#uncle jiang

Due to your status as a war orphan, you decided to make it your life’s mission to learn all possible martial arts and weapons styles by never becoming a formal disciple of any sect, starting with learning the techniques and weapons of the Jianghu’s healers and fan-wielders since you lived near Silver Needle Sect. While walking on the side of a road, Chen Zixi, a budding doctor known as Mister Jade Hill, was driving a wagon full of herbs from Silver Needle Sect’s headquarters to where they needed to go and he offered you a ride beside him on the seat so you didn’t have to hurt yourself by walking since he learned that you were both heading to the same place. But when you were caught reading a manual that was only gifted to higher-level disciples as Zixi noticed the inscription on the cover and called you out on it, you were expecting him to turn that wagon around and tattle to the sect elders to make himself look better in his ascension up the sect ladder. Miraculously, Zixi decided to befriend you instead since he didn’t think anyone in the Jianghu was brazen enough to sneak into the inner sanctum of any sect undetected and “borrow” one of their advanced manuals before returning it later until he met you. Since Silver Needle disciples often liked mutually-agreed upon payments prior to rendering any services to others, you and Chen Zixi quickly formed a partnership based on him rendering medical and combat aid if you ever needed him as well as keeping your secrets of sneaking into sects to borrow manuals and uniforms or observe martial and weapons training in exchange for a chance to be your friend and learn a thing or two from you. Fortunately for Chen Zixi, one of the best things about you was that you weren’t a frugal gatekeeper when it came to martial and weapons techniques if you trusted the other person, so he seemed to always have a sneak preview of how other sects fought or what techniques and weapons they would primarily use because you would always break it down for him in a way he could understand. In addition, Chen Zixi would often help you sneak into Silver Needle Sect events such as medical consultations, martial training, and inner libraries by gifting you a woman’s uniform that he commandeered and certain items so you could bear witness to what was happening and who was in attendance in preparation for future discussions of your observations with him over a jar or two of wine.

For as long as you could remember being a member of the Jianghu alongside Chen Zixi and Jiang Yan, a Well of Heaven swordsman and the adoptive son of General Wang Qing, it was always just the three of you even though you don’t remember exactly what brought you together besides meeting Zixi while hitchhiking onto his wagon. Perhaps it was the first time you ever met Yan in your teenage years during an emergency response on the side of a desolate road involving a pregnant wife of an artisan with a broken-down cart and no access to a doctor who could render medical aid once the woman’s water broke. It just so happened that you, Zixi, and Yan would cross paths and right away, you all came to the side of the woman, who was frightened of this predicament since this was her first child while she cried out to the heavens with pained wails because of the strength of the contractions coursing through her body. In the meanwhile, the husband also needed reassurance that his wife could pull through this situation safely while also ensuring that he remained calm for his wife to put her mind and heart at ease. With Zixi taking the lead in using his qi to stabilize the woman, you three were able to help this young lady safely deliver her baby, with the husband and Yan offering their open palms for the lady to squeeze while you acted as a medical assistant to Zixi, who coached you on how to time when the woman would push and when she would relax to avoid overwhelming her body with stress so you could verbally guide the woman through this birth. In addition, you three personally escorted the family back to their village so they could receive proper rest and aid from a local doctor who was more experienced with postpartum matters. Providing a formal introduction of yourself to Jiang Yan since you and Zixi made it clear that you were already pleasantly acquainted, the man in white actually started to flutter his fan near his face as he asked if the air was warmer now due to the approaching summer winds or if it was just Yan’s face heating up from an observation of your appearance, which caused Yan to encourage you to ignore his best friend’s teasing as you shrugged that you were quite used to it. From then on, Jiang Yan joined that alliance with you and Chen Zixi as you vowed to come to each other’s aid should the need arise, as their sect values from Well of Heaven and Silver Needle perfectly aligned with your personal code of conduct and you actually enjoyed the company of Zixi.

Because you are a sectless wanderer of the Jianghu, it gives you the advantage of being able to blend in with and befriend disciples and elders from any sect without being bound by the rules of each individual one, even if you just end up using stealth to “borrow” their uniforms or martial arts and weapons techniques anyways unless a disciple or elder of any sect is willing to teach you of their own volition. Of all the martial and weapons techniques you’ve learned across the Jianghu, your favorites are those from Well of Heaven and Silver Needle because Yan and Zixi are members of these factions who are masters over sword, Mo blade, and fan. While the techniques of Midnight Blades and Nine Mortal Ways do have their advantages and can come in handy in a pinch in relation to stealth, assassinations, or disguises, you would prefer to not be an official member of either sect because you are aware that Well of Heaven and Nine Mortal Ways often butt heads and Midnight Blades is too bloodthirsty for your liking.

