The letter was passed around for everyone to read.
The same thought sprouted in everyone's mind.
Could it be—just maybe—Lord Shen really was an idiot?
Who let someone else guard their home?
Wasn't she worried she'd come back to find it gone?
The thought rolled around in their stomachs a few times. The Literary Scholars, shrewd as old foxes, had already spotted something amiss. At this point, they set aside their factions, interests, and loyalties, and voiced their differing opinions.
Opinion one: Lord Shen was an openhearted gentleman, a rare sight in this world.
Opinion two: Lord Shen was a great villain pretending to be a fool; she had to be guarded against.
The first opinion was mainly held by Literary Scholars from the Tianhai clans who felt favorably toward Shen Tang. Never mind anything else—Shen Tang's ancestral spirit wine really was effective and brought them great benefits. On top of that, Lord Shen had put aside past grievances and helped Tianhai emerge from the shadow of the plague. They were more inclined to believe Shen Tang was a genuine gentleman. They shouldn't use narrow-minded suspicions to judge her openness; that would only make them look petty.
To put it more plainly, just because you had a dark heart, that didn't mean everyone else did. It was a pointed jab at Qin Li.
Because Qin Li held the second opinion.
But few people agreed with him.
Qin Li: "..."
Qin Gongsu was truly at a loss for words.
Why did these people believe there were real gentlemen in the world?
If Shen Youli were a renowned scholar, Qin Li would believe she was a true gentleman. But she was the head of a minor power, a ruthless woman who had transformed Heyin in less than a year. Without an iron