I'm competing with the male lead for a woman (GL) - Chapter 9

The system was too trashy, and Xiao Jin was really annoyed.

However, Xiao Jin thought again, the system had previously asked her to do side missions, but Grand Princess Zhaoyang wasn’t even in the palace, so the prerequisite for doing the mission wasn’t met at all.

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

Therefore, what she had was just…

A knockoff system that could detect danger levels.

The system seemed to know that Xiao Jin was very dissatisfied with it, so it kindly reminded her, “Although the sudden mission is very difficult, the lifespan reward the host receives will be tripled, and if you complete the mission, there will be additional rewards.”

Triple drops?

Xiao Jin was a little tempted.

She looked at Chu Shao standing beside her, feeling that the expression on her face was no different from usual.

She also remembered that due to the original author’s settings, the female lead’s martial arts skills weren’t very high in the book, so she shouldn’t pose much of a threat to her.

Therefore, she guessed that the sudden situation probably came from other factors.

As for what kind of threat it was, Xiao Jin didn’t know yet, but fortunately, soldiers would block when soldiers came, and earth would cover when water came.

Although she hadn’t brought her servants into the palace, for safety’s sake, the twelve guards from the mansion and a carriage were still waiting outside.

Xiao Jin remembered the servant saying that the guards under the original owner were all elite soldiers drawn from the Shenji Camp.

She was actually a little curious, with this kind of configuration, what kind of accident could still happen?

Thinking of this, Xiao Jin turned to the coachman and asked, “How long did it take to drive from Lord Yan’s Mansion to the palace just now?”

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

Half an hour was one hour.

In that case, the midpoint the carriage passed on the way back should be Zhuque Street.

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

••••

Because Xiao Jin’s legs were disabled, the carriage wasn’t moving very fast, even slower than usual.

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

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

From her knuckles to her neck, from her nose bridge to her jaw, Chu Shao’s gaze was very bold, but her eyes still held tenderness.

However, Chu Shao actually had some doubts.

Generally speaking, a man’s bones are much thicker than a woman’s, and their bone mass is also heavier.

But Xiao Jin was thin and her bones were slender, which didn’t seem to be caused by illness, but rather seemed to be her natural state.

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

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

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

That was the most interesting thing.

On the other side of the carriage, Xiao Jin was brainstorming, silently calculating the time in her mind, and 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, turned her head, and 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 little creepy.

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.”

After the coachman stopped the carriage, he got off nervously.

Seeing the obviously uneasy expression on Xiao Jin’s face, he thought he had accidentally offended this master.

Just as he was about to kneel down and beg for mercy, Xiao Jin coughed twice, her face pale, and asked softly, “This place should be Fuqiu Street. If we want to go to the Shenji Camp, how long will it take to ride at full speed?”

The coachman was stunned, then replied, “Reporting to Your Highness, about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.”

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

If the sudden situation were to happen in ten minutes, then the system’s prediction must have included the carriage’s travel time.

This meant that the incident should take place on Zhuque Street.

So Xiao Jin decided to do the opposite, first letting the coachman take Lord Yan’s token to the Shenji Camp to draw a hundred or so cavalry.

And she herself would stay put on Fuqiu Street.

This way, if there was no sudden situation, it would only be a small loss, but it could ensure her safety.

If there was a sudden situation, it would only take ten minutes for the coachman to reach the Shenji Camp, plus the return time, a total of twenty minutes.

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

Thinking of this, Xiao Jin instructed Chu Shao and the accompanying servants to help her out of the carriage, then handed the token to the coachman, briefly explaining her request.

Before leaving, she didn’t forget to remind him, “Remember, be as fast as possible, and I only want cavalry from the Shenji Camp.”

Catching the heavy token, the coachman’s hands were trembling at first.

But when he mounted the horse, his expression became very firm, and he said powerfully, “Please rest assured, Your Highness. This humble servant will not disappoint Your Highness’s trust and will bring back elite soldiers!”

“…”

Xiao Jin was a little embarrassed. Brother, don’t say that. Your words sound like a flag in an anti-Japanese war drama.

Chu Shao stood beside Xiao Jin.

