I Rely on My Versatility to Reach the Top of the Entertainment Industry [Ancient Times to Modern] - Chapter 29

After saying this, Wang Yiyue turned and ran away.

Her assistant chased after her while her manager smiled apologetically at Gu Guochang: “Director Gu, our Yueyue must have been frightened by the near-accident and is emotionally unstable. She spoke out of anger, please don’t take it to heart.”

The excuse was well-crafted. Gu Guochang nodded: “No problem, no problem. We’ll talk again after she calms down.”

Gu Guochang then summoned the wire operator to understand the situation.

The wire operator was a middle-aged man, currently filled with self-blame: “When I saw her struggling like that, I panicked and accidentally pressed the rapid descent button. Director Gu, thankfully nothing serious happened, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Gu Guochang comforted him briefly but still fined him according to regulations and sent him off to rest.

After arranging everything, Gu Guochang walked over to Jing Yi: “Kid, not bad. You must have trained in palm techniques, right?”

The martial arts director nearby added: “I think this kid might have practiced something like Iron Sand Palm. Hey, Jing Yi, you must have trained since childhood, right? Where did you learn it?”

Jing Yi was in a difficult position.

He couldn’t lie, but he couldn’t tell the truth either.

Remembering how his temple masters and uncles would respond when faced with questions they didn’t want to answer, Jing Yi carefully chose his words: “I’m sorry, I cannot say.”

The martial arts director glanced at Gu Guochang and laughed heartily: “Hahaha, I understand, I understand. Some reclusive masters don’t wish to be disturbed.”

Some martial arts experts who still understood ancient combat techniques had eccentric temperaments and preferred living in remote mountain villages and forests. Perhaps Jing Yi had learned from such a person who forbade him from speaking about it?

Everyone chatted for a while longer to ease the tense atmosphere from earlier. As they were talking, the stylist Jimmy came jogging over, slightly out of breath: “You’re still chatting? Your scene photos have been leaked. Look, they’ve already been reposted over 60,000 times.”

Jimmy handed his phone to Gu Guochang and walked over to Jing Yi: “Poor child, alas.”

Jing Yi didn’t know what had happened until he saw the content on Jimmy’s phone.

The scene from earlier where he was holding Wang Yiyue in the play had been secretly photographed by a crew member and posted online, accusing him of taking advantage of the situation to make inappropriate physical contact with the female actress.

Jing Yi slightly lowered his gaze, anger appearing in his eyes for the first time.

For a Buddhist disciple, being accused of violating the precept of sexual misconduct was like having a criminal record in modern society – it would mean he could never enter a temple again.

Everyone present was also indignant.

Earlier, when Jing Yi and Wang Yiyue were together on the wires, Wang Yiyue had been crying and making a scene, while Jing Yi’s hands had remained properly placed on her back and knees the entire time, without any crossing of boundaries.

“Director Gu, gather all crew members present today,” Lu Yuzhi’s amber eyes flashed with severity. “We cannot allow the rumor-monger to remain in the crew.”

Gu Guochang happened to have the same intention.

But with so many people in the crew, how could they identify who took the photo?

“This humble monk wishes to report this to the police,” Jing Yi spoke up at this moment. “The internet is not beyond the law. Spreading rumors is also criminal behavior and should be dealt with by the police.”

Jing Yi’s normally clear youthful voice now carried a shadow of gloom.

Everyone looked at the expressionless, cold-faced Jing Yi and realized that he might be genuinely angry this time.

However, as a celebrity, few would normally think of reporting such matters to the police in these circumstances.

But since Jing Yi was the person involved and Lu Yuzhi had also agreed, Gu Guochang couldn’t very well stand in their way.

The police soon arrived at the filming location.

During the earlier screen test, the drone had been activated. The video served as ironclad evidence, proving that Jing Yi had not crossed any lines.

At Gu Guochang’s request, the crew had already gathered. Once everyone was present, the police asked, “Judging from the angle of the photo, the person must have been standing here to take it. If any of you saw someone standing here, you can point them out.”

There were no surveillance cameras in the bamboo grove, so this was the only method available. Of course, they had also contacted Weibo and were in the process of retrieving backend data, just in case the rumormonger hadn’t used their own ID-registered account.

While everyone was trying to recall, Jing Yi spoke up: “Him, him, and her—they stood here before.”

Jing Yi pointed to people standing further back.

The police found this strange: “How do you know these people stood here, Mr. Jing?”

Jing Yi’s expression remained cold: “I saw this area when the wire was being lifted.”

If he wanted to, he could close his eyes and replay the scene he had witnessed.

The police gave Jing Yi a few more glances, then gathered the three people he had pointed out for individual questioning.

At that moment, Weibo responded with the ID number and name linked to the original account.

Coincidentally, it matched the middle-aged man among the three.

“You’re something else, little star,” the lead officer chuckled. “He was actually among these three. Ever considered becoming a police officer?”

That ability would be perfect for catching criminals.

Jing Yi was looking at the rumormonger and replied modestly, “Thank you for the compliment, but I already have a job as a celebrity.”

The lead officer still smiled. “If the opportunity arises, you should definitely consider it.”

The rumormonger, now handcuffed, panicked upon hearing the police mention a possible sentence of up to three years.

He was a fan of Wang Yueyue and had been thrilled when she joined the crew, always wanting to give her gifts. Wang Yueyue had asked him for this favor, claiming that Jing Yi had been inappropriate during filming and deliberately caused her to NG.

She said that if everyone online criticized Jing Yi, he would behave.

