"Mn," he says, but what he really means is that he trusts Lan Xichen to do his planning because he's been here for him and accepted this all along. He had never forgotten how Xichen had put them together, had offered to buy Wangji a basket of loquats. He would never forget how he hid them away at Cloud Recesses, how he'd kept his temper even when he and Wei Ying were levying accusations against Jin Guangyao. After months of getting used to calling him Meng Yao, it sounds so strange in his head. Jin Guangyao.

And moreover, even if they were at home, and Lan Wangji had all the resources in the world at his fingertips, he would still seek advice and help for planning from his elder brother, who meant the world to him, who knew Lan Wangji often better than he knew himself.

But they've moved topics, so he does swiftly. "I should have been there with you," he says, eyes cast downward. "We should never have been parted." He trusted Xichen's skills, of course he did, but when he had someone to protect, that made things exponentially harder.