It had only been a month since those events, but for Gu Liyue, everything had changed. If Lu Yunxi hadn't brought it up, she would have even forgotten about them.
Gu Liyue murmured, "Actually, I once thought about what would have happened if Liu Qinting hadn't seduced Feng Lanqing and I hadn't discovered their viciousness... Probably, I would have stayed obediently at my uncle's house, working for them to earn money. When I turned eighteen, I would have obediently married Feng Lanqing. Whether it was good or bad, I would have accepted it and lived like that for the rest of my life."
Lu Yunxi asked, "Really? Would you really have accepted your fate like that? You hadn't even met my cousin yet."
Gu Liyue smiled. Yes, if she had accepted her fate, how could she have managed to leave the Liu family? Moreover, since she had met Lu Jinchen, how could she have taken a fancy to other young men?
Lu Yunxi pinched Gu Liyue's face and said, "I don't care. It was your elder brother's fault yesterday. I was wronged, so I want you to accompany me. You have to stay with me in the palace for the next few days."
Gu Liyue asked, "I'm willing to accompany you, but we need to send someone back to tell my grandmother. And, are you really not blaming my elder brother?"
Lu Yunxi nodded vaguely. After thinking for a while, she asked, "Um... Does your fourth elder brother like Qin Caiyin very much?"
Gu Liyue was stunned. How would she know this? Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly covered her mouth and looked at Lu Yunxi in disbelief: "You... You..."
But Lu Yunxi was not as generous as usual. She turned her face away and said, "No... I'm just asking. I don't like your fourth elder brother."
Wasn't this like saying "There is no silver 300 taels here"?
Gu Liyue grabbed her and asked, "Do you really like my fourth elder brother?"
"Who likes him? I would never like someone like him!"
Seeing her pretending to be strong, Gu Liyue didn't know what to say for a moment. After a long time, she stammered, "I... I don't know my fourth elder brother's feelings, but from what you said, I think it's possible. He is very nice to Caiyin. But Princess, don't blame Caiyin. Maybe Caiyin herself isn't very clear about it either."
Lu Yunxi sighed softly, "How could I blame her? I only blame myself."
Gu Liyue finally understood why Lu Yunxi had been blaming herself all day today. It wasn't because of anything else, but because she had fallen in love with the fourth elder brother.
"But how could you fall in love with the fourth elder brother? I never felt that you liked him... You were never very nice to him. You always played tricks on him and bullied him."
When Gu Liyue said this, she felt quite helpless. Lu Yunxi had a wild and unruly personality. She liked to play with other young men as if they were brothers. Among them, she was especially close to Gu Chengzhi. Gu Liyue had thought it was because Lu Yunxi and Gu Chengzhi had grown up together. Now she understood that it was actually a young girl's secret feelings.
Probably Lu Yunxi herself wasn't very clear about her feelings before. It was only when she saw the fourth elder brother with Qin Caiyin yesterday that she suddenly understood her own heart.
After Lu Yunxi had poured out all her pain, she felt much better. She said hatefully, "When I get back, I'll ask the Empress Dowager to send him back home. After he recovers, I'll have a good competition with him. After that, we'll cut off all ties. I'll never think about him again."
Gu Liyue felt a bit sorry for her, but more of it was admiration. Lu Yunxi was a princess and was highly favored by the emperor. But she didn't act arrogantly because of the Empress Dowager's and the emperor's love. Even though she liked Gu Chengzhi, when she learned that Gu Chengzhi had someone in his heart, she just silently suffered in grief. She didn't pester him or use her power to ask the Empress Dowager to arrange a marriage for them.
Although Lu Yunxi hadn't rested the previous night, she was still full of energy. Then she pulled Gu Liyue to practice martial arts. Gu Liyue was so tired that she was out of breath and begged for mercy after just a moment.
"Princess, I've just recovered. How can I stand this? Please spare me."
Lu Yunxi pouted, "Why are you so useless? If you marry my cousin in the future, won't you just be bullied?"
Gu Liyue took the tea handed by the maid and waved her hand, "I'm getting married, not going to war. Why do I need to be so powerful?"
Lu Yunxi asked, "But my cousin is very good at martial arts. What if he hits you when you quarrel? Your small body can't take a few punches from him. If you practice hard, when your cousin is being unreasonable in the future, you can also be unreasonable and have a good fight with him."
Gu Liyue was both amused and annoyed. She just asked, "If the princess has to put it this way, I'll ask you. Will you fight with your husband when you get married in the future? Shouldn't a family live in harmony?"
Lu Yunxi didn't understand. She half-opened her mouth and thought for a long time, "My parents are like this. If there's a conflict, they just fight it out."
Gu Liyue asked, "Is it the same between your stepmother and your father?"
"She's a concubine. Of course it's different," Lu Yunxi shook her head. "And if my stepmothers are bullied by my father, they all come to my mother and ask my mother to stand up for them."
Gu Liyue was silent for a while. She thought that the Qingling Prince's Mansion was different from other mansions. No wonder Lu Yunxi, who had grown up in such a family, had a different way of pursuing a young man from others.
She asked again, "Then... Since you grew up in the palace, have you seen how the emperor and the queen get along?"
Lu Yunxi said, "It's because the queen depends on the emperor. The man is strong and the woman is weak."
Gu Liyue rubbed her forehead, feeling that her thoughts were completely different from the princess's.
But Lu Yunxi also felt that she was being inappropriate. She quickly came over and helped Gu Liyue sit down on the corridor. Then she asked, "So, if there's a conflict between you and my cousin in the future, what will you do?"
Gu Liyue said, "Of course we'll reason with each other. A husband and wife should respect each other, just like my grandparents, my uncle and aunt, and my second uncle and aunt. If you really want to talk about status, just look at the eldest princess and her husband. The eldest princess is the emperor's daughter, and her husband's family has declined, but have you ever seen any conflict between them? There must be conflicts, but there's no reason to fight with fists, right?"
Hearing this, Lu Yunxi really seemed to be thinking deeply.
Gu Liyue asked again, "Take Princess Jing whom you know well. She used to be in a superior position compared to the Marquis of Xinyang. She tolerated the Marquis of Xinyang for a long time, but what was the result? The Marquis of Xinyang betrayed her trust. Why is that? So, the relationship between a man and a woman should be carefully managed by both of them."
After a long time, Lu Yunxi slowly nodded, "You're right. So, a husband and wife shouldn't think about winning or losing. Only by working together can they live a better life?"
Gu Liyue was overjoyed. Although the princess's thoughts were different from ordinary people, she was quick to understand. With just a few words of advice, the princess could think so much. It was really great. At least in the future, when she pursued a young man, she wouldn't just bully him like this.
However...
Gu Liyue carefully turned her head and asked, "The princess just said that if my cousin bullies me in the future... Will he... really hit me?"