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

However, when she helped Xiao Jin out of the carriage just now, Chu Shao clearly felt that the other person’s weight was very light.

Especially when their clothes touched, Chu Shao found that Xiao Jin’s body was surprisingly soft, not quite like a man’s, but more like…

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

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

Very interesting.

At this time, Xiao Jin couldn’t care less about the psychopathic person standing beside her.

Considering the risks ahead, she had previously taken out a bow and arrow and a sword from the carriage.

Picking up the sword and trying it out, Xiao Jin felt that the original owner’s sword skills should be quite good. Even if her body was weak, she could still make a decent sword flourish.

After trying it, Xiao Jin sheathed the sword.

A doubt suddenly arose in her mind: leaving aside why the original owner had to cross-dress as a man, even if she was pretending to be a prince, the original owner’s martial arts skills were too good, it was obvious that she had practiced for many years.

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

Despite her confusion, Xiao Jin felt that the most urgent task was to deal with the sudden situation.

Looking at the bewildered mansion guards, Xiao Jin wanted to laugh a little, but then she thought that these people had at least snatched a bride with her.

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

Although Xiao Jin felt that her life was definitely the most important, she was gambling 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 people, they were quite innocent, and there was no need for them to die here with her.

If disaster struck, they should escape if they could, and disperse if they could.

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

Looking at these confused people, Xiao Jin decided to play the role of a domineering president, so she imitated every forced protagonist and said mysteriously, “This is my order.”

After saying this, the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, almost unable to maintain her facial expression.

Sure enough, being a domineering president wasn’t something ordinary people could do, and this kind of awkward language wasn’t something everyone could say.

However, in this dog-bl00d old-fashioned world, although the guards didn’t understand, these domineering words seemed to have shocked them.

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

Xiao Jin nodded with satisfaction, but when she looked up again, she met Chu Shao’s slightly puzzled eyes.

Looking at Chu Shao, Xiao Jin suddenly remembered that she hadn’t told the female lead to escape if anything happened later.

Then she thought again, the female lead already had some kind of mental illness, so there was no need to tell her specifically. She would run away on her own when the time came.

Realizing that the smile on Chu Shao’s face was gradually disappearing, Xiao Jin knew that the other person probably didn’t understand her series of arrangements.

But the secrets of heaven couldn’t be revealed, and Xiao Jin wouldn’t explain.

The scene was once overly quiet.

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

“Whoosh—”

The sound of the arrow breaking through the air was very clear, the arrowhead flashing silver light, aimed at Xiao Jin’s face, infinitely magnified in her vision.

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

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

Almost in an instant, Chu Shao forcibly turned the wheelchair in a strange posture.

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

Xiao Jin looked at the wood chips falling on the ground, and before she could be shocked by how powerful Chu Shao’s martial arts were, another flying arrow shot out of the grass.

At this time, she understood that the “sudden situation” the system mentioned was a time bomb, and this bomb was probably not ambushed on Zhuque Street in advance.

Instead, it was lurking in the dark, following her all the way.

She had been careless.

Unable to analyze the situation, the twelve mansion guards had already drawn their swords, “Assassins! Protect Your Highness!”

Xiao Jin: “…”

She felt that this sentence was very familiar, and even began to suspect that the mastermind was the fourth prince.

Just as the guards rushed towards the grass, Xiao Jin raised her sword and cut down several flying arrows.

Fuqiu Street was located in a remote wilderness, originally sparsely populated, and with the late hour, it was indeed a good time for assassination.

But Xiao Jin didn’t expect that there would be so many assassins lurking in the dark.

In just a snap of the fingers, twenty or thirty men in black surged out. Although she couldn’t see their faces, she could tell that they were very skilled in martial arts and had their IQs online.

The men in black didn’t insist on fighting with the guards, but only injured them, and then went straight to Xiao Jin, stabbing at her.

Xiao Jin was only surrounded by three guards, and she herself was seriously ill and had difficulty moving her legs.

If she used a sword, she might not be able to exert the original owner’s true strength. At the critical moment of life and death, Xiao Jin chose to draw her bow and arrow, using the original owner’s most proficient weapon.

The arrows were like meteors, and three shots in a row hit the black-clad swordsmen.

