Don’t Want a Divorce (9)
“I am yours.”
Under the camera, there is only the faint candlelight inside the Tangquan Palace. Lanterns are hung high on the lamp posts, and thin threads of wind seep through the cracks of the doors and windows, causing the candle shadows to sway and the flames to flicker.
The scene inside the palace is hazy, with the ripples in the pool gently undulating. Although only the collarbones of the two people emerging from the water are in the frame, the droplets of water falling from Xu Jiao’s half-transparent, silk-soft sleeves that are sticking on her arms are enough to evoke endless reverie.
Her voice is well captured by the equipment, ambiguous, indistinct yet low, but each word is pronounced very clearly, with a lingering break between each syllable, like biting into a piece of sweet osmanthus lotus root candy – sweet indeed, with long threads still connecting, drawing out sweet sorrow.
Just hearing that one word “Empress” is enough to make one’s bones melt halfway.
The following question, even more, pushes the explicitness that can’t be contained in the frame to a climax—
“Can this place really allow me to come in?”
Feng Qingyu’s ear, which is taking in her breath, turns completely red. Her makeup already carries a hint of a sickly pallor, and now this redness, whether stirred by this bold teasing or from shyness, spreads down from her ear, like rows of blooming crabapple flowers in spring, pink and red alike.
Zhen Tiao had seen Xu Jiao’s acting skills during the auditions, but the rest of the crew were still unaware of Xu Jiao’s progress. Now, even though they couldn’t see the frame, just watching these two beauties in wet shirts being ambiguous, some couldn’t control their pheromones.
Qiu Yongli and Lu Xun also came to the set today. Originally, they thought that with Xu Jiao’s stuttering acting skills, the first scene might have to be NG’d (no good takes) countless times. But now, right from the start, Xu Jiao and Feng Qingyu shocked them, making them feel a little uneasy and subconsciously raising their hands to touch their scripts.
Just as the two were still being stunned, they suddenly heard Director Zhen behind the camera shout:
“Cut!”
The staff were all stunned, thinking that Zhen Tiao was somewhat dissatisfied with Xu Jiao. However, Zhen Tiao looked around the environment, said something to the assistant director next to him, and then began to clear the set on a large scale.
Xu Jiao retracted her skills and politely stepped back a little from Feng Qingyu, but she did not leave the water. The cold water was indeed very chilly when she first entered, but once accustomed, it was not too bad. If she were to leave the water now, the wind would blow on her with the moisture, accelerating the loss of water from her body, making it worse.
Zhen Tiao approached the edge of the pool where the two were, holding a rolled-up script in his hand. Half-squatting, he first spoke to Feng Qingyu:
“Earlier, your emotions were a bit slow. You dragged out the shyness for too long. Yes, Qi Yunshang is indeed a person with restrained emotions, and the arrival of Rong Qing tonight was indeed unexpected for you, but you two have been intimate so many times, how could you not know her purpose for coming?”
“You are clear in your heart that your relationship with Rong Qing cannot see the light of day. You are aroused by her words, but you know that every moment you spend together is tense, not knowing when you will be discovered. This tension drives you to eagerly satisfy her needs. Therefore, that shy hesitation when meeting a lover, though present, is overshadowed by the need to quickly establish intimacy, because you both lack a sense of security.”
“You also have a protective desire for Rong Qing. You know that her sharpness and flamboyance are for you. She wants to stand in front of you, to remove the impending thorns for you. But you also love her; you also want to protect her. You hate your own weak constitution. You have your pride, so you want to seize the initiative in this matter. You want to see her showing joy under your control, to tell yourself that you are also someone who can bring her happiness. Think about this feeling.”
It was unclear if Zhen Tiao was inspired by the scene between the two just now, but he dissected the scene in great detail for Feng Qingyu, almost analyzing every frame and every second of emotional change in this scene.
