"I won't tell Lan Wangji," quietly, but his own expression has shifted. He thinks of Claudius in the kitchen, saying you hurt me, and how he had no answer for that, only the profound chasm between what he should have done and what he had done, of letting someone he cherishes suffer because he still thinks he can talk his way out of it; he thinks of the hurt behind the anger in Luo Binghe's face when they parted. He's hurt both of them, and lost both of them, and perhaps that's the consequence of trying to be everything to everyone -- perhaps he's even learned his lesson.

"Luo Binghe," he says finally, "needs friends. He needs to know that he can't drive people away from him, that he'll be cared for in spite of the things he's done. But he also needs to be held accountable, and Shen Yuan can't do that for him. He loves him too much."