Baoyi had considered the dangerous nature of schemes in the royal court and seizing the throne, but she also knew that even without Zhou Yunxi’s own ambitions, the heavens hadn’t given him many other choices.
Duan Qinwang had long made the decision to abandon this son of his and if he hadn’t been pressured by the emperor, he would’ve already removed Zhou Yunxi’s title of shizi. That was because after Duan Qinwang’s death, Zhou Yunxi would immediately become the new master of the Northern lands and he couldn’t trust a son that had been raised by the emperor. As for the emperor, he was looking forward to the day that Zhou Yunxi would succeed Duan Qinwang’s borderlands while also keeping his guard up for fear that he harboured sinister intentions.
No matter who he sided with, Zhou Yunxi wouldn’t meet with a good end.
All in all, if Zhou Yunxi didn’t rebel, there really wasn’t any other path that he could take.
It was exactly because Baoyi had long been clear on this point that she had been earnestly scheming for him.
It was fortunate that as of now, Zhou shizi and the Third Prince’s plan was proceeding smoothly.
These two people, one was crafty, one was sly, one was vicious and scheming, one was full of tricks, and they quickly managed to catch Zhou Yunmu off guard. Previously, Zhou shizi had purposely made use of Lu Qingluo to create the impression that they were at odds with each other because of a woman. After Zhou Yunmu fell for their trick, they suddenly turned around and directed their attack at him, beating down this common enemy together.
The second prince’s secret activities were suddenly made public and the discerning courtiers quickly realised the situation. When a wall is about to collapse, everybody gives it a shove and memorials requesting that the second prince be impeached fell before the imperial table like snowflakes. The emperor flew into a rage in court and scolded the second prince for his lack of morals and his treachery, took away all his privileges and placed him under house arrest.
At this point, they’ve won initial success with their plan against the second prince but they’ve also exposed the fact that Zhou shizi and the third prince had joined hands. As such, Zhou Yuncheng didn’t need to sneak around to meet with his beloved anymore.
Lu Qingluo’s current status was also completely different. Zhou Yunxi had secretly gotten someone to fabricate a new identity for her and taken her in as his adoptive younger sister. Outsiders only knew that she was the daughter that Duan Qinwang had with an old acquaintance and that she’d been wandering around outside for many years and Zhou shizi had taken her in on account of his father’s devotion.
Even though this identity was still slightly below the third prince’s status, they hadn’t held any hope for the third prince’s marriage to be of any benefit to them and although this status wasn’t high, it wasn’t very low either. If Zhou Yuncheng really wanted her to be his wife and withstood a bit more pressure, it wasn’t impossible.
Baoyi was the one who had come up with this idea.
If the male lead couldn’t even withstand the pressure from a difference in status, he should just give up his position to her bastard shizi.
With the third prince’s intelligence, he had already seen through her shenanigans but he had no other choice because Lu Qingluo was in Zhou shizi’s hands. What angered him the most was that every time he visited, he would see Zhou shizi and his little shadow guard show affection for each other like there was no one else around.
Say, when did these two people get together?
Shadow guard Thirteen had followed Zhou Yunxi ever since he entered the capital. If something were to happen between these two, it would’ve happened a long time ago. But now, it was like they’d had a sudden change and stuck together like conjoined twins.
He was clearly the one who had first fallen passionately in love okay? These two were stealing the show!
Things continued in this state for about two months but just as Baoyi and the rest thought that the traps had been laid and that it was time to deliver the killing blow to the second prince, they received an alarming piece of news. At a critical point in the execution of their plan, it was called off.
Their mole had gone missing.
A few days later, the third prince’s men found the scout’s body in the city’s moat.
It was clear that their mole had slipped up. For something to have happened at a juncture where things were least likely to go wrong, there was only one possibility in everyone’s mind.
There was a traitor amongst them.
Zhou shizi and the third prince’s alliance was done with the female lead Lu Qingluo as a medium and with Baoyi working behind the scenes to push things forward. The two influential parties had no relations and with this incident, their alliance had no stability to speak of and they started to become suspicious of each other almost immediately.
