Lan Wangji listens to this thoughtfully, and thinks of Wei Ying and Jiang Wanyin. Jiang Wanyin still believes he was betrayed; no other paths were open to Wei Ying. This is not the same, but many stories share that basic makeup: betrayal, love, guilt, and the changes wrought by the passage of time.

Something occurs to him, then. "Shen Qingqiu? Or Shen Yuan?"