Following the address that was sent by Xiao Yun, Gu Xiqiao arrived at Studio City, which served as a well known filming base in the Imperial Capital. When the taxi stopped outside the building, she saw groups of performers lingering around the area.
The people who hung around here, if they weren’t young people full of hope and dreams, then they were the older generations of performers whose dreams have already been drowned by reality. At their age, it was extremely difficult for them to become popular again.
Double checking that she had the right place, she slowly made her way toward the filming base.
‘Empire Under Siege’ was Cheng Zhou’s only work this year, and the reason they started shooting at this time of the year was to make it in time for the awards ceremony which was at the end of the year. Generally speaking, the entire filming process was quite fast. Whether you were a big shot or a newbie, you had to get up early and work late into the night when you were in this crew, and no one dared to go against this culture here.
The ones who joined the filming of ‘Empire Under Siege’ were mainly there due to Cheng Zhou’s reputation. He was an unorthodox genius director from China, with only seven films in his hands, with an eccentric temperament. If he couldn’t find a person suitable to play the role in his movie, then he would rather not shoot at all. The films that he produced were all classics, and differed a lot by the movies that were generally found in the box office.
They didn’t manage to find a suitable heroine for one of his other movie of his last year, and till today it still hadn’t started production due to that reason. With such an amazing script just sitting in his hands like that, it made a lot of people jealous.
It was precisely due to his eccentric personality that many of the fresh and new rising stars were eager to hold a part in his movies.
This time, Xiao Yun was lucky to be selected. Because he had been having problems finding a perfect candidate for his movie for a long time Cheng Zhou had made a call to a good friend of his, hoping to be able to find some fresh talents. He never expected that he would be able to find someone like Xiao Yun.
“Cut! Jin Sitian, the role you’re playing is Princess Qixia! It’s a princess, you know! Not some prostitute! From the top again!” Cheng Zhou’s eyes were on the actress in front of him who was playing an indispensable character in his movie, the fire in his gaze was threatening to burst out at how annoyed he was toward the woman.
A princess of a ruined nation, there were many actresses and entertainers that were qualified to play this role in the entertainment circle. However, the princess was described as the world’s greatest beauty, and Cheng Zhou was very obsessed and picky in regards to the personality of the person playing this role. If the person wasn’t beautiful, then he didn’t want her. Although the one in front of him was indeed a beauty, one that would shine in front of him, her acting was subpar. No wonder she was still only a second-rate entertainer even though she had such a gorgeous face.
“Director Cheng, calm down. She’s a newbie, she probably just needs more practise.” The producer who was beside him smiled as he tried to mediate the situation.
“Newbie?” Cheng Zhou sneered, pointing toward Xiao Yun, who was busy memorizing her lines at a corner of the stage. “Open your eyes and look, that’s a newbie! No matter how, this one has stayed in the entertainment industry for nearly three years already, and she’s acting just like a fresh newbie!”
The producer wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, thinking if it weren’t for him being so demanding about looking for an extremely beautiful face, then they wouldn’t be doing so badly until they felt like dying in this scene.
“Xiao Yun is someone who had professional training, and she also has an innate talent on her own, and most likely even in private… she…” The producer’s voice trailed off suddenly, and at the same time, a hushed silence fell over the entire stage area.
“She? She what!” Feeling the sudden change in the atmosphere, Cheng Zhou raised his head, and was also caught in a trance like the others.
Having been in the entertainment industry for close to seven years, he had seen countless entertainers, and although there had been ones that were very pretty and stunning, he had never seen anyone that could compare to this girl. Her face was as pretty as a picture, elegant and graceful, a fairy-like aura radiated from her as she walked. When she walked under the light, her skin exuded a soft glow that gave her an ethereal feeling, her obsidian eyes were black and sparkled clearly.
Such a person actually existed in this world, and even if she doesn’t smile, there was still a fresh feeling about her. Her beauty was out of this world, and it made it hard for people to look away from her.
“Who is she?” Cheng Zhou’s eyes were bright with excitement, feeling like a person who accurately portrayed Princess Qixia had finally made an appearance.
The producer glanced at Cheng Zhou silently, already knowing the thoughts that were running through his head. “Director Cheng, don’t forget that the final candidate selected for Princess Qixia is Jin Sitian.”
Cheng Zhou: My heart breaks! It weeps! It hurts to the point I can’t breath!
Was it too late for him to regret?
***
Jin Sitian had returned to her dressing room in a temper, throwing the cup in her hand angrily. A prostitute?! He had called her a prostitute! He had crossed the line!
As an entertainer with a strong financial backer, Jin Sitian was the only person in the crew to have her own dressing room, apart from the actresses and actors in the movie.
“Jin Sitian! This is the production team, there are many more people who are higher in status than you, what are you playing at!” The manager had seen the scene unfold in front of him, and had entered her room after he was done with his phone call, whispering furiously to her.
Which entertainers nowadays were not careful to play their roles well? They weren’t like Jin Sitian, thinking that she was invincible just because she had a financial backer behind her. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had a good foundation and was great at adapting, he wouldn’t have wasted any effort on such a person.
“Is there anything wrong with losing my temper after getting scolded like that? It’s just a minor female role, I’ll go back and talk to Mr. Tian. How many other female lead roles are waiting for me to pick? Why must I suffer through this insulting attitude here!” Jin Sitian felt annoyed at this. It was just a minor character role here, why must she treat it like something rare and precious as though she couldn’t find these types of roles anywhere?
The manager’s face flushed in anger. “Minor role?! This is a minor role in a movie directed by Director Cheng, a chance to be on stage with various actresses and actors. How many first-rate actresses won’t even get a chance in their lifetime to stand in your position, where has your brain gone?!”
Jin Sitian kept her eyes on the manager, who was clearly still frustrated and annoyed at her attitude, and she suddenly asked, “Why are you so worked up all of a sudden, was it Ning Qing on the call just now? Why are you still covering for her?”
At the mention of Ning Qing, the manager furrowed his brows. Ning Qing was also a decent entertainer when she started out, only that she was too honest and virtuous, and that’s why she had been kept in the cold palace until today.
As long as she was more discreet and adaptable, she would have easily gathered the required resources to make her a popular first-rate star. Although it was a little regretful, he knew that Ning Qing was already a lost cause. “Alright, I’ll get someone to touch your makeup. While you’re waiting, why don’t you have a better look at the script.”
Once the manager had exited the room, Jin Sitian looked at the script in her hands. She couldn’t let go of her anger, and threw the book to the side angrily.
The makeup artist who came in the room walked in on her doing that, and she frowned. What’s the use of having a financial backer if she was an entertainer with an attitude like this? She still wouldn’t be able to improve her reputation and get popular with the way she was.
***
“Er Qiao, you’re here!” Xiao Yun put away the script in her hands when she saw Gu Xiqiao, quietly pulling her into a corner.
Another scene was being shot on stage now, since the previous one had been interrupted halfway. The actor on stage had a handsome face, and he was wearing a white robe. What was more noticeable however, was not his good-looking face, but the pained expression on his face that was covered up a second too late. He looked toward the girl that had already turned away from him, the eyes that held a hint of contempt slowly faded away, a look that seemed to have experienced half a century of sadness replacing it.
After a long while, he straightened up again, his eyes focusing little by little, the deep pools becoming clearer. From today onwards, he was the Prince of Nanguo who was burdened with countless lives on his shoulder, no longer the Nan Qiubai that turned from duty for love!
Watching the performance shocked Gu Xiqiao, and when she returned to her senses, she looked at Xiao Yun, handing the milk tea in her hand to her. “…That was amazing.” Even the atmosphere around him was powerful.
Xiao Yun accepted the milk tea easily, the cool drink feeling pleasant in her hand. “That’s Li Yu, a well known actor. How can he not have that amazing aura around him? You know, when I first had a scene with him, I was completely out of it, and I wasn’t able to recite a single word of my script. I was almost reprimanded to death by the director.”
“Have you signed a contract with any company?” Gu Xiqiao suddenly remembered that Xiao Yun was considered to have entered the entertainment circle, and she would likely have signed a contract and have her own manager. Why was she alone then?
“Yeah, I did. Tang Enterprise, China’s spearhead in the entertainment industry. I don’t even know how I managed to sign a contact with the Tang Pictures Enterprise, to be honest.” Xiao Yun laughed slightly embarrassed, but happy. “My manager didn’t just bring me alone, there’s also another person, so there’s only an assistant with me.”
She was still a newbie after all, and with such kind treatment, Xiao Yun was already satisfied.
“Xiao Yun, is this your friend?” An attractive voice sounded from behind her suddenly.
Xiao Yun was startled for a moment, surprised that Li Yu would take the initiative to talk to her first. Her expression was slightly excited as she turned to reply, “Senior Li!”
Li Yu smiled at her greeting, a warm smile on his gentle and striking face. He was among one of the rarer actors which possessed great temperament in the industry. Xiao Yun was a newcomer with a solid foundation in her skills, and she was also motivated to do well. Compared to Jin Sitian, she was much cuter, and the entire crew, including Li Yu, had a good impression of Xiao Yun.
