Fwooooooosh. 

...Is it just Wei Ying or is that more Lan disciples than were there when they left. 

It looks like more, but she doesn't want to hope - 

She looks for her brother the moment they land.

Her brother is not immediately visible. 

One of the (new?) Lan disciples sees them, hurries over, and says that Zewu-jun is in the command tent with Chifen-zun. 

Then that's where she'll go.

Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao are bent over a map, conferring; they all look up when the two women enter. Xichen beams at her. "A-Zhan. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find you had already left! How have you been, did things go well?"

She bows. "Brother, Sect Leader Nie. Meng-gongzi. Things are well. We have retaken Lotus Pier. Many children survived."

"That's an enormous relief." 

Sect Leader Nie nods gravely, scowling at absent Wens. 

"We saw many Lans outside."

"The battle lines have shifted. It is extremely unlikely that the Wens will be able to sneak around us to Cloud Recesses. Right now the best thing we can do is ensure those lines stay as strong as possible on our side." 

"What do you need us to do, now?"

They can discuss strategy for a good while, then, updating the two on what's happened since they left and soliciting updates on Wei Ying's talisman development and discussing deployments and eventually roping the young women into the general strategic discussion that was happening before they arrived. Jin Guangshan hasn't gotten off his lazy ass to do anything yet, but when the Wens finally pressure him into declaring for or against they think he'll side with the rest of the non-Wen sects, if only because it seems like they'll win anyway. 

Well. Lan Zhan has no respect for Jin Guangshan, but this is definitely better than him supporting the Wens.

When this meeting wraps up, Lan Zhan would appreciate having a word with Brother in private.

"Of course, of course--is everything alright?" he asks, leading them off to his tent. 

She waits until they're inside his tent to respond to that in any capacity.

She looks at him, and then looks away. "I am pregnant."

He stares at her for a moment before pulling her in for a hug. 

"We're going to get married. And tell people it was a magical accident, that I was working on a weaponizable talisman and accidentally got something completely different and it went off. I've made enough progress--not a lot at a time, not cutting into weapons development more than necessary--I think we can sell it. A-Cheng believed me but he was kind of distracted from questioning the story by the news of impending nibling." 

"...Thank you," he says genuinely, still hugging his sister. 

She wants to ask if he remembers when their mother got pregnant with her, how she was. How she felt. But he wouldn't remember and she doesn't ask.

"I apologize for contributing to your burdens."

"This is not remotely your fault, A-Zhan." 

Well, it's her fault that she's telling him about it and turning it into something he'll feel responsible for.

That is not the part of this that's unfortunate!!!

"...What are you planning to tell Uncle?" 

That continues to be an excellent question and she continues to not have an answer.

"Planning to tell me about what?" he says, brushing past the tent entrance.