Once he had Wei Wuxian cuffed to the radiator, the door knocked and Wen Chao smirked at Wei Wuxian. "Oh, I can't? You haven't met a good friend of mine yet though. Come in!"
The Wen guard entered and with him, there was an already snarling rottweiler. Wen Chao came over and took the lead, laughing as the dog strained on it's leash and pulled against it's collar already, barking at the strangers. He knew his master, he didn't know these others. Such a protective dog. "Good boy! I know, they suck. Want to meet someone who just loves dogs?"
He dragged the dog towards Wei Wuxian and stood the appropriate distance that the dog could get close to Wei Wuxian, snarling and snapping in his face but not quite reaching him.
Lan Zhan tried to get up but his leg was so painful, he couldn't so much more than partially lift himself up. Jiang Cheng got to his feet, leaving Nie Huaisang on the floor and he geared up to save his brother. "Stop that! Now!"
"Come on, get close. Come at me. Though I might let go of the lead and my boy here really likes to bite." If anyone moved towards him, the dog would be let loose to maul Wei Wuxian. There was no option. Nothing else to do.
To his credit, Wei Wuxian tried to keep himself under control in face of his worst fear. Unfortunately, that still meant that he was trembling, curling in on himself as much as possible, and his lips were bleeding from how he was biting down on them, to keep from crying out. He was pale and his eyes were wide with terror, staring at that absolute hellhound.
"Oh no," Nie Huaisang whimpered, "The young mistress Jiang will not want her brothers hurt."
Jin Zixuan moved, quite suddenly, to put an arm across Jiang Cheng's chest. "Stay put." He had meant for it to sound understanding and quietly supportive and it sounded more put upon and stressed, but hopefully the message would still be conveyed.
"We can't just stand here and let it happen." Jiang Cheng hissed in annoyance, glaring at Jin Zixuan. He didn't understand it. He didn't care. Wei Wuxian was terrified of dogs, it was cruel. It was difficult. He couldn't keep himself from hurting for his brother, he couldn't take his pained sounds.
Wen Chao laughed and watched Wei Wuxian cower, pitiful and afraid. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started to film it, excited to show his brother later. Maybe he'd get some kind of approval. He was just as ruthless as anyone else in his family.
And to make sure it came across, he briefly let go of the lead so the dog could get closer, teeth catching against Wei Wuxian's leg before he yanked the dog back, laughing. "Not so cocky now, are you?"
No, he was not cocky at all right now. Instead, when the dog was let go, he screamed on the top of his lungs, until he managed to shut himself up with his hands over his mouth, hiding his face as his breath kept hitching, sounding absolutely terrified. It was not something he could fight, the fear was deep-seated and this was not exactly a situation where he was overreacting anyway.
Jin Zixuan felt bad, in spite of his own feelings about Wei Wuxian, so he could only imagine how much worse it had to be for Jiang Cheng. So he held him fiercely and tried to think of something that would bring this to an end.
"Wen-gongzi," Nie Huaisang said, softly but loud enough to be heard. Addressing Wen Chao ever so formally. "Please, can we call my brother?"
Wen Chao gripped the leash hard and then turned his head, raising an eyebrow at Nie Huaisang. The weird fainting boy. What a total sissy. He turned off the video and sent it into a group chat with the boys. Well, Wen Xu's boys but still. "You wanna call your brother? Why? So you can beg him to come and submit to us? Cause that's all we want from all of your pathetic leaders."
"Yes, please. I would like to plead with him." Nie Huaisang said it very sincerely, bowing much more and deeper than necessary as he made his wishes clear. "I want him to have mercy on me and come and safe me. I will tell him how scary you are, Wen-gongzi. My brother won't want me to be hurt."
Well, no, he wouldn't. He also would never submit like that unless there was absolutely no other solution. However, it was getting the focus off of Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang had a few ideas on how to proceed.
Wen Chao thought about it for a few moments and then yanked his dog away from Wei Wuxian and across the room. They were in quite a large, open area so the dog was quite a bit away from Wei Wuxian now. He crouched down and tied the lead around the pipe, keeping it nearby. Just in case. Then he stroked the dogs head, pulling a treat from his pocket for the dog. "Good boy. You just sit and wait."
