Mei Xuan finally managed to gather her wits and cried out, "I never agreed to anything! Why should I listen to you and learn all that?"
Li Chen said, "You eat my food, wear my clothes, and use my things. You have to do something to earn your keep. I don't ask for much. Being able to handle some simple maintenance will suffice."
Flustered and angry, Mei Xuan said, "What do you mean, your food, your clothes, your things? Do you think I want any of them? If you're so capable, why don't you let me go?"
Li Chen said, "Letting you go is out of the question. I still need to keep you as a trump card against any revenge the Mei Family might seek."
Mei Xuan gritted her teeth. Just how thick did this fellow's skin have to be for him to say such a thing with such righteous confidence?
Ignoring her glare, Li Chen calmly analyzed her situation. "Although your studies were somewhat lacking and you still aren't a true puppet master craftsman, that's really because you had no interest in this path and no desire to learn."
"Given your family background, experts among craftsmen were hired to teach you carefully from childhood. Your foundation actually isn't weak. It was only later, when various miscellaneous arts distracted you and your grandfather spoiled you, indulging your decision to give it up, that your progress along this path gradually fell by the wayside."
"As the daughter of an aristocratic household, you could have a worry-free future even without learning or skills. Thus, most of what you studied afterward was the art of managing subordinates or the social niceties of dealing with others."
"Beyond that, you learned assorted arts and knowledge to furnish your conversation."
Watching Li Chen earnestly lecture