Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Four: Everyone is Acting
Time rewinds a few days.
“…Acting?”
“That’s right.”
Looking at Shi Qingyan’s completely confused face, Young Master Sang confidently said, “I’ve already sent Si Jingzhu back to recruit help. In a couple of days, when people arrive, we’ll put on a show in front of the Fierce Tiger Sect.”
“W-what kind of show?”
“An epic, melodramatic romance saga.”
Young Master Sang said seriously, “I’ve looked into it. The Sect Leader Ke Qinhux is a hardcore fan of melodramatic shows, practically collects the lowest-rated ultimate soap operas from Fusa Pavilion. His favorite are those tangled, dramatic love stories—the more absurd, the better.”
“Our goal is to perform a real-life melodrama to grab his attention and lure him out of the sect.”
Shi Qingyan listened, half-understanding, and after a long pause, asked in confusion, “S-so what do I need to do?”
“Your role is to be the pure and innocent light in my heart,” Young Master Sang pulled out the script, put on sunglasses, and began explaining the plot to the actors. “You’re a quiet, introverted, delicate woman, so you won’t have many lines or scenes. The most important thing is your subtle expressions and emotions.”
“When the time comes, you just need to follow my lead. Whatever I say, you act it out.”
So, Shi Qingyan awkwardly agreed.
And now, today.
She found herself once again confused, wrapped in Young Master Sang’s embrace.
Baffled, she stared at Yu Xia across from her, melodramatically sobbing her heart out.
Baffled, she looked at Si Jingzhu hiding behind Yu Xia, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears.
In that moment, Shi Qingyan felt as if she had returned to when she was smaller.
Back then, it seemed, the whole family was equally acting out, fooling themselves.
…So this is what it feels like. Shi Qingyan couldn’t help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration.
At that moment, as Young Master Sang held Shi Qingyan, several disciples from the Fierce Tiger Sect had begun to rise in indignation, whispering amongst themselves.
“How could he leave a widow and orphan to elope with his lover? What kind of terrible man is he?!”
“Ugh, scum! A jerk!”
Even Ke Qinhux was getting worked up.
“A widow and orphan, traveling through mountains and rivers just to find a scumbag who abandoned his wife! This plot is just too—”
“Truly amazing!” he exclaimed, almost moved to tears.
Fierce Tiger Sect disciples: “?”
“No!”
Yu Xia let out a heart-wrenching cry, collapsing to the ground, tearfully reaching out to Young Master Sang. “Young Master Sang, my Young Master Sang, how could you be so heartless…”
“Hmph.”
Young Master Sang flicked his sleeves in annoyance. “You, the wronged woman, shouldn’t cling on! If it weren’t for your ample chest and curvy backside, and my beloved Qingyan being missing, would I have married a dull woman like you?”
“Did you really think I married you out of love?”
“Woman.” He said coldly, with a deep voice, “Understand your position.”
“You are merely a substitute for her. No one can take her place in my heart.”
“Now that I’ve found her, it’s time for you to return everything.”
Yu Xia’s sobbing grew more tragic, while Si Jingzhu, peeking from behind her, also wept softly, trying to console her.
Meanwhile, the disciples of the Fierce Tiger Sect were close to boiling over.
“You bastard!” Xiao Jiao rolled up her sleeves, so furious she forgot to keep her tone light, and yelled, “I’ll chop you up, you scumbag!”
“How awful! Isn’t having a big chest and a good backside a plus? Why do you keep thinking about that skinny-faced beauty?”
“Exactly! With such a stunning wife, how could you still flirt with other celestial maidens? How despicable!”
No matter how many insults flew, Young Master Sang remained unyielding, his face steely.
“Father…” Si Jingzhu’s eyes turned red as she plaintively whispered, “D-don’t you want me to be with Mother?”
“Jingzhu, you are already a grown girl. Forget about your father.”
“B-but what about the promise you made to me?”
She choked with grievance, her adorable, red-nosed face evoking deep sympathy.
“Weren’t you the one who promised that when Jingzhu grew up, you would marry both Jingzhu and her mother?”
“When you took Jingzhu’s body, didn’t you promise her as well?”
Shi Qingyan: “…Huh?”
As the words left her mouth, the audience erupted once more.
“What!?”
“That scumbag is actually not letting go of his own daughter?”
“This is too beastly! No, even worse than a beast!”
“How awful, I want to mix my mother and daughter in a bowl too…”
“?”
Ke Qinhux was also stunned: “What? Are we bringing in chaotic drama as well?”
“T-this is amazing! Reality is indeed more fantastical than literary works!”
At this point, he seemed completely captivated by this family drama, caught up in the spectacle.
He almost forgot why he was there in the first place.
Yu Xia now displayed an expression of sheer disbelief, looking at Young Master Sang, filled with despair.
“W-what? Young Master Sang, you… you actually laid hands on our daughter?”
“And so what?” Young Master Sang scoffed, “If I raised my daughter, wouldn’t it be a loss not to take advantage of her myself?”
“Besides, when Jingzhu was little, she kept saying she wanted to be her daddy’s bride. I’m merely fulfilling her wish.”
Shi Qingyan was deeply shocked by Young Master Sang’s line.
With her limited knowledge, she couldn’t fathom what he had been through to come up with such outrageously shameless dialogue.
Wait.
If he said that, then when he played her father…
Shi Qingyan’s cheeks unexpectedly turned slightly red.
Yu Xia’s expression shifted from sorrow to resentment as she coldly stared at Shi Qingyan, suddenly drawing her sword and pointing it at her:
“It’s all your fault… It must be you, this fox spirit, who has bewitched Young Master Sang!”
“I-I want to kill you!”
Shi Qingyan: “?”
Though Shi Qingyan knew it was all an act.
This chain of logic was still beyond absurd, even for a soap opera.
But in the end, she was also part of the story.
Glancing at Young Master Sang, Shi Qingyan suddenly felt a hint of the joy of acting.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and suddenly revealed a tear-filled, heartbroken gaze.
“…I’m sorry, Yu Jie,” she spoke with guilt and grievance.
“But I really do like Young Master Sang.”
“I’m still young; all my青春 has been given to him.”
“Please, make this work for us. Let Young Master Sang decide for himself whom to be with.”
Yu Xia’s expression turned to one of despair and disbelief. She laughed in anger, “What?”
“Make it work for you? Then who will take care of us mother and daughter?”
“He abandoned us; what are we supposed to do?”
Young Master Sang was just about to speak, but heard Shi Qingyan sweetly interject:
“Don’t scold Young Master Sang; it’s all his fault, he’s the bad one…”
With a pitiful face, she looked as if she was the one wronged.
“He couldn’t suppress his feelings for Young Master Sang, knowing he had a wife, still couldn’t help but get confused after drinking…”
After that, she covered her face with a fake cry: “Now… the child in my belly leaves me with no way back.”
Gasp.
The audience collectively inhaled sharply.
Including Young Master Sang.
He looked in shock at Shi Qingyan as the tea flavor spilled out from his mouth, utterly stunned.
Sister Shi, your acting truly surpasses everything!
(Finally, relief! Watching it all unfold, one thing comes to mind.)
(Marriage is terrifying, never get married!)
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