Had he been from any other sect, it would have been a different story but giving the Wen any more ammunition against his own sect was unfortunately not something he was ready to do without the promise of aid from the other sects and while Lan and Nie might come to his aid, he had no such confidence the Jin sect would look past their own self interest.
"Go, I'll have someone bring you a meal and a boat ready for you two ready at the docks in the morning. Get some rest and I'll talk to you again before you leave."
And Jiang Cheng is still in the corner, expression unreadable.
He made another bow but didn’t bother to linger, turning and leaving immediately.
He didn’t pause until they were just outside his quarters, and Po Daxiang turned to noticed Jiang Cheng had followed them out. He looked at Wen Fen, then titled his head towards his rooms.
“Go on inside. I just- I need a minute. But I’ll be right there.” Once Wen Fen was inside, he turned back to Jiang Cheng, almost with a grimace.
“I can’t do it, shidi, I can’t just leave him there. There’s gotta be a way to convince Sect Leader Jiang—“
Wen Fen tilted his head in a shorter bow to the Sect Leader, but his eyes darted over to Jiang Cheng. Perhaps he only seemed cold or it was because of the situation, but he still didn't like how Po Daxiang was suddenly being treated by him.
They left the main hall with Jiang Cheng following them close behind, unsurprisingly. Equally unsurprising was Po Daxiang ushering him inside so he could speak to Young Master Jiang alone.
The door had barely slid closed before he realized that this was actually quarters that had been lived in, not a guest area... but those thoughts were quickly dashed away when the voices outside began speaking. Wen Fen leaned closer to the door, listening with a pained frown.
He'd been watching the whole meeting, silent and all but expressionless for once, his hands loose at his sides until he follows then out, his posture stiff as Po approaches him, his gaze rising to meet Po's.
"You're going to abandon your sect for him?" It's quiet, his gaze darting back inside for a moment before returning to Po.
“What? No!” He sounded affronted by the very idea, a hint of colour rising in his cheeks.
“The Sect is my family as much as it is yours!” Just because his name wasn’t Jiang didn’t mean he hadn’t been raised here, hadn’t lived here. “I’m not abandoning anything! But I can’t—“
He sucked in a breath, focusing himself, and then raised his hand to clench his fist, pushing his spiritual energy into his red string as he did so. It did so, lighting up as vibrant as red blood, the thread trailing back between the doors behind him. He gave Jiang Cheng a helpless look. He knew he man knew what it meant - that the stringless, flirty Po Daxiang, ever a night’s entertainment but never anything more - finally had a string of his own, after all.
“There’s got to be a way to get your father to let him stay,” he said, his voice dropping quieter. “I— he could take my name, we could go into seclusion a couple of months— no one even needs to know we’re here—“
The concept of Po Daxiang sitting still for a couple of months was a hilarious one on its own, but that was another matter entirely.
"...They know you're a Jiang disciple and you'd obviously come here if you were free, shixiong." Jiang Cheng exhales a breath, gaze drifting to the string before he sighs out a breath.
"I don't know what you think I can do. Die is at least trying to keep him alive without risking the rest of our sect." Which is more than other sect leaders might do, even if it's not fair to Po or Fen.
But having a runaway Wen under their roof is asking for trouble they may not be able to handle.
“You can talk to him. I know it’s not easy to get through to him, but I—“
He sighed, looking away.
“I’m not trying to endanger anyone, you know that. But if he hadn’t have saved my life, they would have finally managed to break me and turn me into one of those puppets. We can’t— we have to stand up to them! What they’re doing is a fate worse than death, and I —“
Ugh. He bit into his lip to shut himself up.
“Get him to give me a mission, then. Give us a mission. Let me be helpful rather than just....”
"You think he listens to me?" There's a bitterness behind the words he can't suppress even as his expression twists, gaze flickering back to the audience hall where his father is dealing with other matters "
He doesn't listen to me or A-nain, Po-shixiong. You should know that given how long you've been here. You want him to listen, you should go find Wei Wuxian." Because at least he seems to have A-die's ear more than Jiang Cheng does.
