Zhou Yunxi did not utter a word as Baoyi rattled on endlessly.
Feeling somewhat dispirited, Baoyi said: "Shizi, you"re absurd, how could you have hidden such an important matter from me!"
Besides, he knew that she had misunderstood and did not try to explain —— inserting green onion into the pig"s nose and pretending it"s an elephant?!
Zhou Yunxi suddenly halted in his steps and looked at her with a blank expression: "Is that all you wanted to ask?"
First it"s Lu Qingluo, now it"s Zhou Yuncheng. His shadow guard is constantly thinking about others, does she even have him in her heart!
Zhou Shizi was immediately in a bad mood.
Baoyi hurried to curry his favour: "I was…worried that Shizi will be at a disadvantage. I"m injured and can"t help with much but I can offer ideas!"
At a speed that was visible to the naked eye, Zhou Shizi"s eyes were covered with a layer of disdain.
"Zhou Yuncheng and I have decided to join hands temporarily to deal with Zhou Yunmu."
The Second Prince Zhou Yunmu usually had a harmless appearance. Even the Emperor thought that he really didn"t have any ambition for the throne. Zhou Shizi had been busy fighting with the Third Prince and had ignored this person. It wasn"t until Baoyi had gotten injured that he and Zhou Yuncheng were alerted and conducted secret investigations on all matters relating to Zhou Yunmu. Only then did they discover that for the past few years, the Second Prince had been hiding his capabilities and biding his time, ama.s.sing his wealth in secret[1] and bribing officials. He had already bought over many connections in the royal court and among them, there was no lack of people in the Duan Qinw.a.n.g Household and among the Third Prince"s men. Most dreadfully, the emperor had gradually become resentful of the Third Prince"s high-profile recently but had no knowledge of the Second Prince"s wild ambitions. On the contrary, he had become more trusting towards the Second Prince. If they left the Second Prince to continue as he wished, Zhou Shizi and the Third Prince would certainly fall into disadvantageous circ.u.mstances.
On the other hand, Lu Qingluo"s appearance had also given Zhou Shizi an opportunity. He promised Zhou Yuncheng that after everything was over, he would give Lu Qingluo a status that was good enough for her to marry into the Third Prince"s Household with dignity. Whether she became his wife or concubine would be entirely up to him. Zhou Yuncheng didn"t believe him at first. It wasn"t until Lu Qingluo was standing in front of him that he had agreed to the plan.
After hearing everything, Baoyi had mixed feelings.
This was already the best conclusion she could"ve hoped for.
With Zhou Yunxi"s ruthlessness plus Zhou Yuncheng"s determination, when the two men join hands, the Second Prince will definitely be in big trouble and a double kill would be a pipe dream for him. Moreover, in this world, the two didn"t go head to head because of the female lead"s death and the Second Prince had revealed his actual strength earlier. It"ll get busy from now on.
It"s just that she hadn"t thought that Zhou Yunxi would be able to do this.
"Did you really let Lu Qingluo go? Just like that?" Baoyi still felt somewhat uneasy. This was probably the att.i.tude a current girlfriend would have towards the ex-girlfriend, constantly worried that there"ll still be traces in her boyfriend"s heart.
"Of course not." Zhou Shizi replied sinisterly, "If I don"t make use of Lu Qingluo to take advantage of Zhou Yuncheng, how would I be worthy of this chess game?"
Baoyi couldn"t help her laughter.
That"s right, this is that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Shizi.
Seeing Baoyi laugh with contempt, Zhou Yunxi wasn"t very happy: "What do you think?"
"Me?" Baoyi blinked her eyes, looking innocent and pitiful. "What about me?"
She had been so well-behaved, not stirring up an earth-shaking trouble even though she was jealous. She"s such a rational and intelligent woman.
"You——" once Baoyi became gentle, Zhou Shizi lost the imposing manner he had yesterday and he actually found it difficult to form words with his mouth. "Are you willing to……"
Seeing that Zhou Shizi had held back enough, Baoyi put on an act and said: "Oh. That thing?"
Baoyi saw Zhou Yunxi"s face tense as he pretended to be indifferent and uncaring but that revealed his nervousness even more, causing her heart to feel warm.
She then dry coughed before saying: "I am not willing."
Zhou Yunxi"s face was suddenly gloomy.
Not waiting for Zhou Shizi to raise any questions, Baoyi said seriously: "Shizi"s kindness, shuxia is honoured but I already have a beloved."
"Who is it?" Zhou Yunxi"s eyes revealed murderous intent.
With one glance, it is obvious that Zhou Shizi had already figured out a hundred and eight ways to kill his rival. Baoyi wanted to laugh.
