Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Once the weather cleared, my illness finally began to improve as well.

My mother promptly started making a great fuss of inviting eligible young gentlemen in the capital to meet me at Wangxian Restaurant.

Every time a refusal reached the tip of my tongue, my mother would begin wiping away tears.

Three meetings a day. My mother had a good eye; every man she chose was handsome.

That day at Wangxian Tower, the third man I met was Young Prince Chu Yi of Prince An’s Mansion.

By then, it was already sunset. He was leaning by the window of Wangxian Tower, watching the flow of people on the street with utter boredom.

The moment I saw him, I froze. He and I had some history. We had known each other since childhood, though we had not interacted much, and what little I vaguely remembered had not been especially pleasant.

The instant he saw me, he raised a brow and said in an overly familiar tone, “Oh, it’s you!”

He pointed at the chair across from him. “Sit wherever.”

Then, as if going through the motions, he sprawled across his chair, every inch a pretty good-for-nothing, toying with his own lovely hands as he said carelessly, “You know my family’s circumstances. This is as good as it gets for me in this life. If you want glory and the title of a noble lady, there’s probably no hope. My father has the title of prince, but no real power. That said, my family owns many shops, so we’re fairly wealthy. As for me, I’m no good at studying, no good at martial arts, and I don’t hold any official post. But I am good-looking.”

His beautiful eyes curved as he smiled at me. “You won’t be getting the short end of the stick.”

I could not help letting my gaze linger on his hands. They were a very beautiful pair, with long, slender fingers and skin so fair that one could almost see the pink beneath his knuckles.

All of a sudden, he leaned closer, his pretty face magnified before me. “Why are you staring at me? Do you like me?”

I frowned. This man truly was shameless, so much so that looking at him was irritating.

So I simply shifted my gaze out the window. The evening breeze blew in, carrying a faint chill.

Below came the noise of passing pedestrians and street vendors hawking their wares, but my eyes landed on a man and woman standing by a hairpin stall.

Yuzhu glanced at me worriedly and placed a hand on my back, soothing me. “Miss…”

Chu Yi leaned over, followed my gaze downward, and his eyes brimmed with amusement. “Spotted an old flame with his new lover?”

I shot him a glare, only feeling that this man was terribly annoying. But as though he had stumbled upon something interesting, he took my hand and led me downstairs. Before I could say anything, I had already half-resisted, half-gone along with him and descended the stairs.

He held my wrist and stood at the entrance of the restaurant, smiling as he greeted him. “Ning Zhen!”

Ning Zhen and the woman turned around. Miss Yan looked at me and Chu Yi in surprise, then calmly withdrew her gaze.

Ning Zhen was still holding a pretty red plum-blossom hairpin in his hand, one that matched the young woman’s red clothes perfectly.

He glanced at me, the emotion in his eyes unreadable.

In that instant, my mind went blank. Suddenly, I had no idea how to face such a scene.

The next moment, Chu Yi drew me closer and said softly, “You look very beautiful today. Straighten your back. Don’t be afraid.”

Without thinking, I obeyed him. I straightened my back, and my chin lifted slightly as well.

“Long time no see,” Ning Zhen said to Chu Yi, his gaze lingering on our joined hands. “You two?”

Chu Yi answered with a smile, “Same as you two! Out for a stroll.”

I nodded and replied, “Yes.” Then I smiled at Ning Zhen. “My father did not know that Chu Yi and I had already fallen for each other, which was why he mistakenly sent my birth details to your household and caused this whole misunderstanding. I truly apologize. General Ning, please don’t take it to heart.”

Ning Zhen’s fingers tightened slightly. Then he gave a soft laugh and said in an even voice, “Since it was a misunderstanding, I naturally won’t take it to heart.”

He bent at the waist and cupped his hands. “Then I won’t disturb you two any longer.”

As they left, Miss Yan, who was beside him, looked back at me. There was faint confusion and a hint of pity in her eyes. With just that one glance, I felt as if my disguise had been pierced through, and embarrassment rose in me for no reason.

Chu Yi’s smile gradually faded, as if he found the whole thing somewhat boring. He leaned closer and whispered in my ear, “This sort of thing isn’t fashionable anymore, you know. All that sticky, lingering, lovelorn mutual torment.”

