Chapter 37: Day 37 of Transmigrating into an Object Part 2

Two steps away, just a moment’s walk.

Little Xie said, “I went to get water, and by the time I turned around, I couldn’t find Teacher Jiang. But why is Teacher Shen answering Teacher Jiang’s phone?”

She glanced at Shen Wenyi. Alarm bells blared in her head. She quickly said, “I’m running lines with Shen Wenyi. You just go back and sit down.”

Little Xie acknowledged and turned to leave. Shen Wenyi suddenly called out to stop her.

“Little Xie, what horror movie were you watching last night that was so scary?”

She: !!!!!

She frantically signaled at Little Xie with her eyes.

Go along with Shen Wenyi, just go along with it!

Little Xie looked bewildered. “What horror movie? I’m a scaredy-cat. I never watch those. Teacher Jiang, what’s wrong? Is your eye bothering you again?”

She: ……………………

Who said ‘again’?! Who said ‘again’?!

She said, “I’m fine. You can go.”

Little Xie said, “If you’re fine, why were you blinking non-stop just now?”

She: ……………………

Little Xie, you’re really something else.

Shen Wenyi cast her a cool glance, then looked back at Little Xie. “What’s this? Her eyes were bothering her before?”

Little Xie said, “Well, not exactly. It’s just that on the drive over this morning, Teacher Jiang wasn’t blinking at all. So I wondered if her eyes were uncomfortable.”

Little Xie, did you really need to explain it to her in such detail? Don’t you know she and I are like fire and water? Whose side are you on, anyway? Have I been raising a mole all these years?

Little Xie left. Shen Wenyi tilted her head to look at her, smoky brows and delicate lips, amber eyes framed by long lashes, her expression unreadable.

The stare made Jiang Shiyang utterly uncomfortable. She came here to radiate charm, not to flounder in awkwardness.

She started, “Actually, I…”

Shen Wenyi said flatly, “Actually, you…?”

She capitulated. “Alright, I admit it. Last night, I purposely went to your room. I originally wanted to talk about the message matter. Then I figured telling you directly didn’t suit our current relationship, so I came up with the idea of making you wear the earbud as an exchange. Consider it a small way of making things difficult for you.”

Shen Wenyi watched her intently. “You came up with it on the spot?”

She nodded firmly. “Yes.”

Shen Wenyi said, “But you already mentioned the earbud during your phone call last night. Why didn’t you bring it up then, instead of sneaking into my room in the middle of the night to put the Bluetooth in my ear?”

She said, “I… it was just a whim. A prank.”

Shen Wenyi said, “You really are childish.”

She said, “We’ve known each other so many years. You know me.”

Shen Wenyi said, “I don’t know you at all. After all, hearts are hidden behind flesh.”

This was just asking for a fight.

Forget it. For the sake of Shen Wenyi still wearing the earbud, she’d endure it for the mission.

She pulled Shen Wenyi along to run a few lines from the script, and they also discussed the upcoming blocking and movements.

Today’s scene was the Empress Dowager’s adultery sting. Someone had secretly informed the Empress Dowager that a princess was having illicit relations. The Empress Dowager, already a firm believer that those not of her clan bore treacherous hearts, flew into a rage and charged off furiously with her people to catch them in the act.

That day happened to be when the princess met secretly with a general. To protect the princess, the character she played, Nangong Wanwan, rushed over, feigning arrogance and using imperial favor as an excuse to pick a fight with the princess, allowing the princess to escape.

They were in the middle of rehearsing when Director Chen arrived with a massive entourage, ready to shoot the day’s second scene—the Empress Dowager’s sting operation.

She clicked her tongue and asked Shen Wenyi how much battery the earbud had left. Shen Wenyi pulled out her phone to check. “Two percent.”

She gave an OK sign. “Wait here. I’ll go have a few words with Director Chen. Just hold on a little longer.”

She got up and went to Director Chen’s side, script in hand, and stalled for a few minutes. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Shen Wenyi. Only when Shen Wenyi made a move to take out the earbud did she breathe a sigh of relief.

The mission completion prompt chimed in her mind, and another dialog box popped up.

【Time-Limited Soul Splitting Talisman duration not yet expired. Temporarily unable to detach from Bluetooth Earbud.】

So she was still sharing a soul with the earbud and its wearer, huh?

No matter. She only had a few hours left anyway.

Director Chen called for everyone to take their places. The second scene began filming.

Dressed in full Royal Palace Attire, Nangong Wanwan hurried anxiously towards the Hall of the Condemned Empress, where the princess and the general were meeting in secret.

The Hall of the Condemned Empress was different from the Cold Palace. It had been the residence of the Emperor of Liang’s beloved former empress. After the former empress was executed for colluding with court officials, the hall was abandoned. The Emperor of Liang decreed that no one was to approach it.

The courtyard of the hall was overgrown with weeds. Inside, the hall was dark and unlit. The princess was just at the peak of a tender conversation with the general. She nestled into the general’s embrace, and he tightened his arms around her waist.

Nangong Wanwan barged into the Hall of the Condemned Empress with an overbearing, arrogant stride. The noise was so great it startled the princess and the general.

The general hurriedly hid in a side hall. The princess stood with dignified composure, facing Nangong Wanwan’s intrusion with cold indifference.

