Inn or Restaurant Owner / Spy / Smuggler ! Wei Wuxian

What if Wei Wuxian owned or managed a restaurant or inn, but was also secretly participated in a spy network and smuggled the Dafen Wens out of Qishan before the war broke out?

Given Wei Wuxian's gregarious and sympathetic nature, I think he would be a great inn or restaurant owner.  He would chat with customers, share stories he has heard from other travelers, ensure people are comfortable and have good food and wine!  He likes to talk and likes to take care of others. 

The inn or restaurant would be located in Yiling.  He has grown up there his whole life and is not a cultivator.  Jiang Fengmian never adopted him.  Instead, the inn owner (or someone else) who saw him waiting out on the streets for his parents, began to care for him as a child.  He then started working in exchange for room and board.  By the time he is 16-18 years old, he is well versed in running the business and has largely taken over management as the owner focuses on their grandkids (or retires).  He always has a welcoming smile for travelers.  He has learned some hand-to-hand combat for dealing with rough customers, but usually, his demeanor switching from cheerful to serious and angry with some sharp words, is enough to set people straight or to get them out the door.  

In such a role, he is very well informed about the happenings and gossip in the cultivation world and local areas.  He knows who each of the key people are in the Sects and knows many secrets.  He participates in information exchange with a mysterious benefactor.  This person is Nie Huaisang, who is starting to build up his spy network, unbeknownst to his brother and everyone else who believes his dandy behavior.  Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang share a good laugh about this.

As he is located in Yiling, he becomes acquainted with Wen Qing and Wen Ning over the years.  They become like family to him.  When Wen Ruohan starts to demonstrate unstable behavior, Wei Wuxian works with Wen Qing to smuggle her close family - the Dafen Wens - from Qishan to elsewhere.  You can decide where.  Couple ideas: 

• South (where no major sects have governance - Wuzhou)
• East (toward the coastline, closest sect is Gusu Lan)

The location shouldn't be too near a major Sect, especially the Jins who are tentative allies with Wen Ruohan.  For reference, here's a map of the cultivation world:  https://modao-zushi.fandom.com/wiki/Map

The Dafen Wens disappearing is not noticed by Wen Ruohan at first.  Say there are 40 people to move - they go in small groups of 3-4 people:  family units traveling to a festival, men only on a hunt or adventuring, never women only and children are with the family units or teens with the men for learning.  Each should have a reasonable story so they are well hidden.  Wei Wuxian is good at coming up with these.  He welcomes them as guests, shows them to a particular room, then mentions the next day publicly that they left early before the sun.  Instead, they hide in a secret space until nightfall and are smuggled out into a wagon for supply trips between cities to the inn.  

This works well enough until the war begins to escalate and the Wens set up a supervisory office in Yiling.  Random inspections are conducted and soldiers wander the streets.  One family group gets stuck mid-smuggle and ends up staying on as staff for a few weeks in the inn.  This is Wen Yuan's family.  His parents die in an attack and Wei Wuxian takes care of him afterward.  Now with a child, he seeks to reduce his risky role in the Wen situation.  

Throughout the story, certain characters can appear as guests of his inn:

• When in town for a nighthunt
• Stopping for the night on the way to the Wen discussion conference or archery competition
• On the way to the Wen indoctrination
• Hiding out for the night when on the run

WangXian is desired and would be interesting to consider.  Lan Wangji never thought he would find someone so interesting - skilled and brilliant, but not a cultivator.  Choosing a non-cultivator partner would be very unusual for someone so accomplished as the Second Jade of Lan.  Lan Xichen shows up for tea as he is "passing through" to subtly (not really) observe who this man is that his younger brother has become fascinated by.  Wei Wuxian is amused and gives him free steamed buns (he heard from Lan Zhan that they are Lan Xichen's favorite). 

How the story resolves and goes from there is up to you!