When it comes to your age in comparison to Jiang Yan and Chen Zixi, you have a five-year gap between yourself and both males. However, you get along with both men just fine even though you’re the smallest in height and the baby in the friendship. In addition, like Jiang Yan and many other warriors you’ve met across the Jianghu, you’re a war orphan who doesn’t remember much about her parents but who was nevertheless raised by members of a village that had close ties to Silver Needle Sect. Therefore, it makes your job as a Jianghu warrior easier because you can identify with some life stories and empathize on the whole with the common folk.

Generally speaking, you and Chen Zixi are the only two people in the Jianghu that Jiang Yan trusts the most, so whenever Yan wants to do something reckless by playing the hero, Zixi is often his personal doctor and you are often his backup shadow in combat. And that strong friendship was later tested years later when you three were adults and Jiang Yan had been deemed a Jianghu outlaw accused of patricide, causing you and Chen Zixi to rush to your best friend’s side to render aid when you two heard the whispers of rumors. Finding Yan covered in bruises and cuts all over his face as he was harboring a newborn baby that was not his own in a makeshift sling on his chest, you and Zixi vowed to help Yan get to Jiangnan so he and the infant could be sheltered in a safe place. While you three successfully took down all your enemies via horseback and a formal duel, Zixi ended up stabbed by a Jianghu warrior known by his moniker of “The Void King” in order to protect Yan and the infant after your aim with poison-laced medical needles had failed to disable the Void King in his forward charge. In order to maximize your best chance of survival, you and Yan decided to stay together with the baby and the injured doctor to find some shelter that was out of reach of your enemies since you were one of the few that Yan knew could stabilize Zixi’s qi with your own in order to preserve his life. Eventually coming across an abandoned cabin in the woods of Qinghe, you and Jiang decided to shack up here for the moment so you could have proper space and supplies to treat Zixi’s wounds while Yan would be the primary caretaker of the baby.

The next time Chen Zixi woke up following his sacrifice to protect Jiang Yan and the baby from the Void King, he recognized the scent of medicinal herbs in the air as well as the throbs of blood and qi coursing painfully through his shoulder and chest from where he was stabbed, causing him to groan with eyes squeezed shut. Not having enough time to adjust his eyes to the light, Chen Zixi decided to keep his eyes closed as he listened for any sounds that could tell him where he was and what hour it was. Noticing the sound of cicadas echoing nearby but otherwise detecting a silent quality to the outdoors, Zixi guessed that the time could currently be between the hours of Xu and Zi. To be honest, Zixi couldn’t even tell if he was dead or alive since that scythe got him good and he blacked out after he lost enough blood, so he decided to wait until he could detect more clues about his current whereabouts. With featherlight steps that clicked against the wooden floor, Zixi detected the presence of another person in the room as he slowly opened one eye to discern if this person was friend or foe only to receive a squeeze of his hand in this person’s own palms as they sighed with what sounded like relief, “You’re finally awake…Welcome back, Xi-gē.”

“(Name)?…” Zixi rasped as he hissed out a whine when he pivoted his body on his injured shoulder to gaze at you before you warned, “Careful, you just barely survived a stabbing had it not been for me remembering Silver Needle’s techniques or using my own qi to help you, so please don’t reopen your stitches for the next couple weeks or so.” Lightly ushering Zixi to lay back down on the mattress, the fan wielder complied without incident until he thought of his childhood friend and that baby as he gasped, “Jiang Yan, where is he? Is he okay?”

“Yes, we’re all alive and accounted for, A-Xi.” Jiang Yan answered as he rounded the corner with the baby sleeping peacefully in a sling against his chest as he pat the infant’s downy head before the former Well of Heaven disciple remarked, “It took a while, but we managed after A-(Name) and I stabilized your condition and found a location to lay low for a while. So in short, your heroics saved the day.” Upon hearing this, Zixi chuckled at his friend’s words under his breath before he nodded with closed eyes, “Good, very good…Well, as long as everyone is safe, it was worth it to take a blow to the shoulder. At least now, I can show off some battle scars and a great backstory for it if anyone asks.”

