I can definitely see an alternate future in which he would do good to Impress Lan Xichen (and everyone else). And maybe if he'd been able to pick up the ideas of honor instead of seeing them as a tool.

I'm sort of imagining what would have happened if Meng Yao had been in a more WWX situation, with people who cared for him and accepted him. Maybe with some of the complexities of WWX's situations elided.