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To be fair, Huaisang’s new ‘assistant’ seemed just as confused about his job as everyone else. He was wearing an old set of Huaisang’s robes, which, despite someone’s attempt at pinning the hem, were noticibly too big for him.
Nie Mingjue had been on a Night Hunt and had come back to… this. He wasn’t even sure what this was, Nie Zonghui had just said that Huaisang had pissed off the captain by ‘stealing’ one of his deputies.
‘I didn’t think the captain liked Meng Yao,’ Nie Zonghui had admitted, looking confused.
Nie Mingjue had felt a headache coming on. ‘Can you return to the part where my brother hired an attendant?’
His head disciple had sighed. ‘Second Young Master attended three of his four tutoring sessions since he hired Meng Yao.’
It wasn’t as though he could complain about that. He had no idea what Huaisang was paying the boy - surely Huaisang understood that he actually needed to pay him, right? - but whatever it was he imagined it was more than worth it if Huaisang was actually behaving.
Unless this ‘Meng Yao’ had put some sort of curse on him. That almost seemed more likely than the idea that Huaisang was just choosing to go to classes.
He spared another glance to where the newcomer was trailing behind Huaisang, neither of them having noticed Nie Mingjue’s arrival. Honestly, if he was capable of cursing anyone, Nie Mingjue would eat his guan.
The boy saw him first, hurriedly bowing, and murmuring, “Nie Zongzhu,” all while staring at Nie Mingjue’s shoes, as though afraid to look at him properly.
“Da-ge!” Huaisang threw himself between Nie Mingjue and the stranger, a brilliant smile on his face. “How was the Night Hunt?”
So his plan was just to hope Nie Mingjue didn’t say anything, was that it?
“Fine.” He peered past his brother, studying the stranger who had yet to come up from his bow.
The boy - Meng Yao, he reminded himself - smiled at Nie Mingjue’s shoes. “This one is honored to be of service.”
And that was all Nie Mingjue got out of him, because Huaisang took off, dragging his friend with him, saying that they were going to be late for lessons.
Nie Zonghui and Nie Mingjue exchanged a disbelieving glance.
According to the Sect Ledgers, Huaisang was not, in fact, paying his new assistant.
Nie Mingjue had returned to his office to investigate, after checking that his brother was, in fact, attending his lesson (shockingly, he was). He found no evidence that anyone had issued any sort of extra payment as would be expected for a personal assistant to the Sect Heir. The only reference he found to Meng Yao was in a list of new disciples, and it seemed he was still being paid that salary.
That didn’t seem like enough for the man who managed to get Huaisang to study, but Nie Mingjue had no idea how much he ought to be paying the man. So he asked him.
Meng Yao looked almost terrified to be summoned to the Clan Leader’s study, bowing and pulling at the sleeves of his robes, studying his feet as Nie Mingjue waved a hand over the assorted accounting ledgers and asked if he’d missed something.
He hadn’t.
“You convinced my brother to study,” said Nie Mingjue. “I owe you something.”
There was a flash of a dimpled smile on Meng Yao’s face, although he wasn’t certain if it was genuine. “This one has enjoyed his work with Second Young Master.”
“I am paying you something,” he growled.
They finally came to an agreement, although it was lower than what Nie Mingjue felt like he ought to be paying the boy. Fine. He could always give him a raise later.
Then, as he was leaving, Meng Yao glanced over the mess of paperwork again, looking almost physically pained at the sight of them. “This one once worked as an accountant,” he said quietly. “Would Clan Leader wish for him to consolidate the ledgers?”
Would he ever.
Huaisang threw a fit when he found his new attendant happily rewriting the Sect Ledgers under Nie Mingjue’s admiring gaze, whining that Meng Yao was his and his brother couldn’t steal him. Miraculously, Meng Yao had managed to calm him down with promises they would go searching for birds on the north ridge the next day.
By the end of the day, the ledgers were in order and Huaisang was content to drag his friend off to the kitchens in search of sweets. Meng Yao bowed and promised to assist whenever hew was needed, but Huaisang - again - reminded them that Meng Yao was his.
As though he owned him somehow.
Nie Mingjue wasn’t entirely certain how to explain to his spoiled younger brother that his newest toy was an entirely sentient, human person.
Huaisang seemed perfectly content to treat Meng Yao as a sort of doll, dressing him up, braiding his hair, and dragging him around the Unclean Realm.
He’d tried to assure Meng Yao of the fact that no one would fault him if he denied Huaisang occasionally - honestly, it would probably be a good thing - but the boy had only bowed and murmured that he was grateful to please his master.
