Lan Zhan glowers after Yu Ziyuan, vibrating with anger.

"Sorry about that."

“Do not apologize. She was wrong.”

"I know. I'm still sorry you had to see that."

She squeezes Lan Zhan, then lets go and opens her arms. 

"A-Cheng. Come here." 

He sits down heavily beside her and leans into her arms, not meeting her gaze. 

"Sorry," he mutters after a while, not meeting Lan Zhan's gaze either. "Father...doesn't like me much."

"Uncle Jiang loves you," Wei Ying says firmly. 

"Maybe." He doesn't sound convinced. "He still doesn't like me much." 

Hugsqueeze. Jiang Yanli sits down on his other side and hugs him too. 

"We like you enough for everyone," Wei Ying promises. 

She is Uncomfortable, and she does not know what to say. She would rather run after Yu Ziyuan and duel her on a broken leg than sit here while Jiang Wanyin airs his insecurities.

"Don't worry too much about Madam Yu," Wei Ying murmurs after a while, still hugging her brother. "She's not...much fun...but it's mostly possible to avoid her."

"Do you?"

"Yeah! She's way less interested in me than Shijie and A-Cheng anyway."

"I do not think you avoid her enough." 

"Well, I can't avoid her all the time, but it's not like this kind of thing happens every day."

"She is Uncle Jiang's wife and the mistress of Lotus Pier, there's really only so much I can do."

Being inescapable does not make this acceptable and Lan Zhan is not going to accept it. She turns away before Wei Ying can try to argue her out of caring about this again.

Wei Ying doesn't try to argue with her about it. She just puts a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it. 

Lan Zhan continues to recuperate. As soon as she's well enough to walk a little bit, Wei Ying drags her around everywhere, showing her all her favorite things. 

Lotus Pier is a beautiful place. And a pleasant one, when Madam Yu isn't around. Which is usually. Wei Ying manages to make sure that Lan Zhan doesn't encounter Madam Yu at all for weeks.