Feng Qingyu saw Xu Jiao sitting on the steps of the pool beside her, soaking herself from the neck down in the water, not wanting to catch a chill, and felt a heaviness in her heart. She pondered Zhen Tiao’s words, and the remaining blush on her face faded away.
She thought that she must work harder, not to be outdone by Xu Jiao, and not to drag her down and make her catch a cold due to repeated NGs.
At this moment, Zhen Tiao went to ask Xu Jiao: “Just now, seeing your movements, I feel you are even better than I imagined. I want to shoot this scene more boldly. Can you two accept it?”
After speaking, his gaze wandered back and forth between Feng Qingyu and Xu Jiao. This was also the purpose of his earlier clearing of the set. Firstly, he felt that Feng Qingyu seemed to be somewhat restrained and was worried that she was nervous. Secondly, he wanted to shoot a more revealing scene.
Initially, Zhen Tiao was concerned that Xu Jiao’s acting might not be strong enough, so he designed the scene with an ambiguous setting and the rippling water of the pool, leaving the audience with endless room for imagination. But after seeing Xu Jiao’s movements and lines just now, he realized—
Progressing layer by layer from the scene and finally exploding it open would leave a deeper impression. Even if the person in front of the camera has already anticipated it, when directly facing the impact of the beauty, they would still be shocked.
Horror films often like to use this technique. Eerie music, flickering lights, dimly lit corridors—all these details indicate that a terrifying scene is about to appear, gradually tightening the strings in the viewer’s mind. But even if you are mentally prepared, at the moment the scene suddenly appears, you still can’t help but feel a tremor in your heart!
This is the same principle.
Xu Jiao’s figure and the charm she released in front of the camera without any psychological burden were enough to support Zhen Tiao’s design. Zhen Tiao could even foresee the audience’s reactions later. After all, sitting behind the camera just now, he had already sensed the scent of numerous pheromones spreading.
While Zhen Tiao was still contemplating, Xu Jiao’s voice rang out clearly: “Sure, no problem.”
Hearing her response, Feng Qingyu, who was soaking in the cold water, couldn’t help but take a light breath. However, even the air carried the persistent scent of the other’s pheromones, a sweet little freesia, causing her own pheromones to become a bit chaotic.
Zhen Tiao was also an Alpha, so how could he not understand the thoughts of an Alpha? Seeing Feng Qingyu’s strained expression, he thought for a moment and jokingly said to Xu Jiao, “I almost forgot you two are a divine couple. To avoid clashing thunder and fire later, should we use more suppressants?”
Thinking about how Omega pheromones naturally attract Alphas, Xu Jiao was also worried that she might get too into character and lose control of her instincts, causing Feng Qingyu to mistakenly think she was using the scene to seduce her. Without hesitation, she nodded in agreement.
From beginning to end, Feng Qingyu remained silent, not sure if she was carefully reviewing the scene or thinking about something else.
……
There weren’t many people left near the camera.
The extras had all left, leaving only the two main characters and their assistants. Because Qiu Yongli and Lu Xun had many intimate scenes, with Lu Xun’s role as the emperor and Qiu Yongli as the daughter of the emperor’s promoted minister, the emperor relied on the support of the Qi family to ascend to the throne. However, he did not want to see the Qi family’s power overshadow his own, so although he made Qi Yunshang the empress, he had no intention of allowing her to have offspring.
As for Rong Qing——
The Rong family wielded immense power in the Jiangnan region, known to be as wealthy as a nation. Even their private gardens in Suzhou and Hangzhou were more elaborate than the imperial gardens. What’s even more excessive?
The emperor had once heard a report from the censor, stating that those gentlemen thieves and chivalrous figures who claimed to enforce justice dared to steal from the private vaults of the prefectures but no one dared to climb onto the beams of the Rong family’s houses. There was even an instance when the Rong family’s warehouse was flooded, and the treasures inside had to be spread out in the courtyard to dry.
