The fact is that Jiang Cheng is so clearly trying that it's hard to do anything else - it's much easier to fall into the irritation and the grumbling than it is to let himself bare himself. Especially to someone much younger, who sees him as a Sect Leader rather than a man.

He dances around the real part of the conversation, his deep affection for Lan Xichen, and scoffs instead.

"I've known them both long enough to know," he admits. He and Lan Wangji had a decent enough relationship, once, before Wei Wuxian's death.

Before everything went wrong.

"I think... It is difficult for him, when we're so much older, and we've experienced more. But I want to help him."