The third prince suspected that Zhou shizi had made use of Lu Qingluo to entice him into a fake cooperation and that he was actually trying to incite conflict between him and the second prince so that he can gain an advantage; Zhou Yunxi suspected that the third prince wasn’t sincere in wanting to cooperate, believing that he had purposely leaked the information to his second brother because the dead scout was Zhou shizi’s man and the body had been found by the third prince’s men.
Seeing that their alliance was in jeopardy, Baoyi could only start with Lu Qingluo.
Lu Qingluo had always treated Baoyi as her benefactor, to the point that it wouldn’t be too much to say that she was totally devoted to her. So without the least bit of hesitation, Lu Qingluo sided with Baoyi before she even said anything, even taking the initiative to advise the third prince.
Her actions made the third prince feel even more crushed and inevitably, he even started to suspect Lu Qingluo, thinking it possible that she could be Zhou shizi’s beauty trap. As his jealousy mounted, the third prince spoke out of turn and Lu Qingluo felt dejected to learn that her beloved suspected her, leading to them parting on bad terms.
This was something that Baoyi was most unwilling to see. It was true that she wanted to help Zhou shizi but if she wanted to remain in this time and space, she couldn’t fail her mission. So Baoyi was in low-spirits as she paced up and down Zhou shizi’s room agitatedly.
She believed that the third prince wasn’t behind what had happened, leaving her with only one possibility.
There was a mole in Duan Qinwang’s residence.
Who could it be?
As Baoyi paced to and fro, Zhou Yunxi finally couldn’t take it and pulled her into his arms.
“Why are you panicking? We still don’t know who the ultimate winner will be, do you think that I’ll lose?”
Baoyi looked into Zhou Yunxi’s eyes and didn’t tell him about her worries, keeping them in her heart. In the original story, Zhou Yunxi had lost while Zhou Yuncheng also didn’t get a happy ending. Was the second prince really destined to defeat them both again?
No way! There’s absolutely no way!
Baoyi stayed quiet for awhile before saying: “I’m not worried that you’ll lose, I’m worried about you. I’m worried that you’ll be in an unfavourable situation and I want to do something for you.”
Zhou shizi was slightly surprised but his expression was warm and gentle: “We’ve been in the capital for so many years. What storm have we not weathered? What’s going on?”
Because I’m not the Thirteen from before and have no idea about those stories.
Baoyi couldn’t speak of her difficulties.
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Seeing Baoyi in low spirits, Zhou Yunxi suddenly said: “Actually……there’s something that you can do.”
Hearing this, Baoyi immediately became serious: “Do you have a plan? Tell me, I’ll get it done!”
To her surprise, Zhou Yunxi laughed and with his head lowered, he played with her long and slender fingers, saying: “Let’s get married.”
Baoyi was stunned and looked up at him, not daring to believe her ears.
He just……said what?
Zhou Yunxi had no intention of repeating himself and only fixed his eyes on her, not allowing her to escape, as if he wouldn’t drop the matter until he got an answer.
Baoyi had spent a great deal of energy before she managed to shift her gaze away, mumbling: “I think……is this a little too quick? Besides, the enemy is now before us and it isn’t the time to think about these matters, plus we were discussing proper matters!”
Zhou shizi tilted his head indifferently: “Whatever I talk about is proper matter.”
A suspicion suddenly came over him: “Could it be that you don’t wish to marry me?”
This conjecture instantly made Zhou shizi feel unhappy.
Baoyi paused and remained silent for awhile: “It’s not a problem of whether I want to or not.”
With her current identity, wanting to remain with Zhou Yunxi rightfully was a fantasy. However, Baoyi would also never accept the title of a concubine and would rather stay by his side without a title. Like this, she’d at least be able to tell herself that they were only dating. Of course, she had no intention of letting Zhou Yunxi marry someone else and if he dared to two-time her, she had ten thousand ways of punishing him, although the highest possibility was that……she would most probably change her mind and choose to leave.
Once the enforcer leaves, the space will automatically generate a duplicate of the enforcer. However, this duplicate wouldn’t be an actual living being and would be similar to a programme, a puppet that would only act as per the imputed instructions. This kind of immature technique was widely used by enforcers that liked to complete their mission by wooing the characters. Their sole purpose was to complete the mission and they had no regard for the effectiveness of the duplicate, throwing some worlds into chaos once the enforcer left.