“This is a good friend of mine, she came specially to watch me when she heard that I was shooting today.” Xiao Yun said, reigning in her excitement as she explained to Li Yu.
Li Yu smiled faintly. “Well, beautiful girls have beautiful friends as expected.”
Being praised by a senior that you admire, even Xiao Yun would feel slightly embarrassed, a slight flush appearing on her cheeks as she scratched her head, laughing shyly.
Jin Sitian, who had just walked out of the dressing room came out to see Xiao Yun talking and laughing with Li Yu. Her expression darkened, clenching her fist tightly. A look of hatred flashed in her eyes, but it was only there for a moment before it disappeared.
“Xiao Yun, it’s your part now, the director is looking for you!” A staff member who was carrying a box called out to Xiao Yun to remind her when he saw her chatting.
“I’ll be right over, thanks!” She was so excited that she had almost forgotten about her shooting, and waved to the other two as she hurried away.
Xiao Yun was playing the second female lead who was a concubine, Zuo Qiuxiang. She was the male lead’s childhood friend and sparring partner, her status was equivalent to that of a maid, and she possessed strong martial art skills. Princess Qixia was played by Jin Sitian, who was the sister of the male lead, and also a princess of a fallen nation. In this scene, she would be filming a part where she practised her sword skills, sparring with Xiao Yun. Since Concubine Zuo Qiuxiang would be distracted with thoughts about the prince and another woman, it was a scene where Princess Qixia would accidentally wound her.
Gu Xiqiao watched the scene between the two, and was pleasantly amazed at how good Xiao Yun’s acting skills were. The character of Concubine Zuo Qiuxiang was fairly complicated, but she was able to clearly portray the role accurately.
On the other hand, the actress that was portraying Princess Qixia was stiff and tense, while she was supposed to be a cold, aloof but talented princess. There was even a flash of envy in her eyes when she looked at Xiao Yun?
Seriously, you’re acting the role of a princess. What jealousy do you have against a character portrayed to be a sparring partner?
While Gu Xiqiao was watching Xiao Yun’s performance with rapt attention, Li Yu was scrutinizing her instead.
Being observed so intensely, you would only be unable to feel it if you were an idiot. Not long after, Gu Xiqiao turned to him, narrowing her eyes as she spoke with a cold tone, “Mr. Li, can I help you with anything?”
Li Yu was not the least embarrassed to have been caught staring, he only sensed that the girl in front of him was very powerful. Her gaze on him felt like it was piercing through him, baring his heart out for her to see. “It’s nothing, I just… felt that you seem familiar.”
That was such an old-school method of starting a conversation and picking up girls, and that was clearly expressed on her face as Gu Xiqiao looked at Li Yu. However, there was only an earnest expression on his face, with nothing hidden behind his words, and he looked like he had only spoken a fact.
Seeing that she ignored him after getting an answer, he laughed slightly to himself. The person he was thinking of and she were indeed alike, but their personalities were completely different.
Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes. Meanwhile, Xiao Yun and Jin Sitian had already started the fight, and because she had been through the harsh training under Yao Jiamu, Xiao Yun was performing very well in terms of martial arts. Looking at Jin Sitian however, you really didn’t have eyes to look at her. The martial arts instructor that was assigned to her had spent half the day talking, but seemed to not have taught her anything useful.
Cheng Zhou had strict requirements in his productions, one of them being he didn’t allow any stunt performers to substitute any of his actors or actresses. Jin Sitian could only continue her poor performance of waving and jumping around.
Her expressions were stiff, her tone was out of place, her movements were not natural. Gu Xiqiao rubbed her chin as she observed the differences between the two, and ultimately decided that their Xiao Yun was definitely way more pleasing to the eyes.
If she as an observer and outsider was able to spot all these problems, Cheng Zhou naturally was also able to. He looked at Jin Sitian, the fire in his eyes once again threatening to burst forth, slamming his hand on the table, he shouted, “What the hell are you doing, Jin Sitian!”
Unexpectedly, his shout startled Jin Sitian badly at this time, and the sword in her hand was flung toward the direction of Xiao Yun’s face when she flinched. The swords they used in filming were in fact all the real deal, and when the sword was flung out, most of the people around them didn’t even have time to react or shout a warning, and some even closed their eyes in fear and not wanting to watch how it would play out.
Xiao Yun had already sheathed the sword in her hands when the director had called for a stop, and didn’t expect a turn of events like this to happen. She watched as the white sparkling sword flew toward her, her eyes widening in a moment of fear, knowing that she didn’t have any time to react at all.
At this moment of peril, familiar, slender fingers appeared in front of her, grabbing the blade of the sword. Xiao Yun stared blankly in shock, until the red liquid started seeping out from the pale white palm, vividly red to the point that it was painful to look at.
“Gu Xiqiao, have you lost your mind?! Hurry up and let it go!” Xiao Yun’s eyes saw red, but she also didn’t dare to touch the blade. She yelled at Gu Xiqiao in a panicked voice, rushing her to release the sword. “Why did you come over? Aren’t you normally great in your usual days?! Why don’t you use your brain properly when it matters!”
Gu Xiqiao glanced at Xiao Yun, loosening the hold on the blade as it slid out from her hand, making a clear clanking sound as it fell to the ground.
The sound was the thing that snapped everyone out of their stunned state, and it seemed that everyone started moving immediately, gathering around them in concern and asking questions in worried tones.
Xiao Yun looked at Gu Xiqiao’s palms through blurry eyes, feeling her nose blocked from trying to hold back her tears. “I wouldn’t have died, why would you rush over like this?!”
“Nonsense, is your face or my hand more important, hmm?” Gu Xiqiao said, keeping her eyes on Xiao Yun. The most important thing for a star was their face, and that was the reason she had grabbed the blade with her bare hands without much thought. The situation had been urgent enough to warrant the action, and she had reacted instinctively.
The honed instincts of her body allowed her to avoid injury to the important parts of her hand, and it was just a normal wound. However, it looked worse than it was, with the way the blood was seeping out from the wound.
Xiao Yun didn’t even hesitate a beat before replying, “Nonsense! Of course it’s your hands that are more important! If my face is ruined, I can still fix it!” This was the hand that needed to hold a painting brush, a scalpel, and it was obviously a thousand times more important than her own face.
“Bullshit, your face is more important.” Gu Xiqiao sighed. “Don’t worry, my hand is fine.”
“Director Cheng, may I take the rest of the day off to accompany my friend to the hospital?” Xiao Yun wasn’t looking at Gu Xiqiao anymore, turning to address Cheng Zhou instead.
Cheng Zhou didn’t even need to think and agreed immediately.
The exchange between Xiao Yun and Gu Xiqiao had touched the people around them. Nowadays, it was rare to see such iron solid friendships in the entertainment circle, and they couldn’t help but soften their gaze when they looked at the two girls.
Especially when they looked at Gu Xiqiao, whose hand was still bleeding from the open wound. Her eyes were lowered slightly, and you could only see the snow-white face of hers, but not the expressions in her gaze. She looked the image of a child who had been wronged but was still keeping up a strong front, and the staff members around them felt even more distressed when they saw this. There were countless people who started to move around, searching for the first aid kit and also offering to send them to the hospital, apart from making sure she was alright for the moment.
As for Jin Sitian, the instigator of the whole drama that was happening, she had been shuffled to the side, and every one of the staff were treating her as though she didn’t exist, completely ignoring her.
Although she was normally treated coldly, there was always one or two brown noses who would indulge her due to her financial backer. However, none of them came forward today. They pretended not to see her even when their gaze swept across her, and some even held accusations in their eyes.
“Why are they blaming me? It’s not like I did it on purpose, it was an accident! And Xiao Yun wasn’t hurt at all!” Jin Sitian exclaimed, raging at her manager.
The manager could feel the migraine building behind his head. Dealing with this sort of people and artistes, he feels at least ten years of his life being shaved off. “But you injured Xiao Yun’s friend, what’s the difference from hurting her?”
“Her friend? What about her?” Jin Sitian laughed coldly. “I already follow your instructions to not intentionally clash with Xiao Yun normally, what does that have to do with her friends? If she didn’t use her bare hands to catch my sword, then this wouldn’t have happened, it was all her own fault!”
“Do you think that Mr. Tian is invincible? The Imperial Capital is full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons, any person that you pick out randomly has a possibility of being a descendent of some founding fathers. Hurry up and go apologize!” The manager was unusually firm in his stance.
While Jin Sitian could find no way around it, she also knew that her manager was someone very intelligent, and had no plans to search out another manager, and so she grudgingly went to apologize.
When she apologized in a soft, lowered voice (that’s what she thought), the other party was not appreciative of it at all.
“If apologies worked, then why would you need the police?” Xiao Yun replied coldly, a frosty glare on her face, and it felt as chilling as a harsh wind blowing in the winter.
Gu Xiqiao glanced at Xiao Yun, and motioned for her not to be too worked up. “Miss Jin, right? I’m alright. However, a blade isn’t something that is meant to be something used so lightly, I hope that the next time you will be able to hold the sword firmly in your hands. Not everyone has tough and thick skin like me after all.”
