“And why would I do that?” Wei Wuxian asked, crossing his arms stubbornly. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the cultivation world's most beloved person right now, especially at Lanling Jin. I brought Wen Ning in case anyone gets funny ideas.”

“Wei Wuxian, you can’t just show up at Jinlintai with him!” Jiang Cheng realized he was close to sitting. He rubbed a hand over his face and lowered his voice. “Jiejie and Jin Zixuan and I have a plan on how to move forward, and it starts with you, at Jin Ling’s one month celebration, nit raising anyone’s hackles, refraining from telling anyone that no one can stop you from killing anyones, and most certainly not reminding people that you can command armies of fierce corpses.”

“I need people to be afraid to move against me, Jiang Cheng. You of all people should understand that. Isn’t Sandu Shengshou’s reputation something you cultivate for the same reason?”

There was some truth to that of course. Jiang Cheng had thought long and hard about how to avoid anything like Wen Chao’s assault on Lotus Pier from ever happening again. Some of it had to do with putting in place better protocols in case of an attack, and also on building up an intelligence network, something his mother had been in favor of but his father had considered distasteful. But he’d certainly come to the conclusion that deterring anyone from even considering it was one of his berth options going forward. Yunmeng Jiang was still recovering, most of its numbers made up of a ragtag mix of rogue cultivators and others whose clans had been wiped out by Wen Ruohan, and everyone knew it. The best tool Jiang Cheng had at good disposal, until he he could build up his clan’s strength to something approaching what it had been, was his own reputation. He was admired for his bravery and tenaciousness, but he was also known for his single-minded pursuit of vengeance for his family, and for his ruthlessness in achieving that.

Jiang Cheng had concluded that leaning into that reputation, making people afraid or at least apprehensive of crossing him, was an integral part of keeping Yunmeng Jiang, and anyone he cared about, safe.

Still, he couldn’t allow to let his reputation shift from someone you don’t cross to imminent threat to the rest of the cultivation world. Which was largely why Wei Wuxian’s refusal to back down after the incident at Qionqi Path over a year ago had put him in an untenable position. Wei Wuxian knew that, he had been the one to suggest Jiang Cheng should duel and then renounce him in front of the whole world.

Jiang Cheng had a fine needle to thread, and Wei Wuxian seemed to understand that. But he seemed completely incapable or unwilling to realize the same applied to him.