The situation had spiraled out of control.

A month ago, Jiang Cheng had been in a room with his mother, his aunt and several other older women, some of whom were relatives and most of whom were professional matchmakers. They had been harrying him to pick someone from among the list of potential matches, so overtures could be made to the potential bride’s family.

Marriage was honestly not something he’d ever given much thought, beyond the fact that he was expected to do it someday. He didn’t particularly fancy taking a wife under the present circumstances. However, his mother had started talking about finding a match for him almost as soon as the dust settled after the Sunshot Campaign, in order to secure alliances as he rebuilt their home and clan. It had ramped up recently and culminated that afternoon, with a long list of the cultivation world’s eligible young women, complete with portraits that made them all look pretty in the same way. Jiang Cheng felt increasingly claustrophobic, closed in on by his family’s and the matchmakers’ demands.

“I don’t like any of them! I don’t want this! I don’t want to marry any woman!” he’d burst out, desperate and at the end of his rope. He hadn’t intended to say that, and in the silence that followed his outburst, he hadn’t stopped to be embarrassed. He’d turned around and stalked out of the room.

In less time than it took an incense stick to burn, the older aunties and matchmakers had filed out, walking hurriedly and talking in low murmurs as they left Lotus Pier. His mother and aunt had remained closeted away the rest of the day. They even took supper by themselves. They didn’t summon Jiang Cheng to berate him for his behavior.

The next morning his aunt had left, and his mother behaved as if nothing at all had happened at morning training. However, she asked him to come to her pavilion out on the lotus lake after breakfast.

It seemed Jiang-zongzhu hadn’t escaped a dressing down from his mother for being rude.

But to his surprise, when he came to see her and started to apologize, she cut him off with a raised hand.

“You’re the clan leader now, A-Cheng. Don’t apologize for expecting your will to be enacted,” she said.

He stared at her. This was unexpected.

“Of course, there are more diplomatic ways to make it known. The matchmakers are half convinced to blacklist you from the marriage market. Did you know that?”

“No, A-Niang,” he replied. Privately, he thought that wouldn’t be so bad. Oh, his relatives would still try, but it would be a lot harder without the assistance of professionals.

His mother motioned with her hand as if waving the concern away.

“I think it’s best we clarify where we stand and move forward from there.”

He nodded. It was probably best not to speak until he had a better sense of where his mother was going with all this.

“Did you mean what you said yesterday, A-Cheng? You don’t want to marry a woman?”

“Not really, no,” he admitted. He may as well be truthful.

There was a pause before she went on, speaking slowly and clearly.

“To be clear, you are saying you are not interested in women?”

“Not right now. Maybe things will change in the future,” he offered as a compromise.

She gave him a very frank look. “Somehow I doubt that. I’ve known men like this.”

Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure how to reply. Just because he didn’t want a wife now didn’t mean he wouldn’t in the future, but it also didn’t seem prudent to say so with his mother being so unusually receptive to his current desires.

He opted to stay quiet.

She sighed. “It doesn’t entirely surprise me, you know. You’ve never shown the slightest interest in girls. For a while, I thought maybe Wei Wuxian’s forwardness with them inhibited you.”

“I don’t really think so, A-Niang. I think Wei Wuxian’s flirting is too familiar.” Shameless, to be quite honest, but loyalty to Wei Wuxian kept him from saying that.

His mother nodded. “Still, I want you to know that I’m glad things are out in the open. As I said, you are hardly the first man to prefer other men.”

…WHAT? Jiang Cheng’s brain screeched to a halt.

Did his mother really think that was the reason he didn’t want to get married? His eyes widened in alarm.

“A-Niang, I don’t—”

“We will not be seeking any more names of girls as potential candidates to be your consort. We will find a way forward from here, for you and Yunmeng Jiang.”

Jiang Cheng blinked, and closed his mouth. Maybe having his mother think he preferred men wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

—

Despite the nagging of his conscience that he should clear up the misunderstanding, he kept quiet about it over the next month. He figured he could always explain later, when he’s older and actually interested in being married. His mother will no doubt be angry to find out either way, so he might as well enjoy a reprieve from the pressure.

It hadn’t occurred to him to wonder what Yu Ziyuan meant by “finding a path forward, for you and Yunmeng Jiang”. If he had, maybe he wouldn’t have been caught completely off-guard when she sends Yinzhu to summon him, and he once again finds himself in a room with her, his aunt Yu, and the same small crowd of aunties and matchmakers as four weeks prior.

“What’s happening?” he asks, slowly.

