Chapter 23: The Destruction Of A Nation

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

“Mommy!”

When he heard that his mommy had called, Xiao Bao’s bright eyes widened and sparkled like the sun on a summer day. He crawled out of the blanket and reached out to receive the phone.

“Go back in the blankets, don’t catch a cold.”

With that, Jun Shiling tucked Xiao Bao under the blanket, leaving only his furry head and one small hand outside. Upon seeing the soft and cuddly dumpling, Xia Wanyuan smiled.

Soon after, Xiao Bao happily shared with Xia Wanyuan the fresh news in the kindergarten today, completely forgetting about his father’s existence. Having been forgotten so quickly, Jun Shiling glanced at his son and went to wash up in the bathroom.

Half an hour later, when Jun Shiling came out of the bathroom, the room was already quiet.

Jun Shiling switched the lights in the room to sleep mode. He took the phone from Xiao Bao’s hand and stuffed his hand under the blanket.

When he flipped open his cell phone, he saw that the video call had already ended. Looking at the bright smiling face beside the sunflower in the profile picture, Jun Shiling felt strangely empty.

Subconsciously, he clicked into her profile picture and clicked on her profile feed. She had deleted all her posts from a month ago, as if she wanted to end things with the past.

There were only two posts in her empty WeChat feed. One of them was a photo of a sausage, egg waffle, and milk tea. The caption in the post was ‘New Experience’.

The most recent post was actually a photo of the alley that was illuminated by the sunlight, taken the last time they visited Grandpa.

When he saw the alley, Jun Shiling suddenly thought of the calligraphy piece. Getting up, he took the box out and looked down at the calligraphy piece before placing it on the bedside table.

The next day, when they were about to leave, Jun Shiling instructed Uncle Wang to frame it up.

…

The cast and crew usually liked surfing the internet in their free time, so they all saw the hot searches online.

Many people who did not have any conflicts of interest with Xia Wanyuan felt it was incredibly unfair for her when they saw the criticism online. Her performance yesterday was indeed not bad. Saying that her gaze was dull was too much of a false accusation.

But Xia Wanyuan herself did not feel anything. There were so many opinions online, as long as she did not mind, what harm could they cause? The current Xia Wanyuan had the worst business resources. In any case, since she had already hit rock bottom, it could not fall any further.

The first scene to be filmed was Xia Wanyuan’s. The country that the Heavenly Spirit Princess lived in was being destroyed, and she was forced to leave the Imperial Palace and infiltrate the commoners and wait for an opportunity to avenge her parents.

The innocent and kind little princess that Xia Wanyuan had portrayed yesterday was indeed not bad, but since Xia Wanyuan herself was used to living like a princess, it was not difficult to show the innocence and naivety in her eyes.

However, the dynasty in which the Heavenly Spirit Princess lived had collapsed in a single night, and both her parents died in battle while protecting their country. It was no surprise that Director Yang was a little worried about her acting skills for such a huge emotional scene, but he had no choice but to put a square peg into a round hole.

At this moment, Xia Wanyuan had also changed her clothes. Dressed in a bright red satin palace gown, the feet of the gown was adorned with small glass pearls as it fell to the ground. The red gown was embroidered with large golden-red peonies, with fine silver threads that drew out an exquisite outline, making her look glorious and noble. This scene was a farewell scene in the palace hall, so the Heavenly Spirit Princess had to wear the traditional princess gown.

As Xia Wanyuan put on the princess outfit that was so similar to the one she wore in her previous life, her heart was filled with emotions.

Once again, all those present in the production team were impressed by Xia Wanyuan’s appearance.

“Xiao Liu, this dress is not bad. Your ability to pick clothes has improved recently.” Director Yang nodded at the stylist in approval.

The stylist laughed on the surface, but in reality, she was cursing in her heart. ‘In the previous drama, you called me gaudy when I used this outfit!’

“Alright, everyone. Get ready. Action!”

Director Yang gave the order and the various departments leaped into action.

Inside the dark palace, the Heavenly Spirit Princess was sitting on a chair while her maids were helping style her for the day. At this moment, the little princess was still the treasure that her father and mother doted on. Her eyes were filled with innocence. It was unknown what she was thinking, but her cheeks turned pink as shyness flashed across her eyes.

Suddenly, the palace doors were pushed open. “Princess! This is bad! The traitor has attacked the city gates! The Empress has sent someone to escort you out of the palace!”

The servant girl’s words broke the peace in the palace and the golden hairpin fell to the ground.

“Close-up! Zoom in!” Director Yang commanded excitedly.

The camera zoomed in. The naive little princess was stunned for a moment. It was as if she was trying to cushion the servant girl’s words in her mind. In an instant, confusion, worry, and shock filled the eyes of the Heavenly Spirit Princess. Ignoring the servant girl’s obstruction, the Heavenly Spirit Princess dashed out and ran towards the main hall.

Chaos filled the palace as people were scrambling about wherever she looked.

Looking at the servants who had scattered around, Xia Wanyuan was reminded of the day her country had been destroyed. That day, the palace had burst into flames that soared into the sky. She had panicked and been at a loss as she watched the people escape.

Those who raised flowers for her, those who played with her, those who served her meals, those who played with her, all of them ignored her and lost themselves in the mad panic of needing to escape.

She was at a loss.

Tears streamed down her face. It felt like she was unconsciously running forward, she could see everything but at the same time, she could do nothing at all.

She was helpless.

When she finally reached the steps in front of the main hall, the little princess raised her head. On the tall steps, she watched as the leader of the rebellion stabbed through her father’s chest with a sword.

Watched as his heart was pierced.

Watched his convulsing body collapse to the ground.

The little princess’s eyes widened as she took large strides forward. However, Lin Xiao, who was behind her, stopped her and covered her mouth. Only her eyes were looking at the bloody scene in front of her. She looked at her parents, and they kept shaking their heads, signaling her not to come out.

Xia Wanyuan thought of the time when the Xia Dynasty was destroyed. She had stood in the distance, looking at the palace full of bones. The towering gate where she had flown her kite, the garden where she had caught dragonflies, and the pond where she had fished, everywhere was filled with the corpses of people she was familiar with.

At that time, she covered her younger siblings’ eyes. Her eyes were filled with tears as watched the tragedy unfold before her eyes in silence.

An almost tangible pain enveloped the Heavenly Spirit Princess. In her tear-filled eyes, the pain of losing her parents, the grief and indignation of losing her country, all turned into flames of hatred that burned with scorching radiance.

Everyone outside the camera was infected by Xia Wanyuan’s emotions. It was as if they had truly been brought to the scene of a fallen country. The overwhelming pain and hatred pressed down on everyone like a mountain.

Qin Wu, who was closest to Xia Wanyuan, felt the intensity of her emotions the most. The woman in his arms who was silently weeping, whose eyes were filled with pain, helplessness, and hatred, caused his heart to ache as well.

Somehow, he had been swept away into Xia Wanyuan’s world of acting.