They arrive at the town nearest to the Unclean Realm a couple of hours before dusk.

Jiang Cheng makes them get off the swords and enter the town on foot, he doesn’t want anyone knowing he’s here. He’s put on a long, dark green cloak to hide his purple robes. He managed to source cloaks for the two disciples as well, back at the village.

Satisfied that they can blend in somewhat, he tells them to go to a high-end restaurant that Nie Huaisang had taken him to, the last time he was here. He gives them instructions to reserve a private dining room for tonight, and then take rooms for the three of them at the nearest inn. He’ll meet up with them later, and they’re free to do as they want as long as they’re discrete and no one figures out who they are.

After the two leave, he makes his way to a certain bookshop Nie Huaisang brought him to a couple of times when he visited. It’s Huaisang’s favorite shop, and the owner procures erotic books discretely for him.

He lets the shop owner see his robes and Zidian, so he’ll recognize him, and then asks the man to have a message delivered to Nie Huaisang as soon as possible. Within the hour.

Then he goes to wait at the restaurant.

—

It isn't unusual for the owner of Nie Huaisang’s favorite shop to send him messages informing him that he has a new book Huaisang might be interested in. In fact, hey have a system in place. However, what is unusual is for a message to arrive this late in the day.

This particular message makes no mention of books. Instead, it's an invitation to meet Jiang Cheng at the restaurant he’d last taken Jiang Cheng to, in a private room.

Nie Huaisang feels a thrill before burning the message. He hadn’t expected to see Jiang Cheng until negotiations were much further along, or maybe at Lanling Jin’s annual Phoenix Mountain hunt. And yet here he is, so soon after the proposal, coming to Qinghe and arranging to meet in secret. He honestly didn't think Jiang Cheng had it in him.

He chooses his robes carefully but quickly. For a moment, he considers a new set he’s had made recently that he hasn’t had occasion to wear. Pale aquamarine brocade over pristine white silk under-robes, with a belt of beaten gold adorned with gold tassels, and long earrings to match. And on top another white robe, embroidered and lined in deeper green with sleeves so wide that when he saw them, Nie Mingjue complained about how impractical they were.

He’d also complained about the earrings, and the belt.

Ultimately, he decides against the new robes. This is a secret assignation with his betrothed, quite improper really, and he would rather not call attention to himself by going all out with his attire. Instead, he wears the set of robes he usually wears when going into town. Perfectly nice, he looks good in them, but not like he's trying too hard.

However, he takes the earrings. He will put them on in the carriage.

He also takes a new fan. Black and white separated by a sinuous line, with gold details.

On his way out, he stops to tell his brother he's going to town to pick up some books.

“At this hour?” Nie Mingjue asks, skeptical.

“The books arrived this afternoon, and I just got the message, Dage.”

Nie Mingjue frowns. “Huaisang, you know that I don’t interfere with your activities, even though I think you should spend more time training instead. You’re grown up now.”

Nie Huaisang isn’t sure how to react to that. “What are you trying to say, Dage?”

“Things are different now, Huaisang. You’re going to be Jiang Wanyin’s consort. You can’t be seen frequenting brothels.”

Huaisang’s eyes widen. If his brother thinks that’s where he’s going, he may simply forbid him from leaving.

“Dage, I’m not going to a brothel, I promise.”

Nie Mingjue simply looks at him.

“I was going to have dinner at the restaurant I like. On my own, I swear,” he says, trying to sound calm and reasonable and, most of all, trying not to whine.

“You need to be mindful of your reputation in a way you haven't had to be before. That's all.”

“I'm not stupid! I realize things are different. I wouldn’t do that now.”

Nie Mingjue lets out a long breath. “Fine, I trust that you genuinely want to marry Jiang Wanyin, and you’ll think twice before doing anything that puts that at risk. But make sure to come find me when you get home, Huaisang. I’ll be waiting.”

No doubt to make sure he isn’t drunk. It also means he can’t stay out too late with Jiang Cheng. Nie Huaisang forces himself to put on a smile. “Of course, Dage!”

—

Night has fallen and lanterns light the restaurant merrily when Nie Huaisang arrives. He’s well-known here, and despite Jiang Cheng’s cloak and dagger invitation, he doesn’t even consider trying to disguise himself. It wouldn’t work anyway, not without going to a lot of work.

Indeed, when he arrives, the owner, a motherly middle-aged woman who dotes on him, informs him that his friend has been waiting for him for over an hour now.

“He seems very anxious to see you, Nie-er-gongzi,” she says, eyes sparkling.

