She is not Zan Lu. But she must be.
When she was five years old, Zan Lu put the jade pendant into her hand and said, "You live for me."
She accepted it. No crying, no hesitation.
From that day on, she was the legitimate daughter of the Zhenbei Hou Mansion and a chess piece carefully polished by Mrs. Hou.
Mrs. Hou said: Only useful people can live.
She remembered.
She learned to read people, calculate accounts, and make plans.
She remembers every enemy's name and burns every piece of paper filled with clues.
She doesn't need friends, she doesn't need feelings, she doesn't need anyone.
Until he met His Royal Highness Li Yanzhi.
His mother and concubine died young, and he had no roots in the court. He sat in the corner of the palace banquet and was ignored.
He looked at her the same way she looked at others - calculating.
He said: "You don't like crowds either."
She said: "Aren't you the same?"
He smiled. That was the first time she saw him smile.
Later she helped him check someone out. He found out it was her.
"We're the same people," he said.
She said: "It's different. You still have a way out, but I don't."
Later she discovered that she was wrong.
He had no way out. Neither did she.
She controls him and he depends on her.
They need each other, hurt each other, and become each other's cage.
He asked her: "What do you want?"
She said: "Alive."
He said: "More than that."
She fell silent.
She thought: Yes, more than that. She also wants to control everything.
Including him.
Intention: She lives by being "useful", but turns herself into a tool. It wasn't until she met him that she realized that there were some things she couldn't control.