What he wants matters, [ Xichen's voice is soft and very, very dry, ] because that determines what he will do. Regardless of what he had you, or me, believing for all this time, it was always that his actions aligned with his goals. Not his words. It matters, because that is why I think he would not kill you, or anyone else of us, now.

If things then had been different...

I do not know.

[ I don't believe him, either, Xichen doesn't say, but doesn't argue with Jin Rulan, either. ]

What he did. What he has been doing for so long. He...

I do not understand, either. And I have been trying to do so for months, now. Since my arrival here.