Chapter 132 Get Off The Cast!

Zhu Yuan glanced up at Gu Xiqiao the moment Jiang Shuxuan walked out of the room with his phone. Silently, she sat on a chair, peering at her own hand with a calm expression.

While this seemed like any other small wound, it had a significant impact on Zhu Yuan. There were two lacerations underneath of which raw, bloody flesh was visible. It must’ve hurt when disinfectant was poured over the wound but to Zhu Yuan’s surprise, she did not flinch even once throughout the whole ordeal.

Looks can be deceiving but minor changes in one’s expression usually could not. Zhu Yuan was sure that the seemingly delicate ice princess possessed a heart that was as hard as a rock.

"How old are you?" Zhu Yuan was curious about this young woman. "Are you in senior high, or perhaps you’re in university?"

Jiang Shuxuan wouldn’t be interested in a middle schooler, would he?

Gu Xiqiao peered back at him with a pair of eyes that glowed like the stars in the night sky. Her skin was crystal clear, like a piece of white jade underneath the fluorescent ceiling lights.

"I’m a university freshman," she replied.

Her soft voice sounded cold but it was pleasant nonetheless. A glow appeared in Zhu Yuan’s eyes. "Oh? Here? In the Imperial Capital? What are you studying? Do you live here too? How did you come to know Master Jiang?"

His mind went back to that group of people from the ancient martial arts world. There were only a handful of girls whom he was familiar with but she was not one of these girls. If she wasn’t part of their group then there could only be one explanation left. Zhu Yuan stole a glance at Gu Xiqiao. If this was the case, then things were gonna get messy.

historical

Would the Jiang family allow a commoner to marry into their family?

Despite facing so many questions, Gu Xiqiao answered them patiently. "Yes, I’m studying medicine. No, not here. I guess we met out of pure coincidence."

Her answers were way too concise, which made Zhu Yuan scratch his head for a second. It took a while before he finally realized that she was answering his questions from before.

’Studying at the capital, medicine, not from here and met Jiang Shuxuan by coincidence.’

Sounds interesting, Zhu Yuan thought. The more he looked at Gu Xiqiao, the more he wanted to know about her. Medicine. The best place for learning medicine in the capital was A University.

"Are you from A University?"

Although A University’s entry requirements were notoriously high, especially so for medicine, even if she wasn’t able to get in, Jiang Shuxuan should be able to find a way for her, right?

"That’s right." Gu Xiqiao nodded. Then, she turned around and narrowed her eyes in the direction of the doorway.

Zhu Yuan, who thought that Jiang Shuxuan had returned, sat up straight as if their little exchange had not happened before.

A few seconds later, a blazing red-figure swooped in at mach speed from outside. Even Zhu Yuan was unable to catch a good glimpse of what that thing was.

Xixi flopped into Gu Xiqiao’s arms.

"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp chirp! Chirp!" (Are you okay? What happened?! I told you that you’d run into trouble without me!)

Master Jiang had already ordered it to follow Beauty Qiao around every day. The little red feather ball was euphoric upon receiving such an order.

Xixi, whose euphoria had yet to subside was suddenly drowned out by a large shadow casted over its tiny body. Then, two human fingers came in from nowhere and picked it up gently. Upon seeing who those fingers belonged to, the bird stopped its futile struggle. Obediently, it hopped onto Gu Xiqiao’s shoulder.

The dean had already brought Zhu Yuan’s formulation over. Jiang Shuxuan received it and held it up to his eyes. It looked like any other glass bottle minus a label. Through the clear glass, one could see a green fluid inside. "Zhu Yuan, this medicine of yours... doesn’t it seem a little sketchy? Is this what they call a ’three-non-product[1]’?"

Zhu Yuan almost choked on his own spit upon hearing those words. Sketchy? This was THE cosmetic product, a fruit of his intense labor for the sake of all the pretty girls out there! There were only fifty bottles available in the whole world and many would gladly sell their soul just to get their hands on this bottle. How dare Jiang Shuxuan call it a three, non, product?!

