deny me bread (but never laughter) (смешанная)

“I wanted better for you, Xichen,” Lan Qiren confesses one day. “And for your brother, too.”
“What do you mean, Shufu?” his nephew laughs at him. “I do not believe there are a happier pair of brothers in the world than Wangji and myself—unless you count A-Xian and Sect Leader Jiang, of course. Even Jiang-zongzhu hardly frowns at all, now that he’s married.”
“Perhaps. But you would be hard-pressed to find two brothers who suffered more.” 
 
Four years after Wangji’s wedding, Lan Qiren reflects on his two nephews and the lives they chose to lead.