MQSP - Chapter 35
Chapter 35
When Lin Yuqing arrived on set, she knew something was off. A crowd of people was gathered outside the dressing room, not daring to enter, and Xiao Ye was nowhere to be seen. She immediately strode toward the room, just in time to hear Xue Yuexian teasing Xiao Ye about her peach butt.
Hmph. The little one's peach butt? That's mine!
She entered the room with a dark expression and glanced around. Thankfully, Fang Yi was there, so Xue Yuexian hadn't done anything too out of line. "Baiye, come to my dressing room. We need to run some lines."
"Huh?" Baiye, who had kept her eyes closed the entire time, opened them only when she heard Auntie Lin's voice. "Oh, okay." She nodded quickly and was about to get up.
"Oh my, 'running lines' is such a wonderful excuse. Why couldn't I have been an actor? Using rehearsals to take advantage, cop a little feel… it's all perfectly above board. How delightful," Xue Yuexian said bluntly. Baiye's expression shifted. Why did that sound exactly like what she herself had been doing…
"Oh? What's this, are you envious?" Lin Yuqing, however, wasn't angry. Instead, she looked at Xue Yuexian with a faint smile, even walking over to Xiao Ye's side and taking her hand!
Xiao Ye was completely bewildered and was led out by Lin Yuqing before she could even react.
Xue Yuexian froze for a moment, then stomped her foot in frustration. That Lin Yuqing was really getting too big for her britches! After a moment's thought, she immediately followed them. However, before she could enter Lin Yuqing's dressing room, she was blocked at the door by Xia Xiaozi.
"Sorry, Boss Xue, but this is Qing Jie's private space. No idlers allowed." Xia Xiaozi grinned, planting herself in the doorway like a guardian deity.
"You!" Xue Yuexian shot her a furious glare, but she couldn't just force her way in—it would be beneath her status. After a moment, she huffed, "Hmph, fine. I'd like to see what new tricks that Lin Yuqing can come up with. Hmph!"
"Auntie Lin, how could you…" Baiye looked at the hand Lin Yuqing was holding, a little worried. The entire crew had just been staring at them. Being so blatant was far too conspicuous!
"What are you afraid of? Didn't Su Yu tell you to get closer to me to cultivate your feelings for the role?"
"Eh?" Baiye paused. That was right. Did this mean she had a shield now!?
Seeing Baiye's silly grin, Lin Yuqing tapped her on the forehead. "I spent so long helping you practice yesterday. If you still can't perform well today, I'll have to deal with you when we get back." She put on a stern face and gave a small warning.
"Mmm, I'll do my best!" The little one nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice.
When filming began, Baiye took the initiative and requested to shoot the scene she had failed at repeatedly the day before. Although Su Yu was skeptical of her ability to control herself, she agreed.
To Su Yu's surprise, the shoot went incredibly smoothly. Baiye didn't blush, her lines were flawless, and there wasn't a single stutter. The scene flowed perfectly.
Not just Su Yu, but Lin Yuqing also felt a great sense of relief. Good, it seems letting that little one take advantage of me yesterday wasn't for nothing.
They filmed the scene three times in total. Su Yu chose the take she was most satisfied with, and they moved on.
"Everyone, take a break. Wang Qiong, go see if the extras are in position. We're preparing for the group scene. The rest of you, go over the script. The next part is quite intense, so get your emotions ready and find the right feeling," Su Yu instructed before going off to supervise the set dressing.
Baiye let out a sigh of relief. That scene was finally over!
She followed the others back to the dressing room, ready to relax…
Why was Xue Yuexian still here…
And she had ostentatiously set up a dining table in the dressing room. A row of covered platters was neatly arranged on the table, presumably to keep the food inside warm.
"Oh, my Little Baby, are you tired? Are you hot? Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat, some juice, or should we cool you down with a fan first?" Xue Yuexian fawned over her, holding a portable fan up to Xiao Ye's face.
Xiao Ye dodged away. Spotting Auntie Fang nearby, she immediately moved to hide behind her.
"Auntie Xue is treating you. No need to be polite. Go on and eat." Fang Yi, however, was not one for courtesy. She strode brazenly to the table, lifting the covers off the platters one by one. When she saw the Australian lobster, she immediately picked up her chopsticks.
"Hey, hey, hey, is that for you! Have you no shame!" Xue Yuexian snatched the chopsticks away, but Fang Yi simply used her hands instead, showing no restraint at all.
Baiye didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This wasn't right…
"Someone's treating, why not eat?" Lin Yuqing, who had been outside, shooed the onlookers into the room and invited everyone to eat. The younger actors didn't dare move, and the staff were too embarrassed. At times like this, Xia Xiaozi jumped in. "Well, don't mind if I do! I've been eyeing this curry crab for a while now!" As she spoke, she smacked her lips, looking as if she were about to drool shamelessly.
