I'm Competing With The Male Lead For A Woman - Chapter 29

When Xiao Jin heard the word “swordsman,” she knew that the story Bai Zheng was about to tell her was probably not that simple.

Below the high building, the sound of the lute gradually slowed down.

Bai Zheng’s voice was clear, like a stone hitting water. “A few days ago, a swordsman came to the building. He looked decent and didn’t seem like a bad person. He just looked a little down on his luck.”

Xiao Jin could only remember what the assassin’s corpse looked like after Su Tan had dissected it. She had already forgotten what his face looked like.

But as a listener, out of politeness, she still pretended to nod.

Since they were just chatting, Bai Zheng found a chair and sat down. “The girls at the Yanyu Pavilion usually see the sons of noble families. They had never met such a down-on-his-luck young man before.”

“They saw that he was a new guest and were curious. So they waved their sleeves to welcome the swordsman into the room and played a few lute songs for him. It was a little bit of fun listening to the swordsman talk about the martial arts world.”

Xiao Jin felt that this was a normal plot. After all, the scenes Bai Zheng mentioned were classic web novel tropes.

Chu Shao, who was on the side, smiled slightly. She rarely spoke. “I see.”

Not to mention that Bai Zheng frowned, not understanding what Chu Shao was saying, even Xiao Jin and Su Tan, who were with her, didn’t understand why she suddenly said something like that.

Just as Xiao Jin was confused, Chu Shao raised her hand and stroked the fan made of ivory carvings.

A smile appeared on her lips. She said softly, “I can understand their thoughts. After all, a canary is destined to be locked in a cage for its entire life, until it rots, dies, and becomes a skeleton.”

“After being trapped in the cage for a long time, it’s not surprising to suddenly see a swordsman and yearn for the vast world.”

Through a layer of white silk, Xiao Jin looked up and vaguely saw the gentle curve of Chu Shao’s lips.

Chu Shao’s expression was very serious, even innocent. It was like a child looking up and telling adults their thoughts about the world.

Admittedly, the scene was indeed beautiful.

But Xiao Jin didn’t quite understand where Chu Shao’s feelings came from.

Bai Zheng’s brows were tightly furrowed. She thought Chu Shao was secretly implying that she had imprisoned the girls’ freedom.

But most of the girls at the Yanyu Pavilion were people who had nowhere else to go. She had taken them in so that they would at least have a place to stay.

She didn’t deliberately restrain them on a daily basis. It was up to the girls to decide whether to stay or leave.

Bai Zheng was about to explain a thing or two, but she saw that Chu Shao’s smile was gentle and she seemed very open.

So she swallowed her words of rebuttal and didn’t take it to heart. She continued, “But when the swordsman smelled the perfume on the girls, his face changed drastically. He completely changed his demeanor and pulled them into the room without a word.”

“He was very skilled in martial arts. By the time I rushed there, I could only barely get my men to subdue the swordsman.”

Xiao Jin frowned. “Why did his personality suddenly change, and why did he do something like that?”

Bai Zheng sighed. “At that time, I interrogated the swordsman and asked him why he did it. He had a sad look on his face and said that he had been working for his master and that he didn’t have much time left. So before he died, he wanted to come to the Yanyu Pavilion to listen to some music and enjoy his last moments.”

Hearing these words, Su Tan couldn’t help but say, “Even if he was about to die, it’s not a reason for him to lose control like a beast just because he smelled a scent.”

Bai Zheng nodded. “Indeed. That’s what I told him, too.”

“Then, how did he explain it?” Chu Shao asked with a smile.

Bai Zheng replied, “The swordsman said that he didn’t want to do that. But after he smelled ‘Chunshankong,’ he felt that it was very familiar. He wanted to get some information from the girl, which was why he acted so rashly.”

Hearing this, Xiao Jin frowned again. “The fact that he found the scent familiar wasn’t a big deal. But why was his first reaction to want to get some information?”

Bai Zheng looked at the blind woman in the wheelchair. She was a little surprised.

Because this person didn’t seem easy to approach. She didn’t seem to be a person who was confined by the secular world. This otherworldly feeling was also very similar to the Prince of Yan.

But Bai Zheng hadn’t expected that this woman’s reaction speed would be so fast. With just a few words, she was able to get to the key point.