Moving away from the dog, he looked at Wei Wuxian trembling in a ball and then shook his head, turning to the little Nie. "Your brother said he would never submit to Wen dogs." He remembered, he had been there when he'd said it to his father. "I'm not sure he's going to give us all we want for you. Who'd want you? You're a weak nothing that can't even handle a gun."
"I'm not just his brother, Wen-gongzi. Remember, I am next in line. However useless I am, I'm his only family." He didn't say it in a proud manner, rather embarrassed about the circumstances. Weak and easily intimidated, that was him. He put a hand into his jacket pocket as he hugged an arm around himself, bowing his head again. "Please, won't you give me the chance to call him? We can do it away from the others. He won't have to posture as much when the young masters aren't all witnesses. If it's just us."
"Hm. Perhaps." Wen Chao pulled out his phone and sent a quick text. He knew who could handle this if he was to leave the room.
zhulia, come second floor i need u
"My loyal friend will come and watch the young masters and perhaps we can see what will happen. I can't imagine much." Even so, what a win it would be? He yawned loudly, walking towards where Wei Wuxian was. He prodded him with his shoe, amused by how scared he was. "Everyone here is valuable to someone. Except this one. Who'd miss a servant?"
"Jin-gongzi's mom," Wei Wuxian replied, still sounding scared but also quick-witted as always. Although Jin Zixuan wasn't quite sure why he got the drive-by abuse here.
"What?!"
"Sorry, had to go after someone who still has a mom." Wei Wuxian felt that was fair enough reasoning. He glanced over at the dog warily, more worried about that than the effectiveness of his 'your mom' jabs.
Wen Zhuliu hadn't bothered replying. He simply came as quickly as he could, entering in silence before bowing. "Young master." What now? He looked around the room, frowning already. Looked like a mess.
"I have to take the little Nie with me. Watch this lot and if they give you any attitude, you can hurt them. No killing though. If you need help with this one, you have YueYue." He meant the dog, obviously. He gestured towards the dog, that was lying on it's side and watching everything carefully.
Walking over to Nie Huaisang, he grabbed the other by his shirt and yanked him up. "If anyone cries, take a video. Me and my brother have a bet on how many will cry." And he wanted to win.
"Yes, young master," Wen Zhuliu said while both sure that he would not take any videos nor would any of these young men cry. Other than the one terrified of dogs, that seemed to have already happened. Furthermore, he had no idea how to even get to the camera setting on his phone. "Be careful, young master."
He did not want to have to deal with a dead young master if Wen Chao lost his temper. Although Nie Huaisang seemed subdued enough, walking with Wen Chao with his head ducked. He dropped a bit of the biscuit he had had in his pocket near the dog, hoping to endear himself to it, but doing it subtly, so that no one would notice. Looking at Wen Chao, he gulped, clearly very terrified. "Please don't hurt me."
"He's so scared, it's so embarrassing." Wen Chao laughed and then slapped Wen Zhuliu arm in a friendly way, as if they were something more than second young master and bodyguard. Wen Zhuliu was basically his best friend, they hung out like all the time and he send him hilarious memes every night. With a smirk, he hauled Nie Huiasang out of the room and marched him down the hall.
"Let's go to the back room." Wen Chao pushed the little Nie towards the storage space he mostly used to stash his coat and torture items. He was really hoping to use the electric prod on that rich peacock bastard. "You really think he'll beg us for you?"
"I don't know," Nie Huaisang admitted, which was not entirely a lie. He was about ninety percent sure that Nie Mingjue never would. Sometimes his brother surprised him though, both in good and bad ways. He walked a little bit taller now, hand in his inside pocket so he could pull out his fan. And so he could note that Wen Chao wasn't paying enough attention to even suspect that he might be reaching for a weapon. Good. It was so good to be underestimated.
He opened up the fan a little and started fanning himself. "You are so vicious, Wen-gongzi. The way you wielded that whip. It's very intimidating."
"Yeah, obviously, fuckhead. That's the whole point. We're gangsters. It ain't gonna be all nice and fun, is it?" Wen Chao sneered as he slapped the side of Nie Huaisang's head in annoyance. "You're such a sissy. You gotta grow some balls and get your shit together or you're gonna be dead by the time my dad takes over."
His father didn't tolerate the weak or the useless. He shoved Nie Huiasang into the backroom and shut the door behind him. "Okay, let's call your precious da-ge." He pulled out his phone and started to search for the number.
