I’m Competing With The Male Lead For A Woman[Gl] Chapter 105: In fact, you can offend me

It wasn’t raining inside the cave.

But as night fell, the rain enveloped the entire forest in a curtain of fine threads.

Chu Shao watched the transparent strings of raindrops soak into Xiao Jin’s black hair, trickling from the tips of her hair down to her jaw and falling from there.

The rain made her body, which was leaning against the stone wall, look even thinner and weaker.

As she watched this scene, Chu Shao suddenly understood something.

She had come here to find Xiao Jin, and she had just called her name, which meant that she had won.

But even though she had won, looking at Xiao Jin now did not bring her any joy of victory.

Because at this moment, the way Xiao Jin looked at her was different from any other moment before.

It was a distant and indescribable gaze, as if Xiao Jin was far away from her and not of this world.

Despite this, Chu Shao still sheathed her sword and stepped towards Xiao Jin, one step at a time.

She continued until she was standing in front of her, having walked through a pool of wolf corpses and red blood stains.

It was then that Chu Shao realized that she and Xiao Jin were actually the same.

They were both soaked with blood and rain, their hair and eyes wet. They both looked pale and disheveled.

This similarity added a hint of smile to Chu Shao’s lips, although it was a shallow one and still somewhat cold.

This was because she noticed the wound on Xiao Jin’s arm that was still bleeding, as well as the torn hem of her clothes.

Chu Shao crouched down and, under the watchful eyes of Tang Ling and Bai Zheng, gently embraced Xiao Jin’s waist, as if rescuing a drowning person.

Her movements were very gentle, even though her fingers were covered in fresh blood and cold rainwater.

Chu Shao lowered her eyelashes and spoke in a voice that sounded distant in the rain, “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have fought, and I shouldn’t have let Your Highness suffer in this cold and hardship. I should have taken you back earlier.”

Her words were gentle and seductive, but Bai Zheng, who was standing nearby, heard what Chu Shao really meant to say.

On the cliff at that time, Bai Zheng was hiding behind the trees.

She accidentally saw Chu Shao wielding her sword, killing those  black-clothed men, and spilling blood everywhere.

At first, Bai Zheng felt chills running down her spine and planned to hide in the bushes and hold her breath until it was over.

But then she saw Chu Shao furrow her eyebrows, gazing intently at the mist lingering at the bottom of the cliff.

It seemed as if she was contemplating how to jump down from the top of the cliff, smoothly…

The cliff was a hundred feet tall. How could the she be so foolish as to want to jump off it? It must be an illusion.

But before Bai Zheng could finish her self-deprecating thoughts, Chu Shao threw a corpse off the cliff, seemingly trying to estimate the height based on the sound of it hitting the ground.

When she heard the faint echo, Chu Shao furrowed her brow even tighter.

Bai Zheng was a little stunned by the scene.

However, she looked at Chu Shao’s tight brow and thought that even if she really had this intention, she would probably be hindered by the height of the cliff and would retreat when she realized the difficulty.

However, Chu Shao never understood what it meant to retreat in the face of difficulty. Not to mention a cliff, even if there were mountains of knives and seas of fire in front of her, she probably wouldn’t believe in evil and would step on the edge of the knife to go up.

Although Bai Zheng arrived late and did not hear the conversation between the black-clothed person and Chu Shao, nor did she understand why Chu Shao wanted to jump off the cliff.

But at the thought that she was the person that Xiao Jin was devoted to, she couldn’t help but speak out: “Princess, you are a precious gem, why would you want to jump off this mountain cliff? Moreover, if the Prince Yan were to know that you fell off the cliff, she would also be heartbroken.”

When Chu Shao heard the first half of her words, she seemed unmoved and still searched for the most suitable angle.

It wasn’t until Bai Zheng finished speaking that she slowly turned around, a soft smile on her lips: “I really like the last sentence you said, Miss Bai. But I still want to go down and see.”

Bai Zheng looked at the blood-stained clothes on Chu Shao’s body and asked, “Why?”

Chu Shao smiled and said, “Because I have to find her before she is upset for me.”

For a moment, Bai Zheng didn’t understand Chu Shao’s meaning. When she realized it, her face turned pale.

Chu Shao, standing in front of her, walked towards the edge of the cliff again.

Bai Zheng had to calm herself down and shout in a calm voice to the back: “Princess, I know a small path that leads to the bottom of Smoke Mountain Cliff.”

