Perhaps it is that simple, but he does not think so, not quite.
“The survivors,” he says. “Of the Wen - the ones who hadn’t —-“
“They were innocent. Elders and farmers and mothers and children. But they bore the Wen name, and were taken prisoner. When he learned—-“
Lan Wangji swallows hard. He can almost feel the ghostly sensation of rain against his skin.
“He gave up everything to protect them. And for a while, for a year, he succeeded.”
It had not been enough, and he should not have been alone in it, and the wrongness of it all threatens to choke him.
“But there were whispers. Rumors and fear and lies spread about him, because of his crafty tricks, and the power he controlled. And when they...”
He cannot. Cannot bring himself to say it, not all of it. Surely, surely he does not need to. Surely this will be enough, for what Tom needs.
“There was a trap,” he manages, finally. “An ambush. The heir to the Jin sect was killed. Wei Ying was blamed. The Wen remnants were slaughtered. He could not save them. He fought those responsible, with all the power at his command. I cannot count how many died in that battle, on that day. Including Wei Ying.”
no subject
“The survivors,” he says. “Of the Wen - the ones who hadn’t —-“
“They were innocent. Elders and farmers and mothers and children. But they bore the Wen name, and were taken prisoner. When he learned—-“
Lan Wangji swallows hard. He can almost feel the ghostly sensation of rain against his skin.
“He gave up everything to protect them. And for a while, for a year, he succeeded.”
It had not been enough, and he should not have been alone in it, and the wrongness of it all threatens to choke him.
“But there were whispers. Rumors and fear and lies spread about him, because of his crafty tricks, and the power he controlled. And when they...”
He cannot. Cannot bring himself to say it, not all of it. Surely, surely he does not need to. Surely this will be enough, for what Tom needs.
“There was a trap,” he manages, finally. “An ambush. The heir to the Jin sect was killed. Wei Ying was blamed. The Wen remnants were slaughtered. He could not save them. He fought those responsible, with all the power at his command. I cannot count how many died in that battle, on that day. Including Wei Ying.”