Meng Yao bows. "Sect Leader Nie. Lan-guniang has arrived. With her here are Wen-guniang, Wen Qing, and Wen-er guniang, Wen Ying. Together they apprehended Xue Yang, here."

He gives the Wen sisters a searching look, then turns to Xue Yang. "Take him inside," he orders the guards. When they obey, he turns to Lan Zhan. 

"Lan-guniang. Is your brother well?"

"Thank you for your concern. He was well when I left Cloud Recesses." 

He nods and then gestures for everyone to follow the guards inside. 

"Xue Yang," he snarls. "You are a malicious and destructive force in the world. Is there any reason not to simply execute you?"

"Maybe so," he says and spits blood on the floor. "You'll have to guess!"

"Sect Leader Nie, it is possible that we would benefit from leaving him alive for questioning. None but Xue Yang know the location of the missing Yin Iron fragment."

"Can't we just find it using the other pieces Lan Zhan has? Xue Yang is, uh...not responsive to conventional motivations. You could try to torture it out of him and he'll probably just laugh and perv on you." 

Nie Mingjue makes a Face. 

He giggles. "Awww, Ying-jiejie knows me so well."

"He calls me that to annoy me," she clarifies. "I don't tell him to knock it off because that only encourages him." 

Nie Mingjue rubs his face. "Do you have any other ideas for getting information out of him?" he asks Meng Yao quietly. 

"Some. If you think it is wise, I could spend a fortnight trying out my ideas. If I fail, you can execute him then."

--Nod. "Acceptable. In that case, take him to the dungeons immediately." 

Meng Yao bows. "Yes, sir."

He gestures at a few of the guards and exits the throne room with Xue Yang in tow.

"As for you..." he turns his attention to the Wens. "What exactly is your involvement in all this?"

"We would like Wen Ruohan to not have the Yin Iron. He's a horrible person and one of these things killed our parents and a lot of other people when we were kids," she says promptly. "He has that one, which is not great, but we can ensure he doesn't get the others. Also Wen Chao hurt our grandmother and the rest of our village and I'm going to kill him someday." 

"Hm." 

"I swear that my younger sister and I do not mean you or your people any harm, Sect Leader Nie. A-Ying has intended to one day kill our Uncle for a long time. We have been assisting Lan-guniang to the best of our abilities."

"They have done well."

Nod. 

"What do you plan to do next?" he asks Lan Zhan. 

"Meng-gongzi informed us of Wen Chao's threats to all major sects. I must return to Cloud Recesses."

"All three of you are welcome to spend the night. I would recommend that you two do not linger too long after Lan-guniang has left," he tells the Wen siblings. 

"Understood. Thank you, Sect Leader Nie."

They go find a guest room. 

"I can see why Nie-gongxi is scared of his older brother." 

"He's a frightening man. But I at least trust that he would execute us outright before he killed us in our sleep or something. We are safe here for tonight."