Wasn't this late-night invitation exactly for this intention?
Xin He didn't seem taken aback. She had clearly anticipated this, but she shook her head: "The forced marriage strategy of cooking the rice in a pot only works on women, it doesn't necessarily work on men."
In this era, if a woman loses her chastity, her options for the rest of her life are either to marry the man or not marry at all, even leading some headstrong women to take their own lives.
But it's different for men. Regardless of how many women they seduce, they can always manage to Retreat Intact. In this case of identity disparity, even if someone as brainless as Song Ya Lan could not figure it out, Yi Ling most definitely could.
Shulan was dumbstruck and said, "What else could be their intention?"
Xin He's eyes flickered, and she suddenly laughed: "If they added a bit of spicy gossip, this forced marriage strategy could work quite effectively on men too."