Xiao Jin stared at the crack on the ground and couldn’t quite recover herself.
After a long time, she said, “It’s nothing.”
But just as she finished speaking, another silver light flashed.
Immediately after, a section of a locust tree branch fell from the trunk and landed on the ground pitifully.
Seeing Chu Shao draw her sword again, Xiao Jin looked at the innocent branch on the ground and, feeling her scalp go numb, tentatively asked, “Why did the Princess cut it down?”
Chu Shao’s fingers were pale and slender as they lightly brushed over the silver sword.
She casually sheathed it and smiled, “It’s nothing, I just felt that the flower was a bit distracting.” The flower branch lay on the ground, unable to speak.
Xiao Jin sat in her wheelchair and fell silent along with the branch.
Until the night wind grew colder.
Chu Shao walked slowly towards her, her tear mole unusually striking, like the burning peach blossoms of March.
She stood under the locust tree, smiling as she looked at Xiao Jin, and suddenly asked in a soft voice, “Between me and General Ye Juege, who is more important to you, Your Highness?”
Xiao Jin was stunned.
What kind of question was this?
Chu Shao could see Xiao Jin’s confusion and, bending down to pick up a fallen flower petal, she smiled softly, “Your Highness seems to be a little hesitant, so let me put it more simply… If one of us had to die, who would you want to die?”
Xiao Jin’s eyes widened slightly.
Was this really Chu Shao in front of her? Was she really asking such a question?
Certainly, the question was commonplace and had to do with death.
But Chu Shao asked it with a serious expression and a smile.
However, faced with this question, Xiao Jin couldn’t help but ask, “Princess, why must one of you die?” Everyone was alive, wasn’t that good? Besides, who had the ability to capture both Chu Shao and Ye Juege at the same time?
But…
The curve of Chu Shao’s lips gradually converged.
Because she knew that sometimes answering a question with a non-answer was already an answer.
Chu Shao couldn’t help but admit that indeed, Xiao Jin often made her feel very happy.
There were moments when just sitting quietly beside her, holding up her chin and looking at her with a smile, made her feel beautiful and wonderful.
But more often than not, Xiao Jin was not Xiao Jin, but the Third Prince, the Prince Yan who was planning and strategizing in her study.
Even though Xiao Jin was sitting in a wheelchair, her legs were restrained. She wouldn’t always be like a flower in a pot, swaying the pleasing branches and leaves and blooming a few small flowers when the weather was fine.
She grew slowly, silently by her side.
In other words, Xiao Jin didn’t really belong to her.
She could be brushed by the cool breeze, illuminated by the sunlight, and returned to the yellow earth after a hundred years.
But she would not belong to her.
Realizing this depressing fact, the joys of these past few days seemed as illusory as a mirage.
For a moment, Chu Shao couldn’t think of a good solution, and the smile on her face gradually faded, replaced by a layer of insincerity.
Xiao Jin didn’t know what Chu Shao was thinking, she just looked at the intentionally fake smile on her lips, and her heart trembled.
Because this fake smile was so much like Nan Jin.
Usually when she was with Chu Shao, not every word she said was right, but at least it wasn’t too wrong.
But situations like today where nothing seemed quite right were rare.
If it were before, Xiao Jin could still figure out a little bit of Chu Shao’s thoughts.
Because at that time she saw Chu Shao as the female lead, as an ordinary fan, as a paper person.
But now, when she tried to figure it out again, what kept coming to mind were the pearl earrings she held in her hand, and Chu Shao’s shallow smile as she leaned on the pavilion and played her flute.
They say that caring leads to chaos.
When one cares too much, they don’t know how to treat or what to do anymore.
Xiao Jin’s heart beat a little faster, not because of fear, but because of a somewhat inexplicable mood.
Driven by this tension, she said to Chu Shao, “For me, as a princess, you are of course very important. But the situation you just mentioned doesn’t actually exist, and furthermore, I won’t let myself be in that kind of situation.”
As she spoke, her heartbeat slowly calmed down.
“There won’t be a desperate situation because I won’t let anyone around me die again.” Xiao Jin did not forget the death of that little girl.
So after that, she would not let such a thing happen again.
So after this, she won’t let this kind of thing happen again.
She will do everything possible to protect everyone around her.
But as it turned out, Xiao Jin was thinking too much.
What Chu Shao wanted was not a carefully thought-out answer, but that no matter what situation she was in, Xiao Jin could only choose her, belong solely to her.
