If this teasing continued, Rong Guang felt, on one hand, that she liked it, but on the other, she felt she’d have to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Fortunately, Zhang Nanchuan suddenly appeared like a savior descending from the heavens, rescuing Rong Guang from this impossibly awkward situation.
“Get ready, let’s try it out!” Zhang Nanchuan held a megaphone, signaling for Rong Guang and Chu Feiliang to prepare.
It wasn’t an official take, just a chance for the two of them to practice according to the action director’s instructions and build some chemistry.
Rong Guang breathed a sigh of relief, then secretly glanced at Chu Feiliang a couple of times, rolling the word ‘sister’ between her teeth and repeating it over and over.
“Normally, before you join the cast, there would be about a month-long training period to systematically teach you these fight scenes. But that would be too rushed, and purely teaching the moves isn’t very efficient or memorable. So, I’ve integrated it into the shooting schedule,” Zhang Nanchuan said. “Several instructors will be with the crew full-time. If there’s anything you don’t know, they’ll be here to teach you anytime. But you have to work hard yourselves, too. Practice whenever you have a moment, don’t fall behind.”
Rong Guang nodded. This was actually the best way.
The choreography needed to be adjusted at any time based on the script and the situation. Nothing could remain set in stone, not even the script itself. It was perfectly normal for the screenwriting team to make revisions.
“Remember, don’t use too much force later. You need to control your strength, otherwise, there will be no room for improvement in future fight scenes, and it will look like you’re losing steam,” Zhang Nanchuan instructed before starting his explanation. “Although Wen Mou’s instincts are still there, she has internal injuries that need time to heal. This fight is purely her pushing herself, plus she’s been drugged, so her strength should be reduced.”
This was a key point for Rong Guang to portray.
Chu Feiliang smiled and nodded. “The way you put it, does it sound like the effect I’m supposed to give is that of a cat toying with a mouse?”
A particularly mischievous cat, one that already had the little mouse firmly in its grasp but insisted on playfully scaring it, watching it scurry around in a panic, growing more delighted the more it teased.
Zhang Nanchuan glanced at her and chuckled. “That’s not a bad analogy.”
Chu Feiliang smiled along with him and shrugged.
“That’s about right. Figure it out yourselves. Remember, Xiao Chu, you must convey that sense of looking down from a great height, of not taking Wen Mou seriously—the feeling of someone who has long been in a position of power. Rong Guang, you’re different. You need to show Wen Mou’s innocence at that moment, her struggle, and the subconscious hostility from sensing a threat.” Zhang Nanchuan took one last look at the script and signaled for the props department to set the scene, leaving space for the main actors.
“You’ve said so much…” Chu Feiliang raised an eyebrow, glanced at Rong Guang, and suddenly smiled. “But from what I’m hearing, isn’t this just taking liberties?”
Zhang Nanchuan choked.
Rong Guang froze for a moment. When she realized what Chu Feiliang meant, she also started to laugh, her eyes curving into crescents.
Zhang Nanchuan was speechless for a while. He lowered his head to study the script carefully and said, “…This is called playing hard to get!”
The phrase was highly inappropriate. After saying it, even Zhang Nanchuan rolled his eyes at himself.
“Go on, lie down.” Chu Feiliang pointed to the large, fully prepared bed and casually pulled back the covers.
Rong Guang looked around. The room was lit with many candles, casting a dim yet fervent glow that added a hazy, ambiguous atmosphere.
She nodded and, without hesitation, pulled the quilt up to her waist and sat up on the bed.
The scene began here.
The awakened Wen Mou was holding a cup of tea brewed by a maid, sipping it slowly.
However, the maid, likely trying to curry favor with her superior, had colluded with the supervisor to add a bit of powder that would make a person weak—after all, the deputy general had previously said that Wen Mou was very strong, even managing to injure Ji Ying.
Wen Mou noticed the taste was off, but since she had amnesia, she couldn’t recall what the flavor was.
Moreover, the person who brought her the tea was just a young girl who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. So, Wen Mou only asked a single question before drinking the water.
By the time she felt something was wrong and began to slump backward limply, it was time for Ji Ying to enter the room.
Rong Guang lay down accordingly.
Wen Mou looked at Chu Feiliang, who walked into the room in casual clothes, her face full of vigilance and wariness. Her voice was slightly hoarse as she said through gritted teeth, “Despicable.”
Ji Ying raised an eyebrow but didn’t walk directly to Wen Mou’s side. Instead, she trimmed the flickering candlewicks, then slowly approached the window with a pair of golden scissors, merely looking down from her superior position.
Off-camera, Zhang Nanchuan nodded in satisfaction. Chu Feiliang always knew how to use her surroundings to better interpret the characters she played.
For example, when playing an older sister who had lost her parents and was raising her younger siblings alone, she would never stop her hands from doing housework, thereby pushing herself into the position of a ‘matriarchal sister’ and making everyone realize the role an eldest sister plays in a family without parents.
And the Eldest Princess at this moment was the same.
She had long held a high position and was herself a master of martial arts, never having known defeat. It was a complete trust in her own abilities that allowed her to stroll so leisurely in the presence of someone who clearly harbored hostility towards her.
Lying on the bed, Wen Mou’s eyes were filled with anger, yet when she noticed Ji Ying’s face, she froze for a second, her gaze momentarily filled with confusion.
Ji Ying casually brushed her hair back, then slowly sat down by the window. She used the golden scissors, which she had just used to trim the candles, to gently touch Wen Mou’s cheek.
When the cold touch landed on her face, Rong Guang was stunned for a moment, but she quickly composed herself and frowned at Chu Feiliang.