A whole month passed, and when these fine silk fabrics, paintings, and calligraphy were returned to the warehouse, the steward counted and found that not a single item was missing.
This shows how deeply rooted the Rong family was in Jiangnan.
The emperor was an ambitious man with grand schemes. How could he tolerate a mere wealthy merchant overshadowing the authority of the court? Although he made Rong Qing the noble consort, it was because he wanted to gradually bring the Rong family under his control. His ultimate goal was to confiscate all the Rong family’s assets into the national treasury. Therefore, his attitude towards Rong Qing was one of exploitation and indulgence.
He indulged her mistakes, indulged her arrogance, so that when it came time to settle accounts in the future, he wouldn’t have trouble finding faults in her.
It’s often said that it’s lonely at the top. The emperor had no true affection for the empress, and he also had ulterior motives for the noble consort. He needed someone to whom he could entrust his tender feelings, to make people think this emperor was emotional, that he had weaknesses——
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This person must be a thorough supporter of the emperor.
The daughter of the minister, Liu Ruyi, was his choice.
Minister Liu and his entire family were firmly grasped in the emperor’s hand, relying entirely on the emperor’s support to achieve their current prominence in the court. It was absolutely impossible for them to betray the emperor. Consequently, Liu Ruyi was also the person the emperor trusted the most. On her, the emperor could indulge all his desires without worrying that Liu Ruyi, like those lower-ranked concubines, would be easily killed by Rong Qing.
This meant that there would be no shortage of ambiguous scenes between Qiu Yongli, who played Liu Ruyi, and Lu Xun, who played the emperor.
Now, watching Feng Qingyu and Xu Jiao’s performance being suddenly elevated to a new level by Director Zhen, the two couldn’t help but exchange a distant glance, then lowered their heads to flip through the script.
……
“《Palace Wall Willows》, Scene One, Shot One, Take Two! Action!”
The sound of the clapperboard echoed.
Zhen Tiao, sitting behind the camera, stared at the screen. As the camera moved past the screen, the conversation between the two people in the water was captured by the equipment.
Low, emotion-laden voices, intertwined with the gently rippling water.
At first, the camera only captured the rippling surface of the water——
After Rong Qing finished saying those insubordinate words, Qi Yunshang’s eyes were tinged with a red hue, as if she were soaking not in a medicinal bath, but in the wine pool of King Zhou of Shang, with an indescribable drunkenness in her eyes.
Suddenly, she raised her hand and grasped Rong Qing’s wrist that was still resting on her shoulder. The clothes soaked by water clung to her skin, originally moon-white soft satin, becoming semi-transparent after getting wet. It adhered to her skin, imprinting winding wrinkles, clinging tightly to the skin. Although she wore the clothes properly, they revealed both what should and should not be seen.
Qi Yunshang gently removed Rong Qing’s hand, a gentle smile appearing at the corner of her lips. She continued speaking:
“No matter if I allow it or not, hasn’t the Noble Consort already entered?”
Rong Qing was momentarily stunned, her hand under the water paused at the other’s waist, then she laughed. The floral decoration at the corner of her eyes was already gorgeous; now, with her smile, it seemed to bloom even more vividly at the corner of her eyes. She allowed Qi Yunshang to gently hold her hand and took the opportunity to lean towards her:
“The Empress clearly knows my intention.”
Her tone was charming and soft, her shimmering red lips lightly kissed Qi Yunshang’s chin, her eyes half-closed, the light in her pupils scattered by her trembling eyelashes, filled with fragmented starlight.
As she leaned closer, the inner garment, already loosened by the water, could no longer support the weight of being soaked. It slipped off her shoulder, revealing a large expanse of smooth, white skin, like washed jade.
