The time of guard duty had arrived, and the sky over the city was turning dark.
The people of Qingzhou had a habit of visiting the night market.
Although the night watchman had already sounded the gong several times, the streets outside were still brightly lit, no different from during the daytime.
In a large mansion on the outskirts of the city.
The house was spacious, but it seemed that not many people lived there, making it especially empty and quiet.
Tonight, because a carriage had quietly turned into the courtyard after driving through a secluded alley, the mansion became even quieter.
It was so quiet that one could even hear the chirping of birds and insects, and the rustling of leaves was very clear.
Actually, the person in the carriage was not ostentatious.
However, wherever this person went in Qi Country, the place would be as quiet as a chicken, and everyone would kneel down.
The Crown Prince Xiao Yu looked at the maid who was bowing to him, and he seemed to be in a good mood, so he nodded and said, “You may rise.”
This was the most significant difference between him and the fourth prince.
Even if Xiao Yi was in a very good mood, he would only say “rise” to the servants while maintaining his status.
However, as the Crown Prince of Qi Country, Xiao Yu could kindly say “you may rise” to the servants without seeming insincere, which was why he was loved by the people.
Xiao Jin used her disabled legs as a reasonable excuse not to go to the gate of the mansion to greet the prince.
So she was now standing on the tower, observing everything.
As she watched, she thought to herself: the male lead’s character setting is indeed much better than the fourth prince’s.
No wonder Chu Shao ultimately chose the Crown Prince instead of the second male lead who was too stupid to be on stage.
If Crown Prince Xiao Yu becomes the emperor in the end, it wouldn’t be a bad thing. After all, the most important thing is that he is a wise ruler if he really becomes the emperor.
Xiao Jin is just an outsider who didn’t have to interfere with the internal affairs of Qi Country and didn’t care about who owned that seat.
–But now someone wants to kill her, and not just one person.
She will not allow anyone who wants to kill her to sit on that throne.
Although Xiao Jin only needs to stay here for a year, she is well aware that even if she leaves, the order of this world will still continue.
This means that the fate of the entire Yan Mansion is tied to her. The decision she makes now will affect the future outcome of many people.
If she were alone, Xiao Jin could do whatever she wanted. But now that she has met many people, she has some personal feelings.
She doesn’t want these people to die, she wants the people around her to live well.
Considering this, Xiao Jin is somewhat distressed.
If the Crown Prince wants to kill her, the Fourth Prince wants to kill her, and the Princess Zhao Yang also wants to kill her…
Then what should she do?
Chu Shao looked at the slight frown on Xiao Jin’s face.
Her facial features were very beautiful, especially when she frowned. She couldn’t help but softly ask, “Your highness, do you want to kill the Crown Prince?”
Xiao Jin suddenly came back to her senses, looking as if she had been frightened.
If she wasn’t sitting in a wheelchair, she might have directly covered Chu Shao’s mouth.
After looking around and finding no one, Xiao Jin spoke in a slow voice, “Princess, you can’t say such things.”
After all, if someone else heard it, it would be a sure death sentence. Chu Shao’s lip, where she had bitten it, had stopped bleeding. She looked at Xiao Jin’s increasingly furrowed brow, but her smile grew stronger.
She smiled and answered softly, “I didn’t mean to say such words. I just thought that when I saw Your Highness just now, perhaps you had such thoughts in your expression, so I asked.”
“…”
Xiao Jin was completely speechless. After a while, she heard footsteps gradually coming up the stairs, and whispered to Chu Shao, “Don’t mention this again, be careful of walls having ears.”
Chu Shao was slightly surprised, and smiled, “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”
Xiao Jin estimated that the Crown Prince was about to come up, so she sat up straight and put on a serious expression as if meeting a superior. Her attitude was very proper, but it couldn’t stop Chu Shao from asking softly, “Since Your Highness asked me to be careful of walls having ears, am I standing with you now?”
Xiao Jin was stunned, because this sentence had two meanings. One was standing together in position, and the other was being united psychologically. To demonstrate the unbreakable oath they made, Xiao Jin nodded, “We are standing together.”
