The Female Lead Is A Supporting Female Character - Chapter 16

Don’t Be Shy!

Because the space on the kang (heated brick bed) was truly limited and Fu Shuang was drunk, a state that was already uncomfortable enough. Ming Yuemian wanted to let her sleep a bit more soundly. To ensure she could at least lie flat, Ming Yuemian gave up her own spot.

She returned the teapot to its original place and leaned against the edge of the kang, watching Fu Shuang’s sleeping face.

The Morning After

The maids and elderly servants on the boat were accustomed to the daily grind of labor and habitually rose early, even though they were no longer on the ship today, they were no exception. When Fu Shuang opened her eyes, she was the only one left on the kang.

Fu Shuang sat halfway up, feeling a slight dizziness. She rubbed her temples and paused for a moment before opening her eyes to survey her surroundings.

The sun was high in the sky, its bright rays streaming through the window lattice. The room was incredibly quiet, making it look as though she had slept in so late that everyone else had already moved on.

Strange.

Fu Shuang clearly remembered that she hadn’t gone to sleep on the bed last night.

She was not used to sleeping with so many people, so she hadn’t gotten onto the bed from the start. She had found a corner to embrace her sword and lean against the wall, planning to make do for the night. But as fate would have it, she had drunk a cup of peach blossom wine offered by the village chief’s young daughter last night.

Fu Shuang had never drunk alcohol before, this was her very first time.

Before meeting Feng Cheng, she had always been a rogue swordswoman wandering the world. Traveling from place to place, she could earn rewards by eliminating demons for farming households, but it was ultimately a pittance. She was unlike Ming Yuemian and Feng Cheng, who were backed by the Great Tree of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, they never worried about food or clothing, lived in luxury, and used top-tier swords and magical artifacts.

She would calculate every bit of spiritual stones, copper coins, and silver she possessed, spending them sparingly.

Fu Shuang would spend money on food, but she would never buy something like wine. Such a luxury was not like clothing or food, it was merely an embellishment for those indulging in refined tastes, not a necessity of life. Naturally, she wouldn’t spend her money on it.

Touching this “oblivion bringer” for the first time, she was drunk after just one cup.

It was also the first time Fu Shuang realized how poor her alcohol tolerance was.

Last night, she had only felt a sense of intoxication. As the peach blossom wine vapors rose, they made her head spin. The tightly closed doors of the room made her feel even more stifled, so she had stood up and gone outside to catch some fresh air.

After that… she had completely blacked out.

A Startling Discovery

Fu Shuang’s heart sank slightly. As a sword cultivator, her first reaction was to check if her sword was lost.

Seeing her sword right by her pillow, Fu Shuang felt relieved. She tried to recall how she had returned, but she couldn’t remember a thing.

Even if she had walked back herself, how did she end up sleeping on the bed?

When Fu Shuang was leaning against the wall yesterday, she clearly saw there was no room on the kang or more accurately, there were some gaps, but they were so narrow that even someone with a slender frame like hers couldn’t fit.

So, since she was lying here comfortably now… could it be that during her blackout last night, she had thrown a drunken fit, pushed someone off the bed, and stolen their spot?

Fu Shuang didn’t dare imagine it.

She had always maintained a cold yet gentle image to the outside world, acting with propriety and a sense of boundaries. This realization made her quite anxious.

Murmuring to herself, she picked up her sword and rose, intending to act as if nothing happened when she met the others while secretly observing their reactions to see if her guess was correct.

Just as one foot hit the ground, Fu Shuang glimpsed something out of the corner of her eye and froze.

She slowly turned her head and lowered her gaze, seeing the only other living soul remaining in the room.

The girl in red was curled up in a corner, sitting directly on the floor. She was hugging her knees and leaning against the head of the bed, her head tilted to one side, exposing her long, snow white neck. Her dark hair was messy, and she was sleeping soundly and unconsciously with her eyes closed.

She was draped in Fu Shuang’s white outer robe, which only served to highlight the vivid, blood-red dress underneath. However, because she was sitting directly on the ground so carelessly, both the red dress and the white robe were covered in a thick layer of dust, looking quite filthy.

There was a grey smudge on Ming Yuemian’s nose, no telling where she had rubbed against and that beautiful face had suddenly turned into the face of a tabby cat.

Fu Shuang: “…?”

So she wasn’t the only one in the room, and she wasn’t the only one who had slept until midday.

It was just that… Fu Shuang never expected it to look like this.

She slept like this all night?

Looking at Ming Yuemian, a thought subconsciously surfaced in Fu Shuang’s mind: Can she really be comfortable sleeping like that?

Before Fu Shuang blacked out last night, she had been in the room maintaining a posture of leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, she knew how uncomfortable it was and how difficult it was to actually fall asleep.

Then, for no reason, she thought: Isn’t she a frail invalid? Always afraid of the cold, having heart trouble… just a bit of cold wind on the river made her shiver like a quail.

Being so weak and fragile, could she really sleep like this for a night without catching a cold or falling ill?

At that moment, Ming Yuemian moved. It was as if Fu Shuang’s gaze was tangible and had startled her; Ming Yuemian stirred, the white robe draped over her shoulder slipped down, and she opened her eyes.

“Hiss…”

She hadn’t realized it while sleeping, but upon waking, her senses became sharply clear. Ming Yuemian felt her neck was incredibly sore, the kind of soreness one might expect from ten years of cervical spine issues.

She rubbed her stiff neck and looked up dizzily, only to collide with the gaze looking down from above.

Fu Shuang’s eyes were clear and translucent, like falling snow.

Ming Yuemian had just woken up, her neck was sore, her entire body was stiff and numb from maintaining that curled-up posture all night, and her mind wasn’t quite clear. Seeing that face, she only thought it was beautiful, her mind a total blank.

