Chapter 106

Chapter 106

unedited

Contrary to Yuan Zhengming’s expectations, those two not only did not meet in the middle, but also diverged completely in their acting—each with their own considerations that lead them to creating a unique style. Even looking at the lines for the first scene, the two of them already took remarkably different approaches when delivering them.

The timeline of the first scene was when “Fang Yisheng” was still a part of the underground organisation, and it was a dialogue between him and the main villain—chief minister “Yan Buliu”. In the fifth instalment of ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫, chief minister “Yan Buliu” held a power in and outside of the court. With his daughter “Concubine Shu” as a beloved darling of “Emperor Chang”, he thought himself the emperor’s in-law, his followers innumerable and all over the court—it could be said that he was revered and feared by many, a powerful character no one would dare to offend. At the same time, “Yan Buliu” also had another identity— famous all over the Jianghu ”Hook of Hell”, his name striking fear in the heart of anyone who heard it.

He tried his best to hide his identity, interfering with the court politics as a chief minister. On one side, he would get rid of his old foes from the Jianghu under the name of suppressing the rebels in his son-in-law’s stead, paving the way for himself to become the leader of the martial society; on the other side, he would use his connections in the Jianghu to gather intelligence and subdue the rebels, protecting his in-law emperor’s rule over the land, as well as protecting the glory and wealth of the Yan family.

But with “Fang Yisheng’s” existence, a small obstacle to his plan appeared—that was because “Yan Buliu” suspected that “Fang Yisheng” was also a man of the Jianghu—more than that, he also suspected that he was one of those who plotted the rebellion. That’s why “Yan Buliu” paid him a visit with ulterior motives, and having earlier gathered all the information needed about him, “Fang Yisheng” also welcomed him composedly.

Once Qi Jing spoke, the aristocratic bearing immediately poured over from his voice—it was easy to hear that this person was well-practised, completely unlike the common folks and used to dealing with the high-class officials and the people of power. “This petty official heard that the chief minister is lately troubled with an illness. With the winter at its harshest and the cold weather outside, for the head of the court as the chief minister, it would be for the best to not neglect preventing the worsening of the illness early, so please, do come in for the discussion.”

Uninvited guest was bound to bring ill luck.

Qi Jing’s tone was reverent, displaying the respect of a rather low-level official like “Fang Yisheng” before the powerful minister and putting himself below him, abiding to the etiquette, but still not at all subservient. The words he spoke were also very courteous and flattering on the surface, but there was no flattering tone in his voice, so it felt like a kind of mocking instead. With a second meaning to each of his words, it was very much a characteristic of a seasoned member of the court—Qi Jing focused precisely on this point.

“Jianghu? As the proverb says, ‘the court up in heights, Jianghu faraway’—those are completely two different things, so today, why would the chief minister suddenly find interest in discussing matters of Jianghu with this petty official?” In the second line, he lifted his voice in the first part of the sentence, so as to appear genuinely surprised, but in reality, he knew the cause very well. He also deliberately stressed the “two different things”, making it known that at the time, the character already knew about “Yan Buliu’s” double identity and was only being sarcastic while testing the limits here and there, merely accompanying the other in the act—a measure meant to magnify the character’s scheming side.

“Tongzhou, heh...” When the topic of the conversation moved to the current biggest territorial elephant in the room, a short chuckle escaped Qi Jing’s lips, but it was hard to tell whether it was deliberate or on purpose. This wasn’t mentioned in the prompts for the lines, this chuckle was his own, personal addition—a bit of a grim and stern manner of laughing, “Jianghu stretches far and wide, so why need to mention a place as puny as a single Tongzhou?” In the following lines, this manner turned even more evident, like an unsheathed sword, displaying its blade for a naked eye to see.

“But thinking of it, it truly is fascinating how a short while before the news of the rebellion in Tongzhou arrived at the capital, the chief minister fell incredibly ill, but when Marquess Shunyang returned victorious back to the capital from the pacification of rebels, bringing back the Jianghu captives with him, the chief minister’s illness got better. So mysteriously coincidental—can it be that the cause of the chief minister’s ailment is also called ‘Jianghu’?” His words pouring smoothly and naturally, each of them not unlike knives, it was enough to render the person before him dumbstruck.

Even when he was smiling, Qi Jing’s “Fang Yisheng” made people feel chill creeping into their bones. He was also sharp and thought the crafty flattery and fawning of the court officials to be beneath his dignity. This was Qi Jing’s understanding of “haughty and aloof”—he was not an inflexible curio who hid away and refused to see the world, letting others have a taste of his precisive skills.

And on the other hand, Crossing the bridge noodles’ performance was of a completely different kind.

“This petty official heard that the chief minister is lately troubled with an illness?” Unlike Qi Jing who stated it as a fact, he raised his voice in the second part of the sentence, making it into a question. Besides, it was a question he already knew an answer to well enough.

“With the winter at its harshest and the cold weather outside, for the head of the court as the chief minister, it would be for the best to not neglect preventing the worsening of the illness early, so please, do come in for the discussion.” The timbre of his voice was colder than Qi Jing’s, so he made use of that characteristic, highlighting that fearless attitude in a face of the man of power in the court.

Qi Jing’s manner of speaking was like a needle concealed in silk floss.

