I'm competing with the male lead for a woman (GL) - Chapter 8
Hearing Princess Zhaohua’s words, Xiao Jin was a bit stunned.
Although she knew that Grand Princess Zhaoyang had immense power in the original story, being the lord of seven cities, and the late emperor had once intended to make her the crown princess.
If it hadn’t been for the ministers’ petitions, Grand Princess Zhaoyang might have become the female emperor of Qi.
But Princess Zhaohua, being only Grand Princess Zhaoyang’s younger sister, acted so disregarding of Emperor Qi’s face, which was quite surprising.
Emperor Qi stared at Princess Zhaohua’s back, rarely showing anger, but instead reached out his other hand, rubbing the bodhi beads on his wrist.
After a long while, he said in a deep voice, “Imperial sister, this is my family affair.”
Princess Zhaohua had her hair styled in a startled swan knot, her brocade robe as white as snow, and when she raised her slender neck, she resembled a swan in water.
She gave a small smile and said to Emperor Qi, “Your sister is your imperial brother’s sister, and also Jin’er’s aunt, so I should share your burdens.”
“Moreover… some things, both imperial brother and your sister know very well.”
Xiao Jin looked at Princess Zhaohua and Emperor Qi playing charades with a puzzled expression, then glanced at Emperor Qi’s expression, his brows tightly furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.
She had a hunch that Zhaohua probably knew some shocking secret that could hit Emperor Qi’s sore spot.
Unfortunately, this novel focused on describing the dog-bl00d abusive love between the male and female leads, and didn’t mention any royal secrets at all.
So at this time, Xiao Jin didn’t know what tricks these two were playing.
While Emperor Qi was silent, Princess Zhaohua turned her head, looking at Xiao Jin, then at Chu Shao.
Then she moved her lips, her cold voice even tinged with a hint of sorrow, “My poor Jin’er! To be so young and suffer from a serious illness, wholeheartedly serving Great Qi, yet even asking to marry the one you love is hindered.”
“Jin’er, what a bitter fate you have!”
“…”
Xiao Jin almost believed it herself.
The crown prince stood aside, quietly watching Princess Zhaohua perform, unable to help but smile.
But when he saw the silver-blue floral flower on Chu Shao’s forehead, he narrowed his eyes, examining the shape of the petals for a long time.
The fourth prince knew that Zhaohua was talking nonsense and said to her quietly, “Aunt, what you said is a bit biased.”
“Although there are many pitiful people in the world, that person will never be Third brother. Moreover, the person standing next to Third brother at this time should have been this nephew’s princess consort. Third brother has never even seen the princess, how can there be talk of love at first sight? And how can it be considered asking to marry, let alone a formal marriage?”
These words seemed reasonable, but Xiao Jin didn’t take them seriously.
The Yao Country had already fallen, and who could complete the process of betrothal and formal marriage.
Princess Zhaohua looked at the fourth prince, her phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, “Yi’er, if you had charged into battle and lost your legs for Qi, your aunt would definitely feel sorry for you too.”
“Aunt will say something unpleasant, the Yao Country was conquered by Jin’er. If it weren’t for Jin’er, where would you go to marry a princess consort? Now it’s fine, your Third brother is so sick, yet you’re making a fuss about this little thing in front of my imperial brother, you’re really being unreasonable.”
Fourth Prince: “…”
Who was the one who snatched the bride in the street? How did it become him being unreasonable?
Although Zhaohua was not very old, she was the fourth prince’s aunt in terms of seniority.
So at this time, the fourth prince could only reluctantly cup his hands, acting as a junior, “Aunt is right.”
Xiao Jin sat in the wheelchair, seemingly having seen through everything.
Anyone with eyes could see that Princess Zhaohua was determined to protect the original owner, even turning black into white.
She just didn’t know why Zhaohua and Zhaoyang were so fond of the original owner, even going against the emperor.
However, these things didn’t have much to do with Xiao Jin, after all, she was just a fake doing a mission.
“Enough.”
After watching this farce, Emperor Qi didn’t seem to be in the mood to listen to pipa music anymore.
He looked up at the fourth prince and said slowly, “Huai’an, your third brother is unwell, so let it go. One day, I will choose another good match for you from the court.”
Huai’an was the fourth prince’s courtesy name. When Emperor Qi called him by his courtesy name at this time, it was obvious that he wanted him to take a step back.
Even if the fourth prince was unwilling, he knew that Emperor Qi had always been weak and incompetent, unable to support him.
He could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger, “Thank you, Father Emperor.”
Emperor Qi rubbed his forehead and said to Xiao Jin, “Your mother went to the Baima Temple with Imperial Sister Zhaoyang to pray for blessings. In a few days, you can take your princess consort to offer tea to her.”
The implication was that he had tacitly approved of Xiao Jin’s bride snatching and would no longer care about it.
Seeing that the mission was easily completed, Xiao Jin was naturally in a good mood and nodded in response, “Your son obeys.”
Emperor Qi waved his hand, “If there’s nothing else, you may all withdraw.”
••••
After leaving the Imperial Study, everyone had different expressions.
The fourth prince was the first to leave. Even though he didn’t show any expression on his face, Xiao Jin could still clearly feel his soaring hostility.