She also reminded Chu Shao that they had made a pledge: “Therefore, this prince and the princess share the same fate, and our destinies are intertwined.”
…
The Crown Prince ascended the stairs and the first thing he saw was this scene.Â
He looked at Xiao Jin’s faint smile and paused for a moment, as if he was a little surprised.
In fact, he should indeed feel surprised.
Because even Xiao Jin herself didn’t realize that she was smiling when she said those words.
Of course, what the crown prince saw next was Chu Shao, dressed in light reddish clothes.
Although he had already met this person twice before, and had seen many beauties, his gaze still unconsciously lingered for a moment.
Perhaps it was because the teardrop mole under Chu Shao’s eye was too bright, the crown prince always felt that the other person’s lips were redder than usual.
But staring at the Prince Yan Wife for so long was not very polite.
So the crown prince moved his gaze away and turned to chat with Xiao Jin: “It’s been a month since we last met, and it seems that your complexion has improved a lot, and your cough should have improved too.”
At this point, the crown prince smiled gently.
Then he seemed to remember something and asked, “A while ago, I sent some medicine, I wonder if the Third Brother has used it?”
Xiao Jin answered dutifully that she had used it and was in good health.
In fact, she had long since passed the medicine that the prince sent to Su Tan.
After all, she didn’t dare to use medicine sent by the male lead.
However, the crown prince seemed not to notice Xiao Jin’s rather indifferent attitude, and still chatted with her with a smile.
It wasn’t until they had nothing more to talk about that he suddenly said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a drink with the Third Brother. The last time we drank was on the eve of your expedition to Yao Country, also in March, but it was snowing in the capital and the weather was not as good as in Qingzhou.”
Xiao Jin frowned imperceptibly and thought to herself, “What does it have to do with me if you drank with the original owner? “
However, she still couldn’t show it on the surface and nodded, “The climate in Qingzhou is indeed very good.”
She pretended not to understand the crown prince’s hint of inviting her to drink.
Little did she know that the crown prince, who was known for his deep thoughts, would be so straightforward at this moment: “Third brother, since there is nothing to do now, let me accompany you for a drink.”
This implied that he had something to say to Xiao Jin.
Moreover, he used a declarative sentence, leaving no room for her to refuse.
Xiao Jin looked at the crown prince’s gentle smile and felt that his smile was as fake as Chu Shao’s.
The only difference was that Chu Shao’s smile was perfunctory and indifferent to everything, while the male lead seemed to be hiding something behind his smile.
Although Xiao Jin didn’t want to admit it, in these respects, the crown prince and Chu Shao seemed to be more suitable for each other.
But just thinking about this, she suddenly felt a little unconvinced.
Xiao Jin firmly believed that there would be no good result between two white-cut black characters.
Besides, the original novel was supposed to be a female lead story, and Chu Shao alone was enough to be the male lead. Why did they need a background male lead?
Thinking of this, she originally had no desire to drink, but now she was stimulated by some strange desire to win or lose.
Xiao Jin replied calmly, “If the Crown Prince invites, how could I not accompany him?”
The Crown Prince smiled slightly, about to order his attendants to bring out food and drinks, but unexpectedly, Chu Shao asked softly, “Your Highness, I wonder if there is also a cup of wine for me tonight?”
Xiao Jin and the Crown Prince were both stunned.
Everyone could see that the Crown Prince had only invited Xiao Jin, clearly wanting to speak with her alone.
So Chu Shao’s question at this time was a bit inappropriate.
Chu Shao had a faint smile on her lips, seemingly not thinking that her question was impolite.
Because she also had a strange desire for victory or defeat in her heart.
She didn’t want Xiao Jin and the Crown Prince to drink together.
The Crown Prince looked into Chu Shao’s eyes and laughed after a moment, “We are all family, so of course, there is wine for our imperial siblings.”
“…”
Xiao Jin was silenced by the Crown Prince’s use of “family”.
However, Chu Shao didn’t find anything awkward about it and smiled, “Thank you, Your Highness.”
The Crown Prince also smiled, “You’re welcome, imperial siblings.”
After exchanging fake smiles with each other, the three of them moved to the backyard.
