"There is a difference between not lying and telling them everything! Why did you tell Lan-guniang anything about the Yin Iron, why did -- is our safety here a joke to you? How can you go confessing to everything while we're still in the dark, A-Ying!"

"I. I'm not used to--people here aren't afraid all the time, jiejie. But they're afraid of us. And I hate it so much, and I--I can't let Wen Ruohan get his hands on another one of those, I kept seeing what happened back then and imagining it worse--"

She covers her face with her hands. "A-Ying, I know you're sensitive about other people like this, but you can't -- this family's safety has to come first, A-Ning's safety has to come first, you can't make these decisions by yourself.  What can we do to stop him? If he tell him we failed, he will send someone else -- if he doesn't attack Cloud Recesses right away!"

"They know now. They can prepare, now. They can--jie, I won't let what happened on the mountain happen again, A-Ning could have died then, do you think toeing the line is safe? It's not, you and I both know that, and when you're up against the wall with fire in front of you pressing against the wall isn't the right choice, you have to go through the fire to the other side. I know I need to prepare more before I can take Wen Ruohan on but if he just gets stronger in the meantime that won't help, and letting him go on forever isn't an option, it's not safe for any of us!"

"You need to tell me first. A-Ying, how can I be responsible for both of you when you do whatever you feel is right the moment you feel it's right? I -- I. You have a point, but -- I can't do what's best for all three of us if I don't know what the hell you're doing, do you understand? Just because countering Uncle might be the best thing to doesn't mean that the first opportunity that appears is the best one to take." 

"I couldn't tell you first! I was just looking for it like we'd agreed on and then I stumbled across Lan-guniang and we both got dragged into a cave where there was loads of water and bunnies in Lan headbands and a guqin that attacked me and, also, previous Sect Leader Lan Yi guarding the Yin Iron! That's not the kind of thing I can anticipate to discuss with you first!" 

"You didn't have to tell any of them anything!!! You could have watched and waited, the way we were sent here to do, and - why were there bunnies in the water cave?"

"I assume Lan Yi put them there to keep her company or something. Uh, in retrospect 'say nothing' would probably have been a good idea if I could pull it off but I...freaked out when I saw what the Yin Iron was and they asked me direct questions and lying is against the rules here and I promised to follow the rules here and I sort of wasn't handling the situation with the most grace I have ever had." Sigh. "I'm sorry, Jie."

She hugs her sister. “We’ll deal with the situation. I still don’t want to be separated from A-Ning if there’s going to be a war.”

“I think I, I would be okay? But I would rather be with both of you too. I think I can help, Er-Jie..”

"Sorry, A-Ning, I just worry." Hug. Hugs for everyone. "I guess it's kind of hypocritical. It's not that I don't think you can help." 

Hugs are so much better than yelling!

While the Wen siblings discuss strategy, the Lans are left to deal with their side of the aftermath. 

"Well. That was unexpected." 

“Apologies for worrying Brother. You... already knew of the Yin Iron?”

"It is a matter of which the Sect Leaders of the Great Sects are kept aware. So that if it should ever be necessary, someone would know to take action." 

“What must we do?”

"Finding a way to re-seal the Yin Iron is of paramount importance. But, also...if Wen Ruohan is after our piece, then he's going to go after the rest, too. We should speak with the other Sect Leaders and recover any shards not currently under someone's protection." 

“Will you summon them here?”

"I'll ask them to come personally to pick up their children when the classes end. That won't be suspicious, and nobody will wonder why I didn't make the same request of Wen Ruohan." 

"We will do nothing in the meantime?"

"I didn't say that." Sigh. "I'll see what I can do about suppressing the piece we have now, and we can see if any of the books in the forbidden chamber have anything to say on the subject, and...we're going to have to do something about those Wen siblings. It would be easier if they would accept sanctuary, but..." 

Does it help if she's accidentally married to one of them. That probably doesn't help.

"If they do not... we need to know everything we can about their plans, about Wen Ruohan's plans. Perhaps we can still aid their sabotage of him in ways that will not be traced." He grimaces. "I don't like it. We are absolutely in our rights to imprison them there, but that would be an escalation."

"Also, I suspect it wouldn't work. Wen Ying has already broken through our wards once." 

"Twice."