The emperor on the dragon bed was trembling visibly, clearly in a state of extreme rage.
Jiang Wenmou slowly knelt not far from the bed, her back ramrod straight. Her gaze, however, was not on him, but on the thick snowscape outside the window.
They say that auspicious snow foretells a bountiful year, but who knows how many homeless people, frozen to death on the roadside, have become withered bones in the dead of winter.
She withdrew her gaze and said, neither servile nor overbearing, “You had many opportunities to choose to keep your children. But it was because you listened to the words of that wandering charlatan, because of that sliver of suspicion that took root in your heart, that you ultimately sent them to their graves.”
Jiang Wenmou said, “I believe you once wanted to be a good father, to have children and grandchildren surrounding you, to enjoy the bliss of family. But… for the words ‘my hands were tied’ to come from your mouth seems far too ironic. You have deceived yourself your entire life. Do you intend to take this deception with you to the grave?”
The maids and eunuchs in the hall had long since fallen to their knees, wishing they had never been born with ears or grown eyes. They all stared fixedly at the floor, trembling in fear, terrified that the Son of Heaven, in his fury, would have them all executed as well.
“Aren’t you afraid… that We will kill you…?!” The man on the dragon bed lifted his head with all his might, his arm pointing straight at Jiang Wenmou. His words sent a chill through many hearts.
Jiang Wenmou lowered her head, still neither servile nor overbearing, and said, “Of course you can. But this commoner also knows that you will not.”
“The Li Dynasty is still in turmoil. This moment of temporary stability is only because the news of Wen Mou’s return has spread throughout the kingdoms. Within the court, I am here to assist the Crown Prince. Outside the court, the Princess awes the four corners of the land. Only then can the current peace be maintained. But the people’s hearts are already restless, and the ministers all have their own agendas. Under these circumstances, if I were to die, what do you think would happen to Ji Ying? What would happen to the Crown Prince? And what… would happen to the Li Dynasty?” Jiang Wenmou raised her head, shook it slowly, and said, “Your Majesty, you can certainly execute me, but you would be gambling with the entire world.”
Ji Zheng squeezed his eyes shut.
Immediately after, he began to laugh loudly.
His laughter was hoarse, laced with countless sorrows. He opened his eyes and said, “You are right.”
“We have deceived Ourself for a lifetime, been suspicious for a lifetime, and personally forced Ourself into this state of utter loneliness. On the verge of death, there is no one who is truly reluctant to see Us go. How tragic.” He let out a heavy breath and said, “You may leave.”
Jiang Wenmou stood up and said, “Yes.”
After Jiang Wenmou left, the emperor on the dragon bed dismissed everyone. He lay on the bed, staring blankly at the canopy for a long while, and finally began to weep silently.
He cried without even making a sound; the only noise was completely muffled by the cotton quilt he bit down on. Yet, his face, now full of remorse, was also mixed with a hint of confusion, as well as endless unwillingness and helplessness.
Finally, after the time it took for an incense stick to burn down, Ji Zheng slowly raised a withered hand and wiped his face.
He let out another heavy breath, his face no longer showing the slightest trace of his earlier tears. He turned his head and summoned the head eunuch.
“Relay Our decree.” Ji Zheng had to gasp for breath after almost every few words. “Order the Eldest Princess, Ji Ying, to go and suppress the rebellion at Deer Creek… And… summon the General of Cavalry, Zhao Wude, for an audience. We have important matters to discuss.”
Hearing Zhao Wude’s name, the eunuch’s eyelid twitched, but he still bowed low and answered, “Yes.”
The eunuch left to carry out the order, leaving a group of young-faced palace maids and junior eunuchs to look at each other in dismay.
A few of the junior eunuchs, who knew a thing or two, were already pale with fright. When their gazes fell upon the blinding white snow outside, they were all forced to shut their eyes against the brilliant light, knowing in their hearts that a storm of blood was on the horizon.
