"Hmmm..."

"Sect Leader Nie, Wei-guniang speaks cleverly. Xue Yang is not currently a threat to us, and we can easily contain him here. If from him we discover the location of the Yin Iron, that would be not only of great use to us but also a great loss for Wen Ruohan. The benefit we stand to gain from questioning him alive outweighs the cost of leaving him alive a little longer."

"Meng Yao is really smart and well-spoken, isn't he?" Jiang Cheng whispers.

"He really is! My brother relies on him a lot, he's good at many different things."

"Jin Guangshan is such a moron. Someone that talented throws himself at your feet and you kick him? So stupid. Meng Yao must get his smarts from his mom." 

"Meng Yao, take Xue Yang to the dungeon. Strengthen the guard on the dungeon and make sure someone is watching him at all times."

"Understood." He bows sharply and leads Xue Yang briskly from the room.

Xue Yang keeps his obnoxious little smirk as he's led off. Wei Ying's only regret is that she didn't manage to kick him in the balls. 

Hmm. She edges out of the room, peering after Meng Yao. Maybe Xue Yang will try to escape and she'll get an opportunity. 

Xue Yang is not escaping. Xue Yang is not doing... anything, really, other than apparently chilling in the courtyard while Meng Yao talks to the captain of the guard.

He appears to be having some sort of Difficulty.

"Da-ge, of course you are in charge of all the force's dispatches and I am not. But guarding the dungeon is important, and this is Sect Leader Nie's order. Please don't make trouble with me."

The captain looks unconvinced. Meng Yao ducks his head and widens his eyes. "If Chifeng-zun were to punish me... I wouldn't be able to take it."

The captain snorts and steps forward, crowding him. "Sure. Then go ahead, go be at your master's feet." He pats Meng Yao's shoulder. "His lap is probably getting cold."

A-huh. 

She slips back inside and whispers to Nie Huaisang: "Hey, how formal are things in the Unclean Realm supposed to be, usually?"

"Wh... well, what do you mean, Wei-guniang?"

"Ah, just saw the guard captain saying some stuff that was pretty disrespectful to Meng Yao and also your brother, and I was trying to figure out if that's normal." 

Ugh. "Uhh, well - I think it's a little bit normal, Wei-guniang, for people to sometimes be rude to Meng Yao. And to... ah. But it's definitely not supposed to be that way, Da-ge gets really really mad if they do that in front of him."

"So if he said your brother promoted Meng Yao in exchange for sexual favors that's no big deal?"

Yikes. "Uhh, yeah, that's not - mm, maybe we should - uh, Da-ge?"

"Hmm?"

"Ah, Wei-guniang just heard - Wei-guniang..."

"Oh, um, I overheard--" 

And then she repeats the entire conversation verbatim. 

Nie Mingjue turns an interesting color and storms out. 

- where the captain is currently calling Meng Yao the son of a whore.

Nie Mingjue punches him in the side of the head. Not a light, chastising cuff on the ear; he is PUNCHING this guy and the side of his head happened to be the best target. 

OW. The captain stumbles over and yells in pain and confusion, clutching his head. The swordfighting drills behind him come to a confused halt, most of the disciples openly staring.