It had to be said that Xiao Jin enjoyed the feeling of “you clearly hate me very much, but you can’t do anything about it.”
After walking this section of the road, the crown prince also had to return to the East Palace.
The crown prince first bowed respectfully to Princess Zhaohua, then looked at Xiao Jin and smiled, “Third brother, take good care of your health. I’ll take my leave first.”
Seeing the gentle smile on the crown prince’s face, and thinking about the methods he used in the original story, Xiao Jin always felt that this person was very dangerous.
However, she still had to pretend to be brotherly and friendly, cupping her hands and saying, “Farewell, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
The crown prince smiled, his figure gradually disappearing between the palace walls. But when he was halfway there, he seemed to turn his head and glance this way, then disappeared.
The sun was setting, and the sky was darkening.
It was snowing, and Princess Zhaohua walked with Xiao Jin, accompanied by several servants holding umbrellas.
And Chu Shao accompanied her, pushing Xiao Jin’s wheelchair, still smiling.
As they walked, Princess Zhaohua suddenly said, “Jin’er, if you act so willfully again next time, your aunt won’t be able to save you.”
Xiao Jin thought, “It’s not that I want to act willfully. If I don’t do the mission, your niece would probably be lying in a coffin.”
However, Xiao Jin guessed that the original owner’s relationship with Zhaohua should be good, so she responded, “Your nephew knows.”
Judging from the satisfied expression on Princess Zhaohua’s face, Xiao Jin felt that she should have said the right thing.
Having received Xiao Jin’s answer, Zhaohua narrowed her eyes and looked at Chu Shao.
Although this woman looked gentle and docile, she knew that the Yao people were always cunning, so she had to guard against her for Xiao Jin.
She dismissed the servants around her, “I have some private words to say to Lord Yan, you may withdraw first.”
“Yes.”
After the servants left, Zhaohua said to Chu Shao, “Now that you have become Jin’er’s princess consort, you are also a citizen of Qi Country. You must forget the past.”
“The past?”
Chu Shao paused, seeming to find the word very novel, and her smile deepened, “Please rest assured, Your Highness, there are too many unimportant past events, I have long forgotten them.”
Hearing Chu Shao’s answer, Xiao Jin’s heart skipped a beat, feeling that the other person’s words had hidden meanings.
Could it be that the female lead really came back to life?
But when Xiao Jin raised her head and saw the deep smile in Chu Shao’s eyes, she instantly understood.
The female lead was excited again.
As for why Chu Shao was excited, Xiao Jin, as a normal person, really couldn’t understand. But she was sure that even if Chu Shao was really reborn, she wouldn’t be as sick as she was now.
If Chu Shao was really a reborn female lead, she wouldn’t have dared to go against Emperor Qi so nonchalantly in the Imperial Study just now.
Instead, she would have bided her time and focused on restoring her country.
After this thought process, Xiao Jin could only come to one conclusion: it seemed that the female lead was probably not reborn, but truly had a mental illness.
Princess Zhaohua didn’t notice the strangeness between Xiao Jin and Chu Shao, she just felt that Chu Shao understood her meaning and was quite sensible.
Seeing that they were about to leave the palace, Zhaohua leaned over, avoiding Chu Shao, and whispered to Xiao Jin.
“Jin’er, don’t trust the Crown Prince.”
Xiao Jin was slightly stunned, raising her head to look into Princess Zhaohua’s dark eyes.
After a moment, she responded indifferently, “Jin’er understands.”
In fact, Xiao Jin had already made up her mind.
To be honest, she couldn’t trust the Crown Prince. Working under the male lead, she probably wouldn’t even know how she died.
As for Princess Zhaohua, this person was the original owner’s strong support, and currently seemed trustworthy, but in this old-fashioned dog-bl00d web novel, Xiao Jin still felt that she could only trust herself.
Hearing Xiao Jin’s answer, Zhaohua gave her a meaningful look, then sighed, “I hope you can truly understand your aunt’s good intentions.”
After speaking, she turned around and returned to the palace with her servants.
The second mission was successfully completed.
Although Xiao Jin felt that things seemed to be getting complicated, she still breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to reward herself by clearing her mind and lying down in Lord Yan’s Mansion for a day.
However, fate didn’t go as she wished. Just as she had this thought, a mechanical voice sounded in Xiao Jin’s ears.
“According to the host’s mission completion this time, the system will reward the host with 48 hours of lifespan. Next, please complete the next mission.”
Xiao Jin frowned, why were there more missions?
“Friendly reminder, host, this mission is a sudden event, so the specific content of the mission cannot be predicted.”
“After system detection, this mission has extremely high risks and will pose a life threat to the host. The probability of the host completing it is <30%.”
Xiao Jin glanced at Chu Shao standing beside her, a little unsure where the life threat came from.
Seeing the gentle smile still on Chu Shao’s face, Xiao Jin forced herself to calm down and spoke to the system in her mind, “What happens if the mission fails?”
“If the mission fails, the host will die.”
“Warning! Only thirty minutes remain until the mission arrives. Please use the limited time to prepare for it yourself.”
“Countdown begins.”