“Cut!” Zhang Nanchuan raised the megaphone in his hand and called a halt.
Rong Guang, who had been waiting for Zhao Xiuqi to finish the scene, finally made her way to the monitors, rubbing her hands together. “Director, how was it?”
Zhang Nanchuan’s expression was unreadable. Instead, he turned to Duan Nong, who had been sitting beside him the whole time, and asked, “Xiao Duan, what do you think?”
Duan Nong’s gaze shifted from the monitor to Rong Guang’s face. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but in the end, she couldn’t say anything. With a “harrumph,” she held her breath and stormed off angrily.
Rong Guang stared suspiciously at her retreating back for a moment, noticing that her eyes seemed a little red, as if she had been crying.
However, she couldn’t figure out what was going on, so she picked up the chair Duan Nong had just been sitting in and sat down herself.
Zhang Nanchuan didn’t pay it any mind. He chuckled and said, “The little girl was watching Teacher Zhao cry just now and started crying along with him. She cried for quite a while.”
Rong Guang was surprised, thinking to herself that Duan Nong was still just a young girl after all. She then shook her head with an amused smile and said, “It’s because Teacher Zhao’s acting was so good.”
Zhao Xiuqi didn’t have the kind of face suited for tragic roles. In fact, among the many characters he had played in his life, not a single one had relied on makeup to forcibly emphasize his suffering and misery. But in that emotionally explosive scene just now, he had perfectly portrayed a father on the verge of losing everything—including his children and even his own life.
His powerful life didn’t make him seem weak for crying; on the contrary, it made him appear all the more somber and tragic.
Rong Guang looked at the upcoming script and felt a bit heavy-hearted. Many of the following scenes were quite somber overall. The main satisfying moments and points of audience resonance were a little further on.
It wasn’t just her; Zhao Xiuqi wasn’t feeling great either.
He was in makeup. Because the role required the physique of someone terminally ill, he had lost over ten pounds recently, making his cheekbones very prominent. Coupled with the makeup artist’s miraculous skills, when he looked at himself in the mirror, he would joke, “I feel like the person in the mirror is going to jump out and bite me.”
Looking like that, Zhao Xiuqi did indeed look a bit miserable.
He sighed and said, “He clearly knew he was wrong, so why did Ji Zheng insist on sending Ji Ying to her death? How could a father act like that? What’s the point of forcing his own daughter to die in such a way? It would be so much better to let her live and assist the Crown Prince.”
“Paranoia and arrogance. He believed that Ji Ying would eventually become like him, unable to resist the temptation of power, and that the dynasty would then change hands, no longer belonging to the Ji family.” Zhang Nanchuan, who had a clear understanding of Zhao Xiuqi’s question, quickly provided an answer.
Sometimes, an actor cannot completely merge with the character. More often, it is the director and screenwriter who bestow a soul upon the role.
It was up to them to explain and let the actor know what kind of person this was. “He knew that what Jiang Wenmou told him was all true, but he was used to being arrogant. Compared to outsiders, he would rather believe in himself. That’s why the Li Dynasty began to decline not long after, a fact made obvious by the successive years of war and the dwindling imperial family.”
Rong Guang couldn’t help but nod.
The character of Ji Zheng had taken more than a hundred concubines for his harem, not to mention those who had no official title but had still received his favor.
Furthermore, in the early days of the Li Dynasty, the harem had not yet learned those pernicious ways and the extremes of vying for favor, so in the beginning, there were many heirs.
But as Ji Zheng’s personality changed, the already sensitive concubines in the harem also began to grow paranoid under his influence. They started to fight for fame and fortune with an endless array of schemes. Some were even used by Ji Zheng as pawns to eliminate factions in the court.
In addition, since the founding of the Li Dynasty, Ji Zheng had used princesses for political marriages and princes as hostages. Over time, he was left with only two direct blood relatives raised by his side.
Zhao Xiuqi shook his head and sighed, “People’s joys and sorrows are truly not interconnected. I still can’t completely and utterly understand Ji Zheng.”
