Lan Wangji made quick work of assessing the prisoners. He had originally planned to continue the war until both Wen Ruohan and Jin Guangshan were dead, putting a decisive end to their machinations and sending a signal to future generations of the danger of following in their footsteps.
But now that he had Wei Ying again, the fire in him to fight had subsided. Did he really need to continue? He would rather retreat to Cloud Recesses, where he could keep Wei Ying safe, away from all others.
The strange tension in him grew as he approached his private tent. What if Wei Ying had somehow managed to escape? What if one of his guards had injured him when they were out of Lan Wangji's sight? He told himself that it was normal for him to be concerned for Wei Ying's safety, given the past thirteen years. But Lan Hui would have alerted him if anything had happened.
What if some of his soldiers had stayed in the room and watched Wei Ying bathe?
Lan Wangji felt his lips pull back from his teeth in a silent snarl at the thought. He paused, forcing himself to breathe, startled by the strength of his reaction. His normal icy calm was completely out of reach in a way it hadn't been since he'd forced his way through the barrier and unleashed his dragon blood over a decade ago.
He told himself that the reason the notion upset him was because it would be a violation of Wei Ying's privacy. That answer did not feel true, however, and he wondered why the notion of anyone else seeing Wei Ying's skin filled him with such primal fury.
Lan Hui must have sensed his approach, because she emerged from his tent, a slight smile on her face.
"You have chosen well, Wangji. I approve. If I were younger, I might even have challenged you for him."
Lan Wangji's body locked up, as though primed for battle, and the elder dragon smirked, chuckling as she patted his shoulder and walked away, leaving him both confused and filled with a hot, possessive rage that he didn't know what to do with. He considered following after her, but she was already moving away back to her own tent, and Lan Wangji could not withstand further delay in seeing Wei Ying.
He pushed open the flap to his personal tent, and felt the tension in his body ease somewhat when he saw Wei Ying, bathed and wearing one of Lan Wangji's own white, silk under robe, seated on a cushion at the low table where tea had been set out.
The intelligent silver eyes locked on him, wary but not hostile. Lan Wangji could only detect the faintest traces of Wei Ying's scent in the air, but at least all traces of the Jin alpha were gone. Having just bathed, there wasn't much of it in the room yet. Lan Wagji let his lips part, drawing it in deeper, so he could taste it on his tongue.
The bergamot and spice notes that had been there in Wei Ying's youth remained (Lan Wangji had spent years scenting different flowers to be able to correctly identify which had been in Wei Ying's scent, a compulsion he had not been able to explain to his brother or even himself). But the notes of cinnamon and citrus had deepened. His scent was rich and warm, against Lan Wangji's own cold, austere scent.
Compatible .
The thought crossed his mind, like an intrinsic, immutable fact that had just been revealed to him. The answer to a question Lan Wangji had not thought to ask and did not fully understand.
The word resonated in his blood.
He wanted to breathe in Wei Ying's scent at the source, to press his face against the scent gland at the base of that slender throat. It was only the deeply entrenched rules of propriety that had him holding back. He allowed himself to look at the man he had spent so long either mourning or searching for.
From where he stood, he could tell that Wei Ying had been bathed with Lan Wangji's own soap, the traces of its sandalwood subtle in the room, blending with his own natural scent.
Everything that touched Wei Ying's skin marked him as belonging to Lan Wangji: the robes, the necklace, the chains… even the scent of the soap. The dragon within him seemed to stretch and uncoil, immensely pleased at the sight.
Mine.
The thought filled him, while simultaneously increasing the hot, restless itch beneath his skin. Perhaps part of him must still be feeling that Wei Ying was not yet fully protected. After all, he had only just found him. It would likely take a while before Lan Wangjii's years of regret and concern were washed away.
"Wei Ying has grown strong," Lan Wangji said.
Wei Ying's body instantly tensed, his eyes going wide. The first true sign of fear Lan Wangji had seen from the man since they'd met.
"You know who I am." His eyes shifted to the tent entrance, as though considering his chances of escape. He grimaced, his hand going to the silver collar that encircled his throat. "At least now I know why you put this thing on me. I knew the illustrious Hanguang-Jun was not looking for a concubine."
Lan Wangji frowned. "I have no interest in concubines."
