[ that gets a smile from xie lian that is mostly a wince. let's... forget about that incident. he would like to. ]

En. I don't think this person dislikes me, either. Not as far as I can tell. I've been threatened, but it was never anything particularly harsh, and it's never been followed up on. [ xie lian pauses, trying to think. long-ish hair... there's only one other person he can think of that fits the description. it makes his stomach flip, and xie lian chews the inside of his cheek, even hesitating in saying the name. ] ...what about Baren?

[ everyone else, up to this moment, he'd been able to use a complete and total sense of deniability. jiang cheng's loyalty runs so deep that would be impossible. wei wuxian... it's not like him, although if coming from the angle of someone trying to create justice, it would make more sense. but he hadn't even thought to consider baren until right this second. ]