them to meet you. But if you- "

"I want to!" Wei Ying exclaims, throwing himself at Lan Zhan, "I want to, Lan Zhan. And we can tell Zewu Jun and Jiang Cheng to witness our union."

"I would like that. Wei Ying, can we get married tomorrow before we attend the lantern ceremony?"

"Will your uncle be okay with that? He has forbidden me from appearing in front of him." The younger man reminds; Lan Zhan's face falls, "Not just you, he has forbidden both of us. You are right; we can't attend it."

Wei Ying can't bear to look at Lan Zhan's defeated eyes. He holds the latter's hand and intertwines their fingers, "Lan Zhan, how about we get married in the shrine and go for the lantern ceremony after everyone has left?"

Lan Zhan beams. "Yes! We can tell A Yuan to keep an eye on the proceedings and tell us when everyone has left!"

"A Yuan?"

"They are here. A Yuan and Wen Ning are in cloud recesses." Lan Zhan informs, surprising the latter, "They are here!?"

"They arrived at dawn. Since last week they have been asking me if they could meet you, but I told them that they could do so once you have recovered."

"Lan Zhan, be honest, you wanted me all to yourself, didn't you? That's why you told them to wait." Wei Ying wiggles his brows.

With technically nothing to hold him back, the light bearer, in an unexpected move, snakes his arms around Wei Ying's waist and pulls him in his lap. Capturing his lips in a kiss that leaves the younger man hard, he squeezes the Yiling patriarch's behind, dragging a rough moan from the latter. With the smirk wiped off of his lips, eyes dazed, and breaths labored, Wei Ying tries to rid Lan Zhan of his clothes.

"Not yet." Lan Zhan states, his eyes stern, his face devoid of emotions.

"Whhhyyyy!" Wei Ying cribs, pulling at the light bearer's belts.

"I want to wait till we are married. I told you just now, and you agreed, did you not?"

Wei Ying huffs, "Then why did you do that just now!?" he demands, pointing at his disheveled visage. It's time for the light bearer to smirk. He takes his partner's hand in his. "This is for all the times you tried to seduce me; for all the visits I made to the cold springs without you, for every time you pouted and batted your beautiful eyes, making my heart beat faster." He pauses and squeezes Wei Ying's behind once again, making the other yelp, "and for leaving me hard, making it difficult to meditate."

Color rises to the younger's cheeks, "Fuck," He mutters under his breath and catches his husband's eyes, "I really was a bad, bad boy, wasn't I?"

"Mn."

"Lan Zhan, you should punish me well once we are married, alright?"

"Mn."

"My ass will be waiting for your sword. You need to be through with punishing me."

Lan Zhan's eyes snap up, "Shameless!" he exclaims and removes Wei Ying from his lap.

"Lan Zhan, you did not reply." Wei Ying urges and quirks his brow. He could tell that once again, something was bothering him.

"I have sent a word to A Yuan that you are ready to see him and Wen Ning. They will be here soon. You can bathe here. I will be back shortly." Lan Zhan blurts everything out in a go and leaves with his change of clothes.

"But we can do it together." Wei Ying offers, but Lan Zhan doesn't wait to hear him; he doesn't turn back, even though Wei Ying is sure that he had heard him. Wei Ying frowns, wondering what had made Lan Zhan react this way. But he knows that whatever it was, they would be able to overcome it together.

Lan Zhan returns to the jingshin. He sees Wei Ying is in deep conversation with the guests: XiChen, Jiang Cheng, AYuan, Wen Ning, Jin ling. The guests beam at the light bearer. The young boys bow to him.

"Jin Ling... " Lan Zhan starts but before he can continue, the now Jin Clan leader bows to him again, "Hanguang Jun, may I be allowed to stay by Senior Uncle's side for Some time?" When the boy looks up, his eyes are hopeful, but Lan Zhan can see the hesitation as well. His eyes drift to Wei Ying, who is looking at his nephew with eyes full of adoration.

"Mn." Lan Zhan nods and takes a seat in front of his brother. "Jin Ling, there are things I need to discuss... " He starts carefully but feels Wei Ying's hand in his shoulder, "Lan Zhan, he knows about us."

Though surprised, Lan Zhan regains his composure immediately, "Mn." He nods and looks at Zewu Jun, "Brother, when did you arrive?"

"Just now. I wanted to thank Master Wei and apologize to him properly. It was, after all, my fault that caused both of you such pain."

"Brother... "

"Zewu Jun... "

Both Lan Zhan and Wei Ying start, but Lan XiChen stops them, "I can see how reluctant both of you are to accept it, so I will not mention it now." He looks at Wei Ying, "Master Wei, if there is anything you need... "

"I... we need your permission," Wei Ying blurts out at looks at Jiang Cheng, "And yours too, Jiang Cheng." He hesitates, but just then, Lan Zhan intertwines their fingers, "We want to get married in mother and father's ancestral hall. We want you to be present to witness it."

