It takes Nie Huaisang a minute to realize the pounding torturing him isn’t due to his activities of the night before, but to someone hammering on his door.

“Nie-er-gongzi! Nie-zongzhu requests your presence as soon as possible!”

Fuck fuck fuck, he thinks.

“Uh… yes… tell him I’ll be right there,” he manages to reply, pushing himself to sit up on his bed.

He wonders if the guards on duty last night betrayed him and told his brother the time and state he came back in last night.

Nie Huaisang takes as long as he dares to make himself presentable before making his way to the main hall, all the while planning what kind of revenge to exact on the traitorous guards and their big mouths. He distinctly remembers bringing them a jar of very fine wine to share, how dare they tell on him! If he can only figure out who was on duty when he came back, they’ll be sorry. It was very hard to tell, from inside the carriage.

At least there’s no way for Nie Mingjue to know exactly where he was or what he was doing last night. He hires men from the town to drive his carriage, instead of using Nie disciples, whose first loyalty is, of course, to his brother.

He told Nie Mingjue that he was going into town to pick up new books, which was true enough. His brother gave him a long look but said nothing, and Nie Huaisang didn’t mention what type of books, or his plan to attend a musical performance in the entertainment district after. His brother didn’t disapprove of music, but would surely have something to say about the venue, and the other activities Nie Huaisang might engage in there, the least of which was a copious amount of drinking. Not that the elder Nie brother was a prude, he was certainly no Lan. But he was of the opinion that Nie Huaisang spent far too much time in frivolous, hedonistic pursuits when he should be training, or learning the ropes of being a clan leader.

Nie Huaisang doesn’t share Nie Mingjue’s priorities, of course. He doesn’t expect to be clan leader any time soon, and he hopes fervently he never will be, in fact. As for frivolity and hedonism… Nie Huaisang will go ahead and listen to a beautiful yiji¹ perform beautiful music, and sometimes even indulge in pleasurable encounters with beautiful men (and even the occasional woman). After all, the Sunshot Campaign had taught him that horrors and death might be waiting when you least expect them. To be fair, he had been shielded from the worst of the war, due to spending most of it in the Cloud Recesses for his protection, but he saw some of it. He saw the aftermath, and he certainly heard about it, from his brother and Xichen-gege. And sometimes when they saw each other back then, Jiang Cheng needed someone to confide in.

He sighs. The truth is, he really hadn’t actually planned on staying out quite so late, nor had he planned on doing more than listening to music and drinking a little. But one of the men at last night’s establishment had looked a bit like Jiang Cheng, especially after some wine. Sharp cheekbones, broad shoulders… that mouth… Nie Huaisang thinks he can’t really be blamed for succumbing to that particular temptation.

He stops at the door to the Unclean Realm’s main hall, takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders, and walks in.

“You called for me, Dage,” he says, pleased that his voice is hardly rough at all, and stops to bow like a filial younger brother. “Before you say anything, whatever the guards on duty last night told you was mistaken. I was on my way back just after nightfall, when we came across a young woman, making her back to town in the dark. With her baby. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t offer her to take her safely home in my carriage?”

“How chivalrous. The guards said nothing, perhaps I should ask from now on, in case one of your good deeds goes badly,” Nie Mingjue replies.

Shit, Huaisang thinks.

“Ah, Dage, there’s no need!” He hopes he isn’t whining.

“Never mind, we’ll talk more about your exploits later. A delegation arrived an hour ago from Lotus Pier. They’re proposing a marriage between our clans.”

Nie Huaisang doesn’t miss a beat, “Ah, it’s finally here.”

He wishes he’d taken the time to bring one of his fans. It’s the sort of comment he’d punctuate by snapping it open and idly waving it in front of his mouth.

“You knew about this?” His brother seems surprised.

“Not the particulars, but Jiang Wanyin wrote telling me to expect it.”

Jiang Cheng’s letter had arrived a few days ago, and he’d spent hours puzzling over it. He didn’t really hint at the nature of the proposal, and Nie Huaisang had arrived at the conclusion that he meant a marriage proposal by process of elimination.

Nie Mingjue’s eyebrows rise and Huaisang hurries on.

“At first I thought he must mean they would propose to one of our cousins on his behalf,” he continues. He remembers feeling a pang of sadness at the thought of Jiang Cheng married to any of his cousins. “But something he said made me think of another possibility.”

“It certainly isn’t about any of our cousins,” his brother says, a strange expression on his face. He seems… bemused?

I was right! Nie Huaisang thinks smugly.

“So Yu Ziyuan is actually proposing you marry Jiang Yanli?” he asks.

It’s the only thing that makes sense. Why would Jiang Cheng write such an apologetic letter about a perfectly proper proposal to marry one of their cousins? Why would anyone take offense to that? Unless the proposed marriage was something more controversial, or maybe the proposal itself is what might be the problem. He could see how some men might take offense if the woman’s family was the one to propose. It was certainly a break with tradition, and the sort of thing Yu Ziyuan might do.

