Is This How the Entertainment Industry Works? (GL) - Chapter 44

“How could this possibly be your pendant? I’ve never seen you wear it.”

Yan Zhen said, “But it is mine!” Fearing Zhao Baoshang wouldn’t believe her, she added quickly, “Even though this pendant looks ordinary, I modified it before. It has an anti-counterfeit mark I made.”

“What anti-counterfeit mark?” Zhao Baoshang asked.

“A little blue dragon. Wait, I’ll show you.” As Yan Zhen spoke, she found a lighter nearby. After clicking it on, she held the flame underneath the pendant.

Zhao Baoshang’s expression remained unchanged.

After a moment, the pendant turned from white to a translucent pink, and the center of the jade seemed to shimmer like flowing water. A wisp of smoke drifted out from the top of the pendant, swirling and coalescing in mid-air until it formed the shape of a coiled dragon.

The white smoke somehow began to shift in color. From a distance, the dragon scales took on a faint hue—the top of the little dragon was slightly yellow, the belly a pale blue, and the tail became transparent.

Yan Zhen stared at the little dragon, slightly dazed. This was once the Divine Dragon worshipped by the people of Great Feng, hung above the city gates. One only had to look up to see its fierce, bared-claws majesty. But now, if she wanted to see it again, she could only rely on the pendant.

Feeling a twinge of nostalgia, Yan Zhen heard Zhao Baoshang ask something. She clicked off the lighter and said, “See? I wasn’t lying.”

Zhao Baoshang’s face gradually turned icy. She had been completely unaware that the jade pendant could project a divine dragon. Xu Fengmei certainly didn’t know either, otherwise, that woman wouldn’t have kept it hidden without showing it off.

The only person who knew this secret was Yan Zhen. Her “little fan.”

Perhaps the little fan is the true owner of this pendant!

The realization sent waves through Zhao Baoshang’s heart. If the true owner was Yan Zhen, then why was the pendant around Xu Fengmei’s neck a year ago?

—Or rather, was the person who saved her back then not Xu Fengmei at all?

The more Zhao Baoshang thought, the more her head ached. A dark premonition rose within her. She had been so good to Xu Fengmei, yet what she had done for her “little fan” didn’t even amount to a tenth of what she’d done for Xu Fengmei.

Zhao Baoshang didn’t want to believe it. She took a deep breath to steady her emotions, but she couldn’t suppress the deepening suspicion. She didn’t want to keep guessing. Today, she had to get to the bottom of this.

Zhao Baoshang was visibly nervous, her voice trembling unnaturally. “You… tell me, what does the ‘Mei’ on this pendant mean?”

She stared fixedly at Yan Zhen, as if the moment Yan Zhen spoke another word, she would pounce.

Yan Zhen, however, didn’t notice Zhao Baoshang’s intense state. With a nostalgic look, she said in her usual voice, “That is my old friend’s title. Her title was Xunmei (Searching for Plum). Everyone—”

Everyone called her the Xunmei Princess.

The Xunmei Princess was the Eldest Princess. She should have had boundless honor, but because she refused to marry, the old Emperor eventually bestowed this plain, unremarkable title upon her.

Yan Zhen stopped halfway and shook her head sadly. “It’s all old news. This pendant was originally a charm on a fan, with a tassel underneath. I removed the tassel just so it would be easier to wear around my neck.”

“Then you… a year ago, did you save anyone?”

“Save someone?” Yan Zhen laughed. “I was in the mountains back then. How would I have time to save anyone? If I had to say I saved someone, it seems—”

As she spoke, her smile faded. Vague memories surfaced in her mind. She remembered waking up in March, opening her eyes to see the worried face of Mother Yan. Mother Yan, concerned about her health, had stewed an old hen and told her how dangerous her recent accident had been.

Because she had just transmigrated and her soul was damaged, Yan Zhen’s mind had been a bit foggy. She drank a large bowl of chicken soup, and after that… she couldn’t quite remember what she did. She had spent a long period in a daze.

Later, she slowly recalled things from the past, but those events were so distant they felt like a dream, making it hard to distinguish truth from fiction. Therefore, she had never pursued them, merely trying to live her current life.

Until now, seeing this jade pendant.

Yan Zhen finally realized that the things she encountered back then weren’t a dream. They were real.

As it turned out, she had met Zhao Baoshang as early as a year ago. In that rainforest filled with gunfire, she had mistaken Zhao Baoshang for the Eldest Princess. She had dragged her into a cave to care for her, hummed tunes to her, comforted her, and told her about the current state of the commoners.