Whether imprisoned or trapped in a quagmire, even if Xiao Jin was being pressed to the ground by countless people and her spine was bent, the one who had cut off countless heads with a sword could only be her.
At this moment, Chu Shao looked at the locust petals floating all over the ground, and finally realized, she saw herself clearly.
Indeed, she was not that noble and selfless.
She just sat beside Xiao Jin, basking in the sunlight, sketching out her features with her eyes, seeking that elusive moment, which was beyond her reach.
What she wanted, she would definitely get by any means necessary.
[Ding! Chu Shao’s favorability +20]
Xiao Jin looked at Chu Shao’s smile, feeling somewhat confused.
She seemed to have done nothing…?
In fact, Xiao Jin was right.
Chu Shao had not done anything. She had just figured it out.
After realizing this, Chu Shao’s lips curved up into a joyful smile again: “Your Highness, I was wrong.”
However, Xiao Jin was very confused.
At the same time, she felt that if it weren’t for this moment, she would be even more confused now.
Chu Shao’s thinking was too erratic, and ordinary people couldn’t keep up.
After a moment of silence, Xiao Jin slowly asked, “Where did the Princess go wrong?”
Chu Shao smiled and said, “I was wrong because I shouldn’t have asked you such a question.”
Xiao Jin thought to herself that it couldn’t be that bad, but she said, “The Princess is not wrong, because there is nothing that should or shouldn’t be.”
“You’re right, there’s nothing that should or shouldn’t be, because… you don’t need to choose.”
While speaking with a smile, Chu Shao slowly approached Xiao Jin’s direction. “If Your Highness must choose between me and someone else, then that person will surely die.”
Xiao Jin was confused and didn’t understand what Chu Shao meant.
The next moment, Chu Shao was standing in front of Xiao Jin.
Walking calmly, she lightly stepped over the pure white and clean locust flower branch on the ground and said with a smile, “Because I like you very much, I want to see more of you.”
“A day is not enough, a month is too little, it would be best if every moment, every second, you could be in my eyes.”
“I have such a wish in my heart, even if you ultimately choose to let the other person live… in the end, I will kill her without hesitation.”
“Between the two, only I can survive, so you don’t need to choose, just let me choose.”
After hearing Chu Shao’s bloody yet moving words, Xiao Jin remained silent for a long time.
She even forgot to criticize why the female lead of this historical fiction used modern words like “every moment”.
Of course, there could be a reasonable explanation.
Obviously, the author was running out of ideas and was not well-educated.
At this moment, Xiao Jin felt a little aimless.
After all, she had just begun to learn how to be cautious and how to read people’s hearts step by step.
And then…
Chu Shao said those words, which made Xiao Jin feel a little defeated and frustrated.
Because now, her mind was completely blank.
She didn’t think of anything and couldn’t think of anything.
Just smelling the faint scent of alcohol wafting from Chu Shao’s sleeves was enough to keep her standing there, watching the moon for the whole night.
Not to mention, Chu Shao smiled and looked at Xiao Jin for a long time, then suddenly crouched down.
She picked up the slender and cold fingers and lightly touched the back of the other’s hand with her own lips: “It’s late at night, Your Highness’s hands are so cold, it’s time to go back to rest.”
The warm and soft lips covered her skin, and Xiao Jin instantly became even more stiff.
She almost forgot that she should have pulled her hand back from Chu Shao’s palm and placed the cold fingers on the equally cold armrest of the wheelchair.
By the time Xiao Jin came to her senses, Chu Shao had already pushed her back into the room and floated away.
At this moment, Xiao Jin lowered her eyes and moved her stiff fingers.
Only then did she realize that the hand that Chu Shao had just touched with her lips was the same hand that had touched Ye Juege’s hair.
The intimate gesture of the other party, rather than a touch with caring intent, could be seen as a kiss.
A kiss that was somewhat serious, somewhat childish, and also somewhat adorable.
Thinking of this, Xiao Jin slowly raised her hand and placed her fingertips on the armrest.
Just as her palm touched the surface, the back of her hand suddenly felt a burning sensation, like the residual heat left on the skin after being kissed by fire.
The night was long.
Chu Shao had left, leaving Xiao Jin and the koi fish in the porcelain bowl to stare blankly together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translator’s note: Aiya~~~ Chu Shao is too possessive ðŸ¤ðŸ¤ðŸ¤
TO BE CONTINUE…
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