Seeing Chu Shao stop in her tracks, she added, “Please trust me, Princess. That path is the closest one from the mountain villa to the bottom of the cliff and we’ll get there soon.”

….

At this moment, Bai Zheng watched as Chu Shao picked up Xiao Jin in the rain.

If anyone said that there was no disappointment or unwillingness in her heart, it would be a lie.

But even so, she couldn’t do anything.

After all, everything had become very distant and irreversible since the moment the Prince Yan went to war many years ago.

Compared to Bai Zheng’s disappointment, Tang Ling raised hid hand to cover his bleeding wound, her eyes twitched slightly, but he was more surprised.

The Princess was hugging the prince.

It was the first time she had seen it.

If the people in the capital heard about it, the storytellers could probably talk about it for several months.

Tang Ling and Bai Zheng both had their own thoughts but could only stand in place, letting the drizzle blur the silhouette of the two and gradually fade away.

After the two left, Bai Zheng reached out her hand and caught a drop of rainwater. “It looks like the rain is going to stop.”

Tang Ling looked at the dark and gloomy forest and shook his head, smiling. “The rain has stopped today, but who knows if it will rain tomorrow. The world is unpredictable and things often turn out differently than expected.”

….

Chu Shao brought Xiao Jin back to the villa.

Along the way, the two didn’t communicate much and didn’t say much.

However, when they returned to the villa, everyone was surprised.

Led by Shangguan Xun, they all looked at the two with a strange look in their eyes, mainly at Xiao Jin, not Chu Shao.

Finally, it was Ye Juege who reacted first.

After coughing, she bowed to Xiao Jin and said, “Your Highness, I have found Bai Zhu at the foot of the cliff. Although he is still unconscious, he is not in danger of dying.”

Xiao Jin knew the effect of the system’s halo, so she relaxed slightly and nodded. “Find a good doctor to treat him and let him rest.”

There was nothing strange about this sentence. 

However, nestled in Chu Shao’s arms, with a face as white as paper, Xiao Jin appeared as if her status had changed. 

Ye Juege also thought so.

For a moment, she even felt that the Princess was the Prince Yan, and the Prince was the Princess Yan. This kind of rebellious thought only lingered in her mind for a moment.

Afterwards, Ye Juege dragged the equally stunned Shangguan Xun and Ye Suyu, closed the door with a bang, and left in a hurry.

However, Shangguan Xun’s voice still came through the wooden door: “General Ye, who is really in charge of your Yan Mansion on a daily basis? In my opinion, the Yan Mansion is somewhat shady, with the order of priority reversed.”

“Oh, I’m just asking, don’t leave so quickly…” Xiao Jin listened attentively, but didn’t think much about it.

Looking at the wound on her arm that had been treated, scenes from the cave just now seemed to reappear in front of her.

When she killed Shen Lang, Xiao Jin wasn’t actually afraid because as far as she was concerned, Shen Lang deserved to die for killing the person she wanted to protect.

When she fell off the cliff and was attacked by a pack of wolves, Xiao Jin was not afraid either. After all, she and the system were one entity. If she died, the system would probably not fare well either.

But when the cold arrow pierced through Empress Ning’s chest, Xiao Jin suddenly felt scared as she looked at the opponent’s old and withered face and those bloodshot eyes. 

At that moment, she felt that death was so real, right beside her, right in front of her.

Xiao Jin didn’t have any sympathy or fondness for Empress Ning, she just felt a little cold.

The night rain was icy, and her body and soul were also like that.

It wasn’t because she was afraid that she felt cold.

It was because this kind of mood couldn’t be expressed to anyone, and there was no way to express it, so she felt lonely.

So when Xiao Jin saw Chu Shao, she had to admit that there was indeed a hint of joy in her heart.

After all, Chu Shao was the most familiar and trustworthy person to her here.

As Ye Juege said, Chu Shao did not betray her position.

And Chu Shao was very naive, naive to the point of being almost cruel.

But it was precisely because of this that when Xiao Jin saw Chu Shao draw her sword, with a smile on her lips, and wanting to create a new massacre with a wave of her sleeve.

She hesitated and finally understood.

It turned out that she really was an anomaly. The people in this world couldn’t understand her feelings, and they couldn’t think with the same mindset.

Seeing that persuading Chu Shao was ineffective.

Xiao Jin was so disappointed that she even had the idea of giving up.

Even if Chu Shao killed Tang Ling, so what?

Anyway, this world was already so absurd, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Destroy it, this dog-blood world.

However, when Chu Shao’s sword move was almost invisible and her attack became more and more ruthless, Xiao Jin finally couldn’t hold back.

