Chapter 550: Fake play

In the end, the director still explained the script to Jiang Li, telling him that an emperor wouldn’t have such great strength, and that the story aimed to teach the princes that unity is power.

“Speaking of which, your strength is truly impressive. You look thin and weak, yet I never imagined you could snap fifty chopsticks.”

“I’ve practiced for several years. I’m quite confident in my own strength.” Jiang Li patted his chest.

Eventually, the second scene was completed according to the director’s script.

“Third scene: The emperor holds court and orders the male lead to investigate the drought situation in the southern regions, as well as the allocation of court funds.”

“Who is the male lead?” Jiang Li asked Wen Qing’er, turning sideways.

“It’s Zhao Minghan, a professional singer. This is his first television drama as he wants to transition into acting. However, he’s currently on a nationwide tour, which conflicts with the filming schedule. He just happened to be touring here, so he came to shoot.”

“Zhao Minghan’s idea is to film the scenes without him first, and he’ll come film his parts after his nationwide tour ends.”

“Will the director agree to that?”

“He’s providing full funding.”

“Where is Zhao Minghan?” The director was extremely satisfied with Jiang Li’s acting skills, only remembering that Jiang Li wasn’t the lead when it was time for the male lead to appear.

A black car sped over, screeched to an emergency stop at the entrance, and a handsome male star got out, rushing over in a hurry.

“I was recognized by fans on the road, and they blocked my car.” Zhao Minghan casually explained, not thinking his lateness was any fault of his. The makeup artist tried to apply his makeup but was stopped by his bodyguard.

“Sorry, I have my own professional makeup artist.” Zhao Minghan had the makeup artist he brought with him do his makeup.

“Then where is he?”

“In the car behind mine, he’ll arrive in two minutes.”

The director couldn’t do much about Zhao Minghan’s attitude either. What could he say to the investor?

Fortunately, Zhao Minghan wasn’t just wealthy—he also had acting skills. He knelt in the hall, kowtowing to thank the emperor for entrusting him with such an important task, perfectly portraying the trembling fear one would feel when meeting the emperor.

The transformation from tension to relaxation as he walked out of the main hall, having received such an important assignment, was so realistically portrayed it made people marvel in admiration.

“Zhao Minghan’s acting has improved!” The director was surprised; the reaction was too authentic, as if it were real.

The assistant director looked at the smiling emperor who seemed to have everything under control, then glanced at Zhao Minghan whose legs were still trembling, and quietly reminded, “Is it possible this isn’t acting?”

The third scene concluded smoothly.

“Fourth scene: The emperor is assassinated, falls unconscious, causing the court to fall into chaos, and Zhao Minghan loses support during his southern journey.”

“You want to unify the Central Plains and become its ruler. The surrounding small kingdoms see you as their greatest threat. The assassin is sent by a rival state, attempting to assassinate you under the pretense of presenting a map. When the map is fully unrolled, a dagger is revealed. The guards won’t make it in time to save you. You run around the pillar but the assassin still succeeds, though not completely—you only fall unconscious for a period.”

“This is a blood pack. When the assassin stabs you, the blood pack will burst. You clutch your chest, stagger a few steps, then collapse to the ground.”

“I’ve got it.”

…

The assassin pretended to be an envoy, presenting a map to Jiang Li. The court officials were pleased, seeing this as evidence of their nation’s powerful strength.

“Your Majesty, please look. This is our country’s map, with detailed depictions of city defenses here.” The assassin gave a fake introduction.

As the map was fully unrolled, a poisoned dagger was revealed.

The assassin suddenly grabbed the dagger, seized Jiang Li’s sleeve, and stabbed toward Jiang Li.

Jiang Li was greatly alarmed, struggling to rise as the dagger thrust down, only managing to tear his sleeve off.

Jiang Li wanted to draw his sword, but it was stuck fast in the scabbard and wouldn’t come out.

“Tyrant, die!”

The assassin had come with the determination to perish together with his target. When his first strike failed, he continued stabbing at Jiang Li.

The court fell into chaos. Jiang Li ran around the pillar with the assassin in hot pursuit.

Jiang Li ran so fast that he ended up behind the assassin, and even kindly tapped the assassin on the shoulder.

The assassin immediately stabbed backward with his dagger, but discovered his opponent’s body was like an iron wall—the dagger simply couldn’t penetrate.

This dagger was the real deal, coated with a deadly poison that could kill instantly upon contact with blood!

The assassin intended to turn the fake performance into real action and kill the emperor.

There were many ways to kill someone, but his favorite was doing it in front of a large audience where everyone thought it was acting, while he was actually committing murder.

Jiang Li spat blood, leaned close to the assassin’s ear, and whispered, “A refined dagger? Growing stronger through killing—you’re a demonic path cultivator?”

Jiang Li had agreed to act mostly because he found it amusing, but also partly because he had recognized that the actor playing the assassin genuinely wanted to kill someone.

He was both acting and preventing the assassin from killing, feeling it was quite taxing work.

So taxing that he couldn’t keep his mouth closed from smiling.

The assassin grew frightened. This dagger was a Spiritual Treasure—it could not only kill people but even slice through an elephant’s head. Yet his proud dagger couldn’t even pierce the other’s skin.

The assassin quickly fled the scene. Jiang Li followed the script, collapsing to the ground unconscious. A group of Imperial Physicians rushed over to treat Jiang Li.

Meanwhile, under Radiant Enlightenment Daoist’s direction, Wen Quan tracked the assassin.

…

“Your acting is truly excellent! It’s a shame the script is already fixed—we can’t arrange more scenes for you. If you appeared too frequently, you would overshadow the main character and steal all the male lead’s spotlight.”

“If not for that, I would definitely give you several more scenes.”

“So, are you still interested in acting? I don’t have any emperor roles coming up soon, but I know several people who need actors who can play emperors well. Would you like to try?”

The director acted as if he had discovered a treasure, wanting Jiang Li to showcase his talent in the acting world.

“No, acting is just a hobby. I have work to do.”

“What do you do?”

“Human Sovereign.”

“Huh?”

…

The assassin ran until he was gasping for breath. He had infiltrated the film crew intending to kill someone and then make a clean escape, never expecting to encounter such a tough opponent.

After managing to escape, he still had the damn emperor’s companion relentlessly pursuing him.

Such terrible luck.

“You really think I’m afraid of you!” The assassin flew into a rage, turning and stabbing backward with his dagger.

“Matrix Shattering Fist!”

Wen Quan punched the other’s wrist, sending the dagger flying.

“…Alright, I am indeed afraid of you.”

The terrified assassin continued fleeing.

Just then, a graceful figure appeared in front of the assassin and subdued him directly.

“Someone from the Destruction Alliance! I’ve been following you the whole way and finally caught you!”

A Nascent Soul stage soul appeared behind the assassin, while a Unity stage soul appeared behind the graceful figure.

The Unity stage soul subdued the Nascent Soul stage soul in exactly the same manner that the graceful figure subdued the assassin.

In terms of cultivation, the assassin was inferior to the graceful figure; in terms of hidden cards, he was also outmatched.

“Who are you?” Wen Quan arrived.

“My name is Qin Yi, I’m a member of the Mutual Aid Society. Judging by your appearance, you should also have a soul from Jingyu World inside you, and a righteous path cultivator at that. Our Mutual Aid Society is composed entirely of people like you. What cultivation level is the soul inside you?”

“Tribulation Transcendence Stage.”

“I have a Mahayana Stage soul inside me.” Jiang Li arrived after finishing his scenes.

“…Do you all think I’m stupid?”