I'm Competing With The Male Lead For A Woman - Chapter 26

Xiao Jin took the cloud ladder up to the high building. Through the smoke-like white silk and the layers of wooden frames, she felt that the world was truly too surreal.

The female lead, Chu Shao, was smiling gently as she pushed her wheelchair. The second female lead, Su Tan, was also pretending to be a maid, meekly following behind.

Xiao Jin held her majestic demeanor. As she sat in the wheelchair, she felt that this moment was probably the peak of her transmigration career.

And the person they were going to see now was the third female lead, Bai Zheng.

The protagonist’s halo truly did not lie to her.

As expected, if you live long enough and follow the female lead, anything is possible.

When they reached the ninth floor, the cloud ladder stopped. Xiao Jin sat in her wheelchair, letting Chu Shao push her into the winding corridor.

After passing through the corridor, they could see a small pond. A few bowl-shaped lanterns were floating on the water, spreading out like red makeup with the green ripples. It was a delightful sight.

Looking at everything in front of her, Xiao Jin instantly remembered the silver-red sleeve from the original novel.

In the original work, Bai Zheng, as one of the side characters, was originally a beauty famous throughout Great Qi for her wealth and looks. However, because this person was given the third female lead’s script, her role was limited to paving the way for the male lead and then giving way to the female lead in the later stages.

Fortunately, Bai Zheng’s ending was not bad.

After the female lead unified the world, Bai Zheng no longer followed the male lead’s plot. She disbanded the Yanyu Pavilion and bought a manor in the suburbs of the capital, where the girls could still sing and play the lute.

Xiao Jin was recalling the plot about Bai Zheng. In the next moment, the servant’s voice pulled her back to reality. “Miss, Miss Bai is here.”

The servant led Xiao Jin’s group to the door of the room and then respectfully retreated.

Chu Shao’s lips still held a smile. She was in a good mood.

After all, the fact that the Yanyu Pavilion’s Miss Bai wanted to see them was something worth smiling about. Not to mention that Xiao Jin and Su Tan were also here. She believed that things would become even more interesting.

Thinking of this, Chu Shao held the wheelchair’s armrest with one hand and politely knocked on the door with the other.

When she found that the vermilion door was half-open, she smiled and slowly pushed it open.

The moment the door opened, the room was filled with the scent of “Chunshankong.”

Looking around, she could see fragrant smoke rising from a porcelain incense burner. It was light and serene, like a spring mountain after the rain.

Through the pearl curtains made of coral beads, Xiao Jin saw the woman’s red sleeves and the bronze hand warmer she was holding.

At first, she could only see a corner through the white silk. But after Chu Shao raised her hand and lifted the pearl curtain, she could see the full picture.

Xiao Jin felt a little nervous about meeting the third female lead, Bai Zheng.

Fortunately, she quickly adjusted, so she was only nervous for a second.

However, Xiao Jin felt that it was understandable to be nervous. After all, she had no idea what Bai Zheng’s intention was for inviting her up.

Furthermore, a beauty hidden behind layers of pearl curtains was always mysterious and made people’s minds run wild.

But when Chu Shao raised her hand and lifted the pearl curtain, Xiao Jin’s ears rang with a mechanical voice: “Warning! The difficulty of the activity you are currently engaged in is too high. Please act with caution and choose carefully.”

Choose carefully?

Hearing the system’s words, Xiao Jin was speechless.

Choose my ass. Do I even have a choice now? We’re already at Bai Zheng’s door, and you’re just now giving a warning. Isn’t that a little late?

“To ensure a pleasant experience for the host, the system will temporarily grant you some extra benefits.”

“What benefits?”

“For example, the host can use other voices for a short period of time to achieve the goal of hiding their true identity.”

Xiao Jin: “…”

“If you’re going to add a voice-changing buff, just say so. There’s no need to make it so complicated.”

“Okay. Since the host’s current life span is only 72 hours, you can use 48 hours to exchange for a 12-hour voice-changing effect, plus a 12-hour non-triggering blood-coughing function.”

“Buy one, get one free. It’s a great deal.”

Xiao Jin was silent. A great deal? It was truly a great deal.

You might as well just put ‘stingy’ on the screen.

With ten years of reading web novels, she had never seen a system stingier than this one.

Xiao Jin didn’t want to heed the system’s overbearing terms, but when Chu Shao lifted the pearl curtain, without the coral beads to block her view, she instantly felt a difficult-to-ignore scorching gaze.

Even though her eyes were covered by the white silk, that gaze seemed to want to pass through this obstacle and stare directly at her.

The eyes were gentle, but the gaze was full of aggression. It seemed to want to reveal her true face hidden beneath the white silk scarf.

“…”

Xiao Jin intuitively felt that things were getting tricky. After thinking for a moment, she decisively said to the system in her mind, “Exchange.”

“Okay, exchanging for the host.”

It wasn’t until Xiao Jin made her choice that she realized a serious problem: the system only said it could change her voice, but it didn’t seem to tell her what kind of voice it would change into.

A very bad feeling suddenly rose in Xiao Jin’s heart.

“The random voice-changing buff has been granted to the host. Enjoy your use.”

