I'm Competing With The Male Lead For A Woman - Chapter 25

Miss Bai invites them upstairs?

Xiao Jin was a little surprised that she would encounter this classic web novel trope.

She then glanced at Chu Shao, who was smiling next to her, and immediately felt that the protagonist’s halo was truly big and round. It could even benefit an eighteen-line cannon fodder.

The young servant in blue hadn’t deliberately lowered his voice, so the guests in the hall all put down their wine cups and looked at Xiao Jin’s group in surprise.

“Miss Bai has never invited anyone to sit upstairs. Why is this young lady so lucky?”

Even Lan Qing and Wan Jun found it strange. They wondered what was going on today that Miss Bai was in such a good mood.

Sensing the envious gazes of everyone in the hall, Xiao Jin, taking advantage of the fact that her eyes were covered, decided to just give up.

She put on an indifferent expression and pretended she couldn’t see anything.

This kind of luck was indeed something that ordinary people couldn’t envy. After all, not everyone had a yandere next to them who could take their life at any moment.

However, being a yandere female lead also had its advantages. For example, she, a cannon fodder, was able to get some of the protagonist’s halo and experience something that only a protagonist could.

But now, she was facing a serious problem…

Through the white silk scarf, Xiao Jin looked up at the tall building with warm red lanterns hanging from it.

Although her vision was half-hidden by the white scarf, Xiao Jin could clearly realize that this was an ancient fantasy world. It was impossible for it to have an elevator.

So, how was a vulnerable person like her, who had crippled legs, going to go upstairs?

Xiao Jin had already started to imagine the awkward scene of her being carried up by the young servants.

As she thought about it, she fell silent. But she suddenly heard a voice from the upper floor. “Take this young lady up the ‘cloud ladder.'”

The woman’s voice was extremely clear, like the sound of colliding jade ornaments. It was inexplicably elegant and pleasant to the ears.

Listening carefully, the end of her words was a little muffled. It seemed like she was suppressing a laugh.

Hearing this voice, Xiao Jin could reasonably guess that the person speaking was the side character, Bai Zheng. After all, at times like this, the person who had the right to speak was usually a character with status.

This was a law of web novels that never failed.

But if she remembered correctly, in ancient times, the “cloud ladder” was a siege weapon. What did Bai Zheng want her to do by telling her to take the cloud ladder?

Before Xiao Jin could figure out Bai Zheng’s intention, the entire hall was in an uproar. Then, the sound of people talking started and never stopped.

A young man in a blue robe was dumbfounded. He whispered to the person next to him, “Is that the ‘cloud ladder’ I’m thinking of? Miss Bai really built it for that person…”

The person next to him put down his wine cup and sighed. “I used to think those rumors were just rumors. But now, it seems that Miss Bai could even come up with this method. It shows how deeply she feels for that person.”

Xiao Jin narrowed her eyes. That person? Who?

But she heard the people closest to her continue to talk. “Yes. Now Miss Bai is almost a laughingstock in the capital. If it weren’t for that person, she would probably be the Crown Prince’s wife by now.”

“It’s a shame that the Prince has a crush, but the Goddess is heartless.”

A man in a luxurious robe clicked his tongue and laughed. “Brother, shouldn’t the Prince and the Goddess switch places?”

The young man in a blue robe suddenly understood and corrected himself. “You’re right. It should be the Goddess has a crush, but the Prince is heartless.”

Xiao Jin frowned as she listened to the gossip. She felt that the paper characters here seemed to know much more than she did, a person who had read the original novel.

No way. After the author finished the main story, did she secretly write more than a hundred extra chapters?

Xiao Jin suddenly felt a little creeped out. She felt that the plot’s development was like a wild horse that had run loose. She had no control over it, and the wild horse had its own thoughts and would never return.

Before Xiao Jin could get lost in thought for too long, Chu Shao, following the young servant in blue, pushed the wheelchair through the corridor under the watchful eyes of the guests.

And Su Tan followed with calm steps.

When the wheelchair stopped, Xiao Jin finally knew what the “cloud ladder” was.

In her foggy world, looking at the wooden lifting device, it was as if she was looking at the prototype of an elevator.

What else could she say? She could only sigh and say that ancient web novels were truly profound.

The Yanyu Pavilion had a total of ten floors. The higher they went, the quieter it became. It was very peaceful.

Bai Zheng’s usual room was on the ninth floor. Every few days, she and her younger sister, Bai Qin, would come to the Yanyu Pavilion to check the accounts.