"Is your father really capable of that? So impressive..." And he wondered just what the plan here could be. Taking out all the other gangs would be quite the task. He wished he could have talked to Lan Zhan and find out just what had gone down with them. He used his fan to hide the lower half of his face as he thought about it, waiting for his brother to pick up.
He supposed he could update him on just what was happening here at least and then see what to do from that point.
"There's nothing he can't do." Wen Chao boasted as he waited for the older brother to pick up. He did, eventually, and there was silence at first before the eldest Nie spoke.
"What do you want now, you Wen dog? Where is my brother?!"
"Temper, temper. He's right here with me." Wen Chao tsked and then reached over, grabbing Nie Huaisang harshly on the shoulder and squeezing a particularly painful pressure point that his brother had taught him. On his own body but still. "What did you want to say, little Nie?"
Nie Huaisang didn't have to fake the pained cry. Enduring pain had never been for him, he didn't see the point.
"Da-ge!," he called out, sounding desperate and scared, which was only partially acted. All right, it was hugely exaggerated. He didn't believe that Wen Chao posed much danger to him. "It's horrible! Wen-gongzi is so in control." He really wasn't. "All of us young masters are here and he scares us all, even the second young Lan master." He wanted to let his brother know that Lan Zhan was with them and alive. Given his injury and the uncertainty of what had happened with the gang, he wondered whether that was valuable information. "The young master Jin and Jiang-xiong are very brave, but, da-ge! I am so scared!"
A medium level of scared, he'd say. Maybe lower. "Wen-gongzi is in charge and he is scary." He really wasn't. He really needed his brother to know that Wen Chao had nothing under control and that he would therefore be just fine.
"Are you okay?" Nie Mingjue asked, putting away every little detail for later. Nie Huaisang was a strange boy. Weak and pathetic but cunning as a fox. He could escape his lessons with ease and lie to him so boldly and with such conviction that sometimes he believed it. Honestly, he wondered if his brother wasn't just playing games. "I want him returned unharmed or there will be hell to pay."
"Don't threaten us. You want your little boy back? Beg for him. Come here, in person, and bow to your betters. When you kowtow, we will give you your brother back." Wen Chao spat out as he shoved Nie Huaisang away. "You have until Friday."
"Why Friday?"
"... Erm." Wait. Why did he question that? There wasn't an actual deadline but, well, you know. "Friday is the end of the week."
"it's sensible to wrap up business before the weekend," Nie Huaisang said encouragingly, because he wanted to bolster Wen Chao up further and to keep his brother from entirely rattling him. A rattled Wen Chao would be much more difficult to deal with, until he got a good handle on him. "Da-ge, please don't wait around until Friday. I am scared Wen Chao will find out all the secrets I know if we are alone much longer."
Or else he would just like to give him some incentive to focus on him, alone, so that he could implement some actual planning. "Anyway, banks are closed on the weekend. So the Wen would have to wait until Monday to close out the accounts of the gangs they take over."
Why did he say Friday? If Nie Mingjue didn't come by Friday then he would have made a statement and his dad would not know unless he told him. And if he told him, he was in deep trouble for pushing a deadline. He was so panicked, he was barely listening. Just trying to justify all of this.
"I see." Nie Mingjue was quiet for a moment. "By Friday, you say? Is that true of all of the gangs. Lan Xichen would perhaps like to know."
"No!" Wen Chao said a bit too panicked, grabbing the phone. "Just stick with what you're given and stay out of others business. You heard what I said already so -- make up your mind!" God, he hoped he came on Friday or he was so dead. "If you don't come, be warned, I will have all the secrets."
And with that, he hung up. Swiftly. Eagerly. God, that was terrible!
"Whoa, Wen-gongzi! You are so brave. I would never talk to da-ge like that." Indeed he wouldn't, partially because he wasn't a complete idiotic fool like Wen Chao clearly was. Also because his brother was terribly intimidating, even to him. Some days, especially to him. "I have never seen anyone stand up to him. You are truly strong."
He bowed his head in awe, made sure to mix some fear into it, and then tried prodding. "You don't really want my secrets, do you?"
"Yeah, I'm not scared of anyone." Wen Chao agreed, not realising it was pointless, fake sucking up that was happening. He liked kind words so he didn't like to challenge them. He rarely got them from anyone else so he liked what he could get from others. Whores, his underlings, hostages - all valid.
