For many cultivators, even pretending to be below their status would probably be too much to bear, and if they were still in a familiar city where sects controlled the territory, Lan Xichen probably wouldn't have dared to play with such matters. There was just too much potential for injury and misunderstanding to treat his position lightly; too many people who would spit blood at hearing a Lan behave that way for anyone, but especially Jin Guangyao no matter what part of his life it involved. The scandal would have been yet another problem on his plate. But here at least there seems to be a ready excuse, and Lan Xichen has been considering his own life a bit more carefully since the fallout over dinner. If one good thing could be said about that, it was that it forced him to step back and reevaluate himself more closely. And he found that he didn't exactly mind the idea of living without so much of the assumed authority of being the Lan Sect Leader.

It's not something he is entirely willing to give up, but it is something he will think about. How much does he have to raise himself up here?

Taking the packages with both hands, he lowers his eyes and leans forward with a slight bow, mimicking with gentle movements the way he has seen another do before him on countless occasions. Good posture, careful, demure gestures. If Lan Xichen can't quite match the subservient expression, then he at least replaces it with a warm calm like some of the confident ladies-in-waiting he has observed before.

"Wherever my lord wishes, I will follow. But his consideration is too kind. This follower only needs to hear his voice to be well fed."

He does cast a quick, somewhat subtle look toward Jin Guangyao as he walks a step behind him. Even if their eyes don't meet, the brief emotion felt across the Bond is definitely a small thread of pride.