The Double

"Ah Li..." said Xue Huaiyuan.

"Father, Ah Zhao is talking nonsense. My friend has indeed helped me a lot, and I will thank him in the future," she said.

Xue Huaiyuan looked at Jiang Li and sighed in his heart. When she was Xue Fangfei, she was so beautiful that families from miles around came to inquire, hoping to marry Ah Li back to their homes. Xue Huaiyuan, however, felt that none of those families were good enough, and since Ah Li was a girl with her own mind, he eventually saw that Ah Li had fallen for Shen Yurong. When the Shen family came to propose, he agreed. Xue Huaiyuan was quite satisfied with Shen Yurong; the young man was talented, and it was only a matter of time before he made a name for himself. He seemed to treat Ah Li well. The only concern for Xue Huaiyuan was that the Shen family resided in Yanjing City, a place like Yanjing. With no official position, and Ah Li being so striking in appearance, there were fears that someone might harbor ill intentions, and the Shen family might not be able to protect her.

However, Shen Yurong stood before Xue Huaiyuan, swearing that he would definitely pass the imperial examination as the top scholar and become an official, protecting Ah Li for a lifetime. Finding Shen Yurong sincere, he agreed. The person Ah Li liked must be good as well.

When the news that Shen Yurong had become the top scholar and was appointed as an official reached Tongxiang, the townspeople came to congratulate him. They said Ah Li was fortunate and had good judgment, now she could become the wife of a high-ranking official, enjoying wealth and honor. Xue Huaiyuan smiled on the surface, but he always had some worries in his heart. In the end, his concerns became reality. Shen Yurong could climb the career ladder because of Xue Fangfei, but he was also willing to sacrifice Xue Fangfei to reach even higher.

Although Ah Li didn’t speak of it now, Xue Huaiyuan could imagine the grievances she must have suffered in the Shen family. Now her beauty, while still appealing, was not as captivating as when she was Xue Fangfei, and being the daughter of an official family, ordinary people would not dare to covet Jiang Li.

Xue Huaiyuan knew that becoming Jiang Li had its advantages in the Jiang Family, but there were also disadvantages. Setting aside the complex struggles within high-ranking households, even Ah Li’s marital affairs were now out of Xue Huaiyuan’s hands. With the expectation of parental decree and matchmaker’s words weighing more heavily in official families, it was less likely for their children to marry according to their own desires. They had to consider many things, a match of equal social status, whether it could bring chips to one’s career, marriage was no longer just marriage. Being in the Jiang Family, for Ah Li to marry the person she liked was a difficult task, something Xue Huaiyuan understood well.

The hints from Xue Zhao and Ah Li’s reactions indicated that Ah Li might have someone she was fond of, the "brother" who had saved Xue Zhao.