"If you don’t want it, you can give it back! To think that I turned down the duchess’ offer because I wanted to give it to you guys!" If not for that young lady’s pretty pair of hands, he would not even have considered giving Jiang Shuxuan such a precious potion.

Jiang Shuxuan tucked the bottle swiftly. "You should text me to explain how to use this thing."

"..."

It was only after seeing them both leave the clinic could the dean wipe the sweat off his brows. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. To be honest, he had no idea who that man from before was. However, seeing how respectful Zhu Yuan’s attitude was towards him, he figured out that the guy must’ve been a big shot. He let out a sigh before turning over to Zhu Yuan.

"Professor Zhu, you came at the right time! Professor Jiang has brought back a lab report on cell fusion a few days ago. I think you should give it a read."

"Cell fusion? Nothing new ever comes out of that sort of research," said Zhu Yuan while stretching his body. He seemed bored out of his mind, but rightfully so. Things have become frustratingly stagnant in recent years. "I’m gonna head back to sleep. I’ll come over some other day, if I have the time."

If it was any other day, their interaction would’ve ended there with the dean allowing him to head on home without any fuss. However, today was different. Shaking his head, the dean said, "No no, Professor Zhu, I insist that you take a look. Trust me, you won’t regret it."

"Oh?" Zhu Yuan’s interest was piqued by his words. He knew a bit about Professor Jiang. Apparently, he was a world-renowned surgeon but there have been signs of him leaving the spotlight over the past few years. From hearsay, this man was supposedly working at A University.

Eyes brimming with anticipation, Zhu Yuan followed the dean into the laboratory.

There were a couple of petri dishes lined up neatly on the table. The dean then pointed toward one of these petri dishes. "This contains blood cells from two different rats. Take a look, they have successfully fused together with neither of them showing signs of rejection."

"How long has it been like this?" Zhu Yuan pointed towards the petri dish. He knew that short-term fusing was not impossible to pull off. In fact, back then, him successfully fusing cells for ten days straight earned him a global recognition award. Accounting for technological advancements, fifteen days should be plausible.

In his previous experiment, it took seven days before the cells stopped splitting, which was what kickstarted the cell rejection process. It lasted another three days before every single cell in the petri dish died.

The dean smiled proudly. "Today is the tenth day and there seems to be no signs of cell rejection. Apart from cells that have died naturally from aging, the rest are still actively splitting."

Zhu Yuan’s eyes darted up at him instantly. "For real?"

The question was, of course, unnecessary. Why would the dean lie about this? It was the fact that this had successfully gone on for ten days that caused his heart rate to shoot up momentarily. "Where’s the lab report?"

The lab report was already waiting for him. Pulling open a drawer, the dean retrieved a stack of papers which he handed over to Zhu Yuan.

Zhu Yuan started flipping through the pages the moment he caught hold of the report. Hunched over, he scanned through the lines with insane speed.

From the dean as well as any outsider’s perspective, Zhu Yuan was nothing close to being a doctor. Every day, he would find himself a new girl to squeeze and whenever it came to serious matters, he would never forget to wear that smug and extremely punchable expression on his face. He would act like that until his master pops up in front of him, after which he would retract his head like a shy little turtle. Oh, right, and in front of that guy from before too.

However, the playful look on Zhu Yuan’s face had long faded away. Now that he was finally serious, he seemed like a much more mature man; the complete opposite of how he would usually act.

The dean was astonished by how quickly Zhu Yuan transitioned into his serious mode.

Gathering all his focus, Zhu Yuan was fully-absorbed in reading this report. The methods as described in the report were surprisingly advanced, some of which he had never even heard of before. There were even PEG choices included. The report contained a line he could never forget:

Traditional PEG can indeed boost cell fusion and given the right concentration, success is more or less guaranteed. Though, up until now, this process has only been conducted on plant and animal cells. Rats were specifically chosen for this experiment so that we can close the scientific gap and hopefully, one day, reach the level where experimentation with human cells is possible.