If Xiao Jin could read Bai Zheng’s mind, she would probably be sweating.

After all, she was a person who had received nine years of compulsory education. Even if she was out of place in this melodramatic world, she could at least pass a basic reading comprehension test, right?

Bai Zheng looked at Xiao Jin for a while and then laughed. “That’s a good question, Miss Chu. That’s what I thought, too.”

“…”

Xiao Jin’s face was expressionless, but she didn’t say anything.

She thought, you’re praising my question because you asked the same question yourself.

Although the system had given her a cutesy voice, as long as she didn’t speak, Xiao Jin believed that she could still pretend to be a big shot.

However, in reality, everyone present, except for the unique Chu Shao, was secretly holding back their laughter.

Even Bai Qin, who was secretly observing from behind the screen, felt that this woman’s voice and appearance really didn’t match.

Bai Zheng politely didn’t laugh out loud. She continued, “At that time, I asked the swordsman what was wrong with this fragrance. But he hesitated for a long time and finally refused to answer. He also didn’t confess his identity. He just said that he was working for his master and had no regrets.”

Hearing this, Chu Shao became a little curious.

She looked up at Bai Zheng and asked with a smile, “Miss Bai, then who is the person he serves?”

Bai Zheng looked at Chu Shao and said something that was full of meaning. “Young Master Chu, you seem to have asked too much.”

“I asked too much?”

Chu Shao looked at Bai Zheng. A light laugh escaped her throat. “But you’ve also said too much.”

The sound of the lute below never stopped. It just kept playing endlessly.

Although her eyes were covered with white silk, Xiao Jin couldn’t clearly see the expressions on their faces. But she could still smell that familiar scent of hostility.

If she had transmigrated into a post-apocalyptic novel instead of an ancient one, these two people would probably not be looking at each other so calmly right now.

At this moment, Xiao Jin was extremely grateful that she had transmigrated into a melodramatic ancient novel. Even if it seemed like they were about to fight, they still maintained a facade of politeness.

Just as Xiao Jin had thought, the two of them only had a short staredown.

Of course, it was actually just a one-sided staredown from Bai Zheng’s side.

Because Chu Shao’s expression had not changed from beginning to end. She was smiling, and no emotions could be seen on her face.

Finally, Bai Zheng let out a faint laugh and answered Chu Shao’s question. “However, after I pressed him again and again, that assassin still revealed a little bit of information.”

“He said that the person he served was the most noble person in Great Qi.”

After she said that, the room became eerily silent.

Xiao Jin sat in her wheelchair and also fell silent. She didn’t know what to say.

After all, the most noble person in the Qi Kingdom was definitely the Emperor.

The original owner’s father wanted to kill the original owner…

To be honest, this was a little too fantastical and illogical.

Chu Shao’s lips curved into a smile. She held the ivory fan and fanned herself. “A down-on-his-luck swordsman claims that he serves the Emperor and then comes to assassinate the Prince of Yan.”

“Miss Bai, don’t you also find this absurd… and interesting?”

Bai Zheng sat in her chair and smiled at Chu Shao. “Young Master Chu, you think the same as I do. This person was talking nonsense. According to the laws of Great Qi, he should be executed.”

At this moment, Xiao Jin had a headache from listening, but she couldn’t help but lower her voice and question, “Miss Bai, but in the end, you probably didn’t send this person to the Dali Temple, did you?”

To Xiao Jin’s surprise, Bai Zheng was not at all evasive. “Miss Chu, you guessed correctly. I did not send this person to the Dali Temple.”

Xiao Jin: “…”

No matter how many times Bai Zheng called her “Miss Chu,” Xiao Jin could never associate that name with herself.

Bai Zheng sighed. “After all, the swordsman said that he still had an old mother and a young child at home. All the money he had earned from serving his master had been sent back to his family.”

“I don’t think this person is evil. I also thought that he had a few drinks just now and was talking nonsense, so I just kicked him out and let it go.”

After listening to Bai Zheng’s one-sided story, Xiao Jin felt that Bai Zheng was still merciful and did not kill the troublemaker.

However, when she remembered the aromatic pill stuck in the assassin’s throat, she felt a chill down her spine.

Xiao Jin looked at the smile on Bai Zheng’s face. She thought, if everything was as this person said, and this assassin was eventually kicked out by her—

Then why would this aromatic pill end up in the assassin’s throat?

Seeing that they had said everything they needed to say, and Bai Zheng had other matters to attend to, it was inconvenient for her to keep Xiao Jin’s group any longer. She smiled and talked about some other things, and then she cared about Xiao Jin’s eye and leg illnesses.

She also said to Xiao Jin with a deep meaning, “Please take care, Miss Chu. After all, physical illnesses are often not fated but man-made.”

Xiao Jin was stunned. Before she could react to what was hidden in Bai Zheng’s words, Bai Zheng stood up and saw them to the door.

Bai Zheng’s face was surrounded by the scent of “Chunshankong,” and it seemed to become hazy and ethereal.

Before closing the door, she just smiled and said one thing. “Miss Chu, see you again someday.”

••••

[Congratulations, player. You have unlocked a key character: Bai Zheng]

[Bai Zheng’s favorability +10]

[Since the original owner had an initial favorability of 55 points toward Bai Zheng, your current favorability with Bai Zheng is 65 points. Keep it up!]

“…”

Xiao Jin never expected that the original owner would have so much initial favorability with Bai Zheng.

She started to question her life. She just didn’t read the extra chapters, but why did she feel like she had read a pirated version?

If the original owner had so much favorability with Bai Zheng, then it meant that the other person’s words were credible to a certain extent.

But she had just pretended to be a blind woman, and Bai Zheng probably didn’t know who she was, so she definitely wouldn’t have told her the whole truth.

Furthermore, the Qi Emperor had no reason to assassinate the original owner, so Xiao Jin wouldn’t believe that the most noble person the assassin spoke of was the Qi Emperor.

But if he was talking about the Crown Prince, she would believe it.

After all, with the male lead’s scumbag character, he was very capable of doing something like that.

If it weren’t for Su Tan standing beside her and Chu Shao pushing her wheelchair, Xiao Jin would have sighed and lamented the fantastical plot development.

She had only gone to steal a bride for a mission, but she had inexplicably gotten the illusion of a new game.

However, this illusion hadn’t even lasted for a second when things changed even more quickly.

Just as the cloud ladder had just descended to the third floor, the wooden frame shook violently for a moment. It then got stuck between the second and first floors, unable to go up or down.

Because Xiao Jin was sitting in her wheelchair, she didn’t feel much of a shock.

And Chu Shao was very skilled in martial arts, so this small shaking couldn’t do anything to her.

But it was a struggle for Su Tan. She was not a martial artist. Fortunately, she managed to grab the edge of the wooden frame in time so that she didn’t fall to the ground.

This shake completely messed up Xiao Jin’s thoughts.

Through a layer of gauze, Xiao Jin looked at the team of guards that had swarmed into the Yanyu Pavilion. She inexplicably felt that the clothes they were wearing looked a little familiar.

Before Xiao Jin could remember where she had seen these people before, a voice that was even more familiar to her came from outside the building.

The voice was very light, but the end of the words was slightly raised. It sounded quite arrogant. “Today, I see that the Yanyu Pavilion is indeed bustling. It’s truly worthy of being the number one building in the capital.”

This sentence alone was enough for Xiao Jin to know who the other person was.

The first sentence could be considered a compliment, but the next one clearly had a different meaning. “But being too lively can inevitably lead to trouble.”

The sound of the lute stopped abruptly.

Hearing these words, the courtesans stopped playing their instruments and turned their heads in fear to look outside the Yanyu Pavilion.

The Fourth Prince, wearing a fur coat, slowly stepped over the threshold, surrounded by his guards.

After he stopped, he smiled at the people in the hall and said in a clear voice, “Today, someone tipped me off that the Yanyu Pavilion was involved in the assassination of the Prince of Yan. So I have come here specifically to find the mastermind for my Third Brother.”

“So, you don’t have to listen to this music anymore. I’ll invite you all to my estate to listen to your heart’s content another day. As for now…”

After the people realized that this person was the Fourth Prince, they were already shocked and scared. They even let go of the beautiful women they were holding.

Before they could figure out what the Fourth Prince was doing today, they heard him say the last sentence softly.

“…Now, lock down the Yanyu Pavilion and search it for me.”