Going from "Fanservice" to Reality with My Goddess - Chapter 9

It was a strange intuition.

However, since this involved someone else’s private affairs, she simply took note of what she had accidentally seen and didn’t feel it was appropriate to pry.

She didn’t ask Yu Nianzhi about the photo. Instead, she simply waited for the other woman to return and handed the phone back. “The photos turned out great. Send some to me later.”

Yu Nianzhi didn’t notice anything unusual and agreed with a smile.

On this day, Yu Nianzhi was taking a walk alone in the manor gardens.

She had been in South Liao for nearly a month, yet she remained perpetually solitary. In the palace and the manor, anyone with even a modicum of status or position was unwilling to associate with an “outsider” like her—someone who had come through a peace-offering marriage just to seek survival.

Furthermore, they looked down on the people of Dongyuan from the bottom of their hearts and would never show her any kindness. It was considered a mercy if they treated her as invisible; more often than not, they would subject her to overt or subtle sarcasm the moment they saw her. They didn’t take her title of “Crown Princess” seriously at all.

The maidservants around Yu Nianzhi had also long since pegged her as a “decorated pillow”—someone who looked pretty but was utterly useless. In their eyes, she had unfairly claimed the title of Crown Princess, and they felt it was an insult to the Crown Prince.

Initially, these people were somewhat restrained, but they had grown increasingly bold in their disrespect. Seeing that she never complained to the Prince, their audacity grew. When the Prince was present, they acted normal and showed her the utmost respect. However, the moment he left the manor, they would immediately start giving her the cold shoulder.

Yu Nianzhi was well aware of her current predicament. She had no intention of networking with those around her, nor did she care much about the maids’ contempt. She only wanted to be left alone in peace.

After all, she had looked after herself back in Dongyuan. She had simply changed locations to continue living her old life.

The only difference was that every night, another person now lay beside her. She was used to being alone, so the sudden presence of another person was still a bit of an adjustment. Initially, Yu Nianzhi had even regretted her impulsive decision to invite the other person into her bed.

However, as time passed, she slowly adapted, even finding a bit of peace of mind in the companionship.

Feng Ji…

Yu Nianzhi truly didn’t know how to describe her feelings for her.

She pondered the news she had heard recently, unintentionally wandering toward the lakeside. It was now winter; the lake water was clear and cold, and even looking at it from a distance, one could feel the biting chill radiating from the depths.

Feng Ji’s mother was the current Empress. Feng Ji was the Empress’s legitimate daughter—or rather, legitimate “son.”

The Empress was originally the beloved daughter of a powerful court noble. Her family had helped the Emperor ascend to the throne, and she had secured the position of the Master of the Harem as desired. Over the years, the Emperor had been significantly constrained by this power dynamic. There was no affection between the Emperor and Empress; they maintained a superficial relationship only due to the political interests involved.

Feng Ji was not the Emperor’s first child. There had been several princesses before her, but none were born of the legitimate Empress. For reasons unknown, the Emperor seemed to be under a taboo: every child born in the harem was a princess, and he could not produce a male heir.

The Emperor sent people to visit famous doctors everywhere, but to no avail. Finally, an official invited a “Half-Immortal” who was renowned among the common folk. After the “Half-Immortal” performed a ritual, the Empress soon became pregnant and gave birth to an “Imperial Son” the current Feng Ji.

How a princess became a prince was a twist of fate that Yu Nianzhi had no way of knowing. Feng Ji, of course, would not proactively tell her these things; she had overheard them from the gossiping palace maids and eunuchs.

However, the old Emperor’s concern for the Crown Prince only extended to evaluating whether his heir still met his requirements. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have failed to notice for so many years that the “Crown Prince” he held in such high regard was actually a princess.

The infant in swaddling clothes had now grown into an elegant youth. Feng Ji now possessed enough power to uphold the title of Crown Prince and was the “ideal husband” in the eyes of countless young ladies in their private chambers.

Seeing the longing and shy expressions of the maids when they discussed the “Crown Prince,” Yu Nianzhi thought with a hint of self-mockery that she seemed to have bagged quite a bargain.

As she walked along the lake, she suddenly heard the chattering of women coming from behind a rockery. The voices sounded somewhat familiar.

“Sigh, it’s truly a grievance for our Crown Prince. His Highness is as elegant as an iris and skilled in both the arts and martial pursuits. So many women in the capital dream of marrying him, yet he had to marry that little mongrel from Dongyuan,” one person said, seemingly finding it unfair for the Prince.

“Exactly. Aside from a face that’s decent to look at, that little mongrel has absolutely no redeeming qualities. To think she married our Prince is simply laughable. I’m truly afraid the Prince will be bewitched by that vixen,” another maid chimed in.

“If you ask me, we spend every day by the Crown Prince’s side; we’re surely better than that foreign little mongrel. We should at least be able to scramble for a formal status,” the first person giggled foolishly.

“Oh, look at Yun’er being so bold! If you’re so capable, why don’t you go for it?” one of them teased.

“You know how it is. The Prince prefers to do everything himself. We servants have it easy, but we can’t even get close to him!” Yun’er complained. She then lowered her voice and whispered, “Forget about us, I reckon even that Crown Princess hasn’t even…”

Yu Nianzhi listened for a few moments, knowing they were gossiping behind her back again, but she frowned at the last sentence.

They were technically her personal maids, yet their audacity was quite something. She was curious to see how they planned to “scramble for a status.”

Yu Nianzhi had no desire to manage their backstabbing talk and turned to leave. Unexpectedly, just as she was about to go, one of the maids spotted her.

The maid immediately tugged at Yun’er who was still ready to keep talking and pointed in the direction Yu Nianzhi was walking.

