Chapter 294: A Lifetime, A Couple?

 Chapter 294: A Lifetime, A Couple?

It was said that Daohua and the others were flying kites on the grass field behind the Temple. Li Zixin, ignoring the pain in her feet, insisted on dragging Li Zixuan along to join the fun.

As soon as they arrived, they saw Sun Jiayue holding a kite and talking to Fang Liangji.

"That Sun Jiayue really has no shame. Doesn’t she know that Brother Fang is already betrothed? Yet she’s still clinging to him!"

Li Zixin was quite displeased with Sun Jiayue and immediately turned cold.

Li Zixuan’s expression was also not good, but she was more concerned about Fang Liangji’s reaction. When she saw him visibly annoyed and rejecting Sun Jiayue, then avoiding her by walking over to cousin Wenxiu, she felt a little better.

"Let’s go, let’s join them."

The two of them walked towards Yan Wenxiu and the others.

"Zixuan!"

Seeing Li Zixuan, Fang Liangji’s face lit up with a smile.

His family had arranged his marriage with Li Zixuan, and he was actually quite satisfied with it.

He remembered how, at the Li family’s banquet last year, Li Zixuan had played a piece on the konghou. Although he couldn’t remember the tune, he still vividly recalled her graceful and delicate appearance.

Unlike the other merchant family girls who exuded an air of wealth, Zixuan had a scholarly elegance to her.

This scholarly aura was something he truly appreciated.

Li Zixuan glanced at Fang Liangji, and seeing him staring at her with burning eyes, she felt a little embarrassed and annoyed. After studying etiquette for a few months at her aunt’s house, she became even more conscious of her own behavior.

Without acknowledging Fang Liangji, Li Zixuan smiled and greeted Yan Wenxiu and Fang Hao. She then noticed Sun Jiayue and the others in the distance and smiled and nodded in their direction.

This was the first time Fang Hao had seen Li Zixuan. After observing her manners, a satisfied expression appeared on his face.

Fang Ming had a good eye; compared to the girls from the Sun family, the girls from the Li family were clearly in a different league.

"Zixuan, let me take you to fly kites!"

Looking at Daohua and the others happily playing in the distance, Fang Liangji couldn’t help but say to Li Zixuan.

Li Zixuan blushed and was about to refuse when she heard her elder brother, Li Chenyi, laughing, "Go ahead, today is the Huazhao Festival, and it’s rare to get out. Have some fun."

Hearing her brother say so, Li Zixuan nodded shyly.

Seeing her agree, Fang Liangji smiled broadly. "There’s a more open area over there; let’s go there."

In the distance, Sun Jiayue saw Fang Liangji leading Li Zixuan to fly a kite with a gentle and affectionate expression. A surge of anger appeared on her face, and she angrily threw the kite she was holding to the ground.

"What a lousy kite! I don’t want it." She pretended to stomp on it as well.

Seeing this, Sun Yongyi’s face darkened, and he couldn’t help but scold her. "Stop it! If you keep this up, I’ll send you home right now."

When her brother didn’t support her, Sun Jiayue’s eyes immediately filled with tears.

Sun Yongyi sighed silently and glanced at his friend, who was completely absorbed in Li Zixuan. "Stop thinking about Fang Liangji. Our parents will find you a better match than the Fang family."

Sun Jiayue pouted, "I don’t want anyone else. I only want—"

"Shut up!" Sun Yongyi said sternly. "If you don’t want to be locked up at home, don’t say things like that again."

Although merchant families don’t usually pay much attention to rules, they still had to follow the basic social conventions.

A young lady talking about men all the time was something even a merchant family couldn’t tolerate.

Sun Jiayue was a little scared and bit her lip, silently watching Fang Liangji happily flying kites with Li Zixuan.

Seeing his sister like this, Sun Yongyi felt bad as well.

Although his father was the president of the Central Province Chamber of Commerce and had good relationships with some officials, those connections were built on money. Once their business went downhill and they stopped sending money, those connections could easily be severed. They were far less reliable than the marriage ties between the Li and Yan families.

Not to mention the Fang family, even his own family had considered a marriage alliance with the Li family.

Unfortunately, the Fang family got there first.

Looking at the composed Li Zixuan, Sun Yongyi felt a bit regretful. He hadn’t paid much attention to her before, but now that he saw her today, she was truly more graceful and gentle than any other girl he had met.

Looking at his impulsive, headstrong sister, he couldn’t help but sigh.

"When we get home, I’ll have mother find a tutor to teach you etiquette and manners."

"Stop staring and fly your kite properly!"

Seeing Daohua glance over towards Li Zixuan and Fang Liangji again, Xiao Yeyang couldn’t help but speak up.

Daohua turned her gaze away and huffed.

Xiao Yeyang glanced in that direction. "They’re fine. What’s the problem?"

Daohua grumbled, "Men are all pigs." One moment, Fang Liangji was accepting food from Sun Jiayue, and the next moment, he was casually flying kites with his cousin. She didn’t have a good impression of him at all.