A staff member scurried over with a first aid kit at this time. They didn’t want to simply use any medicine, but they did want to clean the blood off her hands, it would make the people around them less worried.
Also, it would need to be disinfected.
“Let’s go to the hospital.” Xiao Yun pulled Gu Xiqiao’s arm, intending to leave the place.
“It’s fine, I can just take care of it here.” Gu Xiqiao opened the first aid kit, rummaging through the box and pulling a few things out.
Li Yu frowned, looking at the blood that covered the snow-white skin, feeling that it was a bit unpleasant to the eyes. “Miss Gu, I think it’s better to head for the hospital. It would be more reassuring to know whether any nerves or meridians have been damaged too.”
“That’s right.” Cheng Zhou looked at Gu Xiqiao, who still wore an indifferent expression on her face. She was still in the mood to joke around, completely unlike an injured person. “It’s better to have it checked at the hospital, you shouldn’t play around with hand injuries.”
“See, everyone is saying the same thing!” Xiao Yun exclaimed, looking at Gu Xiqiao. She was afraid that Gu Xiqiao would remain stubborn, and at that point, no one would be able to convince her.
Gu Xiqiao straightened up and walked a bit further away to find a place to sit, taking out the disinfectant to wipe away the blood on her hands. When disinfectant enters any wound, it definitely was painful, and even the people around her winced in sympathy at her actions. But the person who was injured was calm, not even twitching, seemingly like it wasn’t her hand that was being affected.
“Don’t worry, I already said it’s fine.” Gu Xiqiao glanced up at Xiao Yun. “Have you forgotten what I major in?”
Going to the hospital for such a small injury, that was practically overkill for her.
In her state of panic, Xiao Yun had indeed forgotten. She was suddenly reminded of Gu Xiqiao’s superb medical skills, and knew that she wouldn’t lie about these things to her. Although that reassured her, she still felt a stab of pain through her heart when she saw the two deep gashes on Gu Xiqiao’s hand, her gaze remaining heavy as she stared at her.
After washing away the bloodstains, the two gashes could be seen clearly, and although it was deep, it hadn’t cut to the bone.
“I’ll head home first today. Rehearse well, Xiao Yun.” Thinking that her continued presence here would affect everyone around here, which would then not allow Xiao Yun to continue her filming, as well as the staff wouldn’t be able to help themselves from looking over to her to ensure she was alright, she decided that leaving was the better option.
Li Yu had already started shooting in the next scene, and usually, every staff member present would be captivated completely by his performance, but today every one of them was absent-minded.
Because there was a girl sitting nearby that was even more dazzling than the handsome actor.
“I’ll send you back!” Xiao Yun said, starting to clear away her things.
“It’s fine.” Gu Xiqiao waved her phone in her face. “Brother Jiang has already come over, you can continue shooting with a peace of mind, it’s alright.”
Hearing Jiang Shuxuan’s name being mentioned, Xiao Yun finally relaxed, and she walked Gu Xiqiao to the exit. “When you get back, make sure you listen to Mr. Jiang’s words. Don’t let your wound touch water, and if you need to, make sure to go to the hospital, alright?”
Xiao Yun stood at the doorway of the entrance until Gu Xiqiao’s figure had disappeared from her sight, and the smile that was on her face drop instantly, a cold, elegant and frigid look sliding onto her face.
When she returned to the stage area again, Li Yu was already done with his scene. The next one would be of her and Jin Sitian again.
“What Miss Gu said just now, what exactly is she studying?” Li Yu asked as he wiped the sweat from his head with a towel. It was summertime now, and being wrapped in heavy robes indoors was really hot after a scene.
Xiao Yun took the sword from the staff that was holding it out for her, and after testing the weight of it again, she turned to reply, “She’s in the Faculty of Medicine at A University, studying clinical medicine.”
A University was the highest educational institution in China, and it was well known for its Faculty of Physics, as well as Medicine. There were only a few hundred people being recruited each year in the entire country. Those who were able to enter the medical faculty in itself were already an indication of their abilities, and so when Li Yu heard that, he felt the respect he had for Gu Xiqiao rise even more. “Didn’t expect her to be from the medical faculty.”
Cheng Zhou, who had been listening in on their conversation discreetly, felt a little disappointed at those words. Alas, she was in the medical faculty. Wouldn’t it have been great if she was from the Faculty of Performing Arts?
Soon, the next scene began filming. Xiao Yun was once again sparring against Jin Sitian. This time, Jin Sitian could feel a lot of pressure pressing down on her person, the atmosphere was also heavier, and she looked at Xiao Yun suspiciously. Her expression and actions were not any different than usual.
It was even worse when the two started fighting, and Jin Sitian had already taken a hard punch, with Xiao Yun taking three bloopers, and yet Cheng Zhou didn’t say anything about it.
This blatant unfair treatment led Jin Sitian to feel it to be unbearable, and she finally threw down her blade. “I’m done! I’m not doing this anymore!”
Xiao Yu remained silent, casting a glance at the ground, where some dry bloodstains still remained. The stains were probably there because the staff had missed it when they had cleaned the place in a hurry.
Everyone around was basically unresponsive at this exclamation, and Jin Sitian returned to the dressing room with a calm face to change her clothes. She then took her bag and left the place.
Her manager tried to salvage the situation with the production crew, laughing awkwardly. “I’m really sorry, Sitian really has too high expectations on herself, and the pressure must have been too intense…” He couldn’t even bring himself to continue this line of a lie.
Cheng Zhou and the producer didn’t bother to continue the conversation, and were busy settling their own things. Seeing that, the manager also felt helpless in the situation, and left to chase after Jin Sitian after another hurried apology to the crew.
“What are you going nuts for again?!” The manager had returned to the van where he saw Jin Sitian just getting off a call. He continued to reprimand her with a calmer face. “Do you know how difficult it is to have an opportunity like this?”
Jin Sitian glanced angrily at her manager. “Wasn’t it obvious that Xiao Yun was personally targeting me just now? Director Chang was clearly showing his dislike for me too!”
It was clearly you who had harmed others first, and others were now just venting out their anger on behalf of their friend. The manager felt that Jin Sitian really couldn’t go on like this.
“I’ve already talked to Mr. Tian, asking him to increase his investment on the condition they take Xiao Yun out. Otherwise, he will withdraw his investment, since this movie has her but not me!” Disdain appeared on Jin Sitian’s face. Since she had opposed her to this extent, then she would have to face the consequences of her actions!
As soon as she said those words, the wrinkles on the manager’s face subsided a little. Having money would lead to having a big head nowadays, otherwise, with Jin Sitians acting skills and lack of intelligence, how else would she have climbed up to the position of a second-rate star?
There were just some inexplicable concerns in his heart, not sure whether there was any use in using Mr. Tian’s name this time. If Xiao Yun remained in the team, it was obvious that Jin Sitian wouldn’t be able to continue on in it.
***
Gu Xiqiao was waiting for Jiang Shuxuan after she had left the building, she wasn’t actually sure that he would turn up, and so she decided to wander around the filming base.
Her phone rang twice before she picked it up with her left hand, her tone was cheerful as she answered, “Brother Jiang.”
“Where are you?” Jiang Shuxuan was driving on the highway, a Bluetooth piece in his ear.
When Gu Xiqiao gave him the location, he was surprised. “Why are you there?”
“Xiao Yun is filming today, so I came to take a look. It was very interesting.” Gu Xiqiao had also seen some familiar faces that were usually only seen on the TV screen, and her interest was piqued. “Aren’t you busy now, Brother Jiang?” For him to have the time to personally pick her up, it had been a while since she had seen him having time to do so.
Jiang Shuxuan had turned the car to head in the direction of the filming base. “If you’re busy for a long time, there must also be a break for it.” He wasn’t overly concerned about the family affairs, and recently he had mainly been cleaning up in The Forum. Once that was done, he was free.
During the next few days, no one would be able to move this great god that was him, and the ancient martial arts world wailed in sorrow for the moment.
Hanging up the call, Gu Xiqiao glanced at her right hand and bit her lip. Die, she could already imagine Jiang Shuxuan’s dark expression once he found out about her injury.
Since she was already here, she might as well take the good and bad along, and enjoy the ride. That was how she comforted herself.
“It’s you?” A familiar voice suddenly sounded from somewhere beside her.
Gu Xiqiao raised her head, seeing a woman with a slightly demonic look and a pair of mesmerizing and seductive eyes. “My name is Gu Xiqiao.”
“Miss Gu,” Ning Qing rolled the words on her tongue silently, then she smiled. “I didn’t manage to say it the other day, thank you.”
Looking at Ning Qing who seemed to be quite lively and energetic, Gu Xiqiao squinted her eyes at her slightly. It seemed that she had adjusted well, unlike the dejected and depressed look that she wore the other night, Ning Qing was looking beautiful and radiant today. If she was given the chance, she would definitely become famous in one swoop.
“It’s just a trivial matter,” Gu Xiqiao said, waving it away. “Have you managed to pay your rent?”
When Gu Xiqiao raised the topic, Ning Qing blushed a little. “My landlord has given me a few more days, and I’m currently taking on some smaller roles, so I should be able to pay some off soon. Are you also an actress, Miss Gu?”