Wei Ying scoffed out a laugh. "' Have him stripped, bathed, and brought to my tent ' didn't really send that signal. And your scent-," Wei Ying cut himself off, and Lan Wangji wondered what it was about his scent that Wei Ying was reading. The man continued before he could ask. "So I guess you just wanted to… what? Interrogate me privately? You didn't seem to have any issue beheading that Su She guy in front of everyone else. I can't really imagine what you need to ask me that's so secret."
"I do not wish to interrogate Wei Ying. I know that Wei Ying did not do anything to harm my clan."
The huli jing looked up at him skeptically, trying to find the lie in Lan Wangji's words.
"I was told that Hanguang-Jun didn't lie."
"I am not lying. I know Wei Ying is no threat to me."
"The fact that I'm sitting in your tent wearing warded shackles and a magical fucking necklace that would make it impossible to hide from you even if I escaped says otherwise."
Something dark inside Lan Wangji preened in pleasure at the huli jing's words. Wei Ying cannot hide from me… he admits he cannot escape.
Lan Wangji looked at the shackles. They had been placed on him by his guards who had mistakenly thought Wei Ying might be a Jin spy. He should remove them.
He should .
But there was a part of him, that simmering itch under his skin, that stayed his hand and kept him from doing so.
Mine .
The word repeated in his mind and echoed through him, like an edict. Wei Ying watched him, clearly not sure what to make of his words.
"You said you know I am no threat to you. But your clan has been hunting me for over a decade, and you refuse to release me. You're the head of the Lan Clan. Isn't it your choice?"
"Wei Ying does not remember me. But I remember Wei Ying."
Wei Ying looked at him in confusion, then his eyes slowly widened.
"You… you're the boy from Yiling? But that doesn't make sense. His spiritual powers were almost nonexistent. No one can build power that fast, no matter how hard they trained."
Lan Wangji hummed as he moved to the washstand to clean his hands in the bowl of fresh water that had been placed there. He was gratified to know that Wei Ying remembered him, but just had not connected his childhood self to his adult self. It had been such a momentous event in Lan Wangji's life that it would have been… difficult if the boy had forgotten him entirely.
"Dragon-human hybrids do not come into their powers until their bodies are strong enough to contain them," Lan Wangji said.
Wei Ying tilted his head, considering his words.
"So the stories about a dragon going crazy and sifting through the storage shed trying to find my bones. That was you?"
Lan Wangji felt his ears heat at the hazy memory of how out-of-control and full of rage he had been in that moment, power blazing through him, unrestrained, remaking his body from what it had been before. It was all Uncle and Brother could do to keep him from razing the entire town in his search for Wei Ying.
"Mm," he acknowledged. Lan Wangji hadn't been aware of how tense Wei Ying had been holding himself until his body relaxed somewhat, his posture looking more casual and less like a coiled spring. "I did not want to believe Wei Ying was dead. I… accessed my powers earlier than expected. I am more dragon than human now."
"You never even told me your name. Back then," Wei Ying said, his eyes still searching Lan Wangji as though trying to reconcile the person he was looking at with the child from his memories. "It seems a little unfair that you know my birth name, but I don't know yours."
"Lan Zhan. Courtesy Wangji," Lan Wangji said.
"Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan! It suits you. This one is Wei Ying. Courtesy name Wuxian," Wei Wuxian replied, the grin that lit his face was much more similar to the one of his youth, compared to the harder edged, more calculated ones he had flashed before when he was first brought in as a prisoner. Lan Wangji found that he liked both versions.
"Wait. If you knew that I wasn't a threat to you, why was your sect hunting me all these years?" Wei Wuxian asked. "I heard that you'd only recently come to power. Did whoever was in charge of your clan before not believe you when you told them what happened?"
"I have been in power since my ascension, but Uncle dealt with the day-to-day running of the clan until I had mastered my abilities. He believed my account of the events in Yiling. We were not hunting Wei Ying, merely searching."
Wei Wuxian frowned. "Yeah, ok that was not how most people interpreted it. Both the Jin and the Wen were chasing me half because I kept freeing their prisoners, but half because they thought killing me would ingratiate them with you."
Lan Wangji's hand went to the hilt of his sword at the thought of anyone harming Wei Ying.
"It would not," he growled out.
Wei Wuxian laughed. "Ah, Lan Zhan! You're so cute when you're protective of me." He tilted his head and looking up at Lan Wangji though his eyelashes from where he sat upon the floor.
It was a joke, Lan Wangji knew. But it played into the strange, restless fixation that had been growing inside Lan Wangji since he first saw Wei Ying dragged before him in chains.