Unfortunately, the men in black were not ordinary people, and even though the arrows were powerful, only one person was killed.

The remaining dozen men in black held long swords, and she didn’t know what kind of footwork they were using, but in an instant, they surrounded Xiao Jin’s wheelchair.

The sound of weapons clashing was extremely harsh.

Xiao Jin drew her sword, and while taking a blow from a black-clad swordsman’s sword, she stared directly into his eyes, trying to see his face clearly.

The next moment, Xiao Jin was a little surprised.

Because the man in black avoided her gaze, and the next sword he stabbed was not sharp, as if he hadn’t used his full strength.

With the skills of this group of mysterious people, killing the disabled original owner would not be difficult.

In this case, there was only one possibility left—the mastermind didn’t want her life, but had other plans.

Xiao Jin noticed this and was about to tell the three guards next to her not to attack, but before she could turn her head, the sprayed bl00d blurred her vision.

A guard’s head rolled to her feet.

The face was still young, a very small soldier in the mansion.

Then, the other two guards also fell, and the red bl00d soaked the mud.

Xiao Jin’s stomach churned, feeling cold all over, unable to tell whether it was sadness or fear.

The men in black didn’t react, but slashed down with the second sword.

Because Xiao Jin hadn’t recovered, when she raised her sword to block, she was inevitably cut on the arm by the oncoming blade.

The blade cut into her flesh, a sharp pain.

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

Xiao Jin knew that Chu Shao was a madwoman and had no obligation to save her, but it was really chilling to stand here and watch from the sidelines.

Chu Shao’s lips still held a smile.

Bl00d was splashed everywhere, and she just stood here watching, a little fascinated.

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

At this time, Chu Shao looked at the wounds on Xiao Jin’s body and the bl00d soaking her robe, and a deeper smile appeared on her lips.

She hadn’t been this happy in a long time, so she decided to repay the men in black.

Xiao Jin knew that the men in black wouldn’t kill her, but she didn’t want more guards to die here, so she reminded Chu Shao.

Seeing that Chu Shao was still standing there, still unmoved, she had already given up hope on this person.

The next moment, a cool hand covered her knuckles.

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

Xiao Jin raised her head, met Chu Shao’s smiling eyes, and then felt an itch in her ear, followed by a soft voice.

“Your Highness, may I borrow your sword?”

As soon as the words fell, before Xiao Jin could let go, Chu Shao had gently pried open her fingers and grasped the hilt.

Like the first overtone of a luthier plucking a string, the clanging sound of silver swords colliding was undoubtedly crisp.

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

Chu Shao’s robe was as white as the snow on the mountain peak, and she held a silver sword, shuttling between the men in black.

Her feet touched the ground, and every step she took was extremely gentle, like a witch praying devoutly, dancing gracefully in the splashing bl00d, accompanied by grand court music.

Chu Shao used the sword with very little force, and the tip of the sword brushed across the enemy’s neck, leaving only a deep red bl00d line.

Bang—

The heavy sound of the men in black falling to the ground disturbed the rhythm of the dance.

Chu Shao’s lips curled into a smile, not minding this insignificant chaos, after all, appropriate disorder would add a different kind of interest to the whole performance.

The sword in her hand casually took lives, and she casually admired the dense bl00d beads gushing out of the men in black’s throats.

The bl00d drops were like pearls falling on a plate, splashing on the back of Chu Shao’s hand, so warm that her hands trembled, and the sword moves she swung became more fierce and swift.

When Chu Shao’s excitement reached its peak, she turned the silver sword and neatly cut open the throat of a man in black.

Letting the dying man writhe and struggle on the ground, and then return to the west with wide eyes.

Chu Shao looked at all this, feeling that she was too merciful to let these people be liberated and set foot on the River of Forgetfulness.

Living inevitably suffered hardship, and death would lead them to bliss.

This was the gift she gave.

“As for you…”

Chu Shao looked at the man howling on the ground with a smile. She knew that he was the one who had just cut Xiao Jin, and also the one who 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’ll let you die slowly. When the time comes, someone will lead the way for you.”

Chu Shao squatted down, looking at the pale face stained with bl00d, and whispered softly, “Tell me, am I the best to you?”