But today was different.

Today, Bai Zheng was lazily using an abacus. She looked at Bai Qin, who was sitting opposite her, and felt a little choked up.

This was because Bai Qin was always an emotionless accounting machine. She was always very meticulous with the finances. If the accounts weren’t clear, she would never give up.

It was the beginning of the month now. The officials had just received their salaries from last month, so they would naturally come to the Yanyu Pavilion to have some fun. Therefore, there were many accounts, and it would take a while to finish them.

Although Bai Zheng was the official head of the Yanyu Pavilion, when the capital’s elites saw her, they would have to politely call her “Miss Bai.”

However, she was a young woman in her prime, yet she spent her days going back and forth between the corridors and screens of the Yanyu Pavilion, dealing with money. It was truly boring to the extreme.

The only belief that supported Bai Zheng was to work hard to make money and become the Crown Prince’s wife.

If she were to ask what was so good about the Crown Prince, Bai Zheng wouldn’t think he was good at all. She was just upset about what happened back then, which was why she had been so strong all these years.

Gradually, she had been stubborn like this until today.

Today, her younger sister was sitting opposite her, doing the accounts. Bai Zheng raised her hand, rested her chin on it, and squinted at the “Chunshankong” rising from the incense burner.

The smoke was swirling. Bai Zheng sighed.

She felt that everything was like this fragrant wind, becoming ethereal and turning into a futile effort.

However, she had already come this far. Bai Zheng knew in her heart that she had no way out, so she could only leave the room to get some fresh air and relieve her boredom.

Standing in the corridor, her silver-red water sleeves hung down gracefully.

Bai Zheng’s hands rested on the railing of the ninth floor. She was bored as she looked at the female lute player below. Her thoughts had already flown away like a homing pigeon.

But what made the homing pigeon return was, surprisingly, a flash of a snow-white figure she saw as she was about to turn back to her room.

It was a white peony made of brocade, blooming in the hall. It was out of place with the surrounding music and the atmosphere of people clinking glasses.

To be precise, this flower shouldn’t have appeared in the Yanyu Pavilion.

Bai Zheng looked at the peony that was not at all charming. She was very curious. How could this young lady wear a snow-white robe embroidered with peonies so properly, almost with a sense of untouchable coldness?

Although her eyes were covered by a white silk scarf and her eyebrows couldn’t be seen clearly, the aura around her reminded her of someone.

At this moment, Bai Qin also finished dealing with the account books in the room.

Bai Qin looked up and found that Bai Zheng was gone. She frowned slightly, took the account book, and went to look for her.

But as soon as she crossed the threshold, she saw Bai Zheng leaning on the railing, lost in thought, with a rare look of daze on her face.

Bai Qin was confused. She walked up to Bai Zheng and couldn’t help but ask, “Older Sister, did something big happen?”

“Something big. It is indeed something big.”

Bai Zheng’s voice trembled a little. She stretched out her hand and pointed at the young lady in the snow-white robe who was sitting in the wheelchair. “Look. Doesn’t that person look a lot like the Prince of Yan?”

“…”

After just one glance at that fairy-like woman, Bai Qin turned her head and said to Bai Zheng earnestly, “Older Sister, you’re probably sick.”

“And you’re seriously ill.”

The capital’s elites all knew that Bai Shangshu’s eldest daughter, Bai Zheng, was suffering from a serious illness. The disease was called lovesickness. It was so severe that it was incurable.

Her behavior also started to become abnormal, which made the entire Bai family unable to hold their heads high.

The root of all this had to be traced back to Bai Zheng’s childhood.

Before she was infected with lovesickness, Bai Zheng was a smart and clever young girl. At a young age, she could write poems and couplets. As she grew older, she liked to practice swordsmanship and could get along well with the young masters in the capital.

When Bai Zheng was fourteen years old, which was the year before her coming-of-age ceremony.

At that time, Bai Zheng burst into the ancestral hall. She knelt on the floor and tearfully swore in front of the ancestral tablets that she would never marry any man from the Qi Kingdom in this life.

In this life, she only wanted to make a name for herself and become the richest and most powerful woman in the entire capital.

Seeing Bai Zheng’s crazy actions, the entire Bai family was extremely frightened.

Even her ten-year-old younger sister seriously advised her, “Older Sister, it’s better for you to just marry the most powerful and richest man. This way, you won’t have to work so hard.”

