Qin Li said nothing.
Wu Xian rubbed his fingers.
He asked, "Maybe, possibly... Qin Qing, do you think there's a chance that Evil Schemer has turned over a new leaf?"
Qin Li: "..."
Wu Xian admitted that he genuinely couldn't bring himself to think badly of Shen Tang.
"Ask yourself: if Shen Youli had suffered heavy losses because of the plague, and I had the cure in my hands, do you think I'd lend her a hand?" Wu Xian put on the airs of a virtuous, magnanimous gentleman and a chivalrous nobleman in public, but he didn't mind showing his flaws to his trusted subordinates. He knew that a false front was still false, and no one could keep it up for a lifetime.
Especially not in front of clever people.
The more perfect his disguise was in ordinary times, the more people would despise him when his true face showed at a crucial moment. They would lose faith in him faster and more completely.
Wu Xian didn't need to be perfect in front of Qin Li.
He admitted frankly, "I wouldn't."
As Qin Li remained silent, he continued, "I'd watch Shen Youli get dragged down. Perhaps, out of regard for our old alliance, I'd be willing to help when she was utterly destitute and had nowhere left to turn, trading the smallest possible price for an untarnished reputation..."
Qin Li couldn't sit still.
"My lord, you..."
Wu Xian raised a hand to stop him, then laughed freely. "If I can't measure up, then I can't measure up. There's nothing I can't admit. I was judging a gentleman by my own petty standards, and I was also putting Shen Youli in a difficult position. She was repeatedly given a hard time, yet still chose to let things slide..."
He regretted