I’m Competing With The Male Lead For A Woman[Gl] Chapter 114: Was she… wearing it again?

The night wind blew, causing the wine flags hanging on the lookout pole to flutter and make noise.

The smell of blood spread from inside the shop, and a restless barking of dogs could be heard from deep within the alley.

The disciples of Tianya Sect surrounded a table of wine, drawing their swords and facing off against more than ten black-clothed men.

The black-clothed men also held hidden weapons and poison, their nerves taut.

A woman in red wearing a butterfly mask showed no obvious expression on her face, but the whip clenched in her hand betrayed her emotions.

Blood Rain Pavilion had been following Su Tan for some time now, and she was determined to make her move this time.

Who would have thought that the Princess(Chu Shao) would find her way here?

The woman in red looked at Chu Shao, who was walking towards her, through the holes in her butterfly mask and her mind went blank for a moment.

Had Blood Rain Pavilion been infiltrated by the power of the Yan Mansion? But that couldn’t be possible.

Su Tan’s whereabouts were classified, and even those with slightly lower clearance wouldn’t know about it.

As the tension escalated, Chu Shao walked calmly around the broken pieces of porcelain on the ground and sat down, picking up the wine jug and pouring herself a cup of wine.

The sound of the wine pouring into the cup was very clear, like raindrops falling on the water’s surface.

Chu Shao’s face was adorned with a faint smile as she lifted the cup of wine and took a sip.

The black-clothed men held their sharp blades and watched her drink without making a sound, their hearts pounding like drums, not daring to relax for a moment.

After she finished drinking, Chu Shao put down the cup and smiled at the woman in red, saying, “Vice Master, you probably didn’t bring enough manpower today.”

The woman in red curved her lips and tossed her hair, revealing a variety of charms in her every move. “Princess, why are you so sure that I don’t have reinforcements behind me?”

“I dare not make unfounded conclusions,” said Chu Shao, her fingertips lingering on the edge of the cup, her tone gentle. “I just think that if the Vice Master had reinforcements behind her, your subordinates wouldn’t be so nervous at this moment.”

Upon hearing this, the black-clothed men trembled and their weapons shook in their hands.

Their already anxious hearts beat even faster.

The woman in red frowned slightly and looked at the ten or so subordinates standing beside her. She smiled and cursed, “Useless.”

The words were not particularly harsh, but the black-clothed men were scared white, almost wanting to drop their weapons and kneel down to beg for mercy.

The woman in red didn’t care about what her subordinates thought. She withdrew her gaze and knew that it would be difficult for her to explain to the Pavilion Master about what had happened today.

She narrowed her eyes and swept them over the Tianya Sect disciples standing beside Chu Shao.

After weighing the pros and cons in her mind, the woman in red knew that she couldn’t win.

After all, for something she was determined to get, she would never waste any extra manpower.

The only backup plan was to wait for the signal from Shen Lan, who was stationed far away.

But if Shen Lan were to switch sides at the last minute, being a former Tianya Sect disciple, wouldn’t it be a huge loss?

Thinking of this, the woman in red looked at Chu Shao sitting on the bench through the hole in her mask.

Then she looked at Su Tan, who had already broken free from her restraints and was holding several silver needles in her hand.

She smiled gently and signaled for her subordinates to put away their weapons.

She then picked up a cup from the wooden table next to her, poured a full cup of wine from the wine jug, drank it all, and placed the cup in front of Chu Shao.

She bowed slightly and saluted, “Princess, I will take my leave first.”

Chu Shao nodded, “Vice Master, take care.”

The woman in red smiled and turned around before stepping out of the threshold of the wine shop.

Before leaving, she turned to Chu Shao and said, “Princess, we have a long way to go.”

Chu Shao’s voice was clear and smooth, “Then we have a long way to go.”

After the crisis was resolved, Su Tan slowly put down the silver needles in her hand and looked anxiously at Chu Shao, “Princess, why did you come here? The capital is full of danger at night. You…” 

She wanted to say that it was too dangerous for a Princess to come out alone at night.

However, she forcibly swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth when she saw the group of martial artists in front of her, each holding a sword or knife.

If Blood Rain Pavilion was known for its mysterious and invisible methods of killing, it was undoubtedly the most feared organization in the martial arts world.

However, now it seemed that Chu Shao, the master of the organization, was also quite dangerous.

Chu Shao did not reply to Su Tan’s words, but only looked at Bai Lidan, who was sitting beside him, and smiled slightly. “Who are you?” She asked.