She remembered thinking it strange back then: why was the “Princess” so resistant to hearing these things? If Yan Zhen said too much, the “Princess” would huffily pinch or kick her.

And now she realized—that wasn’t the real Princess, it was Zhao Baoshang!

Everything clicked for Yan Zhen. More memories flooded in. The scene of her death shifted from black and white to color. The broken memories connected into a complete line.

The scene after her death unfolded before her. After being pushed off the city wall, she was somehow carried away by a maid and brought back to the Tianji Pavilion. Located in a deep mountain canyon, the pavilion had been sealed for a long time, but it housed a treasure rumored to have the power to bring the dead back to life. The disciples placed her on a high altar and used the treasure to refine her body.

Afterward, her soul bound to her body and transmigrated. However, the body was too broken, and the landing site was too dangerous. After protecting Zhao Baoshang for ten days, her physical form could no longer hold up. To save itself, her soul left that body and possessed a girl who had recently died.

That girl was the original owner of Yan Zhen’s current body.

Yan Zhen understood it all now and wanted to tell Zhao Baoshang. But Zhao Baoshang was already tense, her face contorted. With a powerful aura, she gripped Yan Zhen’s hand tighter and tighter, her eyes turning red.

Yan Zhen instinctively tried to pull her hand away. This movement triggered something in Zhao Baoshang. She pulled Yan Zhen into a crushing embrace, as if trying to melt her into her own bones.

“Don’t you dare run,” her voice was hoarse, as if using every ounce of her strength.

Yan Zhen was a bit frightened by this version of Zhao Baoshang. She reached out and gently patted Zhao Baoshang’s back. “I’m not running. Let go of me.”

“Liar!” Zhao Baoshang cried, tears suddenly gushing out. “You said that back then too, but you just left!”

“I—” Yan Zhen couldn’t quite remember when she had said that.

“You clearly said you’d stay by my side for a lifetime, but you didn’t do it at all!” Zhao Baoshang bit Yan Zhen’s shoulder.

She didn’t dare let go. A year’s worth of suppressed emotion collapsed in this moment. She bit down hard, as if by holding onto her with her teeth, this person would stay hers forever. This was the meat between her teeth; no one would take it.

There were so many things she wanted to ask. She wanted to ask Yan Zhen why she hadn’t told her sooner, why she hadn’t come looking for her, and why she had watched her mistake someone else and stay with Xu Fengmei for so long.

Zhao Baoshang’s tears of grievance fell even faster. She hated her little fan—this person had bewitched her heart and then vanished, only to return and make her head spin again, all while likely still thinking of escaping.

No. Absolutely not!

She could no longer endure the pain of not seeing Yan Zhen, nor the stupidity of her own mistake. So many people had pointed at Xu Fengmei and told her, “This is the person who saved you,” but Zhao Baoshang actually knew. She knew deep down it wasn’t Xu Fengmei.

The person who truly saved her had a pure heart and spoke in a soft, mellow way. If Xu Fengmei’s voice hadn’t happened to sound somewhat similar, Zhao Baoshang would never have accepted it.

But she felt she had to accept it. If it wasn’t Xu Fengmei, where did the person who truly saved her go?

Zhao Baoshang had clung to a humble hope, praying that the person she spent those days in the cave with was Xu Fengmei—a healthy Xu Fengmei whom she could pamper to no end. She didn’t want to believe it was a stranger who had vanished and was suffering somewhere unknown.

But that was just self-deception. Now she knew that, in reality, that person really had been suffering somewhere far away from her.

Zhao Baoshang thought of the first time she saw Yan Zhen again—her dusty, disheveled appearance and the dirty bed and floor in that poor mountain gully. She was heartbroken and pained, weeping suppressedly until she started to hiccup. Finally, she released the shoulder she was biting.

Yan Zhen’s gentle voice sounded in her ear again: “Don’t cry. Drink some hot water.”

Zhao Baoshang was on the verge of collapse. “Why on earth didn’t you tell me sooner!”

“I only just remembered.” Yan Zhen stroked the back of Zhao Baoshang’s neck. “If I had remembered earlier, I definitely would have told you. I wouldn’t have waited this long.”

“You… hic… you must be lying.”

“No. And I told you, I will never lie to you again.”

But Zhao Baoshang didn’t believe it. She had believed this person before, only to let her slip away for an entire year. This time, she would never let go.