Bai Zheng sneered in disdain and refused. “No. I don’t look up to the Emperor, and I don’t look up to the Crown Prince. I want to rely on myself.”

As soon as she said this, Bai Shangshu was scared to death. He quickly covered Bai Zheng’s mouth and scolded her angrily, “Nonsense! The most powerful person in the world is of course the Emperor. How could it be the Crown Prince…”

Although everyone knew that the person on the throne was weak and incompetent, and that Bai Shangshu was a staunch supporter of the Crown Prince, no one dared to say it out loud.

Except for Bai Zheng.

Because she knew that her father would definitely send her to the Crown Prince in the future.

Bai Zheng was angry and unwilling. She understood that from the moment she was born, she was destined to be a pawn for her father to play with the Crown Prince. In a few years, she would naturally become the Crown Prince’s wife.

Everyone thought that this was a given, but Bai Zheng felt that it was a little too absurd.

She had never even said a word to the Crown Prince, or even seen him. So why did she have to become his wife?

That day, Bai Zheng packed her bags. She was originally planning to run away from home and wander the world to live out the rest of her life.

Unexpectedly, when she was climbing the wall that night, Bai Zheng’s foot slipped, and she fell into the bushes with a thud. She was discovered by the maids in the residence.

Bai Shangshu looked at the land deeds and silver bills in Bai Zheng’s bag and was furious. The next day, he decisively dragged Bai Zheng to the royal hunting grounds.

The reason was also very sufficient. “You said you’ve never seen the Crown Prince. Well, now I’ll let you have a good look!”

But Bai Shangshu never expected that his daughter, who was a curse from eight generations ago, would have put the land deeds and silver bills in her clothes and sleeves.

On the surface, Bai Zheng was representing the Bai family’s women in the hunt. But in reality, she was riding that red horse and running wildly toward the outside of the hunting grounds.

Perhaps even the heavens couldn’t stand it anymore and wanted to take Bai Zheng, this troublemaker, for Bai Shangshu.

Just as Bai Zheng was about to run out of the hunting grounds, a brown bear, which was strong enough to kill two Bai Zhengs with one swipe, suddenly blocked her path.

Looking at the giant bear that had appeared out of nowhere, Bai Zheng was almost dumbfounded. She felt that her life was a melodramatic novel.

No matter how coincidental things were in this life, it couldn’t be this coincidental.

Realizing that the heavens wanted her dead, the pony that Bai Zheng had chosen before entering the hunting grounds was also very humane. After being frightened, it reared up its hooves and decisively threw her off its back.

Bai Zheng’s sleeves were full of silver bills. At this moment, they were flying in the air, truly looking like the paper money she was scattering for herself.

Even though the brown bear let out a dangerous roar, the shadow of its giant paw, carrying a thick smell of earth, was aimed at her pale face.

However, before she died, Bai Zheng was still lamenting in grief. She lamented her unlucky fate and her unfair life.

Then, Bai Zheng saw an arrow.

To be precise, she smelled blood in that instant. Her intuition told her that death should smell like this.

Next, Bai Zheng saw two arrows with white feathers. They cut through the hot air of the hunting grounds and hit the brown bear’s eyes.

Blood and bodily fluids sprayed out.

In an instant, Bai Zheng heard the bear’s muffled, angry roar. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and rolled on the grass to avoid it in time.

It was a shame that the brown bear, which was now blind in both eyes, wasn’t so lucky. It didn’t have time to avoid the last arrow that pierced its head.

It wasn’t until Bai Zheng couldn’t roll anymore that she dared to lie on the ground and look up, facing the threat of death.

Bai Zheng began to face her unfair fate. But she was shocked to find that the bear’s huge body had already fallen to the ground, leaving its corpse in the royal hunting grounds.

She was so stunned. She turned her head and looked behind her. She saw a person in silver armor, slowly putting down the horn bow in her hand.

Three feathered arrows in a row. From then on, Bai Zheng’s life path was changed.

She looked at the young man with his black hair tied high, at his slightly raised chin, and at the cold gaze that was like a sharp sword.

She stared blankly at the person’s hand that was pulling the full moon bow. Finally, she followed the carvings on the horn bow and moved to the slender and long wrist that was like a flawless white jade.

Bai Zheng had never seen such a perfect young man.

He was more handsome and dashing than a man, but he was as beautiful as a woman.

Therefore, even though Bai Zheng knew that this person’s name was Xiao Jin and that she was the notoriously eccentric Third Prince from the rumors, she still fell in love with her hopelessly.

