After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety
Chapter 184: Vomiting Blood

Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Vomiting Blood

"Actors break for twenty minutes, everyone else prepare to switch sets!"

With Wei Xiao’s order, the huge film crew quickly became busy again.

Jiang Lingxi and Shen Yunqing weren’t resting far from each other, and even Jiang Lingxu, who was acting as an assistant, was only separated from He Assistant by Wei Minmin dragging a lounge chair over.

Accepting a cup of water handed over by Jiang Lingxu, imitating others, Jiang Lingxi took a sip and then casually glanced in a certain direction.

She saw that this person, after sitting down, even pushed away the water offered by He Assistant, only asking for a phone and started tapping away on the screen, looking extremely busy.

Jiang Lingxi thought he was taking a moment to deal with work, but as soon as she withdrew her gaze, a hand reached over, holding her phone.

The owner of the hand, Jiang Lingxu, had a face full of speechlessness and whispered, "Sis... no, Mr. Shen sent a message."

Almost slipped out again.

But what are these two up to? They could just turn their heads slightly to talk to each other, so why bother sending messages on the phone?

Jiang Lingxi took the phone, unlocked the screen, and clicked on Shen Yunqing’s still flashing avatar, only to find a little essay of about two hundred words.

Turns out all that tapping on the screen was typing!

No one noticed, but Jiang Lingxi’s lips curved up slightly.

Or maybe someone noticed and didn’t show it, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The main point of the little essay was to explain why Jiang Xiyu suddenly went over to say hello before shooting started earlier.

If someone didn’t explain voluntarily, given her personality, she wouldn’t pretend not to see if she saw Jiang Xiyu still actively approaching Shen Yunqing. Now that she’s seen it, she would definitely look into the reasons behind it clearly.

Jiang Lingxi clicked on words like "mistaken identity", "only met once", and "only said one sentence", and although she already had a guess, she still typed to ask, "Who was mistaken for who?"

Almost as soon as she sent the message, it was replied to with a simple word: "You."

Jiang Lingxi’s fingers tightened around the phone.

She was about to continue typing when her arm was tugged.

"Sister Xi, let’s go, we also need to switch sets. I’ve never seen you so engrossed with your phone before, why are you so attached to it right after the scene?"

Jiang Lingxi stood up with Wei Minmin’s pull, gesturing for Jiang Lingxu to follow while lazily replying, "Naturally, there’s something more interesting on the phone."

"Games? Can you recommend one for me? I’m in a gaming drought right now."

Jiang Lingxi tossed the phone to Jiang Lingxu and chuckled in refusal, "You can’t play it."

It’s a turn-based game exclusive to her and Mr. Shen.

*

About forty minutes before noon, the second scene started shooting.

Before filming, Wei Xiao announced through a megaphone, "After shooting this scene, we’ll have lunch. Everyone, let’s stay focused and try to get it in one take."

This scene was still mainly focused on Jiang Lingxi. Given that the previous few scenes were shot smoothly and this scene wasn’t difficult, he even had the leisure to discuss with the assistant director next to him what to have for lunch later.

The Imperial Book Pavilion was replicated exactly the same.

Emperor Yuan Zhao sat at the desk, receiving a confidential letter from a black-clad guard clad in armor.

At the door of the Imperial Book Pavilion, Qing Yuan carried a tray with Heart-Clearing Lotus Seed Soup that she had personally made and walked in.

The script had detailed descriptions of Qing Yuan’s actions at this point: her steps were unhurried, appearing slow but in a moment reaching the desk. With a straight back and silent footsteps so as not to disturb Emperor Yuan Zhao who was reading the letter, the lotus seed soup on her tray was carried very steadily.

But when Jiang Xiyu appeared in the lens holding the tray, Wei Xiao couldn’t help but frown at the figure on the monitor.

Her posture was unstable, her shoulders shook, and her footsteps were heavy and light at times; the ’lotus seed soup’ in the tray swayed again and again.

Her manner wasn’t even as good as a few extras playing palace maids.

He wondered how she had practiced with the etiquette teacher earlier.

If the main shots weren’t focused on Jiang Lingxi, he might have been unable to resist starting over directly.

