Jian Lan & Cuocuo - Canon Timeline
Canon typical cw: rape, sex trafficking, pregnancy, pregnancy horror
800 years ago in Xianle
Background
Jian Lan was born into a family with both wealth and status and had high prospects for the future prior to the events of Book 2.
“She didn’t come from an ordinary background. Her father is a high-ranking official, and her mother hails from a family of wealthy merchants in the capital. (...) He paused briefly, then said with a casual air, “I hear that the girl’s father once wanted her to enter the harem and fight for the position of the prince’s consort.
(Mu Qing, ch34)
800 years later Qi Rong announces her identity and has his own gossip about her:
(…) the number one eligible maiden of our Xianle, the ‘young’ Lady Jian Lan! Her family was full of politicians and merchants, indescribably grand and glorious. Her looks were only so-so, but her name was always on the list every time there was a Xianle beauty appraisal. She was so proud that her eyes grew on the top of her head; she saw and cared for no one. She almost entered the harem to be elected as your consort!” (Qi Rong, ch75)
Xie Lian had actually met Jian Lan once while he was Crown Prince, at a banquet his parents arranged for him to meet potential matches, but he didn't remember the names or faces of any of the girls there (ch75).
Conflict with Yong'an
During the Yong'an crisis, Jian Lan was kidnapped and raped by a Yong'an man in hopes of marrying into her family and being allowed to stay in the city. Her family refused and had the man killed. Due to their power and influence this became the inciting incident for an anti-Yong'an protest. (ch34)
Jian Lan snuck away from her family in order to join in:
Sure enough, at the forefront of that crowd marched a young woman. She was slender, her skin snow white, her eyes bright and black, her cheeks flushed not from shyness but from rage—an eye-catching sight.
(...)
Just then, a group of aunties rushed over, grabbing and pulling at the young woman. By the looks of it, she had snuck out when her family wasn’t paying attention.
That young woman wouldn’t yield, yelling, “I’m not afraid! I have nothing to be ashamed of! I wasn’t in the wrong!”
“That chick’s pretty spunky,” Feng Xin said, amazed. (ch34)
After the fall of Xianle
In ch99, it's implied that 'years' have passed between the events of Book 2 and Book 4.
During that time, as a result of Xianle's loss in the war with Yong'an, Jian Lan was taken captive and sold to a brothel where she was forced into sex work.
This was probably the same one where Xie Lian and Feng Xin got dragged by brothel madams after accidentally shooting an arrow into their yard:
Before he realized what had happened, the women had already dragged Xie Lian away to a rather lavish little establishment. When he looked up, he could see women on the upper balconies dressed like blossoming flowers and chirping like birds. (ch96)
Later the madams "called over thirty hired goons" so this is quite a large business.
Since Feng Xin could afford to buy time with her, I doubt that Jian Lan was one of those elaborately dressed women on the upper balconies, she was probably of a lower rank within the brothel.
Feng Xin & Jian Lan
At some point during the events of ch96 Feng Xin and Jian Lan began spending time together. According to Jian Lan, they could sit and chat together for an entire night (ch131). It's also hinted that Jian Lan was the one who cared for Feng Xin's injuries when he got into a fight with other street performers during this period:
There was a gash on his face, and one of his arms had been wrapped carefully with neatly layered bandages. Someone else had clearly taken care of them for him (...) (ch96)
And since Jian Lan quickly denies that Cuocuo is Feng Xin's child in Chapter 76 we know that they must have had sex at least once. #Confirmed #SexHaver
This relationship was a serious one. Feng Xin told her he would save the money to buy her freedom, and said that the two of them 'made a promise' (ch115). Jian Lan also mentions to Xie Lian that the two of them made romantic promises.
Who didn’t make promises when they were young? Swearing on the mountains and the seas, talking of affection, of love, of forever. (ch131)
The most telling part is that they seem to have discussed having a child together.
However, Feng Xin was staring at the fetus spirit. “What did you call him? Cuocuo?”