“I’m not, I came to see a friend today.” Gu Xiqiao smiled. She still had money in her pocket, and it wouldn’t be difficult to help Ning Qing through this difficult and embarrassing period. However, this was not what Ning Qing wanted, and what she lacked the most right now was not money, but opportunities.
Seeing the recruitment was already starting, Ning Qing said, “Miss Gu, we’ll talk another day!”
“Wait.” Gu Xiqiao took out her phone. “Leave me your contact information.”
“Ah? Oh.” Ning Qing felt a little flattered, not expecting for Gu Xiqiao to ask for her contact information at all.
After she had knocked out the real estate tycoon the other night, things had gone on without any changes, like nothing had happened. Ning Qing knew that Gu Xiqiao was definitely not an ordinary person, and for her to want her contact information, it made Ning Qing a little excited.
After entering the information, Ning Qing returned the phone to Gu Xiqiao, but then she pulled back in surprise. “What happened to your hand?”
“It’s nothing, I accidentally cut myself.” Gu Xiqiao gave her a small smile. “Hurry and go, I think I see those people rushing them.”
“Then, I’ll see you around.” Ning Qing gave her hand one last glance before turning around and leaving.
“Ah, being youthful is good, so full of life and vitality.” Gu Xiqiao suddenly sighed.
The system spirit who was playing its game in the void space suddenly paused in its action, furrowing its eyebrows. […you’re saying it as though you’re very super old?]
It wasn’t like she had kept track of how many years she had lived including her past life. ‘Probably wouldn’t be as old as you though.’
The system spirit pouted at that. [You’ll easily lose me at this rate!]
‘Oh, I forgot, you’re not Xixi.’ Gu Xiqiao suddenly realized.
System: Come at me bro, let’s see who hurts each other more! Who’s afraid of who now?!
***
As an actor, Li Yu was busy almost every day. Cheng Zhou had made sure to concentrate most of his scenes within a certain time period. Now that the filming was done, he sat in the car as it drove away from the set. While on the road, he caught sight of a familiar figure, and opened his mouth to speak to the assistant driving the car, “Stop for a bit.”
The assistant also clearly remembered Gu Xiqiao, and knowing what Li Yu wanted to do, he slowed the car and parked it neatly in front of Gu Xiqiao.
“Why are you still here? Get in and I’ll send you home,” Li Yu said after winding the window down. His brows were furrowed in slight concern, didn’t she say that someone was picking her up? It had been a long time and she was still wandering around here.
Gu Xiqiao stopped talking to the system, raising her eyes to see the handsome face in front of her. She shook her head lightly, when she spoke to Xiao Yun, she was always smiling, and her voice was not as cold as it was now, and she seemed quite distant. “It’s alright, Mr. Li. My ride will soon be here.”
Feeling that the girl was possibly being stubborn and was not willing to admit that she had made a mistake previously, Li Yu put on sunglasses and came down from the car. It was really the first time someone had refused him. “It’s fine, just get in. I’m an honest citizen, don’t worry.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Gu Xiqiao smiled slightly, she knew that Li Yu had good intentions. “It’s just that my ride really is coming soon.”
Roughly calculating the time needed, he should be here any time now. The traffic in the Imperial City had always been quite a drag, and there was definitely traffic at this time, which was completely normal.
“You…” Li Yu opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get anything out from his mouth, he saw Gu Xiqiao’s eyes lit up in delight, a sincere smile stretching across her face. It was as though stars had filled her eyes in that instant, the sunlight couldn’t even compare to the radiance that she was exuding right now. She turned toward him as she pointed in the direction ahead. “Look, it’s here.”
Li Yu followed her line of sight, and thought to himself inside, even though their eyes were similar, Gu Xiqiao’s were so much more energetic, and of course, even her face was more pleasant to look at.
A black Bugatti was slowing down in the distance. In the Imperial City, it was not uncommon to see luxury cars, and a Bugatti was just slightly more eye-catching compared to a lot of other cars out there. Li Yu swept his gaze across it without paying much attention, but when he saw the license plate on his, he was startled, his eyes widening.
A Bugatti was a rare sight, but special license plates were even rarer.
These plates were reserved exclusively for people who were special or from specific departments. With Li Yu’s eyesight, it was easy enough to identify it.
“Goodbye, Mr. Li.” Gu Xiqiao nodded her head at him, and then turned to trot toward the car.
The car had stopped at the corner not far from where they were, and Li Yu could see someone coming out from the vehicle. The person was tall and lean, a stunning silhouette that looked as though it had been carved perfectly and plated with a gold rim under the sunlight, and a pair of straight and slender legs. He opened the passenger seat door, and you could faintly make out a faint smile on his face when he lowered his head.
In the next instant, his smile had disappeared. He straightened up slowly, gently grabbing the hand that the girl was hiding behind her back, and a furious expression crossed his face.
Li Yu couldn’t hear what the two were saying, but he could see Gu Xiqiao lowering her head, pretending to look even more pitiful than usual. After a short while, the man let her go and shuffled her into the car.
As he got into the car, his eyes landed on Li Yu, his onyx eyes were deep and cold, his gaze sharp and piercing.
It was only a second before he turned away, but Li Yu could still feel a layer of chill settling around him. He stood for a while in his spot, then turned to return to his own car.
***
“What happened?” Jiang Shuxuan slid into the driver’s seat, his face still having a cold, indifferent expression. He looked very scary (Xixi thought so), and Xixi who had been perched on his shoulder immediately hopped to hide in the backseat.
Gu Xiqiao rolled her eyes. “Cutting fruit…”
It was a red light, and Jiang Shuxuan stopped the car. “You think I’d believe that?”
“Fine.” Gu Xiqiao sighed. “When I was watching the shoot today, I was too immersed in it and got injured by mistake. This kind of thing is quite common in the stage areas… Sigh, just driving home is fine, I don’t have to go to the hospital!” She was also a doctor for goodness sake, and it was such a small wound. She only needed the night to use her chi to mend it, and she knew it would be completely fine!
“Can doctors treat themselves?” Jiang Shuxuan glanced at her, knowing now that she didn’t go to the hospital, his face darkened further.
Although it was likely that the doctor had already clocked off work, Gu Xiqiao remained silent as she watched Jiang Shuxuan make a call. His cold tone was attached with extreme pressure, and it seemed to scare the person on the other end of the call to death.
***
As Rong Feishuang’s apprentice, Zhu Yuan was also quite well known. On normal days, he was only occasionally found at the hospital of the Imperial Capital, or sometimes he would accept a few international consultations, or he could be giving lectures everywhere.
However, he had just returned to the country today. Before he could even sit his ass down to have a cup of tea, someone named Jiang had given him a call.
Hearing Jiang Shuxuan’s tone, it had sounded like a massively serious injury, and had rushed to the hospital. He found the dean of the hospital trembling when he reached, and when he examined the injury, he found that it was just an ordinary knife wound, and none of her meridians were injured either.
Seriously… was it necessary to torment him this way?
Zhu Yuan wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood at this.
But no matter what he thought, he still handled the wound carefully, and naturally would also sneak a peek at the person he was treating. The girl didn’t look very old, her skin was white as snow, her face was a gorgeous sight. She seemed to be a rare beauty, and even for him who had seen all kinds of looks, he was also still bewildered for a moment.
He didn’t dare to look long, if he did, Jiang Shuxuan’s eyes would become like a knife and pierce through him.
“The wound has been treated previously, so there’s no risk of infection. Try not to get it wet, and apply the ointment that I will prescribe so that it won’t leave a scar,” Zhu Yuan said as he bandaged the wound. After thinking a while, he carefully finished it up with a bow. He was being so meticulous, Master Jiang would probably let him off from his killing gaze, right?
Jiang Shuxuan ignored him, going out to make a call while he was wrapping the bandage. “Qingqiu, I need to trouble you to do something for me.”
***
As soon as Tang Qingqiu had finished processing the last document, he received a call from Jiang Shuxuan. “Shuxuan? You’re asking me for help?” This was the first.
Listening to Jiang Shuxuan’s words, Tang Qingqiu finally understood the entire story. Even without his prompting, he had already been investigating this matter. As the spearhead of the entertainment industry as well as the company that sat on top of the pyramid, it was easy enough to investigate the recordings of a stage area. The main point was that this was the first time in twenty years that Jiang Shuxuan was asking for help, and he needed to perform well. This was to show his concern to a brother… especially regarding a major turning point of a lifelong matter.
***
After Jin Sitian had returned, she had managed to pleased Mr. Tian and made him very happy.
Once Cheng Zhou was done with work, he received a call from Mr. Tian. “Xiao Yun will have to leave the crew, otherwise Tian Enterprise will withdraw their investment. Go and figure it out.”
Cheng Zhou’s face darkened immediately, throwing his phone on the ground in a fit of anger, shattering the device. “What the f*ck!”
Mr. Tian was the biggest investor in this movie, and if he suddenly withdrew his investment, he wouldn’t be able to replace such a huge amount in such a short time. The movie needed to be done in time to be released by the year end, and Mr.Tian’s withdrawal of his investment would deal a heavy blow to the production team of the ‘Empire Under Siege’!