"Of course I want your secrets. Are they about what the Nie plan to do? Because they won't succeed. No more than the Lan clan did when my brother went for them." Wen Chao boasted, never one to keep his cards to his chest.
"I hear your brother is ruthless. The Lan clan must be devastated." Both young masters still alive though, he had taken note of that. Nie Huaisang wondered just what Wen Chao thought he was threatening here. "My brother is clan leader and he is a strong fighter. He won't give up territory easily..."
Nie Huaisang looked around, despair in his eyes. And then he looked at Wen Chao, as if he had just had an epiphany. "Perhaps we could make a deal, Wen-gongzi."
"We destroyed their base of operations. I have the second master and my brother is tracking the first as we speak. He has a tip. Some lowly librarian - Yao-- something. He's going to torture the location out of him and we'll have both Lans by Friday." Why Friday? Why did he keep saying Friday? He really had to stop.
Of course, no, he didn't really connect that Nie Mingjue knew where Lan Xichen was. Given what had been said. He was not the brightest for sure. "What deal? Cause you don't have nothing I want."
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The Wen guard entered and with him, there was an already snarling rottweiler. Wen Chao came over and took the lead, laughing as the dog strained on it's leash and pulled against it's collar already, barking at the strangers. He knew his master, he didn't know these others. Such a protective dog. "Good boy! I know, they suck. Want to meet someone who just loves dogs?"
He dragged the dog towards Wei Wuxian and stood the appropriate distance that the dog could get close to Wei Wuxian, snarling and snapping in his face but not quite reaching him.
Lan Zhan tried to get up but his leg was so painful, he couldn't so much more than partially lift himself up. Jiang Cheng got to his feet, leaving Nie Huaisang on the floor and he geared up to save his brother. "Stop that! Now!"
"Come on, get close. Come at me. Though I might let go of the lead and my boy here really likes to bite." If anyone moved towards him, the dog would be let loose to maul Wei Wuxian. There was no option. Nothing else to do.
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"Oh no," Nie Huaisang whimpered, "The young mistress Jiang will not want her brothers hurt."
Jin Zixuan moved, quite suddenly, to put an arm across Jiang Cheng's chest. "Stay put." He had meant for it to sound understanding and quietly supportive and it sounded more put upon and stressed, but hopefully the message would still be conveyed.
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Wen Chao laughed and watched Wei Wuxian cower, pitiful and afraid. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started to film it, excited to show his brother later. Maybe he'd get some kind of approval. He was just as ruthless as anyone else in his family.
And to make sure it came across, he briefly let go of the lead so the dog could get closer, teeth catching against Wei Wuxian's leg before he yanked the dog back, laughing. "Not so cocky now, are you?"
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Jin Zixuan felt bad, in spite of his own feelings about Wei Wuxian, so he could only imagine how much worse it had to be for Jiang Cheng. So he held him fiercely and tried to think of something that would bring this to an end.
"Wen-gongzi," Nie Huaisang said, softly but loud enough to be heard. Addressing Wen Chao ever so formally. "Please, can we call my brother?"
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Wen Chao gripped the leash hard and then turned his head, raising an eyebrow at Nie Huaisang. The weird fainting boy. What a total sissy. He turned off the video and sent it into a group chat with the boys. Well, Wen Xu's boys but still. "You wanna call your brother? Why? So you can beg him to come and submit to us? Cause that's all we want from all of your pathetic leaders."
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Well, no, he wouldn't. He also would never submit like that unless there was absolutely no other solution. However, it was getting the focus off of Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang had a few ideas on how to proceed.
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Moving away from the dog, he looked at Wei Wuxian trembling in a ball and then shook his head, turning to the little Nie. "Your brother said he would never submit to Wen dogs." He remembered, he had been there when he'd said it to his father. "I'm not sure he's going to give us all we want for you. Who'd want you? You're a weak nothing that can't even handle a gun."
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zhulia, come
second floor
i need u
"My loyal friend will come and watch the young masters and perhaps we can see what will happen. I can't imagine much." Even so, what a win it would be? He yawned loudly, walking towards where Wei Wuxian was. He prodded him with his shoe, amused by how scared he was. "Everyone here is valuable to someone. Except this one. Who'd miss a servant?"
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"What?!"
