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- “Lan Xichen! In this life, I’ve lied countless times, killed countless times. Like you said, I killed my father, my brother, my wife, my son, my teacher, my friend — of all the evil in the world, what haven’t I done?! But I’ve never even thought of harming you!”
- — Jin Guangyao to Lan Xichen
Xiyao is the slash ship between Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen from the Mo Dao Zu Shi fandom.
Canon[]
Lan Xichen is born the heir to the Lan Clan of Gusu. His uncle Lan Qiren raises him and his younger brother Lan Wangji strictly, in the hopes that neither will repeat the sentimental mistakes of their father, who married their mother despite the fact that she had murdered his teacher. The two boys adore their mother, though she remains in detention and passes away when they are young.
Meng Yao is born the illegitimate child of the famous learned prostitute Meng Shi and Jin Guangshan, leader of the Jin Clan of Lanling. Although Meng Shi informed Jin Guangshan of her pregnancy, he refused to take her in as a concubine, believing a literate woman was too much trouble. Meng Yao thus grew up in a brothel until his mother's death, whereupon he requested to join his father's clan. He arrived on his birthday, which happens to be same day as the birthday of his legitimate brother Jin Zixuan. He is promptly kicked down the stairs.
Meng Yao meets Lan Xichen when the latter flees the his home after it is burned by the Wen Clan of Qishan. Lan Xichen carries items from their library in an attempt to save them, and Meng Yao shelters him.
Sunshot Campaign[]
Meng Yao and Lan Xichen meet again during the Sunshot Campaign to overthrow the Wen Clan, while Meng Yao serves under the Nie Clan of Qinghe and becomes the close confidant of their leader, Nie Mingjue. When Nie Mingjue overhears Lan Xichen ask Meng Yao if he still desires to win his father's approval, Nie Mingjue offers to write him a letter of recommendation and send him to serve his father's army.
Some months later, Lan Xichen learns that Nie Mingjue witnessed Meng Yao murder an abusive commander after his father rejected him. Despite Nie Mingjue's insistence that Meng Yao was wrong, Lan Xichen declines to judge him, insisting the situation is complex. Later, Lan Xichen begins receiving letters from an anonymous spy in the Qishan Wen Clan; he deduces the spy is none other than Meng Yao.
After a couple years, Nie Mingjue is captured, and Meng Yao summons Lan Xichen to the Qishan Wen Clan's Nightless City to aid. Lan Xichen arrives to find that the Qishan Wen Clan leader has been slain by Meng Yao, who then took the heavily injured Nie Mingjue out of Nightless City. Still, he encounters as enraged Nie Mingjue attempting to kill Meng Yao, as Nie Mingjue does not know he was a spy and faults him for killing some of his subordinates while undercover. Lan Xichen intervenes, and Nie Mingjue leaves Meng Yao alive.
Sworn Brotherhood[]
After the war, Lan Xichen proposes a sworn brotherhood with Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao, who has finally been recognized by his father and legitimatized as Jin Guangyao. The three swear oaths to each other, though Nie Mingjue soon gains a reputation for disciplining Jin Guangyao.
As Nie Mingjue's temperament worsens due to his clan's saber spirit, Lan Xichen offers to teach Jin Guangyao "Purification Tone," music to sooth the resentful energy affecting their eldest brother's temperament. Jin Guangyao selects "Cleansing" as the song to learn, and Lan Xichen soon allows Jin Guangyao to play for Nie Mingjue, possibly in the hope that their relationship will be restored.
Jin Guangyao helps Lan Xichen rebuild the Cloud Recesses as it was before, and Lan Xichen gifts him a jade token to enter anywhere he wishes in the Cloud Recesses. Unfortunately, the relationship between the Jin Clan of Lanling and the Nie Clan of Qinghe is soon tested when Jin Guangshan's recruitment of the young wayward cultivator Xue Yang leads to Xue Yang massacring the entire Chang Clan of Yueyang. Nie Mingjue demands the execution of Xue Yang, and although Jin Guangshan originally concedes, he later reneges to a life sentence.
Nie Mingjue insists that Jin Guangyao kill Xue Yang despite his father's orders, and Jin Guangyao insists that he cannot. Nie Mingjue accuses him of being too afraid to lose his position, and Jin Guangyao maintains that Nie Mingjue cannot understand how precarious his position is. The argument escalates to Nie Mingjue kicking Jin Guangyao down the stairs and insulting his mother as a prostitute. Lan Xichen intervenes to stop Nie Mingjue's attempt to kill Jin Guangyao.