Nie Huaisang doesn’t take the bait. He wonders if they’ve figured out that his friend is Sandu Shengshou. It’s likely, Jiang Cheng doesn’t exactly blend in. He knows that rumors are running rampant about the delegation from Lotus Pier, and that everyone knows it was for a marriage proposal. He isn’t sure if it’s already common knowledge that it will be he who is married into the Jiang clan. No need to feed the gossips just yet.

He follows a maid to a private dining room on the second floor. She bows and leaves, and he smooths his robes, snaps open his fan and walks in.

Jiang Cheng is pacing the room, looking very much like a tiger in a cage. He’s very handsome in his agitation, and Nie Huaisang pauses a moment, lifting the fan to hide the small smile on his lips at the sight.

“Jiang Wanyin,” he says, a teasing tone in his voice. “Do you really think it’s proper to ask your future consort to meet in secret like this?”

Jiang Cheng stops his pacing and looks over at him. He strides over and pulls him inside by the arm. “Not so loud, no one is supposed to know I’m here.”

Nie Huaisang resists the urge to laugh. He can see a heavy, dark green cloak in a corner, but even for someone who doesn’t know Jiang Cheng’s face, the purple robes and the ring on his finger are a dead giveaway the moment anyone sees them.

Jiang Cheng shuts the door firmly and rounds on Nie Huaisang.

"What the hell happened, Huaisang?"

"What are you talking about?" Huaisang replies, confused at Jiang Cheng’s outburst. He hadn’t let himself think very much about the reception he would get, but it certainly wasn’t this.

Jiang Cheng rubs his face with a hand, looking particularly harried. "Didn't you get my letter? I told you, just go ahead and let your brother say no. I don't understand why he would accept. Fuck, this is such a mess."

"Your letter," Nie Huaisang repeats, suddenly feeling cold.

"Yes! Like I told you, I meant no offense, fuck, why didn't you… you couldn't talk him out of it?"

"You… wanted a rejection?"

"Yes! Of course! Why would you think--"

"Because of your letter!"

"What the fuck? Why?"

Nie Huaisang snaps his fan closed. "I can't deal with you right now."

He spins around, pulls the door open and stalks out of the room. He starts down the stairs as he hears Jiang Cheng swear and start after him.

Nie Huaisang makes it down and several steps into the common area before Jiang Cheng catches up to him.

"Huaisang! Wait!"

Nie Huaisang ignores him and keeps walking, so Jiang Cheng hurries ahead of him (his legs are longer, it's an unfair advantage!) and blocks his path, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Just… don't go, ok, Huaisang?" Jiang Cheng is practically pleading.

Good! Let him beg, Nie Huaisang thinks. He crosses his arms and looks up at Jiang Cheng, face carefully blank.

Jiang Cheng lets go of his shoulders and looks around. People are staring. He steps closer and lowers his voice.

"I'm sorry I've put you in this position, I really am, I just…" he looks away, frowning. "Fuck! I messed up, I'm sorry."

He looks miserable. He's always been easy to read, and Nie Huaisang knows him well enough to know he's beating himself up over whatever it is that led to this situation.

"You clearly did mess up," Nie Huaisang tells him. Jiang Cheng winces at the words. Huaisang glances around. People are still watching. Customers and staff alike. It will be all over town by tomorrow morning. "And you'd better have a damn good explanation, Jiang Wanyin. Let's go back, we're making a scene here."

Jiang Cheng nods and takes Huaisang by the arm. For a moment, Nie Huaisang thinks about brushing him off. Instead, he lets out a soft exhalation and lets Jiang Cheng lead him back up the stairs to their private dining room.

—

Once the door is shut behind them, Jiang Cheng notices the change in Nie Huaisang’s demeanor. He snaps open his fan as if the scene downstairs had never happened. He walks leisurely to take a seat by the table, laden with food and drink that had been delivered before his arrival.

“Pour some wine for me, Jiang Wanyin, it’s the least that you owe me,” Huaisang tells him as he fans himself idly.

Jiang Cheng strides over and sits before pouring for them both. He’s never exactly sure what it means when Huaisang calls him by his courtesy name. He always puts particular emphasis on it, and it always means something, but what, exactly, changes.

Nie Huaisang sips at his cup and hums appreciatively. “At least you got good wine.”

Jiang Cheng can’t help rolling his eyes at this. “Of course I did. When have I not?”

Instead of answering him, Nie Huaisang sets his cup down, turning to face him fully. “Well?” he prompts, a little petulantly. “Explain.”

