"More or less. But there's no chance I would look on him with favor, and what my father said was clearly just a courtesy. The Xu Family deliberately spread the story, both to raise Xu Kuang's standing and to force my hand."
Xie Xinghan said indignantly, "How despicable of the Xu Family!"
Xiao Baoyue idly swept back the ends of her hair. "Not despicable, exactly. Their methods simply aren't very clever."
"You aren't angry?"
Xiao Baoyue's eyes were cool and clear:
"There's nothing to be angry about. Since Elder Duke Liu stepped down as Chancellor, the Prince of Jingling has held that office alongside his own.
"As Minister of War, Xu Xiaosi is directly subordinate to the Prince of Jingling. They work together day in and day out and are very close.
"But the man is slippery as an eel. He refuses to tie himself entirely to the Prince of Jingling, so he also wants a marriage alliance with my family to secure the Crown Prince's goodwill.
"At a time like this, my father naturally wouldn't push Xu Xiaosi away, and the Crown Prince also wants to win him over. So I've become the paper on which they write their schemes.
"In the end, they're simply using one another."
Xiao Baoyue's father, Xiao Luan, the Marquis of Xichang, was a known member of the Crown Prince Faction. Hearing that both the Crown Prince and the Marquis of Xichang wanted this marriage to happen, Xie Xinghan asked anxiously:
"Then what will you do, Sister?"
"If I don't want to, none of them can force me. But I'm three years older than you, already late to marry. Even if I keep putting it off, I'll have to marry sooner or later. Most men in this world are mediocre incompetents anyway, so why