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It occurs to Wei Wuxian after the second time he definitely should have gotten punished that something is very, very wrong.
He had absolutely been slacking off near Yunmeng when he caught the eye of Madam Yu in the market of all places, and he knows she saw him because they definitely made eye contact, and Madam Yu gave him a small nod! Even the thought of Madam Yu being courteous to him sent shivers down Wei Wuxian’s spine.
So, of course, he brings it up to his shijie after dinner that night.
“Is Madam Yu feeling alright?” He messes with his fingers, still not exactly sure how it should be worded, but sure it should be brought up. “She’s… well…”
“Acting strange?” Jiang Yanli finishes, giving him a small nod. “I’ve noticed. Did something big happen?”
Wei Wuxian briefly explains the market incident, leaving out the part where he was slacking off from his training with the other disciples.
Jiang Yanli nods, thinking quietly about the situation. “I’ll make sure to ask.” She says after, patting Wei Wuxian. “Don’t worry about it too much, okay A-Xian?”
Wei Wuxian nods, trying to listen to his shijie and not think about it too hard. He tried to focus on his upcoming trip to the Cloud Recesses to study for a couple months. He would need to have his focus on packing.
But every time he would procrastinate, he would find Madam Yu at the scene. It was like she knew what was going to happen, but would never punish him for it.
Wei Wuxian got so desperate for answers he even brought it up to Jiang Cheng, who seemed as bewildered as he was.
“It’s not that I want to receive punishment,” Wei Wuxian thought aloud, sitting near the edge of the water to dip his feet in. “I just think it’s really strange. Do you think she’s possessed?”
Jiang Cheng shakes his head, sitting farther away. “With Zidian in her possession? I don’t think so.”
Wei Wuxian looks back at him. “But it doesn’t whip its owner, does it? And I haven’t seen it used since she stopped punishing me.”
“She doesn’t use it very often while we’re at home.” Jiang Yanli points out, joining in the conversation as she sets down a tray. “I brought food. Pork rib and lotus soup.”
Wei Wuxian smiles, pulling his feet out of the water. “You’re the best, shijie!”
Jiang Cheng quietly picks up a bowl, glancing over at Wei Wuxian as he eats.
Wei Wuxian, of course, has to talk about the other weird occurrences around Lotus Pier, all while he eats to his heart’s content.
Jiang Cheng doesn’t even make a word of argument against him, despite all the things he’s very glaringly obviously wrong at.
“A-Cheng?” Jiang Yanli sets her bowl down, glancing over at her brother. “Is everything okay?”
Wei Wuxian stops his chattering, setting down his own bowl to let Jiang Cheng have his space to talk.
“I heard A-Die and A-Niang fighting earlier.” Jiang Cheng looks over at his sister first, then over at Wei Wuxian. “It was about me.”
Jiang Yanli rubs Jiang Cheng’s arm gently. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
Jiang Cheng shrugs slightly, but Wei Wuxian can tell he’s still bothered by the content of the fight.
“It was normal.” Jiang Cheng refuses to meet Wei Wuxian’s eyes, staring down at his bowl. “The normal argument.”
Wei Wuxian frowns. “Even when she’s stopped punishing me? Really?”
Jiang Cheng shrugs again, clearly not wanting to get into too much detail.
Jiang Yanli glances over at Wei Wuxian and gives him a wave.
Wei Wuxian takes this as his cue to go slack off some more, and leave his siblings behind to discuss. He knows his shijie can wrestle the information out of Jiang Cheng, and he’ll get the information later because it must involve him somehow. It always does.
He kicks a stone into a nearby pond, the loud and recognizable voices of his shufu and Madam Yu catching his attention.
This isn’t anything new, but despite that, Wei Wuxian moves closer to the voices, hoping to catch a tidbit of information from the both of them so he can deliver more news to his shijie later.
“I do no-” Jiang Fengmian starts, his argument cut off by Madam Yu’s hand slamming down on the table.
“Don’t start.” Madam Yu’s voice seems more level than it was just a second ago when Wei Wuxian had approached. “You know this. You know you show him favor. I’m not saying I want you to stop showing him favor at all, I simply want you to show your son and daughter equal amounts of favor.”
The content caught Wei Wuxian off guard. He had never heard Madam Yu be so calm in her arguments with Jiang Fengmian, yes, but the fact that she was advocating for her daughter’s achievements as well made Wei Wuxian freeze in his tracks.
Jiang Yanli was not exactly known for her spiritual prowess. She has admitted many times that she’s not as good a cultivator as either of her brothers.
“A-Li as well?” The argument must have caught Jiang Fengmian off guard as well, as the surprise in his voice was evident.
“All our children deserved to be recognized equally. In whatever paths they choose to follow.” Madam Yu’s voice was soft. It sent a shiver down Wei Wuxian’s spine.
That was before the wording actually hit him. Our children. All our children. Wei Wuxian slapped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from crying out in surprise.
