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It's a pity Wen Qing insisted on splitting off, but it's not like Wei Ying doesn't understand having to protect your little brother. Even if hers ended up coming along after all. Whatever, between her and Lan Zhan it's not like they can't take whatever crosses their path.
And Yueyang is lovely! Mm, free samples of tasty alcohol--hey! Mrrg, that Lan Zhan, she never waits up.
"Hey! Hey Lan Zhan, where are you going?"
Uncomfortable shrug. "She was never happy with Uncle Jiang taking in the daughter of a woman he had once been in love with. It's not like she decided to take me in or said she loved me and then changed her mind or anything."
"Ah, don't worry, it's not that bad! She never interfered with my relationships with A-Cheng and Shijie or anything, or interfered with my training, or made me go hungry or anything like that."
There are no surprise emergencies in the next few days, at least, which is an encouraging sign. A group of them take out a Wen outpost, killing all the soldiers. It was not a very important outpost and not a very significant victory, but it's better than nothing. Morale improves.
Lan Zhan reflects on how terrible it would be to go another five or six months without being married to Wei Ying. That, and how being visibly pregnant would make the wedding affair more scandalous than it already has to be... she is leaning towards having the ceremony soon, a safe distance away from the front.
Speaking of ceremonies, Meng Yao has done an excellent job of organizing one.
His efforts are maybe just a liiiiiiittle bit wasted considering it isn't the kind of ceremony that has a bajillion witnesses, but if so this is completely lost on Wei Ying, who is delighted.
Lots of other people are also delighted! His sister-in-law-to-be is excellent and Meng Yao is excellent and this will probably be good for both of them.
Other People Are Less Delighted.
Madam Yu has the social grace not to openly say anything about her late husband's ward at the moment, no matter how much face she's going to lose in front of her best friend when they see each other again and Madam Jin wants to know why she let this happen. It's obvious that the brat's talismans are doing a huge amount for the war effort, and less obvious but still evident that Chifeng-zun (who commands the vast majority of the allied forces) and Zewu-jun (who has less, but still more than the Jiangs were able to bring), both respect her best friend's son-of-a-bitch-husband's bastard a great deal, which would be a lot less embarrassing if her late husband's ward didn't do things like calling him her best friend's son's much cooler half-brother in public.
She is Very Much Not Happy with Wei Ying right now.
Someone congratulates her on Wei Ying's behalf. She snaps at them that don't they have somewhere else to be doing something else, and turns around to stalk off, only to bump into Lan Qiren.
Lan Qiren looks vaguely constipated and disapproving, but then, he always looks like that, so maybe it doesn't mean anything. Or maybe it means he also isn't happy with Wei Ying, although even then, it would only be his baseline amount; out of all of the things Wei Ying has ever done to piss him off, "swearing sisterhood to Meng Yao" isn't actually on the list.
He inclines his head politely to her.
"Madam Yu. Congratulations."
S E R I O U S L Y ? ? ?
UGH.
"Thank you," she says through gritted teeth. "Congratulations on your niece's engagement. If only it were for some other reason."
Lan Qiren's nostril's flare. His voice goes even chillier.
"As I'm certain you are aware, the circumstances are far from typical. Neither my niece nor her intended behaved dishonorably."
"I acted in haste and thus error. The situation has been explained to me in greater detail now. My behavior towards my niece was more dishonorable than her fiancee's."
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