I'm Competing With The Male Lead For A Woman - Chapter 28

The capital, the Prince’s Estate.

The Fourth Prince sat in the hall, picked up a brush, and drew a crape myrtle flower on a piece of rice paper.

He used the tip of the brush to outline the crape myrtle flower. His expression was extremely focused.

Whether it was a crimson or a scarlet petal, it was equally vibrant and beautiful whether it appeared in a courtyard, by the lake, or anywhere else.

When he was young, the Fourth Prince loved the crape myrtle flowers in the imperial garden.

But ever since he grew up and learned that the crape myrtle star was the Emperor’s star, he no longer picked the crape myrtle flowers in the palace at will.

Because the palace belonged to the Emperor, and it would also belong to the Crown Prince in the future. No matter how beautiful the crape myrtle flowers in the imperial garden were, he had no right to pick them. He could only draw them on paper.

When he made a mistake as a child, others would say that he was still young and that it was a childish thing to do. If he made the same mistake as an adult, it would be an overstepping of boundaries, an act of deception against the Emperor.

After drawing the last petal of the crape myrtle, the Fourth Prince finally put down his brush in satisfaction.

He looked up and found that the estate’s steward was standing in front of him. He seemed to have been waiting there for a long time.

Since he had been waiting for a long time, it didn’t matter if he waited a little longer.

The Fourth Prince picked up the two corners of the rice paper, lowered his eyes, and unfolded the painting to look at it. Then he said to the steward, “You can tell me what’s on your mind.”

After getting his master’s order, the steward said, “Your Highness, I followed your instructions and bribed someone from the Dali Temple. The news they gave me is that the people who died had similar deaths. They were all probably killed by the same person, and there was an aromatic pill stuck in their throats.”

“Where did that aromatic pill come from?” The Fourth Prince looked at the steward.

“They say it came from the Yanyu Pavilion.”

The Fourth Prince put down the painting in his hand and said with regret, “Although I really want to find out the truth for my Third Brother, the Yanyu Pavilion belongs to the Bai family, and the Bai family’s backer is the Crown Prince. So I can’t get involved in this matter.”

“Furthermore, since you were able to get information from the Dali Temple, it’s very likely that the Crown Prince deliberately released this information to confuse people. I… don’t believe it.”

Upon hearing these words, cold sweat broke out on the steward’s forehead. He felt that the Prince was probably secretly scolding him for being foolish to believe such information.

But he remembered that the Prince had told him to keep a close eye on the Yanyu Pavilion these days. It didn’t seem like he didn’t want to get involved.

So the steward braced himself and reported the situation today. “Your Highness, the spy we have in the Yanyu Pavilion reported that there were three new guests.”

“One of the women had difficulty walking and was in a wheelchair. Her eyes were also covered with a white cloth. She seems to be a blind woman.”

The Fourth Prince thought for a moment. He repeated, “A wheelchair, a blind woman?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting. This description reminds me of someone. However, Xiao Jin is always arrogant and proud. He would never do something like this.”

The Fourth Prince seemed to have remembered something, and he smiled again. “By the way, when will Aunt Zhaoyang and Concubine Shu leave Baima Temple and return to the capital?”

The steward replied, “Your Highness, it should be tomorrow.”

“So it’s tomorrow.”

The Fourth Prince looked at the crape myrtle flower on the scroll. He frowned and thought about something that he had been thinking about for a long time but couldn’t figure out.

Why did Xiao Jin try to steal the bride on his wedding day?

Even to this day, the Fourth Prince still couldn’t quite understand it. But he could vaguely feel that something about Xiao Jin had changed.

Thinking of this, the Fourth Prince stood up and picked up the fur coat that was placed next to his seat.

He put the heavy fur coat on and smiled faintly. “Since it’s tomorrow, then I can be willful one more time.”

“Old Wang, take a team of men to the Yanyu Pavilion. Remember to be quick. After all, if that person is really my Third Brother, I’ll give him a surprise.”

••••

“Who are you?”

Bai Zheng’s voice was very calm, but the meaning of this sentence was very broad.

Because this question covered a wide range.

It could be asking about Chu Shao’s background, or it could be asking who Chu Shao really was, outside of her identity as “Young Master Chu.”