Jiang Cheng takes a deep breath before starting. “My mother insists I marry,” he starts. “The matchmakers brought a list. My aunt came from Meishan Yu. They wanted me to pick one. It was overwhelming, and I said I didn’t want to marry any of the women… any woman. And I don’t, not right now, anyway. A-Niang misinterpreted. She… thinks I meant I’m a cutsleeve.”

“And you didn’t feel the need to correct her?” Nie Huaisang asks, raising one eyebrow.

Jiang Cheng shifts in his seat uncomfortably. “I should have, but I thought…” He shakes his head. “I didn’t expect her to have the matchmakers bring a new list of… of men.”

Surprisingly, Nie Huaisang lets out a laugh at this, shaking his head. “Jiang-xiong… oh, Jiang Cheng.”

It makes Jiang Cheng feel a little better. If Nie Huaisang can see the humor in it, it means he’s not as upset as he seemed downstairs.

As if to keep him on his toes, Nie Huaisang gives him a sharp look. “That doesn’t explain why a matchmaker showed up at my home to ask Dage for my hand in marriage, if that’s not something you actually want.”

“Another of the matchmakers thought that there was no way your brother would say yes, since you're his heir. You've told me he's not likely to get a wife anytime soon, so I thought she was right, that the proposal would be rejected and that would be that.”

Nie Huaisang hummed.

"But I still, I had to explain things to you, so I wrote a letter. I thought once I explained, you would laugh about it and make fun of me.”

"You're right, I would have laughed and made fun of you… if your letter had been clear about the situation! Which it wasn’t.”

Huaisang pulls the letter out and reads it, dramatically. Hearing it back now, Jiang Cheng is forced to admit that what he ended up sending is quite ambiguous, and he can see how Nie Huaisang misinterpreted it.

"Do you see the problem, Jiang Cheng?” He asks as he finishes, waving the letter in front of Jiang Cheng’s face. “Do you understand how this letter doesn’t say what you think it says?”

“I realize that, I put you in a terrible position. I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t think it was terrible. I thought it was… nice.”

Jiang Cheng stares, surprised. “You… did?”

“Sure. I thought it was a pretty good idea, actually. You don’t want to get married to some woman you don’t know, I don’t want to be clan leader in waiting. We’re great friends. I thought it made sense. That’s why I told Dage to say yes. Plus, you’re hot.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t know how to reply to that. After a moment, when it becomes clear he isn’t going to say anything, Nie Huaisang shrugs and finishes his drink. “But since it isn’t what you want, obviously that changes things. I don’t want to marry someone who doesn’t want me. I’m not going to force you to marry me, Jiang Wanyin.”

His courtesy name again. Jiang Cheng frowns a little, worried. He hesitates before he speaks again, purposely making his voice soft. “Huaisang… are we okay?”

“Of course. We’re friends. Great friends. That won’t change. But you’re still an idiot, and I’m not letting you forget this. Ever. We’ll be old and gray, and I’ll be making fun of you for it.”

“I don’t doubt it,” he says, relief flooding through him. “I deserve it, Huaisang. I’m sorry.”

Nie Huaisang leans back in his seat, apparently somewhat mollified by his willingness to accept fault. Briefly, Jiang Cheng thinks about Wei Wuxian before he left the Cloud Recesses, laughing as he jokes about how Nie Huaisang has Jiang Cheng wrapped around his finger. “You’re like clay in his hands, Jiang Cheng! If it was me, you’d be biting my head off.” Alarms had rung in his ears and he’d started to protest, but then Nie Huaisang had laughed and met his eyes briefly above his fan. “Is that right, Jiang-xiong?” he’d asked, and Jiang Cheng, still flustered, had felt the fight go out of him as he felt his face heat.

He’s snapped out of the reverie by Nie Huaisang, leaning forward across the table. “So, how are you going to get us out of it?” he asks, amused.

“I don’t actually know, it wasn’t supposed to get this far. I don’t suppose you would be willing to tell your brother you changed your mind?” he asks, without much hope.

“Are you insane? Your mother would declare a blood feud if I did that. And my brother would do the same if you did. He’d probably kill you.”

He’s right, of course. His mother has never forgiven Jin Guangshan for agreeing to break off the betrothal to his sister. The only reason Jin Zixuan isn’t in his bad books as well is because Jin-furen insists he didn’t know better, but that he’s learning to be better. Not that their situation would anywhere near as bad as that. It hasn’t been announced yet, for one thing. It won’t be until after their birthdays are matched.

