I'm Competing With The Male Lead For A Woman - Chapter 8

Upon hearing Princess Zhaohua’s words, Xiao Jin was a bit confused.

She knew that Princess Zhaoyang had immense power in the original novel. She was the lord of seven cities, and the late emperor had even intended to make her the Crown Princess.

If it weren’t for the ministers who petitioned against it, Princess Zhaoyang might have become the empress of the Qi Kingdom.

But for Zhaohua, who was only Zhaoyang’s younger sister, to act so disregardful of the Qi Emperor’s face was also very surprising.

The Qi Emperor stared at Princess Zhaohua’s back, uncharacteristically not getting angry. He just rubbed the bodhi beads on his wrist with his other hand.

After a moment, he said in a deep voice, “Imperial Sister, this is my family’s business.”

Princess Zhaohua’s hair was styled in a phoenix-like bun. Her snow-white brocade robe made her look like a swan in the water as she raised her long neck.

She smiled and said to the Qi Emperor, “This subject is Imperial Brother’s younger sister and Jin’er’s aunt. I should share your worries.”

“Besides… there are some things that both Imperial Brother and I know.”

Xiao Jin watched Princess Zhaohua and the Qi Emperor exchange cryptic words, her expression completely bewildered. Then she looked at the Qi Emperor’s expression. His eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

She had a hunch that Zhaohua probably knew some shocking secret that could hit the Qi Emperor where it hurt.

Unfortunately, this novel focused on the dog-blood, angst-filled romance between the male and female leads. It never mentioned anything about royal secrets.

So at this moment, Xiao Jin had no idea what these two were talking about.

Taking advantage of the Qi Emperor’s silence, Princess Zhaohua turned her head, looked at Xiao Jin, and then at Chu Shao.

She then moved her lips, and her cold voice was even tinged with a hint of sorrow. “My poor Jin’er! She got this serious illness at such a young age and worked so hard for Great Qi, yet she was even obstructed from marrying the person she deeply loves.”

“Jin’er, your life is so bitter!”

“…”

The way she said it, even Xiao Jin almost believed it herself.

The Crown Prince stood to the side, quietly watching Princess Zhaohua’s performance, trying to hold back his laughter.

But when he saw the silver-blue flower-shaped ornament on Chu Shao’s forehead, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the shape of the petals for a long time.

The Fourth Prince knew that Zhaohua was talking nonsense. He said to her in a low voice, “Aunt, what you are saying is a bit biased.”

“Although there are many pitiful people in this world, my Third Brother is definitely not one of them. Furthermore, the person standing next to Third Brother now should have been my Princess Consort. Third Brother has never even met the princess. How can you say he’s in love with her? How can it be considered a proposal, let alone a formal one?”

What he said seemed reasonable, but Xiao Jin was not bothered.

The Yao Kingdom had already fallen. Who could go through the process of betrothal and a formal wedding?

Princess Zhaohua looked at the Fourth Prince, her phoenix eyes slightly narrowed. “Yi’er, if you had charged into battle and lost both your legs for the Qi Kingdom, your aunt would also feel for you.”

“Your aunt will say something unpleasant. The Yao Kingdom was conquered by Jin’er. If it weren’t for Jin’er, where would you have found a Princess Consort to marry? Now it’s good. Your third brother is so ill, and you’re still making a big deal out of this small matter in front of the Imperial Brother. You are truly ignorant.”

The Fourth Prince: “…”

Who was the one who snatched the bride on the street? How did it become his fault for being ignorant?

Although Zhaohua was not much older, she was the Fourth Prince’s aunt by seniority.

So at this moment, the Fourth Prince could only reluctantly cup his hands and bow as a junior would. “Aunt, you are right to scold me.”

Xiao Jin sat in her wheelchair, seemingly seeing through everything.

Any sane person could see that Princess Zhaohua was determined to protect the original character. She could turn black into white.

She just didn’t know why Zhaohua and Zhaoyang favored the original character so much, even going against the emperor.

However, these things didn’t have much to do with Xiao Jin after all. She was just a fake person doing a mission.

“That’s enough.”

After watching this farce, the Qi Emperor didn’t even have the mood to listen to pipa music anymore.

He looked up at the Fourth Prince and said slowly, “Huai’an, your third brother is ill, so just let it go. I will find a good match for you from the court another day.”

Huai’an was the Fourth Prince’s courtesy name. When the Qi Emperor called him by his courtesy name, he was clearly telling him to back down.

Even though the Fourth Prince was unwilling, he knew that the Qi Emperor had always been weak and foolish and couldn’t support him.

He could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger. “Thank you, Imperial Father.”

The Qi Emperor rubbed his temples and said to Xiao Jin, “Your mother has gone to the Baima Temple to pray for blessings with Imperial Sister Zhaoyang. In a few days, you can bring the princess to serve her tea.”

The implication was that he had approved of Xiao Jin’s bride-snatching and would no longer interfere in this matter.

Seeing that she had easily completed the mission, Xiao Jin was naturally in a good mood. She nodded and said, “This subject obeys the decree.”

The Qi Emperor waved his hand. “If there is nothing else, you may all leave.”

After leaving the Imperial Study, everyone’s expressions were different.

The first to leave was the Fourth Prince. Even though he didn’t show much emotion, Xiao Jin could clearly feel his overwhelming hostility.