Bai Lidan answered with a bow, “To answer the princess’s question, I am ashamed to say that I am just an unknown doctor.”

Su Tan also spoke up, “Princess, he is a friend of mine.”

Chu Shao nodded, indicating that she understood. Then she turned to Liu Er and said, “Take them both away.”

Bai Lidan said, “…?”

….

The next day, at dawn.

Several maids from the Wenyue Palace entered and helped the  Prince Yan dress and prepare for the day.

Xiao Jin sat in her wheelchair, allowing the maids to comb and style her hair with a comb, but her dark circles were quite noticeable. She hadn’t slept well last night.

On the one hand, it was because it was difficult to sleep in an unfamiliar environment, and on the other hand, she couldn’t stop thinking about the portrait in the original owner’s book.

The combing was gentle and felt like a head massage, and Xiao Jin’s thoughts drifted to the portrait tucked in the book pages.

It was unlikely that the original owner knew Chu Shao, and even if she did, according to the original plot, Chu Shao would not have known her.

Then Xiao Jin thought of another suspicious point: before the rebellion, the original owner did have Juege investigate Chu Shao, but her motive was unknown, and hiding the portrait in the book with fish glue, alongside the city defense map, was too strange.

However, no matter how strange this was, it was not as strange as what Xiao Jin saw when she opened her eyes.

Three days had passed, and Xiao Jin’s vision had recovered.

She could clearly see that the person standing beside her, helping her dress, was not a maid but Xiao Shuang. 

This startled Xiao Jin, but she dared not move.

So Xiao Jin just stared ahead with empty eyes, pretending not to notice anything.

However, the grip on the wheelchair’s armrests tightened slightly.

After all, the person who had styled her hair was Xiao Shuang, the Princess Zhao Yang, who was basically on equal footing with the Emperor Qi.

With just one comb from Xiao Shuang’s hand, Xiao Jin instantly felt that her hair had gained value in an intangible way.

When the hairpin was secured, Xiao Shuang put down the comb, looked at the perfectly styled hair in the mirror, and sighed imperceptibly.

It seemed to be regretful that the black hair should have been adorned with the most exquisite jade hairpin.

However, no one knew Xiao Shuang’s true thoughts.

She just put the comb back in the dressing box and said to Xiao Jin, “The Imperial Palace has already summoned the physician last night, and he should be able to enter the palace today to treat your eyes.”

Only then did Xiao Jin hypocritically furrow her brows and say, “When did Auntie come? Jin’er didn’t know.”

“Just now,” Xiao Shuang’s tone was very calm. “When the palace saw you meditating with your eyes closed, they didn’t pass on the message.”

But she picked up a coat and draped it over Xiao Jin’s shoulders, “The capital is different from Qingzhou. At this time, it’s always a bit colder.”

Xiao Jin really couldn’t understand what Xiao Shuang was doing.

But even if she didn’t use her eyes to see, she could hear that the concern was probably not fake.

Unfortunately, she was not the original owner.

So she didn’t get moved by it and just picked up a white silk to cover her eyes and said, “Thank you, Auntie, for your concern.”

Xiao Shuang didn’t say anything more, just nodded and instructed the maids to prepare breakfast.

When everyone had left the room, Xiao Jin coughed twice and asked Xiao Shuang, “The physician you mentioned, is he a skilled doctor from far outside the capital?”

Xiao Shuang paused for a moment and replied calmly, “It’s Bai Lidan.”

“It’s really him,” Xiao Jin confirmed her guess.

However, she didn’t know whether the original owner knew Bai Lidan or not, so she could only vaguely reply.

Xiao Shuang held the wheelchair armrest and pushed Xiao Jin into the front hall while saying, “He was originally the most skilled physician in the Imperial Medical Bureau, but he retired and returned home a few years ago.”

Xiao Jin naturally knew who Bai Lidan was, but in front of Xiao Shuang, she still had to pretend to be nonchalant and chat casually.

However, she really knew very little about this person, so she only spoke in fragments.

As the conversation seemed to be coming to a close, Xiao Jin was about to change the topic when Xiao Shuang’s personal maid rushed over, holding up her skirt and whispering something into her ear.

At first, Xiao Shuang’s expression was calm as water, but after the maid whispered a few words, she furrowed her brows and coldly asked in front of Xiao Jin, “Didn’t you go to pick him up? How could a living person disappear like this?”