"I don"t know, I don"t even know who he is." Baoyi said, the joking expression gradually disappearing as she narrated the matter that had been weighing on her mind for many years. "That person has been in my heart for a long time but I can"t remember how he looks like, until I saw you, Zhou Yunxi."
This was the first time Baoyi called his name, Zhou Yunxi"s heart tensed.
Baoyi raised her hand and gently stroked his face: "The one I"m in love with, he resembles you, his eyebrows, his eyes, his nose and his mouth are all like yours. The both of you are too alike, to the point that I can hardly resist. But there"s only one point that"s different……"
Baoyi lowered her eyes, emphasizing every word and sentence: "That person likes me very much, he cares about me, loves me and will never get angry at me. There is no one else in his eyes, only me. In his heart, I am irreplaceable."
Once she woke up from that dream, her memory was already a blank. As she drifted along countless s.p.a.ces and played a variety of roles, she gradually forgot herself, leaving only one clue "Huo Baoyi".
But it has been a really long time, to the point that she herself wasn"t certain anymore. For a long time, she had almost given up. If it weren"t for this face that stirred her memories, she would"ve started to doubt whether this person existed? Or if everything was just her delusion? Was it because she was too lonely and had fantasised that someone loved her just as she loved him?
Now this person was in front of her.
Since the heavens had given her this opportunity, why shouldn"t she grab it?
It wasn"t like there hadn"t been such a precedent in the past. An executor fell in love with the target and gave up the ident.i.ty of "executive officer" to stay in that moment as an ordinary person. It"s just that their privileges and original timeline, as well as their original ident.i.ty will all be withdrawn.
Baoyi heard that the previous No.1 gave up his ident.i.ty during a mission, staying in the derivative s.p.a.ce for a woman.
Baoyi lifted her head to look into Zhou Yunxi"s deep and inquiring eyes, as though uncertain, but more towards herself: "Zhou Yunxi……are you that person?"
Zhou Yunxi caught her hand, grasping it in the centre of his palm and putting it on the corner of his lips. All of a sudden, with a forceful pull, Baoyi fell into his embrace.
That man"s low voice rang beside her ear, warm, mellow and full.
"If you don"t try, how would you know that I"m not?"
Hearing this, Baoyi smiled, looking as beautiful as a flower.
There is only one principle in this world: Whatever you desire, you"ll naturally have to use whatever you have in exchange for it.
Zhou Yunxi, I give you my heart, you have to remember what you"ve said, your heart is mine.
Baoyi had been living a comfortable life recently. Zhou Shizi was probably in a good mood too as he was emitting less of an angry aura, even occasionally smiling at the flowers and plants, scaring the gardener.
He was probably trying really hard to change, doing like Baoyi had mentioned, doting on her and treating her well. Zhou Yunxi was originally one who did whatever he wanted with no regard for others but now that he had put her in his heart, he cared about everything, becoming like a different person from his past self. Baoyi had also stopped pretending, gradually revealing her true nature and giving them a chance to know each other.
They were like a pair of newly confessed sweethearts, carefully guarding these emotions that came out of nowhere; yet they were also like an old couple who had been together for many years, completely comfortable with each other.
Until now, Baoyi still couldn"t understand when Zhou Yunxi"s feelings for her began. Unable to hold it in, she questioned him about it and Zhou Shizi just brushed it off with a snort. In the end, he couldn"t resist her pestering and admitted awkwardly: "Probably the day you fell from the beam."
The water in her eyes were glossy and pitiful, looking like an abandoned puppy and slamming into his heart with one gaze. And she still said that she hadn"t become arrogant from receiving his favour.
Like a refutation, also like a complaint.
Zhou Shizi felt that something was different. He seems to be getting acquainted with this little shadow guard for the first time, even though she had been with him for many years. He wanted to pamper her and see if she would really become "spoiled". After that, Baoyi had gotten injured and he was suddenly afraid. For all these years, he had become accustomed to Thirteen"s existence and had thought about the possibility of Thirteen dying and how he would find a replacement. However, when Baoyi almost died right in front of him, he realised that all the alternative "Thirteen" could not be interchanged with "Baoyi".
He wasn"t willing at all, not willing for someone else to follow beside him, not willing to be unable to see her when he turned around.
His feelings probably began to change from that point.
It was no longer just a moment"s excitement, no longer just for fun. Before he knew it, he had became serious.
Baoyi had actually felt somewhat overwhelmed, all along thinking that she had benefited from being in Shadowguard Thirteen"s body and had Thirteen to thank for everything but unexpectedly, Zhou Yunxi had sensed that their souls were different.