He sighs. If that came out unfavorably, both families would just pretend it never happened. “If the fortuneteller said we’re not a good match, that would solve everything.”

Nie Huaisang gives him a quizzical look. “That’s not a bad idea, actually.”

“What? It’s a terrible idea. We can’t rely on something we can’t control!”

Nie Huaisang laughs. “You could bribe the fortuneteller.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes widen in shock. “I could… what? Are you serious right now?”

Nie Huaisang looks at him in amusement. “You don’t actually think no one has ever slipped a fortuneteller a little money to sway the interpretation of the bazi?”

Jiang Cheng stares. “I wouldn’t even know how to!”

Nie Huaisang laughs. “You’re so cute sometimes, Jiang Cheng.”

He glares at Huaisang indignantly. He hates the idea, it seems so underhanded and deceitful. And yet… Nie Huaisang is right. It would be a simple way to solve the problem. He takes a deep breath, considering. Through it all, Nie Huaisang watches him, eyes amused and interested, as if he was watching one of his birds.

“Would you do it?” Jiang Cheng finally asks tentatively.

“Me? Oh Jiang-xiong, I said I wouldn’t force you to marry me, but this is your mess, it’s not up to me to fix it,” Nie Huaisang closes his fans and taps Jiang Cheng’s arm with it lightly. “Besides, I’m here. The fortuneteller and the matchmaker are in Lotus Pier. I’m actually surprised it hasn’t been done already.”

“The matchmaker said the fortuneteller she always uses is visiting her daughter. She wants to wait for her to come back.”

“Then you have time. But not too much time, I’d imagine.” Nie Huaisang says, tapping the closed fan against his lips thoughtfully. “You’re going to have to hurry, Jiang-xiong.”

“What if the fortuneteller won’t be bribed?” Jiang Cheng asks. Whatever Huaisang thinks about the practice of bribing fortunetellers, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this one will refuse, especially one the matchmaker trusts and has a long-standing relationship with.

Nie Huaisang thinks for a moment. “Then you’d have to switch out the dates or times to something that can only have a bad interpretation. Probably mine, there’s too much chance someone at Lotus Pier would notice a change in yours.”

“And how would I do that?”

“I don’t know,” Huaisang laughs and shrugs. “But I’ll write down my date and time, so you can do whatever is necessary. I’m sure you’ll think of something, Jiang-xiong.”

—

Tonight hasn't turned out at all like he’d expected.

Nie Huaisang leans back in his seat, lost in thought as the carriage makes its way back towards the Unclean Realm.

Jiang Cheng had insisted on setting him out to his carriage.

"I thought you didn't want anyone to know you're here. That cloak really isn't a very good disguise, A-Cheng,” he’d pointed out.

"Anyone who saw me come down already knows I'm here, and you've told me how efficient the Qinghe rumor mill is."

"Still…"

"Whatever happens later, I don't want anyone thinking I…" Jiang Cheng had trailed off.

"You don't want anyone thinking Sandu Shengshou would go back on his word?"

Jiang Cheng had frowned. "No, I don't want anyone thinking I'm rejecting you, that I don't want to marry you."

He'd had to laugh at that. "But you don't want to marry me."

"That's not…” Jiang Cheng had paused to take a breath. "I think anyone would be lucky to have you, man or woman. You're smart and funny, I would be thrilled to have you if… if things were different. If I was different.”

In his carriage, Nie Huaisang shakes his head, remembering Jiang Cheng's earnest expression as he’d said that.

"So many mixed signals, Jiang Cheng," he muses softly. "Do you even know what you want?"

Nie Huaisang doesn’t think so.

He had done a lot of thinking since the matchmakers came to the Unclean Realm. It wasn’t that he’d never thought Jiang Cheng might be attracted to him before then. In fact, he had been fairly certain of that fact since certain drunken declarations back at the Cloud Recesses. He had just assumed Jiang Cheng would never realize or act on that attraction. But then the letter arrived, and then the marriage was proposed. Naturally, he thought something must have changed.

He’s wanted Jiang Cheng for years, of course he has. But not if Jiang Cheng doesn’t want him too, or isn’t willing to admit he does, which amounts to the same thing.

Well, he’d played the hand he’d received. He’d made it clear he would be quite willing to marry Jiang Cheng. It was all up to him now. Either Jiang Cheng will come up with a way to break it off and actually do it, or he’ll decide he doesn’t want to do that after all.

All Nie Huaisang can do at this point is wait and see.