This was his first time reading such a bold statement! Zhu Yuan found it hard to describe what he was feeling with words. Not only did this guy have the guts to make such a statement, he even pulled it off flawlessly!

The blood cells of two different rats have successfully fused together with zero signs of cell rejection!

Suppressing the urge to meltdown from excitement, Zhu Yuan turned over to the next page only to find it empty. Is this it?

He looked up from the paper. "The other half’s missing I presume?"

"The other half is still with Professor Jiang." Pausing to push up his glasses, the dean continued, "He said that if we wanted the other half, we have to go get it from him."

"Where’s he at?!" Zhu Yuan’s chest was itching. "I gotta go find him now."

"That urgent?" The dean was surprised. He had not read through the report yet so he had no idea how ground-breaking its contents were to the scientific community. However, he soon realized the report’s significance after seeing Zhu Yuan’s exaggerated reaction. "Professor Jiang is frequently seen in A University’s labo... ratory."

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhu Yuan had already dashed out of the door.

***

Of course, Gu Xiqiao was oblivious to what was currently going on. If she were to find out that her research had been shared by the professor with so many outsiders, she would undoubtedly turn red from embarrassment.

Since they had not had dinner yet, Jiang Shuxuan brought her to a restaurant where he ordered a couple of dishes.

Since they had arrived during the restaurant’s peak hour without a reservation, no private rooms were available. Instead, they opted for a table beside the window.

The dishes they ordered involved mainly mushrooms, carrots, shrimp as well as meat. In an instant, Gu Xiqiao recognized that these were all foods that aided her recovery process. Taking a few bites of mushroom, she set her eyes on the shrimp.

’Hmm, I wonder what it tastes like with its shell on...’

Then, out of nowhere came a pair of hands that picked up the shrimp she was looking at. It was peeled cleanly before being placed into Gu Xiqiao’s bowl.

"Eat up," he said quietly.

It was as if she had her own little genie. She was just thinking about eating shrimp and here it was, smack in the middle of her bowl. Gu Xiqiao looked at him. His actions, although slightly awkward, were thoughtful. She figured that this must be his first time doing such things for another person.

This man in front of her had done lots of things, some she knew about some she didn’t. He would never say what he did and she would never ask. Perhaps it was because of how much trust they had in one another.

Her heart was racing. She felt that this scene would repeat itself for the rest of her life.

"Eat up, stop daydreaming." Jiang Shuxuan was getting a little annoyed, especially after seeing her bandaged hand. Though, no matter how much anger he felt, he just couldn’t let it out on her. And so, in times like this, Xixi would conveniently turn into his punching bag.

Smack! Xixi, who was circling above Gu Xiqiao’s head was swatted out of the air like a fly.

Xixi: Whud did I do wuong? I don’t wemember saying anyfwing!

Gu Xiqiao: I am sorry friend. I cannot do anything for you this time...

Mrs. Zhang was on leave recently and now that Gu Xiqiao had injured her hand, Jiang Shuxuan had no other choice but to learn how to cook. He could just eat out but most of the delicacies offered outside lacked the nutrition his body needed.

He went searching around the web and scribbled down some recipes on paper.

He was as serious when scribbling these recipes down as when he was actually working. In fact, he was so into it that he had lost track of time. His pen had only stopped moving when Gu Xiqiao knocked on his door.

’I think I’ve overshot the limit now.’

"Brother Jiang, Haha still hasn’t been cleaned yet," reminded Gu Xiqiao as she stood at the doorway of his study room. It appeared that she had just come out of the shower, as evidenced by the steam that was rising off her body. Her face was beet red, presumably after taking a nice hot bath.

Jiang Shuxuan’s gaze automatically crept down her neck, towards her collarbones before he quickly looked away. He pretended to cough into his arm to divert her attention.

"Let’s go wash Haha then."

As the cutest little thing in their home, Haha was treated like a king by these two. Every day, it would receive showers as Gu Xiqiao was somewhat of a clean freak. When Mrs. Zhang was here, it would be her job to keep the furball clean. However, since she was away, Gu Xiqiao had to step in and take over the role.