Sitting at the stone table, a maid brought out several dishes, followed by a pot of clear wine.
The moon was light and the willows were gentle, quite poetic.
But listening to the awkward conversation between Chu Shao and the Crown Prince, Xiao Jin sat on the side, feeling somewhat redundant.
This banquet seemed to be related to her, but also seemed to have little to do with her.
The Crown Prince drank his wine with a good mood and chatted casually with Chu Shao about the Qingzhou Tower, “Have our imperial siblings ever climbed Qingzhou Tower with the Third Prince? The tower is quite famous in the capital now, even Father Emperor has heard of it.”
Chu Shao laughed, “I have climbed that tower, and the scenery is indeed beautiful, but it is not as moving as the description in that article.”
This statement was quite reasonable.
After all, the tower had not yet been fully repaired, but the article had already vividly depicted it.
It could be said that the governor Xu used Xiao Jin’s description to repair it in order to match the travelogue, so it was naturally impossible to surpass the words in the article.
Xiao Jin sat on the side and felt that chatting about these things was really boring.
Because she copied the article, and the “scholar” who wrote the article was also someone she found to impersonate.
Even the rumors that spread throughout the city were all promoted by her using her secret agents.
At this moment, she stood over everything from a God’s-eye view.
Boring, it was really boring.
Just when Xiao Jin felt bored, a sudden and mournful whistle sounded outside the courtyard.
This sound was extremely eerie.
It sliced through the sky and the heavy scent of wine in the night breeze.
Like a hangover cure, it instantly sobered up the three people sitting around the stone table.
None of the three present were drunk.
So they could clearly see a hidden arrow.
An arrow aimed at Xiao Jin’s face.
The original owner’s martial arts were not weak, on the contrary, they were quite strong.
Therefore, in Xiao Jin’s eyes, the speed of that arrow was not considered fast, and if it weren’t for her legs being unable to move, she could easily dodge it.
But at this moment, Xiao Jin was sitting in a wheelchair.
So in the instant the hidden arrow shot towards her face, she quickly drew a short blade from her boot.
The tip of the blade gleamed with a cold light, reflecting Xiao Jin’s calm and almost cold expression.
The short blade was strong enough to cut through iron like mud, obviously capable of severing the hidden arrow.
However, someone was faster than Xiao Jin.
In her expectation, the arrow would have been cut by her short blade.
But before her short blade could reach the arrow, a shallow reddish figure appeared in front of her.
Black hair fluttered and lightly brushed against the glinting blade.
The blade cut off a few strands of hair.
Xiao Jin widened her eyes slightly, looking at Chu Shao standing in front of her.
She was not shocked by Chu Shao’s faster movement, but because…
Chu Shao’s lips still held a smile.
She watched the crown prince who was slower than her in drawing his sword and coming to Xiao Jin’s aid, and her inner joy overflowed onto her face.
The crown prince’s surprise pleased her.
It meant that she had won.
Chu Shao smiled, slowly loosened her grip, and the tightly clasped feather arrow fell from her palm.
Her fingers were full of blood.
The blood dripped onto the stone slab on the ground, creating a thick scar as dark as the night.
She turned around, gently lifted her leg, and crushed the arrow stained with blood with her boot.
Another mournful whistle sounded.
Chu Shao lowered her gaze and looked at Xiao Jin, who was sitting in a wheelchair, gently covering the other’s fingers with her own. Although Xiao Jin’s fingers were cold, the blood in Chu Shao’s palm still carried a warmth.
Chu Shao should have been excited about dirtying those pale hands with her own blood. However, she didn’t have too much time to savor the moment.
Chu Shao looked at Xiao Jin’s not-so-calm eyes, then discreetly opened the other’s fingers. She took the short blade and lightly explained, “It seems that the person who came this time is quite powerful, so I need to focus more.”
“But you don’t have to worry,” Chu Shao’s voice was gentle, and she softly reassured Xiao Jin, “The more powerful the person who comes, the happier I am.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s note: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or watered me during 23:58:54~23:59:34 on March 21, 2022 to March 22, 2022.
Translator’s note: Chu Shao!, Protect your wife!!.
TO BE CONTINUE…
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