“Save the theatrics for after you’re out of the woods, Mister Jade Hill. As A-Lang said, it’s ironic that you’re the doctor who is now a patient.” You teased while unraveling the current layer of bandages on Zixi’s shoulder and chest so you could replace them with a thick salve and fresh gauze, which caused Zixi to mock out a laugh as well before sticking his tongue out at you like a petulant child. Needless to say, you and Jiang Yan were relieved to know that Chen Zixi was gonna make it while the fan-wielding doctor was pleased to learn that his sacrifice, which he thankfully survived, gave you all the best chance for escape and survival.

Months after becoming settled down in Bamboo Abode with the little baby and Chen Zixi once he started to recover from his injuries, you, Chen Zixi, and Jiang Yan developed a new life together as Yan changed his name to “Jiang Wulang” to protect his identity while you and Zixi changed your names too to match your friend. With time, the three of you started to embrace your roles as parental figures to this little baby, who was often slumbering peacefully in a makeshift crib unless he/she expressed other needs through crying. All in all, this little girl/boy always looked like a little cherub as your finger couldn’t help but stroke their chubby cheeks whenever it was your turn to care for them before you asked Yan about the child’s name, which was provided to you since it was engraved on the Zhengguan Jade necklace that was a part of the baby’s belongings. When you asked where the kid came from and what happened between Yan and his adoptive father, the swordsman told you everything he knew up to this point and even gave you and Zixi a chance to back out of helping him just like he did months ago when you two rushed to his side. However, you and Zixi refused to abandon your friend as you did then with the claim that Yan needed a village to help raise this kid since Lady Han of Heaven’s Pier was already acting as a maternal figure and Jiang Yan was already a paternal figure to this baby. So you and Zixi were also willing to retire from the Jianghu as well to be parental figures to this little infant until he/she was old enough to venture out into the world without help.

You were actually the one who taught the young master of Heaven’s Pier and Blissful Retreat how to learn martial arts in secret without being detected by inner disciples of a sect, especially because he/she wanted to explore the Jianghu one day and learn all possible weapons and martial arts so he/she could travel alongside his/her aunties and uncles. You also taught her/him basic survival skills such as what plants were safe versus unsafe to eat or use in medical situations and how long he/she could survive without food, water, or damaged equipment before he/she would need to restock and repair armor and weapons at a local village. Finally, you taught the young master how to dance to any music, slow or fast tempo, because it was a hobby you enjoyed when you were younger and you often reframed martial and weapons training as a deadly dance. Not only that, but dancing was fun and you found that the little girl/boy enjoyed it because it meant he/she got to spend more quality time with you, so you definitely wanted to give the kid some good memories.

Three years before the young master’s sixteenth birthday, Jiang Yan learned of new intel regarding what occurred in the Jianghu years ago and what really happened to General Wang Qing, so he decided to investigate it to see where the leads would take him. Deciding to take you and Chen Zixi with him as backup, you three made the painful decision to leave the young master of Heaven’s Pier behind while entrusting his/her care and safety to Lady Han. As much as you three didn’t want to go, you all knew this was your best chance to find out and expose the truth as well as stop the ones who were orchestrating all this evil behind the scenes or in the Jianghu and royal courts, so you had to take it.

If you choose to love Jiang Wulang/Yan…

As parental figures to this little baby girl/boy, the young master of Heaven’s Pier has become quite used to you pulling pranks on his/her uncle Jiang because it’s one of the few times that he/she can see his/her adoptive father laugh with the lightheartedness of a child. One prank in particular that the young master distinctly remembers occurred in Uncle Jiang’s room as he was changing boots since his current ones were getting too worn and he had an extra pair that were not nearly as worn. But as soon as he reached for the boots he laid out only to palm empty air as his eyebrows rose on his forehead with disbelief, Yan almost gaslit himself into thinking that he may have misplaced them by mistake until he reflected for a moment, took a deep breath, and gave a chuckle under his breath with a remark towards the open air like a father scolding his child, “I know you’ve been in here, (Name). You can come out now.”

“Nice to see you remembered my usual tricks, A-Lang.” You teased with a wiggle of your eyebrows as you tossed the leather boots back to Yan. At your explanation for your silliness, Yan shook his head at you with another chuckle under his breath as he sat down on a nearby seat and slipped the boots on before he asked, “And how did you even sneak into my room? You know I lock it up so little tricksters like you can’t come in here.”