Seeing that Xiao Shuang didn’t avoid the topic, the maid knelt down and said, “I’m useless. Although I sent someone to pick him up, I didn’t see the shadow of the divine healer Bai Li…”

Xiao Shuang said, “Go look for him again, investigate where he has been in these past few days and who he has met with. In short, I want to see him alive or see his corpse.”

The maid lowered her head and replied respectfully.

From these few sentences, Xiao Jin probably understood that Bai Lidan had gone missing, and most likely not of his own volition, but due to human intervention.

After all, Bai Lidan was just a small imperial physician, how could he dare to refuse Xiao Shuang’s invitation?

However, Xiao Jin was still somewhat surprised and wondered who would dare to snatch someone away from under Xiao Shuang’s nose.

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Jin regained her composure. She lifted her head and saw a figure walking towards them from outside the Wenyue Hall, through a thin layer of white gauze.

She squinted her eyes, trying to see the person’s face, but the gauze made it difficult to get a clear view.

However, looking at the person’s figure, it seemed to resemble someone she was very familiar with.

Under Xiao Jin’s gaze, the person came straight towards them.

First, they knelt down to pay respects to Xiao Shuang and then greeted her, “The old servant pays respects to Her Highness Zhao Yang and Her Highness Prince Yan.”

Hearing this voice, Xiao Jin instantly knew who it was.

Xiao Shuang looked down at Old Zhang, the steward on the ground, for a moment, before saying indifferently, “You may rise.”

Only then did Old Zhang stand up and explain to Xiao Shuang the purpose of their visit, “Your Highness Zhao Yang, the Princess is asking if the carriage is ready outside the Wenyue Palace and has sent an old servant to bring Her Highness back.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Jin suddenly felt the air pressure around Xiao Shuang drop, as if it had plummeted to freezing point.

Xiao Shuang spoke slowly, “Since the Princess has come, why hasn’t she come to pay her respects to this palace? Is there no custom in the Yao Country that requires one to pay respects to one’s elders?”

Old Zhang was caught off guard by Xiao Shuang’s words and hesitated for a moment before saying, “This…Actually, Your Highness, the Princess did not come to the palace today and is not in the carriage now.”

Not only was Xiao Shuang stunned, but even Xiao Jin was a little surprised.

Chu Shao had not come?

For a moment, Xiao Jin didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

Once one begins to care about someone, one will inevitably have expectations.

Xiao Jin was very aware of this and felt a bit distressed because she should not have expectations, and the expectation should have been firmly in her own hands.

Once given to someone else, if the expectation falls short, one will inevitably blame oneself or others and feel even more depressed.

Of course, Xiao Jin was not a pretentious person.

She only vented her frustration online for a while and preempted Old Zhang before Xiao Shuang could speak, “Old Zhang, does the Princess have any important business this time?”

She took the initiative to ease the tension for Chu Shao.

After all, if there was no important business, there was a possibility of being criticized for not paying respects to the elders.

Old Zhang was quite clever and smiled as he arched his hand, “Your Highness, the Princess has found a highly skilled doctor for you outside the city and is waiting for you to return for a consultation.”

Xiao Jin was now truly surprised, “A doctor?” She couldn’t think of anyone else other than Su Tan.

Old Zhang nodded subtly and said, “Yes, the doctor who saw you before.”

“So it was her.” Xiao Jin was now almost certain that Chu Shao had really found Su Tan.

However, she doesn’t know how she managed to do it. After all, she thinks this matter is somewhat tricky.

Previously, she had thought about whether to go find Shen Shuang or Bai Zheng.

Moreover, she could also probe what Bai Zheng really meant because this person’s attitude was too ambiguous.

Through the clues provided by hiding notes in Chunshan’s emptiness and speaking for her at the banquet, Xiao Jin vaguely felt that perhaps the relationship between the Bai family and the Crown Prince was not as good as it seemed on the surface.

At least, Bai Zheng seemed to have not even touched on some important secrets of the Blood Rain Pavilion.

Xiao Jin was thinking about this, while on the other side, Xiao Shuang’s expression was not very good.

However, since Chu Shao had come up with a reason to show Xiao Jin her medical skills, she couldn’t use it as an excuse to keep her and could only try to keep her a bit longer: “You woke up early and haven’t had breakfast yet.”

However, this excuse was obviously not enough to keep Xiao Jin.

Xiao Jin coughed and clenched her fists, her lips slightly pale: “I won’t trouble Auntie, I’ll have my breakfast at the Yan Mansion.”