Once a week, Nie Mingjue went to the Sword Hall to hear supplicants. He was in the middle of a dull argument between two farmers, both of whom laid claim to a particular well, when the captain burst in, dragging Meng Yao behind him.
The youth was paler than Nie Mingjue had ever seen him, white enough to pass for a Lan, and there were tears shining on his cheeks.
Nie Mingjue snapped at the farmers to share the damn well and sent them from the room. When one of them looked as though he might argue, Baxia rattled in her stand and they took off.
The captain looked entirely too pleased with himself, Meng Yao’s collar clutched in his hand. Nie Mingjue leaned back in his throne and listened as the captain gave his report, explaining that Meng Yao had hidden his identity from them, that he hadn’t told them that he was Jin Guangshan’s bastard. Apparently that was some sort of plot.
While he still didn’t risk looking up or meeting anyone’s eyes, it was clear that Meng Yao was terrified. “This one did not mean to be deceptive-”
“He is a spy,” said the captain.
Nie Mingjue really didn’t care who the boy’s father was. He remembered hearing gossip about the incident, claims that Jin Guangshan had thrown a child down the steps of Koi Tower, but he hadn’t thought much of it beyond that.
He wasn’t entirely certain why the captain was so convinced that Meng Yao was loyal to Jin Guangshan, on account of the whole attempted murder. Filial bonds could only get you so far, after all.
Meng Yao sunk to his knees, tears gleaming on his pale cheeks. “This one begs forgiveness,” he whispered. “This humble one has heard much of Chifeng Zun’s honor, and merely wished to join the disciples-“
“Da-ge!” Huaisang raced inside, shoving the captain out of his way, tossing himself at his brother’s desk.
“Huaisang.”
“He wasn’t hiding anything!” he squealed, waving his fan empathetically at Meng Yao. “I knew who he was!”
Nie Mingjue glanced past his brother, to where Meng Yao was still trembling. “Very well.”
Meng Yao’s smiles seemed to grow a bit more real after that.
Meng Yao had been certain he was done for.
The captain hadn’t liked him when he was serving among the disciples, and he’d liked him even less when Nie Huaisang had swooped in to save him (it didn’t help that Huaisang had seen the captain slap Meng Yao, and hadn’t accepted ‘he looked at me funny’ as a valid reason to do it).
But still, he’d been certain Nie Mingjue would side with the captain, would believe that Meng Yao was a spy. He’d entered the Sword Hall expecting his own death. And yet, even before Huaisang’s intervention, Nie Mingjue had seemed to think the captain was full of it, waving off the insinuation Meng Yao was a spy.
As he followed Huaisang out of the Sword Hall, Meng Yao realized that he had no idea what he was supposed to do.
He’d never thought his new position would last. At first, when he’d realized the Clan Leader was on a Night Hunt when Huaisang found him, he’d expected the man to return, thank him for going along with his brother’s scheme, and then send him back to the disciples. He would have gone willingly, and held on to the memory of the few days with Huaisang fondly.
But then Nie Mingjue had let him stay, and had even tried to raise his salary. He seemed to think Meng Yao was doing him a great service by getting Huaisang to his lessons.
Meng Yao couldn’t tell him the truth, that he only insisted Huaisang attend lessons because it meant that he, also, got to attend. Huaisang would whine and complain, but he seemed to realize Meng Yao enjoyed the lessons, so as long as he did most of his homework for him, and bribed him with games and activities, Huaisang was usually willing to at least go along.
But he couldn’t say that to Nie Mingjue, because it was absolutely not appropriate for Meng Yao to be taking advantage of Huaisang like that.
(Although, sometimes, like when Nie Mingjue asked him to organize supplies for an upcoming Night Hunt, citing how well he’d done with the Sect Ledgers, he almost thought the Clan Leader might not mind.)
He glanced back over his shoulder, toward the Sword Hall as the doors snapped shut behind them.
“Honestly,” Huaisang complained, “why would da-ge even care?” He snorted, fanning himself. “Captain is such a fool sometimes.”
Meng Yao said nothing. It wasn’t his place to comment on the captain - he could think of worse things to call him than ‘fool - and he didn’t think Huaisang actually wanted his input.
“Besides, if you were a spy, what could you tell them? What kind of paint I like?”
Where the back entrance was, what the Clan Ledgers contained, when Chifeng Zun was on a Night Hunt, how to sneak in and out without Huaisang’s tutors catching them, the fact that Huaisang was allergic to shrimp, which shipments arrived when—
Meng Yao knew a lot about the Unclean Realm, enough to be dangerous. But he found he didn’t want to be dangerous, not to the Nie Brothers. As annoying and spoiled as Huaisang could be… he was sweet.
Stupid, but sweet.