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Following the address that was sent by Xiao Yun, Gu Xiqiao arrived at Studio City, which served as a well known filming base in the Imperial Capital. When the taxi stopped outside the building, she saw groups of performers lingering around the area.
The people who hung around here, if they weren’t young people full of hope and dreams, then they were the older generations of performers whose dreams have already been drowned by reality. At their age, it was extremely difficult for them to become popular again.
Double checking that she had the right place, she slowly made her way toward the filming base.
‘Empire Under Siege’ was Cheng Zhou’s only work this year, and the reason they started shooting at this time of the year was to make it in time for the awards ceremony which was at the end of the year. Generally speaking, the entire filming process was quite fast. Whether you were a big shot or a newbie, you had to get up early and work late into the night when you were in this crew, and no one dared to go against this culture here.
The ones who joined the filming of ‘Empire Under Siege’ were mainly there due to Cheng Zhou’s reputation. He was an unorthodox genius director from China, with only seven films in his hands, with an eccentric temperament. If he couldn’t find a person suitable to play the role in his movie, then he would rather not shoot at all. The films that he produced were all classics, and differed a lot by the movies that were generally found in the box office.
They didn’t manage to find a suitable heroine for one of his other movie of his last year, and till today it still hadn’t started production due to that reason. With such an amazing script just sitting in his hands like that, it made a lot of people jealous.
It was precisely due to his eccentric personality that many of the fresh and new rising stars were eager to hold a part in his movies.
This time, Xiao Yun was lucky to be selected. Because he had been having problems finding a perfect candidate for his movie for a long time Cheng Zhou had made a call to a good friend of his, hoping to be able to find some fresh talents. He never expected that he would be able to find someone like Xiao Yun.
“Cut! Jin Sitian, the role you’re playing is Princess Qixia! It’s a princess, you know! Not some prostitute! From the top again!” Cheng Zhou’s eyes were on the actress in front of him who was playing an indispensable character in his movie, the fire in his gaze was threatening to burst out at how annoyed he was toward the woman.
A princess of a ruined nation, there were many actresses and entertainers that were qualified to play this role in the entertainment circle. However, the princess was described as the world’s greatest beauty, and Cheng Zhou was very obsessed and picky in regards to the personality of the person playing this role. If the person wasn’t beautiful, then he didn’t want her. Although the one in front of him was indeed a beauty, one that would shine in front of him, her acting was subpar. No wonder she was still only a second-rate entertainer even though she had such a gorgeous face.
“Director Cheng, calm down. She’s a newbie, she probably just needs more practise.” The producer who was beside him smiled as he tried to mediate the situation.
“Newbie?” Cheng Zhou sneered, pointing toward Xiao Yun, who was busy memorizing her lines at a corner of the stage. “Open your eyes and look, that’s a newbie! No matter how, this one has stayed in the entertainment industry for nearly three years already, and she’s acting just like a fresh newbie!”
The producer wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, thinking if it weren’t for him being so demanding about looking for an extremely beautiful face, then they wouldn’t be doing so badly until they felt like dying in this scene.
“Xiao Yun is someone who had professional training, and she also has an innate talent on her own, and most likely even in private… she…” The producer’s voice trailed off suddenly, and at the same time, a hushed silence fell over the entire stage area.
“She? She what!” Feeling the sudden change in the atmosphere, Cheng Zhou raised his head, and was also caught in a trance like the others.
Having been in the entertainment industry for close to seven years, he had seen countless entertainers, and although there had been ones that were very pretty and stunning, he had never seen anyone that could compare to this girl. Her face was as pretty as a picture, elegant and graceful, a fairy-like aura radiated from her as she walked. When she walked under the light, her skin exuded a soft glow that gave her an ethereal feeling, her obsidian eyes were black and sparkled clearly.
Such a person actually existed in this world, and even if she doesn’t smile, there was still a fresh feeling about her. Her beauty was out of this world, and it made it hard for people to look away from her.
“Who is she?” Cheng Zhou’s eyes were bright with excitement, feeling like a person who accurately portrayed Princess Qixia had finally made an appearance.
The producer glanced at Cheng Zhou silently, already knowing the thoughts that were running through his head. “Director Cheng, don’t forget that the final candidate selected for Princess Qixia is Jin Sitian.”
Cheng Zhou: My heart breaks! It weeps! It hurts to the point I can’t breath!
Was it too late for him to regret?
***
Jin Sitian had returned to her dressing room in a temper, throwing the cup in her hand angrily. A prostitute?! He had called her a prostitute! He had crossed the line!
As an entertainer with a strong financial backer, Jin Sitian was the only person in the crew to have her own dressing room, apart from the actresses and actors in the movie.
“Jin Sitian! This is the production team, there are many more people who are higher in status than you, what are you playing at!” The manager had seen the scene unfold in front of him, and had entered her room after he was done with his phone call, whispering furiously to her.
Which entertainers nowadays were not careful to play their roles well? They weren’t like Jin Sitian, thinking that she was invincible just because she had a financial backer behind her. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had a good foundation and was great at adapting, he wouldn’t have wasted any effort on such a person.
“Is there anything wrong with losing my temper after getting scolded like that? It’s just a minor female role, I’ll go back and talk to Mr. Tian. How many other female lead roles are waiting for me to pick? Why must I suffer through this insulting attitude here!” Jin Sitian felt annoyed at this. It was just a minor character role here, why must she treat it like something rare and precious as though she couldn’t find these types of roles anywhere?
The manager’s face flushed in anger. “Minor role?! This is a minor role in a movie directed by Director Cheng, a chance to be on stage with various actresses and actors. How many first-rate actresses won’t even get a chance in their lifetime to stand in your position, where has your brain gone?!”
Jin Sitian kept her eyes on the manager, who was clearly still frustrated and annoyed at her attitude, and she suddenly asked, “Why are you so worked up all of a sudden, was it Ning Qing on the call just now? Why are you still covering for her?”
At the mention of Ning Qing, the manager furrowed his brows. Ning Qing was also a decent entertainer when she started out, only that she was too honest and virtuous, and that’s why she had been kept in the cold palace until today.
As long as she was more discreet and adaptable, she would have easily gathered the required resources to make her a popular first-rate star. Although it was a little regretful, he knew that Ning Qing was already a lost cause. “Alright, I’ll get someone to touch your makeup. While you’re waiting, why don’t you have a better look at the script.”
Once the manager had exited the room, Jin Sitian looked at the script in her hands. She couldn’t let go of her anger, and threw the book to the side angrily.
The makeup artist who came in the room walked in on her doing that, and she frowned. What’s the use of having a financial backer if she was an entertainer with an attitude like this? She still wouldn’t be able to improve her reputation and get popular with the way she was.
***
“Er Qiao, you’re here!” Xiao Yun put away the script in her hands when she saw Gu Xiqiao, quietly pulling her into a corner.
Another scene was being shot on stage now, since the previous one had been interrupted halfway. The actor on stage had a handsome face, and he was wearing a white robe. What was more noticeable however, was not his good-looking face, but the pained expression on his face that was covered up a second too late. He looked toward the girl that had already turned away from him, the eyes that held a hint of contempt slowly faded away, a look that seemed to have experienced half a century of sadness replacing it.
After a long while, he straightened up again, his eyes focusing little by little, the deep pools becoming clearer. From today onwards, he was the Prince of Nanguo who was burdened with countless lives on his shoulder, no longer the Nan Qiubai that turned from duty for love!
Watching the performance shocked Gu Xiqiao, and when she returned to her senses, she looked at Xiao Yun, handing the milk tea in her hand to her. “…That was amazing.” Even the atmosphere around him was powerful.
Xiao Yun accepted the milk tea easily, the cool drink feeling pleasant in her hand. “That’s Li Yu, a well known actor. How can he not have that amazing aura around him? You know, when I first had a scene with him, I was completely out of it, and I wasn’t able to recite a single word of my script. I was almost reprimanded to death by the director.”
“Have you signed a contract with any company?” Gu Xiqiao suddenly remembered that Xiao Yun was considered to have entered the entertainment circle, and she would likely have signed a contract and have her own manager. Why was she alone then?
“Yeah, I did. Tang Enterprise, China’s spearhead in the entertainment industry. I don’t even know how I managed to sign a contact with the Tang Pictures Enterprise, to be honest.” Xiao Yun laughed slightly embarrassed, but happy. “My manager didn’t just bring me alone, there’s also another person, so there’s only an assistant with me.”
She was still a newbie after all, and with such kind treatment, Xiao Yun was already satisfied.
“Xiao Yun, is this your friend?” An attractive voice sounded from behind her suddenly.
Xiao Yun was startled for a moment, surprised that Li Yu would take the initiative to talk to her first. Her expression was slightly excited as she turned to reply, “Senior Li!”
Li Yu smiled at her greeting, a warm smile on his gentle and striking face. He was among one of the rarer actors which possessed great temperament in the industry. Xiao Yun was a newcomer with a solid foundation in her skills, and she was also motivated to do well. Compared to Jin Sitian, she was much cuter, and the entire crew, including Li Yu, had a good impression of Xiao Yun.