"Aiya, Lan Zhan. Don't look so annoyed. You can't blame me for teasing you a little. You need to be more careful with what you say! Everyone probably assumes you have already stripped me naked and chained me to your bed."
The heat that had prickled inside him roared to life at the mental image Wei Wuxian's words wrought.
" Shameless ," he bit out, unsure if he was directing his criticism at Wei Wuxian or himself.
Wei Wuxian appeared to find his bitten-out response amusing. Lan Wangji was used to people showing him respect and fear, even awe. He was not used to someone laughing at his irritation.
"I'm not the one who basically claimed someone as a war prize in front of the entire camp. Lan Zhan! You're the shameless one! But you are definitely not prepared to be taking concubines mid-battle. You don't even have a proper bed! Just this poor, thin pallet that barely fits one person. It doesn't even have posts to tie me to! Lan Zhan, this is unacceptable. Clearly poor planning on your part!"
Wei Wuxian was laughing throughout all of it, evidently viewing the idea of Lan Wangji being interested in him in that way as a joke. Still, he couldn't help thinking about his own massive bed back in Cloud Recesses. Surely it would be safer for Wei Ying to sleep beside him. For protection. And there was more space in his bed back in Cloud Recesses.
"Ok, but seriously. You've explained why your clan was hunting for me. But now that you see that I am alive and safe, why not let me go?" Wei Wuxian asked, cutting into Lan Wangji's thoughts and bringing him up short.
Lan Wangji was always a man who knew his own mind, his actions deliberate and well-planned at every step. Yet he honestly did not know why he felt such intense reluctance to release Wei Ying. Even the thought of Wei Wuxian disappearing again had his teeth clenching and stomach twisting.
"As Wei Ying said. Wen Ruohan and Jin Guangshan still hunt you. I can protect Wei Ying when he is here."
Wei Wuxian looked at him, as though weighing his words. "This one is grateful for Hanguang-Jun's offer of protection. But I'm afraid I will have to decline."
Lan Wangji stilled. No. Wei Ying would not be allowed to leave him again. This time, Lan Wangji had the power to shield and keep him. He was no longer a child at the whims of his elders. No one could take Wei Ying from him, not even the huli jing himself.
"The shackles around your wrist and the collar around your throat say otherwise," Lan Wangji said.
The seed of an idea formed in the back of his mind. The unsettled feeling had been twisting inside him, his dragon instincts still pushing him towards some goal that he thought he had already achieved. He realized that there was a different goal entirely that he wanted.
They had met too young, before either of them had presented, so it hadn't been something he had been fully aware of, at the time. Full-blooded members of his clan mated so rarely, especially for members whose dragon blood was as powerful as Lan Wangji's own. The possibility had been so remote that he had not even considered it.
He realized the wisdom of Lan Hui's words, and felt his lips curve slightly.
Lan Wangji had always been a diligent student, even of topics he thought bore no relevance to him, personally. There had been two texts in particular that he had read that offered… suggestions, on the exact mechanism of how dragons claimed their mates. But they required willing participation.
He just needed to ensure Wei Wuxian did not escape before he achieved it. The necklace had been used for centuries, but the huli jing was clever. Lan Wangji needed to bind him more fully, more completely. His mind raced as he thought through the options he had before him.
"I will contact Brother on the other front. We will return to Cloud Recesses immediately," Lan Wangji said, walking to his desk and seating himself on the chair there.
If he sent a message to his brother immediately, they could be back in Cloud Recesses by the end of the week. Wei Wuxian would be safe there, behind the wards, away from the cesspool of corruption. He walked over to the low desk, folding his legs into a lotus position on the stool to do so.
"Wait, what? You're just going to… surrender?" Wei Wuxian asked, looking shocked.
The huli jing's face was so expressive. He wore all of his emotions on his sleeve. Lan Wangji could look at his face every day for the next thousand years and never tire of it. He was beautiful. But he also had just given Lan Wangji the leverage he needed to.
"Mm," Lan Wangji said, dipping his brush in the ink, pretending to begin his missive. "We have received offers from both the Jin and Wen to cease hostilities. Now that I have Wei Ying, there is no need to continue the war."
Wei Wuxian rose from his cushion and crossed over to kneel beside Lan Wangji where he was writing, placing a hand on his wrist to stop him. Lan Wangji looked up at him. Few would dare to touch him.
His huli jing was perfect.
