3 Chapter 1

When Yu Yingyi looked up, her heart immediately dropped. The person she bumped into was the vicious female lead, Song Liya!

Surely she was going to get yelled at, she mentally prepared herself for a scolding.

Song Liya looked down at the pitiful girl that bumped into her, right when Liya was about to scold her, she noticed something in the girl's pocket.

There was a dark green jade that was poking out of her pocket, the letters carved on it said "Yu Yingyi."

Song Liya's eyes were shown in delight, without even trying, she was able to find the person who was making jades and selling them in the shop. Moreover, didn't her guard say it was a man? Then why was there a girl instead? Perhaps he was mistaken?

"Girl." Song Liya called out to the frightened girl.

Yu Yingyi who didn't know what was happening immediately got up and dashed away when she heard the calmness in the vicious female lead's tone. Her mother taught her that when someone fierce and angry talks in a calm voice, they're extremely mad.

And Yu Yingyi didn't want to deal with that! Although it was a terrible idea to run away from the princess who called out to her, it was better than getting scolded and then beat up later. Her pride couldn't take it!

Song Liya was surprised when the girl started running away, that alone confirmed that she knew who she was. Liya smiled in amusement, not one person who's heard of her dared to run away from her ever but this girl did.

Interesting!

Yu Yingyi thought she was finally able to get away from Song Liya was suddenly pinned against the wall of a building. When she looked up, her eyes met Song Liya's fierce look and felt her heart drop.

"Did you think you could get away from me?" Song Liya asked.

Yu Yinyi gulped, there was only one right answer to this question. She's read the novel and knew Song Liya has gone through numerous harsh training before and was much faster than her.

Yu Yingyi shook her in reply, however, that wasn't what Song Liya wanted.

"I asked you a question, don't reply to me by shaking your head. Answer me with words, don't forget this is the princess you're talking to." Song Liya said sternly.

"S-sorry, I didn't think I could get away from you!"

Yinyii managed to croak out, but seriously, wasn't the grip on her wrists a bit too tight? She didn't dare say anything, one wrong move and her life could be taken away.

"That's what I wanted to hear."

When Song Liya had a clear look at the lady in front of her, she was a beautiful lady. She could probably rival one of the empire's heirs to the queen if she was taken care of properly. But from the looks of it, Liya could tell she was poor.

No wonder this lady was selling jades.

"What's your name?" Song Liya asked.

"I'm Yu Yingyi."

"Yu Yingyi huh?" Liya muttered.

Yu Yingyi could only helplessly look at the vicious female lead's face while she was in her grip. Moreover, what was she thinking? Song Liya seemed to be in deep thought for a moment before turning her attention back to Yingyi.

Even in deep thought, the female lead looked fierce and vicious.

There were citizens around them that were going to help Yu Yingyi but once they saw the princess, they immediately turned away and minded their own business. It was as if they were invisible to the people, Yu Yingyi could only mentally sigh helplessly.

"Tell me Yu Yingyi, why to pretend to be a man and sell your jades in secret?" Song Liya asked.

"W-what're you talking about?" Yu Yingyi replied, looking away.

Song Liya frowned, she didn't like people who lied to her. Liya used her thumb and her finger to grip Yingyi's chin and turn her head back towards her.

"Let me ask you again, you better answer this correctly, why did you pretend to be a man and sell your jades in secret?"

Yu Yingyi knew there was no point in lying anymore, but the area they were in was too public to say anything.

"Can we go somewhere else? This place is a bit too public," said Yingyi.

Song Liya looked around for a moment, "Fair enough, I know a place to talk around here."

...

"We're going to talk in here?"

"Is there a problem?"

"No, it's just..."

Yu Yingyi didn't know how to feel about this, they were still in public but they were inside a carriage that was specially designed for privacy.

"No one will be able to hear us unless they get in the car which is impossible since I have several guards hidden somewhere to protect this area," said Song Liya.

Yu Yingyi was surprised that there were guards, she expected Song Liya to say something like, "Don't worry, I'll kill them if they manage to come in," or "They'll be dead before they'll be able to tell anyone."

Moreover, just how much thought did Liya put into this? Did she want to know that badly? If that was the case, then there was no way she could get out of this.

"Let's not waste any more time, I don't have all day. Tell me why you'd pretend to be a man just to sell jades."

What Song Liya just said was supposed to sound like a sentence, but it somehow felt like an order to Yu Yingyi.

"Okay, as you already know, I sell jades. I sell them because the condition of our house is poor and I want to make money to help my mom so she wouldn't have to always take care of me."

"I pretend to be a man because women here are taken advantage of and didn't always get what they wanted. That's why I decided to dress up like a man and get all the benefits."

As Song Liya listened to Yu Yingyi's conversation, the more she was immersed in her figure instead of the conversation. Somehow, Song Liya felt like Yu Yingyi would be the perfect fit for a wife.

Hmm, didn't Yu Yingyi say that her family was in poor conditions? If that was the case, then she could propose a deal to have Yu Yingyi for herself.

"I see, what if I could get rid of the poor conditions of your family?"

"Huh?"