She called out, “Shao’er.”

She said, “I want to go home.”

After calling out, Xiao Jin regretted it.

Because it was shameful.

Xiao Jin felt very ashamed and embarrassed.

Just a second ago, she was venting her frustration on the internet, complaining about this messed-up world where there was no one to talk to.

And the next second, she was like a abandoned dog drenched in rain, begging Chu Shao to take care of her and saying pitifully, ‘I want to go home, please don’t leave me alone.’

Xiao Jin took a deep breath, but still couldn’t recover and felt suffocated.

The system saw everything and almost laughed out loud.

Indeed, in the eyes of a single woman who had been single for twenty years, there was no such thing as being cute.

In the eyes of a mother of a single flower, being cute was equivalent to kneeling.

Surrendering?

That doesn’t exist.

It’s too scary, even more deadly than deadly.

Like this, Xiao Jin was completely immersed in the shame of self-contradiction, feeling so frustrated that she didn’t say a word to Chu Shao all the way.

She just nestled in her arms with a lazy attitude.

Nuzzling in, she even felt that it was quite nice to lie flat and be lazy like this.

So when Chu Shao held Xiao Jin like a doll and gently put her down, she still felt a little uncomfortable to leave this soft and warm embrace.

Habit is really a terrible thing.

Xiao Jin thought this way, and unconsciously lost her focus.

When she came to her senses, she found that Chu Shao was already unbuttoning her clothes.

?

Looking at the person in front of her who was so close, Xiao Jin not only typed a question mark on the screen, but also showed her puzzled expression on her face, “What are you doing, Princess?”

Chu Shao sat on the edge of the bed and had already untied Xiao Jin’s wet jade belt, her voice incredibly gentle, “Your Highness, your clothes are wet from the rain, this Princess is here to help you change.”

….

Xiao Jin was silent for a long time before saying in a calm voice, “It’s okay.”

Chu Shao shook her head, “Without changing into clean clothes, if Your Highness catches a cold, my heart will also feel uneasy.”

Whenever Chu Shao had a request for Xiao Jin, she would call her “Your Highness” with a voice more gentle and pleasant than singing lyrics.

However, as it was a matter of great importance, Xiao Jin still wanted to save face for herself.

So she struggled and tried to change the subject, “If I catch a cold, how will the Princess feel?”

Actually, Chu Shao didn’t know what it meant to feel uneasy or comfortable in her heart.

She only knew that when she felt joyful, she wanted to make that joy more real with blood. The same went for when she was not joyful.

But now, something was different. When she felt happy, Xiao Jin was often by her side.

When she was not happy, even if she exchanged a few words with Xiao Jin, the most desolate scene seemed to become prosperous.

Thinking of this, Chu Shao looked into Xiao Jin’s eyes and said softly, “If Your Highness falls ill, I will feel a little anxious and want to find the best doctor in the world to cure you.”

Xiao Jin couldn’t help but laugh and asked, “What if all the doctors in the world are nowhere to be found? How would the Princess ease her anxious feelings?”

“Wherever the world reaches, I will always find them,” Chu Shao replied.

Xiao Jin asked curiously, “If you find them but discover that all the doctors are extinct, won’t the Princess never be at peace?”

Chu Shao’s lips curled up into a smile as she shook her head at Xiao Jin, “No. If the doctors are dead, I will find a way to bring them back to life.”

Xiao Jin was a little curious, “Bring them back to life? Is the Princess seeking gods or ghosts?”

“Either will do.” Chu Shao smiled softly and said lightly, “As long as I can achieve my goal, I don’t care whether I’m asking gods or ghosts.”

Xiao Jin nodded.

It must be said that Chu Shao was very similar to Xiao Jin in this aspect.

However, when it came to this matter, Xiao Jin couldn’t help but think of what Shen Qingcheng had said, and said to Chu Shao, “Sometimes, resorting to any means necessary may not achieve the desired result.”

So, Xiao Jin briefly recounted the story that Shen Qingcheng had told her.

Unexpectedly, after hearing it, Chu Shao bent her lips and couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably. “Your Highness, did she really say that?”

Xiao Jin was slightly stunned, thinking that Chu Shao was questioning the truthfulness of her account, so she nodded lightly and said, “She brought it upon herself.”

