049 Life Is Truly Exhausting

When it came to Li Yexuan’s shamelessness and unpredictability, I truly had no way to deal with him. Yet, thinking it over, since I needed his help anyway, what harm was there in conceding a little? If he wanted a ten percent share, I could accept that. In some ways, it was a blessing in disguise; we’d both be stakeholders, and if anything happened, we would bear it together.

Once I understood this, I stopped fussing with him.

“Why, you’re not going to take it back?” Li Yexuan asked curiously.

“Once I’ve given it to you, it’s yours. There's no reason to take it back—His Highness taught me that,” I replied, smiling, folding my arms as I gazed at him.

“Oh? Then this jade hairpin—I shall truly take it away.”

“It was meant for Your Highness from the start. Take it, please.”

“If anything comes up, come find me. No matter how unreliable I may seem, I am still a prince, and I can keep plenty of people in line.”

“Of course. Otherwise, why would Mufan go to such lengths to find Your Highness?”

“Good. Don’t forget to bring me my share when you’ve made money.”

“Safe travels, Your Highness. I won’t see you off.”

Li Yexuan gave me a meaningful look and walked out.

I sat down and drank my tea. Days like these were truly exhausting. Deep down, I longed to call him by his name, Li Yexuan, to joke with him a bit more, to enlist his help, and to lend him mine in return. Now, I had to address him as Your Highness, bow whenever we met.

Only then did I realize that, subconsciously, I had considered him a friend. Between friends, is there really no distinction of rank or status? I don’t know many people, nor do I care to meet more; I’ve always felt that with only one mind, remembering too many faces muddles everything.

After being separated from my younger brother, and with A Fu now by his side, I truly had no one left to speak to—no one to confide in or consult. To put it in a rather bleak way, if I were to fall ill, there would hardly be anyone to save me in time.

Clearly, modern ideas still lingered heavily in my mind.

In my past life, burdened with an unjust fate, I climbed step by step to the highest peak. They say the heights are cold; I was surrounded by sycophants, yet loneliness gnawed at me whenever I was idle.

Most of the time, I refused to appear in public, shunning grand events, keeping a low profile that could not be any lower. My photograph was guarded everywhere, never to be easily shared, and I lived in a world frozen over.

Born again, I was given a princess’s destiny. For fifteen years, I was a pampered flower in a greenhouse. The pain of a lost kingdom pressed heavily on my heart—perhaps Heaven had granted me another chance to live an ordinary life.

I set down the cup and placed the silver coins on the table.

With a gesture, I walked away, letting the breeze tousle my long hair disguised as a young man…

Life is truly exhausting, but I must keep going…