“You sure about that?…Personal opinion, you really should get a better storage system for your keys, A-Lang.” You giggled sheepishly as you swung a metallic key on an iron ring around your finger while Yan patted down his waist and noticed that his room key was also missing from his person before he sighed deeply and hissed out a “give me that back” with a swipe across your hand. In all honesty, as much as Jiang Yan would get peeved by your constant teasing and stealthy pranks, he also found your antics quite hilarious as he laughed each time you would somehow manage to step it up, which caused the young master to stifle a laugh in his/her palm in turn so he/she wouldn’t be discovered as an eavesdropper by his/her uncles and aunties. Thinking on it in his head, Jiang Yan knew that it was sure to make Chen Zixi spit out his wine and bust out laughing while banging on a table with his fists, as the fan wielder was a close friend of Yan’s who naturally possessed a sunny disposition and was always up for a good laugh or a good time. In fact, Jiang Yan nearly choked on a sip of his wine on several occasions whenever Chen Zixi and Lady Han suggested that you would make a great wife for the swordsman because you were a natural ray of sunshine in his life who could brighten his day with a prank, which were definitely a step up now from what they used to be when you two were teenagers and you would sneak into the Well of Heaven sanctum while he was still a disciple, causing him to often yank you into his room to avoid detection by patrolling disciples or higher-ups since you would somehow get away with disguising yourself as a male disciple with a poorly-executed mustache and intentionally-deep voice whenever you spoke. And if you ever teased him with the idea of engaging in “brotherhood”with him while dressed in that pitiful male disguise, Jiang Yan would just lose it with snorted laughter before he would shove your puckered lips away from his cheek and command you to take off the Well of Heaven robes and change back into your clothes, with you often quipping back a “don’t knock it until you try it” before doing as he asked without further protest. Sometimes, that pitiful male disguise still makes an encore to this day if you want to help Jiang Yan lighten the mood if he’s having a bad day. Typically, it’s conducted as part of the daily routine with nothing amiss such as greeting each other in the morning before breakfast until Jiang Yan finally manages to get a good glance at your face and actually skids on his heels to do a double take. With the swordsman walking backwards so he was back in front of you, a single eyebrow raised as he gripped the top of your head in his open palm so he could angle it up to his eye level, Yan eventually threw up his hands with the observation of “I need more wine to deal with this one’s childish antics today” before you snorted a chuckle as you also asked him, “Oh come on, we’re all siblings here, so you know you can tell me what’s troubling you…You sure you won’t even say it to the mustache? It took me hours to draw on this thing.” Upon hearing that fact, no one could stifle their snorted chuckles as you managed to have your fun and Jiang Yan managed to feel the load lighten off his back for even just a moment. Even still, Yan always commands you to wash off the mustache or else he’ll throw you out and lock the door so you have to sleep outside, to which you acquiesce since your mission had already been accomplished. But before you leave, Jiang Yan always quips out something smart with the straightest face. Here’s one such example: “Good attempt at drawing on a mustache; you’ve improved since our youth, A-(Name)…But next time, try not to make it look like you fought with a goose and got feathers stuck to your face after you lost.” At that particular roast, you burst out laughing while walking away from Yan whereas Zixi actually fell backwards in his chair from the force of his body rocking with his belly laugh and the fanning of his face.

In his youth, Jiang Yan was always the studious bookworm who was reading some manual or other literary work in his free time, which you found often aided him in his swordsmanship. Even as an adoptive father to the young master of Heaven’s Pier, Yan is often seen reading when he’s not training the child how to fight or helping make this woodland house into a true home for you, Chen Zixi, and the child. But unlike in his youth, when he read manuals that he didn’t want you and Zixi to see even if you two begged him, he will now share what he reads with you since he’s recognized your innate talent for eidetic memory and correcting another’s form since you can detect when the execution or timing is off. Yan could literally sit beside you and read you a manual for weapons skills that you both know Zixi would find boring or perplexing, and you would think it’s a pleasant bedtime story because his voice puts you at ease. In addition, Yan is one of the very few in the Jianghu who sincerely admires you for your intellect and combat skills rather than acts like everyone else who puts it down because of your gender.

