Ye Xian looked at Lin Yan. He had heard from Jiang Wanze that there had been some issues at home, and he hadn’t been in great shape, but meeting him today, Lin Yan seemed just like usual—nothing appeared amiss.
Lin Yan: "I’ve already gone through the script several times. If my performance isn’t satisfactory, I hope the director and you will guide me."
"Ha ha, don’t worry~"
Gu Tianlin, Xia Qingshao, and Shen Jinyou set out together on the journey to find the Carefree Flower. Their first stop was the summit of the world’s steepest cliff—Zhuling Peak.
Both Gu Tianlin and Shen Jinyou found the Carefree Flower on the cliffside. Eager to win over Xia Qingshao’s heart, they raced each other up the precipice, hoping to pluck the flower. However, they hadn’t expected that the danger of the Carefree Flower didn’t just lie in its perilous environment—it also had a guardian spirit that had achieved sentience: Bai Meng.
Bai Meng was the role played by Lin Yan. He was a white crane that had cultivated into a spirit over ten thousand years—the guardian spirit of the Carefree Flower. Whenever someone tried to approach and pick the flower, he would cast a dream that plunged the would-be thief into a nightmare, tormenting them until they could no longer bear it and left the cliffside.
Thankfully, both Gu Tianlin and Shen Jinyou had superb martial ability and were able to narrowly escape the dream with their concentrated mental fortitude.
With Bai Meng’s interference, none of them could pick the Carefree Flower, and they found themselves in a predicament.
Shen Jinyou, intelligent and quick-witted, speculated that there might be a mystery hidden in the name Bai Meng, and so he secretly climbed again to the cliff at night. Sure enough, he saw that the white crane from the day had taken human form.
A beautiful young man standing alone in the night, dressed in light blue clothes with black boots, holding a simple flute and playing a solo.
Shen Jinyou played to his interests and, on the following night, brought a zither to perform a duet with him.
Bai Meng had guarded the Carefree Flower on Zhuling Peak for ten thousand years, his only company through the endless loneliness being a bamboo flute. Now, with a kindred spirit before him, he was deeply moved but still urged Shen Jinyou to go back.
Shen Jinyou asked how he could pick the Carefree Flower. Bai Meng replied that the flower chose its master, and only those with the purest of hearts, seeking the flower not for themselves but for the one they loved, would automatically break out of the dream, allowing the Carefree Flower to be willingly plucked.
Shen Jinyou was overjoyed upon hearing this. He thanked Bai Meng and returned to the inn.
The next day, both Gu Tianlin and Shen Jinyou tried again to pick the Carefree Flower on Zhuling Peak. Gu Tianlin came to Hengshan Sect with ulterior motives and was calculating in his intentions towards Xia Qingshao, not moved by genuine feeling, thus naturally he couldn’t pick the flower. Shen Jinyou, however, had only Xia Qingshao in his heart and after half an hour of nightmarish torment, the Carefree Flower miraculously fell and recognized its master.
But at the same time, the dream also triggered the deepest memories in Shen Jinyou’s mind, and he saw the extremely beautiful face of a woman, yet he didn’t know that this was his mother, Concubine Shen Jialin.
This was Lin Yan’s first acting experience, but the process went surprisingly smoothly.
"Cut! Very good!" Zeng Minghui yelled cut joyfully. "Lin Yan, did you secretly hire a coach? You’ve performed brilliantly!"
"I did do some preparation, but I didn’t expect it to go this smoothly. A lot of it is thanks to Ye Xian."
"What does that have to do with me? It’s your own talent."
Once off stage, Ye Xian felt completely drained, having woken up too early in the morning. She needed to go back to her dressing room and catch up on some sleep.
"It’s because you brought me into character," said Lin Yan as he beckoned his assistant over and whispered a few instructions. "Ye Xian, I’ve ordered some afternoon tea, so come to my dressing room later, and let’s have it together."
Having said that, Lin Yan turned back to his dressing room to change out of his costume. Luo Yuwei had just changed and was leaving her dressing room when she ran into Lin Yan.