Now that her hand was wrapped up under bandages, it was Jiang Shuxuan’s turn to clean Haha.

It never crossed Jiang Shuxuan’s mind that such a day would come, that he would have to search the web to learn how to cook and to wash his own dog. Despite these activities sounding like extremely trivial tasks, the way he did them was surprisingly elaborate.

"After you’re done washing it, wrap it with a towel." Gu Xiqiao handed over Haha’s very own hairdryer. "Then comes drying its fur. You’re done after that."

Jiang Shuxuan’s movements weren’t as gentle as Gu Xiqiao but Haha remained silent regardless. In fact, its body was stiff as a rock from fear. For Master Jiang to personally give it a bath, would it live to see the light of tomorrow?

If the bunch from the ancient martial arts world were to see Jiang Shuxuan giving his dog a bath, they would undoubtedly spew blood from their mouths.

As he blow-dried Haha, Gu Xiqiao sneakily snapped a couple of photos of him in action. Both man and dog wore similarly stiff expressions. Jiang Shuxuan’s expression was what you’d call "stone-cold". The dog on the other hand, seemed spooked by this as its beady eyes did not even blink once.

Gu Xiqiao’s phone rang suddenly. Looking at the caller ID, she realized that it was a call from Luo Wenlang.

"Hello?"

Although it was the same old "hello", the way she spoke sounded like she was in a relatively good mood today. "The Bai family has confirmed that they will be participating in the development of the capital’s northern region. Though, it appears that they are running low on assets as of late."

This puzzled Luo Wenlang. The Bai family was deeply-rooted in the Imperial Capital and any recovery they make should be swift with the connections they have. And yet, it surprised him to hear that they were running low on cash. Very, very low on cash.

"Good news to me." Gu Xiqiao’s expression changed as soon as she heard him talk about the Bai family. Considering how much harm they have done unto others, perhaps it was time they got a taste of sweet karma. "I want you to keep an eye out for the people who are collaborating with the Bai family. We’ll make sure to send them a big present next time."

"Collaborators?" Luo Wenlang was stunned. He thought about the families who would regularly conduct business deals with the Bais. "There seems to be a huge movement amongst the firms operating under the Bai family. They are expecting to receive a batch of goods that would be delivered by tonight."

"Say, you think Yao Jiamu and Big Boss Bai should handle this hijacking?" A shine appeared in Gu Xiqiao’s eyes. She felt that this plan was not bad at all.

Luo Wenlang couldn’t even react before Gu Xiqiao hung up the call.

By then, Jiang Shuxuan had already finished drying Haha’s fur. "If you’re busy then you should head upstairs first." He too, needed to go upstairs to resume his research on home-cooking.

Though, he still had to consider which approach was most suited for him. Jiang Shuxuan thought about this while rubbing his chin.

And so, in the next few days, the Jiang family butler would not only be surprised by the young master’s unannounced return, but also by how much time he spent in the kitchen. He had been busy with trying out different recipes and cooking methods under the head chef.

For the first time in forever, the young master uttered the word "thank you" not only to the butler himself but also to the servants, which thoroughly shocked him.

Gu Xiqiao was clueless as to what the hell Jiang Shuxuan was up to. Fearing that the goods would be sent elsewhere, she hopped in front of the computer to prepare her operation. She hadn’t told Big Boss Bai that the seal she had removed from his body was all the Bai family’s doing.

Typing with one hand did not seem to affect Gu Xiqiao’s speed. She reached out and tapped a few keys before a couple of videos popped up on the screen. These were a few items that the Bai family procured on the black market. They were the raw materials needed to create the Soul Extinguishing Seal.

In comparison to explaining the situation to him over the phone, she felt that Big Boss Bai would understand the message she wanted to convey better if he saw these pictures. She was confident that everyone was smart enough to know this.

***

On the second day, the filming of "Empire Under Siege" started as usual. It was very early in the morning and yet every celebrity had already arrived on set.