The novel heavily implies that after this insult, Jin Guangyao begins to poison Nie Mingjue with a song he stole from the Gusu Lan Clan. Two months later, Nie Mingjue's temperament is greatly worsened due to the poison, after overhearing Jin Guangyao venting about his behaviour to Lan Xichen. He qi deviates in another attempt to kill Jin Guangyao, who is again defended by Lan Xichen.
Afterwards, Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao take care of Nie Mingjue's little brother, Nie Huaisang, while he takes over the Nie Clan. About a year later, Jin Guangshan dies and Jin Guangyao takes over the Jin Clan. He is appointed Chief Cultivator, and often meets with Lan Xichen to plan conferences and night hunt. Lan Xichen gifts Jin Guangyao paintings of the four seasons, which he displays in his study, the Blooming Garden.
Exposure of Jin Guangyao's Misdeeds[]
When the maligned Wei Wuxian is reborn in the body of Mo Xuanyu thirteen years after his death, he and Lan Wangji uncover the fact that Nie Mingjue's fierce corpse has been torn apart, body and soul. They bring this to the attention of Lan Xichen, who insists that Jin Guangyao is innocent despite being the primary suspect.
Their investigation leads to the exposure of Wei Wuxian's identity and the suicide of Jin Guangyao's wife after a mysterious letter. Lan Xichen maintains that while his younger brother may trust Wei Wuxian, so he trusts Jin Guangyao. However, when Wei Wuxian's uncovers that the music to "Cleansing" had changed, and Lan Xichen learns that a page is missing from a collection of harmful songs, he begins to suspect the truth. He is troubled enough to suggest using the music on himself. He then disables Jin Guangyao's jade token, and tells Wei Wuxian the story of his parents, asking if his father was right to spare their mother but imprison her.
Jin Guangyao visits the next day and attempts to returns the token after learning his passage has been revoked. Lan Xichen tells him that it has already been given to him, and agrees to accompany him to Golden Carp Tower to plan a second siege against Wei Wuxian. He sends Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian to the Burial Mounds to investigate in the meantime.
Wei Wuxian later suspects that Lan Xichen's spiritual powers are sealed after Jin Guangyao feigns an injury to carry out his scheme to trap many in the cultivation world in a cave with fierce corpses. Lan Xichen tells Jin Guangyao not to call him "Er-ge" again, ending their brotherhood. After his plot fails at the Burial Mounds, Jin Guangyao attempts to flee. He takes Lan Xichen with him to the Guanyin Temple, where he intends to exhume his mother's body and travel across the sea to Dongying. However, the arrival of Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao's nephew Jin Ling interrupts his plan.
Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen are shocked to hear that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are working separately. The two tell him of Lan Wangji's romantic feelings for him, and the stunned Wei Wuxian shouts out his feelings when Lan Wangji arrives.
Still, Jin Guangyao keeps the rest as captives while he awaits the uncovering of his mother's casket. His subordinate Su She arrives with Nie Huaisang as another captive.
Things begin to go awry when Jin Guangyao discovers that someone has removed his mother's body and set a poisonous trap in its place. he captives gain the upper hand when Wei Wuxian releases ghosts sealed in the temple, and Lan Xichen captures Jin Guangyao.
Wei Wuxian learns from the ghosts that the temple was built over the very brothel in which Jin Guangyao grew up, and that the ghosts were all killed in a fire set by Jin Guangyao. Lan Xichen tells him he has done too much, and he no longer trusts him.
Jin Guangyao falls to his knees and pleas for another chance, and Lan Xichen agrees to ask him more questions. Jin Guangyao explains that he received a letter telling him to confess to his misdeeds and kill himself, or have everything exposed. Lan Xichen then asks about the individual accusations, and Jin Guangyao explains he married his wife knowing she was his sister because she was already pregnant, that he intentionally sent Jin Zixuan onto Qiongqi Path to cause him troubles but did not expect Wei Wuxian to kill him, and that he hired prostitutes to rape Jin Guangshan to death after learning that his father refused to rescue his mother because he believed her literacy would be trouble.
