I'm competing with the male lead for a woman (GL) - Chapter 11

“Give the sword to you?”

Chu Shao stared into Xiao Jin’s eyes, a smile playing on her lips. “Why?”

At this moment, Chu Shao realized that she could still hear Xiao Jin’s heartbeat, its rhythm regular, like the rapid beat of drums.

Initially, such a heartbeat made her feel that Xiao Jin was being hypocritical. But now, facing Xiao Jin’s forced calm, she suddenly found it extremely amusing.

Chu Shao even wanted to reach out and place her hand over Xiao Jin’s heart, curious if that area would beat even more frantically because of her proximity.

Xiao Jin found nothing amusing about it; on the contrary, her head was filled with shock and confusion.

Since the female lead’s martial arts skills were so high, capable of instantly killing dozens of experts, why didn’t she secretly escape during the wedding procession?

Xiao Jin found it absurd, even forming a conjecture: perhaps Chu Shao felt that going anywhere was the same, so she simply couldn’t be bothered to escape.

Although Xiao Jin didn’t understand Chu Shao’s bizarre thought processes, she knew that if she couldn’t provide a convincing answer, she would likely meet her end here today.

Fortunately, before speaking, she had already thought of how to respond.

Chu Shao’s gaze intensified the pressure on Xiao Jin.

But luckily, Xiao Jin was always good at lying through her teeth. Even when facing Chu Shao’s eyes, she tried to shift her focus to the beauty mark under Chu Shao’s eye, saying calmly, “In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the cavalry from the Shenji Camp will arrive at Fuqiu Street.”

This was the glimmer of hope that allowed Xiao Jin to struggle with Chu Shao. As long as she could endure these few minutes, she would be victorious.

Hearing this, Chu Shao smiled, her eyes crinkling, but she still didn’t lower the sword in her hand. “I understand. So?”

Chu Shao believed her sword was faster than the Shenji Camp’s cavalry, but seeing Xiao Jin’s nonsense was indeed amusing.

Xiao Jin was more interesting than most, so she wanted to tease her a little more.

In the distance, dust billowed, and the neighing of warhorses could be faintly heard.

Xiao Jin was overjoyed inside, but she remained calm on the surface, continuing, “So…”

As she said this, Xiao Jin reached out and gently placed her palm on the back of Chu Shao’s sword-wielding hand.

Chu Shao’s skin was covered in the smell of bl00d, cool and slippery, making her feel as if she were touching a desolate swamp.

Xiao Jin knew that approaching a madwoman who killed without blinking was very dangerous. But even more dangerous was the madwoman’s smiling face, staring at her.

However, her mental fortitude had been honed.

The closer she was to the line between life and death, the calmer Xiao Jin became. She could even feel Chu Shao’s hand move slightly in hers.

So she was sure that Chu Shao was eagerly awaiting her answer.

Therefore, she lowered her eyes, leaned close to Chu Shao’s ear, and whispered, “So, these people can only be said to have been killed by me, not you, Princess.”

After speaking, Xiao Jin pried open Chu Shao’s fingers, which were gripping the hilt, and took the bl00d-stained sword.

In an instant, Chu Shao was stunned, not even stopping Xiao Jin from taking the sword from her hand.

Because the meaning of this sentence was clear.

It meant that Xiao Jin had wiped the bl00d from her hands to erase the evidence of her killing, and now she was taking the sword to cover up the fact that she knew martial arts.

These actions did indeed seem like something accomplices would do.

Chu Shao was just a little confused; she had only been with Xiao Jin for a day, and there was no reason for Xiao Jin to help her to this extent.

But if she added “to survive,” she could believe it.

The surviving guards stood there, staring blankly at Chu Shao and Xiao Jin, completely dumbfounded.

As soldiers of the Shenji Camp, being ambushed and failing to protect their lord was a crime that deserved death a thousand times over.

But when they saw the princess consort holding an ordinary sword and then casually dispatching all the assassins, the shock in their hearts was indescribable.

Was the prince’s bride a princess from a fallen country? She was practically a reincarnated Valkyrie!

The guards had no idea that Xiao Jin was even more confused than they were.

Chu Shao’s persona had been shattered into pieces that couldn’t be put back together, and she still couldn’t figure out why Chu Shao’s martial arts skills had skyrocketed and her temperament had changed so drastically.

Even if it was a reincarnation, the female lead wasn’t this powerful in the finale.

Xiao Jin fell into deep self-doubt: Did I watch a pirated version back then?