"He'll likely send you out after you return if you're not needed here but there's nothing I can do to help you with this."
“Yeah, I do think he listens to you,” Poe retorted, more out of Jiang Cheng’s defence than anything else. “I know he doesn’t show it all that much but you are the heir, and your opinion matters to him.”
He was stubborn on this point, if only because he understood it from Jiang Chen’s side, too. His mother had died when he was young and it had opened a rift between Daxiang and his own father, and they had ever seemed at odds, afterward. He understood what it felt like to be ignored by your father.
But Jiang Fengmian was a good man - one of the best of them - and Po Daxiang refused to believe that he didn’t respect his son’s opinion, on some level. Maybe it was because he was a little stupid, or maybe it was projection, but he would argue this to the end of his days.
He made a little bit of a face at he mention of Wei Wuxian. “I know better than that. When was the last time he and I agreed on a course of action that didn’t end up blowing up? I’m asking you because I need you. You care about this Sect more than anyone. If I can convince you that what I’m doing is for the good of everyone, then maybe I can convince him too.”
He paused, grimacing.
“... Or, at least, you can help me come up with a way to do this that doesn’t hurt anyone.”
"Then you don't know things as well as you think you do." His father barely acknowledges his own endeavors, it's only Wei Wuxian's who get praise and Jiang Cheng shakes his head slightly, his posture tense.
"Why are you so against taking him to the Nie sect? It's safer than any other sect you'd have access to if they come after him."
Po Daxiang tsks, because he thinks he has a pretty good handle on the situation but also is pretty sure he'd not going to change Jiang Cheng's mind about it. So he isn't going to keep debating the point.
"I don't want to send him anywhere," he clarifies. "If he has to go somewhere - Nie Sect certainly isn't the worst, but it's hardly the best, either. It's so close to Wen territory that if they get word about him they are going to get there a lot faster than anyone from Lotus Pier could. If he was there and I was here there's no way I'd get there in time - even though I can fly faster than anyone."
A pause, and then a slight huff as he looked away.
"Besides, pretty sure Sect Leader Nie hates me. But. You know. That's sort of beside the point."
"And my father isn't going to keep him here." It's that simple when it comes down to it. "You can try to talk to him again but I doubt he's going to change his mind and I don't know if you'd have better luck at the other sects, Po-shixiong." He exhales a breath.
"And whether he hates you or not, if my father asks, he won't turn it away. Your...friend" Jiang Cheng stumbles over the word briefly before clearing his throat. "will be useful for his plans if he had any sort of access to information from within Qishan." Information that could potentially benefit an assault in time.
"And Nie Zhongzhu is spoiling for a chance at the Wens, anyway." Everyone knew that story and while he'd never spent much time around the Nie sect leader, he'd heard stories from his younger brother and others while they'd been at Cloud Recesses.
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no subject
"Go, I'll have someone bring you a meal and a boat ready for you two ready at the docks in the morning. Get some rest and I'll talk to you again before you leave."
And Jiang Cheng is still in the corner, expression unreadable.
no subject
He didn’t pause until they were just outside his quarters, and Po Daxiang turned to noticed Jiang Cheng had followed them out. He looked at Wen Fen, then titled his head towards his rooms.
“Go on inside. I just- I need a minute. But I’ll be right there.” Once Wen Fen was inside, he turned back to Jiang Cheng, almost with a grimace.
“I can’t do it, shidi, I can’t just leave him there. There’s gotta be a way to convince Sect Leader Jiang—“
no subject
They left the main hall with Jiang Cheng following them close behind, unsurprisingly. Equally unsurprising was Po Daxiang ushering him inside so he could speak to Young Master Jiang alone.
The door had barely slid closed before he realized that this was actually quarters that had been lived in, not a guest area... but those thoughts were quickly dashed away when the voices outside began speaking. Wen Fen leaned closer to the door, listening with a pained frown.
no subject
"You're going to abandon your sect for him?" It's quiet, his gaze darting back inside for a moment before returning to Po.
