Chapter 234: Princess, Another Day of Being Toyed With

"Your servant has seen you, Lord Bo," Xiao Chan hurriedly bowed.

Regarding Chen Yan, the future Changle Imperial son‑in‑law, she dared not show any disrespect.

Chen Yan gave a slight nod, approached Li Lizhi, and said with a smile, "If I don't try to please you, would you think of coming to see me?"

Li Lizhi's eyes flickered, and she smiled, "How do you know that if you don't try to please me, I wouldn't come to see you?"

"Hard to say," Chen Yan pretended to ponder, "after all you traveled all the way from Chang'an. If I can't even provide the most basic emotional value, what's the point of you coming to see me?"

"Once or twice is fine; once it becomes frequent, you might stop coming."

He paused briefly, then continued, "Look, now that I praise you, is my mood not much better?"

"Does meeting now become meaningful?"

"Emotional value…" Li Lizhi whispered the fresh term from Chen Yan's mouth, a slight smile at the corner of her lips, "The twisted reasoning is indeed a whole system."

"But if I truly don't come to see you, what would you do?"

"If the mountain doesn't come to me, I'll go see the mountain!" Chen Yan waved his hand nonchalantly, "Things just a few steps away are all minor problems."

Li Lizhi heard this and her smile suddenly blossomed, like a spring breeze sweeping the earth anew—bright, enchanting, even the distant clouds seemed partly driven away by her grin.

Beside them, Xiao Chan couldn't help glancing at Chen Yan again, feeling endless emotion: "No wonder the Princess thinks of Lord Bo all day; his methods are truly masterful."

"Who wouldn't be bewildered hearing such words?"

"Princess, today is another day being toyed with."

Chen Yan paid no attention to Xiao Chan, casually saying, "Come with me. I reckon your sudden arrival at Weinan County must have His Majesty's backing."

"Otherwise, given His Majesty's temperament, you'd certainly have no chance to go out on your own."

"Hmm…" he said pointedly, "unless the retired emperor helps."

Li Lizhi's eyes suddenly brightened.

Indeed, why hadn't she thought of that?

Father Emperor won't let her leave the palace, but if the retired emperor gives orders, what could Father Emperor do with her?

Seeing Li Lizhi understand his meaning, Chen Yan's mood improved further, and he led the two toward the reception hall.

As they walked, Li Lizhi also caught on.

Chen Yan was reminding himself.

Her beautiful eyes flashed him a cold glance, but Li Lizhi said nothing.

What Chen Yan does in Weinan County is of utmost importance; even Father Emperor and Mother Empress keep a close eye on it, so they must be quite busy and likely have little time to return to Chang'an.

He, however, is different; each day, aside from learning embroidery with the needle lady and reading books, he has nothing else to do.

Compared to having Chen Yan return to Chang'an to find her, her coming to Weinan County to find Chen Yan is undoubtedly the best choice.

As for whether this makes her seem overly clingy…

Li Lizhi didn't mind; after all, she had been clingy from the start.

She was very open about this.

"By the way, how's Sizi lately?" Li Lizhi thought of her cute younger sister and asked with some longing.

"Sizi…" Chen Yan fell silent, unsure what he was thinking of.

Seeing this, Li Lizhi felt a thump in her heart, a flash of anxiety on her face, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong with Sizi? Could it be that her respiratory illness has relapsed?"

"Is she okay?"

"Relapse? No, not at all," Chen Yan shook his head, "don't you trust me?"

"I've raised Sizi to be plump and healthy; her body is excellent. As long as she takes her medicine on time, nothing will suddenly go wrong."

"That's good." Li Lizhi heard this and finally let her lingering worry go.

She fully believed Chen Yan's words.

But she immediately wondered, "Then why did you fall silent when I mentioned Sizi?"

"You even wore a hesitant expression; it scared me to death."

"Well…" Chen Yan rubbed his temples, "it's hard to explain, but Sizi's health is definitely fine, very healthy."

"Right… she has some issues with studying."

"Ah, I don't know how to explain; when you meet Sizi, you'll understand."

Li Lizhi's beautiful eyes blinked slightly, even more puzzled.

"Studying… has some problem?"

"What problem can studying have?"

"Regardless of Sizi's background, the tutor Chen Yan arranged for her couldn't be lacking."

"Just having Chen Yan around, Sizi couldn't have any study issues."

"Could it be that…"

"Sizi herself resists studying?"

Li Lizhi considered a possibility, then immediately dismissed it.

Sizi has been clever and obedient since childhood, loves reading and writing, and even said she wants to learn calligraphy from Father Emperor.

"How could she resist studying?"

"Alright, stop guessing wildly; I'll take you to see and you'll know."

"Fine, let's go right now!"

……

As Chen Yan and Li Lizhi's figures gradually faded, a lone silhouette suddenly emerged from the corner, its gaze lingering on the direction they had left.

"Princess…"

"Hmm."

Gao Yang let out a soft hum, revealing no emotion.

Behind her, Xiang Lan practically wanted to cry; after great difficulty mustering the courage to tell Princess Gao Yang a long list, she made Gao Yang realize Chen Yan's goodness.

Originally, Princess Gao Yang, after listening, kept a blank expression, but Xiang Lan felt that her heart was deeply moved, surely extremely touched.

After all, she had served Princess Gao Yang for so many years, so she did have some understanding of Gao Yang.

But unexpectedly, just as Gao Yang was about to go find Chen Yan, she happened to run into Princess Changle's arrival.

The crucial point is that Chen Yan seemed to be having a pleasant conversation with Princess Changle.

Isn't this the end?

Who can come to rescue, huh~

"Say whatever you want; can this palace truly drive you away?" Gao Yang glanced at the hesitant Xiang Lan and said calmly.

Xiang Lan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, weighing her words, "Princess, this servant believes that since His/Her Highness of Chang Le traveled all the way from Chang'an, Lord Bo's hospitality is also normal..."

The more she spoke, the softer Xiang Lan's voice became, increasingly lacking confidence.

Such words, not to mention Gao Yang, even she herself doesn't believe.

Because of Chen Yan and Princess Changle's relationship, it's not that everyone knows, but those close are aware.

Especially Xiang Lan, who often hears Gao Yang loudly scold Princess Changle for being shameless.

Now Xiang Lan only asks Princess Gao Yang to mind the limits, and not directly quarrel with Princess Changle.

When Princess Changle leaves, this couple will close the door and argue however they wish, fight however they wish, and she won't intervene.

"Hmm, this palace understands," Gao Yang nodded slightly, her steps light as a lotus, and returned the same way.

"Let's go back; this palace is a bit tired."

"...... Huh?" Xiang Lan was startled for a while.

She couldn't believe Princess Gao Yang didn't argue at all, and just went back like that?

Is this correct?

It wasn't until Princess Gao Yang walked far away that Xiang Lan finally realized, hurriedly and happily followed.

"Princess, may this servant attend to your rest for a while."

"Fine!"

"......."