Qi Yunshang lowered her eyes to see her loosened clothes, suddenly and silently pressing her against the pool wall. Her tone remained as gentle as usual:
“What does the Noble Consort mean? I have no intention of probing, but—”
“Now the Tangquan Palace is the residence bestowed upon me by His Majesty. The Noble Consort, without prior notification, intruded upon the Empress’s inner palace. Isn’t this too disrespectful? If I do not punish you, what face will I have to govern the Six Palaces in the future?”
While speaking these calm yet firm words, Qi Yunshang gradually pressed down on Rong Qing.
Rong Qing, pressed against the cold pool wall, laughed softly, her movements showing no sign of resistance. She even boldly leaned forward to kiss Qi Yunshang’s lips, speaking in a teasing tone:
“Since the rules have already been broken, I can’t escape this punishment sooner or later. Why not take this opportunity to offend you completely? Your
Majesty, what do you say?”
Qi Yunshang allowed her to deepen the kiss gradually, not avoiding it. Her face appeared calm, but in reality, her other hand had already slipped into Rong Qing’s wide-open neckline, moving inside like a swimming fish.
Amid the indistinct lips and teeth, there came a reproachful scolding: “It seems the Noble Consort does not know how to repent…”
The ripples on the water surface suddenly swayed fiercely, splashing like waves. Water droplets, like raindrops, bounced up, landing on Rong Qing’s face and eyes, jumping onto her thick eyelashes.
She quickly blinked, her eyes reflecting the candlelight in the palace. She bit her lip, not daring to let out even a hint of forbidden sound.
Only suppressed light hums and breaths occasionally leaked into the recording equipment.
She raised her head, revealing the delicate curve of her fragile neck, soft as if it could be broken at any moment by the person in front of her. In the lens, her black hair scattered on the pool wall steps, winding into the pool. With the undulating movements of the water marks, her smooth back became the brightest white, drawing all eyes in front of the camera to this bright spot.
……
This scene is not short.
Half of the scenes and dialogues are in the hot spring pool, and the other half are in the bath barrel. After Qi Yunshang and Rong Qing finished in the hot spring pool, Rong Qing was worried that the empress had soaked too long in the medicinal bath and would not have enough strength, so she pushed her to wash off the medicinal liquid and wanted to wipe her body and hair.
As a result, the two of them performed another erotic scene in the bath barrel.
Zhen Tiao was constantly inspired by them, resulting in two more NGs during which some unsatisfactory shots and angles were reshot, including scenes of the two kissing and some angles in the bath barrel.
……
In the bath barrel.
Xu Jiao was holding onto the edge of the wooden barrel, the camera only capturing her jade-like fingertips gripping the edge with force, curling and uncurling as if in some kind of torture.
Her voice became the background sound, very low, very hoarse, as if pleading: “Sister…”
The camera slowly moved to capture the shadow on the ground, where Feng Qingyu pressed against her back, gently kissing her spine without leaving any marks, speaking unhurriedly: “Wasn’t the Noble Consort very stubborn just now? Why is she begging for mercy so soon?”
“The Noble Consort must hold on tight.”
She said: “This bath, there’s still a lot to wash, it must be cleaned thoroughly.”
At this moment, Xu Jiao suddenly opened her eyes. She grabbed the bath barrel with one hand and reached back to grasp Feng Qingyu’s wrist with the other, saying in a low voice, “Sister, I am yours.”
“My body, my heart, they are all yours.”
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Her voice was trembling. Her gaze was obviously very firm, yet it carried a mist of emotion, with physiological tears seeping from the corners of her eyes, very shallow and faint, only moistening her eyelashes.
“Cut!”
Zhen Tiao called for a stop. Both of them stopped their actions, but Xu Jiao, still holding the edge of the bath barrel, suddenly had her knees go weak and knelt down, unable to get up for a moment.
Feng Qingyu, still deeply immersed in the role, hadn’t yet recovered her emotions and instinctively went to support her. However, she saw Xu Jiao pressing her forehead against the edge of the bath barrel, eyes closed, with a line of clear tears streaming down her face.