Since when had Madam Yu thought of him as her child?
--------------
Jiang Yanli was as shocked as Wei Wuxian was at this information.
“She really said that?” Jiang Yanli looked like she was about to cry.
Wei Wuxian pats her shoulder gently, nodding. “I heard it myself. I would never forget something like that, with how much it shocked me.”
Jiang Yanli lets out a shaky sigh, setting her comb down on her table. “She really has changed.” She smiles, looking up at Wei Wuxian. “After A-Cheng’s story I was starting to doubt, but…”
Wei Wuxian leans back on his arms, smiling slightly. “It’s a little odd, isn’t it?”
Jiang Yanli tilts her head.
Wei Wuxian shrugs slightly. “I mean, I haven’t heard of any incident to prompt any sort of change like this, have you?”
Jiang Yanli shakes her head. “I haven’t. But then again, A-Die and A-Niang don’t exactly share what’s going on with them all the time.”
Wei Wuxian sighs. “Well, I sure hope nothing too bad happened and she lost her memory or something like that.”
Jiang Yanli nods. “I agree. I hope she’s alright…”
The next couple of weeks got stranger.
None of Madam Yu’s usual bite was there. She didn’t even snap at Jiang Yanli once about her peeling the lotus root. She didn’t punish Wei Wuxian even once.
Jiang Cheng was starting to believe Wei Wuxian’s theory that Madam Yu was really possessed.
“Even A-Die has gotten nicer to me.” Jiang Cheng lays back on the bench as Wei Wuxian dips his toes in the lake. “He’s actually acknowledging me now.”
Wei Wuxian grins. “As he should have been!” He doesn’t even say it to lift Jiang Cheng’s spirits. “You’re a great cultivator. You are going to be the next Jiang head and shufu is finally figuring it out.”
Wei Wuxian only turns around to watch Jiang Cheng’s ears flush bright red.
“I guess.” Jiang Cheng sounds noncommittal.
Wei Wuxian turns back to face the lake, taking Jiang Cheng’s sudden lack of conversation about the topic as a sign to switch.
---------
Madam Yu was dead.
Du Jinlian had figured that out quickly when she woke up in her body. It took some getting used to, and the things she had learned about cultivation in the past week alone were enlightening, but she was still occupying someone else’s body. That alone was enough to shake her for the first week.
The other thing that Du Jinlian had figured out quickly was that she had three children. Well, her daughter seemed to imply that she didn’t quite take in her first son as her own, and despite Du Jinlian’s overwhelming fear of getting caught, she had decided to take him in. If there was one thing she couldn’t stand for, it was children being left out.
Wei Wuxian was incredibly gifted in cultivation, from what she had learned. So was her biological son, Jiang Cheng, though apparently her husband favored Wei Wuxian for some unknown reason. Not that it meant Jiang Cheng should be ignored by any stretch.
If it wasn’t obvious enough already, Du Jinlian loved working with children.
It had really only been a handful of weeks since she had become Yu Ziyuan. And from what she had gathered from the reactions of her children, Madam Yu wasn’t exactly the most forgiving mother. The children had definitely noticed that her actions had changed. She had gained lots of confused stares particularly from Wei Wuxian.
“A-Niang!” Jiang Cheng calls, pulling Du Jinlian out of her thoughts.
She looks up, spotting her youngest son running into the hall she had assumed was her office. “A-Cheng.”
Jiang Cheng stops in his tracks, almost falling over.
Du Jinlian winces internally. Noted. Madam Yu never called her child that.
Jiang Cheng’s current expression was one she couldn’t read, but he stopped running and walked over to her regardless.
“A-Niang.” Jiang Cheng’s voice got soft, moving closer to his mother. Du Jinlian keeps her eyes on him, watching him bow slightly, waiting for more words to come out of his mouth, but he doesn’t speak, only bowing next to her.
Du Jinlian feels her hand moving regardless, giving her son a pat on the head. “What is it, A-Cheng? Is there something you need?”
Jiang Cheng’s shoulders shake slightly. Du Jinlian moves her hand back, only to stand and press her son’s shoulders up.
“A-Cheng? Is something wrong?” Du Jinlian asks him, before seeing a silent tear slip down Jiang Cheng’s cheek.
No other words are said, even as Jiang Cheng wraps his arms around his mother tight. Du Jinlian- no, Madam Yu blinks, carefully wrapping her arms around her son. “Just needed a hug from your mother, A-Cheng?” She tries to keep her voice as soft as possible, rubbing Jiang Cheng’s back gently in an attempt to soothe him. She has no idea what’s going on, but if the boy needs to cry the boy needs to cry. “That’s alright. You don’t even have to ask.”
Jiang Cheng finally looks up at Madam Yu, his eyes slightly red and puffy from all the crying he was doing. “A-Niang.” His voice cracks slightly.
Madam Yu gives him a small smile. “Yes, A-Cheng?”