A few days ago, it rained all night on Fuqiu Street.

The night rain was cold and chilling to the bone. Would it be able to wash away the face of that mysterious master swordsman?

Hearing Bai Zheng’s question, Chu Shao was a little confused, but she still put on a polite smile. “My family lives in Yunqin. My surname is Chu, and my given name is Yu.”

Bai Zheng looked at Chu Shao, knowing that the other person was almost certainly lying, but she still smiled gracefully. “Is Young Master Chu’s ‘Yu’ the same ‘Yu’ as in ‘Abyss and Yu’?”

Chu Shao also looked at Bai Zheng. A faint smile hung on her lips. “No. It’s the ‘Yu’ from ‘holding jade and embracing gems.'”

Holding jade and embracing gems.

Xiao Jin was silent.

Was there no other phrase in Chu Shao’s knowledge base?

Why did she have to choose a phrase like this?

Although both people in front of her had gentle smiles on their faces and seemed to be very kind people, Xiao Jin inexplicably smelled a hint of something wrong.

This smell often appeared in the gunpowder smoke that was ignited by both sides during a war.

In short, it was a scent of hostility.

It was normal for the female lead and the third female lead to not get along. But for them to start a war before the male lead had even appeared was a little absurd.

After Bai Zheng heard the phrase “holding jade and embracing gems,” the smile on her face seemed to fade a little.

She looked at Chu Shao for a long time. A moment later, the corners of her lips curved again. She skipped the topic they had just mentioned and started talking about something else.

“Just now, Young Master Chu said that you were looking for a nice-smelling fragrance for Miss Chu. Coincidentally, there is a fragrance in the Yanyu Pavilion that is light and not vulgar. It matches Miss Chu’s temperament very well.”

Chu Shao: “What kind of fragrance? I’m all ears.”

“This fragrance is called ‘Chunshankong.’ It’s an aromatic pill that I made a few years ago. It can only be made by using white plum blossoms from deep winter, peonies from early summer, and then adding ginseng, linglingxiang, and red poria.”

Xiao Jin was a little surprised.

Bai Zheng actually didn’t mind revealing her business secret. She told them how to make “Chunshankong,” and she also talked about the origin of this aromatic pill.

“It was the season of early spring, and it was also the first year that the Prince of Yan went on a campaign against the Yao Kingdom. I was bored. As I listened to the rain outside the window, I created this aromatic pill and named it ‘Chunshankong.'”

When Bai Zheng said this, there was still a smile on her face, and she seemed a little like a young girl.

A moment later, she looked at Xiao Jin, who was sitting in the wheelchair, and sighed softly. “After all, spring rain can indeed make people feel sad for no reason. But since you two grew up in Yunqin, you probably don’t know about some of the old stories of Great Qi.”

Hearing Bai Zheng’s attitude toward the original owner, Xiao Jin felt a little strange.

So she tried her best to lower the cutesy, high-pitched voice that the system had given her. She asked in a hoarse voice, “Why were you so sad, Miss Bai?”

Bai Zheng looked at the white silk scarf wrapped around Xiao Jin’s eyes. “Yes, I shouldn’t have been sad. It’s just that when the Prince of Yan was fighting the Yao Kingdom, the heavens didn’t cooperate. It rained heavily.”

“Because his vision was obscured by the heavy rain, the Prince of Yan was caught off guard and hit by a poisonous arrow. That’s why he got his leg disease and his habit of coughing up blood. That’s why I said that the rain was very unlucky and annoying.”

Facing the original owner, Xiao Jin could only remain silent as she talked about the original owner’s business.

After all, she was just a transmigrator. She didn’t know how the original owner’s lung disease and leg disease came about.

But for a few hidden arrows to have the effect of both getting sick and becoming disabled at the same time was a bit too exaggerated.

The original author’s setting was so sloppy that Xiao Jin wanted to complain, but she didn’t know where to start.

Although she didn’t know why the original owner being hit by a hidden arrow would make Bai Zheng hate a type of weather, just by looking at Bai Zheng’s sad expression, it didn’t seem fake.