“This is a good friend of mine, she came specially to watch me when she heard that I was shooting today.” Xiao Yun said, reigning in her excitement as she explained to Li Yu.
Li Yu smiled faintly. “Well, beautiful girls have beautiful friends as expected.”
Being praised by a senior that you admire, even Xiao Yun would feel slightly embarrassed, a slight flush appearing on her cheeks as she scratched her head, laughing shyly.
Jin Sitian, who had just walked out of the dressing room came out to see Xiao Yun talking and laughing with Li Yu. Her expression darkened, clenching her fist tightly. A look of hatred flashed in her eyes, but it was only there for a moment before it disappeared.
“Xiao Yun, it’s your part now, the director is looking for you!” A staff member who was carrying a box called out to Xiao Yun to remind her when he saw her chatting.
“I’ll be right over, thanks!” She was so excited that she had almost forgotten about her shooting, and waved to the other two as she hurried away.
Xiao Yun was playing the second female lead who was a concubine, Zuo Qiuxiang. She was the male lead’s childhood friend and sparring partner, her status was equivalent to that of a maid, and she possessed strong martial art skills. Princess Qixia was played by Jin Sitian, who was the sister of the male lead, and also a princess of a fallen nation. In this scene, she would be filming a part where she practised her sword skills, sparring with Xiao Yun. Since Concubine Zuo Qiuxiang would be distracted with thoughts about the prince and another woman, it was a scene where Princess Qixia would accidentally wound her.
Gu Xiqiao watched the scene between the two, and was pleasantly amazed at how good Xiao Yun’s acting skills were. The character of Concubine Zuo Qiuxiang was fairly complicated, but she was able to clearly portray the role accurately.
On the other hand, the actress that was portraying Princess Qixia was stiff and tense, while she was supposed to be a cold, aloof but talented princess. There was even a flash of envy in her eyes when she looked at Xiao Yun?
Seriously, you’re acting the role of a princess. What jealousy do you have against a character portrayed to be a sparring partner?
While Gu Xiqiao was watching Xiao Yun’s performance with rapt attention, Li Yu was scrutinizing her instead.
Being observed so intensely, you would only be unable to feel it if you were an idiot. Not long after, Gu Xiqiao turned to him, narrowing her eyes as she spoke with a cold tone, “Mr. Li, can I help you with anything?”
Li Yu was not the least embarrassed to have been caught staring, he only sensed that the girl in front of him was very powerful. Her gaze on him felt like it was piercing through him, baring his heart out for her to see. “It’s nothing, I just… felt that you seem familiar.”
That was such an old-school method of starting a conversation and picking up girls, and that was clearly expressed on her face as Gu Xiqiao looked at Li Yu. However, there was only an earnest expression on his face, with nothing hidden behind his words, and he looked like he had only spoken a fact.
Seeing that she ignored him after getting an answer, he laughed slightly to himself. The person he was thinking of and she were indeed alike, but their personalities were completely different.
Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes. Meanwhile, Xiao Yun and Jin Sitian had already started the fight, and because she had been through the harsh training under Yao Jiamu, Xiao Yun was performing very well in terms of martial arts. Looking at Jin Sitian however, you really didn’t have eyes to look at her. The martial arts instructor that was assigned to her had spent half the day talking, but seemed to not have taught her anything useful.
Cheng Zhou had strict requirements in his productions, one of them being he didn’t allow any stunt performers to substitute any of his actors or actresses. Jin Sitian could only continue her poor performance of waving and jumping around.
Her expressions were stiff, her tone was out of place, her movements were not natural. Gu Xiqiao rubbed her chin as she observed the differences between the two, and ultimately decided that their Xiao Yun was definitely way more pleasing to the eyes.
If she as an observer and outsider was able to spot all these problems, Cheng Zhou naturally was also able to. He looked at Jin Sitian, the fire in his eyes once again threatening to burst forth, slamming his hand on the table, he shouted, “What the hell are you doing, Jin Sitian!”
Unexpectedly, his shout startled Jin Sitian badly at this time, and the sword in her hand was flung toward the direction of Xiao Yun’s face when she flinched. The swords they used in filming were in fact all the real deal, and when the sword was flung out, most of the people around them didn’t even have time to react or shout a warning, and some even closed their eyes in fear and not wanting to watch how it would play out.
Xiao Yun had already sheathed the sword in her hands when the director had called for a stop, and didn’t expect a turn of events like this to happen. She watched as the white sparkling sword flew toward her, her eyes widening in a moment of fear, knowing that she didn’t have any time to react at all.
At this moment of peril, familiar, slender fingers appeared in front of her, grabbing the blade of the sword. Xiao Yun stared blankly in shock, until the red liquid started seeping out from the pale white palm, vividly red to the point that it was painful to look at.
“Gu Xiqiao, have you lost your mind?! Hurry up and let it go!” Xiao Yun’s eyes saw red, but she also didn’t dare to touch the blade. She yelled at Gu Xiqiao in a panicked voice, rushing her to release the sword. “Why did you come over? Aren’t you normally great in your usual days?! Why don’t you use your brain properly when it matters!”
Gu Xiqiao glanced at Xiao Yun, loosening the hold on the blade as it slid out from her hand, making a clear clanking sound as it fell to the ground.
The sound was the thing that snapped everyone out of their stunned state, and it seemed that everyone started moving immediately, gathering around them in concern and asking questions in worried tones.
Xiao Yun looked at Gu Xiqiao’s palms through blurry eyes, feeling her nose blocked from trying to hold back her tears. “I wouldn’t have died, why would you rush over like this?!”
“Nonsense, is your face or my hand more important, hmm?” Gu Xiqiao said, keeping her eyes on Xiao Yun. The most important thing for a star was their face, and that was the reason she had grabbed the blade with her bare hands without much thought. The situation had been urgent enough to warrant the action, and she had reacted instinctively.
The honed instincts of her body allowed her to avoid injury to the important parts of her hand, and it was just a normal wound. However, it looked worse than it was, with the way the blood was seeping out from the wound.
Xiao Yun didn’t even hesitate a beat before replying, “Nonsense! Of course it’s your hands that are more important! If my face is ruined, I can still fix it!” This was the hand that needed to hold a painting brush, a scalpel, and it was obviously a thousand times more important than her own face.
“Bullshit, your face is more important.” Gu Xiqiao sighed. “Don’t worry, my hand is fine.”
“Director Cheng, may I take the rest of the day off to accompany my friend to the hospital?” Xiao Yun wasn’t looking at Gu Xiqiao anymore, turning to address Cheng Zhou instead.
Cheng Zhou didn’t even need to think and agreed immediately.
The exchange between Xiao Yun and Gu Xiqiao had touched the people around them. Nowadays, it was rare to see such iron solid friendships in the entertainment circle, and they couldn’t help but soften their gaze when they looked at the two girls.
Especially when they looked at Gu Xiqiao, whose hand was still bleeding from the open wound. Her eyes were lowered slightly, and you could only see the snow-white face of hers, but not the expressions in her gaze. She looked the image of a child who had been wronged but was still keeping up a strong front, and the staff members around them felt even more distressed when they saw this. There were countless people who started to move around, searching for the first aid kit and also offering to send them to the hospital, apart from making sure she was alright for the moment.
As for Jin Sitian, the instigator of the whole drama that was happening, she had been shuffled to the side, and every one of the staff were treating her as though she didn’t exist, completely ignoring her.
Although she was normally treated coldly, there was always one or two brown noses who would indulge her due to her financial backer. However, none of them came forward today. They pretended not to see her even when their gaze swept across her, and some even held accusations in their eyes.
“Why are they blaming me? It’s not like I did it on purpose, it was an accident! And Xiao Yun wasn’t hurt at all!” Jin Sitian exclaimed, raging at her manager.
The manager could feel the migraine building behind his head. Dealing with this sort of people and artistes, he feels at least ten years of his life being shaved off. “But you injured Xiao Yun’s friend, what’s the difference from hurting her?”
“Her friend? What about her?” Jin Sitian laughed coldly. “I already follow your instructions to not intentionally clash with Xiao Yun normally, what does that have to do with her friends? If she didn’t use her bare hands to catch my sword, then this wouldn’t have happened, it was all her own fault!”
“Do you think that Mr. Tian is invincible? The Imperial Capital is full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons, any person that you pick out randomly has a possibility of being a descendent of some founding fathers. Hurry up and go apologize!” The manager was unusually firm in his stance.
While Jin Sitian could find no way around it, she also knew that her manager was someone very intelligent, and had no plans to search out another manager, and so she grudgingly went to apologize.
When she apologized in a soft, lowered voice (that’s what she thought), the other party was not appreciative of it at all.
“If apologies worked, then why would you need the police?” Xiao Yun replied coldly, a frosty glare on her face, and it felt as chilling as a harsh wind blowing in the winter.
Gu Xiqiao glanced at Xiao Yun, and motioned for her not to be too worked up. “Miss Jin, right? I’m alright. However, a blade isn’t something that is meant to be something used so lightly, I hope that the next time you will be able to hold the sword firmly in your hands. Not everyone has tough and thick skin like me after all.”
