I'm Competing With The Male Lead For A Woman - Chapter 9

The system was so useless that Xiao Jin felt completely disheartened.

However, Xiao Jin then thought to herself, the system had told her to do a side mission, but since Princess Zhaoyang wasn’t in the palace, the prerequisites for the mission couldn’t be met.

This indicated that some things changed suddenly, and the system couldn’t predict the specific content.

Therefore, what she had was only…

…a knockoff system that could detect a danger level.

The system seemed to know that Xiao Jin was very unhappy with it, so it kindly reminded her, “Although the sudden mission is very difficult, the life extension reward you get will also be three times greater. And if you complete the mission, there will be extra rewards.”

A triple drop?

Xiao Jin was a little tempted.

She looked at Chu Shao standing beside her, and she felt that there was nothing unusual in the other person’s expression.

She also remembered that because of the original author’s setting, the female lead’s combat power in the book was not very high, so she shouldn’t pose any threat to her.

Therefore, she guessed that the sudden event was likely caused by other factors.

As for what the threat was, Xiao Jin didn’t know yet, but she was confident that she could handle whatever came her way.

Although she hadn’t brought any attendants into the palace, for safety’s sake, the twelve guards and a carriage from the royal residence were still waiting outside.

Xiao Jin remembered the butler saying that the guards under the original character were all elite soldiers from the Shenji Camp.

She had to admit, she was actually curious what kind of accident could happen with this kind of setup.

Thinking of this, Xiao Jin turned her head and asked the coachman, “How long did it take to get from the Prince of Yan’s residence to the palace just now?”

Although the coachman didn’t understand why Xiao Jin was asking this, he still answered truthfully, “Replying to Your Highness, it took about half an hour.”

Half an hour was an hour.

With this calculation, the middle point the carriage passed on the way back to the residence should be Zhuque Street.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Jin had made a decision. She nodded. “I understand.”

Because Xiao Jin had a leg disability, the carriage’s speed was not fast. It was even slower than usual.

Xiao Jin and Chu Shao sat in the carriage. The former was focused on calculating the time. The latter was focused on observing Xiao Jin.

To be precise, she was observing Xiao Jin’s bones.

From her fingers to her neck, and from her nose bridge to her jawline, Chu Shao’s gaze was very bold, but her eyes still held a hint of tenderness.

However, Chu Shao did have some doubts in her heart.

Normally, a man’s bones were much thicker than a woman’s, and their bone density was also a bit heavier.

But Xiao Jin was thin, and her bones were slender. It didn’t seem to be a weakness caused by illness, but rather something she was born with.

After looking for a long time, Chu Shao also felt that Xiao Jin’s black boots didn’t look big, so her ankles should also be small and soft.

No matter how she looked at it, it seemed strange.

But the strangest thing was that Chu Shao couldn’t figure out what was so strange about Xiao Jin for a while.

This was the most interesting part.

On the other side of the carriage, Xiao Jin was brainstorming, silently calculating the time in her mind. She didn’t even notice Chu Shao’s unrestrained gaze on her.

When there were only ten minutes left until the sudden mission.

Xiao Jin came back to her senses. As soon as she turned her head, she met Chu Shao’s eyes.

“…”

Admittedly, Chu Shao’s face was beautiful. Her eyes were normal, and her expression was flawless.

But Xiao Jin inexplicably felt a sense of dread.

At the last moment, Xiao Jin instinctively felt that she shouldn’t be in the same carriage as Chu Shao. So she lifted the curtain and said to the coachman, “Stop for a moment.”

After the coachman stopped the carriage, he got off the horse fearfully.

Seeing the obvious stress on Xiao Jin’s face, he thought he had offended her by accident.

He was about to kneel and beg for mercy, but Xiao Jin’s pale face coughed twice more and asked in a low voice, “This should be Fuqiu Street. If we were to ride a horse at a fast speed to the Shenji Camp, how long would it take?”

The coachman was stunned for a moment, then answered, “Replying to Your Highness, it would take about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.”

Based on her years of experience reading novels, Xiao Jin vaguely remembered that the time it took to drink a cup of tea was about ten minutes.

If the sudden event was going to happen ten minutes from now, then the system’s prediction must have included the carriage’s travel time.

This meant that the event would likely happen on Zhuque Street.

So Xiao Jin planned to do the opposite. She would first send the coachman to the Shenji Camp with the Prince of Yan’s token to get about a hundred cavalry soldiers.

And she herself would stay put on Fuqiu Street.

This way, if there was no sudden event, she would only suffer a minor loss, but her life would be safe.

If a sudden event did occur, it would only take ten minutes for the coachman to reach the Shenji Camp and another twenty minutes to return.

As long as she could stall for ten minutes, it would be a huge profit.

Thinking of this, Xiao Jin instructed Chu Shao and the accompanying attendants to help her get off the carriage. Then she handed the token to the coachman and concisely explained her request.

Before he left, she didn’t forget to remind him, “Remember, the faster the better. And I only want the cavalry from the Shenji Camp.”

The coachman’s hand, which was holding the heavy token, trembled slightly.