The rumormonger had never paid attention to the law and didn’t realize his actions were illegal.

Now, thinking of his wife and daughter at home, he was filled with regret and resentment. “Officer, Wang Yueyue told me to do this! You should arrest her!”

Wang Yueyue turned pale.

She hadn’t wanted her company to know about her targeting Jing Yi, and with no one else around to use, she had thought of this obsessive middle-aged fan.

She had initially decided not to post the photos after Jing Yi saved her, but didn’t expect they had already been made public.

“Alright, instigating the spread of rumors is also illegal. You’ll have to come with us too,” the police said, approaching Wang Yiyue.

Wang Yiyue lowered her head. “Can I say a few words to Jing Yi?”

“Go ahead.”

Jing Yi looked at Wang Yiyue, his expression neutral.

“Whether you believe me or not, I already regretted it when you saved me,” Wang Yiyue said bitterly. “I didn’t expect him to post it so quickly. I’m sorry, and thank you.”

Jing Yi looked at her but didn’t say he forgave her. Instead, he replied, “Good deeds bring good results, evil deeds bring evil consequences. I hope you will tread carefully from now on.”

After saying this, he stepped aside.

In this world, if falsely accused of breaking the precept of celibacy, he could clear his name. But in his original world, if a monk were slandered, there would be no way to defend himself.

Wang Yiyue had nothing to say and was taken away by the police.

On Weibo, all posts that had reposted that photo were deleted by the authorities. The Ningcheng Police Department released an official statement on the case.

It announced that Wang Yiyue’s motive for the crime was jealousy over Jing Yi’s superior acting skills.

Netizens who had happily joined in the bashing were once again left stunned by this police-involved reversal.

This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

The rational netizens who had remained cautious from the start commented on Weibo: “I knew there might be something off. If Jing Yi were really the kind of celebrity who takes advantage of girls, why would Jiang Wenwen post on Weibo to defend him?”

“Exactly, our Emperor Lu wouldn’t misjudge someone.”

“Can I say it now? Jing Yi’s drama stills are so ethereal!”

In the hospital, Fang Zexuan also saw the news.

He cursed Wang Yiyue under his breath for being useless, then went ahead and posted on Weibo to ride the wave of attention.

Everyone was too busy enjoying the drama to pay any mind to Fang Zexuan.

Even if Fang Zexuan’s fans took the opportunity to bring up Jing Yi’s past incidents at school again, netizens weren’t inclined to believe them.

After being proven wrong again and again, all in cases involving Jing Yi, who would want to risk being humiliated again? Besides, what’s past is past—hadn’t the official account of “Xie Qiyun” also released a statement?

The official “Xie Qiyun” account posted the video that served as evidence, which included the scene of Jing Yi gripping the steel cable to save Wang Yiyue.

Instantly, thousands of comments flooded under that post.

“Wow, gripping a steel cable bare-handed—didn’t Jing Yi’s hands get cut and bleed from the wire?”

“Wang Yiyue really reaped what she sowed. That’s why you shouldn’t do bad things.”

“Let me stray from the main point for a moment—Jing Yi’s posture on the wire is so graceful! When is the movie coming out? I can’t wait to see the edited wirework scenes!”

“I’ll stray a bit too—I feel sorry for Director Gu. The originally cast male lead is in the hospital, and the female lead is in jail. What’s going to happen to the movie?”

What can be done? Just keep filming.

If the female lead is gone, find another one.

Gu Guochang wasn’t worried about the budget either. Since Wang Yiyue’s actions had negatively impacted the crew, she violated her contract, and her company would have to pay compensation.

Moreover, because of this incident, the “Xie Qiyun” film series gained massive popularity—it was essentially free advertising.

Similarly, Jing Yi was also being urged by fans to post photos.

Jing Yi asked Lu Yuzhi if it was okay. Lu Yuzhi sighed helplessly, “On-set stills can’t be leaked. But if you really want to post something, you can take some casual photos of yourself in the evening.”

Jing Yi nodded and relayed Lu Yuzhi’s words to his fans, adding, “If you’d like to see some casual shots, I can take some for you.”

Seeing this, fans eagerly discussed in the comments: “Our Jing Yi is such an honest sweetheart.”

“Yeah, yeah, asking for our opinion before posting—so cute, haha!”

“So soft and adorable, aww.”

“Go ahead and post! We’ll look at anything!”

Seeing that everyone was in agreement, Jing Yi asked Lu Yuzhi for help that evening and posted a photo of himself meditating.

Most fans were gushing over his looks, but Xu Sisi left a different comment: “Was this photo taken by your manager? Jing Yi, have you signed with an agency?”

When others saw this comment, they all started asking too.

After finishing his meditation, Jing Yi saw the messages and replied: “Didn’t sign.”

Fans then asked who took the photo.

Jing Yi honestly typed: “Mr. Lu helped me take it.”

Fans: “Awoooooo, are you staying in the same room?”

From this text, Jing Yi could tell the fans were getting excited, and silently typed: “He went back after taking it.”

Right after this reply, Lu Yuzhi’s name appeared below, typing: “I went back after taking it.”

A quick-eyed fan immediately posted an “Oh—”

Everyone copied this reply, and soon they saw Lu Yuzhi appear again.

“Everyone should rest early, Jing Yi needs to rest too.”

This was quite intriguing.

Jing Yi was known to be a sincere celebrity, but netizens hadn’t realized Lu Yuzhi could become this sincere too.

Not only did he join Jing Yi in responding to fan comments, but he was also urging Jing Yi to sleep?

Their relationship seemed a bit too close!