Before Xiao Jin could ask the system what kind of voice-changing buff it had given her, she saw a figure stand up from the couch and walk toward her with a smile.

The person walked very slowly. Her entire being exuded a lazy charm. Her red sleeves were gorgeous and light, but the clothes underneath were plain white.

Even through a layer of silk, Xiao Jin could tell that this person’s face was more beautiful than a peach blossom. She was definitely a stunning beauty.

It was a shame that with such a high-end configuration, Bai Zheng was given a side character’s script.

Through the blurry filter, Xiao Jin could vaguely see that Bai Zheng was very beautiful.

But as soon as she thought of the word “beautiful,” she couldn’t help but think of the blood dripping from Chu Shao’s fingertips after she had sheathed her sword.

Chu Shao’s elegant curved lips and that burning beauty mark appeared in her mind.

Although Chu Shao was a psychopath, Xiao Jin had to admit that in terms of both madness and beauty, the female lead was indeed superior to Bai Zheng.

After all, she had never seen anyone crazier than this person.

When other yanderes went on a rampage, they could at least distinguish between enemies and friends.

When Chu Shao went on a rampage, she might even kill herself on a whim.

Xiao Jin’s mind wandered for a while as she thought about the crazy female lead. When she came back to her senses, Bai Zheng was already standing in front of her.

After scrutinizing her, Bai Zheng smiled and praised, “Miss, you are truly a peerless beauty in this world.”

“…”

Xiao Jin was expressionless. She felt that Bai Zheng must have a screw loose.

The most beautiful person in the entire book was standing right next to her. Why would she not praise Chu Shao and instead awkwardly praise the original owner?

Hearing Bai Zheng’s words, Chu Shao’s smile remained gentle, but she frowned slightly.

She felt that Bai Zheng’s praise was redundant. Even if Bai Zheng didn’t say it, it was a fact in front of everyone.

Furthermore, Bai Zheng was standing too close.

This close distance slightly diminished the joy in Chu Shao’s heart.

She didn’t like being approached, especially by strangers. Moreover, the white peony that Bai Zheng was approaching step by step was something that she had painstakingly arranged.

Whether it was the jade belt on Xiao Jin’s waist or the crimson color on her lips that had already been wiped clean, they were all carefully considered and chosen by her.

Bai Zheng could, of course, approach the Prince of Yan, Xiao Jin.

But at this moment, this peony, no matter if it was a petal or a bud, was hers, not Bai Zheng’s.

After figuring this out, Chu Shao had a gentle smile on her face, but she was a little expectant of Xiao Jin’s answer.

She hoped that Xiao Jin could also figure this out. After all, this simple logic was too easy to understand.

However, Xiao Jin was not thinking about any of this.

At this moment, all of her worries were focused on the voice-changing buff the system had granted her.

Even the assassination mystery and Bai Zheng’s strange praise were not as shocking as the system’s move.

Xiao Jin had a feeling that the system would do something strange, but she didn’t know what it would do.

There was no one talking in the room now, which meant that she had to be the one to answer Bai Zheng’s words. And she had already talked to the servant just now, so even if she wanted to pretend to be deaf and mute, she couldn’t.

Xiao Jin thought to herself, Anyway, I won’t have many chances to see the third female lead in the future. What’s more, Bai Zheng doesn’t even know who I am.

With a “whatever” mentality, Xiao Jin was very steady.

Since she had already come this far, she might as well just go with it. She chose the most foolproof response and said calmly, “Miss Bai, you’re too kind.”

Admittedly, Xiao Jin’s tone was calm, and her face was expressionless. But when she heard her own voice, she couldn’t remain calm inside.

The other four people in the room also couldn’t remain calm.

Bai Zheng, who was standing in front of Xiao Jin, was stunned. Su Tan, who was disguised as a maid, was also dumbfounded.

Even Bai Qin, who was hiding behind the screen and checking the accounts, almost dropped the account book in her hand when she heard Xiao Jin’s voice.

The only one who didn’t show anything on her face was Chu Shao.

Listening to the voice that came from between Xiao Jin’s lips, she suddenly felt her heart beating a little fast again.

The curve of her lips also began to rise in pleasure.

Chu Shao found it hard to describe what kind of strange voice this was. She had never heard Xiao Jin use such a voice, speaking in a tone that was completely inconsistent with her own temperament.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of pill Xiao Jin had secretly taken to turn her originally cold voice into…

That voice that made her heart race.

Chu Shao’s eyelashes trembled slightly. She even had a strong desire to hear Xiao Jin speak with that tone again, saying things that would move her heart.

If there really was such a pill in the world, she would do anything to find it. Then she would grind the pill into powder, hold Xiao Jin’s jaw, and coax the other person to let the powder slide down her tongue.

At this moment, Xiao Jin’s mind was blank because her mentality had exploded.

Even her crippled legs seemed to have regained some feeling. They were trembling on the wheelchair, feeling embarrassed for her numb nerves.

Before, Xiao Jin could still hold on to the belief of “if I’m not embarrassed, someone else is.”

Now, this belief was completely gone, shattered into countless pieces.

Ever since she covered her eyes with the white silk scarf, put on a cold face, and spoke with that flirty and cutesy voice, Xiao Jin knew…

The world where only she was embarrassed had been achieved.