This information renders everyone present speechless.

Jin Ling's face colors, Jiang Cheng's eyes widen and then narrow, Zewu Jun smiles knowingly, A Yuan beams, and Wen Ning blinks, looking between his master and the light bearer. 

When no one speaks, Wei Ying presses on, "We already took our vows once in front of my family at lotus cove, but no one except those who have passed on witnessed it. This time, Lan Zhan wants to... "

Lan Zhan clears his throat, "We would like all of you to be present. We want to do this properly." the tips of his ears turn red.

Jiang Cheng is the first to speak. His voice dipped in amusement, "Are you saying that you want to make a respectable man out of my brother?"

"Mn."

"You want to do this properly?"

"Mn."

"Wangji, I am here for you. We all are." The older Jade states on everyone's behalf. "What do you need from me?"

Before Lan Zhan can answer, Jiang Cheng speaks again, "Good. I have missed Wei WuXian. It will allow me to spend time with him. Alone."

"MN!?"

Jiang Cheng smirks and looks at the three innocent souls in the room, "We have things to discuss. Please return to your quarters."

The three souls in question, too surprised to protest, leave the adults to discuss 'adult things.'

At the end of the hour-long discussion, they conclude that for the ceremony to be authentic, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan will spend the night in different quarters. They fixed an auspicious time for the ceremony: a time when no one else is around the ancestral hall). Much to Wei Ying's disappointment, Jiang Cheng makes the two Jades leave, "Zewu Jun, I hope you don't mind keeping an eye on your brother tonight?" The Jiang clan leader teases. Surprisingly, Lan Zhan doesn't put up a fight.

When the jades leave, the three innocent souls return. Jiang Cheng fills them in on the finer details of the ceremony and proceed with the plan.

The night is long and uneventful for Wei Ying, who almost dashes out of his jingshin desperate to spend quality time with his partner multiple times. However, Jiang Cheng nips it in the bud every time, smirking like he is having a little too much fun. 

Finally, the night passes, and the sun rises. Having somehow coxed Wei Ying to sleep later than he had wanted, Jiang Cheng lets him sleep. Waking up early, he goes to the main gate to receive Aunt Yenay, whom he had sent for, the night before. When Jiang Cheng returns with Yenay in toe, they find Wei Ying in a lively discussion with Jin Ling, A Yuan, and Wen Ning.

"Aunty!" The Yiling patriarch exclaims, wrapping the old, sweet woman in his arms.

"A Xian! I am so happy for you." The woman says in a choked voice.
After the emotional reunion, Yenay gets to work, helping Wei Ying dress in the Jiang clan's royal wedding robes.

"Aunty, I don't think I am qualified to wear this." Wei Ying protests, but Yenay ignores him. "Let me do my job, A Xian." She reprimands, finishing with the robes and staring at her work on his hair.

Soon Wei Ying is all dressed. Yeany gives him a once over and hums, "Perfect."

*Lan XiChen jingshin*

As soon as the jades had arrived at the older's room, the younger had blurted out, "Brother, I am scared of hurting Wei Ying."

Now, had it been before Jiang Cheng had entered XiChen's life, he would not have understood what his brother had meant. But that was not the case anymore.

Zewu Jun had had a tiny heart attack. Though he had done things with the Jiang clan leader, they had not come to that. "Wangji, do you want to talk to elder Bao about it. He may have something-" The older Jade had trailed off, color rising to his cheeks.

Lan Zhan had agreed.

Within minutes, Elder Bao was sitting in front of Lan Zhan. Zewu Jun had left then alone to take care of other pressing matters.

"Wangji, don't worry. Master Wei has fully recovered." The physician had reassured, but Lan Zhan was not convinced, "Elder, isn't there anything I can do to... "

"You don't need to."

"Should I meditate and pass energy to him? Is there a way for me to bear the pain?"

"You are worrying needlessly. Trust me, Wangji, you don't have to worry about anything."

With that, the physician had left the light bearer alone with his thoughts. He had found Elder Bao's responses inadequate. 'I will not hurt him. I won't!' the jade had thought resolutely. With that in mind, he had concluded that nothing mattered except making Wei Ying happy and had decided to do anything and everything that would help him achieve that goal.

Come morning, Lan Zhan had visited the cold springs after which Lan XiChen had entered with the ceremonial robes and helped the younger with his hair.

The two parties had left for the ancestral hall almost simultaneously. The two jade's had arrived first. A few minutes later, Wei Ying had arrived, a red satin cloth covering his face.
All faces in the hall were brimming with happiness and eyes with tears of joy.

Finally, it was time for vows. The grooms repeat the words they had said to each other not too long ago in lotus cove. This time, however, they were accompanied by family and friends, who loved and cared about them.

{Note : That's it for today's update.
My apologies for not replying to your lovely comments and for delaying this update.

I will update the next chapter in a couple of days.

Please Vote for this update if you have enjoyed it.

Thank you for reading.
Have a nice day.}