Because I like to play pranks, I thought it would be more fun to reverse the chapters!!!

😂😂😂

Lan Xichen 's PoV

🧐🧐🧐

The night before:

I had just finished fulfilling my duties as clan leader. I had gone ahead to be quiet for several days. Tomorrow, we planned to go to the "Lotus Pier" in the morning to attend the wedding of Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing. The current affairs had been settled, we did not have a summit planned for 3 months. We were in a period of calm. Everything was ready. I left my workroom and went to the HanShi. The evening was mild in this early spring. The stars were beginning to appear in the sky. The temperature was about to drop. The nights were still cool.

I was surprised to find my brother waiting for me. It was rare to find him anywhere but at the Jingshi at this time! He was holding a dish covered with a cloth. He handed it to me.

"For you."

The years and Wei Wuxian had not helped him in his abrupt and brief way of communicating! I had hoped that with time, his husband would have loosened his tongue! He had told me several times that they sometimes talked for hours. But apparently his soul mate was the only one who enjoyed this communicative behavior!

I took the dish he was holding out to me and lifted the cloth. A smell of flower came to tease my nostrils. Beautiful little cakes were arranged in a circle around a bowl containing a fragrant cream. I looked up at him questioningly.

"I am testing the recipe for Jiang Waniyin and Wen Qing's wedding."

It was true that my little brother had become a very good cook according to Wuxian. He prepared all the meals of his husband since he came to settle in YunShen Buzhi, 3 years ago. I was about to take one of the cakes and taste it when Wangji stopped me.

He said: "For tea with Meng Yao, you can tell me what you think tomorrow."

Wangji greeted me and left. I did not understand very well... He wanted me to test these cakes with A-Yao. After all, why not! There was enough for two and he would soon arrive for our traditional evening tea.

We had been in the habit since his arrival. At the beginning, these one-on-one talks allowed us to exchange memories of other "us". He would tell me about Xichen and I would tell him about Jin GuangYao. Now we talked about what we had done during the day, what books we had read, .... and we had tea.

We also talked about ourselves. I told him about my childhood, my life during the war against the Wen, the years with my brothers by oath, the death of MingJue and more difficult, that of Jin GuangYao!

He told me about his life in the pleasure house with his mother, his placement as a servant to MingJue. The discovery by this one of his talents of cultivator. His apprenticeship with HuaiSang. His meeting with Xichen in YunShen Buzhi. The escape with the survivors of the Lan clan after the destruction of the cradle of their clan. Their settlement in the Impure Domain. Those years of spying for the Nie clan. The hardest part for me was hearing what he had to do to get the information the resistance needed. He used his body to crawl into the beds of Wen Ruohan's relatives to discover their secrets and plans. Despite the difficulties of his life, he was a relatively cheerful and sociable person.

He had the same sweet smile as Jin GuangYao but his look was different, he was more frank, his voice less suave!

I entered the HanShi and put the dish on the table. I prepared the tea. Meng Yao was about to arrive. He was always on time!

I had just finished brewing the tea when he knocked. I beckoned him in and he closed the door I had left open for him. I indicated the seat in front of me and sat down on the other side of the table. He bowed his head in greeting. I pushed his cup towards him and the plate of cake. He looked at me surprised.

"Wangji wants us to test it and give him our opinion. It's a recipe for Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing's wedding.

"Then I will gladly taste them!"

I served us each a cake on which I put a spoonful of cream. They were really delicious! Wuxian was right, Wangji had become an excellent cook!

Meng Yao also seemed to be delighted with the dessert prepared by my brother.

"Xi-Xiong, this is a delicacy, did Wangji really make it?"

"Mnnn!"

"He should be congratulated! That little taste of flower in the cream goes wonderfully with the slightly stronger taste of the cake .... but I can't figure out what ingredient he used to flavor it! Can you?".

"I can't either, but you're right, it's delicious! He gave us two each, do you want the second one or do you want to take it away for later?

"Brother, you know that I am greedy! I am not strong enough to say no to the second one!"

We started to laugh, greed was a common point we had! Of course, as a clan leader, I was always careful in public! But in private it was something else!

We enjoyed the delicious cupcakes, wishing there were more. We drank our tea and talked about the last book Meng Yao had read. Like every evening, time flew by and it was time to say goodbye. My guest got up and I walked him home.

A few weeks ago, one evening, when we had talked about our other "us", I had had a pang in my heart, like a regret of what could have happened between Jin GuangYao and me, but which had never been realized. I wanted to place a light kiss on his lips just before he left. He didn't say anything and didn't push me away. The next night, when we were leaving, it was he who had kissed me with a kiss as light as a dragonfly. Since that day, we had taken the habit of wishing each other a good night in this way, with a chaste kiss, hardly a brush on our lips. Tonight would be no exception to this ritual.

I placed my lips on hers. They tasted sweet. They had kept the flavor of the cakes we had eaten. I couldn't leave them. I put my hand on his cheek and intensified the pressure of my lips on his. He wasn't pushing me away. My free hand came to rest in the hollow of his loins to tighten him against me. His slipped on each side of my neck and knotted on my nape. I moved away slightly. His eyes shone with a fever that I wanted to appease.

"Stay with me," I asked him.

He smiled at me. I took possession of his lips again... our kiss became more possessive, our tongues mingled. Why tonight?

Everything we had held back for months was suddenly unleashed. I grabbed him behind the knees and waist and, while continuing to kiss him, I lifted him up and took him to the bed where I laid him down. It was the first time I had felt this kind of thing: desire!

I wanted to see him, to touch him, to hear him moan with pleasure under my caresses. I wanted to... to possess him, to make him mine! Images crossed my mind. His hands undid my belt and the tie of my dress. I got rid of them and took possession of his lips again. This sweet taste gave them the taste of a forbidden fruit, bewitching and desirable. I left this divine fruit and went down along his neck to discover others just as delicious. I spread the top of his dress to continue my way to the roundness of his shoulder. His skin had the softness of silk and the warmth of a summer sun. I defied the link of his dress and spread the panels of it. His tunic followed. When I opened it, I could finally contemplate the whiteness of his ivory skin. It emanated a flowery smell. He must have taken a bath just before coming to visit me. Had he foreseen what was going to happen? Or was it his habit?

I stepped aside to undress completely. He took the opportunity to get rid of his own clothes that were lying on the bed. I stood over him. I knew that he had much more experience than me. Besides, he had already had sex with my other self. I was afraid he would be disappointed, that he would make the comparison between him and me! He must have sensed my hesitation.

"You are not him, I know it... just like I am not Jin GuangYao.

"He and I never had that kind of relationship. What if I disappoint you? If .... "

He put his hand over my mouth to interrupt me and then his lips took over. He was right, I wasn't him. I was a man who was discovering love in the arms of another man. I slid my hand down his back, while my lips sought out the dark buttons on his chest. When they found one, my tongue began to prod it. My hand in his back was still searching for that area that I knew would cause waves of pleasure. When I finally found it, his reaction was immediate. He arched his back against me and started to moan. I guess I wasn't doing so bad after all!

My blindfold slipped to the floor.

I should remember to thank Wuxian for lending me his book!

I should also ask Wangji what he had put in his cakes, or at least confirm it.

I thought I had identified their main ingredient: ginger!  

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)