Zhen Tiao, the executive director, and the script supervisor all came over. Ni Hong, the part-time assistant and manager, also brought a towel over. Just as she shook open the large white towel, Feng Qingyu raised her hand and took it away, gently spreading it over Xu Jiao’s back.
Then, Feng Qingyu, ignoring the action of Luo Bo wrapping a towel around herself, half-squatted behind Xu Jiao, raising her hand to gently stroke her back.
“She’s still in character.” Feng Qingyu made a shushing gesture to Luo Bo, who wanted to speak, and gave Zhen Tiao and the others a smile.
Xu Jiao actually heard Director Zhen’s “cut” and put away her skill, but because of this, the bitterness in her heart did not leak out on camera.
This skill stirred too many emotions within her, causing her to immerse herself in the inner world of Rong Qing for a time. When performing with the skill, she could appropriately control it, but once the skill stopped, those emotions, like a broken floodgate, poured out as if a dam had burst overnight.
She seemed to have truly become Rong Qing.
Hearing Qi Yunshang’s remark, “You still need to wash clean,” her heart was filled with bitterness. Rong Qing was a woman who had been favored by the emperor. The empress was in poor health, and they had been following the emperor to this imperial palace for many days. For the sake of appearances, the emperor would also summon her to receive his favor.
Perhaps Qi Yunshang’s words were just a joke, but in Rong Qing’s ears, she couldn’t help but feel sorrow. Who wouldn’t want to be in a loving relationship solely with their beloved?
She said, “I am yours, from body to heart.”
She was reminding Qi Yunshang of this fact, and was willing to give her body and heart to her. However, when she spoke, her heart was still raining. Now, she was merely letting this rain flow out.
The script supervisor and the other two main actors didn’t initially know why she was crying, but then they heard Zhen Tiao sigh beside them and say, “Rong Qing is the exact opposite of the Empress. The Empress has a weak body but a firm heart, being outwardly gentle but inwardly strong.”
“Rong Qing, on the surface, appears covered in thorns, but her heart is more sensitive than anyone’s. Her love and hate are extreme; her whole being is like a tightly stretched string, the other end tied to the Empress. She is clearly someone with a clear distinction between love and hate, but because the person she loves is too special, her love is buried deep, and she suppresses herself.”
“Crying shows that she understands Rong Qing’s pain.”
At this time, Xu Jiao had already calmed down a lot. She softly thanked Feng Qingyu, waved her hand, gathered her bathrobe, stood up, and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, but her smile had already returned to its usual politeness.
“Sorry, I lost my composure a bit and disrupted everyone’s flow.”
Everyone shook their heads. Qiu Yongli smiled sweetly at her, “No way, your performance was just too good. My scene is right after yours. Seeing you so serious, I’m a bit scared.”
Although Lu Xun did not speak, his gaze lingered on her for a good while before he looked toward Feng Qingyu beside him.
Feng Qingyu didn’t realize it, but from the beginning, her eyes had been fixed on Xu Jiao. Now, she heard Xu Jiao say, “When I was acting just now, I kept thinking of a scene later on—”
“One day, she gazed at the palace wall and heard someone outside, not sure who, singing ‘The clouds think of clothes, the flowers think of beauty.’ She ran out like crazy, losing one of her embroidered shoes, muttering ‘wrong, wrong.'”
“She said, ‘Flowers no longer think of beauty, flowers think of clothes. Has her clothes returned?'”
“She chased out, but the person singing had already left. By the palace wall, there was only the sound of the wind, like sobbing. She knew her attire would not return.”
After saying this, Xu Jiao had already wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, smiled again at Zhen Tiao and the others, and then walked to the side. Her scenes for the morning were finished, giving her plenty of time to calm her emotions.
Ni Hong followed her to the side, looking dazed and unable to snap out of it, even foolishly fanning her with a fan. The fanning made Xu Jiao shiver, and she turned to ask her:
“Sister Hong, are you afraid I’m not cool enough?”
