Chapter 191 Contrived Plot


    In contrast, Jessica cared a lot about it.


    After all, they were still in the shooting phase and they hadn’t even released any footage. All news was


    being passed out through this interview.


    Because of that, when the media arrived, Jessica got her acting chops on and reverted to her gentle


    fairy image.


    “It’s the most important scene in the show that’sing up next, sis. You have to give it your best.


    Don’t drag everyone behind.”


    Natalia shot her a mild look and casually said, “Worry about yourself.”


    Jessica smiled and said lowly, “With so many reporters here, of course I’ll give it my best. You, though


    – don’t think that you’ve done well enough just because you did well earlier. You can’t seed at


    acting with just hard work; you also need talent. There’s a lot of explosiveness needed for the shooting


    today. If you don’t perform up to par, everyone’s going to see it. If rumors get out, I can’t help you.”


    Natalia looked at her coldly, treating it like a joke.


    Seeing her silence, Jessica thought she’d been affected by her words. She smiled contentedly and


    turned to leave.


    The equipment was in ce, and so were the actors. They were about to shoot.


    This scene was where the female lead, yed by Natalia, finally ascended to the position of Empress


    after many trials and tribtions.


    While the original Empress had her plots exposed and got her just desserts as she lost favor with the


    Emperor, was dethroned as Empress, and locked up.


    The new Empress and the former Empress met up in the pce where she was confined, where the


    new Empress passed her a ss of poisoned wine for her to kill herself with.


    To hurt the new Empress onest time before her death, the former Empress revealed the true


    mastermind behind the deaths of the new Empress’ entire family all those years ago – the reigning


    Emperor himself.


    It was a contrived plot, but admittedly quite a twist, tugging on all the right heartstrings.


    A scene like that was naturally the climax of the whole show.


    Because of that, everyone had made preparations beforehand.


    Last night, Vicente had called Natalia over in the middle of the night because he was afraid she


    wouldn’t be able to give as good a performance, so he wanted to exin things.


    After all, even though she’d performed well before, those were steady, run-of-the-mill scenes, not like


    today, where there needed to be emotional fluctuation.


    The trap hade utterly unexpectedly.


    Vicente was in a depressed mood, which had the whole cast feeling down.


    With everyone ready, they began filming.


    The pce was a dpidated ce, almost in ruins. Weeds grew around the courtyard. A bent willow


    was growing under a corner in the wall. It was spring, but most of its leaves were yellow. No one had


    taken care of it.


    The bricks on the floor were covered with lichen, bing a tripping hazard. The stench of mold


    permeated the ce. Combined with a dank scent, it assaulted the nose.


    Natalia had to wonder how the cast had found a deserted ce like this.


    The yard wasn’t big. It took a few steps to reach the interior. Two handmaidens behind her pushed


    open the door, where a manservant bowed forward, reporting, “Her Majesty the Empress!”


    And yet no one came out to wee her.


    It was dark and gloomy inside the pce. The moment the door opened, what greeted them was dust


    and the moldy scent of moisture.


    Natalia frowned. The handmaidens beside her stood in front of her and fanned the air, trying to lessen


    the stench.


    She raised a hand and stopped them. Then she lifted the hem of her dress and walked inside.


    One could feel the sense of loneliness and failure from outside the pce. The moment she stepped


    foot inside, the feeling grew even more evident.


    There was a coating of thick dust wherever she went. Cobwebs massed over the corners of the pce


    with the dried corpses of mosquitoes stuck to their surface. Tiny critters skittered across the area.


    Decorations were scarce inside. Even the chairs and desk were left crumbled on the ground. One was


    missing a leg, the other a corner. It was hard to tell how many years they’d been left here.


    The moldy stench continued to waft up from the room. In the east corner, a cot had been ced, and


    on ity a person.


    Hearing the footsteps, that person sat up.


    Her sapphire, courtly dress had been dirtied to the point its original color was no longer visible. Her hair


    was a mess. Seeing the neer, her eyes zed with hatred.


    “What are you doing here?”


    Natalia waved her hand,manded her handmaidens to step back, then walked over, smiling.


    “I heard you were sick, your Majesty. I’m here to visit. Are you surprised? Your Majesty?”


    The words “your Majesty” jabbed at Jessica’s heart.


    She’d once been the mighty Empress, the highest woman of the whole empire. Anything she wanted,


    she got. With her brother as a generalmanding armies, even the Emperor would not dare to go


    against her will.


    And the woman before her was only an insignificant little handmaiden, crawling under her foot like a


    cockroach. A bit of force, and she could have crushed her.


    But now this woman had taken her ce as the new Empress.


    And she was here, in this dpidated pce, now an abandoned concubine.


    How pathetic!


    Jessicaughed coldly, endless mncholy in her voice.


    She stoppedughing after a while and red icily at Natalia, sneering, “To the victor go the spoils. I


    have nothing to say. If you’vee to look at the state I’ve been reduced to, then you’ve got what you


    N?velDrama.Org (C) content.


    came for. Now get out!”


    “How dare you take such a tone with her Majesty!”


    Natalia raised a hand, silencing her handmaiden’s bark.


    She looked mildly at the woman before her, stepping forward.


    “Do you think you have anything left to show me at this point?”


    The light moved forward along with Natalia’s footsteps, stopping one step away from Jessica.


    Natalia bent over slightly, grabbing her by the chin.


    There was a smile on her lips but not in her eyes. Composited with the lighting, her eyes shed with a


    frigid gleam.


    Jessica’s head was forced up.


    She clearly couldn’t ept the humiliating position, struggling a few times to no avail.


    The pain on her jaw, though, went bone-deep from the skin, shooting up towards her brain, as if her


    mandible was about to be crushed.


    Slowly, Natalia muttered, “You’re lower than a mongrel in the gutter at this point. What makes you think


    I’d show any interest in such a pitiful creature?”


    Her voice was low and calm. Like a frozenke, it chilled the ear.


    Jessica’s heart trembled.


    An indescribable feeling of fear swept her like a gale.