"—Are indescribably precious to me, as you know. I don't plan to break any promises." He does not want Liu Mingyan to feel that this endangers her rank, not after everything they've shared. He would like Shen Yuan to be his Empress, but it would be a deep betrayal of Liu Mingyan, and her companionship is one of his greatest comforts. He will only consider it if he and Shen Yuan really do end up in his world together. "But the satisfaction I receive from them is fleeting and incomplete. I thought it was simply my nature—you know joy of any kind does not come to me easily. But this place is strange. That is why I believe it a challenge for me personally. I found the women here bizarrely cold to my advances, while the men were yielding and wanton. It has forced me to reevaluate."