The Prince of Yu

Ye Lily?

Feng Anning was taken aback. She and Ye Lily shared the same table in Guangwen Hall, so she could see more clearly than others. It was indeed Ye Lily.

In the past few days, Ye Lily had become much quieter. Although she was quiet before, she no longer followed Ye Amy and Ye Cindy around, saying stupid things. When she was quiet, she actually didn't look bad. Feng Anning thought Ye Lily had just become a bit smarter, but she never expected that when dressed up properly, she would be so astonishing.

Due to the illness after falling into the water some time ago, she had lost some weight. Usually, no one noticed, but now, her chin was slightly more pointed, making her look more like a fourteen - year - old maiden than the eleven - or twelve - year - old she used to seem.

It was like a young cub that had been huddled in its den, finally waking up after a long slumber and showing its claws for the first time.

Scholar Liu Yan was also among the gentlemen. Although he was currently just a teacher of arithmetic in Guangwen Hall, people respected the talented. He held a rather high position among the officials. He was still young, and with his talent, if he entered the officialdom, he would surely be able to secure an official position. People in the officialdom were shrewd, always thinking about paving the way for the future. There was a good chance that Liu Yan would rise to prominence one day.

Ye Lily's gaze swept across the men's side and lingered on Liu Yan for a moment.

She knew that in today's competition, although Liu Yan was a teacher, during the talent - competition, a conceited student had challenged the teacher. Liu Yan's "Xinglü Ce" was a masterpiece, full of elegant writing and sound reasoning. It had caught Xu Hao's attention that day. Later, Xu Hao had done many things to show his respect for talent, trying to recruit Liu Yan. Eventually, he got this capable general.

This time, she was determined to prevent that from happening.

Liu Yan was acutely aware that the girl's gaze seemed to land on him from afar, with an air of scrutiny, like a wild animal sizing up its prey. This gave him a strange feeling. He looked back along the gaze, but Ye Lily had already turned her head away.

The gentlemen around him were all praising, "General Ye's legitimate daughter is so young yet has such an extraordinary bearing. She's definitely not to be underestimated in the future."

"She's also quite good - looking," a young man in blue said. "How come we never noticed before? Ye Lily is actually a beauty." Young men, after all, often focus on a girl's appearance.

"Too bad she's a fool," Cai Lin said, coming to his senses after the initial shock. He was annoyed that everyone was looking at Ye Lily and ignoring Ye Amy, so he snorted.

"You're the fool!" A sudden voice exploded in his ear. Cai Lin was startled and saw a chubby little figure in a soft red satin outfit glaring at him angrily. He was short in stature but full of bravado.

"Sorry," a young man in green, who rushed over, smiled at Cai Lin in a good - natured way. "My little brother is being rude. Please forgive him."

Cai Lin was about to curse, but when he saw that it was Su Mingfeng, the heir of the Pingnan Bo, and the chubby boy was Su Minglang, the second young master of the Su family, he swallowed his words. Su Mingfeng was Xiao Jack's close friend. Who would dare to mess with him?

"Big brother," Su Minglang tugged at the corner of Su Mingfeng's clothes. "That sister is so beautiful. Marry her and make her my sister - in - law."

Su Mingfeng's mouth twitched. Fortunately, Su Minglang's voice was low, and no one around heard him. He bent down slightly and asked, "Second brother, do you know Miss Ye?"

"Don't know her," Su Minglang said innocently, playing with his fingers.

Su Mingfeng didn't say anything more.

Ye Lily followed Ren Wanyun and the others to the ladies' side.

Generally, the ladies would sit with their friends as they pleased, and the young ladies were the same. But Ye Lily usually stayed either in Guangwen Hall or in the Ye Mansion. Ye Amy and Ye Cindy aside, no one in Guangwen Hall wanted to befriend her. But she didn't seem to care. She found a seat and sat down on her own. She wasn't afraid of being isolated by these girls. On the contrary, she rather enjoyed the quiet.

Those girls were already jealous of Ye Lily's different appearance today. They wanted to see her make a fool of herself and deliberately ignored her. But they saw that Ye Lily was sitting alone, not looking pitiful at all. There were chessboards and leaf - shaped cards on the table to keep the girls entertained. She thought for a moment, then picked up the chess pieces from the chess basket and started playing against herself.

She was no good at the four arts of the literati - music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. In the past, due to the deliberate instigation of the second and third branches of the Ye family, she had loathed learning these things. Later, after marrying Xu Hao, she didn't have the time. So in her previous life, when she returned from the Qin State and faced Lady Mei, who was good at singing and dancing and was so charming, she couldn't help but feel inferior. The concubines in the harem compared her with Lady Mei, saying that she was a rough person from a military family, lacking in charm, and vulgar. No wonder Xu Hao ignored her, the empress.

However, one doesn't necessarily need to know how to play chess to play. Although she didn't know how to play regular chess, during those years in the Qin State for Xu Hao, she had delved into many military strategies. She might not know chess, but she knew how to command troops, and this was a kind of battle chess.

The daughters of the noble families watched from afar. Ye Lily looked calm and composed, and that aloof and superior bearing clearly set her apart from the others, as if she was on a higher pedestal while everyone else was below.

"Miss Ye has really changed a lot," Madam Yi said to Ren Wanyun with a smile. "She seems to have grown into a young lady." She couldn't say that Ye Lily had outshone Ye Amy and Ye Cindy, so she had to remind Ren Wanyun in a round - about way.

Ren Wanyun knew it only too well. She was good at reading people's expressions. As they walked over, she noticed that everyone's eyes were not on her, nor on Ye Amy and Ye Cindy, but on Ye Lily at the end. She gritted her teeth inwardly. It seemed that Ye Lily had really gone all out this time, knowing that Prince Ding would be at the competition, trying every means to attract his attention and compete with her Cindy.

She picked up the tea bowl and smiled, looking at the men's side. "Indeed, she's not a little girl anymore. The old lady dotes on Lily. Since her father isn't around, she told me to keep an eye out for a suitable match for her before we came out today."

Chen Ruoqiu, sitting beside her, had a sudden thought. Looking for a match?

Both Ye Amy and Ye Cindy were older than Ye Lily, but they were going to find a match for Ye Lily first. It couldn't be because of the old lady's kindness. The old lady hated the eldest branch of the Ye family to death. How could she want Ye Lily to get a good match?

Chen Ruoqiu's eyes fell on Ye Cindy, who was talking to Yi Peilan. Ren Wanyun seemed eager to settle Ye Lily's marriage before Ye Xin came back. Why? Was it because Ye Cindy was also in love with Prince Ding? Was she trying to remove this biggest threat for Ye Cindy?

Just as she was thinking, there was another commotion from the men's side. Madam Jiang said, "The Prince of Yu is here."

Ye Lily, who was about to place a chess piece, paused. The white piece immediately fell onto the board. She raised her eyes and looked towards the men's side, her gaze completely calm.

The Prince of Yu, in her previous life, was the lame widower that the old lady of the Ye family wanted her to marry. He was lecherous and cruel, and now he was forty - two years old.

If she hadn't been infatuated with Xu Hao and eloped with him back then, she might have ended up as a skeleton in the Prince of Yu's mansion.