Doomed to be Cannon Fodder

But right now, he had only just begun to fall for her.

It was just that she found this male supporting character extremely off-putting, since he was extremely skilled in the art of poison. It seemed like the first occurrence of intimacy between the male and female lead had been achieved with the help of his drugs? Despite his appearance of that of an upright person, he was actually a demon in disguise.

Acting like a pig to devour a tiger, appearing as one character in the day and a completely different one at night.

Also, that foreign country he originated from was somewhat similar to the country Miaojiang in modern wuxia novels, with completely different customs of marriage. Everyone there was rather proficient in using insect poison. All in all, it was a very unique place.

Luckily, the male lead had ingested a strict regimen of spirit medicines from his master starting at a young age, and was therefore completely invulnerable against their poison arts. His enemies had to find another way to kill him, and had therefore dispatched this male supporting character here. Yet, the male lead likely only had suspicions to work with, and wasn’t completely certain of this supporting character’s true identity, right?

Dinner was served while Bai Xiangxiu pondered. While she was hungry from the day’s exertions, she couldn’t actually stomach a lot of food. By her side, Xiaohuan was a little nervous since it was her first outing with her mistress. Actually, she also felt rather curious as to why her mistress had brought her and Xiao Shi, and had left the more experienced Ye-mama back at the manor.

This question plagued her constantly, yet she was hesitant to ask it.

“Xiaohuan, do you have something to say to me?” This girl seemed even easier to read than Xiao Shi.

Xiaohuan flinched, but quickly blurted out, “This humble servant is clumsy, and does not understand why mistress has brought me along.” Even if she didn’t bring a mama, there were still Sister Bao Qin, Bao Yue and the others to consider.

“Didn’t you say that you had never left the manor before? So here I am, bringing you out to play for a bit.”

Bai Xiangxiu was actually thinking that with this rare opportunity to leave the Li Manor, she naturally didn’t want to bring along anyone who might restrict her, especially Ye-mama. If the mama had come along, she would definitely prod Bai Xiangxiu to seduce the Prince as soon as humanly possible.

It was already impossible to push the prince away when she didn’t want to seduce him. If she really flirted with him further, she was certain that it would only end in tragedy for her.

Prince Li returned after eating. He appeared extremely unhappy when he entered, his face like the frozen tundra of the northern poles.

“Have you eaten?” Thinking that an angered male lead was something she had better stay away from, Bai Xiangxiu had originally intended to leave and go back to rest, anticipating that he’d already eaten.

“Not yet.”

No, it wasn’t supposed to be like that! How was someone who was a step away from running off supposed to reply to that? Seeing no way around it, Bai Xiangxiu could only instruct the maids to heat up the dishes and serve them. Actually, if there was a good thing about Prince Li, it was that he was very easy to keep. He wasn’t too picky about food, and ate whatever was served to him.

Today though, it was clear that he was inwardly seething. Bai Xiangxiu had often heard her mother say a certain phrase back home. Today, for whatever reason, that phrase seemed to come out unconsciously, “Eating when angry is not good for the body!”

Pfft. What what what? Did she have nothing better to do? Why was she saying this to the male lead who was almost legendary for his callousness? She never would have thought that the male lead would actually start as though shocked, abruptly raising his head to look at her.

Bai Xiangxiu thought that he was going to find fault with her. As a mere concubine, how dare she tell the prince himself what to do? However, the unexpected happened as he actually smiled, his lips curling upwards. He’d actually revealed a straightforward smile, just like that! She was actually momentarily stunned as she sat. It really was exactly like the novel described, this male lead’s smile was utterly mesmerizing.

Even the female lead was entangled by it and left incapable of extricating herself. Naturally, it went doubly so for a female supporting character like Bai Xiangxiuwho’d never seen many handsome men, and really had not seen much of the world before either.

Her face silently turned beet-red. How would Prince Li still be in the mood to eat his dinner now? His thoughts quickly drifted towards eating her. However, the atmosphere was currently quite heartwarming. The bit of stifled unhappiness in his heart had unknowingly and naturally dissipated with the wind. He hadn’t known that this little girl would be hiding such an ability. He couldn’t help but ask, “How did you know that this prince was angry?”

He really wanted to let her understand him. He really wanted to understand her. Long Heng had never had an intense desire to know someone like that. He felt his heart start to beat out of control again.

“This concubine... this concubine didn’t know that you were angry, didn’t know that at all.” In the novel, the male lead had been extremely furious when the female lead had guessed that there were matters weighing on him. Therefore, she was a little afraid, because the relationship between her and the male lead was rather similar to one between a wild beast and a little white rabbit.

“Bai...” He did not know why, but this usual way of address suddenly felt awkward. Or perhaps, not intimate at all. Wanting very much to decrease the distance between them, he coughed lightly, hesitating for a long time before attempting, “Xiang... xiang...”

“Xiang?” Bai Xiangxiu tilted her head to the side, thinking that she had heard wrongly.

“Today’s dinner is really fragrant.” 1 Long Heng held his breath. It was just two words; how come he couldn’t get them past his throat?

Bai Xiangxiu smiled, “As long as the prince likes it.”

Having eaten, Long Heng naturally knew what he had to do. He glanced hungrily at Bai Xiangxiu before saying, “You should rest.”

“Huh, huh?” This didn’t make sense. Shouldn’t it be, let’s rest together, at this time?

The male lead seemed to have been holding himself back for a long time now. How could he possibly pass up a golden chance like this after finally obtaining it? Could it be that there was something wrong with him? However, that was impossible. It was clearly stated in the novel.

Other than a bit of self-restraint in the matters of bed, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the male lead at all. Not only that, he was actually rather proficient as well. Then, how could he let a chance like this slip through his fingers?

Bai Xiangxiu could not be blamed for this line of thought. Having read countless novels before, she remembered that it was always written that men were always unable to control themselves at such times!

While novels were a little exaggerated, it was said that art originated from life. At the very least, there should be at least some degree of truth to it. Since that was so, why was he being this restrained now? Could it be related to his previous anger? Was it that newly arrived male supporting character, or was it...

Just as she was racking her brain, someone entered from outside, “Your Highness, that new maid has been sent over. They are sending the person over here, wanting Fourth Madame to arrange a place for her.”

“Nuisance, didn’t I ask you to bring her over to my place? It looks like you’ve forgotten the rules after staying at the Red Maple Mountain Villa for so long.” Long Heng frowned. While he had told Bai Xiangxiu that Miss Lin would be coming here, he hadn’t wanted the two of them to meet. In his eyes, Bai Xiangxiu was like a newly born bud, extremely gentle and delicate. Meanwhile, that Miss Lin was a lascivious woman, being extremely tainted.

The two were polar opposites in his mind. So, in order to protect that little bud within his heart to slowly bloom into a beautiful flower and produce seeds, he had to get rid of that taint at his side. This was just the sort of person he was. He would never change a decision he had made.

Having grown interested in nèe Bai, there was no space left within his heart for another woman.

Long Heng had always been an earnest person. If he was practicing martial arts, then he would focus solely on practicing. He wouldn’t stop until he’d made some improvements. If he was studying, then he was only studying and had to earn a place as a scholar. It was thus that his current achievements had come to be. Otherwise, however good his family background was, it would also have been impossible for him to be granted the title of a prince when he wasn’t of royal blood.

1. Fragrant is the same character as “xiang” of her name.