Chapter 70: So... I like Chen Yan?

"What do you think about the marriage with Gao Yang?"

Chen Yan didn't understand why Li Lizhi suddenly took an interest in this, and casually replied, "What can I think?"

"Just sit and watch, maybe later we'll lie down and watch."

Li Lizhi: "......"

"Marquis of Weinan, I'm seriously asking you, I'm not joking."

In fact, the reason Li Lizhi chased after him was to briefly test Chen Yan's thoughts, to verify whether she had guessed wrong.

But she couldn't just ask directly, so she had to approach it indirectly.

But she didn't expect Chen Yan to play outside the rules, giving a meaningless answer.

"Ah~ Princess, His Majesty has already issued the decree for the marriage, what do you expect me to think?"

Chen Yan shrugged and said indifferently, "Besides sitting and watching, lying down and watching, what else can I do?"

Before, he might have resisted Gao Yang, but now his thinking has changed.

Gao Yang is actually quite good in some aspects.

She is beautiful, has a perfect figure, and most importantly, she is broad‑minded.

As long as we can keep her in check and satisfy her little quirks, aside from causing a bit of a fuss, there's nothing bad about her.

However, his words and actions, when they reached Li Lizhi's ears, turned into a helpless expression.

That's right, the emperor issued the decree; aside from accepting it, he really has no other option.

Li Lizhi's eyes were complex; she probed, "Then... do you like Gao Yang?"

"Like?" Chen Yan raised his eyebrows, pondered, and said, "Saying I like her now is definitely too early—I've only known Gao Yang for at most a week, we've met no more than five times, and three of those were fights."

"If I said I liked her, I'm afraid no one would believe me."

Li Lizhi blinked, recalling the events between Gao Yang and Chen Yan, and smiled faintly.

Although Li Shimin had ordered the matter between Chen Yan and Gao Yang to be sealed off.

But there's no impenetrable wall in the world, and Gao Yang used to love chatting with her the most.

She had heard Gao Yang complain about Chen Yan more than once.

Naturally, she had some understanding of what had happened between them.

To say that Chen Yan likes Gao Yang, she probably wouldn't believe it.

Li Lizhi's mood inexplicably improved, and she curiously asked, "Then what do you think—does Gao Yang like you?"

Chen Yan's expression turned strange.

Whether Gao Yang likes him or not, he really doesn't know.

The only thing that's certain is that Gao Yang definitely likes having her little quirks satisfied.

Chen Yan replied, "I don't think so. Liking, or being devoted to someone, is a special feeling, and Gao Yang has shown no sign of liking me."

"Special feeling?"

Li Lizhi's eyes flickered, and she pressed on, "But today at the restaurant, when we were eating, Gao Yang seemed to pay a lot of attention to you; seeing me sitting with you, she even told me to move away."

"Isn't that liking?"

"No!" Chen Yan shook his head and patiently explained, "Gao Yang had you move aside because there were outsiders present; as her fiancé, if I chatted with you, outsiders would see it, making her naturally uncomfortable and causing her to subconsciously reject it."

"I am, after all, her fiancé; nominally, I will be her husband for life, even if there is no affection between us."

Chen Yan paused, then continued, "Let's put it this way: imagine you were in Gao Yang's position."

"You don't like your fiancé, yet you see him chatting and laughing with other women, playing with children—could you accept that?"

"Especially..." he turned his head to look at the girl beside him, smiled, and said, "This girl is extremely beautiful."

Hearing that, Li Lizhi's pretty face flushed slightly and her heart gave a sudden thump.

She unnaturally brushed her hair, thought for a moment, and nodded.

Indeed, if it were her, she probably couldn't accept it either.

Even if she didn't say it out loud, she would ultimately feel uncomfortable inside.

Just like when Yu Chi Bao Lin and the others teased Zhangsun Chong—even though she hadn't yet become engaged to him, she would still feel awkward.

It's all pretty much the same reasoning.

"Then what exactly counts as liking?" Li Lizhi asked softly.

"Liking..." Chen Yan thought for a moment and replied, "This question is complicated to explain; I'll just tell you briefly."

"When you like someone, you'll think of them when you'realone—remembering their appearance, their good points, everything about them."

"When facing them, your pulse involuntarily speeds up; you want to look at them, yet you dare not."

"Moreover, you'll feel inferior, thinking everything about them is so wonderful that it draws you near, yet makes you afraid to get close..."

Chen Yan chatted on, completely unaware that Li Lizhi's expression beside him was growing increasingly odd.

Although Chen Yan was talking about him, Li Lizhi always felt he was actually talking about herself.

Isn't it that she often hides in her own princess hall, dazedly staring at Chen Yan's poems and thinking of him?

Every time she meets Chen Yan, her pulse and heartbeat likewise quicken involuntarily.

She wants to look at him, but she dares not because of her status and his engagement to Gao Yang.

In Gao Yang's eyes, Chen Yan is a shameless petty thief no different from a bandit.

However, Li Lizhi doesn't see it that way.

She thinks Chen Yan is excellent, better than any man she has ever encountered.

Not only does he have business acumen, he can lead everyone to make money together.

Moreover, his medical skill is exceptionally high; even a carbuncle deemed incurable can be healed by him.

As for talent, there's no need to say more.

He could compose timeless verses with ease—who in the entire Tang Dynasty could match him?

"......"

"So... I like him?"

Li Lizhi suddenly realized this, and a flush of rosy red instantly crept up from her neck to her exquisitely beautiful face.

She felt shy, but more than that, she was panicked.

How could that be?

How could I possibly like him?

He's Gao Yang's fiancé!

Li Lizhi's mind was a tangled mess.

If Chen Yan wasn't lying, she could basically be sure she had fallen for Chen Yan.

But between them, it's simply impossible.

Never mind that Chen Yan and Gao Yang's wedding is imminent—they're about to get married right away.

Furthermore, Father Emperor and Mother Empress already intend to marry her to Chang Sun Chong.

Since ancient times, parental orders and matchmaker's words weigh as heavily as Mount Tai.

What's more, as an imperial princess, she is utterly powerless to resist.

"Your Highness?!"

Seeing Li Lizhi staring blankly, her face shifting colors, Chen Yan waved his hand in front of her.

"Your Highness, why don't you go back first?"

"Ah?!" Li Lizhi snapped back to attention, meeting Chen Yan's slightly concerned gaze, and her heart leapt like a startled deer.

"No... no need, I—I'll see you out."

She instinctively turned her head away, not daring to look at Chen Yan's eyes.

Now she didn't even know how to face Chen Yan, let alone Gao Yang.

"Your Highness, you'd better head back. Anyway, we're already out of the rear palace; it's just a short walk to Cheng Tian Men, and I can make the rest of the way on my own."

"No!" Li Lizhi said firmly, "I'll see you out."

Her original purpose hadn't been fulfilled yet, and she didn't want to leave just like that.

She needed to find out whether Chen Yan truly liked her!

"......"