But when he mounted the horse, his expression became very determined. He said with a loud voice, “Your Highness, please rest assured. I will not fail you. I will return with the elite soldiers!”

“…”

Xiao Jin felt a little embarrassed. Brother, don’t say that. It sounds like a line from a war drama, a harbinger of doom.

Chu Shao stood beside Xiao Jin.

Although she didn’t understand what this person was doing, she still played the role of an ally, holding Xiao Jin’s wheelchair steadily.

However, when she helped Xiao Jin get off the carriage just now, Chu Shao clearly felt that the other person was very light.

Especially when their clothes touched, Chu Shao found that Xiao Jin’s body was surprisingly soft. It didn’t feel like a man’s at all. It felt more like…

But every time she got to this point, she lost her train of thought.

Looking at Xiao Jin’s slightly pursed lips, Chu Shao smiled. She felt that she had never been so curious about something in her life, but she couldn’t solve the puzzle.

It was very interesting.

At this moment, Xiao Jin couldn’t care less that a yandere was standing beside her.

Considering the risks ahead, she had already taken a bow and a sword from the carriage.

She took out the sword and tested it. Xiao Jin felt that the original character was quite skilled with the sword. Even though her body was weak, she could still do a respectable sword flourish.

After testing it, Xiao Jin sheathed the sword.

A question suddenly arose in her heart: Leaving aside why the original character had to cross-dress, even if she was pretending to be a prince, her martial arts were too good. It was obvious that she had been practicing for many years.

But why did the original character have to go to such lengths?

Despite her confusion, Xiao Jin felt that the most pressing matter was to solve the sudden event first.

Looking at the bewildered royal residence guards, Xiao Jin felt a little like laughing, but then she remembered that these people had at least helped her snatch a bride.

So she coughed twice and said to the guards, “If anything happens later, just do your best to protect yourselves. You don’t have to sacrifice your lives for me.”

Although Xiao Jin felt that her life was definitely the most important, she was taking a gamble this time. So she would naturally bear all the consequences herself and didn’t want to involve others.

Even if these guards were just paper characters, they were still innocent. There was no need for them to die here with her.

If a disaster struck, they should run or scatter if they could.

The guards looked at each other, not quite understanding Xiao Jin’s words.

Xiao Jin looked at the group of confused people and decided to be a domineering CEO for once. So she imitated every other pretentious protagonist and said mysteriously, “This is my order.”

After saying this, the corner of her mouth twitched slightly, and she almost couldn’t maintain her facial expression.

Sure enough, a domineering CEO was not a role that just anyone could play. This kind of cringeworthy speech was not something everyone could say.

However, in this dog-blood old-school world, even though the guards were confused, this kind of domineering speech seemed to have intimidated them.

The guards all cupped their fists and responded, “Yes!”

Xiao Jin nodded in satisfaction. When she looked up again, she met Chu Shao’s slightly confused eyes.

Looking at Chu Shao, Xiao Jin suddenly remembered that she hadn’t told the female lead yet that she should run when things got bad.

Then she changed her mind. The female lead was already a little crazy. There was no need to specifically tell her this. She would run on her own when the time came.

Noticing the smile on Chu Shao’s face gradually fading, Xiao Jin knew that the other person probably didn’t understand this series of arrangements she had made.

But a secret cannot be revealed, and Xiao Jin wasn’t going to explain anything.

The scene became overly quiet.

But Xiao Jin didn’t expect that it would be a goose-feather arrow that broke the silence.

“Whoosh!”

The sound of the arrow cutting through the air was very clear. The arrowhead, shimmering with a silver light, aimed for Xiao Jin’s face, getting bigger and bigger in her vision.

Xiao Jin subconsciously drew her sword, trying to block the arrow.

However, what she didn’t expect was that Chu Shao’s movement was even faster than hers.

In just a split second, Chu Shao used a strange posture to forcefully turn the wheelchair around.

In the end, the arrowhead was embedded in the edge of the wheelchair.

Xiao Jin looked at the wood chips on the ground. Before she could be shocked by how strong Chu Shao’s martial arts were, another arrow shot out from the bushes.

At this moment, she understood. The “sudden event” that the system mentioned was a time bomb, and this bomb was probably not waiting for her on Zhuque Street.

Instead, it had been lurking in the dark, following her all along.

She had been careless.

Ignoring the need to analyze the situation, the twelve royal residence guards had already drawn their swords. “Assassins! Protect His Highness!”

Xiao Jin: “…”

She felt that this phrase sounded very familiar. She even began to suspect that the mastermind was the Fourth Prince.

Just as the guards rushed towards the bushes, Xiao Jin raised her sword and cut down the few arrows flying at her.

Fuqiu Street was in the wilderness, with very few people around. And since it was getting late, it was indeed a good time for an assassination.

But Xiao Jin had not expected there to be so many assassins lurking in the dark.

In just an instant, twenty to thirty black-clothed figures emerged. Although she couldn’t see their faces, she could tell that they were very skilled in martial arts and also very intelligent.

The black-clothed figures were not focused on getting tangled up with the guards. They just wounded them, then headed straight for Xiao Jin and stabbed at her.