Did Bai Zheng know the original owner, and did she have some kind of relationship with the original owner?

But as soon as she thought of this, Xiao Jin quickly dismissed this terrifying idea. After all, if that were true, then her disguise would be useless.

Chu Shao’s lips curved into a smile, and she didn’t say anything.

Because of Bai Zheng’s hint, she finally recalled the first time she met Xiao Jin.

At that time, it was indeed a rainy day. But when Xiao Jin, in her silver armor, entered the Great Yao imperial palace, she didn’t have a leg disease.

The light rain was like silk threads. It didn’t make people feel sad, but it did make the other person’s eyes a little wet.

Recalling the Prince of Yan of Northern Qi holding a long sword and looking at her with an indifferent gaze, Chu Shao remembered the other person’s wet black hair and that slightly hoarse voice.

The Prince of Yan’s eyes and eyebrows were very good-looking. Her lips and complexion, however, were a little pale.

After a long time, she asked her, “Are you Chu Shao?”

After she nodded, the other person shifted her gaze and replied with one word: “Good.”

Thinking of this past event, Chu Shao smiled faintly, feeling a little strange.

Because she really didn’t know what was “good” about the fact that she was Chu Shao.

After all, she and Xiao Jin had never met before. A conversation like this would seem very weird. And what was even weirder was that Chu Shao felt that the current Xiao Jin would not say such a meaningful sentence.

So what was the reason that made Xiao Jin like this now?

Bai Zheng didn’t know that the casual old story she had mentioned would make Chu Shao and Xiao Jin think so much.

Realizing that she had said too many irrelevant things, she smiled again and stopped the topic. “But we can’t blame the heavens. After all, some things are not destined, but man-made.”

“There are too many people in the world. There are many old stories that I haven’t completely figured out.”

Through a layer of silk, Xiao Jin could vaguely see the smile on Bai Zheng’s face, but she always felt that the other person’s words were very profound. There seemed to be a hidden meaning in her words.

Fortunately, Bai Zheng was not just playing riddles. After saying a string of vague words, she smiled and took out a box of aromatic pills from a drawer and opened it.

“This is the ‘Chunshankong’ fragrance. This aromatic pill is excellent. The girls in the building also use it often. I hope you don’t mind it, Miss Chu.”

Seeing that Bai Zheng was handing the box to her, Xiao Jin didn’t realize for a moment that she was “Miss Chu.”

If Su Tan hadn’t been so fed up that she couldn’t help but cough lightly, she would have probably never known that Bai Zheng was talking to her.

It wasn’t until Su Tan coughed that Bai Zheng seemed to realize her mistake.

The person in front of her was a blind woman. How could she see her handing her the box?

Bai Zheng smiled apologetically and said sorry. She then handed the box to Chu Shao.

In reality, she was testing them. If the other person was truly blind, she definitely wouldn’t know that she had handed the box over.

On the other hand, if she was deliberately pretending to be blind, she would subconsciously take the box.

A moment later, Xiao Jin also quickly reacted. She realized that her identity at the moment was still a blind woman, so Bai Zheng’s actions just now were probably not that simple.

She couldn’t help but sigh. The plots in this ancient world were too complex. There wasn’t a single person here who was easy to deal with.

It was obvious that Bai Zheng’s plan was a chain of tricks, and it wasn’t over yet.

Although the voice of the blind woman didn’t sound like Xiao Jin, and her eyes seemed to be truly blind, Bai Zheng had liked Xiao Jin for so many years. She firmly believed that even if the other person suddenly became a woman one day, her feelings would definitely not be wrong.

What’s more, those few knuckles, even if they became pale and bloodless, just quietly placed on the snow-white robe, were still as beautiful as the way they were when she drew her bow back then.

Bai Zheng believed that she was not wrong.

Although they had only met a few times, Xiao Jin’s eyebrows, nose, and every expression of joy and anger had been drawn by her thousands of times.

She might have been wrong about many things, but how could she not recognize the person she held dear in her heart?

So she smiled and said something that she shouldn’t have mentioned here. “Seeing this aromatic pill, I suddenly remembered an unpleasant thing that happened in the building a few days ago.”

“That unpleasant thing was related to a swordsman.”