Chu Shao smiled and said, “She did bring it upon herself, but in some places, it’s not entirely accurate. When Chu Yu wanted to punish Shen Ronglian back then, it was rumored that Empress Ning pleaded with him outside the hall with heartfelt words and tears, kneeling all night to intercede for Shen Ronglian. And, National Teacher Nan Jin never held the gu poison, the gu in Empress Ning’s body was most likely taken by herself. The scars on her face were also caused by Chu Yu blaming Empress Ning and scratching her face after Nan Jin returned triumphantly, trying to shift the blame onto her alone.”

After hearing Chu Shao’s words, Xiao Jin was a little confused, “Then why didn’t she defend herself?”

Chu Shao looked at Xiao Jin tenderly and said, “Your Highness, why should she defend herself? Everything was planned by Shen Qingcheng. It was just that at the end, she regretted it and had no chance to turn back. Instead of letting everyone know that she regretted it, it’s better to pretend to be indifferent, at least in this regard, she didn’t lose.”

Xiao Jin was initially unable to accept such a mindset, but when it came out of Chu Shao’s mouth, she inexplicably felt that it made some sense.

After a moment, realizing that she might have been brainwashed, she suddenly became clear-headed again, “But she has already lost everything, how can she win?”

Chu Shao smiled, “She knows she can’t win, so she erased the part where she was weak and regretful. At least in the eyes of the world, she is thoroughly evil, and not too embarrassed.” 

“…”, Xiao Jin didn’t know what else to say, so she could only say one thing: impressive.

After a moment’s thought, it seemed to make some sense.

After all, in the face of winning or losing, dignity is indeed more important.

But she still didn’t understand.

Fortunately, Xiao Jin didn’t want to understand Shen Qingcheng,
she just couldn’t forget the last few words the latter said to her.

She carried these words all the way and now told Chu Shao: “Before Shen Qingcheng died, she said something to me.”

Chu Shao noticed that Xiao Jin changed from calling herself “I” to “this Prince”. Knowing that the other party intended to tell her, she listened respectfully and said, “Please speak, Your Highness.”

Xiao Jin mentioned the whereabouts of the Half-jade Seal, and then said to Chu Shao, “In addition, there is actually another thing.”

Chu Shao didn’t seem surprised or interested in the fact that the Half-jade Seal was in Su Tan’s hands.

She just smiled and asked, “What else?”

Xiao Jin looked at Chu Shao and said slowly, “Before Tang Ling shot Shen Qingcheng, she told me that the reason why Princess Zhao Yang  wanted to kill her was because she knew some secrets about Princess Zhao Yang. Then she looked strange and said to me again…” Prince Yan, Xiao Shuang’s secret is related to you.”

The room fell silent.

Chu Shao pondered this sentence and finally smiled: “Your Highness, do you think Shen Qingcheng’s words are trustworthy?”

Xiao Jin remembered the old ancestor’s words and said lightly, “When people are about to die, their words are often good.”

“So Your Highness, what do you think Shen Qingcheng was referring to?”

Xiao Jin honestly said, “I don’t know. At that time, Shen Qingcheng seemed to want to say something else, and then Tang Ling appeared.”

At this point, Chu Shao understood what Xiao Jin meant and smiled, “So Your Highness thinks that Tang Ling killed Shen Qingcheng under the direction of Princess Zhao Yang.”

“And when Tang Ling shot her while she was talking to you, it was a clever way to cover up her guilt, which further proves that what Shen Qingcheng said was true, so Tang Ling had to kill her.” 

Xiao Jin nodded, “Exactly.”

In fact, Xiao Jin believed Shen Qingcheng’s words were true, as they came from the tried-and-true law that the words spoken by villains before they die are mostly sincere. And because they tend to talk too much, the protagonist can usually use that to their advantage to turn the tables on them.

If the words spoken are not just meaningless chatter but contain useful information, other villains would suddenly appear and kill the villain who revealed it, leaving the protagonist with only half the information.

Although Xiao Jin didn’t think of herself as the protagonist, she was at least an ally of the protagonist on paper, and she was undoubtedly a member of the heroine’s camp.

Xiao Jin believed that through this series of events, she had learned some secrets of important figures and props that helped Chu Shao ascend to the throne.

Now that everything was ready, it all depended on whether Chu Shao had the ambition to become an empress.

Thinking of this, Xiao Jin was about to ask tentatively if the Princess had changed her mind and wanted to help Chu Shao become empress, but as soon as she turned her head, she found Chu Shao’s fingers already on her collar.

Chu Shao’s fingertips were white, slender, and seemed to be as unyielding as the Yellow River, always wanting to help Xiao Jin change her clothes.