She even knew that Xiao Jin hadn’t saved her that day to save her life. It was just a bet with the Crown Prince to see who could hunt the fiercest prey in the hunting grounds first.

But Bai Zheng still carried a young girl’s heart. She shyly walked up to the Prince Jin.

At that time, the Prince Jin was frowning as she was fiddling with a sleeve arrow. She looked up and saw a stranger walking toward her. Her eyebrows furrowed even more.

Bai Zheng’s expression was shy. She bowed to the Prince Jin. The words she spoke were quite natural. “My name is Bai Zheng. Thank you, Your Highness, for saving me yesterday.”

However, the Prince Jin didn’t remember who she had saved. She was too lazy to even think about it. She nodded and continued to fiddle with her sleeve arrow.

Bai Zheng continued, “Your Highness saved me. I have nothing to repay you with. I’m truly ashamed.”

The Prince Jin adjusted the position of her sleeve arrow and nodded. “Yes. You’re very ashamed. I know.”

Bai Zheng was stunned. She seemed to have not expected to receive such a response.

A moment later, she mustered up her courage again. “Aside from being ashamed, if Your Highness doesn’t mind, I have nothing to repay you with. I’m willing to… offer myself to you.”

Hearing this, the Prince Jin’s movements paused.

Then she slowly raised her head and looked at Bai Zheng with a very simple and easy-to-understand gaze. “Offer yourself to me?”

Bai Zheng answered shyly and directly, “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I like Your Highness.”

Prince Jin asked calmly, “What do you like about me?”

Bai Zheng was stunned. After thinking for a while, she answered seriously, “I like that Your Highness is good-looking and different from other men.”

Prince Jin smiled and raised an eyebrow slightly. “How am I different?”

Seeing the smile on the other person’s face, Bai Zheng also smiled. “If I have to say how, it’s probably that Your Highness is too good-looking. You don’t look like a man. You look more like a woman.”

The end result was known to everyone in the capital.

It was the first day that the Third Prince got a new sleeve arrow.

Prince Jin’s lips held a faint smile. Then she pressed the mechanism of the sleeve arrow, and a cold arrow grazed Bai Zheng’s neck.

Although the arrow didn’t hurt Bai Zheng in the end, everyone was very clear that if the aim had been off by just an inch, things would have been very difficult to deal with.

At that time, Xiao Jin, who was only a prince, perfectly showed her way of treating guests with her arrogance and pride.

After that day, Bai Zheng, who used to cry, make a fuss, and even threaten to hang herself to avoid marrying the Crown Prince, and who had made the Bai family and the Crown Prince lose face, decided to become the Crown Prince’s wife.

Bai Zheng even wanted to open a building—

Because she wanted to become the richest and most powerful Crown Prince’s wife in history.

This was Bai Zheng’s biggest goal in this life.

At this moment, Bai Qin watched the three people get on the “cloud ladder.” She turned her head and asked Bai Zheng, “Older Sister, I still don’t understand. Even though you were unhappy with the Prince of Yan back then, after this incident, the Crown Prince has stopped talking about your engagement. Why are you so determined to become the Crown Prince’s wife?”

The sound of the lute gradually started. Bai Zheng leaned on the railing and let out a laugh. “What do you know, little girl?”

“The Prince of Yan and the Crown Prince are on good terms. Even when he saved me back then, it was just to win that bet. Whether it’s about power, benefits, or my status in the Prince of Yan’s heart, I can’t compete with the Crown Prince. I also know that it’s impossible for me to hold any weight in the Prince of Yan’s heart in this life.”

“But, if I can become the Crown Prince’s wife, then the Prince of Yan will have to call me his sister-in-law. He must remember me and admit that I won and he lost to me.”

Bai Zheng said with a smile, “So what if he and the Crown Prince are on good terms? They are always in a mutually beneficial relationship. But I can become the Crown Prince’s wife. Can he?”

“…”

Bai Qin was expressionless. She couldn’t understand Bai Zheng’s strange desire to win.

“However, that was what I thought back then. Now, I don’t think that way anymore. Ever since the Prince of Yan’s legs were crippled, I only want to do one thing—”

Saying this, Bai Zheng smiled slightly and looked at the other side.

She looked at the young woman in the snow-white robe in the cloud ladder. She looked at the pair of legs hanging from the bamboo wheelchair. She felt that the other person was very much like a caged beast trapped in a wooden cage.

“Before I become the Crown Prince’s wife, I want to figure out some things. Some… old stories.”