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“The Sect is my family as much as it is yours!” Just because his name wasn’t Jiang didn’t mean he hadn’t been raised here, hadn’t lived here. “I’m not abandoning anything! But I can’t—“
He sucked in a breath, focusing himself, and then raised his hand to clench his fist, pushing his spiritual energy into his red string as he did so. It did so, lighting up as vibrant as red blood, the thread trailing back between the doors behind him. He gave Jiang Cheng a helpless look. He knew he man knew what it meant - that the stringless, flirty Po Daxiang, ever a night’s entertainment but never anything more - finally had a string of his own, after all.
“There’s got to be a way to get your father to let him stay,” he said, his voice dropping quieter. “I— he could take my name, we could go into seclusion a couple of months— no one even needs to know we’re here—“
The concept of Po Daxiang sitting still for a couple of months was a hilarious one on its own, but that was another matter entirely.
no subject
"I don't know what you think I can do. Die is at least trying to keep him alive without risking the rest of our sect." Which is more than other sect leaders might do, even if it's not fair to Po or Fen.
But having a runaway Wen under their roof is asking for trouble they may not be able to handle.
no subject
He sighed, looking away.
“I’m not trying to endanger anyone, you know that. But if he hadn’t have saved my life, they would have finally managed to break me and turn me into one of those puppets. We can’t— we have to stand up to them! What they’re doing is a fate worse than death, and I —“
Ugh. He bit into his lip to shut himself up.
“Get him to give me a mission, then. Give us a mission. Let me be helpful rather than just....”
no subject
He doesn't listen to me or A-nain, Po-shixiong. You should know that given how long you've been here. You want him to listen, you should go find Wei Wuxian." Because at least he seems to have A-die's ear more than Jiang Cheng does.
"He'll likely send you out after you return if you're not needed here but there's nothing I can do to help you with this."
no subject
He was stubborn on this point, if only because he understood it from Jiang Chen’s side, too. His mother had died when he was young and it had opened a rift between Daxiang and his own father, and they had ever seemed at odds, afterward. He understood what it felt like to be ignored by your father.
But Jiang Fengmian was a good man - one of the best of them - and Po Daxiang refused to believe that he didn’t respect his son’s opinion, on some level. Maybe it was because he was a little stupid, or maybe it was projection, but he would argue this to the end of his days.
He made a little bit of a face at he mention of Wei Wuxian. “I know better than that. When was the last time he and I agreed on a course of action that didn’t end up blowing up? I’m asking you because I need you. You care about this Sect more than anyone. If I can convince you that what I’m doing is for the good of everyone, then maybe I can convince him too.”
He paused, grimacing.
“... Or, at least, you can help me come up with a way to do this that doesn’t hurt anyone.”
no subject
"Why are you so against taking him to the Nie sect? It's safer than any other sect you'd have access to if they come after him."
no subject
"I don't want to send him anywhere," he clarifies. "If he has to go somewhere - Nie Sect certainly isn't the worst, but it's hardly the best, either. It's so close to Wen territory that if they get word about him they are going to get there a lot faster than anyone from Lotus Pier could. If he was there and I was here there's no way I'd get there in time - even though I can fly faster than anyone."
A pause, and then a slight huff as he looked away.
"Besides, pretty sure Sect Leader Nie hates me. But. You know. That's sort of beside the point."
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"And whether he hates you or not, if my father asks, he won't turn it away. Your...friend" Jiang Cheng stumbles over the word briefly before clearing his throat. "will be useful for his plans if he had any sort of access to information from within Qishan." Information that could potentially benefit an assault in time.
"And Nie Zhongzhu is spoiling for a chance at the Wens, anyway." Everyone knew that story and while he'd never spent much time around the Nie sect leader, he'd heard stories from his younger brother and others while they'd been at Cloud Recesses.