Lan Wangji was nearly incandescent with rage and the ghost of humiliation that day, and that was before he learned about Luo Binghe deceiving Claudius, too. He draws another slow, slow breath and tries to steady himself. "Claudius blamed himself, as if he should have known that any kind and beloved face might be Luo Binghe in disguise. He already spent months wary of preparing food after he was poisoned in a kitchen with a poison he could not have known to avoid."