Some of the actors who had been iced successfully won the sympathy and the support of the netizens with their tragic stories. They now stood a good chance of staging a comeback.
Xiao Rongrong, on the other hand, was now famous for all the wrong reasons. She ran the risk of having passersby throw rotten eggs at her if she walked on the streets; there were too many women out there who sympathized with the Tigress because they, too, had had their families wrecked by their husbands’ extramarital affairs.
Palace Imperial Concubine, the show with Xiao Rongrong as the female lead, had also became famous overnight. Everyone was already talking about it, even before the show went on air, but it was still too early to tell whether all the attention generated by Xiao Rongrong’s scandal would work in the show’s favor, or sink it.
On the internet, many keyboard warriors were now actively denouncing Xiao Rongrong. They called for a boycott of her previous work and sent requests to the online streaming platforms to remove her previous shows and movies from their catalogue.
Xiao Rongrong’s reputation had taken a nosedive; there was nothing positive or wholesome about her image now. The companies that had hired her for celebrity endorsement deals and TV ads now ended their contracts with her and demanded that she compensate them for the damage done to their brand image.
It would take a miracle to save Xiao Rongrong’s career now.
Director Zheng was caught between a rock and a hard place: his palace drama TV show was already more than halfway into principal photography, which meant it was no longer possible to recast the female lead. But it was also impossible to keep Xiao Rongrong on the project; Director Zheng had initially thought of having Xiao Rongrong finish her remaining scenes, but he had quickly abandoned that idea when he saw that he had grossly overestimated her mental fortitude. She was not only physically injured, but also mentally broken from the public humiliation; there was no way she would be able to act in her current state.
In the end, Director Zheng had to get his screenwriter to change the story and try to rearrange Concubine Mi’s scenes during post-production editing. Concubine Mi was killed off early in the story, and Concubine Chen, the secondary female lead who had about the same amount of screentime as Concubine Mi, took over as the female lead. Director Zheng had been afraid that the story would turn into an incomprehensible mess, but he soon realized that the change actually added more drama and twists to the plot. The story was much more exciting now.
The Empress won in the end. Concubine Chen, the secondary female lead, was the Empress’s accomplice.
The shoot progressed a lot faster now that Xiao Rongrong had been removed from the show. Everything went smoothly, and it was no longer necessary to have to work overtime every day because of Xiao Rongrong’s mistakes. Everyone on the set had been angry and upset at Xiao Rongrong, but they gradually cheered up when they saw how much progress they were making now.
The remaining scenes were shot quickly and efficiently. Everything seemed to fall into place naturally.
In the final shot of the last scene, the Empress sat in her chair as usual, with Granny Flower standing behind her, massaging her shoulders. The Empress picked up her tea cup from the table next to her and lifted it to her lips; before she drank from it, however, her lips suddenly curved into an enigmatic, knowing smile.
Concubine Chen looked at the Empress—and smiled in the exact same manner.
That was the final scene for the show. Most of the actors were allowed to go home now that production had more or less wrapped up, but Yan Huan had to stay behind to shoot a few additional scenes to make Xiao Rongrong’s abrupt departure from the show seem less jarring.
Yan Huan did not mind. The thought of being able to go home soon cheered her up. She could not wait to get back; she missed Little Bean, and also…
No, she thought, stop right there. She shook her head and reprimanded herself for her overactive imagination. She was not supposed to miss that man.
She realized then that she had left Sea City for almost five months now. The past five months had been cold and exhausting, and the recent mess with Xiao Rongrong had taken a toll on her nerves.
It was always almost dark by the time they arrived at their hotel. Yan Huan was so tired she did not feel like doing anything; she went to bed as soon as she showered. But a few minutes after she drifted off to sleep, she was awakened by the TV in the living room.