Transmigrated into the Film Empress Sister's Sugar Baby Alpha (GL) - Chapter 13
The orange glow of the sunset bled into the horizon, edged with faint purple and gold. The sun hadn’t completely set yet, but the moon had already clocked in early.
The director wore a baseball cap, pressing down his messy hair, and squinted at the moon. He was very pleased with the moon’s eagerness. It had arrived early; once darkness fell, today’s scene could begin filming.
“How lucky, if not for this moon, we’d have to do post-production,” the director, a spry old man in his fifties or sixties, always liked to stroll around with a thermos during breaks. “I still prefer real scenery. Our crew’s budget doesn’t allow for good special effects, and fake ones are boring.”
“You’re right, the moon is beautiful,” Shen Yishu, who had just finished listening to the director explain the scene, said with a smile.
Ji Xiangyu didn’t respond.
The largest expenditure in this drama’s budget was her acting fee. Her reputation in the industry these past few years hadn’t been very good precisely because of her escalating fees. However, any drama she was in, no matter how bad, became a hit; it had never flopped. For consistent ratings later on, many large-budget IP dramas were still willing to cast her.
“Oh, by the way, Xiao Ji, for the scene later, will you do it yourself or use a kissing double?” The director, having expressed his love for the moon, suddenly remembered tonight’s scene and turned to ask.
“Can we use an angle shot?” Ji Xiangyu asked softly.
The director looked troubled. He liked filming on real sets, so naturally, he also preferred genuine, passionate kissing scenes. When he first started, actors didn’t have the current fees or airs; back then, they truly kissed.
If it were anyone else, he might have tried to persuade them. But Ji Xiangyu’s status was simply too high; he dared not speak. If Ji Xiangyu insisted on an angle shot, he could only shoot an angle shot.
Shen Yishu held a small notebook in her hand, on which she had jotted down the key points the director had just mentioned.
This kissing scene was the only one in the entire drama. After this, Zhou Yi and Li Jin would have very little time alone together. Zhou Yi would pour her heart and soul into helping Li Jin ascend, using every cunning strategy, until she finally pushed Li Jin onto the throne.
After Li Jin ascended the throne, Zhou Yi was crowned empress. Their time together became even rarer. Aside from celebratory banquets, they rarely spent time alone.
Later, Li Jin changed.
Ji Mu’s feelings for Zhou Yi were restrained. By then, Zhou Yi had lost her pursuit of love, instead seeking the power held in her hands. Their most intimate gesture was nothing more than holding hands and gazing at the moon together.
This kissing scene was young Zhou Yi’s most genuine feeling of love, a huge test for Ji Xiangyu, the actress. The director specifically emphasized this scene for Ji Xiangyu, wanting her to portray both the shyness of a young girl and the bravery unique to Zhou Yi.
If a kissing double was used, filming would be more troublesome. The director clearly intended to shoot close-ups, so Ji Xiangyu hadn’t even considered a kissing double.
Shen Yishu glanced at the director, then at Ji Xiangyu, quietly shrinking back, pretending not to exist.
“I’ll do it myself,” Ji Xiangyu said after two seconds of silence.
The director was overjoyed, praising Ji Xiangyu’s professionalism repeatedly.
The makeup artist called Ji Xiangyu for makeup. As Ji Xiangyu got up, she glanced at Shen Yishu, her eyes complex.
Shen Yishu didn’t understand the emotion in Ji Xiangyu’s eyes.
She only felt heartbroken about her first kiss. While she wasn’t someone who cared much about rituals, the thought of her first kiss being given up for filming inevitably pained her.
The bad news was, she had no right to object; the director hadn’t even asked her.
The good news was, the kissing partner was Film Empress Ji.
All in all, it wasn’t a loss.
The sky completely darkened, with the bright moon hanging high, illuminating the carved beams and painted pillars, the meandering corridors.
Shen Yishu looked along the tiled rooftops. The silvery glow gently fell into the center of the courtyard, bright but not scorching. In that instant, she truly felt as if she had returned to the Great Xia Dynasty, as if she were Li Jin, rushing to a night rendezvous with Zhou Yi.
A beautiful night, perfect for flirting.
Ji Xiangyu wore an goose-yellow cross-collared ruqun (ancient Chinese dress), with delicate makeup, eyebrows like distant mountains, lips like cinnabar clouds, and a peachy complexion, truly like young Zhou Yi stepping out of a book.
Shen Yishu wore a black ruqun, bare-faced, without any makeup. To emphasize Li Jin’s current haggard state for pity, the makeup artist intentionally made her look more gaunt.
Lighting boards and camera positions were all set. The director had Zhou Yi stand in the courtyard first, the boom mic for sound moving near her head, ready to officially begin filming.
There was a small pond in the courtyard, shimmering with silver light under the night breeze. Zhou Yi clasped her fingers, looking down as she stood by a stone at the edge of the pond. Moonlight only illuminated one side of her face, and from the camera’s direct angle, only a faint glimpse of her apprehension could be seen.
This was not the future Empress Zhou, who would rule the world from behind a curtain, but a young girl, waiting to meet her beloved.
“Scene one, action!”
Li Jin ran quickly out from the winding covered bridge, holding up her skirt. She ran faster and faster, and when her joyful expression was fully visible, she shouted: “Sister!”
She covered the distance in two strides, rushing in front of Zhou Yi and directly pouncing on her, causing Zhou Yi to take two steps back. Zhou Yi gently pulled Li Jin from her embrace. Just as she was about to playfully scold her, she saw Li Jin’s haggard eyebrows and eyes.
