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Sins of the Fathers pt 4 / On AO3

It wasn’t Jin Ruyi alone who came to fetch Wen Yuan that morning. Jiang Yanli was there as well, and she’d brought baby Jin Hui with her. As puzzled as he was by this change in their routine, Jin Ling greeted his mother and offered her to share their breakfast (his breakfast, really, since Wen Yuan rarely had it with him).

“I think I will, thank you,” Jiang Yanli replied, coming to sit at the table. “But A-Hui is a little fussy this morning, I think he could sleep some more after all. A-Yuan, would you mind taking him back to my house with Ruyi and putting him back in his cradle? She’ll show you how.”

Instantly, Jin Ling found that suspicious. He’d seen enough babies in his life to tell that Jin Hui didn’t seem particularly sleepy. And normally Jin Ruyi would be clamouring that she could take care of her youngest brother without help, but instead she remained meek and smiling, as if she’d been coached for it.

Wen Yuan, less used to their family dynamics, obediently nodded and took the baby from his mother-in-law, holding him as if it were the most precious treasure in the world as he left the house with Jin Ruyi.

A little on edge, Jin Ling poured his mother some tea, which she took with a smile.

“A-Yuan really seems to love children, doesn’t he?” she remarked. “I don’t think he’s seen many of them before coming here. At least, he never mentions anyone his age or younger from Yiling. But he’s very good with them, very patient.”

Jin Ling shrugged. “Well, he’s never going to have any, so I don’t know if that’s a good thing that he likes them.”

Jiang Yanli shot her son a surprised look, but did not comment on that remark. She didn’t need to. Of course Jin Ling had said the wrong thing again, even if it was the damn truth. Wen Yuan would never have children. Jin Ling might, if he decided to become the sort of man his grandfather was, but Wen Yuan couldn’t afford that sort of scandal, not when he was the wife in this marriage.

Breakfast passed silently, which unnerved Jin Ling. His mother had to be there for a reason, and that reason couldn’t be that she just wanted to see him. Nobody ever just wanted to see him anymore. Now that he had joined the world of grown-ups thanks to his marriage, people only made time for him when they needed something from him, or so it seemed to him.

“A-Ling, I have a favour to ask you,” Jiang Yanli said when they were done eating, proving Jin Ling right. “It is a favour, not an order, I want this to be clear. You can refuse, and I will make other arrangements. But I also think it would be best for everyone if you agreed.”

Jin Ling grimaced. “What do you want, mother?”

“It’s about Wen Yuan,” she explained, and of course it was. Nothing else seemed to matter lately except that boy. “I don’t have all the details yet, but it seems that his education is… somewhat incomplete.”

Jin Ling shrugged. “Yeah, we’ve all noticed. So what? Aren’t you already teaching him?”

His mother nodded.

“Where I can, yes. But it seems he also hasn’t been trained as a cultivator,” Jiang Yanli explained with a concerned frown. “Or at least not enough to develop a golden core. It is not from lack of skill: I’ve tested him in what capacity I can, he has potential. And it is not a lack of interest on his part, either, his attitude when the twins and BaiBai talk about their lessons made that clear. I think he just wasn’t given the chance.”

“Then just have him train with the rest of us,” Jin Ling dismissively replied, before quickly grimacing as he realised what that meant. “Wait, no, don’t do that! Jin Chan would make his life a living hell, and mine too. He thinks anyone who didn’t have their golden core at twelve is an idiot and should be kicked out of the sect!”

Jin Chan himself, naturally, had performed that extraordinary feat.

Jin Ling’s own core only formed a little before his fourteenth birthday. It was a reasonable age by any logical standards, but Jin Chan liked to act as if that was a complete disgrace. Maybe because his cultivation had never really improved after that important milestone, while Jin Ling was still making steady progress.

“Your cousin’s treatment of him is one thing that has me concerned,” Jiang Yanli agreed. “Jin Chan can be… a difficult child. And speaking to his father would do little good.”

Jin Ling nodded. He didn’t like Jin Zixun. More importantly, he suspected his mother had nothing but disdain for her husband’s cousin, although she was never anything less than polite when forced to be around him. But she had to be forced to be in his company, and her politeness lacked any warmth. She might as well have spit in Jin Zixun’s face and called him a toad, it would have been the same for anyone who knew her.

“That’s why I was thinking maybe you could try tutoring Wen Yuan,” Jiang Yanli went on with a smile.

“Me?” Jin Ling exclaimed. “Why me? Why not a senior disciple? Or even a proper teacher? We have so many elders in the sect, surely one of them could do something useful for once?”

His mother sighed, looking more severe than he’d ever seen her. Once more Jing Ling had the feeling he was disappointing her, as he now did every time he showed any emotion over that damn stupid marriage.

“A-Ling, I’m going to talk to you like an adult, and I hope I can trust you not to repeat these things,” Jiang Yanli said in a tone of voice so serious she sounded like a stranger. “I am not sure why your grandfather has decided he needed an alliance with Yiling, but I think we both know him well enough to suspect he is planning something, especially considering the current tensions between the great sects. And whatever he is planning, I fear your father and I don’t agree with it.”

It surprised Jin Ling to hear his mother speak so plainly. She never openly involved herself in politics if she could help it, but of course she couldn’t have missed what was going on. Even Jin Bai and the twins had noticed enough to incorporate it into some of their games. They’d play at a new war sometimes, one between the Jin and the Nie, for which they imagined extraordinary causes.