“Jiang-guniang and I?” Nie Mingjue laughs. “I think Jiang Wanyin didn’t explain the situation accurately. The proposal is for you.”

“For me? They want Jiang Yanli to marry me?” Nie Huaisang is taken aback. He never considered that possibility. His brother was up to his ears in thinly veiled suggestions from cultivators about the charms of their daughters, but none of it had ever been directed at him. Why would it be, he was the widely reputed to be the useless younger brother, a dandy who preferred painting fans to sabers, and he would be out of the succession as soon as Nie Mingjue had a son. Not to mention, surely Jiang Cheng knew that while Huaisang thought his sister was lovely, he would have no interest in marrying her. Maybe that was the reason for the letter?

“Not Jiang Yanli. Jiang Wanyin. They want you to marry in. To be his consort.”

Nie Huaisang gapes. He blinks several times, unable to make sense of what he just heard. He wonders briefly if he’s still drunk.

“Close your mouth, Huaisang.”

He does. His brother is watching him carefully. Judging his reaction, Huaisang realizes. A horrible suspicion dawns in his mind.

“Is this a joke, Dage? Because it isn’t funny.”

It would be just like his brother, to take advantage of his hangover to do something like this. He probably thinks he’s teaching Huaisang a lesson.

“It’s no joke,” Nie Mingjue says. He extends a rolled up paper. “Read it yourself. In Yu Ziyuan’s own hand.”

Nie Huaisang reaches out to take it, hand trembling slightly. He scans the flowing, elegant script. One line near the end catches his eyes: “In the event that the unusual nature of this proposal is a cause for concern, let me assure Nie-zongzhu that it is not simply about a political alliance. I have taken to heart the lessons my life has given me about trying to force a marriage against the parties’ wishes.”

He takes a breath, mind working furiously. Nie Huaisang had wracked his brains trying to think of a reason for the tone of Jiang Cheng's letter. Learning that it was about a proposal for him to marry Jiang Cheng puts everything in a whole new light. How self-effacing and apologetic he’d been, the insistence on their friendship and how important it is to him. And now those words Yu Ziyuan wrote.

He wishes he wasn’t so hung over. He needs to think clearly.

His brother is still watching him closely. “Huaisang, is there anything you haven’t told me?”

Well. There are many things Nie Huaisang hasn’t told his brother, but however much he might have wished otherwise, Jiang Cheng has only ever been a friend. It’s true that sometimes, late at night after drinking too much, he’s suspected that Jiang Cheng may have feelings for him that he isn’t ready to face. But that line has never been crossed.

And he’d never expected it to be crossed.

“Dage, this is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you,” he answers carefully.

“I see,” Nie Mingjue nods. “Obviously, I wanted to speak to you before giving an answer, in case there is more to your friendship than you’d told me. Since there isn’t, it’s easy enough to reject it. I need no reason apart from you being my heir, but I can tell them that we have several cousins that would be suitable, all from the main Nie line. Jiang Wanyin can have his pick, male or female.”

“No!” Nie Huaisang surprises himself with the vehemence of his voice.

“No?” Nie Mingjue asks him.

“Don’t do that, Dage,” he pauses, worrying at his lower lip.

“I thought you said there wasn’t anything more than friendship between you,” Nie Mingjue sounds perplexed.

“There isn’t, Dage. But…”

He wishes he had his fan. He can feel an uncharacteristic warmth crawling up his neck. And his brother is just watching him.

“Huaisang?” Nie Mingjue prompts, when it becomes clear Huaisang isn’t going to say more.

Nie Huaisang thinks about it. Can he take this at face value? He still doesn’t quite understand all the meanings in Jiang Cheng’s letter. He promised to explain when they saw each other, but who knows when that might be. This won’t wait that long. He needs what answers he can get now.

“Jiang Cheng… did he…?” He trails off. Did Jiang Cheng choose him, is what he wants to know.

“According to the matchmaker, Yu Ziyuan insisted on his involvement, and several lists of candidates have been presented to them,” Nie Mingjue tells him. “They say he has shown no interest in anyone before, or even outright rejected them.”

“Are the matchmakers still here?”

“Of course. I’ve given them lodgings,” Nie Mingjue tells him with a roll of his eyes, as if to say I’m not a barbarian.

Nie Huaisang lifts his chin. “Can I speak with them?”

“I’ll have them summoned. But Huaisang?”

“Yes, Dage?”

“Take a bath first. It wouldn’t do to meet the women tasked with making your marriage to Jiang Wanyin happen reeking of alcohol.”

—

It has been long enough since Jiang Cheng sent the letter for the matchmakers to reach the Unclean Realm and be at least partway back to Lotus Pier. He hasn’t received a reply from Nie Huaisang.

Jiang Cheng realizes that the final letter had been somewhat cryptic. He didn’t necessarily expect Nie Huaisang to write back as soon as he received it. But surely, once the matchmakers arrived and the letter’s meaning was clear, and Nie Huaisang would have written back to him. Perhaps the letter got lost? Or perhaps Nie Huaisang has taken offense after all. Jiang Cheng hopes that isn’t the case. Losing Nie Huaisang through this fiasco is the last thing he wants.

