Yup, perl.exe is better, its like you're using it already :)
Yes - I don't think I've ever been faced with a task that is best solved by embedding perl in C code.
But even if embedding perl in C is unnecessary and/or perverse (and I'm not saying that it's always at least one of those), I still find it to be an interesting feature in its own right.
In fact, I find it so interesting that once every couple of years I'll spend an hour or two fiddling with it ;-)