Outside the hostage prince's residence, in a corner by the wall.
Xiao Yi, dressed in black night-travel clothes, moved with crisp efficiency.
He gestured to Lin Zhaonan, signaling that he would scout ahead.
Lin Zhaonan grabbed him, keeping his voice low and his expression grave.
“No!”
“This is a dragon's den! As an official of the court, I must secure the hard evidence myself before reporting to His Majesty!”
Xiao Yi stared at him silently, his face practically spelling out “helplessness.”
Without replying, he tapped his toe against the base of the wall.
Lifting off as light as a feather, he silently drifted up onto the high wall.
Lin Zhaonan watched from below, momentarily dazed.
Then, taking a deep breath, he tried to mimic the move and lunged forward.
“Thud!”
With a dull, heavy thud of flesh hitting solid stone, he crashed face-first into the wall.
Xiao Yi, sitting atop the wall: “...”
Lin Zhaonan rubbed his shoulder, gritted his teeth, and began scrambling up using both hands and feet.
His movements were as clumsy as a bear climbing a tree, dislodging a few roof tiles in the process.
“Clatter—”
It made quite a racket.
Xiao Yi's temples throbbed. He quickly reached down, grabbed Lin Zhaonan by the collar, and hauled him up.
“Master Lin.”
Xiao Yi's voice carried a hint of mockery.
“If you want to alert the enemy, you might as well just knock on the front door.”
Lin Zhaonan was dragged up looking disheveled, but he remained stubborn.
“I was just... unfamiliar with the terrain!”
The two lay flat on the roof, keeping their bodies low.
Just as they hid themselves, the courtyard door creaked open.
Chu Yan strolled in, clutching a wine flask. He staggered with every step, reeking of alcohol, and mumbled an incoherent tune.
Behind him, an old servant followed with a worried expression, carrying a stack of ledgers and IOUs.
“Lord Heir, please drink a bit less!”
“Now that Shuntian Firm has collapsed, our residence's last source of income is completely gone!”
“The creditors outside are blocking the gates like vicious dogs smelling blood! How are we supposed to survive?!”
On the roof, Lin Zhaonan held his breath, his ears instantly perking up.
In the courtyard below.
Chu Yan seemed to have his mood ruined. He spun around, snatched the ledgers from the old servant's hands, and slammed them hard onto the stone pavement.
“Survive? How the hell should I know how to survive?!”
Chu Yan stomped on the scattered IOUs, his breath reeking of alcohol as his fury erupted.
“That old bastard courted death and got his place raided, and now this Heir has to clean up his goddamn mess?!”
The more Chu Yan spoke, the angrier he became. He paced back and forth in the courtyard, cursing incessantly.
“It's all because of that Young Master Gao!”
“That profligate from the Prime Minister's Residence knows nothing but how to ask for money!”
“And that idiot Xue Ming actually served him like an ancestor!”
“Sending him money, sending him antiques!”
“Did they really think this Heir was blind?”
As if exhausted from his rant, Chu Yan slumped onto the cold stone steps and let out a heavy, alcohol-laden burp.
“Now look what happened...”
“The man is locked up.”
“The debts are ruined.”
“This Heir's money has all gone down the fucking drain!”
With that, his head tilted to the side, and leaning against a pillar, he actually began to snore.
On the roof, Lin Zhaonan's eyes shone with incredible brightness.
“Young Master Gao! Qianjin House!”
In his excitement, he grabbed Xiao Yi's arm.
“I understand now!”
“The records showing Shuntian Firm's funds flowing to the Southern Realm were nothing but a smokescreen!”
“The real money all went into the pockets of the Prime Minister's second son!”
A complete logical chain rapidly formed in Lin Zhaonan's mind.
Chu Yan, that useless fool, was merely a scapegoat fooled by his own servants. The true mastermind behind the scenes was the second young master of the Prime Minister's Residence, who had used Shuntian Firm to amass wealth.
Now, all the clues perfectly aligned.
Xiao Yi did not respond immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the drunken, collapsed figure in the courtyard, his eyes as deep as a dark pool.
Could things... really be this simple?