Ni Hong immediately stopped, staring at Xu Jiao’s wet side face, and after a while said: “Jiaojiao…”
After pausing for a moment, she said: “My goodness, your acting just now… oh my heavens, I almost didn’t recognize you. My goodness, you left me dumbfounded. Look, I’ve got goosebumps—”
Hearing her praise, Xu Jiao pressed her lips together, but there was little joy in her eyes. She only said: “I still have a lot of room for improvement.”
At least next time when shooting such a drama, she wanted to strive to rely on herself. What was the deal with always depending on external help?
Ni Hong was stunned by her ambitious words, following her towards the hotel in a daze, only reacting after a while: “You still need room for improvement? If you improve any more, how will those best actor and actress winners survive?”
“Sister Hong, you can’t talk so wildly. If someone catches it on camera, I’m done for.”
“Oh right, right, we should keep a low profile, keep a low profile. When the drama airs, we’ll scare them to death!”
……
In the same place.
Feng Qingyu was draped with one bathrobe after another by Luo Bo and other assistants. They surrounded her, drying the water from her hair, face, and body, but she remained unaware. Her gaze only passed through the assistants surrounding her, looking at the figure of Xu Jiao leaving low-key with her manager.
“Sister Yu?” Luo Bo said a string of words, and finding no response, called out in confusion.
Feng Qingyu came back to her senses, met Luo Bo’s gaze, and suddenly asked: “How was her acting just now?”
Luo Bo took a while to realize who “she” referred to, and her expression subtly changed, as if she were shocked by that acting but did not want to admit that the shock came from someone she looked down upon.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally answered: “Quite, quite unexpected.”
The corners of Feng Qingyu’s lips curved slightly, and she added: “Yes, unexpectedly good.”
One of the assistants nearby suddenly chimed in: “Someone online said that ever since her debut at the press conference, she seemed to become a different person, not as impetuous as before… I guess if they saw Xu Jiao’s acting now, they’d be even more stunned. This isn’t just becoming a different person; it’s like a cross-species transformation.”
Feng Qingyu’s gaze glanced over.
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That person thought Feng Qingyu didn’t like hearing people badmouth others behind their backs and immediately apologized, even wanting to pat her own mouth in remorse for her slip of the tongue. But then she saw Feng Qingyu’s eyes focus, her eyelashes lowered, and she softly said:
“Becoming a different person…”
She thought of the emotions Xu Jiao had just poured into her performance and the scenes she presented, and had to admit that this person’s progress was indeed immense, incredibly so, making it hard to imagine how such progress was achieved.
Moreover.
This person no longer seemed to stick to her side at every moment, trying to create topics of conversation like before.
Just now, when she handed Xu Jiao the towel and gently comforted her, she only received a polite thank you. Afterwards, she didn’t see Xu Jiao cast another glance in her direction.
As if they were just ordinary work partners.
The pair of eyes that always carried calculation and false affection had also become clear and pure.
Feng Qingyu recalled for a long time, and an inexplicable sense of loss surfaced in her heart. She murmured with certainty: “Indeed.”
Indeed changed.
Changed to no longer thinking of using her, so that uncertain obsession also disappeared. Feng Qingyu still remembers, when they went to get the marriage certificate, Xu Jiao walked into that civil affairs bureau with her, her eyes filled with excitement, agitation, admiration, and yearning.
Later, that light slowly took on other colors, making Feng Qingyu unwilling to face it. She only knew that whenever she saw that person, she felt a surge of disgust. It wasn’t until recently, when she took Xu Jiao to the audition, that she truly saw clearly once again.
Those things on Xu Jiao that she found distasteful had all disappeared.
Logically, Feng Qingyu should have felt happy to not be used or entangled by the other party—
But for some reason, thinking about this, a faint sense of loss welled up in her heart.
It felt like she was about to lose something important.