Rong Dai stood on the stage, silently taking two deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down.
"Can you please give me a little time?" She looked towards the director. She needed some time to adapt, and also some time to recall that heartbreak that she had sealed away in her heart.
Lu Dao had a reputation in the industry for being extremely demanding, but the actors who emerged from under his tutelage were all wildly popular. Actors could only wait for the opportunity to work with him, and no one had ever dared ask him for time like this before.
The assistant stood to the side, wanting to remind her several times, but also afraid of Lu Dao's impatience and gloom.
"This scene requires very strong inner emotions. I need some time to get into character. Also, I'd like to ask everyone here to stay quiet. If possible, please turn off all this equipment too, thank you."
If this had been any other day, Lu Ye would absolutely not have agreed to an actor's request like this.
As an actor, you should be able to get into character at any time and place. This was an actor's most basic skill.
But for some reason today, when he saw Rong Dai's eyes like the stars in the sky, he nodded and agreed.
The assistant was overjoyed inside. He hurriedly called for the crew to turn off all the lights and equipment in the audition room.
The audition room became so quiet that you could only hear everyone's heartbeats and breathing. The crew left only one light on Rong Dai.
Standing under the pale bright light, Rong Dai placed a hand on her chest, softly exhaling. The events of her past life became clearer and clearer in her mind.
When she first met him as a youth, it was love at first sight. Her young heart silently promised itself to him.
Even just standing quietly in a crowd, that refined and gentle young man would make her notice him with just one glance.
Despite her parents' and clan's opposition, she insisted on marrying him, silently vowing to herself to be a good wife to him for life.
She succeeded.
She was the precious daughter of a prestigious clan with generations of glorious service to the throne, deeply favored by the Emperor.
Just as she wished, she became his Imperial Consort. He said he wanted to stand in that position in order to protect everything of theirs.
She believed him. Disregarding the opposition of her father and brothers, she threatened them unto death, forcing them to assist him.
Her eldest brother, in order to save him on the battlefield, so that his younger sister could enjoy a lifetime of comfort and prestige, took a blade for him, becoming disabled for life.
Her second brother lead troops into battle to help him quell a rebellion. The borders were stabilized, but her second brother returned lying silently in a coffin, his body pierced by thirty-six swords, each one fatal!
Her elder sister, so that she could securely hold the position of Imperial Consort, could only sever ties and break off her engagement with her childhood sweetheart, marrying off to a distant feudal lord to help secure his territory.
Later, that territory eventually rebelled. Her elder sister suffered utter humiliation and died. The child in her belly only had one month left before birth. She could have had a cute little nephew.
She thought that he would appreciate everything her clan had sacrificed for him. She never expected that all they would get in return was banishment of the entire clan, forbidden to return to the capital for generations!
On his deathbed, her eldest brother sent her a single message - expelling her from the clan registry! She was no longer of the Rong family!
She was devastated with grief and indignation. She tore away her composure and propriety that she had always maintained before him. Yet she never expected to hear the true thoughts in his heart when he married her!
It turned out to be for exploitation! For power!
She was just a pawn in his hands. The only woman he ever truly loved was the Imperial Noble Consort. Before marrying her, the two already had a secret affair, and had a pair of children!
As for her, after spontaneously miscarrying once, she had difficulty conceiving again.
Facing her questioning, that gentleman once as refined as a deity spoke coldly, looking upon her with disgust, as if seeing the humiliation he once suffered as a prince!
Her very existence was a constant reminder that everything he possessed was given by a woman!
She had offered her sincere devotion, only to get family ruin and death in return!
He didn't kill her, yet other than hatred and fury, she could do nothing!
Hatred and indignation roiled inside Rong Dai. A towering resentment and rage churned from her heart!
She was unwilling, she was unresigned, she hated, she raged!
In a flash, she opened her eyes. They were rimmed red, and her entire body radiated an aura of full strength!
Having spent many years as an Imperial Consort, she had long ago cultivated that free-flowing imperial aura!
Her eyes held interwoven hatred and fury, grief and indignation unto despair. Intense emotions were interlaced, as if wanting to destroy everything under heaven!
A deranged yet tragic smile slowly crept up her exquisite face. Yet that smile too was interwoven with hate and rage. Her phoenix eyes stared fixedly ahead, as if someone really stood before her.
She didn't speak, only walked forward one step at a time, her gaze never leaving that spot.
Her smile was deranged, self-deprecating, tragic, enraged!
Her eyes were vicious, insane!
"I offered my sincere devotion with both hands, only to find that I was a pawn deftly arranged long ago by you, Your Majesty. How wonderful, perfectly wonderful!"
When she spoke, her words were extremely cold, full of mockery and indignation.
"Your Majesty spared my life, so I shall not die! I will wait to watch how Your Majesty's state and family will be ruined! Without my Rong clan's assistance, you are nothing but a destitute prince born of a lowly palace maid, unfit to stand on that throne!"
She hated herself for being blind, for not listening to her father and brothers, leading her Rong clan to this fate!
She hated this man even more for his heartlessness and ruthlessness, for his viciousness! Toying with her in his palm!
"As long as Rong Dai still draws breath for one more day, I will pray for you every day Your Majesty, to walk steadily, do not stumble and fall into an abyss of ten thousand feet, never to rise again for eternity! There is no need for Your Majesty to worry, I will voluntarily enter the Cold Palace."
In an instant, all emotion seemed to freeze over her face, like a lake sealed in ice, chillingly stark!
Her gaze suddenly shifted to another direction. Her hands were still clasped before her, still elegant and dignified. Her eyes revealed ridicule, her mouth hooking into a cold mocking smile:
"Even if I, Rong Dai, enter the Cold Palace, you can never sit on that throne. A concubine is forever just a concubine, always an unpresentable thing."
She smiled coldly. That coldness made people feel a chill down their spine, hair standing on end!
Her gaze turned again towards the "Emperor", her words utterly icy: "The position of Imperial Noble Consort suits you well, Your Majesty. I will just stand by and see what virtues and abilities Your Majesty possesses to manage this empire."
