The Shadow Queen and Her Little Bodyguard (GL) - Chapter 15

The set was bustling yet organized. After the director yelled Cut!, makeup artists rushed to the actors to touch up their makeup. The sound recordist retracted the boom mic and stretched their arms, while the lighting crew prepared to reposition the equipment for a lighting test. The cinematographer stepped down from the crane and knelt beside Director Li Sheng, arguing about something.

Yu Jing tucked her car keys into her pocket, stood up, and returned the chair to Xiao Tao.

Xiao Tao, sitting on her small stool, patted Yu Jing’s leg. Sit down, it’s fine.

Yu Jing shook her head. I’m more comfortable standing. With that, she leaned against the doorframe, watching the filming. Li Xin spotted her first. The young girl tiptoed away from her father and approached Yu Jing, greeting her with a silent Why aren’t you coming in?

Yu Jing shook her head. Only after Li Xin stepped out of the temple door did she ask, Why did you come out?

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The makeup artist finished her work and retreated. Yi Lanyin glanced toward the doorway, where a pair of young people in the prime of youth were whispering to each other.

The midday sun bathed their faces, yet the light only accentuated their carefree exuberance. When they laughed, the whole world seemed to soften with warmth.

Yi Lanyin gave them only a fleeting glance before turning away, her mind already rehearsing her lines for the next scene. After reciting them flawlessly in her head, she lowered her gaze to adjust the jade ring on her finger before lifting her head again.

The assistants of the other actors are all over them the moment the cameras stop rolling. Why are you two so relaxed? Li Xin crouched down, smiling at Xiao Tao, who was sitting on a small stool.

Sister Yi doesn’t like people crowding around her during filming, Xiao Tao replied, glancing inside before patting Yi Lanyin’s director’s chair and inviting Li Xin to sit.

Li Xin shook her head. I’ve been sitting inside for ages. My back’s killing me.

Xiao Tao nodded in agreement. True. She leaned slightly toward Li Xin. I heard Wei Xuan hasn’t arrived yet due to contract issues. Isn’t Liu Qizhan playing the main villain? No matter how they schedule it, he shouldn’t be ahead of him. Not showing up now would be a huge loss.

Li Xin smiled mysteriously at her, commenting, It’s all the actors’ own choices. How could we possibly understand what they’re thinking?

Xiao Tao silently pursed her lips.

Li Xin glanced up at her, her eyes crinkling with laughter. Xiao Tao-jie, you’re so adorable! I really want to pat your head.

Xiao Tao finally perked up, shaking her head with a smile and playfully nudging Li Xin’s nose. Go ahead, pat away.

Li Xin raised her hand, gently touching Xiao Tao’s head before quickly withdrawing it. Just as soft as I imagined. She tilted her head to look at Yu Jing, who was leaning casually against the doorframe, watching the filming. This is the last major scene of the morning. Sister Yi’s acting is so good, we’ll definitely wrap up within half an hour.

Yu Jing hummed in response, still looking half-asleep.

Li Xin stood up and glanced inside with Yu Jing before continuing, This is the ending.

Hmm? Yu Jing raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Li Xin nodded firmly. We’re filming the ending first. Not because of set or costume requirements, but to let the actors revisit their characters’ lives with the ending in mind. Then we’ll shoot an alternate ending that wasn’t in the script. It’s my dad’s signature trick—sounds simple, but no one else can pull it off. Even he and the screenwriter don’t know which ending will make the final cut until it hits the big screen.

As soon as the words left her lips, Yi Lanyin in the hall raised her hand and removed the hairpin from her hair.

Yu Jing held her breath, watching this familiar figure reveal an expression that seemed to see through the cold realities of the world—cold, yet tinged with a faint, almost imperceptible hatred. Yi Lanyin’s bearing was dignified, even the few steps she took toward the dragon bed were as stately as a coronation ceremony. Clutching the gilded phoenix-pattern hairpin in her hand, she slowly lowered her head, opened her mouth as if to speak, but ultimately remained silent.

The man lying on the dragon bed extended a withered arm. He knew he had wronged her and understood she had come to take his life.

The Empress’s hand, still gripping the hairpin, began to tremble. The hall was empty save for the two of them.

Ningning, the man on the dragon bed murmured, calling her by her childhood name instead of Empress.

After a few breaths, she finally made up her mind. She narrowed her right eye, raised her arm, and prepared for the imagined spray of bl00d. But it never came. Instead, the man who should have been withered and lifeless on the bed sprang up with the agility of a young general, while the supposedly empty hall doors burst open as a group of armed guards stormed in.

She had failed.

Cut! The entire set fell silent as the camera angles were adjusted. Next came a close-up of Yi Lanyin alone.

Yu Jing watched Yi Lanyin take a deep breath before the cameras rolled, saw her furrow her brow slightly, and then watched her nod confidently at the camera.

The set fell silent. The sound technician, holding his boom mic, nervously wiped his sweaty hands on his pants leg, as if sharing her tension.

Yi Lanyin’s striking features, enhanced by black contact lenses and classic, bold makeup, gave her a particularly fierce beauty.

The camera remained fixed on her face. Yu Jing, unable to see clearly, carefully took a few steps closer.

Director Li Sheng sat before four or five monitors, his face buried in a cloth-covered device. Yu Jing stood behind him, watching Yi Lanyin on the other screens.

Her beautiful, hate-filled eyes stared directly into the camera. After about three seconds, a single, crystal-clear tear slid down her cheek. Her lips remained still, but her eyes seemed to smile.

Some faces were born for the camera, some people were born with starlight.

Freeze frame. The entire set froze. Only when Director Li Sheng rose from his seat, clapping his hands and shouting Cut! did everyone and everything finally come back to life.

