Very very rarely does the emperor of China wish that he could wake up as a butterfly who does not have to deal with this. "So Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji arrive, attack, are mocked by Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao, have their romantic drama and start cuddling, keep attacking, Jiang Cheng arrives and attempts to resolve personal issues mid-combat, and Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are taken as hostages by Jin Guangyao while they are distracted, though they are permitted to continue cuddling. The same Wei Wuxian who was able to, essentially singlehandedly, wage war against every cultivator sect and clan of note."

"That is approximately correct, Your Imperial Majesty. Although I have not yet properly recounted the role of Jin Ling and the dog."

"Continue explaining, then."

The Underminister has trapped himself. 

"Well," he says judiciously, "Your Imperial Majesty, mostly Jin Ling provided additional familial conflict about the fact that the man who raised him turned out to be quite lax in his filial duties."

"We see. So Jin Ling chimes in at some point, which I suppose isn't particularly relevant, the dog runs off for help and is not able to return before Lan Xichen decides to murder his lover Jin Guangyao. What prompted that?"

"Well, Your Imperial Majesty, the fierce corpse of the Nie sect leader Nie Mingjue appeared. Nie Mingjue was the lover of both Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen, with the mutual knowledge of all involved, before Jin Guangyao killed him. Nie Mingjue's fierce corpse apparently intended to get its revenge upon Jin Guangyao."

"With mutual knowledge? Cutsleeves do such things. But why then did Jin Guangyao kill him?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, he kicked Jin Guangyao down a flight of stairs while calling him the son of a prostitute. This seemed to happen to Jin Guangyao rather often and he took great offense at it each time."

"His lover did this. Lan Xichen was presumably aware of this treatment and did not intervene. Is this normal for cutsleeves?"

"Lan Xichen intervened to prevent Nie Mingjue from murdering Jin Guangyao, and also did not ever kick him down the stairs while calling him the son of a prostitute, a trait notably absent in most other important figures in Jin Guangyao's life."

"And then Lan Xichen murdered Jin Guangyao himself." He feels bad for his counterpart. Most exit the game by being killed, but by your lover, and to be abused by almost everyone else in your life, when you're too young to respond with credible threats, like seven or eight? "Jin Ling was raised by Jin Guangyao, then? How was he lax?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, by all accounts Lan Xichen did not intend to murder Jin Guangyao. He defended him from Nie Mingjue and seemed primarily interested in understanding Jin Guangyao's actions and convincing him to, perhaps, go in seclusion in the Cloud Recesses. Then Jin Guangyao may have attacked Nie Huaisang, and Lan Xichen killed him in Nie Huaisang's defense. With his last action, Jin Guangyao dealt with the corpse of Nie Mingjue, presumably because he did not wish the fierce corpse to continue any other revenge plans it might have."

"May have. Why the change?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, with his dying breath Jin Guangyao said that while he might have killed his father, brother, son, wife, teacher, other lover, and innumerable other people, he would never hurt Lan Xichen, such as by attempting to murder someone while Lan Xichen was defending him."

"Who in this tangled mess are you using as sources?"

"Those who were around and unconnected with the main conflict-- Nie Huaisang and certain members of the Su, Lan, and Jin clans who either were present or spoke with those present afterward."

"Presumably they had a chance to confer, first? I do not fault you for this: you have delivered a treasure-trove of detail."

"Indeed, Your Imperial Majesty, although the Su, Lan, and Jin have extraordinarily tense relationships at the moment due to these... events."

"What is the status of the Su clan in all of this?"

"The Su clan schismed from the Lan clan a few decades ago and feel angry that the Lan clan looks down upon them, so they secretly allied with the Jin in an attempt to become more prominent."

"So anything that comes from all three is likely trustworthy. What information came from Nie Huaisang alone?"

"Very little, Your Imperial Majesty; it was mostly confirmed through, for example, Lan Xichen's report to Lan Qiren, the Lan sect leader. But as a person almost entirely uninvolved in the... interpersonal... conflict yet present the entire time he was invaluable for corroboration."

"That is good to hear. And the raising of Jin Ling?"

"Jin Ling was Jin Guangyao's heir but was mostly raised by his uncle, Sect Leader Jiang Cheng, for reasons which... seem unclear to me? My sources tell me that Sect Leader Jiang is very fond of children and, quote, 'did not want his nephew to be raised by a Jin none of whom are worth the effort it takes to spit on them.' Another source told me that this was to be expected because if you leave a small child unattended around any Jiang they will immediately adopt it. I assume that there was actually some more complicated political reason but the cultivators seem quite firm on this. Regardless, Jin Ling admired Jin Guangyao greatly and was quite angry at him about causing Jin Guangshan to be raped to death and murdering Nie Mingjue."

"Why was he angry about Jin Guangyao eliminating people who had personally hurt him and insulted him?"