A staff member scurried over with a first aid kit at this time. They didn’t want to simply use any medicine, but they did want to clean the blood off her hands, it would make the people around them less worried.
Also, it would need to be disinfected.
“Let’s go to the hospital.” Xiao Yun pulled Gu Xiqiao’s arm, intending to leave the place.
“It’s fine, I can just take care of it here.” Gu Xiqiao opened the first aid kit, rummaging through the box and pulling a few things out.
Li Yu frowned, looking at the blood that covered the snow-white skin, feeling that it was a bit unpleasant to the eyes. “Miss Gu, I think it’s better to head for the hospital. It would be more reassuring to know whether any nerves or meridians have been damaged too.”
“That’s right.” Cheng Zhou looked at Gu Xiqiao, who still wore an indifferent expression on her face. She was still in the mood to joke around, completely unlike an injured person. “It’s better to have it checked at the hospital, you shouldn’t play around with hand injuries.”
“See, everyone is saying the same thing!” Xiao Yun exclaimed, looking at Gu Xiqiao. She was afraid that Gu Xiqiao would remain stubborn, and at that point, no one would be able to convince her.
Gu Xiqiao straightened up and walked a bit further away to find a place to sit, taking out the disinfectant to wipe away the blood on her hands. When disinfectant enters any wound, it definitely was painful, and even the people around her winced in sympathy at her actions. But the person who was injured was calm, not even twitching, seemingly like it wasn’t her hand that was being affected.
“Don’t worry, I already said it’s fine.” Gu Xiqiao glanced up at Xiao Yun. “Have you forgotten what I major in?”
Going to the hospital for such a small injury, that was practically overkill for her.
In her state of panic, Xiao Yun had indeed forgotten. She was suddenly reminded of Gu Xiqiao’s superb medical skills, and knew that she wouldn’t lie about these things to her. Although that reassured her, she still felt a stab of pain through her heart when she saw the two deep gashes on Gu Xiqiao’s hand, her gaze remaining heavy as she stared at her.
After washing away the bloodstains, the two gashes could be seen clearly, and although it was deep, it hadn’t cut to the bone.
“I’ll head home first today. Rehearse well, Xiao Yun.” Thinking that her continued presence here would affect everyone around here, which would then not allow Xiao Yun to continue her filming, as well as the staff wouldn’t be able to help themselves from looking over to her to ensure she was alright, she decided that leaving was the better option.
Li Yu had already started shooting in the next scene, and usually, every staff member present would be captivated completely by his performance, but today every one of them was absent-minded.
Because there was a girl sitting nearby that was even more dazzling than the handsome actor.
“I’ll send you back!” Xiao Yun said, starting to clear away her things.
“It’s fine.” Gu Xiqiao waved her phone in her face. “Brother Jiang has already come over, you can continue shooting with a peace of mind, it’s alright.”
Hearing Jiang Shuxuan’s name being mentioned, Xiao Yun finally relaxed, and she walked Gu Xiqiao to the exit. “When you get back, make sure you listen to Mr. Jiang’s words. Don’t let your wound touch water, and if you need to, make sure to go to the hospital, alright?”
Xiao Yun stood at the doorway of the entrance until Gu Xiqiao’s figure had disappeared from her sight, and the smile that was on her face drop instantly, a cold, elegant and frigid look sliding onto her face.
When she returned to the stage area again, Li Yu was already done with his scene. The next one would be of her and Jin Sitian again.
“What Miss Gu said just now, what exactly is she studying?” Li Yu asked as he wiped the sweat from his head with a towel. It was summertime now, and being wrapped in heavy robes indoors was really hot after a scene.
Xiao Yun took the sword from the staff that was holding it out for her, and after testing the weight of it again, she turned to reply, “She’s in the Faculty of Medicine at A University, studying clinical medicine.”
A University was the highest educational institution in China, and it was well known for its Faculty of Physics, as well as Medicine. There were only a few hundred people being recruited each year in the entire country. Those who were able to enter the medical faculty in itself were already an indication of their abilities, and so when Li Yu heard that, he felt the respect he had for Gu Xiqiao rise even more. “Didn’t expect her to be from the medical faculty.”
Cheng Zhou, who had been listening in on their conversation discreetly, felt a little disappointed at those words. Alas, she was in the medical faculty. Wouldn’t it have been great if she was from the Faculty of Performing Arts?
Soon, the next scene began filming. Xiao Yun was once again sparring against Jin Sitian. This time, Jin Sitian could feel a lot of pressure pressing down on her person, the atmosphere was also heavier, and she looked at Xiao Yun suspiciously. Her expression and actions were not any different than usual.
It was even worse when the two started fighting, and Jin Sitian had already taken a hard punch, with Xiao Yun taking three bloopers, and yet Cheng Zhou didn’t say anything about it.
This blatant unfair treatment led Jin Sitian to feel it to be unbearable, and she finally threw down her blade. “I’m done! I’m not doing this anymore!”
Xiao Yu remained silent, casting a glance at the ground, where some dry bloodstains still remained. The stains were probably there because the staff had missed it when they had cleaned the place in a hurry.
Everyone around was basically unresponsive at this exclamation, and Jin Sitian returned to the dressing room with a calm face to change her clothes. She then took her bag and left the place.
Her manager tried to salvage the situation with the production crew, laughing awkwardly. “I’m really sorry, Sitian really has too high expectations on herself, and the pressure must have been too intense…” He couldn’t even bring himself to continue this line of a lie.
Cheng Zhou and the producer didn’t bother to continue the conversation, and were busy settling their own things. Seeing that, the manager also felt helpless in the situation, and left to chase after Jin Sitian after another hurried apology to the crew.
“What are you going nuts for again?!” The manager had returned to the van where he saw Jin Sitian just getting off a call. He continued to reprimand her with a calmer face. “Do you know how difficult it is to have an opportunity like this?”
Jin Sitian glanced angrily at her manager. “Wasn’t it obvious that Xiao Yun was personally targeting me just now? Director Chang was clearly showing his dislike for me too!”
It was clearly you who had harmed others first, and others were now just venting out their anger on behalf of their friend. The manager felt that Jin Sitian really couldn’t go on like this.
“I’ve already talked to Mr. Tian, asking him to increase his investment on the condition they take Xiao Yun out. Otherwise, he will withdraw his investment, since this movie has her but not me!” Disdain appeared on Jin Sitian’s face. Since she had opposed her to this extent, then she would have to face the consequences of her actions!
As soon as she said those words, the wrinkles on the manager’s face subsided a little. Having money would lead to having a big head nowadays, otherwise, with Jin Sitians acting skills and lack of intelligence, how else would she have climbed up to the position of a second-rate star?
There were just some inexplicable concerns in his heart, not sure whether there was any use in using Mr. Tian’s name this time. If Xiao Yun remained in the team, it was obvious that Jin Sitian wouldn’t be able to continue on in it.
***
Gu Xiqiao was waiting for Jiang Shuxuan after she had left the building, she wasn’t actually sure that he would turn up, and so she decided to wander around the filming base.
Her phone rang twice before she picked it up with her left hand, her tone was cheerful as she answered, “Brother Jiang.”
“Where are you?” Jiang Shuxuan was driving on the highway, a Bluetooth piece in his ear.
When Gu Xiqiao gave him the location, he was surprised. “Why are you there?”
“Xiao Yun is filming today, so I came to take a look. It was very interesting.” Gu Xiqiao had also seen some familiar faces that were usually only seen on the TV screen, and her interest was piqued. “Aren’t you busy now, Brother Jiang?” For him to have the time to personally pick her up, it had been a while since she had seen him having time to do so.
Jiang Shuxuan had turned the car to head in the direction of the filming base. “If you’re busy for a long time, there must also be a break for it.” He wasn’t overly concerned about the family affairs, and recently he had mainly been cleaning up in The Forum. Once that was done, he was free.
During the next few days, no one would be able to move this great god that was him, and the ancient martial arts world wailed in sorrow for the moment.
Hanging up the call, Gu Xiqiao glanced at her right hand and bit her lip. Die, she could already imagine Jiang Shuxuan’s dark expression once he found out about her injury.
Since she was already here, she might as well take the good and bad along, and enjoy the ride. That was how she comforted herself.
“It’s you?” A familiar voice suddenly sounded from somewhere beside her.
Gu Xiqiao raised her head, seeing a woman with a slightly demonic look and a pair of mesmerizing and seductive eyes. “My name is Gu Xiqiao.”
“Miss Gu,” Ning Qing rolled the words on her tongue silently, then she smiled. “I didn’t manage to say it the other day, thank you.”
Looking at Ning Qing who seemed to be quite lively and energetic, Gu Xiqiao squinted her eyes at her slightly. It seemed that she had adjusted well, unlike the dejected and depressed look that she wore the other night, Ning Qing was looking beautiful and radiant today. If she was given the chance, she would definitely become famous in one swoop.
“It’s just a trivial matter,” Gu Xiqiao said, waving it away. “Have you managed to pay your rent?”
When Gu Xiqiao raised the topic, Ning Qing blushed a little. “My landlord has given me a few more days, and I’m currently taking on some smaller roles, so I should be able to pay some off soon. Are you also an actress, Miss Gu?”