Xiao Jin only had three guards with her, and she was seriously ill and had a leg disability.

If she used a sword, she would probably not be able to display the original character’s true skill. In a life-or-death situation, Xiao Jin still chose to nock an arrow and use the original character’s most proficient weapon.

The arrows were like shooting stars. Three in a row hit the black-clothed figures with swords.

Unfortunately, the black-clothed figures were not ordinary people. Even though the arrows were powerful, only one of them died.

The remaining dozen or so black-clothed figures, holding long swords, used some kind of footwork and instantly surrounded Xiao Jin’s wheelchair.

The sound of weapons clashing was extremely harsh.

Xiao Jin drew her sword and blocked one of the black-clothed figures’ swords. At the same time, she looked directly into his eyes, trying to see his face.

The next moment, Xiao Jin was a little surprised.

Because the black-clothed figure avoided her gaze, and the next sword that came at her was not sharp. It seemed that he was not using his full strength.

With the skills of these mysterious people, it would not have been difficult to kill the original character with her leg disability.

If so, there was only one possibility left—the person behind this did not want her life. They had another plan.

Xiao Jin realized this and was about to tell the three guards beside her not to attack. But just as she turned her head, the splattered blood blurred her vision.

A guard’s head rolled at her feet.

The face was still young. He was a very young soldier in the royal residence.

Immediately after, the other two guards also fell down, their crimson blood soaking the mud.

Xiao Jin’s stomach churned. She felt cold all over. She couldn’t tell if it was sorrow or fear.

The black-clothed figure, however, had no reaction. He slashed his second sword at her.

Since Xiao Jin hadn’t recovered yet, when she raised her sword to block, the incoming sword cut her arm.

The blade cut into her flesh, a sharp pain.

When Xiao Jin raised her sword to block the third attack, she endured the pressure of the blade. She gritted her teeth and said to Chu Shao, who was standing by and watching, “Princess Consort, don’t forget, we have an alliance.”

Xiao Jin knew that Chu Shao was a lunatic and had no obligation to save her, but just standing there and watching the fire was truly chilling.

The corners of Chu Shao’s lips still held a smile.

Blood splattered everywhere. She just stood there and watched, but she was a little entranced.

For a moment, she had forgotten that she had an alliance with Xiao Jin.

At this moment, Chu Shao looked at the wounds on Xiao Jin’s body and the blood soaking her clothes. The smile on her lips grew deeper.

It had been a long time since she had been this happy. So she decided to repay the black-clothed figures well.

Xiao Jin knew that the black-clothed figures would not kill her, but she didn’t want any more guards to die here. That’s why she had reminded Chu Shao.

Seeing Chu Shao standing there, still unmoved, she had given up hope for this person.

The next moment, a cool hand rested on her knuckles.

The hand was soft and long, like a new leaf in spring, swaying slightly in the wind.

Xiao Jin looked up and met Chu Shao’s smiling eyes. Then, a gentle voice brushed against her ear, tickling her.

“Your Highness, may I borrow your sword?”

As soon as the words were spoken, before Xiao Jin could let go, Chu Shao had already gently pried her fingers open and grabbed the hilt of the sword.

Like the first overtone played by a zither player, the clang of silver swords clashing was undoubtedly crisp.

Black hair fluttered and swept across Xiao Jin’s eyes. Then, her eyes widened.

Chu Shao’s robe was as white as snow on a mountaintop. Holding the silver sword, she moved through the black-clothed figures.

Her feet landed on the ground, each step as gentle as a devoted priestess praying. Accompanied by the grand elegant music, she danced gracefully amidst the splashing blood.

Chu Shao’s use of the sword was light. The tip of the sword glided across the enemies’ necks, leaving only a deep red line of blood.

Bang!

The heavy thud of a black-clothed figure falling to the ground disrupted the rhythm of the dance.

A smile appeared on Chu Shao’s lips. She didn’t mind this insignificant chaos. After all, a little disorder would add a different kind of flavor to the entire performance.

She took lives with her sword and casually admired the tiny beads of blood that gushed from the black-clothed figures’ throats.

The blood droplets were like pearls falling onto a plate, splashing on Chu Shao’s hand. They were so warm that her hands trembled, and the sword moves she performed became even more ruthless and swift.

Until Chu Shao’s excitement reached its peak, she twirled the silver sword and cleanly slit a black-clothed figure’s throat.

She let the dying person writhe and struggle on the ground, then watched him die with wide eyes.

Chu Shao looked at all this and felt that she was too merciful, allowing these people to be freed and step into the land of forgetfulness.

Living was bound to suffer, and death would lead them to bliss.

This was the gift she gave them.

“As for you…”

Chu Shao smiled as she looked at the man wailing on the ground. She knew he was the one who had just wounded Xiao Jin and also the one who had made her the happiest.

So she had just cut off his hands, wanting him to live a little longer.

“You made me the happiest, so I won’t mistreat you. I will let you die slowly. By then, someone will be there to guide you.”

Chu Shao knelt down, looked at the pale face covered in blood, and whispered softly, “Don’t you think I’m the best to you?”