Baoyi had an extreme dislike for this kind of behaviour.
Do they think people are idiots?
If one is unable to even differentiate between the real and fake, then it isn’t a love that is carved in one’s bones and engraved in one’s heart.
Which was why she had never let her emotions carry her away during a mission and if she fell in love, she’d never choose to deceive —— unless if the other party betrayed her first.
Seeing the myriad of expressions that crossed Baoyi’s face, Zhou shizi’s face fell: “What are you thinking about?”
Baoyi snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head.
“Lies.” Zhou shizi’s eyes blazed dangerously, “Are you thinking about leaving me?”
Zhou Yunxi couldn’t pinpoint it but just now, at least for a second, he felt that a terrible idea had crossed his little shadow guard’s mind. This idea was something that he feared, and even, was something that he was powerless to stop.
It was like he had finally obtained the most valuable treasure that he had searched for all his life but it could disappear at any time. Zhou Yunxi didn’t know where this feeling came from but recently, this uneasiness would come to his mind time and again, leaving him feeling out of sorts. That was also why he had come up with the idea of marriage.
If he played fair and placed her by his side in a lawful manner, would he be at ease?
Baoyi was surprised at Zhou Yunxi’s sensitivity and instinctively tried to cover up: “No, I ——”
Zhou shizi suddenly secured Baoyi in his embrace: “You can’t! Don’t even think about it. In this life, the next life, the next next life, don’t ever think about leaving me!”
Her body was wrapped securely, to the point that it even felt like her heart was in that person’s hands. Baoyi felt an ache arose from the burning warmth of his hand and an indescribable anguish poured forth in heart. She felt rueful for his sensitivity, felt sorry for making him uneasy.
She seemed to have understood Zhou Yunxi’s determination to marry her.
“Zhou Yunxi……” With both hands, she slowly grabbed onto that person’s back, saying softly: “I won’t leave, I’ll remain by your side.”
Even if he was a scoundrel and a bastard, a rebellious subject that wanted to wreck the country and cause suffering to the people, or destroy the heavens and earth, even if he fell into an abyss and is doomed to eternal damnation, she’ll accompany him. As long as he didn’t forget the words he had spoken today.
The different feelings in Zhou Yunxi’s heart intensified and he hugged her even tighter.
“You’re not allowed to go, get it?” Zhou shizi said firmly, “No matter what happens, you’re not allowed to leave me!”
Baoyi smiled: “Alright.”
“Let’s get married.”
“Alright……en?” Baoyi raised her head and blinked as she looked up at him. She sensibly stayed away from provoking him and only asked, “Our status is so different, it won’t be possible.”
Their statuses were indeed incompatible.
Afraid that Zhou Yunxi would misunderstand, Baoyi continued: “I won’t be a concubine.”
Zhou Yunxi looked at the little head that was sometimes startlingly smart and sometimes astonishingly stupid. He suddenly felt that his prior nervousness was laughable.
After such a long time, it turned out that she was worried about this?
“What wife or concubine? Am I, Zhou Yunxi, someone who would just accept any Tom, Dick or Harry? Since I can fabricate a fake identity for Lu Qingluo, can’t I make one for you?”
“Adopted younger sister?” It suddenly dawned on Baoyi and she hesitated, “Siblings? I don’t think that’s good……”
Although they weren’t related by blood, it would still be shocking for this era. Besides, he had just adopted one and if another came along, others would think that he was a little sis con.
Zhou Yunxi rolled his eyes.
Another adopted younger sister? Does he, Zhou Yunxi, specialise in adopting younger sisters?
Adopted younger sister your head!
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The author has something to say:
Today’s shizi is also a cutie ~
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Translator: Sugakookie
Sugakookie:
Hii!!
So. It’s been more than a year since the last update. Ehehehe. Heh.
But Iluska has been really busy so…yeah…that’s why there hasn’t been any updates.
BUT I was dead serious when I said that ‘we’ had no intentions of dropping this.
So even if that ‘we’ has to become an ‘I’, even if updates won’t be regular, please be patient with us T^T
I hope ya’ll enjoyed this chapter! ❤
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