But Chu Feiliang smiled.
She said, “A very good performance.”
However, her hands didn’t stop moving. The tip of the scissors continued to touch Rong Guang’s face, making her wonder if this was an intermission or if Chu Feiliang was speaking to her directly.
Chu Feiliang said, “This Princess likes your spirit—you can’t move, can you?”
Hearing this, Rong Guang grew even angrier and got back into character.
She said, “Isn’t it all because of you?!”
“It has nothing to do with me.” As if she had scared her enough, Chu Feiliang finally tossed the scissors aside. She placed one leg on the bed, revealing a glimpse of a slender, fair ankle. “You were careless yourself, daring to drink whatever anyone gives you.”
Rong Guang gritted her teeth.
Chu Feiliang reached out and gently caressed Rong Guang’s face, saying slowly, “You must remember this in the future. But your face… it’s not suited for anything dirty.”
The place she caressed was where she had just touched her with the candle-trimming scissors.
Rong Guang was taken aback. Only then did she understand Chu Feiliang’s intention: it was to help her better embody Wen Mou’s character.
She paused, followed the script by staring intently at her, and began to gather her strength, searching for the scissors Chu Feiliang had tossed aside.
Seeing Rong Guang’s expression, Chu Feiliang actually smiled.
She stood up, seemingly certain that Rong Guang posed no further threat, turned her back, and slowly slipped off her outer robe.
Rong Guang seized the opportunity. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up, then with lightning speed, grabbed the scissors and, with all her might, stabbed viciously at Chu Feiliang’s back!
However, she was an arrow at the end of its flight, her strength so small it was almost negligible.
Chu Feiliang reacted much faster. The moment Rong Guang made a move, she had already unhurriedly turned her head, grabbed Rong Guang’s hand, and pressed her down onto the thin quilt!
The positions were instantly reversed.
Rong Guang was panting heavily, completely pinned down and unable to move. Only the two flushes of red on her cheeks proved that she had indeed tried her best.
God knew Rong Guang was having trouble breathing because of their current position.
The two of them were now pressed together almost seamlessly, with nothing but a few layers of negligibly thin clothing between them!
Rong Guang felt waves of dizziness, and her body truly began to feel weak, as if she had actually taken a sleeping draught.
“I seem to have underestimated you,” Chu Feiliang said with surprise after looking at her for a moment. She then leaned closer to Rong Guang, sniffed her scent, and chuckled in a low voice. “I was curious about this scent on you before but couldn’t place it. Only now do I realize it’s the smell of medicinal baths you’ve soaked in for years. You have a high tolerance for these drugs.”
As she spoke, Chu Feiliang picked up the scissors that had fallen onto the quilt and examined them closely.
“The tip of these scissors has been filed down. You’d be better off using them to hurt me than…” She gripped the scissors, then slowly opened them and brought them close to the ties on Rong Guang’s chest, speaking in a low, slow voice, “Better off using them for… something else…”
Rong Guang practically held her breath, gritting her teeth and staring intently at Chu Feiliang’s face, watching as she used the head of the scissors to gently catch the two silk ribbons and then, slowly, pull them apart.
Rong Guang’s hands clenched nervously, and she uncontrollably wanted to look down at Chu Feiliang’s hands untying her clothes.
Chu Feiliang’s movements stopped.
Rong Guang froze, still lying there, not having reacted, only to see Chu Feiliang roll off of her.
Before getting off, she even casually adjusted the collar of her robe, which was about to slip off her shoulder.
Rong Guang’s legs felt a little weak. She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment to recover, then quickly trotted over to Chu Feiliang’s side. “Teacher Chu, what’s wrong?”
Chu Feiliang glanced at her. “What did you call me?”
Rong Guang called out shyly, “Sister.”
Only then was Chu Feiliang satisfied. She patted the hair bun on Rong Guang’s head and said with a light laugh, “You call me sister in the drama too. It’s good to get used to it early.”
Rong Guang could only nod, knowing that Chu Feiliang was right.
In the drama, Wen Mou’s wariness of Ji Ying didn’t last long before she gradually let down her guard and started calling her ‘Ah Jie’.
After patting her head, Chu Feiliang smiled reassuringly and said, “It’s nothing. The director called for a cut.”
Rong Guang froze, then suddenly realized—Zhang Nanchuan had called a halt just now!
But she had been so immersed in the atmosphere of Chu Feiliang untying her clothes that she hadn’t snapped out of it!
She stood there stunned, her mouth open, not knowing what to say.
Chu Feiliang smiled. “Your performance was good, but the fight part needs more adjustment. I had a problem just now, too. I turned around too quickly and just pinned you there.”
Rong Guang nodded, but when she heard Chu Feiliang say she also had a problem, she quickly shook her head. “It’s not your fault, it was my issue. I got tripped up by the quilt. If you hadn’t pinned me to the bed, I would have fallen on top of you.”
Zhang Nanchuan walked over. “What? Fallen on who?”
But Chu Feiliang seemed lost in thought. After a moment, she looked at Rong Guang with appreciation and then said to Zhang Nanchuan, “I think what Rong Guang said makes a lot of sense.”
“How so?” Zhang Nanchuan had his pen ready.
Chu Feiliang’s lips curved into a smile. “In that situation, a pure fight is too boring and conventional. Why don’t we try it the way Rong Guang suggested?”
“What did she suggest?” Zhang Nanchuan liked it when actors discussed things with him, so naturally, he had no objections.
Chu Feiliang’s lips curled. “First, let her… fall on top of me.”
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