During the Jin Dynasty, General Huan Wen conquered Sichuan and captured Li Shi's daughter, forcing her to become his concubine.
The wife of Huan Wen, Princess Nankang, was notoriously jealous. Huan Wen kept Lady Li hidden behind his study, visiting her secretly and doting on her. Trapped like a caged bird, Lady Li nursed her grievances in solitude, unable to avenge her family's ruin or her country's shame.
Princess Nankang, unaware that her husband Huan Wen had taken a new concubine, flew into a rage upon hearing the news. Reflecting on how he had grown cold and distant, she resolved to kill the woman, Lady Li.
One day, while Huan Wen was away from the palace, his wife, Princess Nankang, stormed into the residence of Lady Li with dozens of maids, all brandishing gleaming knives and radiating murderous intent. They burst through the door, and Lady Li, who was combing her hair before a mirror, calmly turned around at the noise. She saw Princess Nankang's livid face and blazing fury, but stood her ground without fear. Her long, jet-black hair cascaded to the floor like a waterfall or willow branches, and her skin glowed like translucent jade. The princess was stunned; with a clatter, her knife fell to the ground. She rushed forward, embraced Lady Li, and said emotionally, "Ah, you are so beautiful—even I feel pity and love for you, let alone Huan Wen!" Lady Li replied with dignity, "My country is ruined and my family lost; I should not be here enjoying luxury, but fate has forced me. If you kill me today, it will fulfill my wish to die for my homeland." Deeply moved, Princess Nankang silently withdrew with her attendants, and from then on treated Lady Li with great kindness.
Later, the idiom "I See and Cannot Help But Love" came to describe a woman of such exquisite beauty and graceful bearing that she inspires affection in all who behold her.
Source: *A New Account of the Tales of the World*, Chapter "Worthy Beauties"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "我见犹怜" came to describe a woman of such exquisite beauty and graceful bearing that she inspires affection in all who behold her.