Because they were fundamentally different people.
Zhang Nanchuan smiled and said, “Teacher Zhao, you’re different from Ji Zheng. You’re a veteran praised by everyone in the industry, unlike an obstinate and self-willed person like Ji Zheng.”
Zhao Xiuqi waved his hand, laughing along. “Don’t say that. At least he was an emperor for the ages. I’m just an actor who wants to do his job well.”
Everyone chatted for a while longer, and in the blink of an eye, it was lunchtime.
Duan Nong popped up from somewhere and followed Chu Feiliang and Rong Guang onto the RV.
Today’s lunch was specially delivered from outside. Rong Guang watched as four or five bodyguards carried various food containers onto the vehicle. Through the window, she could vaguely see a table full of rich dishes that almost dazzled her eyes, and her stomach began to rumble traitorously.
Chu Feiliang smiled. “Hungry?”
Rong Guang nodded. “I really am hungry.”
Although the morning scenes weren’t big action sequences, they were intense emotional scenes that were particularly mentally draining. That scene, in particular, had a lot of lines, and every single word and sentence had to be delivered with careful consideration.
They had actually filmed it back and forth many times before a final long take was chosen.
Chu Feiliang nodded with a smile and agreed, “None of them are easy to film.”
A short while later, everything in the vehicle was set up, and Chu Siyue told them to come up.
Duan Nong trailed behind like a little tail. Seeing the spectacle, she couldn’t help but mutter, “Is this really necessary? Having four bodyguards standing watch under the vehicle just for a meal… Anyone who didn’t know better would think the emperor was on a tour and someone was planning an assassination…”
Chu Siyue glanced at her but said nothing. Chu Feiliang snorted lightly and placed a bowl of fragrant rice in front of her. “Can’t even eating shut your mouth?”
Duan Nong was rebuffed. She shrank her neck and said in a small voice, “So I’m not even allowed to talk…”
Rong Guang kicked Duan Nong’s foot, signaling for her to stop talking.
There was a reason for Chu Siyue’s grand entourage when she went out.
Big Dipper had many artists under its banner, including no shortage of top young male stars in the industry.
The fans of veteran artists were one thing, but when it came to the fans of newly risen top stars, there were indeed some young fans who would constantly tail her.
She was already used to warnings via phone calls and text messages, but not long ago, a few young girls had brought a bottle of sulfuric acid.
It was winter at the time, so most of the acid was blocked by clothing and the security guards at the company entrance. But even so, a splash of acid had landed on the back of her hand, leaving a scar that remains to this day.
But in the end, Chu Siyue didn’t pursue the matter. She reported it to the police, who then notified the parents and the school, and that was the end of it.
The reason was simple—the girls were all very young, all just starting junior high. Every one of them was filled with righteous indignation, looking as if they wanted to perish together with her.
In that situation, saying anything would have been useless and might have provoked even crazier retaliation. So, she simply let it go. All media reports were suppressed, and it didn’t cause any real impact or harassment for the young girls.
But Duan Nong didn’t know about this.
Duan Nong didn’t know why Rong Guang had kicked her. She glared back at her and said, “What are you doing!”
Rong Guang picked up a piece of chicken with her chopsticks and put it in her bowl, saying with a deadpan expression, “Eat your food.”
Chacha’s eyes widened as she stared at the piece of chicken in Duan Nong’s bowl, her eyes full of disbelief.
Duan Nong huffed. Ignoring everything else, she stuffed the piece of chicken into her mouth while saying, “Don’t think that just because you gave me a… Ouch! What is this thing you gave me!”
Everyone’s attention turned to her.
They saw that the piece of ‘chicken’ Duan Nong had spat out didn’t have a very smooth surface; some parts even had fuzzy edges.
Chacha calmly picked out a real piece of chicken, speared it with her chopsticks, and said slowly, “It’s ginger.”
Duan Nong: “…”
Rong Guang: “…”
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