“The matchmakers are back, of course, with a new list of candidates for your consort,” his aunt Yu replies.

Jiang Cheng turns to stare at his mother, confused and betrayed. “A-Niang… you said…”

“I said we would not be seeking further female candidates to be your consort. The pool of male cultivators that might be amenable to the position is smaller, but I’m satisfied we will find someone suitable among them.”

Jiang Cheng can only stare. The words ‘male cultivators that might be amenable’ remain in his mind, like rocks skipping across the surface of a pond.

“It was not trivial, putting this new list together after Jiang-zongzhu’s revelation,” one of the matchmakers adds. “Who might be suitably inclined is not always common knowledge, and we were careful when sifting through rumors.”

One glance at his mother’s face tells Jiang Cheng that another outburst like last month’s will not be tolerated. This mess will not be untangled by yelling and storming out. He realizes that, for the moment, he has no option but to stay as the matchmakers go through the list extolling the virtues of eligible young masters his own age.

Worst of all is when he knows them, and he knows more than a few, from the war, or in quite a few cases, from before, from his year in the Cloud Recesses. The ones that used to be interested in Nie Huaisang’s cut-sleeve spring books are not particularly surprising. Somehow, he manages to get through most of it without incident, but he can’t keep the grimace from his face when one of the matchmakers starts talking about Su She, of all people, with barely concealed enthusiasm.

“No,” he mutters through gritted teeth.

There is a pause, as several of the matchmakers share inscrutable glances. He hates this.

“It is our humble opinion that Jiang-zongzhu should not dismiss Su Minshan out of hand,” says one of them.

“True, he is not himself a Lan,” another one pipes up, giving him a frank look, as if this is why he is objecting. “However, the fact that he is not makes it less likely he and his parents will reject the idea of him marrying into another clan out of hand.”

“This is why there are no Lan young masters on the list, Jiang-zongzhu,” adds the one that first brought up Su She. “It is our opinion that most of them would not consider it. The most suitable in age, Lan Wangji, certainly would not, even if he were inclined towards men, given his position.”

Something inside Jiang Cheng wants to curl up and die at the very idea of Lan Wangji as a possible… no! He will not think about it.

“Su Minshan is a more than capable cultivator, very handsome to look at, as are all the disciples of the—“ someone is saying.

“I said no! Not Su Minshan!”

There is silence.

Then, the eldest of the matchmakers steps forward, to take the place of the one that was so enthusiastically proposing Su She.

“We had hoped this would be easier once we learned of Jiang-zongzhu’s true inclination,” she says, somewhat waspishly. She’s old enough to get away with speaking like that to anyone. “But it seems that Jiang-zongzhu is as picky about men as about women.”

She pushes away the stack of papers with names, portraits, and the candidates’ qualities, except for one at the bottom, which she slides towards Jiang Cheng.

He stares at the familiar face staring up from a graceful ink sketch, the characters of his name running along the side.

“Nie Huaisang?” Surprised, he looks up to see the old matchmaker nod in what appears to be satisfaction at his reaction.

He licks his lips. At least, Nie Huaisang is his friend. Someone he likes. (And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t think Huaisang is prettier than most girls he knows).

“Ah… you think that Huaisang would… ?”

Not that he’s surprised to see him listed among the young masters potentially interested in men. After all, back at the Cloud Recesses he had all sorts of spring books, “I like the aesthetics of love” he would always say with a wink, but the ones about cut-sleeves always seemed to be his favorites. There have always been rumors about him, not that he bothers listening to gossip about his best friend aside from Wei Wuxian.

He doesn’t understand why seeing him on the list surprised him, or why it would make his pulse race.

“Most of us do not,” the matchmaker that had proposed Su She says, looking distinctly annoyed. “In our opinion, his clan is as unlikely to accept marrying him into the Jiang clan as a consort as the Lan would be about Lan Wangji. Until his older brother marries and produces a son, Nie Huaisang is his heir. I still think—”

The eldest matchmaker raises her hand to silence her.

Jiang Cheng looks back down at Nie Huaisang’s portrait.

“Why suggest his name, then?” He asks, intrigued despite his better judgement.

“Because I insisted,” the eldest matchmaker says. “I have been doing this the longest, and I believe he is the best possible match for Jiang-zongzhu.”

Jiang Cheng feels his mouth go dry, and can’t think of a single thing to say in reply to that.

“He is Jiang-zongzhu’s friend, is he not? It is always an unexpected blessing if there is genuine affection to build upon.”