I gave him a puzzled look, not understanding what he meant. Chu Yi went on, “You should slap him across the face a few times and tell him, ‘I can live perfectly well without you. Who do you think you are?'”

Chu Yi continued with vivid enthusiasm, “That’s what you do. Next time you see him, find someone to beat him up.”

Hearing that, I found it a little strange, yet at the same time, I felt he had a point.

I forcefully shook off Chu Yi’s hand and pushed him a little farther away, my expression full of disdain as I said solemnly, “Men and women should not touch each other so casually.”

What a joke. I was a well-bred young lady from a noble family. I would absolutely never behave in such a manner.

After that time, Chu Yi sent several more books to the Grand Tutor’s Mansion.

I flipped through a few at random. Written boldly on the first page was: The Fierce Wife Can’t Escape: The Village Chief Still Can’t Forget Me.

“So vulgar…” Yuzhu muttered behind me.

After the Divorce, the Prince Regretted Everything. I skimmed through a couple of them. The plots were more or less the same: the male lead treated the female lead terribly, the female lead awakened in anger, became independent and strong, and then married another wealthy, handsome male lead.

I thought of Ning Zhen and me. But stories were stories, after all. In Ning Zhen’s eyes, I could no longer see even the slightest affection. He did not like me anymore. If I stopped clinging to him, perhaps he would even be pleased that I knew my place.

My mother remained enthusiastic every day about arranging meetings between me and various young gentlemen. She wanted me to stop thinking about Ning Zhen, and in her words, the way to get over one person was to be with another.

Chu Yi invited me to Wangxian Tower every day. He very honestly told me that he was doing it to appease his mother.

I did not mind. I came to see Chu Yi in order to appease my mother as well.

People outside all said we had taken a liking to each other, but that was not the truth at all. The man across from me would be holding a storybook and cracking melon seeds as he read with great interest, while I gnawed on pig’s trotters and practiced calligraphy and embroidery in the private room. After a few days, my face had visibly grown rounder.

Chu Yi looked up at me and asked casually, “Do you want to read it?”

I lowered my head and glanced at the title. “The General’s Peasant Wife.” Then I gave a cold snort. “My father won’t let me read books like that.”

Besides, storybooks like these were mostly read by sheltered young ladies. He was a man, so why did he like reading this sort of thing?

He read very quickly. In less than two hours, he had nearly turned to the end of the book in his hands.

His smiling eyes looked at me without blinking. All of a sudden, I felt a little guilty.

He said with certainty, “You finished the storybooks I sent you.”

I shook my head in denial. “I did not.”

Chu Yi said nothing. He lowered his head and continued flipping through the book in his hands. I did not know how long passed. Only the sound of pages turning remained in the private room when his voice suddenly rang out. “What do you think of Helian Jue?”

Without thinking, I said, “He doesn’t love the female lead enough.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I froze. When I came back to my senses, I met his eyes, which seemed to be smiling yet not smiling.

“I knew it. You read them.”

My face flushed bright red. I did not know if it was from shame or anger, but I still said calmly, “I only flipped through them roughly.”

Chu Yi laughed. “Isn’t it true that bystanders always see things most clearly?”

I pressed my lips together. Yes. Because Ning Zhen did not love me enough, he had never sent me a single letter in three years.

Because he did not love me enough, his heart had changed so easily.

When my mother saw Chu Yi coming to find me every day, she was overjoyed. All day long, she asked me when Chu Yi and I would settle things between us.

That day, Chu Yi escorted me home, and my mother warmly insisted that he stay. The more she looked at Chu Yi, the happier she became, and she kept beating around the bush as she asked when we planned to marry.

Chu Yi’s smile was terribly deceptive as he said, half truth and half jest, “As soon as Rongrong agrees, we’ll get married.”

That night, my mother came to my room again and earnestly tried to persuade me. She held me and said softly, “Mother knows you can’t let go of Ning Zhen. But Ning Zhen is not a good match. What’s more, he doesn’t like you now.”

Wiping away her tears, she said, “Everything Mother has done is for you.”