"Lan Zhan! You can't just… just quit! You're so close to taking out Wen Ruohan. And Jin Guangshan is already being pushed back. Why would you stop now? What was the point of the war if not to defeat them?"
"I have found Wei Ying," Lan Wangji stated. Wei Wuxian's expression shifted to surprise, a light flush forming along the edges of his cheekbones. He did not look displeased. Perhaps this would be easier than Lan Wangji had thought. "If you are going to try to escape me, it will be easier to keep you safe in Cloud Recesses."
"What? Lan Zhan! You were looking for me all this time? But... why?"
"I owed Wei Ying a life debt. Dragons hold those as sacred. The Jin and Wen were hunting Wei Ying, putting him in danger. According to our laws, the debt must be repaid."
Wei Wuxian's face shuttered somewhat as he released Lan Wangji's wrist, and Lan Wangji wondered what he had said wrong. He would need more time to learn his mate and all the ways to please him. He would be diligent in this pursuit.
"Right. Got it. A life debt," Wei Wuxian said flatly, his expression indicating that he was considering something else.
Lan Wangji waited to see how his huli jing might try to sway him into releasing him. It would not work, of course, but he was curious to learn how the other's mind worked.
"Well, Lan Zhan, I don't think that putting me in danger and then saving me from the danger you put me in actually qualifies as repaying a life debt."
"They were hunting Wei Ying. You were injured." The banked anger that Lan Wangji felt at the fact that Su She had dared mark Wei Wuxian had only grown. He leaned forward and brushed his thumb along the bruising on Wei Ying's face, feeling an unfamiliar urge to touch. "Now Wei Ying is safe, under my protection and in my care."
Wei Wuxian blinked, his lips parting slightly before he gathered his train of thought again.
"Your men were the ones who did that. I was perfectly safe from the Wen and the Jin until they showed up. I would have been able to escape if you hadn't personally prevented me from doing so. Taking me prisoner and 'protecting me' from your own people doesn't really seem like a great way to repay a life debt. Unless the dragons have different rules from the rest of us. Wen Ruohan and Jin Guangshan couldn't find me, much less hurt me."
Lan Wangji had caused Wei Ying to be hurt. Again. He would ensure it did not happen a third time. Wei Ying wanted him to continue fighting the war. It was a point he could bargain with, but he needed to understand why.
"Wei Ying is… unwilling to return to Cloud Recesses with me?"
He could feel something probing at the edges of his thoughts, and realized that the huli jing was likely trying to either read or influence his mind. It would not work. Dragons were immune to all illusion magic. Wei Wuxian would find that out soon enough.
"Yes," Wei Wuxian replied. "Wei Ying is unwilling. Lan Zhan, I owe a life debt to the family that took me in when I was injured back in Yiling. Wen Ruohan is forcing the sister to serve as a doctor to his troops by imprisoning her younger brother. That's why I started breaking into the prison camps, looking for him."
According to the Lan sect's rules, a life debt would be transferred in such contexts. Wei Ying incurred this life debt due to his actions in saving Lan Wangji. Therefore, the debt actually belongs to Lan Wangji.
Every fibre of his being was still telling him to bring Wei Ying back to his lair, but he would need to wait. He would not let him go, but he would help honor this debt. The huli jing's silver eyes watched him, all the while he could feel the man still skimming along the outer edges of his mind.
"The Lan are descended from a White Dragon, known for their righteousness and purity. You are bound by your code of rules, and known to be just in following your clan's rules of war," Wei Wuxian said. "So surely Hanguang-Jun, the head of the Lan Dragon Clan, would not stoop so low as to steal what does not belong to him."
Evidently Wei Wuxian had read his silence as rejection of his argument, so he was seeking another.
"What have I stolen?" Lan Wangji asked, offended at the very notion that he would ever do something so dishonorable.
Wei Wuxian lifted his arms, the heavy shackles clinking as they shifted around his slender wrists.
"I live in a territory owned by Wen Ruohan. I am a civilian there. By the laws of the land, civilians belong to the ruler who owns them. I am Wen Ruohan's property."
A dark, dangerous flare of power pulsed through Lan Wangji's body, as though he were being directly attacked. Wei Wuxian was more clever than he had given him credit for, to have found a vulnerability so quickly.
"Wei Ying is mine ," he growled before he could even process the words. Wei Wuxian looked surprised, then his eyes narrowed slightly.