But he didn't say more, merely gesturing for Lin Zhaonan to retreat.
“Let's go.”
The two vanished silently into the night.
Only when he was certain that the sound of breathing on the roof had completely faded...
In the courtyard, the snoring Chu Yan instantly went quiet.
He didn't stand up immediately, remaining motionless against the pillar. Under the cold moonlight, his eyes slowly opened.
Where was there even a hint of drunken cloudiness in them?
The corner of his mouth twitched, curving into a mocking sneer.
“Since you want to investigate, go ahead and probe the prime minister's weak spot. That idiot Young Master Gao won't hold up under even the slightest scrutiny.”
“Once this fire spreads to the Prime Minister's Residence...”
“The waters of the capital will finally be thoroughly muddied.”
Not far away, the old servant who had been kneeling on the ground also quietly raised his head.
The eyes of the two met briefly in the air before quickly parting, everything understood without a single word spoken.
Chu Yan slowly stood up, calmly brushing the dust off his robes.
His movements could even be described as elegant.
He was a completely different person from the raving, street-cursing drunkard of moments ago.
He turned and walked back into the room without looking back.
“Cut!”
Xu Pingqiu pulled off his headphones and watched the replay for a few more seconds.
Only then did he turn around.
“Old Zhao.”
The assistant director, Zhao Gang, immediately rushed over with excitement.
“Director Xu.”
Xu Pingqiu pointed at the screen and asked, “What do you think of this scene?”
Zhao Gang nodded repeatedly, rubbing his hands together in excitement.
“Incredible! It's even better than we expected!”
These words were by no means polite flattery.
On the surface, this scene was about a night investigation of the hostage prince's residence. In reality, it was Chu Yan pushing Xiao Yi and Lin Zhaonan into a trap he had set long ago.
Only by delivering the ultimate contrast between Chu Yan's two faces could this scene truly hold its weight.
Jiang Yue's performance just now was nothing short of remarkable.
On the other side, Zhang Yu climbed down from the roof, his expression rather sour.
In the scene just now, not only was he acting as a “background prop” to support the performance, but he also had to portray Lin Zhaonan's naivety and clumsiness.
Rally, he knew this was just the script's setting, but the feeling of being utterly suppressed by Jiang Yue still made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.
He even felt that Chu Yan's final mocking gaze wasn't meant for Lin Zhaonan at all, but was directed right at him, Zhang Yu.
Jiang Yue walked off the set, taking a wet towel handed to him by a production assistant to wipe his hands.
In his mind, the system's prompt chimed right on cue.
【Ding! Extreme appreciation from the director and assistant director detected. Prestige points +60】
【Strong mental fluctuation from the co-actor detected. Prestige points +20】
Jiang Yue took a brief glance before withdrawing his attention.
Just as he was about to head back to the rest area, a stagehand next to Xu Pingqiu trotted over.
“Teacher Jiang, Director Xu wants you to head over.”
Jiang Yue nodded and strode over.
Xu Pingqiu was still sitting firmly behind the monitor, looking down as he dragged the video progress bar.
“Have a seat.”
Jiang Yue pulled up a folding chair and sat down.
A moment later, Xu Pingqiu finally pulled his gaze away from the screen and suddenly spoke:
“When you were doing the sword dance this afternoon, there was a man in a Tang suit watching from the side the entire time.”
“Did you notice him?”
Jiang Yue nodded frankly, making no attempt to hide it.
“I did.”
Only then did Xu Pingqiu turn around to face him directly.
“His name is Shen Donglou. He's the main investor of this drama.”
Jiang Yue didn't interrupt, quietly playing the role of a listener.
Xu Pingqiu continued, “He's the type who usually only looks at financial reports and rarely watches the actual filming. He came to inspect the set in person today, partly because he saw the trending topics for 《Manhunt》, and partly because he had reservations about you, a newcomer who didn't graduate from a professional acting school.”
Jiang Yue still didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.
Xu Pingqiu smiled, picking up the thermos beside him and unscrewing the cap.
“But when he left just now, he sent me a message. He said that you, kid, are worth every single penny of your salary.”
Rate on N.U.