That name, “mistake,” seemed to have a special implication. (ch76)
As a reminder, in Chinese culture there is a tradition of milk names used for babies before the real name is chosen, sometimes an unpleasant name to ward off evil spirits from the baby. So despite Cuocuo meaning 'mistake' (or as the Seven Seas name guide says, 'oopsie') it's still a legit thing to call your kid.
At some point during this period, Feng Xin also gifted Jian Lan the golden belt which Xie Lian had given him (which he told her not to sell) as well as one of Xie Lian's protection charms (ch115).
Feng Xin - Through Xie Lian's eyes
Xie Lian is really struggling and does not pay much attention to Feng Xin during this time, and Feng Xin himself is also unwilling to share his situation with Xie Lian. However, we still get a few hints that Feng Xin was thinking about Jian Lan a lot.
Feng Xin was boiling down medicine, humming as he did so. He hummed and hummed, sounding more and more off key, and while Xie Lian didn’t care to pay attention at first, he eventually couldn’t ignore it.
“What’s with you? In a good mood?”
Feng Xin looked up. “Huh? No?”
Xie Lian didn’t believe him. “Really?”
In the few days since they had started performing on the streets, Xie Lian had noticed Feng Xin acting a bit strange. Sometimes he’d grin like a fool for no reason, sometimes he’d suddenly seem troubled. (ch96)
During Chapter 99 Feng Xin also asks if Xie Lian has any money or valuable items he can borrow, suggesting how desperate he is for money to free Jian Lan.
By the way, this is Feng Xin 800 years later, after discovering that Jian Lan and Cuocuo still exist and having them run away from him...
“Feng Xin… Lan Chang… Miss Jian Lan, what was she talking…”
Xie Lian had only just started to ask when Feng Xin swung out his fist. With a loud crack, the tree beside them was punched in half.
“I told you not to ask me!” he roared.
That response sounded unexpectedly resentful, and Xie Lian could tell the resentment was directed at him. He couldn’t help but be taken aback. (ch76)
The end of their relationship
The first version of the end of their relationship is the lie that Jian Lan convinced Feng Xin of at the time and which he continued to believe for 800 years:
Feng Xin was astonished. “It’s you… It really is you. It has to be you! I thought…you had gotten married and lived well. How did you…How did you become like this…?” (ch75)
Since she was trapped in the brothel at the time, the only story that makes sense is that she was bought by another man to be his concubine. It seems that this never happened though, especially since she was murdered while still inside a brothel (ch43).
Furthermore, back then she explicitly told Feng Xin to leave her:
And at the time, you told me to get lost— (Feng Xin, ch115)
So, she did a thorough job of getting rid of him, convincing him both that she 'lived well' without him and that she no longer wanted him.
However, what was the motivation for this? We first hear her justifying herself to Feng Xin when she runs into him during the lockdown in the Heavenly Capital. This brutal takedown explanation focuses on his inability to keep his promises to free her or provide for her.
Deep down, you knew damn well whether you could actually afford this bitch's price tag with your meager abilities!
There are plenty of promises and oaths out there, but think for a moment. What have you actually given me, huh?
She also accuses him of having been unhappy with her (which he denies), and claims that she did them both a favour by making him leave before their relationship got any worse.
Since you didn't have the heart to leave, I decided to send you off!
You had less and less money, and your temper certainly got worse and worse. What was I to do if I didn't let you go, huh? Keep tormenting you to death?! Torment you to the point where you'd be annoyed with me, complain about me, hate me, and never want to see me ever again?! (Jian Lan, ch115)
Her words here in Chapter 115 match with her hostile attitude to him from the moment they meet again in Chapter 75. However, when speaking to Xie Lian at the end of the book, she takes a softer tone when reminiscing about the same events:
As if she'd just recalled something from a faraway past, Jian Lan laughed. "Since you mention it, I remember now. He was still a little stupid back in those days, working long hours to make enough money to buy me for an entire night. But he'd just bring over a stool and sit next to me; he did nothing but sit and chat with me the whole time. Everyone thought he was a joke--what a laugh!" (ch131)
Rather than blaming Feng Xin, this time she talks about how ending their relationship allowed her to preserve her image in his eyes.