Naturally, her heart was at peace and she had a brilliant smile on her face.
Of course, besides her romance, Baoyi hadn"t forgotten about business.
Since she has decided to stay, she didn"t have to worry about the Third Prince and female lead"s issue. Like Zhou Shizi had said, Lu Qingluo was in their hands, how could he let go of this opportunity to strike Zhou Yuncheng? In the future, she still had to rely on this b.a.s.t.a.r.d Shizi to live the rest of her days.
Baoyi"s role as an executive officer was only to bring Lu Qingluo and the Third Prince together. There was no mention of helping the Third Prince to ascend the throne. One cannot have their cake and eat it, the choice must be made between power and beauty. Zhou Yuncheng"s love life was already doing so well, so how about giving the career to her b.a.s.t.a.r.d Shizi?
Therefore, Baoyi completely transformed into the supporting female, the vicious kind that paired up with the equally vicious supporting male. Together with Zhou Shizi, they plotted how to suppress the Third Prince after they were done using the female lead.
After all, Zhou Yuncheng was the male lead and wasn"t someone that would be easy to deal with. Now that they had a common enemy, and with Lu Qingluo in their hands, after they had dealt with the Second Prince, it would be time for Zhou Shizi and the Third Prince to PK. As for the odds of success, Zhou Yuncheng"s status gave him an advantage but the Duanw.a.n.g Household has the support of the North"s army and when it comes to fire power, he might not necessarily lose.
As such, to increase Zhou Yunxi"s chances of winning, they needed to make early preparations.
Watching his shadowguard run around, giving one stupid idea after another, looking more proactive than him, the corner of Zhou Shizi"s lip twitched: "Has Zhou Yuncheng offended you before?"
He had never thought about it, where did this hatred for Zhou Yuncheng come from? Counting the restaurant incident, Zhou Yuncheng had even saved her.
Baoyi was startled: "No, but we have to plan for our future."
She said "we" and "our future", Zhou Yunxi involuntarily smiled.
In fact, he also had concerns about Baoyi"s worry.
Even though he had the t.i.tle of Duan Qinw.a.n.g Shizi, he was well aware of how it came to be. Now that Duan Qinw.a.n.g was old, it won"t be long before he became the new Duan Qinw.a.n.g and gained control of the hearts and lifeblood of the lands in the North. Will the emperor let him return to the North then? Even if the emperor was willing, will the other princes that were eyeing the throne be willing? Who would want to face such a strong threat when they ascended the throne in the future?
Who would allow someone else to snore at their bedside.
Outsiders only knew that he was at odds with the Third Prince because of personal disputes. However, his childhood experiences caused Zhou Yunxi to be more aware of crisis than his peers and he had thought deep and far; he had known for a long time, that his ultimate opponent would definitely be the Third Prince, Zhou Yuncheng.
It"s just that he didn"t want Baoyi to become involved with all these things.
"I had thought that you would stop me."
Duan Qinw.a.n.g had previously said that a hero"s home was a place he could find solace. Woman always long for a comfortable environment with their husband"s company and would bind the man"s soul with love, stopping his ambition from expanding and roaming wilfully.
He knew that his Baoyi wasn"t like other woman but had thought that at most, she would just remain silent, not racking her brain to come up with a strategy like she was doing now.
"Why would I stop you?" Baoyi asked as she tidied the papers that were scattered on the table. As if surprised that he would even have that thought.
Zhou Yunxi"s eyes dimmed slightly: "What I"m planning to do is very dangerous after all. If I lose……"
In the past, he was alone and could risk everything; now that his heart worried for her, he would inevitably be more cautious.
Baoyi smiled and said: "What"s there to be afraid of? Losing will just result in death. I"ll be with you, it"s no big deal."
Zhou Yunxi grabbed Baoyi"s hand and stroked it gently: "That won"t happen, I can"t bear it."
Such sweet words, Baoyi smiled and moved closer to him, wanting to reward the scoundrel Shizi with a kiss but she faintly heard him say: "We"ve only had a few days of happiness, I can"t bear to die."
"……"
Get lost!
Slag is slag!
She had thought that he was reluctant to leave her!
(╯‵□")╯︵┻━┻
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The author has something to say:
Thank you ~
Baoyi: Official, I want to change guys, this one has such a low EQ.
Zhou Shizi: ……Look below.
Official: ……When I don"t dare to speak, I"ll pretend to be enjoying the view.
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Translator: Iluska
Proofreader & Editor: Sugakookie
1. 敛财 (lián cái) by unfair means, referring to corrupt officials↩
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