SiZhui's classes were over for the day. I had to leave the next day for a journey that would last 3 months. I had picked him up at the library. I could see the questioning in his eyes. But like any child of the Lan Clan, he was waiting for me to allow him to question me. I nodded my head and told him that he could do so.

"Han Guang-Jun, where are we going?

"This is a surprise, we are almost there. Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to.

"Mn" he said

I raised my head and took his hand. A few more meters and we would be in the clearing. I made him sit down. The rabbits approached him.

"You can open your eyes.

His childish face lit up as soon as his eyes fell on the white fur balls surrounding him. He took one of them in his arms.

"Are they yours? "

"After a hesitation I continued, "A-Yuan, I will have to go away for a few months, will you be able to take care of them in my absence?

"Of course Shufu,...can I play with them? "

As an answer, I took several rabbits that I put on him. In the end, he found himself buried under a mountain of white rabbits! He started to laugh out loud!

It was then that I realized that we were no longer alone. Brother was watching us from afar with a smile on his face. After a quick glance at A-Yuan, I nodded and my brother came closer. He crouched down next to me. He watched A-Yuan playing with the rabbits and chasing them for a long time.

"Why didn't you tell me about him, Wangji? In fact, I realize that I don't know my little brother after all. I practically raised you! What else have you been hiding from me? Will you let me back into your life one day? "

"Why didn't you stop Uncle from locking me up while I was still unconscious? Why didn't you stop him from giving me that punishment that should have killed me?"

He sighed.

"Remember, I stayed on the battlefield to calm the chaos unleashed by Wei Wuxian. I didn't learn what happened at the Burial Ground until I returned to Yunchen Buzhi. I arrived just as you received the last lash and collapsed. I watched over you for two weeks, Wangji. I spent all my days by your side. But I was also the leader of our clan! And we were in a time of trouble. I had to leave you to go to a Clan meeting. I didn't think you were in any danger because Uncle was with me. We were only gone for three days. I couldn't have known that Uncle had ordered the Council of Elders to move you to the Cold Pool Cave as soon as we left. When I returned, it was too late. I told Uncle he was wrong! But you know him and his morals! "

"Uncle didn't even question me about the reasons for my actions, he condemned me without judgment! "

"Wangji, you hurt Uncle and the Elders who accompanied him to bring you back! "

"They attacked the 1st ones! I tried to tell Uncle that I had made a promise but he didn't listen to me! "

"You know he never really liked Wei Wuxian...even though he was in love with his mother! "

I was surprised by what my brother had just told me, I knew that Uncle had known Wei Ying's mother; but not that he had any feelings for her, maybe that explained why he had never married!

"In fact it was not that he did not like Wei Wuxian, but rather that he reminded him too much of Cangse SanRen! Undisciplined, untamed, rebellious, shameless, there is no need for me to add more words? Do you understand what I mean? You were the opposite. I think he was always afraid that he would pervert you with his unconventional ideas! So it didn't matter what you promised him... "

"That promise, I didn't make it to him! "

"What do you mean? "

"In the three months he spent studying here at the lantern ceremony. We made a promise to the heavens: Protect the weak and the innocent. And to live without regrets! ... That day at the Burial Ground, I was protecting an innocent. "I looked at A-Yuan. Brother followed my gaze.

"A-Yuan is the son of Wei Ying! "

"His son?"

"Mnnn...his adopted son. SuZhui's real name is Wen Yuan. He is the last survivor of the Wen Clan! "I looked my brother straight in the eyes,

"What do you think would have happened to him, if I hadn't intervened? "

" .... "

My gaze returned to A-Yuan.

"Brother, in my absence, can I count on you to look after him? "

"Of course, after all, in the eyes of all...he is my nephew, right? "

"Mnn"

"Wangji,...I am glad you are talking to me again! "

"Mnn" Brother smiled and looked at me. A slight smile stretched my lips. Then more seriously.

"Don't tell anyone about A-Yuan's true identity.

"Count on me, no one will find out this secret from me. I promise you that! "

"Then I can leave quietly".

A-Yuan had finally fallen asleep in the middle of the rabbits. The sun was beginning to fall on the horizon. I took my sleeping child in my arms and carried him to the Jingshi. Tonight he would sleep at home with me!