Su Zhen’s face still wore a faint smile, but her palms were completely damp. Leng Xue secretly grasped her hand and wiped away the sweat from her palm.
There was no blame in the man’s eyes, only tolerance, just as there had been no contempt in that female official’s eyes earlier, yet it was enough to make her uncomfortable.
At this point, perhaps the only thing she could praise herself for was the composure she forced herself to maintain that wouldn’t let her completely collapse.
But her heart had already been defeated.
This was her first failure in eighteen years of life.
Before facing Lian Yu, she couldn’t even defeat Lian Xin or whoever was advising Lian Xin behind the scenes.
No matter how willful she had been in the past, at this moment she understood very clearly how foolish it was for her, just one woman, to challenge an era, a political regime.
Lian Xin was Lian Yu’s sister.
Behind Lian Yu was an entire nation—she wanted to fight against a country.
She was nothing.
She was just a woman, a creature that society had defined for thousands of years as weaker than men.
She wasn’t like the omnipotent women in the novels and operas she used to read, where one person could shake everything.
She was in reality.
She was just Feng Suzhen.
If she wanted to win, the first thing to learn was how to admit defeat—to kowtow to Lian Xin and apologize. But she wasn’t foolish enough to completely believe that female official’s words. Lian Xin wouldn’t spare her, and even if she truly would spare her, she absolutely wouldn’t return her examination qualification.
“Zhen’er, let me take you away, all right? No one decreed that you have to sacrifice your entire life for someone else.”
Leng Xue said in a hoarse voice. Su Zhen slowly shook her head. Even if only for that young man who had died at Lian Xin’s hands, to teach her a lesson and make her understand that all people are equal and no one has the right to arbitrarily end another’s life, she had to stay.
Her nose stung as if she wanted to cry, but she gritted her teeth, picked up her chopsticks, and ate, not making things difficult for herself.
Her shoulder was gently patted.
She was startled—it was Mu San. He seemed to have suddenly left earlier. Where had he gone? Her heart skipped a beat, and Mu San seemed to read her thoughts, smiling, “I stepped away earlier—some words weren’t appropriate to hear.”
Oh, was that it? She considered briefly and didn’t hide anything, telling him about the admission certificate issue.
After listening, Mu San’s eyes deepened. He tapped the table lightly with his finger, “This matter seems impossible to resolve peacefully. Unless you can find backing more powerful than the princess.”
She laughed, “Is that possible? At this crucial moment, who would be willing to offend the princess?”
“Huaisu, you said earlier that you’re from Lu County. Lu County is near Huai County—do you know another Young Master Li, Li Zhaoting?”
Su Zhen’s heart suddenly leaped. Li Zhaoting—why would Mu San mention him? Could the two of them already know each other?
Although she didn’t think his invitation to drink was mere coincidence, she had never imagined he actually knew Li Zhaoting.
Cold sweat immediately broke out on her back. What else did this person know?
Given Li Zhaoting’s character, though he didn’t love her, he shouldn’t betray her either.
This much she was still willing to believe.
Unless Li Zhaoting’s past temperament had all been fake!
Mu San probably saw that both she and Leng Xue had changed expressions, and said lightly, “Could it be that you’re truly old acquaintances?”
——
Previously I saw some readers saying first person was cowardly, but after changing to third person they found it unfamiliar. I don’t know if everyone has gotten used to third person now. I prefer first person, but this story has many branching characters, and if I continued with first person, the limited perspective would make later plot development relatively slow. If I mixed both first and third person with this god’s-eye view, would it be awkward for you to read?