"On what grounds do you make your claim? I have already said I am here unwillingly. And your own rules say that I belong to someone else. Release me , dragon."
There was a slight pressure on Lan Wangji's mind as the huli jing said the final words. Images of Lan disciples, standing proud and honorable in front of the wall of rules flashed through his mind, and he wondered how Wei Ying had been able to glean such an image from him. No outsider had ever been at their sacred wall, so there was no way it was a sight he could have seen on his own. It made Lan Wangji feel the weight of his obligations, and if it weren't for the strange compulsion he felt to keep Wei Wuxian by his side, it might have actually worked.
He had underestimated Wei Ying. Somehow, the dragon in him found that pleasing rather than dangerous. Instead of making him reconsider releasing Wei Wuxian, it made him want to add additional spells to the shackles so they could never be removed, and anyone else who tried to touch them would be instantly eviscerated.
"No," Lan Wangji replied. There was no hesitation in his voice, and he saw the moment Wei Wuxian realized he had miscalculated. "It is war. If territory is captured, it belongs to the victor."
"Mm," Wei Wuxian hummed, the intelligent silver eyes locked on Lan Wangji, not missing a single detail. "But, by the Lan's own rules, a civilian is not territory. Only enemy combatants and physical property can be claimed as war prizes. Civilians are not to be harmed or imprisoned. I never fought against any Lan, except in self defense when I was attacked by Su She. I carry no weapon. By your own laws, I should have been released with the other civilians. Isn't this what Lan Zhan has always done before?"
Wei Wuxian tilted his head to the side, drawing attention to the slender line of his throat where he still knelt before Lan Wangji. His body language made him appear to be defenseless, but Lan Wangji knew this was a lie. The huli jing's long hair swayed with the movement as it brushed against the upper curve of his hips, the thin silk robes doing nothing to conceal the plush shape of his backside. Lan Wangji found himself struggling to pull his gaze away from the sight.
Wei Ying's scent was easier to catch now, as they were enclosed in it together. It made it hard for Lan Wangji to think. The room felt overly warm, though Lan Wangji was usually impervious to insignificant things like the ambient temperature.
"Yet here I am," Wei Ying contined when Lan Wangji said nothing. "In Hanguang-Jun's personal tent. Where he ordered me stripped and bathed, to be ready for him."
Lan Wangji was not naive enough to not realize the implication of Wei Wuxian's words. He knew that they were being said to shock him, or perhaps even shame him into freeing the man. The front of Wei Wuxian's robe had shifted when he lowered his arms, causing the neck to gape open, revealing a delicately curved collar bone. The shadowed hollows beneath the unmarked, golden skin made Lan Wangji temporarily forget what he was going to say.
He tried to remind himself of the need to go slow. But perhaps, it would be better to go fast.
"And Hanguang-Jun has refused to unshackle this one, or to let him sleep in the prisoner's quarters," Wei Wuxian continued. "So I am confused. Am I a prisoner? If so, what are my crimes, and why was I not returned to the prisoner tents? If I am free to go, now that you have learned that I am not in danger from anyone other than you and your men, then why am I still shackled?"
Lan Wangji felt his lips pull back, baring his teeth at the thought of letting Wei Wuxian go. Wei Wuxian was watching him, always watching, his quicksilver eyes seeming to miss nothing. He took a slightly deeper breath, taking in Lan Wangji's scent. A flicker of surprise moved over his face before vanishing. "Wei YIng said he would not return willingly with me."
"If gege wants this one to stay, then it can't be against my will. Unless you're going to break your own clan rules? I thought those were sacred to white dragons." Wei Wuxian was kneeling at Lan Wangji's feet, looking up at him with wide eyes as though he were asking a question that Lan Wangji was capable of answering.
Lan Wangji could not let Wei Ying go.
But Wei Wuxian was correct. Technically, Wei Wuxian belonged to the Wen, if he had been living on their territory. And once Lan Wangji returned with his army to Cloud Recesses, all of the land would be back under control of the Wen, including wherever Wei Ying's home was.
The laws of war that the Lan followed were clear. Civilians were not to be taken. Wei Ying had carried no weapon, and had been already in the camp before the Lan arrived. Lan Wangji's soldiers had confirmed Su She's story to be a lie, making Wei Wuxian a civilian in the eyes of the Lan.
"Wei Ying could choose to come with me to Cloud Recesses. As a refugee." Then it would not be theft. The laws on that were equally clear.