“Have they been mistreating you?” Zhou Yi cupped Li Jin’s face, observing her carefully under the moonlight.
The gaze was so deeply affectionate that Shen Yishu immediately got into character.
Before coming out, Ji Xiangyu had sprayed an orange-scented perfume to cover the faint rosemary scent on her body. The citrus scent was fresh and sweet, like a soft confession from a young girl.
The night was too gentle, the evening breeze too lingering, the lover’s gaze too ambiguous.
Shen Yishu met Ji Xiangyu’s gaze, grasping one of Ji Xiangyu’s wrists, and shook her head: “It’s because I missed you too much.”
A femme fatale’s “I missed you” was like a student’s automatic response when the teacher called roll during class. It was said so often that it automatically carried the necessary emotion.
A full emotion, like a genuine confession.
Shen Yishu herself paused for a moment after blurting it out. In her previous life, she had never flirted with anyone, let alone said something like “I missed you.” She barely even chatted.
“Childish,” Zhou Yi was clearly pleased, and smiled gently.
In the original novel, Zhou Yi was two years older than Li Jin and had been Li Jin’s companion reader, only leaving the palace when Zhou Yi reached adulthood.
“Sister, when can we be together openly and honestly?” Li Jin clasped those cold hands, asking the person in front of her with a wronged expression.
Shen Yishu, however, was thinking of the softness of Ji Xiangyu’s palm when she pulled her up from the floor last night.
“Wait a little longer,” a layer of sadness floated in Zhou Yi’s eyes as she patiently coaxed this child she had watched grow up, “It’ll be soon.”
“Really?” Li Jin asked happily in return.
Li Jin gradually lured Zhou Yi into giving her everything, staking all her capital, and then losing everything, completely ruined.
And Zhou Yi, unaware of any of this, loved Li Jin deeply, calculating for her from a thousand miles away.
“It will be soon. You must be obedient. Don’t make the Empress angry these days,” Zhou Yi instructed carefully.
“I know. I’m very obedient to you. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do, and I won’t do anything you tell me not to do,” Li Jin put away her unruly side from the palace and showed a docile expression.
She knew that Zhou Yi was most susceptible to this act.
“I will help you get everything you want,” Zhou Yi stroked Li Jin’s soft, long hair. The black-clad girl’s expression was joyful, all traces of weariness gone, leaving only the vivacity of a young girl.
“Don’t talk about those things, Sister,” Li Jin stepped back a few paces, “It’s rare for us to meet today. I don’t want to hear those words.”
Zhou Yi tilted her head, asking with a smile, “What do you want to hear?”
Li Jin circled the pond, her skirt swirling into flowers at her feet. As she walked, she counted: “I want Sister to say she misses me. I want Sister to say she likes me.”
“And…” Li Jin circled around to Zhou Yi’s side, leaning in to whisper, “I want to kiss Sister.”
The courtyard was Zhou Yi’s private property, located in the outer regions of the capital. It was late at night, and the surroundings were almost completely silent, with only an occasional meow from a stray cat.
The wind blew, lifting Li Jin’s long hair. She bent at the waist, her lips close to Zhou Yi’s ear, whispering softly. Her gentle breath brushed against Zhou Yi’s ear, causing the fair, delicate earlobe to flush pink.
Zhou Yi didn’t answer, and Li Jin didn’t move away, like a small dog lying next to its owner. As long as the owner didn’t speak, she would stay close, never leaving.
The moon grew brighter, making Zhou Yi’s expression appear increasingly conflicted.
Was it etiquette and social norms, or the request of her beloved?
“If Sister finds it difficult, then forget it,” Li Jin pouted, “I just missed Sister so much from not seeing her for too long. After today’s parting, I don’t know when we’ll meet again.”
Li Jin had always been best at finding Zhou Yi’s soft spot since childhood.
Sure enough, after Zhou Yi heard her, she finally nodded gently.
Li Jin was overjoyed. She had only meant to try, never expecting Zhou Yi would actually agree.
She moved in front of Zhou Yi, cupped Zhou Yi’s face, and stared intently.
The goose-yellow-clad girl’s shoulders trembled slightly, so nervous that she couldn’t even maintain her usual composed expression.
“Don’t be afraid, Sister, close your eyes.”
She obediently closed her eyes.
The moment Li Jin kissed her, she suddenly pulled herself out of the scene, instantly becoming Shen Yishu again.
Ji Xiangyu’s lips were thin, yet still soft when kissed. Their breaths mingled, and Shen Yishu could almost hear how excited her heart was pounding in her chest, causing her hands to tremble uncontrollably.
A kiss under the moon, two perfect beings expressing their feelings to each other, should have been a beautiful story.
Ji Xiangyu counted the seconds, then opened her eyes, seeing Shen Yishu’s thick eyelashes, fluttering slightly like butterflies’ wings. The eyes hidden beneath the raven feathers were filled with an emotion that didn’t belong to Li Jin, but rather to Shen Yishu’s bewilderment.
Ji Xiangyu: …
She instantly broke character and blinked.
The camera zoomed in for a close-up of her face, and the director didn’t hesitate to call cut.
“Stop, Xiao Ji, what’s wrong?”
Ji Xiangyu pulled away from Shen Yishu, wiped her lips with the back of her hand, and shook her head: “Nothing, Director. I just got distracted for a moment. Let’s do it again.”
Shen Yishu: …
Do I have to kiss her again? Just that fleeting touch, and my heart rate was so fast it felt like it could take me away.