To be honest, it’s hard to say when Jiang Yan first caught feelings for you or vice versa regarding you towards him, but if a guess had to be made, it was way before a found family of a doctor, a swordsman, and a sectless wanderer settled down with a baby of unknown origin in Bamboo Abode. While Jiang Yan was always a man with a strong sense of duty and chivalry to his people and nation as well as to his adoptive father, he couldn’t deny the feelings he harbored for you when you were younger. It wasn’t like it was any secret to anyone that knew him best, especially General Wang Qing, who could see the way his adoptive son pined for you whenever you managed to pop by for a visit so you could see the two men, or Chen Zixi, the doctor who would often kid around with the swordsman over his crush for you by threatening to court you if Yan wasn’t going to pursue you first. The first time Jiang Yan probably caught feelings was when some Well of Heaven disciples made a snide comment about him in hushed whispers regarding his status as “the general’s favorite” before they changed their dialogue to sweep you into the insults as they called you “Jiang’s tramp.” Even if it meant punishment for several days for breaking sect rules by punching peers, Jiang Yan conducted the mental calculus and decided that defending your honor and maintaining your friendship would be worth the cons of his impulsive choice. On the other hand, you weren’t an official disciple of Well of Heaven and you were willing to take the blame for the incident since you didn’t quite like yours or Jiang Yan’s names floating around in their mouths, so you weren’t afraid to challenge those pompous brats to a wrestling match since you knew it was a custom of the sect to “bond better through wrestling.” Therefore, the most they could really do is just accept the match before losing miserably and not being able to do anything about it because all those who were defeated by you were too stunned by what just happened or embarrassed to lose face after getting thrown over a woman’s shoulder and tossed out of the ring. Afterwards, you yanked Jiang Yan along by his sleeve so you could go get Zixi and drink some wine together by a nice campfire, which the man didn’t even protest as he followed silently. And when his adoptive father found out that a woman won those wrestling matches, General Wang Qing was more intrigued by you than angry at what you did as he started laughing similarly to when Jiang Yan would chase around cats with bells around their necks as part of combat training when he was a child. All in all, Jiang Yan didn’t know if he was intrigued or shocked by what you did in that situation or in similar ones, but at least he knew as early as a teenager that you had his back just like he would always have yours.

Or perhaps Jiang Yan started looking at you differently that one time in adolescent youth when he was reading a Well of Heaven martial manual and you and Chen Zixi prettily begged to borrow it for a quick glance, with the swordsman in blue immediately refusing with a firm “no” followed by a rattling-off of rules and regulations for use of the manual that was typical of someone of his caliber. So you and Zixi cooked up a plan to wait until sleep naturally took over Jiang Yan as you swiped the manual from his knapsack and read it under the cover of night. When the book was returned back to the knapsack, Jiang Yan found it had been disturbed and Zixi scribbled annotations in the margins as he couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s inability to understand how to swing a Mo blade. You, on the other hand, actually found a way to improve upon the advanced technique since you had an idea after reading the Well of Heaven manual and when Jiang Yan saw you, you were testing your theory nearby with a Mo blade of your own as Zixi just sat at a table to enjoy the view while fanning his face. As stated previously, Jiang Yan has always praised you for your adaptability and use of stealth in a jam but also your keen ability to dissect a martial or weapons technique. In short, you elevate the techniques without changing the nature or content of the original to make training more digestible if you teach it to someone else like the young master of Heaven’s Pier or you find ways to still learn the techniques effectively while also mitigating and preventing careless mistakes and injuries.

The one martial and weapons skill that you have yet to master and that you will master since the Void King battle is archery, which you haven’t been able to crack the code for yet. Fortunately, you live in a woodland cottage with your found family until it is “safe” again in the world and you know Jiang Yan has always been a great archer since his days in Well of Heaven. Therefore, if you want to learn archery, just ask Jiang Yan and he wouldn’t mind teaching you. Like how he teaches the young master of Heaven’s Pier to fight even if he knows it will make Lady Han angry since she wants the kid to have a normal life of chasing butterflies, playing with toys, and being a kid with a good childhood away from the dangers of the Jianghu, Jiang Yan is actually a patient and thorough teacher who will sit on the sidelines to sip a wooden bowl of wine unless he sees your form or stance is incorrect, in which case he’ll stand up to correct you so you don’t ricochet the bow string into your eye socket or snap a tendon in your shoulder blade. You didn’t think archery would be so hard upon first glance because Jiang Yan makes it look so easy, but you quickly learned that it takes a lot of bicep strength to pull back the string and hold a nocked aim before firing, all while remembering to breathe properly. The first time you shot an arrow, you nearly ran out of breath just trying to pull back on the string but once you got the hang of it, you found that Jiang Yan would smirk up at you a lot more often whenever he would catch you doing archery training. However, you have noticed that Yan will still stand up when you’re training in archery just to have an excuse to be close to you, even if you let him know that your form is correct and he confirms it is but would rather engage in “brotherhood” with you. While you personally believe that Jiang Yan’s actions in archery training could be payback for when you used to sneak into Well of Heaven to visit him in disguise and used to tease him in the same way, neither one of you complains and it always ends in the two of you laughing together about it.

