My Wandering Swordsman

So the First Princess is the aunt? The First Princess is the female lead. Damn, I'm so stupid, the First Prince is the male lead, so the First Princess must be the female lead.

My aunt lowered her eyelashes and respectfully completed the greeting.

"Your Highness is quite arrogant. I've arrived, and you didn't even come out to greet me at the palace gate. Could it be that the phoenix aura of Qifeng Palace has made you forget who you are?"

The aunt trembled slightly: "Your subject dares not. It's just that I served the Empress Dowager copying scriptures until late last night, and I was a little tired this morning, so I was unable to come and greet her. Please forgive me, Mother."

"Copying scriptures?" The Empress sneered. "That's a good excuse. But I've heard that someone is using the guise of copying scriptures to perform witchcraft and curses in the palace at night?"

These words shocked the entire hall.

"Your Majesty, I do not know where this comes from. If you have any solid evidence, please enlighten me!"

"How dare you, you vixen, question me?"

The Empress's voice boomed: "Guards! Seize everyone in Qifeng Palace!"

The guards responded immediately, grabbing their weapons and rushing forward. The palace maids screamed and scattered, while the nannies knelt and begged for mercy, and the scene immediately descended into chaos.

My role is about to start.

Sure enough, two burly men rushed up to me and dragged me into the yard without saying a word. I struggled symbolically for a couple of moments, and then they forced me onto a bench.

"Thirty strokes of the cane!"

The Empress's icy voice rang out.

The Flower Monk got into character very quickly, and started wailing at the top of his lungs: "Injustice! Your Majesty, I'm innocent!"

I lay there, squinting as I secretly peered into the hall.

The Empress stood upright in front of the palace, exuding an imposing aura, while her aunt knelt face to face with her.

"I ask you, were those witchcraft artifacts hidden in Qifeng Palace your doing?"

My aunt raised her head.

Her eyes had reddened without her noticing, tears welling up and her eyelashes sticking together wetly.

"Your Majesty, I am unaware."

My heart clenched painfully.

Not just me, everyone's heart clenched at the same time.

My aunt was just kneeling on the ground, speaking with her head down, but her aggrieved expression was palpable.

I could even feel that the breathing of several extras had become lighter. If I didn't know it was a movie shoot, I probably would have jumped up and cried out for my aunt's innocence.

Is this what the so-called "reasonableness of appearance" means?

The Empress was momentarily stunned by her aunt's imposing presence, and her subsequent lines sounded somewhat stiff:

"Fine, you won't admit it, huh? Then let you see for yourself how the people of Qifeng Palace will suffer for you!"

"Men, beat them!"

The water-and-fire stick was raised.

"Snapped!"

Through the futon, I only felt a slight jolt in my buttocks, but it didn't hurt at all.

Of course, one can't just sit still with their mouth.

"Ah—I'm innocent—"

Flower Monk and Liu Zi also howled along with me.

Despite our loud wailing, the camera's focus remained inside the hall.

The aunt inside the hall straightened her knees:

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger! These three eunuchs are from my palace and serve me diligently every day. They have absolutely no connection with the witchcraft. If Your Majesty wishes to punish them, I am willing to bear it all. I only beg Your Majesty to spare them this beating."

As her aunt looked up, tears finally rolled down her cheeks, making her look pitiful and delicate.

The entire courtyard fell silent; even the bailiffs holding the fire and water sticks momentarily forgot to bring them down.

Great acting!

Tears came so easily, yet her breathing was perfectly controlled...

Seeing my aunt act for the first time, I was thoroughly shocked.

The Empress snorted coldly, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly, and uttered only one word:

"beat!"

The water-and-fire sticks fell again.

One, two, three... after a while, my butt gets numb.

"This servant is innocent! Your Majesty, spare my life!"

I yelled at the top of my lungs, with all my might.

My aunt only noticed me then, paused slightly, and a hint of reproach flashed in her eyes.

I know I can't overdo it.

then...

"ah--"

With a long, mournful howl, I collapsed onto the bench, motionless.

"Cut!" Assistant Director Wang excitedly stood up from behind the monitor. "Cut! Cut! Excellent!"

A group of actors and staff immediately surrounded them.

"Sister Weiwei, your acting is amazing! I almost cried while standing next to you."

"Teacher Yu is indeed Teacher Yu; his lines flowed smoothly, and there was no need for post-production adjustments."

"..."

Exclamations of praise were heard incessantly.

Assistant Director Wang is naturally indispensable on such occasions.

He grinned and approached his aunt, holding a handkerchief in his hands: "Weiwei, you've worked so hard. Filming such an important scene in this sweltering heat must be exhausting."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and very considerately wiped the sweat from his aunt's brow.

On the surface, the assistant director and the female lead seemed to be on friendly terms and getting along well, but from my perspective, that wasn't the case at all.

The way that grandson surnamed Wang acted seemed considerate, but his eyes were anything but honest, sliding down his aunt's profile until they finally lingered on that beautiful curve.

You should know that the court dress was the predecessor of the low-cut dress. The neckline was already low, and when he looked at it like this, most of his... well, you could see it clearly.

What the hell!

I felt like I'd swallowed a rat dropping.

You're giving me a hard time and sabotaging my scenes, I'll accept it. After all, I hit the production company's big spender, so it's an eye for an eye, that's the rule of the game.

But you son of a bitch, you've tried to take advantage of my aunt time and time again...

Then you should prepare to die.

My aunt noticed this too, and subtly took a half step back: "Director Wang, you flatter me. It's all thanks to everyone's good cooperation."

After saying that, she smiled and walked away from the crowd, polite and natural.

I thought my aunt would go straight back, but to my surprise, she walked gracefully towards me.

Me, the Flower Monk, Liu Zi, and even the constables who were still collecting props next to us all froze.

So beautiful.

From afar, it resembles the misty rain of Jiangnan in March, but upon closer inspection, one discovers that orchids in the height of summer are hidden within this misty rain.

My aunt strode up to me, looking at me with a mixture of reproach and helplessness, and said with a smile:

"The filming is all done, what are you doing lying there like an idiot? Aren't you tired?"

As she spoke, she bent down and helped me up from the bench.

There was a three-second silence.

I could clearly see that the jaws of everyone—the supporting actors, extras, stagehands, lighting technicians, cameramen—were practically dropping to the floor.

News of what happened on set yesterday had already spread.

You know, rumors can get more and more outrageous the more they're spread. What were originally family relationships can become stories of a female celebrity keeping a gigolo in the mouths of outsiders.

Everyone's saying that actress Yu Weiwei had a falling out with the assistant director on set, rescued a young man, and then, disregarding his injuries, took him straight to a hotel to "do her business"...

Originally, due to my aunt's good reputation, many people tried to refute the rumors about her.

But today, she helped me up in front of everyone.

Many people narrowed their eyes, their gazes lingering between my aunt and me.

My aunt acted as if she hadn't seen anything, patting the dust off my back: "Get up and move around, your legs must be numb from lying down for so long."

I didn't reply, but glanced at the meaningful looks around me and whispered, "Auntie, should we explain? They seem to be..."

My aunt smiled and said, "There's no need. The more you explain, the worse it gets."

I thought about it, and it makes sense.

People can say whatever they want; it's none of our business.

"Auntie, you look so beautiful today, and you acted so well," I said sincerely.

My aunt paused for a moment, a faint blush appearing on her fair face, which vanished in an instant.