Lan Yan

**Lan Yan** (蓝燕, *Lán Yán*), courtesy name **Lan Mei-Xiao** (蓝媚笑, *Lán Mèi-Xiào*) is a former member of the Gusu Lan Clan and the exceptional talented first-elder sister of Qingheng-Jun and Lan Qiren. She is the wife and tenth cousin of Shen Yuan, the current leader of the Yinliu Shen Clan, and the mother of Shen Su, Shen Haitang, and Shen Niao, making her **Madame Shen** (沈夫人, *Shěn-fūrén*) by technicality.

## Appearance

Adorning pink lavish robes that reach just above her knees, Lan Yu is shown often wearing waistband where the upper and under part is a darker shade of pink, while in the middle is a lighter pink color. Her waistband consisting of a golden belt decorated with golden flowers combined with two pink armbands on both arms, where her upper armbands consists of garments that resemble sleeves. The top of her hair is styled in a bun, where the rest is styled in a low braid. She has bangs that part in the middle and two thick hair strands on each side of her face, where they are styled with two small, round and golden ornaments. Her spiritual weapon Qi Lei is shown dangling from her waist when not in usage.

Due to her level of cultivation, she maintains her appearance of a teenager-like body, being stated to be one of the most powerful cultivators produced by the Gusu Lan.

## Personality

Lan Yan is described as a person who displays an assertive at it's finest, her children describing her temper as highly unpredictable and cutting, while her words can come across as poisonious. Bitter at her husband's inability to prevent the murder of her first grandchildren and the deaths of her eldest and youngest children, Yan is calculating and callous towards other people, even briefly entertaining the idea of remarriage to escape the loneliness and depression that plagued her well after the deaths of her loved ones.

Despite her negative traits, Lan Yan is fiercely protective of her family and willing to do anything to protect them from harm. She willingly risked her life to protect her children from harm on multiple occasions.

## History

### Origins

Lan Yan was born to Lan Fu and Madame Schariac, as their eldest child and heiress presumptive despite males usually taking on the role of clan leader. With the birth of first Qingheng-Jun and then Lan Qiren, she was quickly removed from her position as the Gusu Lan Clan's heiress and grew up with a semi-ordinary lifestyle. Her closest childhood friend was Fang Qingxue, the future Madame of the Shenzhou Liu. She was also close friends with Cangse Sanren, offering her childhood friend the honor of giving her children their courtsey names.

### Marriage and Later Years

Upon her marriage to Shen Yuan, the future clan leader of the Yinliu Shen Clan, she moves to the Shining Glass Estate the private estate that belongs solely to the clan leaders and their families. On November 8 at 8:00 pm, the first child of the couple was born with her friends Fang Qingxue and Cangse Sanren being present at the birth of her first-born child. The child was given the courtesy name of **Lan Su** (蓝苏, *Lán Sū*) in honor of Lan Yan and Fang Qingxue's beloved mentor and teacher Lan Su-Xiao who tragically perished during an unfortunate Night Hunt by Fang Qingxue and Lan Yan with Cangse Sanren giving the child the courtesy name of **Lan Baihe** (蓝百合, *Lán Bǎihé*). Although amused by her friend's naming convention, her eldest child would eventually choose the courtesy name of **Lan Su** (蓝苏, *Lán Sū*) and reserve the usage of **Lan Baihe** (蓝百合, *Lán Bǎihé*) for Lan Yan's first granddaughter.

## Abilities

* **Cultivation**: Reputed as one of the stronger members of her generation, she possesses an exceptionally high level of cultivation as befitting a member of the Gusu Lan Clan. She is a master of the techniques from Gusu Lan Clan as well as a variety of techniques from her husband's clan.
	+ **Seven Summers of Waking Flowers**: The most powerful melody on the xiao flute to supress resentful energy.
	+ **Eradication Tome**: The most powerful melody on the seven-stringed guqin to supress resentful energy.
	+ **Rest**: A technique to sooth resentful energy.
	+ **Evocation**: A technique to summon spirits to the middle of an array drawn at the player's location.
	+ **Inquiry**: A technique to communicate with deceased spirits, to the point that spirits cannot lie in their answers.
	+ **Cloud Assassination**: A technique to use guqin strings as weapons, originally created to assassinate dissidents.
	+ **Silence Spell**: A spell to silence those around the user for thirty minutes, or remove the spell if he/she/they deems fit.
* **Preception**:
* **Strength**:
* **Swordsmanship**:
* **Cooking**:
* **Singing**:

## Weapon

* **Qi Lei**: Lan Yuan's spiritual weapon and an heirloom of the Schariac Clan.

## Relationships (Family)

### **Shen Yuan**

Lan Mei-Xiao first encounters Shen Yuan while out on a Night Hunt. From their initial meeting during Shen Yuan's attempt to woo her with freshly picked flowers, to Lan Qiren's vexation over the matter, Lan Mei-Xiao frequently finds herself intrigued and confused by his intentions towards her.

Still, Lan Mei-Xiao becomes fixated on his confessions of love enough to show a slight reciprocation of his feelings towards her, enough to find the same kind of flowers as the ones that he gifted her on their first meeting, indicating that she already harbored feelings for him by the time Shen Yuan left the Cloud Recesses.

## Trivia

* In the universe of *Subtle Lotus*, Lan Yan cultivated into the rank of an Immortal (Level I).