Nothing wrong with your understanding.... lifts were running and adjusted during sail trim. Sailing into the wind, the weather lift (upwind side) was hauled tight to react the downward load from the leech lines and tack (lines which kept the leading edge of the square sail biting into the wind) and the weather brace. The weather lift moved away from the topmast shrouds due to its geometry.
The lee lift had less load on it, only having to react any downward pull from the lee braces and so lift tension was a function of the rig's geometry, the closer to the plane of the yard the brace blocks were, the better. But as you noticed, tension on the lee lift could cause it to bind and chafe on the forward topmast shroud.