It wasn’t hatred after all. It had always been love.

Yu Jing gasped. This was her first time witnessing a film shoot, and her first time experiencing Yi Lanyin’s professional prowess firsthand. Even without reading the script, she could feel the despair of the character Yi Lanyin was portraying—not fear of death, but anguish over her lover.

Applause erupted across the set. Liu Qizhan, dressed in a yellow undergarment and made up with a sickly pallor, was the first to approach Yi Lanyin, who still stood before the camera.

He produced a neatly folded stack of tissues from somewhere and offered them to Yi Lanyin.

Yi Lanyin pressed her lips together and brushed the tissues aside, the corner of the stack just grazing her jade ring.

Liu Qizhan withdrew the tissues with a self-deprecating smile, addressing the crew Teacher Yi is fully immersed in her role. I’ll have to work extra hard off-camera to make her forget that dog emperor from the scene.

Laughter rippled through the set.

Yi Lanyin wiped away a tear clinging to her right cheek, then tilted her head slightly, rotating her neck. With precise aim, she beckoned to Yu Jing, who stood behind Director Li Sheng, still in a daze. Come here. Water.

Yu Jing hastily unclipped the water bottle hanging around her neck and darted forward, positioning herself between Liu Qizhan and Yi Lanyin. She flipped open the bottle cap with practiced ease. Yi Lanyin glanced at her curiously, took a long drink, and then asked, The set must be boring for you, right?

Yu Jing awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, her face flushing before she could even speak. No, Teacher Yi, she murmured, pressing her lips together. You were amazing just now. I was watching on the monitor—it was so beautiful.

Yi Lanyin shot her a dismissive glance, capped the kettle, and roughly hung it back around Yu Jing’s neck.

Let’s go eat, she said casually, though the tips of her ears betrayed a faint blush.

Huh? Yu Jing followed her out of the machine-filled hall. Where are we going to eat?

Where else but a restaurant? You think I’m going to cook for you? Yi Lanyin stopped to let the stylist remove her heavy headdress. Feeling lighter, she added sarcastically, Besides, even if I did cook, would you dare eat it?

In that instant, Yu Jing’s image of the compassionate Empress from the drama abruptly shifted to Li Zhi, the girl who had blown up the kitchen three years ago.

School finals began on December 28th, lasting four days and ending just in time for New Year’s Day.

Normally, Yu Jing would be scrambling for odd jobs. But now, as Li Zhi’s kept woman, she no longer had to worry about earning enough to eat.

The New Year’s holiday was the perfect time to keep her lonely, bored benefactor entertained.

She had originally imagined that New Year’s Day would consist of an expensive candlelit dinner, followed by watching a comedy movie on the hotel TV, and then fulfilling the terms of their contract by doing what adults do. However, as soon as she reached Yi Lanyin’s floor, she found the corridor outside her usual room crowded with hotel staff. The door was open, and a thick, acrid smell of burning filled the air, as if the entire room were on fire.

Her heart tightened. She hurriedly pushed through the crowd, her shoulder bag sliding off her shoulder and onto the floor, and rushed to the kitchen entrance like a whirlwind. There she found Li Zhi standing face-to-face with the hotel room manager, holding a spatula still stained with charred meat.

Yu Jing frowned, took two quick steps forward, snatched the spatula from Li Zhi’s hand, and shielded her behind him. My apologies, he said. I’ll take her out to eat first. Could you please have the room cleaned up? Just add any damages to the bill.

Later that New Year’s Day, they sat facing each other in a spicy hot pot restaurant.

Li Zhi, who明明 didn’t eat spicy or numbing food, insisted on pointing at a roadside mala tang stall and saying she only wanted the tang (broth). After they sat down, she turned the tables and complained, I just wanted to fatten you up a bit since you’re so skinny.

Yu Jing chuckled. I saw meat dishes on the hotel menu.

What if I get a role where I have to cook? Li Zhi pouted, trying to justify herself. It’s a win-win situation!

Yu Jing resigned herself to helping Li Zhi rinsing her chopsticks, wiping the table, opening her drink, and paying the bill.

After all, what else could she do? The pampered young miss knew nothing about such things. And she had even cooked for Yu Jing herself!

On the way back from the roadside mala tang stall to the 고급 hotel, Li Zhi remained awkwardly silent the entire time. Only when they reached the hotel steps did she murmur, Thank you.

Yu Jing still couldn’t figure out what Li Zhi was thanking her for that day. A small bowl of mala tang hardly warranted such gratitude.

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Xiao Tao had already tidied up the chairs and stools. Hearing the director call Cut! from inside, she looked up and asked Li Xin, who was still nearby, Want to eat together?

Li Xin watched Yu Jing, who was trailing after Yi Lanyin like a little tail, shook her head, and replied, You guys go ahead. I’ll wait for my dad. It’s the first day, so let’s take it easy. We won’t be wrapping up this early again. You all get some rest. We can eat together whenever.

Just as Xiao Tao agreed, Yi Lanyin approached with Yu Jing. She repeated the question to Li Xin, Xiao Xin, have you eaten? Want to join us?

Li Xin smiled sweetly and shook her head. No need, thank you, Sister Yi. I’ll wait for my dad. You guys go ahead.

Yu Jing, still pondering what Yi Lanyin had thanked her for the other day, waved casually at Li Xin after hearing their exchange. See you tomorrow.

Yeah, see you tomorrow, Li Xin replied, turning to smile at her.

After saying goodbye to Li Xin, Yi Lanyin walked ahead. Several meters away, she suddenly turned back, snatched the water bottle hanging neatly around Yu Jing’s neck, and shot her a fierce glare.