Yan Zhen gave her a gentle push. Zhao Baoshang finally released her. She kept her mouth shut tight, trying to look fierce as she glared at Yan Zhen, though her face was wet with tears and her lashes were clumped together. It looked a bit comical.

Yan Zhen wiped her tears. As she did, she couldn’t understand why Zhao Baoshang was so obsessed with what happened a year ago. To her, she had merely cared for Zhao Baoshang for a while; it didn’t seem worth remembering for so long. At the time, she didn’t even know it was Zhao Baoshang; she was just treating her like the Eldest Princess.

But to Zhao Baoshang, it carried immense weight. She still remembered being at the border, hunted to a dead end. She had jumped into a tropical jungle with multiple gunshot wounds. With her wounds festering and her body paralyzed by insect bites, she lay on the ground. Though her vision was dim, she could see a leaf in front of her with a drop of dew on it, yet she couldn’t drink it. She had never been so despairing.

Just as she was ready to give up, someone picked up that leaf and put it to her lips. Then, that person carried her into a cool little cave and found wild fruit and water for her. Zhao Baoshang finally pulled through.

Her body slowly recovered. Though her vision was still dark and hazy, she could hear clearly and move her limbs slightly. Through the sound of rustling leaves, she heard her savior speak.

“Xunmei Princess, I didn’t expect us to meet after death. Where is this? Why are you dressed so… immodestly? This official finds it quite unseemly.”

Zhao Baoshang nearly coughed up blood. Immodest? She was wearing a perfectly normal black dress with a vest. Even if it was a bit torn, it was only in small places.

The person said again, “The fabric of these clothes is so strange. It feels like pigskin, yet much thicker. But if it’s thick, why is it cut so short? Truly strange.”

Zhao Baoshang couldn’t understand a word, she only felt her head was about to explode. The person continued, “It’s a coincidence indeed. They say there are eighteen levels of hell, each with seventy-two rooms. To share a space is truly fate.”

Zhao Baoshang’s expression was dark. She couldn’t speak to refute it, but she vowed that once she was better, she would seal this person’s mouth so she could never speak again. Hell? Is she cursing me to be dead?

The person seemed to notice her expression. “Princess, do not be unhappy. Though it is hell, meeting an acquaintance is always a good thing.”

Zhao Baoshang was so angry her vision grew even darker.

The person continued, “But speaking of which, why are your injuries so severe? It seems life in hell isn’t easy either. It would be better to return to that war-torn Feng City; at least there I could protect you.” As she spoke, she rubbed some water on Zhao Baoshang’s lips.

The fresh water moistened her lips, making Zhao Baoshang a bit more lucid. She turned her head and could only see a white shape swaying before her.

“The city walls of Great Feng are almost smashed through. I sat up there and watched for half a month. The soldiers have abandoned the city and fled, saying it can’t be held.” The person chattered on. “But the commoners are still there. Do you know? They are all calling your name, saying your death was a great injustice.”

A tear fell onto Zhao Baoshang’s face, hurting slightly. Zhao Baoshang closed her eyes. She didn’t know who this person was mistaking her for. But in that instant, she envied the person being mistaken—how lucky that person was, to be constantly remembered and loved.

After a few more words, the person stood up. Zhao Baoshang frowned at the movement, thinking the person was abandoning her. If she could speak, she would offer a fortune to convince her to stay. But she couldn’t. She could only try to make some noise.

The person heard, turned back, and rushed over. “Princess, your wounds are festering badly. If we don’t find herbs, they will leave scars. Wait just a moment; I’m going out to seek medicinal plants.”

It was just for medicine. Zhao Baoshang breathed a sigh of relief and saved her strength.

By evening, the person returned. Zhao Baoshang was fed herbs, and her legs were covered in poultices. A refreshing coolness swept up from her legs; she felt much more comfortable. At least her body wasn’t burning hot, and her lips weren’t cracked with dryness.

Though she didn’t know who this was, she knew this was her life-saver. Once she was recovered and back with the Zhao family, she would repay her properly—as long as this person stopped being so noisy.

It was likely dark outside. Insects increased, and the air grew stifling. The wounds on her legs and back were itchy. Zhao Baoshang tried to move and accidentally made a sound.

The person rushed over, her voice full of conviction: “The Princess must need to relieve herself. I have surveyed the area and found a good spot. I shall take the Princess there now.”

Zhao Baoshang immediately kicked the person.

Thud.

Finally, it was quiet.