"One take, one take..." He silently repeated to himself a few times and finally resisted the urge to shout NG.

"Your Majesty, have some lotus seed soup before you get busy!"

Listening to the floating voice through the receiver, Wei Xiao thought: Post-production can handle the sound!

Jiang Lingxi lightly tapped on the table with her fingers, indicating for her to put it down.

However, Jiang Xiyu paused, walking to where the camera could capture her face before gracefully putting down the tray in her hands.

Jiang Lingxi set down the letter, "Grind the ink."

Jiang Xiyu had no choice but to move to Jiang Lingxi’s right side, take the ink stick and water, and start grinding.

But when Jiang Lingxi was ready to write after dipping the brush in ink, Qing Yuan was supposed to take a step back and stand silently. Instead, Jiang Xiyu, at that moment, surprisingly leaned her head over to look at the paper.

Wei Xiao stood up abruptly, his furious voice startling everyone.

Jiang Lingxi’s hand, which was holding a freshly inked brush, trembled with the shout-stop coming from the megaphone, causing a drop of ink to fall and ruin a piece of paper.

"Did you forget what Qing Yuan should do at the moment? In history, peeking when the Emperor reads confidential letters could get you beheaded — do you understand? What’s a palace maid doing peeking around for? What on earth were you thinking just now? Who allowed you to change the script at will..."

A barrage of reprimands ensued and apart from the director’s loud voice, the set remained silent.

Jiang Lingxi put down the brush, turned her head to look at Jiang Xiyu, who was blushing red with embarrassment, and softly asked, "Have you read the script carefully?"

Jiang Xiyu replied without thinking, "Of course, I..."

Jiang Lingxi didn’t bother listening further; before the set manager could come over, she replaced the paper in front of her herself and looked at still-fuming Wei Xiao, "Director, let’s start over."

This was her first time being forced into an NG, thanks to a clueless co-star.

Thankfully, the stern reprimand seemed to have some effect, and they got through this take smoothly.

Especially with the small segment of Emperor Yuan Zhao reviewing the letter, Jiang Lingxi didn’t even use a hand double. The elegant, forceful brushwork visible on the camera’s paper made Wei Xiao smile again.

Then, after Emperor Yuan Zhao drank two sips of the lotus seed soup, he instructed Qing Yuan to withdraw. Qing Yuan requested to eat a bit more, and after a moment’s eye contact, Emperor Yuan Zhao resignedly ate another half bowl due to Qing Yuan’s persistence in her eyes.

After Jiang Xiyu said her line, she raised her eyes to meet Jiang Lingxi’s eyes.

This was the first time they made eye contact in the scene.

"Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, Qing Yuan, what are you spacing out for?"

The thunderous voice snapped Jiang Xiyu back to reality, and she instinctively took two steps back, stabilizing herself by grabbing a nearby bookshelf.

She opened her mouth, momentarily wanting to explain but was at a loss for words.

Could she really say that, in that brief moment of eye contact with Jiang Lingxi, she seemed to gaze into the eyes of a truly authoritative sovereign whose indifferent, overwhelming aura left her mind blank and at a loss for what she had to do next?

Truly saying it out loud would probably make people think she was forcefully trying to save face.

"Sorry, Director, I didn’t react in time."

"Let’s go again. If you can’t get into the state again, just get out!"

Jiang Xiyu clenched her palms, took a deep breath, repeatedly convincing herself it was all an illusion, her cheeks twitching as she agreed.

On the restarted scene, after the gaze ended, Jiang Lingxi with a somewhat helpless expression picked up the lotus seed soup beside her and scooped a spoonful, preparing to eat.

Just as she was about to open her mouth, a dull sensation suddenly hit her chest. Her brow furrowed slightly, and before she could turn her head, she coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.

The lotus seed soup in the bowl was instantly stained with the red of blood.

Wei Xiao was dumbfounded at first, then quickly remembered that this wasn’t a part of the scripted scene.

He hurriedly stood up and shouted, "What’s going on?" starting to walk over.

But a figure moved even faster than him, nearly right after Jiang Lingxi set down the bowl and spoon, pressing her hand to her chest, before she was scooped up by her waist and lifted off the chair.

"He Assistant, hospital!"

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