I Quit Being This Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 33

Pink petals rained down from above, fluttering like snow and scattering in every corner of the hall.

A petal gracefully drifted onto the table in front of Mangkai, twirling as it landed in her cup, sending ripples across the surface of the wine.

Four or five women in various colored garments emerged from behind a curtain. Although it was winter, they were dressed in clothing that was light and sheer, with thin layers of gauze covering only their chests and thighs, making them seem translucent.

Jiang Chun’er stared intently at the girls’ fair legs, unable to look away. After a long while, she finally snapped back to attention, looking at Mangkai, and stammered, “Sister, I…”

Mangkai didn’t mind her looking at others this way. She simply curved her lips into a smile, warm as a spring sun. “If they’re pretty, look a few more times. We might have to go back any minute now.”

As soon as she finished speaking, sharp cheers erupted, followed by men and women swarming forward to cast expensive votes for their favorite courtesans.

Some people didn’t earn a single gold ingot in a year, yet they cast all their resources in this place of romance and pleasure.

They spent money like dirt.

The pleasure quarter certainly lived up to its name as a den of extravagance.

“Sister, should we join in the fun too?” Jiang Chun’er could barely restrain her hands. Perhaps young people just loved such lively places, which intensely captured their interest.

Mangkai didn’t object. She was good-tempered and open-minded, so she silently allowed Jiang Chun’er’s impulsive behavior.

Taking a few gold ingots from her pocket, Jiang Chun’er grabbed Mangkai’s hand and pulled her up from the chair.

The two walked hand-in-hand to the exchange booth in the center of the hall and traded the gold for ten voting tokens.

Mangkai took five tokens, and Jiang Chun’er took five. When they rejoined the election crowd, the girls, seeing people approach, showed off their beautiful smiles, laughing at them elegantly and politely.

Jiang Chun’er spotted a girl in a white dress and gave her all her tokens, which surprised the girl. She blushed and curtsied in thanks.

When Jiang Chun’er returned, she found Mangkai still clutching her tokens, standing in place, unsure who to vote for.

“Sister, haven’t you decided yet?” Jiang Chun’er secretly took one token from Mangkai’s hand and said with a beaming smile, “If Sister hasn’t decided, let me do it~”

Saying this, she placed the token in front of a seductive girl in a green dress. The girl curtsied and lightly hooked Jiang Chun’er’s palm with her index finger in thanks.

Now, Mangkai only had four tokens left.

“I’ve decided.” Mangkai moved slightly, preventing Jiang Chun’er from taking her remaining four tokens, and instead fixed her gaze on one woman.

With rose-colored, vivid red lips and alluring phoenix eyes beneath a tempting beauty mark, she sat quietly in a master’s chair made of pear blossom wood.

She was neither competing nor scrambling, neither panicked nor rushed.

Despite this, the flower basket in front of her was already overflowing with tokens, a number that surpassed everyone else present.

No comparison or guessing was needed; unless a sugar daddy came along and overturned the tally, she would be tonight’s Courtesan Queen.

Mangkai walked to the nearly overflowing flower basket, placed her four tokens inside, and only retreated after receiving a smile from the beauty.

Jiang Chun’er watched her actions, sounding a little jealous. “So, Sister likes this style of girl?”

Sensual and charming, yet restrained and mature.

Beautiful, like a rose in the deep night.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Mangkai murmured, her face slightly flushed. “I just wanted to see if she was the person I was looking for.”

Jiang Chun’er picked up a candied fruit from the table and ate it, sighing, “She is beautiful, but she lacks a certain presence. If you’re talking about a black-haired, black-eyed beauty, don’t we have one in the palace, Sister?”

Mangkai looked at her, confused.

Jiang Chun’er smiled. “The Female Emperor, Sister. How could you forget her?”

The person’s figure suddenly appeared in Mangkai’s mind. Mangkai thought for a moment before saying, “Is she beautiful?”

The person sitting nearby clutched her cup but said nothing.

Jiang Chun’er blinked. “She’s quite beautiful. Does Sister not like her type?”

“It’s not that…” Mangkai mused. “It’s just that I feel calling her beautiful is a bit too much, but she does have presence.”

“Is that so.”

That person took a sip of tea, the corner of her lips slightly curved upward.

Mangkai and Jiang Chun’er chatted while watching the singing and dancing. On the night of the Courtesan Queen election, beauties always came onto the floor to perform a celestial tune in order to attract votes.

The whole night was lively, and the title of Courtesan Queen went to the girl in the master’s chair as expected.

This recognition would allow her to earn a considerable amount of silver notes over the next year.

Just as everyone was celebrating the Courtesan Queen, Mangkai felt her hand being lightly poked. Jiang Chun’er hooked Mangkai with her pinky finger and said with a smile, “Sister, it’s getting late. Should we go rest?”

Mangkai took a sip of plum wine. She hadn’t noticed until now, but she was indeed a bit tired today.

“I’ve already booked a room,” Jiang Chun’er said, pulling Mangkai to her feet and leaning in close with a smile. “Shall we not go back tonight?”