When sleeping at night, you and Jiang Yan are used to being close to one another because during the time of Chen Zixi’s recovery, it was often the swordsman’s silent way of offering you physical protection as an act of service, especially because it’s non-negotiable that he always sleeps on the side of the bed closest to the room door so an intruder could never get to you without going through him. Even when you share the same mattress since there’s limited room in the shack for three adults and a small child, Jiang Yan is almost always the big spoon behind you as you both sleep facing the doorway or both sleep facing each other but with Yan facing the doorway so you can sleep peacefully with your back to said doorway, either way with at least one bicep around you in the event he had to quickly snap awake and throw you behind him to shield you from an incoming onslaught. I think losing his parents and adoptive father, even almost losing a best friend, really took a toll on him and he’s so petrified to lose you, so this is one thing that he won’t intellectually or otherwise budge on if you’re in a serious courtship with him. However, there is still the one-percent chance that he’ll eventually cave and be the little spoon, but only if he can still face the doorway if you’re laying sideways or lay his head on your chest so he could still rise to his feet quickly in case of danger. In addition, this sleeping arrangement is actually nothing new because when you and him traveled the Jianghu to work together on missions, you and him always stayed shoulder to shoulder with each other.

Of all the hobbies and disciplines that you learned from all nine sects to become a jack of all trades since childhood, your favorite was always the Masked Troupe, the sect of martial artists who often came in the form of Fine Arts performers. What you didn’t realize was how much Jiang Yan loved the mannerisms you picked up from Masked Troupe, especially when he would watch you dance to any tune that had a good beat to your ears. In fact, since your shared teenage years, you have found that dancing is the one hobby that Jiang Yan will do together with you without complaint, all under the guise of needing a reciprocal exchange of learning something new since you once borrowed his Well of Heaven martial manuals. But even if Jiang Yan just sat on the sidelines, he would be so happy because he knows dancing makes you happy and seeing you happy and safe makes him happy. Additionally, Jiang Yan appreciates honest art and craftsmanship because it’s not common in the Jianghu due to the nature of the times. So seeing you dance even if it’s not perfectly choreographed truly warms Jiang Yan’s heart because your movements comes from deep within your soul and you dance for you, not for fame or affirmation from others.

I can definitely envision Jiang Yan as having acts of service and gift giving as possible love languages. This is because he knows that choosing to be an outlaw on the run alongside him would be a rough life for you and Chen Zixi and yet you two stay anyways, so he definitely wants to show that he cares about you both sticking with him for so long without delay or complaint. The best example of this conscientious care for you was when you were at Chen Zixi’s bedside tending to his injuries during his long recovery while also offering assistance to Jiang Yan in caring for the baby if you could tell he was too depleted to do so himself. During those tense first weeks in Bamboo Abode, Jiang Yan would often cook with the wild game that he hunted in the woods nearby and bring it to you so you wouldn’t have to get up, drape his dark cloak around your shoulders like a shadow in the night, or would intentionally switch off in caring for the baby if he/she cried in the middle of the night as he would gently encourage you to go back to sleep since he could handle it. But more often than not, Jiang Yan is cooking meals for you as a show of gratitude for staying by his side and a display of his personal affection for you because he knows you have always liked his cooking ever since the first time you camped together on a mission in the Jianghu with Chen Zixi and Jiang Yan just happened to be in charge of supper. But Jiang Yan’s best meals are created during special holidays, with roasted duck being something that you and the young master of Heaven’s Pier look forward to every New Year.

