I would like access to secret cultivation knowledge is both a known priority and a known pointless exercise: the cultivator clans are jealous and have the power to simply take what they want and fade away. "So rogue cultivators standing on flying swords delivering vast quantities of tunics in magically expanded bags are likely to be visible throughout the empire soon indeed.

If Nie Huisang every actually began taking action his enemies would be in for a great surprise. "Remind the court, did the chief cultivator accept our offer of aid for the watchtowers?"

"Lan Wangji, lover of the most dangerous man in the empire, has an illegitimate child? This was not expected from a Twin Jade."

"Educating the peasants? In demonic cultivation?"

"Yes, indeed, Your Imperial Majesty. And the rogue cultivators are delivering other things as well. Your Imperial Majesty is of course aware of the continued health and prosperity of the Yiling region in spite of its recent crop failures?"

"It had been a puzzle, yes. The Yiling Patriarch was able to convince them to deliver food?"

"Indeed, Your Imperial Majesty. He purchased food in the Jiangnan region, which had an extraordinarily good crop, and directed all the rogue cultivators he employed to take it to the Yiling region. Essentially no one went hungry and he made a quite handsome profit."

The emperor frowns slightly. "You make him sound like less of a tailor, who produces necessary clothing, and more of a merchant." The last comes with audible distaste: while merchants are useful for delivering luxury goods and the emperor understands that others must deal with them directly, they are ultimately parasites on society who produce nothing themselves while claiming a great deal of coin in the process. 

"Your Imperial Majesty, Wei Wuxian is a tailor and a merchant and an inventor of novel cultivation techniques."

"The Chief Cultivator has neither accepted nor rejected our offer of aid for the watchtowers, because he cannot make up his mind whether he wants it or not."

"It is indeed puzzling that Lan Wangji, a man of such noted virtue, had an illegitimate child, but since he has recently become a cutsleeve merchant whose lover is a mass murderer perhaps his virtue is more flexible than previously believed. At any rate, Wei Wuxian by all reports adores Lan Sizhui and is unlikely to erupt in a fit of jealous rage. The Jiang sect is noted for its tendency to adopt children on thin pretexts."

The emperor is still less impressed than he was. From cultivator to merchant, and dragging one of the Twin Jades down with him. Even as an...unorthodox cultivator, Wei Wuxian had still at least performed his duty and his role.

If that had come from anyone else, the emperor would have actually been impressed. No room to take offense, no loss of power. Even a blind cock would get sunrise correct sometimes.

"You will keep a careful eye on these developments, and if necessary requisition men or money. The impact of this could be substantial."

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty."

A messenger arrives, bows deeply, and awaits the Emperor's acknowledgement.

The emperor lazily gives his assent.

"Your Imperial Majesty, the Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian, the Ghost General, and Lan Wangji request an audience."

The emperor does not curse. "Invite them in, and confirm that the Underminister of Internal Affairs is available for any protocol questions that may arise." Dismiss the rest of court? Letting them all die along with himself would be a disservice. "We shall give the guests some room: our loyal ministers, courtiers, and companions shall leave."

The court is dismissed in swirl of robes and gossip.

From outside there came a voice.

"--don't see how this is my fault, Lan Zhan, Sizhui was the one who was supposed to tell the Emperor we were coming. Really, it's your fault, he's your kid. You were just telling me about how Sizhui was so much better behaved than a-Su and this is all because of the calming and disciplining influence of the Cloud-- oh, okay, we're here now, I'll shut up-- but seriously Lan Zhan I don't see how this could possibly be my-- okay! Okay! Shutting up."

The emperor, of course, gives no indication that he heard anything. They expected a child to inform the Court? They saw this as telling him that they were coming, not requesting an audience that could be denied. To be fair, he doubted there was anyone, cultivator or not, who would refuse an audience with them after everything that happened.

Three people enter, announced by a servant. "Lan Wangji, the Twin Jade."

Lan Wangji, in white with a forehead ribbon, makes a perfect bow. An absolutely flawless bow. There are people who spent their entire life in the court who could not bow with such precision and grace. This is a bow that makes you weep from the beauty of it. 

He has a sword sheathed in his belt.

"Wen Qionglin, the Ghost General," the servant says.

He executes a perfectly reasonable bow, which is much less notable than the fact that he has black lines up his neck and hands and smells like death badly covered with perfume. 

He is not carrying any weaponry but would be the scariest person here, if not for...

"Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Patriarch."

The third person observes both of the other people bowing and a half-second later executes a bow which is quite well-done except that it is, for some reason, the bow of a servant to a moderately ranked concubine. 

He has a flute on his belt on the right side and a bag on the left. 

Other people would, depending on the situation, potentially face exile for such a bow. The emperor is thankful that the Yiling Patriarch bowed at all. Anyone else who brought weapons to an audience with the emperor would, of course, have died, screaming, in one of the lower torture chambers. From these three cultivators, he assumed it was an aesthetic choice, though it was possible they were simply concerned about theft: cultivators often had powerful magic items, a temptation that might have been too much for a servant, which would have led to a bloody path through the imperial palace, which would have been very awkward and inconvenient for everyone involved.

"Lan Wangji, it is an honor to have you grace the Court. Wen Qionglin, it brings Us joy to see any soldier be able to turn towards raising children when the fighting has ended. Wei Wuxian, We understand that you are to be thanked for preventing a famine in Yiling, and for that, you have Our gratitude. What do you wish to discuss?"

"This humble servant," Lan Wangji says, "thanks You for the gracious honor of this audience and begs Your pardon for our inability to go through the proper channels. Your willingness to receive us is a model of generosity." 

Not talking not talking not talking he's SO good at not talking. And appropriate facial expressions. Isn't his Lan Zhan so great.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa they're talking to the Emperor aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

"The importance of protocol must bow before the needs of the Empire and its people." Most people would have heard those words, properly, as a threat: justify why you are here and disrupting Court. For these three, it was an acknowledgement that this was one of the least disruptive methods they were likely to use.

Lan Wangji probably has some kind of opinion about this but his face is very unenlightening. 

"We wish to request Your Imperial Majesty's indulgence in offering You a small gift, no doubt of little value to You whose wealth is spoken of throughout the Empire and in foreign lands."

Lan Zhan is so smart. He is saying SO many sentences, and they are all very polite ones, and if he keeps thinking about this maybe he will be able not to fidget with his flute.

(He is, in fact, totally fidgeting with his flute.)