"Miss Xiao, I think I’ve just heard some not-so-good news." It was Xiao Yun’s assistant. She appeared to be as delicate as a flower petal. Judging from her face, she must’ve been younger than Xiao Yun. At the moment, her face was twisted with anguish.

The makeup artist was still putting on makeup on Xiao Yun’s face so without turning around, she asked, "What’s up?"

"It’s, it’s..." Her assistant then went closer and whispered into her ear cautiously. "I heard that Jin Sitian has someone powerful backing her up, and that someone is one of the film’s sponsors. I heard that there was a request put forth for you to be replaced."

"You heard?" Xiao Yun’s expression changed in an instant. Putting the script down, she asked, "From who did you hear this?"

The assistant panicked after seeing her reaction. "It’s... everyone said the same thing. Urgh, you were way too rash yesterday!"

She thought that if Xiao Yun did not treat Jin Sitian with so much hostility, this situation would not have resulted.

"She’s the one who targeted me first. I mean, even if I didn’t take action against her, would she let me go so easily?" Xiao Yun’s expression was unchanging. She raised her script up to continue memorizing its lines. Knowing how nasty Jin Sitian was, Xiao Yun guessed that it was incredibly likely that her assistant was right.

Although slightly disappointed, Xiao Yun did not have very high hopes to begin with. Also, ever since coming here, she had learned a lot and her horizons had expanded. Something inside her has changed for the better, she felt.

While her peers were still going through intense body-shaping exercises, she had already played her part in a scene.

This was quite literally, the fruit of her intense labor during summer.

The assistant agreed with the idea that Jin Sitian was behind this.

"Why are you still here?" Suddenly, a sharp voice interrupted their conversation. Turning back, it was unsurprisingly, Jin Sitian and her sweet, innocent face.

Speak of the devil.

Her egg-shaped face was pretty but her default expression was uncomfortable to stare at for long. Somehow, that arrogant, pompous look on her face took some of her points off the attractiveness scale.

Xiao Yun stood up and shot back with a cold glare. "If you are allowed to be here then so am I."

Jin Sitian had serviced Mr. Tian well last night and as a result, he promised to step up his investment and to get rid of Xiao Yun. Not only that, he had also requested for Jin Sitian to have more screen time in the movie. Seeing Xiao Yun here so early in the morning, especially after hearing his promises infuriated Jin Sitian.

"Where’s Director Cheng! Get him here!" she yelled. Fortunately, her manager was able to cup his hands over her mouth before anyone could hear her idiotic yelling.

’Dumb b*tch!’, thought the manager as he warned Jin Sitian with a deathly glare. He whispered into her ear, "Let me handle this issue alright? No matter what, you just stay here and watch. As a public figure, could you at least have more control over your own emotions?"

The manager’s words made sense. While panting heavily, Jin Sitian pointed towards Xiao Yun. "You should get her out of here, now! I want her out of this place right this instant!"

"Give me a moment." The manager picked up Mr. Tian’s secretary’s phone call. Over the phone, he roughly understood Mr. Tian’s intentions. With him behind his back, it shouldn’t be too hard to get a rookie off the set.

Smoothing out his coat, he left to meet Cheng Zhou.

To be frank, there was no need for him to do so. The current situation was so obvious that even Cheng Zhou understood what was about to happen. He was still in the middle of today’s very first scene. In order to get the filming process off to a good start, the first scenes usually involved prominent actors and actresses and today, it was Li Yu’s turn.

There were lots of major movements but Li Yu had full control over his emotions as well as his facial expressions. He was able to cut himself off completely from the outside world the moment the cameras started rolling. However, the same could not be achieved by his fellow actor, a rookie, who because of this, had messed up the scene.

"Cut!" yelled Cheng Zhou with a sullen face. Instead of hurling insults at the actor though, his attention was on Jin Sitian’s manager who was marching over.

