Chapter 305: A Proper Match

Inside the small house, the atmosphere had been silent for a long while.

Li Lizhi sat upright, took a light sip of tea, and was not in a hurry.

Chan er stood behind Li Lizhi, and her gaze toward Xu Lianyue looked slightly odd.

If they were normal friends, shouldn't they feel happy upon hearing such news?

Why is Xu Lianyue's attitude so strange?

Or perhaps...

"You are also a princess..."

Xu Lianyue asked a very foolish question, her voice trembling.

"Otherwise?" Li Lizhi retorted, "Who do you think, in this world, besides someone of my status, could be worthy of Chen Yan and have the right to stand by his side?"

"But... he has already married a princess."

"Rules are meant to be broken, and Chen Yan has the ability to break rules, doesn't he?"

Xu Lianyue opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

In the end, only bitterness filled her heart.

Indeed, he deserves the best the world can offer, not a woman of such humble status who is already married.

The room fell silent again for a long while; Xu Lianyue composed herself and forced a faint smile:

"Princess, what would you like to ask?"

"A common woman ought to speak without reservation."

Li Lizhi said plainly, "I want to ask, why did you originally choose to marry a chef who was gravely ill?"

"I have heard that before, others said you two were a match made by heaven and earth."

"I can also see that you have deep feelings for Chen Yan; if you hadn't acted that way back then, perhaps there would have been nothing between me and Gao Yang."

Xu Lianyue rasped, "Didn't you already say that earlier?"

"Besides someone of your status, who else could be worthy of him and have the right to stand by his side?"

"Why are you now turning the question back on me?"

"So you really only care about this?" Li Lizhi frowned, "He doesn't care about such things."

"But I do care!!!"

Xu Lianyue suddenly erupted, "You are a princess, your birth is noble, you were born with everything; of course you cannot understand the thoughts of ordinary women like us, nor grasp our helplessness and pain."

"Do you know?"

"When the Xu family was at its peak, during the war-torn times, my father spent an incalculable amount of money and begged countless people, just to barely make the then-not-yet-flourishing Chen family our neighbors."

"But that was all there was."

"Yes, he never despised me for being a merchant's daughter; he played with me since childhood, but do you know who his usual playmates are?"

"Often the son of a general or the son of a minister; when they chat, I can only stand silently behind him, because I don't understand a word, I can't interject even a single sentence."

"Out of respect for Chen Yan, they never excluded me, but no matter what I do, I cannot blend into that circle, because I am merely a merchant's daughter."

"Do you understand that feeling?"

"No, you wouldn't understand."

Xu Lianyue said coldly, "Because you are a princess!"

"You're overthinking it," Li Lizhi retorted, "It's your own inferiority that caused all this; it has nothing to do with whether you're a merchant's daughter or whether I'm a princess."

"Chen Yan once told me, rather than spend the rest of my life married to someone I don't love, it's better to seize a chance and marry the person I do love..."

"So that one's life leaves no regrets?" Xu Lianyue interrupted her.

"How do you know?" Li Lizhi exclaimed in shock.

Xu Lianyue: "I not only know that, but also know the sage's saying: as long as the hoe is swung well, there is no corner that can't be dug up; a forcibly twisted melon may not be sweet but it still quenches thirst."

"He has told me that countless times before."

Li Lizhi: "......"

Hard!

Li Lizhi's fist hardened!

Provocation, right?

This must be provocation, right?

Being childhood sweethearts is something to brag about?

Just because you grew up together, does that let you freely interrupt others?

Li Lizhi almost had her defenses shattered, but when she saw Xu Lianyue's calm eyes, as if she didn't care about this at all, she couldn't let out her anger.

She, feeling depressed, changed the subject, "Before coming here, I heard many things about you; are those all true?"

"Princess, you mean I'm a jinxed wife, a broom star situation?"

"...... I never thought that way, I was just curious."

"I understand," Xu Lianyue nodded, explaining calmly, "I previously married Zhuang Ping; it was a transaction. When he was about to die, I promised to take care of his mother after his death, until his mother passed away."

"After Zhuang Ping died, his mother, having no attachment, soon followed him away."

"As for those who plotted against me, they were poisoned to death by Chen Yan's poison."

"And the subsequent troubles were also solved by Chen Yan; no one from the Government came to trouble me."

Upon hearing this, Li Lizhi almost understood.

No wonder others say that those who plotted against Xu Lianyue meet gruesome deaths; it turns out they were poisoned.

Li Lizhi was not surprised that Chen Yan could use poison.

Since ancient times, medicine and poison have never been distinguished; she had heard that saying before.

Gazing at Xu Lianyue, Li Lizhi sighed, "Why must you avoid him in such a headstrong way? After marrying, you have no chance with him anymore."

"On the day of my wedding, when he personally came to give congratulatory gifts, there was no longer any possibility between us." Xu Lianyue appeared utterly calm on the surface, but her heart felt a faint, aching pain.

That person, who from childhood never despised her lowly status, always played with her, always protected her, and after her parents' death, did everything possible to treat her well.

To end it this way, Xu Lianyue suffers more than anyone.

The four words "matching families" she took too seriously.

Li Lizhi gave Xu Lianyue a deep look, then left with Chan er.

She could see that Xu Lianyue truly posed no threat to her and Gao Yang.

Because Xu Lianyue could never get past that emotional barrier, nor conform to worldly conventions, let alone now that she is married and has earned the nickname of a broom star.

Given Chen Yan's seemingly frivolous but actually prideful nature to the core, he would no longer have any extra feelings for Xu Lianyue beyond friendship.

At most, out of past affection, he might offer some help in daily life.

Besides that, the two will have no further interaction.

"......"

After Li Lizhi left, Xu Lianyue put away the tea set, carefully wiped the table clean, and carefully stored the first-opened tea packet, placing it at the bottom of the cabinet.

Here, mostly stored are various miscellaneous items.

Xu Lianyue hesitated, then took out a wooden box from the bottom of the cabinet and opened it.

Coming into view were two lopsided clay figurines, with noses not like noses and eyes not like eyes, vaguely recognizable as a male and a female.

Xu Lianyue's slender fingers lightly poked the male figurine's nose, a smile flickered in her eyes, then instantly turned forlorn.

The setting sun slanted in through the window lattice, stretching her shadow long, making her appear even more solitary and alone.

Fine dust in the air rolled and floated in the faint light, like her unsettled thoughts that she could see clearly but could never grasp.

"......."