"Thank you, Boss Xue!" Xia Xiaozi dug in with her hands, thanking Xue Yuexian with a cheeky grin.
Xue Yuexian was fuming. What kind of demons and monsters were these people? Have some decency! Couldn't they act like normal human beings?!
When Su Yu finished her work and came to rest, she discovered the feast in the dressing room. "What are you all doing?" Seeing the entire room eating with such gusto, her face instantly turned cold.
Xue Yuexian was furious, and with Su Yu's arrival, she finally had an outlet. "Can't you control your people? Do you usually dock their pay or something? Why is every single one of them acting like a reincarnated hungry ghost!" She couldn't stand the sight of this crowd devouring the delicacies she had prepared for her Little Baby.
The most frustrating part was that whenever she was about to explode, someone would cheerfully thank her, piling compliments on her head and leaving her with no way to vent her anger.
"You're having such a good time and didn't even call me. This is outrageous. I've spoiled you all for nothing." Su Yu looked heartbroken as she snatched half a crab leg from Xia Xiaozi's hand and began munching on it happily.
"…" Xue Yuexian shot her a massive eye-roll.
"Hehe, Boss Xue, you should visit more often~" Xia Xiaozi wiped her hands and gave Xue Yuexian a cheeky grin, which earned her another eye-roll from the fuming woman.
Gu Baiye watched from the side, amused by the sight of Auntie Lin's slightly puffed-out cheeks. She recalled how Auntie Lin had intentionally provoked Xue Yuexian. The more Xue Yuexian tried to stop her from eating, the bigger the bites she took, chewing deliberately for Xue Yuexian to see. She never thought Auntie Lin had such a mischievous side. It was so cute~
After everyone had eaten their fill, the crew expressed their heartfelt gratitude and praise for the great Boss Xue, sincerely hoping she would visit often.
Of course, whether she came in person was secondary; the sentiment was what counted.
Xue Yuexian was absolutely livid. The people in this crew were just like Su Yu—shameless, taking advantage of her and then acting smug about it!
But then she noticed that her Little Baby seemed quite happy, and she let it go.
Baiye had also been given a tip by Fang Yi: to deal with a shameless person, you have to be even more shameless than them!
The afternoon shoot was a group scene. The King of Yi had arrived at the military camp. Accompanying her was a Commander Huo, a man of no talent or ability who had nonetheless managed to become the king's favorite through sheer flattery.
The conflict in this scene was a direct confrontation between An Xi and Commander Huo.
The king had been at the camp for over a month, pressuring An Luocheng to attack the strategic city of Canglan. Although they eventually captured it, their army suffered heavy casualties. It was a pyrrhic victory, and Commander Huo was partly to blame. He had given unauthorized orders on the front lines, causing chaos and demoralizing the troops. He knew nothing but how to shout nonsense, and his incompetence had even led to An Liang getting injured. An Xi had despised him ever since.
And now, he had done something even more outrageous.
Su Yu gathered everyone, briefly explained the scene, and then they began filming.
An Liang and An Xi stood on the battlefield, gazing at the smoke-filled land and the sea of corpses, lost in thought.
"Sigh, human life is so fleeting. Just a few days ago, they were fighting alongside us, and now…" An Xi shook her head, her face filled with sorrow.
Beside her, An Liang stared blankly at the mountain of bodies in the distance.
Su Yu signaled to the props master, who, with a wicked grin, produced a mannequin head. It was covered with a human-skin mask and painted with bloody makeup, making it look incredibly realistic and exceptionally creepy.
Even Su Yu's eyelid twitched when she saw the head. She hadn't shown it to the actors beforehand, hoping to capture their genuine, unprepared shock on camera. But seeing how realistic it was now, she worried if the actors might be truly frightened…
On set, An Liang and An Xi were immersed in their surroundings, completely unaware of the crew's little trick.
Suddenly, something tumbled over and bumped into Gu Baiye's heel. Baiye knew a head was supposed to roll toward her and had mentally prepared herself. However, when she looked down, the head was facing her directly, blood seeping from its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Its lips were turned up in a bizarre smile, as if it were grinning at her…
"Ahhhh—!" Gu Baiye shrieked, jumping half a meter straight into the air. As her feet left the ground, the head that had been leaning against her wobbled, scaring the little one so much that she started hopping and skipping around, screaming her head off with her eyes shut, before diving behind Chen Ying and covering her eyes tightly.
"Hahahahaha—"
The props master burst out laughing without reservation. The rest of the crew was also in stitches over Baiye's comical reaction. Lin Yuqing bit her lip, trying to suppress a smile. What a scaredy-cat.