The director’s menacing eyes made the little manager tremble in fear. Cheng Zhou was a big shot in the industry. No matter in terms of social standing, identity, fame or whatever aspect you could think of, Cheng Zhou was miles above this Jin Sitian’s manager. However, the reason for them standing on the same ground today was because he was here to give Cheng Zhou a vaccine. Hence, there no longer was the need for him to bow down like a dog, as he did back then.

"Director Cheng, I believe Mr. Tian’s secretary has already informed you last night that he would be pumping another twenty million yuan into this project. This of course, requires you to make Xiao Yun leave the set. If otherwise, he will be pulling out the 100 million that he had invested."

The manager smiled ambitiously in the face of Cheng Zhou.

Cheng Zhou looked at him blankly and went silent. He had postponed the start of this filming project just for the sake of finding someone as suited to the role as Xiao Yun. To think that he was threatening to pull out his investments just to make Xiao Yun leave!

This, Cheng Zhou felt, had crossed the line. It was the reason why he stayed silent yesterday when he was supposed to inform Xiao Yun of her dismissal.

"You guys have gone too far with this!" Cheng Zhou glared sharply at Jin Sitian.

And yet, the manager remained smiling silently. "I’ll be waiting for news from you. In ten minutes’ time, if Xiao Yun does not leave, I’m afraid that I will have to give Mr. Tian a call. I believe you are a smart man, Director Cheng, so make your decision wisely."

Upon saying that, the manager turned and left for Jin Sitian’s makeup booth.

"Director Cheng." Li Yu put down his prop sword and walked over. Seeing how bitter Cheng Zhou’s face was, he couldn’t help but ask, "Is everything okay?"

"We are facing some issues with funding," sighed Cheng Zhou. Jin Sitian being a part of his team was already a problem that made him unhappy. Now that they are making him force Xiao Yun out, he started questioning if he should continue working on this film.

"I think we should just stop filming altogether."

"If it’s an issue with funding, maybe I can help," offered Li Yu. Being an A-list actor in the capital, he had quite a bit of dough with him too.

This Cheng Zhou already knew. However, the problems he was facing did not just end with funding. Being such a powerful man, Mr. Tian could make his entire crew cease operation with just one command. Considering that the director was eyeing for the film award at the end of the year, perhaps there was no other choice but to...

Give Xiao Yun up.

Xiao Yun was sitting on a bench, reading her script to gain a better understanding of her character, her rationale, and her motives. On an unconscious level, she had already become one with Concubine Zuo Qiuxiang. She straightened her back and focused her eyes to look straight forward. Her face blank of any emotions, she placed one hand on the table and the other, on her waist. In an instant, she entered into what felt like a defensive posture, ready to strike down any dissenters.

No doubt, this was what it feels like to be Concubine Zuo Qiuxiang.

Someone who had been secretly trained since childhood to possess formidable hand-to-hand combat skills, ruthlessness, and an unwavering loyalty.

Cheng Zhou felt his heart being crushed at the thought of losing an actress so spiritually-connected to her character. If she were to leave the set, he would undoubtedly carry this heavy feeling of regret with him to the grave. However, he was left with no choice.

"Xiao Yun."

Xiao Yun looked up. Seeing the director standing there, she shot up from her bench. "Director Cheng."

Cheng Zhou nodded. He mulled over how to break the news to Xiao Yun. After all, it was him that had personally hired her to join his crew.

So many girls had come auditioning for the role of the second female lead but his eyes caught onto Xiao Yun in an instant. Although her acting skills were less developed than first-rate actors, given enough time, Cheng Zhou believed, she would definitely make it as a star one day.

But before that day arrived, Cheng Zhou had no choice but to let her go.

Cheng Zhou struggled to produce words from his mouth. "Y-You should’ve h-heard about it by now right?"

Cheng Zhou had never fired someone halfway through the filming process in his career as a director. However, the one he wanted to fire most right now was Jin Sitian, not Xiao Yun with whom he was extremely satisfied.

Xiao Yun froze up momentarily. Seconds later, she regained her senses. Although there weren’t any signs of emotion on her face, it was apparent to Cheng Zhou that she didn’t mind be-->>

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