Usually, they’d spend most of the game arguing over who got to be Nie Mingjue and Jin Zixuan, clearly the superior characters to play.

Jin Ling didn’t think it’d ever get as bad as an actual war, because most of the Jin sect opposed such a conflict. But there was no denying Jin Guangshan and Nie Mingjue disagreed on everything these days. Even Jin Ling’s marriage had caused its own tensions. Apparently, Nie Mingjue had opinions about allowing anyone named Wen back into a major sect.

Jin Ling would never accuse his grandfather of purposefully angering Nie Mingjue in hopes he’d start something, forcing the Jin sect to heroically defend themselves with the help of their new ally the Yiling Patriarch.

He wouldn’t have accused Jin Guangshan, but he also wouldn’t be surprised if that turned out to be the truth.

“I would feel safer if Wen Yuan did not have to be alone with people I am not sure I can trust,” Jiang Yanli said. “All of the sect’s teachers answer to your grandfather and would find it difficult to resist his demands to influence him. I cannot tutor him myself, it would be ridiculous to pretend I can teach cultivation. Your father could not spare the time. I considered sending him to learn alongside the girls, but I fear it might be awkward for him to be around much younger children, and I could not ask them to protect him the way I can ask you.”

“But I’m too young to be teaching anyone!” Jin Ling protested. “Also, he hates me!”

“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you, A-Ling,” his mother replied, the slightest hint of scolding in her voice. “He’s a little shy, and might have a bad impression of Jin cultivators due to some things that happened when your father was young. If Wei Ying told him certain stories… but you’re not like that at all, and Wen Yuan can see it. And I don’t think you’re too young to teach, either. The Jin sect is just really unusual with this,” she sighed. “Were you born in any other sect, you’d have started helping teach the younger disciples a long time ago. At your age, Jiang Cheng was already overseeing even the adults’ training sometimes.”

“At my age, jiujiu was a sect leader,” Jin Ling grumbled. “You can’t compare us.”

His mother smiled, something a little sad showing on her face. She had that expression sometimes when the conversation went to the days before the Sunshot Campaign. Just like her brother, she’d never really spoken of that period since Wei Wuxian had completely cut them off, and Jin Ling had been discouraged from asking. They had both lost so much, and that’s all everyone thought he needed to know.

“A-Ling, I am asking this because I believe you can do it,” Jiang Yanli said, reaching over the table to take his hand. “If I thought it might be too much for you, I would have directly looked for another option. If my trust in you is not enough to convince you, though, consider the advantages.”

“You mean like more time with Wen Yuan?” Jin Ling scoffed.

“And less time with Jin Chan,” his mother retorted with a smile. “Naturally you would no longer attend as many shared lessons with other disciples if you were to tutor your husband. Your father has agreed that if you accept to do this, your own progress should be supervised in individual sessions with teachers instead of the group classes you have at the moment.”

Jin Ling stared, a grin creeping on his face. For years he’d begged and threatened to be granted that exact thing, and finally it was within reach. To finally be spared the company of his cousin… Sure Wen Yuan wasn’t fun to have around, but he was miles better than Jin Chan.

“Father knows this?” Jin Ling still cautiously asked. “He’s fine with it?”

Jiang Yanli smiled at him. “All he wants is for you to be around people your age. When he was young… your father was very isolated, inside the sect and outside. It caused him a lot of problems, especially with your uncle and with Wei Wuxian. And since you're…”

“Proud and bad tempered,” Jin Ling finished for her.

“Very secure in your beliefs for a boy your age,” his mother corrected with a fond smile. “Which isn't a bad trait to have as an adult, even if it can make life difficult at your age. Your father was like that too. He remembers how much pain it caused him, and he worries you will be hurt too. He's trying to protect you.”

Jin Ling scoffed and crossed his arms on his chest. He'd heard variations of this for a while. It sounded stupid the first time. It still sounded stupid now.

“I hate Jin Chan.”

“We know that now, A-Ling. And that's why your father and I hope you will agree to tutor your husband. It would be the easiest way to remove you from your cousin's company without making it look like you're avoiding him, wouldn't it?”

With great reluctance, Jin Ling nodded. For all that he'd dreamed of no longer being around Jin Chan so much, there was no doubt his cousin would have still found ways to sour things for him if their time together stopped without good reason. Even like this, Jin Chan would manage to laugh at Jin Ling, saying he was too obsessed with his ugly wife or something. But it was normal for a married couple to cultivate together, and Wen Yuan didn't look bad these days, now that his cheeks weren't so sunken.

“Then let's start this as soon as possible,” Jiang Yanli said, smiling brightly. “You are excused from your classes today to start preparing for your new task. The Library would be a good start I think, but see if you can talk to your little uncle. Guangyao started learning around the same age as Wen Yuan, I'm sure he can provide some insight. And tomorrow afternoon, you can start tutoring Wen Yuan.”

Jin Ling frowned, a little unsettled that things should move so fast. He couldn't complain, though, when it meant one less day around his dreadful cousin.

#zhuiling #lingzhui #jin ling #lan sizhui #wen yuan #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #lingzhui arranged marriage #I swear next chapter the boys will actually interact I sweaaaar

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