Mangkai couldn’t help but ask, “Getting a room here? Do you have a girl you want to meet?”

“Of course.”

Jiang Chun’er held Mangkai’s hand very tightly. Otherwise, why would I come here?

Before Mangkai could react, she felt a hand grab the back of her neck, pulling her away.

A warm body enveloped Mangkai, and the hand resting on her shoulder was incredibly beautiful.

The fair jade fingers were impeccably clean. Following the hand up, she met a familiar yet strange face. The person was staring coldly at Chun’er.

“I-It’s you…!”

Jiang Chun’er’s face went pale with fright. It looked like her plan to sleep with someone else’s wife was about to be exposed!

It’s over, it’s over. Seeing how angry she is, I’m definitely going to get beaten!

What Jiang Chun’er didn’t know was that if she wanted to sleep with any other concubine, she could have. But she, unfortunately, decided to try and sleep with Mangkai.

That was a problem that couldn’t be solved with just a beating.

In that instant, Mangkai felt as if the entire world had gone quiet. She looked at the person in front of her, and in a flash of familiarity, she felt a soft, irritating barb—like a soft thorn stuck in tender fish meat—that tickled her heart.

Xun Fangwen didn’t look at Mangkai, fixing her gaze on Jiang Chun’er. “Did you bring her out?”

Jiang Chun’er shook her head frantically.

Mangkai couldn’t help but say, “I brought her out.”

Xun Fangwen frowned. “You brought her to visit a pleasure house?”

The two of them: “…”

Neither dared to make a sound, feeling just like students caught playing truant at an internet café by the dean—both cowardly and terrified.

“Absolutely absurd,” Xun Fangwen squeezed Mangkai’s waist, looking down at her. “You’ve always been restless, always running off with other women.”

Mangkai was stunned. The small devil inside her, who had dropped his stick, seemed to be sensing something, trembling incessantly.

“You…”

“Even now, you still don’t know who I am?”

Xun Fangwen extended her other hand, pinching Mangkai’s soft cheek, and said angrily, “You don’t even recognize me. How are you going to be Mrs. Xun in the future?”

Mangkai: “…You!”

Xun Fangwen suddenly found that breaking through this thin layer of gauze was incredibly simple. A single phrase, ‘Mrs. Xun,’ seemed to summon all of Mangkai’s senses from eight years ago.

Last time, in order to meet Mangkai, she had lived in the novel for over 20 years.

This time, to meet her, she had spent another eight years in the novel.

Xun Fangwen didn’t know how much longer she had to live. She had even started to forget her own age, but… being able to wait for Mangkai in this book, she felt that everything was not too late.

“I,” Xun Fangwen lowered her eyes, losing her usual proud spirit, her unfamiliar face showing Mangkai’s familiar expression.

“I finally waited for you.”

Mangkai was still in a daze when she was hauled back from the pleasure house. She simply couldn’t believe that the person she had been thinking about was right beside her.

Mangkai didn’t dare speak to Xun Fangwen the entire way. By the time she snapped out of it, Mangkai realized they weren’t in her own sleeping quarters.

Mangkai could feel the warmth where their hands met; Xun Fangwen hadn’t let go of her the entire journey.

The maids wisely closed the door, creating a quiet space for the two of them.

Mangkai had many questions for her, but when she actually started to ask, she didn’t know where to begin.

Xun Fangwen seemed to feel the same way, so no one spoke first in the warm palace room. It was so quiet that the only sound was the burning of the candles.

“Are you staring at me because you think I’ve become strange?”

Xun Fangwen raised Mangkai’s hand and placed it on her cheek, whispering, “I’ve changed a lot, haven’t I?”

Mangkai shook her head, then nodded.

Her appearance had changed, her height had changed, and her personality seemed to have changed too.

But Xun Fangwen was still Xun Fangwen; that fact would never change.

“Even if you’ve changed, I accept it,” Mangkai said, her cheeks flushed, whispering, “It’s just… you’re a little hard to recognize.”

That much was true, and Xun Fangwen couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Mangkai’s face grew redder because of her laughter. She tried to pull her hand back, but found it was gripped even tighter.

“Xiao Ke.”

Xun Fangwen said calmly and slowly, “Does the promise you made to me back then—that we would always be together—still count?”

“Of course it counts,” Mangkai affirmed. “Everything I told you was what I truly felt.”

I love you, and I want to be with you.

That thought would never change.

Xun Fangwen didn’t hesitate, lowering her head and covering Mangkai’s soft lips with hers.

Mangkai trembled all over, like a startled small animal, yet she stood firmly in front of Xun Fangwen.

Fingers intertwined, Xun Fangwen pressed her forehead against Mangkai’s.

“Stay here tonight,” Xun Fangwen lightly pecked Mangkai’s nose. “I want you to stay.”

Mangkai’s earlobes turned red, and she couldn’t help but blurt out a question.

She blinked and quietly asked Xun Fangwen, “Does this make us… second-time married?”

The first marriage was as Mrs. Xun, and the second is as the Empress.

Xun Fangwen laughed, saying with interest, “It is whatever you say it is.”

In this world, from now on, you decide everything.