"Sorry, had to go after someone who still has a mom." Wei Wuxian felt that was fair enough reasoning. He glanced over at the dog warily, more worried about that than the effectiveness of his 'your mom' jabs.
Wen Zhuliu hadn't bothered replying. He simply came as quickly as he could, entering in silence before bowing. "Young master." What now? He looked around the room, frowning already. Looked like a mess.
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Walking over to Nie Huaisang, he grabbed the other by his shirt and yanked him up. "If anyone cries, take a video. Me and my brother have a bet on how many will cry." And he wanted to win.
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He did not want to have to deal with a dead young master if Wen Chao lost his temper. Although Nie Huaisang seemed subdued enough, walking with Wen Chao with his head ducked. He dropped a bit of the biscuit he had had in his pocket near the dog, hoping to endear himself to it, but doing it subtly, so that no one would notice. Looking at Wen Chao, he gulped, clearly very terrified. "Please don't hurt me."
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"Let's go to the back room." Wen Chao pushed the little Nie towards the storage space he mostly used to stash his coat and torture items. He was really hoping to use the electric prod on that rich peacock bastard. "You really think he'll beg us for you?"
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He opened up the fan a little and started fanning himself. "You are so vicious, Wen-gongzi. The way you wielded that whip. It's very intimidating."
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His father didn't tolerate the weak or the useless. He shoved Nie Huiasang into the backroom and shut the door behind him. "Okay, let's call your precious da-ge." He pulled out his phone and started to search for the number.
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He supposed he could update him on just what was happening here at least and then see what to do from that point.
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"What do you want now, you Wen dog? Where is my brother?!"
"Temper, temper. He's right here with me." Wen Chao tsked and then reached over, grabbing Nie Huaisang harshly on the shoulder and squeezing a particularly painful pressure point that his brother had taught him. On his own body but still. "What did you want to say, little Nie?"
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"Da-ge!," he called out, sounding desperate and scared, which was only partially acted. All right, it was hugely exaggerated. He didn't believe that Wen Chao posed much danger to him. "It's horrible! Wen-gongzi is so in control." He really wasn't. "All of us young masters are here and he scares us all, even the second young Lan master." He wanted to let his brother know that Lan Zhan was with them and alive. Given his injury and the uncertainty of what had happened with the gang, he wondered whether that was valuable information. "The young master Jin and Jiang-xiong are very brave, but, da-ge! I am so scared!"
A medium level of scared, he'd say. Maybe lower. "Wen-gongzi is in charge and he is scary." He really wasn't. He really needed his brother to know that Wen Chao had nothing under control and that he would therefore be just fine.
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"Don't threaten us. You want your little boy back? Beg for him. Come here, in person, and bow to your betters. When you kowtow, we will give you your brother back." Wen Chao spat out as he shoved Nie Huaisang away. "You have until Friday."
"Why Friday?"
"... Erm." Wait. Why did he question that? There wasn't an actual deadline but, well, you know. "Friday is the end of the week."
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Or else he would just like to give him some incentive to focus on him, alone, so that he could implement some actual planning. "Anyway, banks are closed on the weekend. So the Wen would have to wait until Monday to close out the accounts of the gangs they take over."
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"I see." Nie Mingjue was quiet for a moment. "By Friday, you say? Is that true of all of the gangs. Lan Xichen would perhaps like to know."
"No!" Wen Chao said a bit too panicked, grabbing the phone. "Just stick with what you're given and stay out of others business. You heard what I said already so -- make up your mind!" God, he hoped he came on Friday or he was so dead. "If you don't come, be warned, I will have all the secrets."
And with that, he hung up. Swiftly. Eagerly. God, that was terrible!
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He bowed his head in awe, made sure to mix some fear into it, and then tried prodding. "You don't really want my secrets, do you?"
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"Of course I want your secrets. Are they about what the Nie plan to do? Because they won't succeed. No more than the Lan clan did when my brother went for them." Wen Chao boasted, never one to keep his cards to his chest.
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Nie Huaisang looked around, despair in his eyes. And then he looked at Wen Chao, as if he had just had an epiphany. "Perhaps we could make a deal, Wen-gongzi."
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Of course, no, he didn't really connect that Nie Mingjue knew where Lan Xichen was. Given what had been said. He was not the brightest for sure. "What deal? Cause you don't have nothing I want."
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