That riotous anger which was so deftly concealed from him for so long somehow makes it easier to remain level-headed. Xichen watches Jin Guangyao scald himself, passive in the way he was so long ago when Wen Chao tried to intimidate him in his own home.

"There is nowhere else for you to go," he says coolly, gaze lifting with a flick of lashes. "Even if we both wish there were."

And I were rid of you, here, where another was once imprisoned.