I dumped him at my most beautiful, all proud and dignified. I think that was for the best. That way, I'd always look like that in his memories, instead of like this--caked in heavy, gaudy, makeup, with crow's feet around my eyes. (Jian Lan, ch131)
Death
During Chapter 43 we are able to see the probable location where Jian Lan died, inside the dream created by Cuocuo. Xie Lian awakens on a woman's bed covered in fresh blood, in what he thinks is a 'restaurant or place of pleasure'.
Jian Lan was killed as part of the process of creating Cuocuo; as discussed in Chapter 43, fetus spirits are created by cutting unborn babies out from their mothers' wombs. Afterwards, these spirits can perform tasks for their creator. Although it's never explicitly stated, we can guess that Jian Lan's murderer and Cuocuo's creator was Jun Wu (or White No Face, etc).
At some point after their deaths, Mu Qing showed up and attempted to help Jian Lan and Cuocuo, but he failed. Cuocuo also bit him at this point, leaving a scar on his arm (ch74).
All [Mu Qing] did was notice that the woman was a surviving citizen of Xianle and had some relation to the royals and nobility, so he lent her a helping hand. He had wanted to save that fetus spirit, but it refused to see sense; not only did it not want to be saved, it even turned into a fierce! (Fu Yao, ch76)
Afterlife
Jian Lan knew about Feng Xin's ascension and success as a god, but she refused to contact him again since she and Cuocuo were already ghosts and she thought they would cause trouble for him (ch131).
At some point, Jian Lan and Cuocuo were separated. In Chapter 46, Jian Lan tells Hua Cheng that she has searched for Cuocuo for 'centuries'.
During this time, Cuocuo was presumably causing trouble, similar to how Xie Lian found him tricking pregnant women into letting him into their wombs to eat their unborn babies. According to Xie Lian's guess in Chapter 43, Cuocuo did this because he wanted to return to his real mother's belly; he was searching for Jian Lan too.
Also at some point, Jian Lan began living in Ghost City under the name Lan Chang, which is how we meet her in Chapter 13 when she tries to pick up Xie Lian from the street.
Present day
Since their appearances in the present are told much more straightforwardly, you can check the chapter guide and read the relevant chapters to find out what happened.
As a small recap: They were brought to heaven in the ghost fetus arc, escaped during Mt Tonglu's opening, got captured again, then were set free but remained in the Heavenly Capital after Jun Wu's villain reveal.
According to Mu Qing in Chapter 125, after he knocked Feng Xin out during the collapse of the Heavenly Capital, Cuocuo showed up and attacked him to keep him away from Feng Xin's unconscious body. Jian Lan also appeared at this point. However, they were separated afterwards: Xie Lian meets both Cuocuo and Feng Xin at Mount Tonglu, but only runs into Jian Lan near the base of Mount Taicang after Jun Wu has been defeated.
Leaving
In Chapter 131 Jian Lan seems to be running away so that Feng Xin won't try to keep his word to take care of her and Cuocuo.
When Xie Lian asks her why she is leaving, her answer focuses on the fact that the two of them would be a burden on him due to their being ghosts, and her conviction that he would eventually tire of them.
Even if what we had back then was love, it doesn’t mean it’ll last today. I’m not interested in being a charity case and a nuisance.
The hardships she experienced during her life and afterlife seem to have convinced her that in general, good things cannot be relied upon to last and it's better to quit while you're ahead.
The longer I hang around in the world, the more I understand that ‘forever’ is impossible. It’s never going to be possible. No one can truly achieve it. Experiencing ‘everlasting love’ once was enough; I don’t believe in it anymore.
“Feng Xin is a good man. It’s just…it’s been too long,” she said helplessly. “Everything’s changed, so it’s best to let it go.”