"Hahahaha, oh my, my Little Baby is just too cute!" Xue Yuexian was laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight, leaning on Fang Yi's shoulder for support.
"Alright, it's just a fake head," Chen Ying said, explaining that she hadn't been scared by the head at all. She only got scared later because of Baiye's screaming.
Hearing this, Baiye gradually calmed down. She peeked through her fingers and saw Chen Ying holding the head up in front of her. Terrified, she turned and ran.
"Hey, wait!"
"Little Baby, come into my arms! Let me comfort your frightened little soul~" Xue Yuexian cleverly moved to block Baiye's path, opening her arms and waiting for the little one to fall into her trap.
Unexpectedly, Baiye stopped in her tracks, glanced at her, and without hesitation, turned right back around.
"Hey! Am I scarier than that head?!"
"Hahahaha—" Seeing Xue Yuexian get shot down, Fang Yi laughed out loud.
"Alright, alright. Baiye, take a good look at the head so you're mentally prepared," Su Yu said.
"Mmm." Baiye was very reluctant, especially seeing that Chen Ying still dared to hold it. That was impressive.
"Okay, let's go again." Su Yu waved her hand, and they resumed filming.
The head once again rolled to Baiye's feet. This time, she was fully prepared, and the head was face-down, so the impact wasn't as strong. Baiye let out a small yelp, "Good heavens!" She shuffled to the side and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "What the hell was that!"
A soldier hurried over to pick up the head. An Xi looked up and saw two other soldiers carrying a headless corpse. Judging by its attire, it wasn't a soldier.
"Who is this?"
The soldier sighed. "A civilian from the city."
"A civilian!? Who did this!" An Xi's eyes widened. This was a beheading! Who would treat an innocent civilian like this? Even in the life-and-death struggles of the battlefield, few would go out of their way to decapitate an opponent!
"This was…"
"Speak! What happened!" An Liang snapped, clearly agitated as well.
"It was Her Majesty. Her Majesty ordered… a massacre of the city."
"A massacre!?" The two exchanged a look of shock.
"Where is Her Majesty now? Does the Commander know about this?" An Xi reacted quickly, firing off questions.
"Her Majesty is on the central street. The Commander is still outside the city. I don't know if she's aware."
"Go and report to the Commander at once."
"Good, cut. Next scene." Su Yu had the crew move the equipment and change the set.
In the studio, the extras were in position. A dozen of them, dressed in simple, coarse clothing, knelt on the ground. Behind them stood soldiers holding executioner's blades, ready to behead them.
"Action."
An Xi and An Liang came running over. Just as they stopped, they heard a command: "Execute!"
"Don't!"
The word had barely left An Xi's mouth when the soldiers' blades fell. A spray of blood mist erupted, and dozens of mineral water bottles rolled across the ground as the extras collapsed.
Because she knew beforehand that the water bottles were substitutes for heads, Baiye wasn't scared. It was even a little comical, but she didn't break character. Instead, her face was filled with anguish as she turned to glare at Commander Huo, who had just given the order.
"What… what are you doing…" An Xi's voice trembled, her hands clenched into fists, clearly filled with deep rage.
"Can't you see for yourself?" Commander Huo was completely unfazed. She glanced down at the "head" by her feet and kicked it away.
An Liang, standing beside them, wore a grim expression, already on the verge of exploding. "In battle, we have always tried to avoid harming innocent civilians. You…"
"The massacre was Her Majesty's decree. Do you dare to defy it?"
"Her Majesty? I'll go speak with her."
"Her Majesty is resting and will see no one." Commander Huo blocked An Xi's path, shooting her a contemptuous look. "Continue the execution."
"You dare!" An Xi's eyes widened in fury.
"How insolent!" Commander Huo glared back, the tension between them palpable.
"You, go summon the garrison from outside the city for me. I refuse to believe it today! Is this camp a place where someone like you can run wild!" An Xi pointed at a random soldier, but her eyes remained fixed on Commander Huo, the veins on her forehead bulging. She was clearly furious.
"Cut. Baiye, why are you changing my lines?" Su Yu called a halt.
"Eh?"
"The line is, 'I'll be damned if I believe it today! Is this camp a place where a cur like you can run wild?' Cursing might be a bit crude, but it adds to the intensity. By changing it, don't you feel you've weakened the impact? It doesn't show An Xi's arrogant and untamable nature. Don't change the lines. Again." Su Yu was stern. Changing lines was not a good habit, and she wouldn't indulge it. After all, every word was carefully chosen by the screenwriter. It was disrespectful to their work.
Baiye stuck out her tongue. She knew she shouldn't have changed the line on her own, but cursing was so hard…
She took a deep breath and met the eyes of the actor playing Commander Huo.