Xiao Jin thought, fortunately, this was a novel from Wenhua City.

If it was from another website, there was no way that the collar would still be intact after all this time. If it were any other website, she would probably have run out of clothes to wear by now.

At this moment, the superiority of entering an online novel was perfectly reflected.

Xiao Jin looked at Chu Shao and really didn’t believe that she could take off her clothes. 

At most, she could only undo the collar.

As for the rest, it’s probably not allowed, after all, it’s the website’s specialty. With her knowledge of the website’s rules, Xiao Jin thought she was as stable as an old dog and as solid as a rock.

But when Chu Shao was unbuttoning Xiao Jin’s clothes and accidentally touched the skin on her neck, Xiao Jin’s body stiffened, and visible discomfort appeared on her face.

Feeling the warmth of Chu Shao’s fingertips, after the stiffness passed, she couldn’t help but grab Chu Shao’s wrist and pretended to say indifferently, “Princess, I…” Before Xiao Jin could finish saying “I can do it myself,” a smile curved at the corner of Chu Shao’s lips, and she asked softly, “An hour ago, didn’t Your highness still call me Shao’er?”

Shao’er?

Xiao Jin fell silent.

“Now, why doesn’t Your highness call me that anymore?”

Actually, she could call herself that if she wanted to.

It’s just that Xiao Jin felt awkward.

Calling herself Shao’er might make Chu Shao happy, but Xiao Jin would feel so embarrassed that she might start imagining a dream castle in her head, with all those old-fashioned romance novels she had read years ago.

Chu Shao’s hair tips were still a little wet.

When she leaned in to speak, water droplets dripped from her ink-black hair onto the bedding, creating a dark, flower-like stain.

Xiao Jin couldn’t take it.

She couldn’t bear being so close. It was too close.

She would see Chu Shao’s smiling black eyes and the slight tremble of her eyelashes.

The candlelight shone on her, much like the shimmering ripples of a lake under the sun.

Beauty is truly a deadly weapon. Xiao Jin was completely disarmed.

She couldn’t even come up with a convincing excuse.

As if possessed, she blurted out, “Because that’s your nickname, and calling you that would be a bit offensive.”

“Offensive?” Chu Shao smiled, and with a slight movement of her fingers, she undid the last button on Xiao Jin’s shirt.

She then lowered her voice and said softly, “Speaking of offensive, I’m actually a little disappointed.”

Xiao Jin was confused. “Why is Princess disappointed?”

Chu Shao looked at her with a smile in her eyes and at the corners of her mouth. “You never offend me, and that’s what disappoints me.”

Xiao Jin fell into silence.

As a modern person, she couldn’t quite understand.

Besides, if she kept going, it would be a question of whether or not it would pass censorship.

Plus, she wanted to go home.

As a conservative and unwilling to become a “scumbag” young person, once Xiao Jin accepted the setting that she had to go home, she no longer had that kind of worldly desire.

Since she was going to leave sooner or later, there was no point in continuing.

Both to others and to oneself, one should not branch out unnecessarily here…and give birth to many things that did not exist before.

However, Xiao Jin also knew.

Some things are unexpected.

Just like a sudden natural disaster, people have already anticipated it before it arrives. 

But holding onto a shelter that has been lived in for a long time, no one wants to escape.

Perhaps only when the sea floods the entire city, will people know who is more important between love and death.

But before that, in Xiao Jin’s sight, in front of Chu Shao, she didn’t know.

She didn’t even care if the seawater would flood her shelter.

Anyway, her heartbeat and breath were both overwhelmed by the next words Chu Shao said.

Chu Shao reached out her finger and stroked Xiao Jin’s neck.

Seeing that Xiao Jin did not speak, she felt that the other party had tacitly agreed to her actions, and entrusted her with her life.

After realizing this, Chu Shao looked at the still cold face in front of her, and couldn’t help but smile.

Moving her fingertips, she gently stroked every inch of Xiao Jin’s skin that was suppressing trembling.

Seemingly aware of the other’s endurance, a naive and puzzled smile appeared on Chu Shao’s face, and she asked softly, “Your Highness, what are you hesitating about?” 

Xiaojin looked at Chu Shao quietly, without speaking. 

But Chu Shao smiled, leaned close to Xiao Jin’s ear, and whispered softly, “Your Highness, if you can’t stand my offense…” 

 “In fact, you can offend me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translator’s note: Yes, please offend her~ 🤧. I want a bed scene! 🙂

TO BE CONTINUE…