Fu Shuang, however, felt like an observer caught in the act. Realizing what she had just been thinking, she was the first to look away.

She certainly wasn’t worried about this person. she was just thinking randomly and happened to arrive at that thought.

Both Ming Yuemian and Feng Cheng were targets of her revenge. The ways these two would die had to be meticulously and personally selected by her. They had to meet their ends in the way that gave her the most satisfaction. If they were to die from a random illness, that would be far too much of a pity.

That’s what she thought.

Nothing more.

Fu Shuang asked coolly, “What are you doing here?”

Ming Yuemian scrambled up from the floor, her joints literally creaking with every movement. As she stretched and went through the basic motions of a morning calisthenic routine, she replied, “Sleeping. Sister, how are you? Do you have a headache or feel unwell anywhere else?”

Sleeping? On the floor? The words almost tumbled out of Fu Shuang’s mouth, but she caught herself just as she was about to speak.

She asked if her head still ached? How did she know…

Fu Shuang pursed her lips. “I am perfectly fine. Why would my head ache or feel unwell?”

In truth, her head did ache slightly and she felt a bit lightheaded, but Fu Shuang refused to admit it. How could she possibly show weakness in front of her romantic rival?

Ming Yuemian gave a mental “tsk” and said, “Oh, alright then. Your head doesn’t hurt, and you don’t feel unwell. It’s my head that hurts, I’m the one who feels unwell, and I’m the one who ran outside alone in the middle of the night, staggering around unable to walk in a straight line, nearly crashing into a tree.”

Fu Shuang: “…”

Did she really do that?

Fu Shuang’s brow furrowed. From the other girl’s words, she belatedly realized a fact, after she went out last night, Ming Yuemian must have secretly followed her.

This meant that all the embarrassing moments she wanted to hide had certainly been witnessed by the other party.

The day before, this girl had heard her stomach growl this time, she had seen her stumbling around and nearly hitting a tree…

It was a case of “whatever you fear most will happen.” Fu Shuang closed her eyes avoidantly, unwilling to face reality.

…Did I really almost hit a tree?

Seeing the massive internal shock reflected on the other’s face, Ming Yuemian teased her a bit more before knowing when to stop: “Alright, don’t worry, Sister. I won’t tell a soul.”

Fu Shuang: “…”

Is the problem just whether you’ll tell people? The problem is that YOU saw it!

If anyone else had seen it, Fu Shuang wouldn’t have had such a strong reaction.

Ming Yuemian didn’t quite catch the other’s internal monologue. Having finished stretching, she draped the robe over herself and started walking out. “I’ll go tell them to make you a bowl of sobering soup.”

“Eh?”

She left so decisively that Fu Shuang was stunned for a moment. In that second, her physical reflexes outran her brain, and she followed after her.

“Last night…” Fu Shuang’s voice drifted from behind Ming Yuemian. It was still cold, but it carried a hint of carefully suppressed tension, a classic case of “the lady doth protest too much” which Ming Yuemian immediately detected. “You went to find me?”

The question was redundant. Fu Shuang more or less knew how the other would answer even as she asked it; she was simply… struggling at death’s door.

“That’s right.” Ming Yuemian admitted it directly. She wasn’t the type to do good deeds anonymously, especially for the person she liked. She wanted every ounce of her kindness to be known.

Her voice was soft and sweet: “Sister, you were wandering around outside in the middle of the night, drunk and delirious. It was far too dangerous! That’s why I brought you back. Please don’t be annoyed that I took the initiative.”

Ming Yuemian wasn’t entirely the type to give without expecting anything in return, she didn’t completely reject the idea of a reward. If the other person wanted to repay her, she’d be more than happy, it would be best if she repaid her by handing over her entire self but if the other person wasn’t appreciative, she wouldn’t force it.

She would go all out and work hard for everything she wanted, but she wouldn’t insist on it.

For instance, even though she had transmigrated into the book and wanted to save Fu Shuang, win her heart, and prevent her from falling into the swamp of misery with Feng Cheng, if Fu Shuang was absolutely determined to choose Feng Cheng, she would respect that choice.

Ming Yuemian reflected to herself: I really am a paragon of virtue!

A silence fell behind her.

Ming Yuemian guessed that this whole affair had probably given Fu Shuang quite a shock.

Sigh, goddesses always have their “idol baggage” to maintain. She could understand that, but on the other hand, she thought: What part of a daughter can a mother not see? Don’t be shy!

Even when drunk, her “fairy baby” was very beautiful! A beauty in her cups has even more charm than usual!

After a long pause, Fu Shuang spoke again, asking, “Besides hitting the tree… did I… act out like a drunkard?”

So she really was worried about that? Ming Yuemian curved her lips into a smile.

Originally, she should have spared the other’s feelings. Having seen how embarrassed she was, she should have brushed it off and said, “Nothing of the sort,” to put her at ease. But when Ming Yuemian glanced sideways at Fu Shuang’s face, her mind suddenly changed.

Fu Shuang’s complexion was like snow, her eyes like frost. Expressionless, with thin lips slightly pursed, she seemed eternally meticulous. Looking at her, she was such a detached, emotionless cold beauty.

The more cold and desireless she appeared, the more one wanted to tease her, to break that icy mask and see her flustered and at a loss.

“Oh, you did.”

Ming Yuemian’s tone shifted. Her eyes curved mischievously as she decided to talk nonsense, taking advantage of the fact that the other didn’t remember. She began to lead her into a trap:

“Sister, you wouldn’t let go of me. You were all over me with your hands, and no matter how much I cried out, nobody came to help. I couldn’t beat you in a fight, so I had no choice but to let you have your way with me like a hooligan.”