Xiao Shuang frowned, “You’ve been jostled all the way here, you must be hungry.”

“I’m not afraid of being hungry,” Xiao Jin’s face was still pale and unhealthy-looking, but a smile appeared on her lips.

Xiao Shuang looked at Xiao Jin quietly for a long time. 

Perhaps convinced by the other’s love brain, she no longer tried to keep her and simply told Old Zhang, the steward, “It’s foggy in the morning, so the carriage needs to go slower.”

 After getting on the carriage, Xiao Jin instructed the coachman, “Drive faster.”

Upon receiving the command from his master, the coachman flicked his whip, and the entire carriage jolted and shook in the morning mist.

Faint laughter could be heard from inside the carriage, as if very pleased.

In fact, after leaving the Wenyue Palace, no matter what Xiao Shuang thought, Xiao Jin did feel very comfortable all over her body.

She even lifted the curtain to look at the flowers through the white veil and felt that the peonies were soft and beautiful. She also found the clouds interesting as they rolled and unfolded.

When the carriage stopped, and Old Zhang pushed the wheelchair towards the inner courtyard of the Yan Mansion, Xiao Jin felt a trace of inexplicable tension in her heart.

It was just one day without seeing Chu Shao, but it felt like they had been apart for many months and were now reunited.

There is an extremely moving and somewhat exaggerated phrase from ancient times: “A day without seeing you is like three autumns.”

Fortunately, Xiao Jin is not a pretentious person.

She felt that the distance between her and Chu Shao was only separated by a bright pool of water and a season of morning mist.

It was just that when Xiao Jin took off the white veil covering her eyes…

It was only separated by a clear pond and a season of morning fog.

However, when Xiao Jin removed the white veil from her eyes, she felt a faint sense of nervousness as she looked towards the figure standing by the pond.

Finally, she understood the thinking of ancient people.The so-called “the width of the belt gradually increases, but there is no regret in the end. For him, one becomes thin and haggard.”

Just one night of separation made Xiao Jin feel that Chu Shao had become much thinner.

With these thoughts in mind, Xiao Jin gazed at Chu Shao’s back, and her voice unconsciously became gentle.

Her heart beat heavily, and she called out, “Shao’er.”

Perhaps the person heard her voice, and immediately turned around.

In that moment, Xiao Jin fell into silence as she looked at Su Tan.

She felt like she had been struck by lightning.

Su Tan had also collected her emotions and looked at Xiao Jin, puzzled. “Your Highness, do you need something?”

After a moment of silence, Xiao Jin moved her lips and said, “It’s nothing.”

“…Why are you wearing white clothes?”

Su Tan looked down at the white clothes she was wearing, even more puzzled. “The clothes of this commoner were stained yesterday, so I chose to wear one of my usual clothes.”

Xiao Jin remained silent for a long time, and wanted to struggle again. “I seem to have rarely seen Doctor Su wear this color of clothes before.”

In online novels, different characters always choose to wear clothes of different colors with great understanding, right? 

But why did Su Tan wear the color that was exclusively for Chu Shao?

Because Bai Lidan was taken to the dark room by Chu Shao for interrogation, Su Tan was already in a bad mood.

Now she looked at Xiao Jin coldly and felt that the other party was here to cause trouble.

So Su Tan smiled and spoke sharply, “Your highness, it seems that you haven’t seen me a few times… Moreover, can’t I wear white clothes?”

Xiao Jin was speechless and finally sighed, “It’s fine, you can wear it.”

After saying this, Xiao Jin turned her head and didn’t even hurry to ask about the whereabouts of the half-jade seal from Su Tan.

Instead, she called for Old Zhang and prepared to ask where Chu Shao was.

Who knew that as soon as her eyes swept over, she saw a person whose hair was all white, had an immortal temperament, and even didn’t look like a character that should appear in ancient melodramatic novels.

This person, Xiao Jin had not forgotten. So she was even more shocked. 

Liu Tianya, how could he appear in the Prince Yan’s mansion?

Was she… wearing it again?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translator’s note: Hmmm… It looks like there might be a plot twist later; perhaps it’s the butterfly effect. Ahem… Ms. Xiao Jin, it seems you have become attached to Chu Shao. Have you forgotten your purpose of returning home to enjoy modern life? Well, it’s fine if you want to stay within the book, but your life countdown will not stop, you know? Hmmm… Just stay there and don’t leave your wife! If you leave that world in the book, it will turn into chaos.

TO BE CONTINUE…