Jin Guangyao takes Jin Ling hostage, and Lan Xichen laments that he has lied again. Just then, the fierce corpse of Nie Mingjue arrives, and Lan Wangji severs the trembling Jin Guangyao's hand to save Jin Ling. Lan Xichen protects the maimed Jin Guangyao when Su She attempts to fight the corpse, only to lose his own life.
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji seal Nie Mingjue inside the coffin that once housed Meng Shi. Although Lan Xichen decides to treat Jin Guangyao's injuries, he warns him that he will not hesitate to take his life if he tries anything. Jin Guangyao thanks him before Lan Xichen places him under the Silence Spell.
Noticing how severe Jin Guangyao's condition is, Lan Xichen turns his back to Jin Guangyao to request pain medicine from Nie Huaisang. Nie Huiasang screams for him to look out, and Lan Xichen stabs behind him without a backwards glance.
Mortally wounded, Jin Guangyao rips his lips open despite the Silence Spell. He insists that he did not move, and accuses Nie Huaisang of masterminding his downfall. Sensing Lan Xichen's doubt, he shouts that despite all the evilness he did, he never intended to harm Lan Xichen.
Jin Guangyao rips the sword from his body and turns to the coffin. Thinking he is escaping, Lan Xichen seizes him, only for Wei Wuxian to realize that Jin Guangyao is releasing Nie Mingjue again. As the fierce corpse breaks forth, Jin Guangyao pushes Lan Xichen to safety before Nie Mingjue breaks his neck.
Lan Xichen demands to know if Nie Huaisang really saw Jin Guangyao move, but Nie Huaisang insists he does not know. Wei Wuxian begins to suspect that Jin Guangyao was correct: Nie Huaisang was the mastermind. As help arrives at last, Lan Xichen is too distraught to answer Lan Qiren anything.
Aftermath[]
When Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji return from their honeymoon, Lan Wangji visits Lan Xichen in seclusion. Wei Wuxian reflects that just as Lan Xichen visited Lan Wangji when he was in seclusion, mourning Wei Wuxian, now the roles are exactly reversed. Later that night, Lan Wangji says that his brother is not doing well. At a banquet the following day, Lan Xichen seems to have lost weight, and to be more forgetful than normal.
Quotes[]
“You trust Wei-gongzi, but I trust Jin Guangyao. Neither of us personally witnessed whether da-ge’s head is in his possession. We rely entirely on our own understanding of another, our own trust in their words. You think you understand Wei Wuxian, and that is why you trust him. I also think I understand Jin Guangyao and therefore trust him. You trust your own judgment. Why can I not trust my own judgment too?”
- Lan Xichen to Lan Wangji. (chapter 14, book 3)
Fanon[]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
On AO3, XiYao is the most popular ship for Jin Guangyao and the second most popular for Lan Xichen. They are shipped because they are sworn brothers, because of the help Jin Guangyao provided to Lan Xichen during the Sunshot Campaign and because not counting the ending, Lan Xichen was the closest to a healthy friendship Jin Guangyao ever had. He is also portrayed as the only person Jin Guangyao never wished to harm.
This ship is supported by several key canonical moments in Mo Dao Zu Shi. One of the most important is Xichen’s unwavering trust, shown when he says he never regretted reaching out to Jin Guangyao. Even in their final moments, Lan Xichen is willing to die if it means that it would be with him. Jin Guangyao, in return, shows a rare vulnerability around Xichen, seeking his approval in a way he does with no one else. Lan Xichen is kind to many people, but the attention he gives to Jin Guangyao feels more personal and emotionally charged. They’re frequently shown spending time together, sharing responsibilities and quiet conversations which demonstrates their closeness. Their bond stands out as a mix of admiration, trust, and tragedy that gives every scene between them an added weight. Moreover, Lan Xichen going into seclusion at the story’s end, just like his father did for his mother, forms a parallel that highlights the romantic undertones of this pairing.
Their dynamic is tragic, intense, and full of trust and betrayal, making it a compelling ship for fans.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Jin Guangyao/Lan Xichen tag on AO3
Trivia[]
During the shooting of The Untamed, Jin Guangyao's actor was asked to treat Lan Xichen like a lover during a scene.[1]
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| Mo Dao Zu Shi Ships • Mo Dao Zu Shi Characters | |||
| SHIPS | het | Xuanli | |
| slash | NieYao • SangYao • SangYu • WangXian • XiYao | ||