Before Xiao Jin could fully understand what had gone wrong, she saw the coachman driving the carriage, leading a hundred Shenji Camp cavalrymen back with a spring in his step.

Xiao Jin’s heart didn’t even waver; she even wanted to laugh a little.

Chu Shao had finished the battle by herself, and now they were coming to support her, probably only to clean up the corpses.

This was an ending she had never expected.

The coachman brought the cavalrymen to Fuqiu Street with a great sense of duty, ready to report back. But as soon as he got off the carriage, he found dead bodies lying everywhere.

He looked at Xiao Jin, holding the sword, and then at Chu Shao, standing aside with a kind smile.

For a moment, the coachman’s throat was dry, and he didn’t know what to say.

These people… were all killed by the prince?

Although the coachman knew that Lord Yan had practiced martial arts with the crown prince since childhood and was proficient in archery, he didn’t expect the prince to be so heroic even with his legs crippled and suffering from a serious illness.

Even, heroic to a slightly absurd degree.

At this moment, Xiao Jin was forced to hold the bl00d-stained sword, feeling very miserable inside, but she still had to maintain Lord Yan’s arrogant aura on the surface, glancing at the cavalrymen, “You’re here.”

“…”

The cavalrymen looked at Xiao Jin sitting in the wheelchair, feeling that although the prince’s legs were crippled, his innate arrogance hadn’t changed at all.

They had arrived at Fuqiu Street as quickly as possible, but they didn’t expect to be too late. They could only bow and cup their fists, “We were late, we are willing to accept punishment!”

After the series of events just now, Xiao Jin’s heart had become a little fragile. Now, suddenly shocked by the voices of a hundred people, she couldn’t catch her breath and coughed up bl00d again.

While coughing, she thought, these people probably thought she wasn’t dead and came to assassinate her.

The cavalrymen looked at their former commander, now so weak, and sighed inwardly, even wondering who had cleaned up this pile of corpses.

However, Xiao Jin wouldn’t give them any chance to doubt.

After coughing, she put down the handkerchief and said softly, “Although I have already dealt with the assassins, since you’re here, help clean up the corpses.”

Hearing Xiao Jin’s words, the mansion guards stood aside, their eyelids twitching.

Under Xiao Jin’s half-casual, half-threatening gaze, they didn’t dare to say a word.

Unless they were crazy and didn’t want to live, they wouldn’t choose to expose Xiao Jin’s lies at this time and publicly slap her face.

The cavalrymen were a little stunned when they heard this. They were all elite soldiers from the Shenji Camp with first-class combat capabilities. Lord Yan had summoned them just to clean up corpses?

Although they knew that Lord Yan had always been arrogant, this was a bit too childish.

If they were impeached by the Censorate, they would be talked about for who knows how long.

Xiao Jin was too lazy to explain too much to the cavalrymen. “These assassins have been plotting for a long time, intending to assassinate me, so you just need to take the bodies to the Dali Temple. I want to see what the Minister of the Dali Temple can find out.”

In fact, she didn’t expect the Dali Temple to find anything at all. After all, in the original story, the Minister of the Dali Temple was also a member of the crown prince’s camp.

Xiao Jin didn’t know who the mastermind behind this assassination was, but she thought the crown prince and the fourth prince were the most suspicious.

In the Imperial Study just now, she didn’t follow the male lead’s wishes and instead went against him, which might have made him unhappy. It was very possible that he had sent assassins to test her.

As for the fourth prince, although he was naive and foolish, he had at least formed a grudge with her over the bride snatching.

Even a cornered dog would jump over a wall. It wasn’t impossible for him to assassinate her in a fit of anger.

But the most suspicious point was that these assassins didn’t seem to want her life. In that case, the crown prince seemed more suspicious.

After all, as the male lead’s camp member, the original owner was probably only assassinated as a warning, not to kill her outright.

So Xiao Jin sending the bodies to the Dali Temple was also a return gift to the crown prince, and a way to test whether the mastermind was the male lead.

But before testing…

Xiao Jin watched the cavalrymen prepare to carry the bodies, and stopped them in time. “Wait. Before you carry them away, search their bodies for anything.”

These Shenji Camp cavalrymen were unworthy of being natives of an old-fashioned web novel, they didn’t understand the routine at all.

Generally, in large-scale activities like assassinations, the assassins would leave behind some tokens or handles, waiting for the protagonist to investigate.

Although Xiao Jin was not the protagonist, just an insignificant cannon fodder, she had the female lead standing beside her, so she felt she could get some of the protagonist’s aura.