“I’m not, I came to see a friend today.” Gu Xiqiao smiled. She still had money in her pocket, and it wouldn’t be difficult to help Ning Qing through this difficult and embarrassing period. However, this was not what Ning Qing wanted, and what she lacked the most right now was not money, but opportunities.
Seeing the recruitment was already starting, Ning Qing said, “Miss Gu, we’ll talk another day!”
“Wait.” Gu Xiqiao took out her phone. “Leave me your contact information.”
“Ah? Oh.” Ning Qing felt a little flattered, not expecting for Gu Xiqiao to ask for her contact information at all.
After she had knocked out the real estate tycoon the other night, things had gone on without any changes, like nothing had happened. Ning Qing knew that Gu Xiqiao was definitely not an ordinary person, and for her to want her contact information, it made Ning Qing a little excited.
After entering the information, Ning Qing returned the phone to Gu Xiqiao, but then she pulled back in surprise. “What happened to your hand?”
“It’s nothing, I accidentally cut myself.” Gu Xiqiao gave her a small smile. “Hurry and go, I think I see those people rushing them.”
“Then, I’ll see you around.” Ning Qing gave her hand one last glance before turning around and leaving.
“Ah, being youthful is good, so full of life and vitality.” Gu Xiqiao suddenly sighed.
The system spirit who was playing its game in the void space suddenly paused in its action, furrowing its eyebrows. […you’re saying it as though you’re very super old?]
It wasn’t like she had kept track of how many years she had lived including her past life. ‘Probably wouldn’t be as old as you though.’
The system spirit pouted at that. [You’ll easily lose me at this rate!]
‘Oh, I forgot, you’re not Xixi.’ Gu Xiqiao suddenly realized.
System: Come at me bro, let’s see who hurts each other more! Who’s afraid of who now?!
***
As an actor, Li Yu was busy almost every day. Cheng Zhou had made sure to concentrate most of his scenes within a certain time period. Now that the filming was done, he sat in the car as it drove away from the set. While on the road, he caught sight of a familiar figure, and opened his mouth to speak to the assistant driving the car, “Stop for a bit.”
The assistant also clearly remembered Gu Xiqiao, and knowing what Li Yu wanted to do, he slowed the car and parked it neatly in front of Gu Xiqiao.
“Why are you still here? Get in and I’ll send you home,” Li Yu said after winding the window down. His brows were furrowed in slight concern, didn’t she say that someone was picking her up? It had been a long time and she was still wandering around here.
Gu Xiqiao stopped talking to the system, raising her eyes to see the handsome face in front of her. She shook her head lightly, when she spoke to Xiao Yun, she was always smiling, and her voice was not as cold as it was now, and she seemed quite distant. “It’s alright, Mr. Li. My ride will soon be here.”
Feeling that the girl was possibly being stubborn and was not willing to admit that she had made a mistake previously, Li Yu put on sunglasses and came down from the car. It was really the first time someone had refused him. “It’s fine, just get in. I’m an honest citizen, don’t worry.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Gu Xiqiao smiled slightly, she knew that Li Yu had good intentions. “It’s just that my ride really is coming soon.”
Roughly calculating the time needed, he should be here any time now. The traffic in the Imperial City had always been quite a drag, and there was definitely traffic at this time, which was completely normal.
“You…” Li Yu opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get anything out from his mouth, he saw Gu Xiqiao’s eyes lit up in delight, a sincere smile stretching across her face. It was as though stars had filled her eyes in that instant, the sunlight couldn’t even compare to the radiance that she was exuding right now. She turned toward him as she pointed in the direction ahead. “Look, it’s here.”
Li Yu followed her line of sight, and thought to himself inside, even though their eyes were similar, Gu Xiqiao’s were so much more energetic, and of course, even her face was more pleasant to look at.
A black Bugatti was slowing down in the distance. In the Imperial City, it was not uncommon to see luxury cars, and a Bugatti was just slightly more eye-catching compared to a lot of other cars out there. Li Yu swept his gaze across it without paying much attention, but when he saw the license plate on his, he was startled, his eyes widening.
A Bugatti was a rare sight, but special license plates were even rarer.
These plates were reserved exclusively for people who were special or from specific departments. With Li Yu’s eyesight, it was easy enough to identify it.
“Goodbye, Mr. Li.” Gu Xiqiao nodded her head at him, and then turned to trot toward the car.
The car had stopped at the corner not far from where they were, and Li Yu could see someone coming out from the vehicle. The person was tall and lean, a stunning silhouette that looked as though it had been carved perfectly and plated with a gold rim under the sunlight, and a pair of straight and slender legs. He opened the passenger seat door, and you could faintly make out a faint smile on his face when he lowered his head.
In the next instant, his smile had disappeared. He straightened up slowly, gently grabbing the hand that the girl was hiding behind her back, and a furious expression crossed his face.
Li Yu couldn’t hear what the two were saying, but he could see Gu Xiqiao lowering her head, pretending to look even more pitiful than usual. After a short while, the man let her go and shuffled her into the car.
As he got into the car, his eyes landed on Li Yu, his onyx eyes were deep and cold, his gaze sharp and piercing.
It was only a second before he turned away, but Li Yu could still feel a layer of chill settling around him. He stood for a while in his spot, then turned to return to his own car.
***
“What happened?” Jiang Shuxuan slid into the driver’s seat, his face still having a cold, indifferent expression. He looked very scary (Xixi thought so), and Xixi who had been perched on his shoulder immediately hopped to hide in the backseat.
Gu Xiqiao rolled her eyes. “Cutting fruit…”
It was a red light, and Jiang Shuxuan stopped the car. “You think I’d believe that?”
“Fine.” Gu Xiqiao sighed. “When I was watching the shoot today, I was too immersed in it and got injured by mistake. This kind of thing is quite common in the stage areas… Sigh, just driving home is fine, I don’t have to go to the hospital!” She was also a doctor for goodness sake, and it was such a small wound. She only needed the night to use her chi to mend it, and she knew it would be completely fine!
“Can doctors treat themselves?” Jiang Shuxuan glanced at her, knowing now that she didn’t go to the hospital, his face darkened further.
Although it was likely that the doctor had already clocked off work, Gu Xiqiao remained silent as she watched Jiang Shuxuan make a call. His cold tone was attached with extreme pressure, and it seemed to scare the person on the other end of the call to death.
***
As Rong Feishuang’s apprentice, Zhu Yuan was also quite well known. On normal days, he was only occasionally found at the hospital of the Imperial Capital, or sometimes he would accept a few international consultations, or he could be giving lectures everywhere.
However, he had just returned to the country today. Before he could even sit his ass down to have a cup of tea, someone named Jiang had given him a call.
Hearing Jiang Shuxuan’s tone, it had sounded like a massively serious injury, and had rushed to the hospital. He found the dean of the hospital trembling when he reached, and when he examined the injury, he found that it was just an ordinary knife wound, and none of her meridians were injured either.
Seriously… was it necessary to torment him this way?
Zhu Yuan wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood at this.
But no matter what he thought, he still handled the wound carefully, and naturally would also sneak a peek at the person he was treating. The girl didn’t look very old, her skin was white as snow, her face was a gorgeous sight. She seemed to be a rare beauty, and even for him who had seen all kinds of looks, he was also still bewildered for a moment.
He didn’t dare to look long, if he did, Jiang Shuxuan’s eyes would become like a knife and pierce through him.
“The wound has been treated previously, so there’s no risk of infection. Try not to get it wet, and apply the ointment that I will prescribe so that it won’t leave a scar,” Zhu Yuan said as he bandaged the wound. After thinking a while, he carefully finished it up with a bow. He was being so meticulous, Master Jiang would probably let him off from his killing gaze, right?
Jiang Shuxuan ignored him, going out to make a call while he was wrapping the bandage. “Qingqiu, I need to trouble you to do something for me.”
***
As soon as Tang Qingqiu had finished processing the last document, he received a call from Jiang Shuxuan. “Shuxuan? You’re asking me for help?” This was the first.
Listening to Jiang Shuxuan’s words, Tang Qingqiu finally understood the entire story. Even without his prompting, he had already been investigating this matter. As the spearhead of the entertainment industry as well as the company that sat on top of the pyramid, it was easy enough to investigate the recordings of a stage area. The main point was that this was the first time in twenty years that Jiang Shuxuan was asking for help, and he needed to perform well. This was to show his concern to a brother… especially regarding a major turning point of a lifelong matter.
***
After Jin Sitian had returned, she had managed to pleased Mr. Tian and made him very happy.
Once Cheng Zhou was done with work, he received a call from Mr. Tian. “Xiao Yun will have to leave the crew, otherwise Tian Enterprise will withdraw their investment. Go and figure it out.”
Cheng Zhou’s face darkened immediately, throwing his phone on the ground in a fit of anger, shattering the device. “What the f*ck!”
Mr. Tian was the biggest investor in this movie, and if he suddenly withdrew his investment, he wouldn’t be able to replace such a huge amount in such a short time. The movie needed to be done in time to be released by the year end, and Mr.Tian’s withdrawal of his investment would deal a heavy blow to the production team of the ‘Empire Under Siege’!
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