Chapter 49: At Least You Know What’s Good for You

"What is it?"

"When I said I was going to report the matter to the authorities just now, the way Lotus fought desperately against going—doesn't that clearly prove something is fishy?"

"Were you testing her just then?" Qi Yunyan asked, looking completely astonished.

"Of course," Shen Mengli replied, wearing a thoroughly self-satisfied expression.

Hearing this, Qi Yunyan looked her over carefully once more, realizing that he had seemingly never truly understood her.

The move she pulled today had completely caught him off guard.

He never expected her to be such a meticulous and sharp-witted woman.

Qi Yunyan could not help but view Shen Mengli in a new light.

"However, what I'm a bit curious about is this: even if that Lotus becomes my maid, at best she's just a servant. Our Prince Duan's Estate has always treated people kindly. Working in our household, her life might be better than the average person's, but that's about it. What could she possibly be plotting that she's so dead set on becoming a slave to me? Isn't slave registry the lowest status of all? One's very life is held in someone else's hands, forced to live at the mercy of others' moods."

Shen Mengli shot Qi Yunyan a sidelong glance.

"You big oaf, you can't even see through something this simple. For the most fundamental point, have you ever heard the saying 'to beat a dog, one must regard its master'? Once Lotus becomes your confidante, won't her status be elevated? There are plenty of outsiders who want to curry favor with Prince Duan's Estate. As the close confidante of the Prince's Heir, wouldn't people come to her to get things done in order to find out about your preferences? With that being the case, would money be scarce?"

"Still, I don't take her for someone willing to remain a mere servant. They say a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier. By the same token, a maid who doesn't want to be the mistress is not a qualified maid. You live in a deep courtyard of a great mansion—among your friends, aren't there one or two pretty maids who were elevated to concubines? If she's even deeper in cunning, wins the master's favor, and becomes a favored concubine, that's no small feat. In real life, haven't you ever seen husbands favor concubines over their legitimate wives? Aside from not being the legal wife, how are those concubines any worse off than the mistress? They have status and standing. If they manage to give birth to a son, and that son is equally valued by the father, striving for the position of heir isn't completely out of the question."

"From the looks of it, that Lotus does have quite a decent appearance. Coupled with her ambition to seduce her master, if she puts on a display of tenderness and affection right in front of you, anyone with shaky resolve would be instantly wrapped around her little finger. You thought she came here to be a slave, but what she's actually coveting is the position of the mistress of the house."

"Stop talking nonsense. Am I the sort of vulgar man who goes chasing after blossoms and wandering through willows? My heart belongs to Qingyu alone, and aside from her, I will never fancy anyone else. Even if she becomes my maid and tries to seduce me right in front of my eyes, it would just be playing a scene for a blind man—I would never pay her any mind."

Hearing Qi Yunyan's retort, Shen Mengli was left speechless.

To think I said all that, and the only part you heard was that last sentence.

I know you like Lin Qingyu and can't live without her.

You don't need to keep expressing your loyalty to her over and over again in front of me.

If you want to say those things, go whisper them directly into her ear.

Why do you keep murmuring them around me for no reason?

Could it be you're expecting me to praise you for being so deeply affectionate...

Shen Mengli twitched the corners of her mouth, flashing a textbook eight-tooth smile. "Right, I know that. In my eyes, Your Grace, you are a sentimental and righteous man who would never cast aside the old for the new. I trust that you wouldn't be bewitched by Lotus. Just now, I was merely analyzing Lotus's psychology for you, and I certainly didn't mean to imply anything bad about Your Grace."

Qi Yunyan wore an expression that clearly said *you know what's good for you*. "Is there anywhere else you'd like to go?"