Regrettably -- or perhaps not -- that was not the first time Lan Wangji has done that in front of an audience after a drink, and the audience the first time was arguably a worse one. At least he married his victim in the interim. There is nothing he can do to stop the immediate and predictable reddening of his ears, but he manages to gather himself in order to say, with perfect gravity to it, "He escapes too quickly if it is done improperly."