He can’t help but worry about it. What did Nie Huaisang think? What did he and Nie Mingjue say to the matchmakers? Why hasn’t Nie Huaisang written back? Thinking about the matter is taking up entirely too much of his time, he’s by turns pensive and more irritable than usual. Everyone around him notices.

“I don’t understand why you’re moping about like this,” his mother tells him as they have tea in her private pavilion. “It’s beneath you.”

“I’m not moping,” he says, frowning down at the table.

“No matter how much affection you may feel for Nie Huaisang, if they say no, it would simply prove he doesn’t deserve you. In that case, we will find someone who does.”

Something in his mother’s voice makes him look at her. She’s angry, true, but there is something else in the way she looks at him, something she seldom let him see before that terrible night when she gave him Zidian while Lotus Pier burned.

“You’re a good man and anyone who thinks they can do better is a fool,” she finishes fiercely.

He’s still not used to his mother openly showing pride, even if she’s more open about it since he became clan chief and brought the Jiang clan back from near extermination. Usually, it makes his heart swell. But hearing her say these things today, knowing he’s lied to her… what would she think if she knew? Would she think him a coward? Someone who would rather let a misunderstanding stand just so he can avoid an unpleasant confrontation, like his father did to her.

He tells himself the rejection can’t arrive soon enough.

—

“A-Xian says you’re worried the Nies will say no,” his sister tells him another day, as they sit on a dock looking out at the lake at sunset.

“I know they’ll say no,” he tells her.

“You must really like this girl,” she says, placing her hand on his arm.

He wants to confide in her. He decides on sharing a version of the truth.

“That’s not the problem. I just don’t want this to affect my friendship with Nie Huaisang.”

“Oh, A-Cheng!” She smiles, eyes sparkling. “I’m sure it won’t, regardless of what happens with the proposal. It’s really not about the girl, then?”

Jiang Cheng lets out a dry laugh. “It’s entirely about Nie Huaisang, Jiejie.”

“I can see why you’re worried it might make things awkward, A-Cheng, but I don’t think you need to worry. About Nie-er-gongzi or a rejection. You’re quite the catch!”

Jiang Cheng scoffs. His sister laughs fondly, and he looks away, out over the water.

“You haven’t asked who it is once,” he finally says.

“I’m sure you and A-Niang will announce it when the time is right,” she says. “If you’re not ready to share, I won’t push.”

“I wish Wei Wuxian would do the same,” he can’t keep the irritation from his tone.

“He’s just excited for you, A-Cheng” she says, smiling. “We all are.”

For once, his sister’s kindness doesn’t make him feel any better.

—

Wei Wuxian definitely doesn’t follow Jiang Yanli’s lead. He keeps pestering Jiang Cheng, trying to find out who his future bride is. And he also keeps insisting on how unlikely it is that the proposal will be rejected. In the most annoying way possible.

“I’m not making fun of you! Or not much, anyway. And Nie-xiong agrees—“

Jiang Cheng immediately frowns at Huaisang’s mention.

“What? Why would he agree?” Could Wei Wuxian have written to Nie Huaisang himself?

“Well, we were talking about it once—“

Okay, so that’s a no. Still…

“Why would you and Huaisang be talking about this?”

“Well, it was actually about how so many clan leaders are young and unmarried right now, and how that’s unusual,” Wei Wuxian grins. “And then Nie-xiong told me he doesn’t understand how you aren’t engaged by now, since you’re so young and handsome.”

“He did not… did he?” Jiang Cheng can feel his cheeks flush. He hopes it isn’t noticeable.

“He did. I told him it’s because you’re too picky. He said that makes sense, that he can’t imagine anyone saying no to you.”

Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes, and Wei Wuxian leans over and bumps their shoulders before continuing. “He said if he was a young maiden, he would be thrilled if Sandu Shengshou wanted him. Her.”

Jiang Cheng chokes. Wei Wuxian laughs and claps him on the back. “I’m sure he’ll convince her parents and Chifeng-zun that it’s a great match!”

—

Jiang Cheng spends yet another sleepless night after that particular conversation with Wei Wuxian. He keeps trying to imagine Nie Huaisang saying that, trying to guess what his tone and meaning might have been. Was he just goofing off with Wei Wuxian? That’s the most likely, of course, the two of them seldom have a serious conversation. And yet… Huaisang is interested in men, he knows that. Could he possibly have meant that he would be open to being with Jiang Cheng? Is he attracted to Jiang Cheng? Or did he just mean he thinks a woman would find him attractive?

Morning comes, and Jiang Cheng can’t decide what he thinks his friend meant. He wishes, once again, that he knew what had happened in the Unclean Realm.

As it turns out, he doesn’t have to wait long. The matchmakers arrive back at Lotus Pier that very afternoon.

—

¹ A yiji was a high class courtesan, like Gong Yu from Nirvana in Fire.