Luo Binghe has no shame about having dallied with Claudius, but he does not like that this story makes him sound credulous and naive. If he were thinking more clearly, he might not tell it. But he and Janet have a shared enemy, and the prospect of her siding with him—when Lan Wangji and Claudius acted like he was so unreasonable—is irresistible. "He hid his ambitions and status from me, and seduced me. It didn't go far—I objected to his aggressive demeanor. When I found out that he intended to gain power over the rest of us, we had a dispute."