Additionally, I mentioned how Jiang Yan had a love language related to gift giving, which you first saw in action when it came to Yan’s interactions with the young master. There was one time where the little girl/boy mentioned wanting a decorative tassel for their blade and Yan gently scolded the kid for choosing aesthetics over competence, only to break down when the kid’s innocence became too much to handle as he eventually tied a tassel to the kid’s sword when he/she was sleeping. Same thing goes for you and anyone else he loves; Jiang Yan does listen when you mentioned liking something and if you won’t buy it for yourself, he’ll somehow find a way to get it for you later and just casually transfer it to your bed or knapsack without even saying a word. Needless to say, you always know it’s Jiang Yan who got you the thing you said in passing months to years ago because he has the agility of a cat without a bell around its neck when it comes to sneaking you the item, all without needing to hear a “thank you.” But if you express gratitude to him, he won’t refuse it but he’ll just shrug with a remark of “don’t mention it” or even a “so childish.” However, Jiang Yan secretly gets a pep in his step with a smirk on his visage and a melting heart if he knows the recipient of the gift likes his kind gesture, especially if it’s you or the kid. But Jiang Yan also responds well to gift giving from others because he appreciates honest art and craftsmanship from the common folk. For instance, Jiang Yan was very touched by your gesture of buying wine from a local brewery because they didn’t cut corners and actually tried to make the product taste and smell good. While he didn’t say much aside from a simple thank you, the glassiness in his dark eyes told you all you needed to know about his positive perception of your gift.

Speaking of the kid, you can only imagine that it’s hard for Jiang Yan, a man in his early twenties or so making the difficult decision to raise an adoptive son/daughter from the ground up shortly after the unjust death of his adoptive father. You also know how much Jiang Yan loved and respected General Wang Qing and how the general was, in turn, so doting and kind towards the son of his old friend, Jiang Yan’s biological father, from Well of Heaven. You can’t even imagine the grief since Jiang Yan lost two fathers and a mother in his life, one death of which he was in attendance for, while you never really remembered parents past a certain age and began fending for yourself with occasional assistance from the villagers in the area you grew up in. You’ve seen the pain of loss in your lover’s eyes as he cradles that baby in his arms when he/she wails into the open air, with you theorizing that Jiang Yan might be thinking why he couldn’t have what some people have, a family around to bear witness to him getting married and having children of his own if he so chose. On the other hand, you’ve also seen how the death of the adoptive father and general Jiang Yan loved lit a fire under him to the point that he’s so protective and attentive to this little baby, whether he’s cradling the heavy sleeper against his chest or teaching the baby how to walk when he/she is older. In your personal opinion, you’ve made Jiang Yan know to his face that he makes a good father to the kid because you can tell he cares more than he lets on and when you told him that the general would be proud of him being the one that this kid needs…if Jiang Yan didn’t think of marrying you or courting you before now, he was heavily strategizing how to take an idea in his head and make it a reality.

Most people assume that the whole dynamic of your courtship together is “(Name), no” and “(Name), yes,” with Jiang Yan as the stoic black cat and you as the chaotic golden retriever. But what if I told you that it’s actually the other way around because Jiang Yan is the more reckless one based on your personal experiences in youth despite acting more like a German Shepherd while you’re actually the voice of reason at times until you decide to just go along with the plan since there’s always something in it for you and you get to spend more quality time with Jiang Yan and Chen Zixi. While Jiang Yan still knows when to turn off the reckless side of himself so he can be a responsible, sensible person, he does have an uncanny habit from childhood of getting himself into scuffles with other martial artists of the Jianghu and often bringing you and Zixi along for the ride as backup.

If you choose to love Chen Zixi…

When you were young teenagers, you and Chen Zixi never looked at each other as anything other than martial siblings or best friends who often snuck around to read manuals or witness forbidden martial and weapons techniques together, and that was enough for the both of you. Frankly-speaking, you and Zixi couldn’t pinpoint exactly when he started looking at you differently or when you did the same for him, but the change was definitely noticeable during the substantial period that you lived together in Bamboo Abode with Lady Han and Jiang Yan to help raise the young master of Heaven’s Pier. After all, you were in close quarters for several weeks to a couple months, with you nursing Zixi back to full health or offering your assistance to Jiang Yan regarding the baby. For as long as Zixi knew you, you were always regarded as the trickster, the sectless fountain of knowledge, the friend…But there was just something about seeing a feminine side to your ministrations of playing doctor to a sick patient or auntie to a little baby cradled in your arms that awakened a protector and provider’s spirit in Zixi so he could give you a good life even if it changed the dynamics of his relationship with you forever.