Don’t ask, just ask if you’re familiar with web novel routines and can recite them backwards.

Although the cavalrymen were reluctant, they couldn’t disobey Xiao Jin’s orders, so they had to put down the bodies and search them.

As Xiao Jin expected, after a search, a cavalryman found a token on an assassin.

He held the token, wiped the bl00d with his sleeve, and presented it to Xiao Jin respectfully, “Your Highness, I found a token on this person.”

He also admired Xiao Jin immensely, feeling that Lord Yan was indeed a brilliant strategist, predicting everything like a god.

Facing the cavalryman’s admiring eyes, Xiao Jin’s scalp tingled, thinking that these were all commonly tested knowledge points in web novels, there was nothing to admire.

But she still nodded solemnly, and took the token.

Xiao Jin was only familiar with web novel routines, but she was a layman in identification. She picked up the token and looked at it carefully, but couldn’t see anything unusual.

The entire token was made of bronze, with a crape myrtle flower engraved on the front, which seemed to be quite old. The back also had several worn scratches.

This thing should be an important token, even if the bronze was almost old, the owner of the token had never replaced it.

Just looking at the appearance, she couldn’t see anything wrong.

Xiao Jin simply picked up the token, put it to her nose and sniffed it. If she hadn’t smelled it, she wouldn’t have known, but this smell made her feel that her breathing function was damaged.

Fortunately, Xiao Jin’s expression management skills were acceptable, otherwise she would have twisted into a painful mask on the spot.

The smell of this token was too foul.

When she sniffed lightly, Xiao Jin didn’t smell anything strange. But when she got closer, she could not only smell the bloody smell, but also a very pungent smell that was suffocating.

Xiao Jin frowned and decisively wrapped the token in a handkerchief, deciding to study it slowly after returning to the mansion.

Chu Shao stood beside the wheelchair, watching Xiao Jin take out a handkerchief and wrap the token with a slightly disgusted expression.

Although she knew that Xiao Jin was the infamous “Ghost Rakshasa,” looking at her lowered eyes and folding the handkerchief, she didn’t seem as hateful as the rumors said.

On the contrary, this little behavior was done so skillfully and naturally by a generation of killing gods, it was quite cute.

Thinking of this, Chu Shao’s smile gradually faded.

What did “cute” mean?

So-called cute was naturally a compliment to someone worthy of being loved deeply, but she neither loved nor wanted to love, so why did she think Xiao Jin was cute?

Chu Shao felt a little absurd, but when she thought of the faint mint scent on Xiao Jin’s body, she felt better again.

With a smile on her lips, she had decided to find a way to preserve the scent before the bet ended.

At first, Chu Shao wanted to turn Xiao Jin into a corpse, lying obediently in a coffin. But now, looking at the lively Xiao Jin, she suddenly changed her mind.

Now Chu Shao wanted Xiao Jin’s body to still have warmth after death, that kind of skin should be very soft, very warm.

Thinking of this, Chu Shao’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

She could almost foresee that she would be happy for a long time because of this.

On the other side, after Xiao Jin put away the token, she felt that this matter was very suspicious, so she ordered the cavalrymen to carry one of the bodies back to the mansion.

After stealing the body and the token, she tried her best to imitate the domineering president’s tone, tapping the cavalrymen and guards neither salty nor light: “You are all people I trust. But if anyone dares to reveal half a word of what happened today, I will definitely let him experience the methods of Lord Yan’s Mansion.”

As for what methods the original owner had, she didn’t know, so she could only ask these poor employees to fill in the blanks themselves.

After doing this, Xiao Jin lowered her eyes and looked at the three bodies at her feet, silent for a long time.

Although she had never met these guards, one of the guards was very young, probably still in school in her era.

She had just told them not to risk their lives for her, but in the end, they still didn’t listen.

Xiao Jin didn’t know what kind of person the original owner was, but she could vaguely feel that these guards were willing to give their lives for the original owner.

But the original owner was long dead, and they were ultimately wrong.

After looking for a long time, Xiao Jin moved her eyes away and said to the guards, “Buy a few good coffins, send them back to their hometowns, and give them a decent burial.”

“Yes!”

Xiao Jin couldn’t help but sigh, the future missions would probably be more and more difficult.

But when she raised her head and saw Chu Shao’s arm, she felt that she was thinking too much.

It wasn’t the future that was difficult, it was every minute and every second.

Because Chu Shao’s wound was not only stained with bl00d, but also… turning black.

Ah, this.

The sword was poisoned.