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His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years, Ruler of the Central Kingdom, sits upon the Dragon Throne, ruling a land of ten thousand li in every direction, bearing the Mandate of Heaven and supported in his absolute and total rule by able and capable servants. Everything in harmony. Unlike the shirt of the under-minister for internal affairs, which had clearly not been adequately steamed, and did not quite match the flowers that had been selected for the month. It was going to be one of those days. He has not been on the throne very long, only a handful of years, and yet the acclimation to his subjects flying around on swords is something he is certain will never cease to unsettle him. As a child surviving in the harem, he had known the ultimate reward, that he would rule the court that all in ten thousand li owed obedience to. But the clans and sects of the cultivators seemed to treat that obedience as less of a divine mandate and more of a polite fiction. Thankfully they at least did not visit him at court. But the under-minister was approaching, so His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years, Ruler of the Central Kingdom reflexively corrects his posture and beckons him closer.
"Your Imperial Majesty, Sect Leader Jiang has killed seven demonic cultivators so far. While Wei Wuxian has not shown any capacities to possess people, many spirits full of resentful energy are capable of possession, and this would not be the first time Wei Wuxian has shown surprising abilities."
He does not laugh. "Killing seven people, given the number of deaths attributed to Wei Wuxian personally, not even accounting for his fierce corpse army and the thankfully deceased Wen Ning, whose actions Wei Wuxian is arguably fully responsible for, seems extremely restrained."
Nine years later--
"Your Imperial Majesty, an emergency report from Jin Guangyao has arrived."
Well, now that it has been said in open court, calling for a private meeting may not do anything. And it had been such a lovely day as well. "Elaborate."
"Wei Wuxian is alive. The demonic cultivator Mo Xuanyu, a former guest disciple of the Jin clan, removed himself from the cycle of reincarnation in order to allow Wei Wuxian to possess his body."
"I see that the efforts of Jiang Cheng were inadequate, wise though they were. Make sure to thank Jin Guangyao for the information. Is there more?"
"The Ghost General Wen Ning has been spotted. Jin Guangyao believes that Wei Wuxian has somehow used demonic cultivation to resurrect him."
"It would be rude to recommend to him that he properly dispose of critical corpses. That Wei Wuxian could resurrect someone twice is not at all an unreasonable story. Presumably Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian are together: is the baby they once cared for accompanying them?"
"We believe Wen Yuan was killed alongside the rest of the Wen remnants, Your Imperial Majesty."
"It was suggested before that the result might be a fierce corpse rampage. Have the watchtowers noticed an uptick in fierce corpses?"
"They have not, Your Imperial Majesty. Wei Wuxian appears to have been spending the time since his resurrection hunting fierce corpses alongside a cultivator called Lan Wangji."
"Do we have any earthly or heavenly idea why?" The emperor misses the times when mysteries would have sensible answers.
"No, Your Majesty. Lan Wangji is one of the strongest cultivators, but until recent events no one would have expected something like this of him. By all reports, when he is not night-hunting, he meditates, performs exercises, plays the guqin, and practices calligraphy. He speaks little and is noted for his perfect adherence to all three thousand rules of the Lan clan."
The emperor is confused for a moment, but remembers that three thousand rules is probably a lot for someone outside the Court. "Strange indeed. Continue."
"Your Imperial Majesty, it is mysterious why Lan Wangji is working with Wei Wuxian instead of trying to kill him again, and why instead of immediately seeking his revenge Wei Wuxian chose to spend his time night-hunting and mentoring the Lan juniors."
"The Lan Clan is normally obedient and faithful, a model for all to follow. It seems almost as mysterious why they are following him, though we suppose power is important for cultivators."
"Well, Your Imperial Majesty," the underminister says judiciously, "presumably the Lan juniors did not know, and simply assumed that obeying the most respectable member of their clan would not lead them to spend time with a notorious mass murderer."
"Ah, so the mentoring situation involves less ability to flee than realized? Or have they not realized who is mentoring them? Or now that they have started, they fear returning without having gained all that they can since the stain is already afixed? Explain for the Court, please."
"Your Imperial Majesty, Wei Wuxian was pretending to be Mo Xuanyu. The Lan juniors say they were unaware, but Lan Wangji is believed to have been aware of the facts of the matter. How he was aware we do not know, nor why he decided to night-hunt with Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji hated each other when Wei Wuxian was first alive."
"And who is Mo Xuanyu? Why is it thought that Lan Wangji knew better?" The emperor is almost, at this point, used to extremely questionable and impulsive decisions from people with the power to destroy the entire empire.
"Mo Xuanyu is former demonic cultivator in the Jin clan and illegitimate child of the former chief cultivator Jin Guangshan. No one knows why he decided to summon Wei Wuxian into his body. --Lan Wangji appeared unsurprised when Wei Wuxian's identity was revealed and they both disappeared shortly afterward."
The emperor will let pass without comment the revelation of another illegitimate child of the chief cultivator, whose behavior should be above reproach. Perhaps the cultivator clans do things differently. "Is there any information on where they are?"
"Send the chief cultivator our condolences on the loss of his half-brother. How was Wei Wuxian's identity revealed?"