"It's okay, curse at me however you need to. I won't mind," the actor said, smiling reassuringly.
"Then, please forgive my offense."
They began again.
"Continue the execution."
"You dare!"
"How insolent!" The two faced off once more.
"You, go summon the garrison from outside the city for me." An Xi took a deep breath, as if suppressing her rage. "I'll be damned if I believe it today! Is this camp a place where a… cur like you can run wild!"
"No, the intensity is weak."
"Wrong. The tone is wrong. Are the words 'you cur' that hard to say?"
"Cut. Tsk, can you not get angry or can you not curse!"
After four or five failed takes, Su Yu grew annoyed. She put her hands on her hips and called Baiye over.
Lin Yuqing had been watching the whole time, silently sweating for Xiao Ye. She really couldn't get angry; she just didn't have a temper.
Seeing Su Yu scolding her artist, Fang Yi couldn't stand it. She walked over, patted Baiye on the shoulder, and shot Su Yu a fierce glare. "Don't rush. Think about the person who made you angry last time."
Baiye looked up at her, not understanding at first. The person who made her angry?
Following Fang Yi's gaze, she saw Xue Yuexian and immediately understood. The first time she met Xue Yuexian, her frivolous behavior had been infuriating!
With that thought, Baiye gradually found the feeling of anger, and her gaze toward Xue Yuexian grew increasingly hostile.
Xue Yuexian had been smiling at her Little Baby, but the longer she looked, the more something felt off. What was with that expression, like she wanted to eat her alive?!
"Director, I'm ready!"
"Good. Again."
The two actors locked eyes, the tension thick between them.
"You! Go summon the garrison from outside the city for me! I'll be damned if I believe it today! Is this camp a place where a cur like you can run wild!" As she spoke, she angrily flicked her sleeve.
That small gesture added a little something. Su Yu didn't call cut, and the filming continued.
"You… you have some nerve!" Commander Huo pointed at An Xi, flustered and exasperated.
"Kill them, kill them for me!!" she ordered the soldiers with a savage expression.
"I'd like to see who dares!" An Xi roared, snatching the silver spear from An Liang's hand and pointing its tip directly at the soldiers holding the executioner's blades.
"I dare!" Commander Huo grabbed a blade and raised it to strike.
An Xi's eyes narrowed. Without hesitation, she thrust her spear, flicking the blade into the air. Then, she aimed a kick at Commander Huo's chest. The commander cried out in pain, stumbling back several steps until she hit a wall. "You would seriously injure a high official of our kingdom for the sake of the Yu people!" she shrieked, pointing at An Xi, her eyes looking like they were about to pop out of their sockets.
Just then, a dozen soldiers ran over—the garrison that had been summoned.
An Xi retracted her spear, holding it upright by her side. "Listen to me. In a military camp, what matters is ability, not rank. Don't think that just because Her Majesty favors you, you can throw your weight around here. You should find a scale and weigh yourself to see what you're worth. What right do you have to be barking orders?" An Xi's tone had lost its deep anger, replaced by a hint of mockery and disdain.
Commander Huo's face was flushed red. She clutched her chest, still sitting on the ground, unable to get up.
An Xi took a step forward, bent down slightly, and pointed at her nose. "Remember this: in this camp, you have no right to speak!" Her tone was harsh and arrogant.
Commander Huo seemed intimidated, a little panicked.
Seeing this, An Xi looked at her with contempt and pursed her lips. Pathetic.
"And what about me? In this camp, do I still have the right to speak?"
Suddenly, a deep and resonant voice came from behind her. Baiye shuddered, an inexplicable sense of guilt washing over her. She was completely stunned by the power in that voice! She couldn't snap out of it for a long moment, feeling an intensely piercing gaze on her back, so much so that she didn't dare turn around!
Commander Huo, who was in front of her, let out a chuckle. "Teacher Yan, you've scared another little one."
Yan Dan, the actress playing the King of Yi, was speechless and relaxed her posture.
Only when Baiye felt the gaze on her back disappear did she breathe a sigh of relief. She quickly turned and apologized to everyone, then stole a glance at Teacher Yan. She was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, her figure somewhat stout, and her face wasn't fierce, but she naturally exuded an air of authority that commanded respect without anger. She had played many empress roles and was very experienced.
"Teacher Yan, I'm so sorry. You scared me a little just now."
"It's fine. Doesn't that just mean I'm a good actor?"
"Hehe, of course."
"Alright, take a short break. Baiye, come here." Su Yu called Baiye over. "You might have to suffer a bit for this next scene. You're going to be whipped a few times by An Luocheng. Go to the changing room first and put on a layer of leather under your armor, just in case you get hurt for real."
"Okay, I will."
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