Meanwhile his was like a surging undercurrent—

“Jianghu?” Crossing the bridge noodles repeated this term lukewarmly, but he didn’t laugh, only calmly and composedly giving a clear-sounding reply, almost as if questioning him in return, “As the proverb says, ‘the court up in heights, Jianghu faraway’—those are completely two different things, so today... Why would the chief minister suddenly find interest in discussing matters of Jianghu with this petty official?” He gradually slowed his speech down, the tone meaningful. Even though his method was a bit different from Qi Jing’s, the end result was still very similar as it made up for his shortcoming that was lack of an experienced sense to his voice.

“Tongzhou... Jianghu stretches far and wide, so why need to mention a place as puny as a single Tongzhou?” Even when the conversation arrived at the main point, he still didn’t show a single bit of agitation—as if he had long since knew the reason—and spoke disparagingly, “But thinking of it, it truly is fascinating how a short while before the news of the rebellion in Tongzhou arrived at the capital, the chief minister fell incredibly ill, but when Marquess Shunyang returned victorious back to the capital from the pacification of rebels, bringing back the Jianghu captives with him, the chief minister’s illness got better—so mysteriously coincidental.”

At that point, his voice suddenly grew imposing, encroaching at the other’s invisibility. “Can it be that the cause of the chief minister’s ailment... Is also called ‘Jianghu’?”

Even though the two of them were poles apart, each of their performances had its own logic and highlights, no matter who was right and who was wrong.

With no set rules regarding the implementation of the lines, it was more or less as if either of the styles were in line with the character, but there was still so much room for variety.

It was probably the first time for Yuan Zhengming to stumble across such a situation, he had no way of calling CUT for either of them, since his heart was itching from the curiosity for how those two would handle the remaining part. The viewability was also one of the distinguishing sides of a commercial competition, so both as a judge and an ardent enthusiast of voice acting, he would of course take pleasure in it.

But the audience listening to those two performances was very much in a conundrum.

Audience 1: _(:з」∠)_ This... This really is hard to choose from!! I have just given my vote to Don’t ask for my return date, but now I think that Crossing the bridge noodles is also incredible, what to do??

Audience 2: _(:з」∠)_ Each for their own, I already decided to give both of them my votes...【My love is universal, I really can just support the walls】

Audience 3: _(:з」∠)_ Already decided to give both of them my votes +1【Silently joins the wall gang】

Audience 4: _(:з」∠)_ Already decided to give both of them my votes +2【Also silently joins the wall gang

Audience 5: ┭┮﹏┭┮ *cries* it doesn’t matter as much during the semi-finals, but during the finals, only one can get chosen... I can’t give up on either of them, I really can’t~

Audience 6: ┭┮﹏┭┮ Shaking hands with the commenter above! We’ll still see how that goes during the finals—the champion is decided based on the overall performance in the competition, right?

But the most surprising thing was, even though the current mannerism and tone of the two of them had its own unique side, towards the end, they both gradually started converging into the same path without any of it feeling out of place.

The last scene was set during the flare up of “Fang Yisheng’s” late-stage poisoning, as he was talking by a couch with his young page “Lu Wei”. At that time, the character had already lost all of his martial aptitude and was forced to leave Listen to the Wind Inn to escape “Yan Buliu’s” pursuit, hiding in a secret residence&#k2014;yet sadly enough, he still couldn’t avoid getting weaker with each passing day.

The more noble in temperament, the more strong and independent he was before, the harsher of a fall he suffered at that point, making one feel sorry for him.

“Cough...” Only after a few deep, strained breaths Qi Jing gave a stifled cough—that was because he wanted to encapsulate the “unyielding” side of the character—even though the poison in his body was flaring up and his lungs felt as if there was a thousand of needles stabbing at them, a haughty man like “Fang Yisheng” wouldn’t let themself appear too sorry. What’s more, that pure by nature “Lu Wei” was now tending to him, so in face of this child, he also couldn’t look too pained, so as to not hurt the boy.

But at times, things wouldn’t go as one intended.

“Wu,” Suddenly, he groaned—it was like something held onto part of his voice, making him unable to spit it out, so he swallowed with great difficulty. The way it sounded for the listeners, it was as if he choked on the blood in his throat, each word assembled stiffly and strenuously, “Lu... Wei, you... come over here.”

Saying this, he once again panted rapidly, the sheer sound of it enough to wrench a listener’s heart. Hearing his master’s call, the young page on the side should hurry over, stumbling and crawling to the coachside, looking at him with sorrow. Faced with such an expression, there was only so much he could do, and only so much he could say. “What time is it... now? The sun, it still hasn’t risen?”

This part in the novel left Qi Jing with a deep impression.

“Fang Yisheng” woke up from a coma, inquiring “Lu Wei” for the time, and “Lu Wei” broke into tears. The reason was, the sheer utterance of this question meant that the poison already took over “Fang Yisheng’s” eyes, gradually depriving him of sight so that even with the surroundings all bright, he still thought that it was the dead of the night. Even if Lu Wei didn’t tell him the truth now, with his perceptiveness, he would probably guess it himself soon enough. And especially with “Lu Wei” crying, he understood it immediately.

“Haha...” At that time, Qi Jing suddenly laughed shortly, a vast expanse of acceptance of his fate untinted with despair. He even still comforted the boy in a hoarse voice, “Lu Wei, don’t cry. I, Fang Yisheng... I spent all my life tricking and deceiving and during that, my eyes saw all kinds of endless carnages. For me to not see anymore now, I feel relieved instead.”

At that moment, he stopped for a while, as if remembering a person.

“Yan Buliu” wouldn’t leave a way out for his used pawn, and “Bai Ke”, whom he bribed, had already disappeared without any news for half a year, his disappearance boding ill—he probably wouldn’t survive. