I'm Competing With The Male Lead For A Woman - Chapter 4

A few drops of blood stained the shoes.

Chu Shao stared at the crimson drops on the ice lotus flowers, lowering her eyes, her face unreadable.

If it were the original character, she probably wouldn’t have cared about such a small matter.

But seeing the bloodstains on those pure white shoes, Xiao Jin, who usually believed she could do no wrong, now felt that this was entirely her fault.

How could she have gotten someone else’s pristine white shoes dirty?

Even in modern times, getting a person’s white shoes dirty would probably result in being cursed at for three days and three nights.

Xiao Jin acknowledged her mistake.

But she had a fatal flaw: acknowledging a mistake was one thing; changing her behavior was another.

Xiao Jin wanted to apologize now but didn’t know how to phrase “I’m sorry” in a way that fit her current persona.

In the end, it was Chu Shao who spoke first.

Chu Shao looked at the ice lotus flowers on her shoes, her eyes widening slightly.

The embroidered flowers were originally inanimate.

After the blood splattered on them, however, they looked like plum blossoms on snow. The silver-blue patterns became surprisingly lifelike.

Chu Shao felt as if she had seen such a scene many years ago. At that time, she had reached out and touched the fresh blood on the silver-blue petals.

The sensation was wet and sticky, and in the distance, she could hear children singing.

She had unconsciously shed tears.

Many years later, Chu Shao was able to control her tears very well. She traced the bloodstains on her shoes and said softly, “It’s beautiful.”

The memories of her youth faded, and Chu Shao leaned closer to Xiao Jin.

She then ignored the frozen expression on Xiao Jin’s face and gently raised her hand to wipe the blood from the other woman’s lips.

“Thank you, Your Highness. It has been a long time since I have been this happy.”

Without Xiao Jin, she would probably never have known that she could still feel joy for such brokenness.

Xiao Jin understood that Chu Shao was very happy right now, but she didn’t know why.

She only felt a chill run down her spine when she felt that trembling finger lightly touch her lips and met Chu Shao’s gentle and clear eyes.

Although her expression didn’t change much, her skin under her clothes was covered in goosebumps.

Xiao Jin had a feeling that all the goosebumps she would get in her life would be spent today.

The female lead was such a yandere, so terrifying, and incredibly difficult to deal with.

Xiao Jin was about to brush away Chu Shao’s finger from her lips. However, the moment she raised her hand, the other woman intercepted her.

Looking at the way Chu Shao held her fingers, Xiao Jin felt that something was not right.

After a moment, Xiao Jin realized: Wasn’t this a hand-in-hand lock?

She could only tell herself: Calm down, calm down.

A female lead from an old-school novel would have no idea what “locking fingers” meant.

“Let go. I’ll do it myself.”

As soon as she said the words, Xiao Jin regretted it.

Because she had just finished coughing, and with a bit of a strange nervousness, her voice was light and hoarse, not nearly enough to intimidate Chu Shao.

Instead, it sounded a little…

…wrong.

Fortunately, Chu Shao was immersed in her own world and didn’t notice that there was anything wrong with Xiao Jin’s voice.

After coming to her senses, Chu Shao looked at her and Xiao Jin’s locked fingers in confusion.

She then realized that she had just lost her composure.

Chu Shao suddenly understood, and the confusion in her eyes gradually dissipated.

“It’s all my fault for being so happy just now that I forgot my manners, and I hope Your Highness will forgive me. But thanks to your blood, I now understand myself better.”

“…”

Xiao Jin couldn’t understand Chu Shao’s thought process at all.

She just found the expression on Chu Shao’s face to be incredibly unsettling.

Chu Shao smiled. “So, is there anything else fun to do next?”

An ordinary person who had just experienced what she had would have probably fled.

But Xiao Jin was different.

She knew the female lead was a yandere, and her scalp was tingling, but to complete the mission, she had to keep the other woman by her side for a year.

Xiao Jin knew she couldn’t avoid Chu Shao.

To ensure her safety for the next year, she could only try to make the other woman’s illness less severe.

Looking at the excited Chu Shao, Xiao Jin decided to take some action.

Through their interaction, Xiao Jin could vaguely sense that Chu Shao’s logic was very strong. An ordinary person would not be able to reason with her, let alone defeat her logic.

So Xiao Jin could only try to psychologically hint to Chu Shao that she knew a lot of interesting things.

And that only by her staying alive would she be able to continue telling her interesting things.

Hehe, with ten years of reading novels, she had a way of dealing with yanderes.

A preliminary idea had already formed in Xiao Jin’s mind. So she said to Chu Shao slowly, “There are a lot of fun things, but the premise is… Princess, you must cooperate with this prince first.”

Cooperate?

From the moment Xiao Jin snatched the bride, Chu Shao knew that things were about to get interesting.

Chu Shao nodded. “I will cooperate with you completely.”

After all, if she didn’t cooperate with Xiao Jin, she didn’t know how else to pass the time.

Xiao Jin picked up the empty gourd and said to Chu Shao, “Since we each drank half of this wine, from now on, we are allies.”

Hearing the word “allies,” Chu Shao frowned slightly. “I’ve read in storybooks that two people who drink wedding wine together are supposed to be husband and wife, aren’t they?”

Even though she didn’t think there was any special meaning to being married, she still wanted to correct Xiao Jin’s mistake.

Xiao Jin was silent.

She had never expected that someone who didn’t even know what shared wedding wine was had read storybooks.

And could even, based on her experience, infer that shared wedding wine was the same as wedding wine.

It seems her opponent was not to be underestimated.

But Xiao Jin also had a fatal advantage: as long as she believed she was right, she could make white seem black.

So Xiao Jin began to talk nonsense.

“Oh, is that so? Speaking of storybooks, I’ve read some stories in them. There is one called ‘The Three Sworn Brothers of the Peach Garden’.”

Xiao Jin wanted to wait for Chu Shao to ask a question so she could buy herself some time to recall how Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei became sworn brothers.

But Chu Shao just smiled at her and said nothing.

Xiao Jin could only press on with a brave face. “The protagonists of the story were three men of noble character. They shared the same ideals, so they chose a season when peach blossoms were in full bloom to swear an oath to the heavens in a peach garden and become sworn brothers.”

Chu Shao found the story quite pleasant and kept a smile on her face.

However, in the next moment, Chu Shao seemed to remember something. Her smile faded, and she shook her head, saying, “That’s not right.”

Xiao Jin was still thinking about how to explain the noble friendship of the three brothers to the female lead to convey the deeper meaning of “once we’ve drunk together, we’re good brothers, so you can’t kill me.”

It seemed to have failed.

Chu Shao’s smile remained, but her expression showed a nearly innocent confusion. “But I have never sworn an oath to the heavens with Your Highness, nor did we drink in a peach garden. How can we be considered sworn brothers?”

“…”

Xiao Jin was once again shocked by Chu Shao’s bizarre focus.

She could only keep her composed facade and continue to talk nonsense. “It doesn’t matter. As long as the intention is there, heaven and earth will bear witness.”

Intention?

Chu Shao’s lips curled into a smile, and she said softly to Xiao Jin, “Speaking of which, I’m actually a little curious. What exactly are Your Highness’s intentions towards me?”

Her tone was calm, and her expression was flawless.

The red veil reflected the candlelight, and Xiao Jin could even see the smile in Chu Shao’s eyes.

At this moment, Xiao Jin had to admit that if anyone else had said these words, they would have been infinitely suggestive.

But looking at the fresh blood on Chu Shao’s fingers and the smile on her lips, Xiao Jin could swear to heaven that she had no such worldly desires.

Unless she was crazy, she would not think that a yandere who could stab her in the back at any moment was flirting with her.

Xiao Jin tried her best not to look at the smile on Chu Shao’s face.

“My intentions are simple. Since we have drunk the shared wedding wine, from now on, in front of others, we are husband and wife. But in private, we are allies who share life and death and whose destinies are linked.”

Of course, Xiao Jin’s emphasis was on “sharing life and death,” hinting to Chu Shao to please control her illness.

“Destinies linked?”

An indescribable expression appeared on Chu Shao’s face. It seemed to be a mix of feeling a little new and a bit disgusted.

A moment later, Chu Shao raised an eyebrow and asked softly, “Your Highness, do you really want your destiny to be linked with mine?”

Indeed, these words coming from the mouth of the person who destroyed her country were incredibly shameless.

But Xiao Jin was not a person who cared about her reputation. She was just a modern person who longed to go home, a person whose life was very hard.

Even with the arduous mission, Xiao Jin decided to give it her best shot. “Yes, this prince will stick to her word.”

Chu Shao was silent for a while, seeming to contemplate the credibility of this statement.

After she seemed to have thought it through, Chu Shao smiled and said, “Then I will believe Your Highness this one time. I just hope you stick to your word, and… don’t regret it.”

“Mm, I won’t regret it.”

Xiao Jin had not realized the seriousness of the situation.

She just wanted to find a moment of peace in her life.

After receiving the promise, Chu Shao closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remain calm in her state of excitement.

This was the first time she had ever received a promise from someone else and the first time she had become someone’s ally, instead of forming a boring husband-and-wife relationship.

This novel experience made Chu Shao feel very satisfied.

It seemed that Xiao Jin was indeed a good new pastime.

Xiao Jin had no idea that she had been seen as a pastime for Chu Shao to pass the time.

Instead, she breathed a sigh of relief and began to talk about their alliance. “After drinking this shared wedding wine, from now on, in front of others, we will be a married couple, and in private, we will be allies.”

“Okay.”

Chu Shao smiled and agreed readily.

She didn’t care what kind of relationship she had with Xiao Jin. She only cared if the matter was interesting enough to make her want to pass the time.

Looking at the docile and harmless smile on Chu Shao’s face, although Xiao Jin knew that it was most likely an act.

She had to admit that when the female lead’s smile wasn’t so perverted, she was indeed very beautiful.

Xiao Jin was about to continue establishing their alliance when a surge of a sweet, metallic taste rose in her throat.

She frowned, covered her mouth, and coughed violently several times.

When she opened her palm again, her five fingers were covered in sticky blood.

Xiao Jin felt a bit sad. As a disabled person who had married a heartless yandere, even getting a handkerchief was a luxury.

It was so desolate.

She had only transmigrated into a prince, but she felt the loneliness of an emperor.

This illusion didn’t last long, as a slender, fair hand appeared in her line of sight.

In the palm of the hand lay a plain handkerchief.

“You should wipe that off quickly.”

Looking at Chu Shao’s eyes, Xiao Jin did not feel any kindness. Instead, she felt that Chu Shao seemed extremely happy to see her coughing up blood.

In reality, Xiao Jin’s feeling was completely correct.

When Chu Shao saw Xiao Jin’s pale, sickly face and the blood on her lips, she instinctively felt a thrill.

This pleasure came out of nowhere, spreading from her heart, but she didn’t know why.

But Chu Shao sincerely enjoyed it.

Xiao Jin forced herself to ignore Chu Shao’s not-so-friendly gaze and took the handkerchief she offered.

After wiping away the blood, she continued to bait Chu Shao. “We will be a fake couple for one year. I will only keep you for one year, and after one year, I will send you back to the Yao Kingdom.”

After all, in the original novel, one year later was the day the Qi Emperor would pass away. At that time, Xiao Jin would no longer have to pretend to be husband and wife with Chu Shao.

To be honest, Xiao Jin had already started fantasizing about fast-forwarding to a year from now.

“Go back to the Yao Kingdom? Why would I want to go back to the Yao Kingdom?”

Xiao Jin watched the smile on Chu Shao’s face gradually disappear and thought, Just keep acting.

Although the original novel was written like a classic web novel, with a main theme of entanglement and angst, the female lead at least had some brains.

Even in the later stages, when the male lead and other male characters were relentlessly pursuing the female lead, she didn’t get lost in love. Instead, she chose to restore her country and ascend the throne as empress.

This was the biggest reason why Xiao Jin had the patience to keep reading the novel.

“Princess, would you dare to make a bet with me?”

Xiao Jin’s tone was full of certainty.

After all, she knew the plot and was sure that the female lead would eventually become empress.

Chu Shao became interested. “What are we betting on?”

“We’re betting that you will rebuild the Yao Kingdom and ascend the throne as empress.”

Xiao Jin wasn’t at all worried about spoiling the plot.

Because she had a hunch that the more information she knew, the happier the female lead would be.

However, Xiao Jin’s feeling was wrong this time.

Chu Shao seemed a little disappointed, and the smile on her lips became a little more insincere. “Your Highness, this bet is very boring, because I know that you will definitely lose.”

She had no intention of restoring her country and was not interested in becoming empress.

The only thing that could pique Chu Shao’s interest was the Xiao Jin in front of her.

It was too strange. This person’s change was too great.

Chu Shao tried to recall the first time she met Xiao Jin but found that she didn’t have a deep impression of her and couldn’t remember much.

When Chu Shao came to her senses, Xiao Jin seemed to have said many things, but she hadn’t heard a single word.

But Chu Shao put on a facade of knowing everything, her lips curving into a smile. “Although I find this bet very boring, if the stakes are interesting, I can reluctantly participate.”

Okay, so she only wanted to bet if the stakes were interesting.

Given Chu Shao’s current mental state, not even ascending the throne as empress could attract her. So what kind of stakes could be interesting?

Xiao Jin thought that if she lost the bet, she would just have to die here.

So she simply gave up and said, “Let’s bet on my life, then.”

Chu Shao didn’t want Xiao Jin’s life because it was useless.

But because Chu Shao knew that Xiao Jin probably wouldn’t live past tomorrow, she also felt that this person might have a way to survive.

So she smiled and continued to ask, “Does Your Highness’s life include every part of her body?”

“…”

Even with all the web novels Xiao Jin had read, hearing these vulgar words made her get goosebumps all over again.

Was there not a single normal person in this cliche novel?

Xiao Jin looked at the original character’s broken body and felt that the female lead’s taste couldn’t be that bad. She wouldn’t think of something like defiling a corpse.

So she chose to selectively ignore Chu Shao’s wording and nodded in response, “Yes.”

This time, Xiao Jin guessed correctly. Chu Shao’s taste was not that bad.

Chu Shao didn’t want to defile a corpse. She just planned to take Xiao Jin’s hands after she died.

Thinking of this, Chu Shao agreed to the alliance Xiao Jin had proposed. “This is a good bet. In exchange, I will also cover up your crime of treason.”

Treason???

Xiao Jin was so shocked she didn’t know what to say. What was Chu Shao thinking? How did she suddenly become a traitor?

Chu Shao still had a smile on her face and felt that her logic was very clear.

Since Xiao Jin wanted her to restore her country, there could only be one reason: Xiao Jin herself intended to commit treason. Attacking the Yao Kingdom was just a temporary measure. Her real goal was to overthrow the Qi Kingdom.

When she thought about it this way, everything made sense.

Xiao Jin had no idea how Chu Shao’s logic made sense. She could only comfort herself by thinking, “Just complete the mission. Don’t worry about the small details.”

She was then able to say to Chu Shao, “Okay, from now on, we are allies.”

But Chu Shao gave a slight smile and denied her statement.

“No, Your Highness. You are a traitor, and I am a prisoner.”

“So, we are accomplices.”