She had to admit that she enjoyed this feeling of someone obviously disliking her but being unable to do anything about it.

After walking this section of the road, the Crown Prince also had to return to the Eastern Palace.

The Crown Prince first bowed respectfully to Princess Zhaohua, then looked at Xiao Jin and said with a smile, “Third Brother, please take good care of your health. I will take my leave first.”

Seeing the gentle smile on the Crown Prince’s face and then thinking about the methods he used in the original novel, Xiao Jin felt that this person was very dangerous.

However, she still had to pretend to be a good sibling. She cupped her hands and said, “I bid farewell to Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

The Crown Prince smiled, and his figure gradually disappeared between the palace walls. But when he was halfway there, he seemed to turn his head and glanced back at them before disappearing completely.

The sun was setting, and the sky was getting dark.

It was snowing. Princess Zhaohua walked with Xiao Jin, accompanied by several attendants holding umbrellas.

And Chu Shao was by her side, pushing Xiao Jin’s wheelchair, a smile still on her face.

As they walked, Princess Zhaohua suddenly said, “Jin’er, if you act so recklessly again, your aunt won’t be able to save you.”

Xiao Jin thought to herself, How is this me acting recklessly? If I don’t do the mission, your niece would probably be lying in a coffin right now.

However, Xiao Jin guessed that the original character and Zhaohua’s relationship must have been good. She responded, “This nephew understands.”

Looking at the satisfied expression on Princess Zhaohua’s face, Xiao Jin felt that she must have said the right thing.

After receiving Xiao Jin’s answer, Zhaohua’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Chu Shao.

Although this woman looked gentle and docile, she knew that the people of the Yao Kingdom were always full of tricks. So she had to be wary for Xiao Jin’s sake.

She dismissed her attendants. “I need to have a private conversation with the Prince of Yan. You may all leave.”

“Yes.”

After the attendants left, Zhaohua said to Chu Shao, “Since you have become Jin’er’s Princess Consort, you are now a citizen of our Great Qi. You must completely forget your past.”

“My past?”

Chu Shao stopped in her tracks. She seemed to find the phrase very novel, and the smile on her lips deepened. “Please rest assured, Your Highness. There are too many irrelevant past events. I have already forgotten them completely.”

Upon hearing Chu Shao’s answer, Xiao Jin’s heart skipped a beat. She felt that the other person’s words had a hidden meaning.

Could it be that the female lead really was reborn?

But when Xiao Jin looked up and saw the deep smile in Chu Shao’s eyes, she instantly understood.

The female lead was getting excited again.

As for why Chu Shao was excited, Xiao Jin was a normal person, and she couldn’t really understand. But she could be sure that even if Chu Shao was really reborn, she probably wouldn’t be this sick.

If Chu Shao was really a reborn female lead, she wouldn’t have nonchalantly gone against the Qi Emperor in the Imperial Study just now.

Instead, she would have kept a low profile and focused on restoring her country.

After this line of thinking, Xiao Jin could only come to one conclusion: It seemed that the female lead was most likely not reborn. She was just really sick.

Princess Zhaohua didn’t notice the strangeness between Xiao Jin and Chu Shao. She just felt that since Chu Shao could understand what she was saying, she was still quite sensible.

As they were about to leave the palace, Zhaohua leaned down, avoiding Chu Shao, and whispered something to Xiao Jin.

“Jin’er, don’t trust the Crown Prince.”

Xiao Jin was slightly stunned. She looked up and into Princess Zhaohua’s pitch-black eyes.

After a moment, she responded faintly, “Jin’er understands.”

In reality, Xiao Jin already had her own thoughts.

To be honest, it was impossible for her to trust the Crown Prince. Working for the male lead, she probably wouldn’t even know how she died.

As for Princess Zhaohua, this person was the original character’s biggest backer. She seemed to be very trustworthy for now. But in this old-school dog-blood web novel, Xiao Jin still felt that she could only trust herself.

Upon hearing Xiao Jin’s answer, Zhaohua gave her a meaningful look and then sighed. “I hope you can really understand your aunt’s good intentions.”

With that, she turned around and returned to the palace with her attendants.

The second mission was successfully completed.

Although Xiao Jin felt that things had become more complicated, she still let out a long sigh of relief and prepared to reward herself by clearing her mind and lying around in the Prince of Yan’s residence for a day.

However, things didn’t go as she wished. As soon as this thought came to her mind, a mechanical voice sounded in her ear.

“Based on your performance in this mission, the system will reward you with a 48-hour life extension. Next, please complete the next mission.”

Xiao Jin frowned. There was another mission?

“Friendly reminder, Host, this is a sudden situation, so the specific content of the mission cannot be predicted.”

“According to the system’s detection, this mission is extremely risky and will pose a life threat to the host. The host’s completion rate is less than 30%.”

Xiao Jin glanced at Chu Shao, who was standing beside her. She wasn’t sure who the life threat was coming from.

Seeing the same gentle smile on Chu Shao’s face, Xiao Jin forced herself to calm down and talk to the system in her mind. “What happens if I fail the mission?”

“If the mission fails, the host will die.”

“Warning! There are only thirty minutes left until the mission arrives. Please use the limited time to prepare yourself.”

“Countdown has begun.”