The Shadow Queen: Flirty and Pampered (GL) - Chapter 6

As they ate, the two chatted casually. Ye Yansheng was always gentle with women, and especially so with the one who had captured her heart—her attentiveness was boundless.

Though Gu Yinglian had a weakness for good food, the way Ye Yansheng was looking at her now made it seem like she was saying, “After dinner, let’s go to a karaoke room.” Gu Yinglian felt a pang of regret. She silently prayed she hadn’t just sold herself out over a meal.

“Are you writing a song?” Ye Yansheng asked.

“Yeah, I am,” Gu Yinglian replied.

“Could you write one for me? With that pen of yours, full of love—compose a song just for me.”

“…”

Seeing her silence, Ye Yansheng chuckled. “What, not willing?”

Gu Yinglian: “No, it’s just… we haven’t interacted much. It might be a bit difficult.”

Ye Yansheng: “That’s easy to fix. We’ll just spend more time together. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you better…”

Gu Yinglian looked at her. That flirtatious demeanor always made it hard not to let one’s imagination run wild. Her face grew warm.

Ye Yansheng: “Are you heading home after dinner?”

Gu Yinglian: “Yeah, I need to rest.”

Ye Yansheng: “I’ll walk you back later.”

Gu Yinglian: “No need. It’d be too conspicuous.”

Ye Yansheng understood—Gu Yinglian was wary of her fame. After all, Ye Yansheng was a celebrity, with fans everywhere. If they were seen together in public, it could cause chaos.

Ye Yansheng smiled. “Then how about visiting my place? I’ve got a private pool. We could go for a swim—look how hot it is outside.” She glanced toward the window, where the sun blazed mercilessly. Indoors, the air conditioning kept things comfortably cool.

The mention of swimming made Gu Yinglian uneasy. “N-no, thanks. My place has AC. It’s not that hot…”

“Gu Yinglian,” Ye Yansheng called her name, and Gu Yinglian met her gaze. “Why do you keep rejecting me? Haven’t I been good to you?”

“Ye-jie,” Gu Yinglian felt the urge to flee under her stare. “You’ve been kind, but you can’t force me…”

“I’m not forcing you,” Ye Yansheng laughed. “When did you ever see me forcing you?”

Gu Yinglian deeply regretted coming. This was a sugar-coated trap, a banquet with hidden daggers. Why had she agreed to this meal and put herself in debt to her?

“Ye-jie, I have things to do. I should…” Gu Yinglian stood up. “I’ll take my leave now.”

“Oh? Running away because you can’t argue with me?” Ye Yansheng watched her.

Gu Yinglian felt uneasy, but she truly didn’t want to stay any longer. “Thank you for today, Ye-jie. I’ll treat you next time.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Ye Yansheng said with a smile.

Gu Yinglian nodded and left. When she reached the elevator, she glanced back—Ye Yansheng hadn’t followed. She let out a sigh of relief.

Back home, Gu Yinglian tried to rest but couldn’t sleep. Despite her exhaustion, her mind buzzed with excitement, though she wasn’t sure why.

Thinking of Ye Yansheng’s request to write her a song, Gu Yinglian sat up in bed. Write a song for her? It wasn’t a theme she’d ever explored before. She had always written from a woman’s perspective—yearning for love, longing for something pure—but the imagined subject had always been male. Now… could it be a woman too?

Ye Yansheng was a charming woman, and Gu Yinglian had to admit that.

Gu Yinglian couldn’t help but fantasize about her as the subject. She recalled the day they first met in the dressing room, when she had written down a line:

The day I first saw you, an inexplicable restlessness stirred within me.

“Restlessness…” Gu Yinglian felt the word was a bit… suggestive. It had suddenly popped into her mind, and she had written it down without thinking. She wanted to change it, but at the moment, there was no better alternative. Forget it, I’ll keep it for now.

She then thought about their time filming together—her sarcastic remarks, the teasing, the doting. Was it really all just for fun? That kind of woman was a flirt, spreading her charms everywhere like a peacock in full display. Whatever, it’s just songwriting.

Gu Yinglian felt the situation was getting a little out of hand. When she used Ye Yansheng as the object of her fantasies, her heart did flutter a little. How could it not? Everyone appreciates beauty. Aside from her questionable character, this award-winning actress was a rare beauty. Even standing beside her made Gu Yinglian feel dull in comparison. She had always been confident in her own looks, though she never obsessed over them. Yet, next to Ye Yansheng, she felt utterly eclipsed.

Looking at the few lines she had written, all she could muster for now, Gu Yinglian worried that if she continued, she might end up blurring the lines between fiction and reality—falling for her for real. But if she didn’t keep writing, she’d hit a creative dead end.

Right now, she had no inspiration. In truth, her early success had spoiled her. How could someone who had never even been in love, who had never faced real survival pressures after entering society, still rely on schoolgirl fantasies to create? Especially after outgrowing that dreamy phase, it felt like standing in a castle in the air, completely detached from the real world.

A person needed to experience things, to accumulate life’s lessons, before they could write with genuine emotion. Otherwise, it was all just empty words. And audiences didn’t want to see hollow, insincere work.

More than once, Gu Yinglian had wondered—Do I really need to fall in love first before I can write songs?

But where would she even find a man to date? Her life was practically isolated. Unless absolutely necessary, she stayed holed up at home. She had a couple of friends, but everyone was busy, and their schedules rarely aligned.

With a sigh, she stared at the lyrics she had written. For the first time, the subject of her fantasies was a real person—just not the one she had hoped for.

Lost in thought, her phone buzzed. Gu Yinglian picked it up—a WeChat message from Ye Yansheng:

“Sweetheart, are you home yet?”

Sweetheart? Since when were they this close? Gu Yinglian thought about that ridiculously expensive meal and felt uneasy. Am I just going to keep owing her? She considered ignoring her, but the message was just a polite check-in. Not replying would be rude. Reluctantly, she typed:

“Yeah, getting ready to sleep.”

Ye Yansheng: “Thought you were going to ghost me.”

Gu Yinglian: “…”

Ye Yansheng: “Then go ahead and rest. Don’t sleep too much, or you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

Gu Yinglian: “Mm.”

Ye Yansheng: “If you can’t sleep later, you can find me. I’ll help you.”

Gu Yinglian: “No need, thanks.”

Ye Yansheng: “No need to be polite. It’s my duty.”

This time, Gu Yinglian really didn’t want to respond. Fantasy and reality really are different. Fantasies automatically filtered out the unpleasant parts, but reality always shoved the things you least wanted to see right in your face.

This woman, apart from being a bit pretty, a bit wealthy, and revered as an acting queen, was actually just a scoundrel. Gu Yinglian thought about those three points—being pretty, wealthy, and an acting queen—and once again felt the vast gap between them, which hit her hard.

Gu Yinglian thought to herself, In any case, I must strive to become a woman who can stand on equal footing with her. Then she won’t look down on me!