Song Yian had never seen Li Qiyu so out of control before.
For some reason, at this moment, Song Yian thought of Li Xiyu.
He actually felt a bit of sympathy for this woman he had once detested so much.
One could only say that karma is a wheel that never stops turning.
In the past, there was an unattainable person in his heart. For Li Xiyu, this person was a rival in love she could never defeat.
Now, the roles had been reversed. The woman he loved had someone in her heart, someone he could never surpass.
Li Qiyu looked up at Song Yian and said, "I'm sorry."
But Song Yian knew clearly that these three words were not what he wanted.
He didn't want to force her because it would break his heart. He sat opposite Li Qiyu, keeping a proper safe distance from her at this moment, and asked, "Can you tell me about him?"
Li Qiyu was a bit surprised.
She knew very well about Song Yian's feelings for her, but she didn't expect that he could so calmly ask her to talk about Zhou Donglin.
If it were the ancient Song Jiaye, he would have been extremely disgusted even if he just heard a homophone.
Song Yian shrugged helplessly and said, "Don't look at me like that. I'm not as noble as you think. I just think you'll feel better if you talk to me about it."
To lighten the atmosphere, Song Yian added, "Let me know what the person you like is like, so I'll know which direction to work in."
Hearing this, Li Qiyu felt both heartache and amusement. She said seriously, "You are who you are. You don't need to be like him."
Li Qiyu still started to talk about Zhou Donglin.
She talked about her past with Zhou Donglin. They grew up together as kids, and their feelings for each other had long turned into family affection. In the past, Li Qiyu had only one thought in her mind: to protect Zhou Donglin well.
Hearing this, Song Yian couldn't help but curl his lips in his heart: This Zhou Donglin is quite weak. He can't even protect his own woman. He even needs a woman to protect him?
Li Qiyu didn't know what Song Yian was thinking in his heart. She was still talking about those interesting childhood stories with Zhou Donglin.
After talking about her past with Zhou Donglin, Song Yian watched as Li Qiyu's originally pale little face gradually regained its vitality. She seemed to come back to life.
Song Yian suddenly didn't want to be jealous or be envious anymore.
Even if it was because of another man, as long as she could be in a good mood, happy and content, he would also be in a good mood, happy and content.
Zhou Donglin was like the medicine that could cure her bad mood.
So as she talked, Song Yian would occasionally chime in with a few words.
"You and he must have had a lot of embarrassing incidents."
"Don't talk nonsense." Li Qiyu quickly clarified, "His were embarrassing incidents. Mine were heroic deeds. Back then, I was invincible on Chang'an Street."
Song Yian watched her gesturing animatedly and nodded with a smile, "I can tell. You really do seem like it."
However, Song Yian had a question, "Since he wrote so much in Chunyu Collection, didn't he show any feelings for you before that?"
Li Qiyu shook her head, "I don't know."
"Don't know?"
"At that time, my husband, Song Jiaye, always inexplicably targeted Zhou Donglin. He always said that Zhou Donglin had improper thoughts about me. When I heard this, I just thought it was absurd. In my heart, Zhou Donglin was like my younger brother. Of course, he was actually one year older than me. So every time I heard this, I thought Song Jiaye was just making things up. But now, after seeing his poetry collection and looking back on these past events, maybe he did show his feelings before, but I just didn't notice."
At this point, Li Qiyu added, "There was really nothing between him and me that went beyond the boundaries of siblings."
Song Yian suddenly started to feel sorry for Zhou Donglin again. Watching the woman he loved marry someone else with his own eyes, how heart - wrenching that must be!
Song Yian found himself quite busy. When Li Qiyu mentioned Song Jiaye, he started to be jealous of the ancient Song Jiaye.
"Why did you marry Song Jiaye back then?"
"If I tell you the reason, you'll probably laugh at me."
"Laugh at you? How could I?"
"Back then, when I came back from the war and returned to the capital, the girls from the noble families in the capital all ostracized me. They said that as a woman, it was indecent for me to lead troops to fight in the war."
Hearing this, Song Yian got angry.
"You were clearly defending the country. They were clearly being unreasonable!"
Li Qiyu shrugged helplessly, "But female generals really didn't have much of a future in terms of matchmaking."
Song Yian was at a loss for words.
This situation hadn't changed over the years.
Even though women are now independent and self - reliant, when it comes to marriage, the requirements for women are nothing more than being gentle, considerate, and able to support their husbands and raise their children. What's more, if a girl studies hard and gets a doctorate, or makes great achievements in other aspects, she will be disliked by men in the matchmaking market. They will use derogatory terms like "leftover woman" or "tomboy" to belittle the value of women in order to cover up their own inferiority.
After all, when facing these outstanding women, the only thing these people can rely on is their gender.
Li Qiyu continued, "Think about it. At that time, when Song Jiaye came to me, I was so happy. I admit that I was vain. At that time, I was also holding a grudge and wanted to prove myself to everyone. When Song Jiaye came to my house to propose marriage, it was just when the crown prince of the Mu Dynasty passed away and he became a popular candidate for the throne. One could say that many girls wanted to marry him. At that time, I thought that if I married him, I would defeat those who looked down on me."
At this point, Li Qiyu smiled bitterly, "I know what you're going to say. I was really quite vain."
Vain people would never admit their vanity.
Song Yian only felt heartache for Li Qiyu.
He could feel Li Qiyu's despair at that time - risking her life on the battlefield to defend the country, but when she came back, instead of being respected as a hero, she was disliked for not being feminine enough and not being able to support her husband and raise her children at home.
Anyone would be angry and would want to prove themselves.
It was just a pity that she had chosen the wrong person.
Song Yian still remembered that when Li Qiyu first time - traveled here, she didn't hide her disgust and fear of him at all. It seemed that in the ancient times, her husband Song Jiaye had hurt her deeply.
"If you had chosen Zhou Donglin back then, the result might have been different."
Just thinking about this scene made Li Qiyu laugh, "Yeah, if it were him, he would definitely have been beaten by me and kept shouting for mercy."
As she laughed, her eyes became moist.
Actually, Li Qiyu knew everything in her heart.
When they were kids, it was really her who protected Zhou Donglin. But when they grew up, Zhou Donglin was tall and strong. He didn't need her protection at all.
He just always let her have her way.