Jiang Cheng pushes away slightly, and Madam Yu lets go gently, putting her arms back at her side and sitting down as if the hug did not happen at all, hoping to save Jiang Cheng his pride if another disciple comes running in.
“You’ve changed, A-Niang.”
The words ring in Du Jinlian’s ears. She knows. She knows she’s changed dramatically. How can she fully tell her son of the circumstances? Some of which she had yet to figure out herself.
Madam Yu looks up, adjusting her robes. “Have I?” She simply replies, not knowing what else to say.
“I don’t…” Jiang Cheng starts, taking a seat next to her. His voice lowers as he speaks. “I don’t mind.”
Madam Yu smiles. Her heart hurts for the real Madam Yu. The Madam Yu who was apparently so strict on her children that her own son doesn’t mind that she has died.
Not that he’s aware of this fact. He will most likely never be aware, if Du Jinlian can help it.
“I think you are also changing A-Die.” Madam Yu looks back over at her son as he speaks. “He notices me now.”
Du Jinlian’s heart hurts for her children. Her heart hurts for her children who have not been acknowledged by their father or their mother until now, for her children who have been put under such immense pressure that their mother using a nickname causes them to cry.
For her children who soften immediately in their mother’s arms.
------
Wei Wuxian has been avoiding her. Avoiding her like she’s caught the plague and the only way he can prevent the downfall of the Jiang clan is to keep his distance at all times.
Madam Yu has no choice but to scare the boy a little.
“You wanted to see me, Madam Yu?” Wei Wuxian stares up at her defiantly, clenching his hands by his sides.
“Wei Wuxian.” Madam Yu begins, and she sees the boy stiffen as she says her name. That is not a good start at all. “No need to be so tense. I would just like to talk to you.”
Wei Wuxian stares as if he’s been slapped. Clearly he’s shocked, as his voice stutters and breaks a bit as he speaks. “Pardon?”
Madam Yu stays seated, under the assumption that if she moves he will bolt. Looking at Wei Wuxian was almost like looking at a scared rabbit under the tip of an arrow.
“You have good reason not to take on the Jiang surname, do you not?” Madam Yu watches his reactions quietly, taking in every bit of information she can.
Wei Wuxian blinks a couple times before smiling. “I wouldn’t wish to rob Jiang Cheng of what is rightfully his.”
Madam Yu cannot resist the urge to smile. “I see. What a good brother you are to A-Cheng.”
“Sorry?” Wei Wuxian blurts out, putting a hand over his mouth after, like he was trying to keep the word from coming out of his mouth.
Madam Yu hums quietly. “Do you wish for me to keep calling you your courtesy name?”
Wei Wuxian stumbles forward, most likely due to the many shocks to his system he’s received in the past minute alone. “Yes?” He squeaks out, his voice clearly uncharacteristic from what Madam Yu has seen when he’s with his siblings. “No?”
Madam Yu turns her focus back to her work. “Take the time to consider it.” She picks up her brush. “You have been under our roof for long enough. It is your decision alone, and if you decide to refuse because of my past treatment of you, I will understand.”
“Ye-Yes, Madam Yu.”
Madam Yu looks up at him, about to tell him to call her A-Niang, before she considers that may be yet another shock to his system and decides against it, simply giving him a small nod as he bolts out of her office.
-----
“She offered to not call me by my courtesy name!”
Madam Yu overheard the day after; a smaller gasp from Jiang Yanli making her stop in her tracks and listen to the conversation of her two- no, three children.
“She… called me A-Cheng.” Jiang Cheng’s voice sounds small, confirming to her that the three are together.
“Oh, that’s wonderful A-Xian, A-Cheng!” Jiang Yanli cries, presumably wrapping both of her arms around her brothers.
Madam Yu leans against the nearby tree, relishing in the sounds of her children laughing and teasing, as she smiles quietly to herself. Her children are happy. Her children know they’re loved. Her children are safe.
“A-Niang!” She hears Jiang Yanli call, rushing over to the tree. “A-Niang!”
Madam Yu barely stands up in time for her daughter to hug her tight, and she leans against the tree behind her. “A-Li.”
Jiang Yanli smiles, waving her hands to the other two. “Come here, you two.”
Jiang Cheng is first to make his way over, giving his mother a small smile. “A-Niang.”
Madam Yu smiles, wrapping her other arm around her youngest son. “A-Cheng.”
Wei Wuxian hesitates, the conflict evident on his face.
“A-Xian.” Jiang Yanli invites, waving him over. “Come here.”
Wei Wuxian makes his way over slowly, glancing up at Madam Yu as he does.
Madam Yu gently moves Jiang Yanli to the middle to open up an arm for him. She opens it slowly, giving him a small smile.
Wei Wuxian grins, running over and almost bowling over all three of them.
“Wei Wuxian, you asshole! I almost fell!”
“A-Cheng, don’t swear in front of A-Niang!”