But Wei Wuxian was already shaking his head. "Is gege forgetting that this one also has a life debt to repay? Surely Hanguang-Jun would not ask me to be any less honorable than he is."
Lan Wangji looked down at Wei Ying where he was kneeling beside the low chair Lan Wangji was seated in.
"Is gege going to keep this one here against his will?" Wei Wuxian asked, his words making the restlessness under Lan Wangji's skin churn even more. There was a darker part of him that wanted to keep Wei Ying in chains, and Lan Wangji was realizing it had nothing to do with keeping the man safe. Unaware of the awakening he had provoked, Wei Wuxian continued recklessly ahead. "Is that what the shackles are really about? You can tell me, gege. You don't think of me as a prisoner. What else could Lan Zhan be wanting? Having me wearing his inner robes, in his private tent. Wearing his collar."
"Not a prisoner." Lan Wangji stated, but wasn't sure it was fully the truth. He would not let Wei Wuxian go. Like a metal filing pulled by a magnet, he shifted in the low chair to fully face the huli jing.
Wei Wuxian arched a mocking eyebrow up at him. "No? Then tell me, Hanguang-Jun . What am I doing here? Am I your prisoner, or is there a different way you are wanting this one to serve you?"
While he was sure Wei Wuxian was still trying to shock him into letting him go, the effect of his taunting words was the opposite of that intent. The restlessness that had been fizzing in his blood coalesced down low in his belly into something with purpose. Lan Wangji shifted his knees slightly farther apart. He might not have ever experienced physical arousal before, but he was not ignorant of such matters. He could feel it slowly building between his thighs.
Unlike humans, white dragons didn't feel lust or sexual arousal in a non-directed way. Their sexuality was 100% focused on their mate. If a dragon never found their mate, they would never feel anything other than mild aesthetic appreciation for the beauty of others.
Lan Wangji's awareness of Wei Ying had shifted, and he found himself becoming much more aware of the huli jing's physical form. He had always found him aesthetically pleasing, but the way he looked at Wei Wuxian now did not have the same objective detachment.
Lan Wangji found his gaze pulled to the man's red mouth, his slender waist, and plush hips. Lan Wangji's hands flexed with the urge to see if he could span the man's waist in their grip, an impulse had had never felt in his life. Wei Wuxian's hair was still damp from his bath, falling to his waist in long, black waves that Lan Wangji wanted to fist his hands into.
The thin, silk robe showcased the coiled, lean muscles of his shoulders. Lan Wangji felt drawn to the contrast of the pure white silk against the golden skin at the base of Wei Ying's throat, where Lan Wangji's collar coiled snugly.
Lan Wangji would never release his claim.
The shackles looked absurdly large and unyielding against the slender span of Wei Wuxian's wrists and ankles. Anyone who could not sense the nearly blinding level of power deep within Wei Wuxian would think he looked helpless, especially with his large eyes and lush mouth set within his sharp, fine-boned face. Lan Wangji remembered how--before he had come into his dragon powers--Wei Ying had just seemed somehow 'bright'. Most people who looked upon the huli jing would not understand just how truly dangerous he was.
"Are you liking the view, Hanguang-Jun?" Wei Wuxian asked, breaking the silence that had stretched. His voice was tense, his eyes narrowed as he drew in a deeper breath, presumably scenting Lan Wangji in return.
"Mm," Lan Wangji agreed, feeling no reason to lie.
Lan Wangji realized his own scent had changed, becoming stronger. Not shifting to the scent of ozone, like it did in battle. It was the scent of petrichor and sandalwood that had deepend, somehow tied to the restlessness he was feeling to be close to Wei Wuxian.
"Does gege like having me here, shackled and on my knees for him? Belonging to him? Owned by him? How shameful of you, Hanguang-Jun! If I didn't know better, I would think that you were lying earlier about not being interested in taking this Wei Ying as your concubine."
Wei Wuxian smiled, unaware of how closely his taunts were matching Lan Wangji's desires. He leaned in further until his hair brushed against Lan Wangji's knee. The heat of that accidental touch collected between Lan Wangji's thighs.
Lan Wangji could feel his alpha blood and dragon magic begin to gather between his thighs, his cock lengthening and thickening with it. His scent was changing, deepening even more into the notes of arousal. He watched Wei Wuxian's face for the moment he registered it. There was a flicker of uncertainty that passed over the huli jing's face, but--sure in his belief that white dragons had no interest in such matters--he recklessly pushed ahead.