Once Zixi was fully recovered from his injuries, you and him started spending more time together at the cottage in Bamboo Abode outside of the confines of you bringing brewed medicine to his bedside or fresh bandages to replace out the old ones. Even though Zixi planned to confess his feelings to you prior to now, perhaps a near death experience was the catalyst for changing the sense of urgency when it came to confessing his feelings for you. In all honesty, Zixi was expecting pushback, a reply of “that’s sweet, Xi-gē, but you’ll be nothing more than a brother or a friend” from you. Surprisingly, you were more stunned than embarrassed by the doctor’s verbalized proposal as your words caught in your throat, eyes widened and fixated on the man while he fluttered his face with his fan before hiding the lower portion of his visage with the silk as bashfulness entered his expression. All he heard afterwards was a hesitant inquiry of “you’re serious?” from you, prompting Zixi to nod his head from behind the fan that still covered his face before you gradually lowered the silk with your hand. With another inquiry directed at pinpointing the exact moment when Zixi caught feelings for you and why he decided to confess now, all the doctor could say was a shrugged confession of “Since the moment I found my equal years ago, I wanted to be by your side, but I didn’t think you’d want me because I was your Xi-gē.” Remembering back to a female-centered dialogue between yourself and Lady Han regarding Zixi, you could distinctly recall her personal tales of love between herself and a martial artist named Chu Qingguan before she inquired about your relationship with Zixi, to which you confessed that you had known each other for years since childhood but did not go beyond sworn siblings or friends in terms of relational titles. However, even the lady of many faces knew a deeply-harbored crush when she saw one and she could tell that whether you wanted to admit it aloud or whether you wanted to hide it for the sake of friendship, you had feelings for Zixi. That’s why you made your own confessions known to Zixi as you nodded, “You’re right, you will always be my Xi-gē, but I’ve always envisioned something more between us. I’m just glad to hear you feel the same.”

You and Chen Zixi are both big teases and jokesters with each other, which is a shared trait that carried over from youth to now. From drinking wine while sitting on the roof at your new home in Bamboo Abode or practicing qinggong skills together in the woods by making a friendly race out of it, you and Zixi are normally seen doing these things together by the young master, Jiang Yan, or Lady Han. But Zixi can bring on the charm when it comes to the qinggong skills if he pulls you close to him by gripping your waist through your robes and spinning you around in a dance. But even when you two become an official couple, most people mistake you for sworn siblings instead of lovers because of the way you horseplay and tease each other in public.

When you two share a mattress at night because space is limited in the house, you and Zixi are always holding hands in your sleep and you’re always facing each other, especially because it hearkens back to your days of being a bedside caretaker for Zixi while he was recovering from his battle wounds. After facing the Void King and living to tell the tale, Zixi can remember that you would always sit by his bedside so dutifully and grip his hand in yours to offer reassuring squeezes even if you were sleep-deprived yourself. While Zixi hated putting you and Jiang Yan through that mental anguish of wondering if he was gonna live or die, it really couldn’t be helped, but he’s thankful he had the two of you to aid in his recovery. Now that he’s once again robust and healthy as a horse, holding your hand and looking directly at your face when slumbering together are an absolute must. However, unlike Jiang Yan, Chen Zixi actually enjoys and prefers being the little spoon because you’re always protecting him in combat since he’s the main healer and since he became injured for months following the battle with Aureate Pavilion and the Void King. Not to mention that he personally believes that you feel absolutely safe and comfortable, and you don’t mind, so it all works out in the end.

If you’re in a committed relationship with Chen Zixi, you can expect to receive cheek kisses as a way of him showing physical affection for you because he knows it flusters you when you’re calm and physical affection is a love language of his. However, you have found through personal experience that those same cheek kisses can be an effective strategy for flustering the fan-wielding doctor if he’s rambling on about something and others are silently begging him to be quiet for once or if he’s distracted with a task and is not expecting your presence near him. Same goes for feeding each other when you’re together or hugs from behind that often lead into giving each other piggyback rides, which hearkens back to your teenage years when you or Zixi would pretend that you couldn’t walk anymore on a journey and would somehow convince the other party to carry you as they would teasingly acquiesce while Jiang Yan would roll his eyes with a smirk and rib on you both for acting like children.

When you were younger, Chen Zixi’s nickname from you was “Xi-gē” because he was your elder sworn brother, and since its first use, it always stuck. For you, Zixi always referred to you by the title of “(Name)-mèi” because you were also his sworn sibling since youth. Those titles still haven’t left you two even as you transitioned from best friends to a devoted couple, and they never will.

As mentioned previously, you are a jack of all trades for your Jianghu trio. But of all the skills you learned that Chen Zixi finds himself liking, it would be that of Velvet Shade because you always know the tea, you’re willing to share the tea with Zixi since he has his own tea to share with you, and physical affection is a love language that both you and Zixi share. You want a surefire way to make Chen Zixi’s cheeks burn with a reddening blush as his mind short-circuits? Just physically flirt with him and he’ll melt.