Without play...

Jinshi seems to be aware of her "I'm of humble birth, submissive and beheadable" talk by this point (especially after her pointing out that he can have her executed), and this is perhaps the first time he's aware of the power imbalance

And here's the other thing, she's already being kept in a place she doesn't care for against her will due to the kidnappers. Jinshi already knows that, and he knows it angers her from their conversation in the Garden Party, but this time, he'd be the one to entrap her

This is a very interesting decision to make because his inaction, just letting things go as they are, is what will free her, not getting involved in her life more than he already is. This makes it worse for him because he'd be actively keeping her locked rather than just making use of the circumstances in which she's already trapped at the rear palace, and he's just not freeing her

I usually dislike "miscommunication" as a trope/shipping trope because it's usually handled very lazily to create some drama. But here Jinmao has an entire chapter titled "miscommunication," because it has and will continue to be, for a long time, a big problem for them

This isn't Jinshi misunderstanding her; this is Maomao miscommunicating

gawwwww saurrr cute