Xiao Yeyang was stunned. "What do you mean?"

Daohua shot him a look. "I’m saying men are no good. They like anyone they meet."

Xiao Yeyang was speechless. "That’s a bit too extreme, don’t you think?"

Daohua retorted, "Let me ask you, will you only love one girl for your whole life?"

The unexpected question left Xiao Yeyang momentarily speechless, caught off guard and unsure how to respond.

Daohua pursed her lips, not expecting him to answer, and continued speaking to herself, "You’re a young prince, of high status. Surely, you’ll have three or four wives in the future. How could you possibly love just one girl? Asking you is a waste of time."

She then glanced over at Fang Liangji and Li Zixuan. Seeing the sweet smile on Li Zixuan's face, she sighed.

"I hope Fang Liangji and that Sun Jiaoyue won’t be entangled with each other forever."

Xiao Yeyang muttered, "I think your cousin and Fang Liangji are doing fine."

Daohua scoffed, "Right now, it’s the honeymoon phase. Of course, they’re all lovey-dovey, but when the passion fades and life returns to normal, plus the beautiful girl is the one throwing herself at him, how many men can resist?"

"When Sun Jiaoyue was feeding him pastries, Fang Liangji said it was to respect his friend, but deep down, he must have been considering Sun Jiaoyue’s feelings as well."

"If he truly didn’t care at all, he would always find a reason to reject her," Daohua said, glancing again at Zixuan and Fang Liangji.

"For Fang Liangji, cousin Zixuan is just a little more suitable to be his wife than Sun Jiaoyue, but it's far from being a case of ‘she’s the one.’"

"If their feelings were truly passionate and sincere, they would only have eyes for each other, and there would be no room for a third person to intervene."

"This kind of relationship mixed with interests is really suffocating. If I were my cousin..."

Daohua didn’t continue.

She knew well that in ancient times, marriage was a union of two families. Whether the couple had love or not was a matter of luck and character.

Xiao Yeyang pressed on, "If you were your cousin, what would you do?"

Daohua immediately sneered, "Naturally, I’d keep my distance as much as possible. A man who’s ambiguous with other women before marriage, what’s the point in expecting him to be devoted to one person? A man who isn’t devoted to his feelings, what’s the use of him? You’d just end up as his backup!"

Xiao Yeyang almost reflexively wanted to say that having three or four wives wasn’t unusual for men, but as he thought of how Daohua reacted just because another girl fed pastries to her future cousin-in-law, he wisely kept quiet.

He was afraid she would get upset with him!

But at that moment, Daohua sighed again, a trace of melancholy in her expression, and said, "A lifetime, a couple? In this day and age, I’m afraid it’s just an unreachable daydream."

Hearing this, Xiao Yeyang was taken aback and looked at Daohua in surprise.

A lifetime, a couple?!

Suddenly, Xiao Yeyang felt like he understood some of Daohua's unusual behavior.

Why did she dislike her father’s concubines so much?

Why did she dislike Fang Liangji?

Was a lifetime, a couple her requirement for her future husband?

Seeing Xiao Yeyang staring at her in shock, Daohua snorted, "What are you looking at? Do you think I’m a jealous woman? Fine, I’m jealous. So what?"

She then mocked herself, "Forget it, I can’t explain it to someone like you."

Xiao Yeyang wasn’t having it, "What kind of person am I?"

Daohua smirked, a mix of mockery and sarcasm in her tone, "You’re the type who’s used to the idea of men having three or four wives and thinks it’s perfectly normal."

"I—"

"Don’t deny it," Daohua interrupted. "If you talk big today and don’t live up to it in the future, I’ll be sure to slap you in the face."

Xiao Yeyang puffed up his chest, "What if I do live up to it?"

Daohua’s eyes darted around, then she lowered her voice, "Don’t try to fool me. I heard from Jingwan that people like you, with your family background, will definitely have a few maidservants serving you before marriage."

"Brother Zhou has them; how could you not?"

After saying that, she gave Xiao Yeyang a sideways glance and appraised him.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Yeyang’s ears turned bright red, and he gritted his teeth, "Yan Yi, don’t go too far. You’re insulting me!"

Back when he was in the capital, there had indeed been maidservants, but after coming to Zhongzhou, everything was managed by Defu, and there were no maidservants around.

Daohua saw how furious he was, his veins popping out, and she felt a little confused. "Really not?" When she saw Xiao Yeyang about to explode, she quickly tried to calm him down. "If not, then not. Why are you so worked up? I was just saying it casually."

Xiao Yeyang took a few deep breaths and managed to suppress his anger, gritting his teeth, "Yan Yi, you know a lot, don’t you? You even know about the concubine maids!"

Daohua smiled, "If you don’t want people to know, don’t do it."

Her probing gaze made Xiao Yeyang even more furious. He shoved the string in Daohua’s hand and stormed off in a huff.

(This chapter ends.)