Zhuo Ningxiao, who was playing the role of Yun’er, turned around and saw Yu Nianzhi not far away. They weren’t far apart, so their conversation had likely been overheard.

Zhuo Ningxiao’s face flushed red and white; her expression was extremely awkward. She wanted to say something to save face but found herself speechless. Finally, she could only bark at Yu Nianzhi, “Stop right there!”

Yu Nianzhi turned a deaf ear and continued walking back.

“Did you hear me? I told you to stop!” Seeing that Yu Nianzhi was ignoring her, Zhuo Ningxiao felt she had lost massive face and shouted again.

Yu Nianzhi finally stopped her pace and asked calmly, “What is it?”

Seeing her cold reaction, Zhuo Ningxiao’s anger flared even more. “Why were you hiding there eavesdropping on our conversation?”

Yu Nianzhi didn’t bother explaining much, simply saying, “I happened to be passing by.”

Zhuo Ningxiao sneered, “Happened to be? I think you were intentionally eavesdropping!”

On the surface, she was arrogant, but internally she was terrified that Yu Nianzhi would run to the Prince and talk. She warned, “Keep your mouth shut! Don’t go running to the Crown Prince to spout nonsense!”

Lin Xin and Song Xin sat nearby, eating melon seeds and watching the scene.

Lin Xin clicked her tongue. “Why is Zhuo Ningxiao playing an idol drama heroine? She should specialize in playing the ‘vicious supporting female’ from now on. This is practically her true self coming out.”

Song Xin stuffed a melon seed into her mouth and nodded repeatedly.

Yu Nianzhi glanced at Zhuo Ningxiao and said softly, “You serve the Prince day in and day out; you are the favorite in front of His Highness. Why would he believe a few ‘slanders’ from me?”

“Pfft.” One of the maids couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Zhuo Ningxiao was overwhelmed by shame and indignation, her rage reaching a boiling point.

“You… you… you!” she stammered, clearly light-headed with anger.

Yu Nianzhi’s indifference made her look like a jumping clown—clumsy and laughable. With nowhere to vent her anger, she let out a scream and, without a word, rushed forward and pushed Yu Nianzhi into the lake.

The maids froze for a few seconds, then broke into a flurry of screams, descending into chaos.

“Cut!” Duan Yi shouted. “Xiao Zhuo, you’re supposed to be angry, but don’t be so exaggerated. Reign in your expression and let’s do it again.”

Zhuo Ningxiao apologized repeatedly, her expression looking very guilty. “Sorry, sorry! I got too into the character just now.”

Lin Xin and several staff members rushed over to pull Yu Nianzhi out. When Lin Xin touched Yu Nianzhi’s ice-cold hand, she shivered. She couldn’t help but say, “Isn’t this too flamboyant? She was a normal ‘vicious second lead’ a moment ago; did she just escape from a mental asylum?”

Zhuo Ningxiao ran over as well, making a gesture to help pull Yu Nianzhi up, but her hand didn’t even touch the other woman. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I was too into the scene and didn’t control my strength. I scared myself.”

It wasn’t just winter in the play; it was actually winter in reality. By the time Yu Nianzhi was pulled up, her face was pale, and her whole body was trembling slightly.

Lin Xin quickly brought a cotton coat to wrap around her and served her ginger soup. Yu Nianzhi sat to the side for a long time before she finally managed to warm up.

Once she regained her strength, they had to film the scene again.

But for some reason, Zhuo Ningxiao seemed completely out of sorts today. She kept making mistakes at the critical moments—either forgetting lines or failing to perform correctly. Because she kept acting this way, even post-production editing couldn’t save it; they had to keep reshooting.

After repeating this several times, Yu Nianzhi’s face was devoid of color, and her lips were turning slightly purple from the cold.

Shen Yan stood by, frowning.

Never mind Yu Nianzhi; even Duan Yi was about to start cursing.

Lin Xin was dying of anger and desperately wanted to rush up and give Zhuo Ningxiao two punches. She was held back firmly by Song Xin. “Damn it, she’s absolutely doing this on purpose! She is, right?! Let go of me, let me crush her dog head!!”

By the fourth reshoot, Duan Yi usually the “Maitreya Buddha” of the crew—spoke in a very unpleasant tone: “Zhuo Ningxiao, if the next one doesn’t pass, we’re using a body double.”

Zhuo Ningxiao still maintained that pitiful and guilty look, as if she were the most innocent person on set and truly didn’t mean it. “Sorry, sorry! My apologies to everyone. I will definitely perform well next time; there won’t be any more problems.”

Her mouth promised readily, but as soon as the clapperboard snapped, she prepared to use the same old trick.

Having been provoked by Zhuo Ningxiao’s “playing dumb” tactics several times, Yu Nianzhi wasn’t going to let her succeed again.

This time, as Zhuo Ningxiao rushed over, she once again prepared to “brake” early.

Shen Yan was just about to step in to stop it, but she held her tongue because of Yu Nianzhi’s next move.

To everyone’s surprise, the moment Zhuo Ningxiao touched Yu Nianzhi’s sleeve, the seemingly weak and slender Yu Nianzhi grabbed Zhuo Ningxiao. Before the other could react, Yu Nianzhi spun around and pushed her into the lake.

It looked effortless, as if it took no strength at all.

Accompanied by Zhuo Ningxiao’s scream and a loud “plop,” the girl who was supposed to be standing on the shore ended up in the water, while Yu Nianzhi stood safely on land, watching with a cold eye.

The entire set fell silent for a moment. Everyone watched the scene in shock.

A moment later, Song Xin swallowed hard and tugged at Lin Xin’s sleeve. “Is… is your ‘Fishy’ really that strong?”

Lin Xin was equally stunned. “I… I’ve never seen that before either.”