Nangong Wanwan sneered. “Isn’t this Imperial Consort? What crime is it to trespass in the Hall of the Guilty Empress?”

The princess’ back was ramrod straight, noble and unbending. “If a lowly traitorous slave like you may come here, why can’t I? If I am guilty, you won’t escape either.”

Nangong Wanwan said, “I am sharing His Majesty’s burdens. You are trespassing on forbidden grounds. There is naturally a difference.”

The princess, face flushed with fury, raged: “You insult your superior! I will now charge you with gross disrespect!”

The princess lunged forward to slap Nangong Wanwan. Nangong Wanwan was faster, raising her hand first and delivering a slap to the princess’ face.

Slap!

The slap was incredibly loud. The imprint of five fingers immediately surfaced on her cheek.

Everyone off-camera froze.

In these slapping scenes, the movement was usually very large and the expression fierce, but the actual force was minimal. The sound would be added in post-production.

Why had Teacher Jiang slapped so hard? Could she be using this to settle a personal vendetta?

They weren’t the only ones stunned. Jiang Shiyang herself froze.

This lack of touch really was a problem. Her attention was too scattered—she had to worry about her footing, about the screen behind her. In the end, she hadn’t bumped into any of that. Instead, lacking the sense of touch to know when to pull back, the slap landed far too solidly.

Seeing the five angry red finger marks on Shen Wenyi’s delicate white face, she choked back a breath. The take absolutely could not be ruined. Otherwise, not only would Shen Wenyi’s swollen face prevent filming, but that slap would have been for nothing.

Wait, why was she thinking this? Hadn’t she eagerly wished for a scene where she could slap Shen Wenyi before? Back then, she had even planned to purposefully mess up several takes, just so she could smack Shen Wenyi’s face until it was swollen. Why was her brain short-circuiting now?!

She didn’t have time to dwell on it. The scene was still in progress.

Shen Wenyi covered her face, which was already starting to redden and swell, and glared at her incredulously.

“You slave! How dare you strike me? With this insubordination, do you truly not fear the palace regulations and punishments?!”

Nangong Wanwan looked at the princess with heartache, but couldn’t show it outwardly. She could only speak viciously. “What is low? What is high? Whoever His Majesty dotes on is high, and whoever His Majesty casts aside is but an ant! So what if you’re an Imperial Consort? Right now, His Majesty dotes on me! If you ever dare call me a slave again, I’ll tear your mouth apart!”

The princess clenched her fingers in towering rage. Suddenly, chaotic footsteps echoed from outside. Both of them looked out and saw the Empress Dowager, leading a group of people, striding rapidly towards them.

The princess, worried about the general in the side hall, gritted her teeth and decided to face the Empress Dowager herself to cover for him, even knowing the Empress Dowager came with ill intent.

Nangong Wanwan, however, didn’t want the princess to be punished. She spotted a cabinet nearby, grabbed the princess, and pulled her inside.

The camera followed them to the cabinet, first filming the outside. Then the door would be opened, the lights turned on, and the two characters’ dialog inside filmed.

Before the cabinet door could be opened, Director Chen suddenly shouted from outside: “Why did the power go out?! Quick, get the portable lights!”

Someone jogged off to fetch the portable lights. The cabinet door remained tightly shut, unopened by anyone.

She and Shen Wenyi were crammed inside the narrow cabinet. They were already wearing layer upon layer of heavy palace attire. Now, there was absolutely nowhere to put their arms and legs.

That wasn’t all. The cabinet was perfectly sealed, with almost no light, save for a single bright line through the crack in the door. They could barely see anything.

She had wanted to get out, but she heard Director Chen shouting about set arrangements. Her legs probably wouldn’t even make it out before she’d have to crawl back in.

Forget it. The costumes were cumbersome, and crawling out would be a huge hassle.

She turned back around. In the darkness, she could see nothing. With no sense of touch, she couldn’t feel where Shen Wenyi was.

She reached out blindly and called tentatively, “Shen Wenyi? Why aren’t you saying anything? It’s so dark. Say something.”

Shen Wenyi didn’t speak. She encountered an obstruction—Shen Wenyi’s shoulder, it seemed.

She pressed against Shen Wenyi’s shoulder, listening to Shen Wenyi’s breathing, and added, “Come on, say something. Hey.”

Shen Wenyi still didn’t speak. She leaned her head forward a bit more. Judging by the position of Shen Wenyi’s shoulder, Shen Wenyi must be leaning far back, probably with her back against the cabinet wall.

“Shen Wenyi? Are you still alive in there? Why are you deliberately ignoring me?”

She couldn’t lean forward any further. Something seemed to be blocking her, but she couldn’t tell what it was. She simply couldn’t move.

She called out again, “Shen Wen—”

This time, before the words could fall, she suddenly found herself unable to speak.

What was happening?

Lacking a sense of touch was so inconvenient. Why was even opening her mouth this difficult?

What was wrong with her tongue? It felt like she couldn’t even form words?

Puzzled, she reached out, wanting to push open the cabinet door to see what was going on, but she couldn’t lift her arms at all.

What was restraining her?!

Shen Wenyi’s voice sounded beside her ear, impossibly close, with a slight breathlessness.

“You… don’t go too far.”

What? What too far?

All she did was ask Shen Wenyi to say something, and Shen Wenyi was saying she was going too far?