I'm competing with the male lead for a woman[GL]

Chapter 56: "Your Highness, please stop."

Xiao Jin was caught off guard by the unlocking of Chu Shao's favorability.

She hadn't realized what she had done when she turned around and found Chu Shao was no longer by her side.

Looking ahead, she saw a white figure standing under a colorful paper lantern.

Chu Shao at that moment looked like an embroidered ice flower on a silk scarf, ethereally sewn onto brocade.

The petals were pure and clean, like white silk floating in water.

After a moment, Chu Shao looked up and gazed quietly at the paper lanterns.

The colorful lights reflected on her sleeves and face, sometimes green and sometimes blood-red.

They overlapped and interlaced, all captured in her eyes.

After staring at the paper lanterns on the wooden frame for a long time, Chu Shao turned around and smiled at Xiao Jin, asking softly, "Your highness, is today the Lantern Festival?"

The answer was obvious.

Xiao Jin nodded, "Yes."

In the dim light of the candles, Chu Shao's smile was gentle and warm.

She raised her eyebrows and softly said to Xiao Jin, "Thank you."

Xiao Jin noticed.

This time, Chu Shao's gratitude did not include the prefix "my lord" or any honorifics like "your highness."

It meant that this sentence was not for the original owner or for the Prince Yan of Qi.

Chu Shao was thanking her.

So Xiao Jin nodded slightly and said, "No need to thank me."

...

Back in her room, Xiao Jin pondered over what conditions Governor Xu would propose.

But in fact, Governor Xu had no choice.

The struggle within the royal family may seem complicated, but it was actually simple. Offending Mu, the Prime Minister, was tantamount to offending the Fourth Prince's faction.

If  Governor Xu wants to be transferred back to the capital, he must rely on forces other than the Fourth Prince's faction.

Apart from Xiao Jin, the only ones who can compete with the Fourth Prince are the Princess Chang and the Crown Prince.

Ignoring the fact that Princess Chang secretly supports the Fourth Prince, this person is only a small county governor in Qingzhou, serving in a local position.

To expect an audience with the Crown Prince of Qi and the Princess Zhao Yang is like a pipe dream.

Therefore, Xiao Jin believes that until the male lead extends an olive branch to Governor Xu, she is his best ally.

The reason she wants to use  Governor Xu is not only because of his personal grievances with Prime Minister Mu.

More importantly, in the original story, Governor Xu held a secret about Prime Minister Mu.

When the former  Governor of Wanzhou was punished and exiled to Lingnan, he entrusted a ledger to  Governor Xu because they were close friends.

The ledger recorded the details of Prime Minister Mu's relief efforts in Wanzhou.

Prime Minister Mu was not a clean official, on the contrary, he loved to accumulate wealth. So when it came to relief efforts, he naturally wanted to get a cut of the money.