( she doesn't expect it, but as jiang cheng falls she goes down with him, strong hands bracing his shoulders to keep him from tumbling all the way down to the bridge. it'd be inappropriate to see him as a younger brother, but she knows he is a younger brother, and can see this kind of devastation as clearly as she would across wen ning's face, the world having been too cruel to both of them, left too much space for tears in the waterlines of their eyes.

firmly, she pulls him into the crook of her shoulder, protectively covering him, glowering at anyone who has the misfortune of walking by to observe this. she points her nose into his temple, voice kept low so only he can hear. )

It's not your siblings, Jiang Cheng. I would've known ... what that feels like. I wouldn't have asked.

( to her, of course, jiang yanli is the furthest thing from dead possible, and weiying is only as dead as wen qing had permitted him to be, prior to her death. squeezing him, she continues on, )

It's — it's your sister's husband. Jin Zixuan. ( gripping him tighter. ) But we'll pay for it, Jiang Cheng, I swear to you. I never wanted to make problems for you or for Wei Wuxian. My brother and I ... we give all that we can, in begging for your forgiveness.

That's why we have no future. I do not exist for there to be one.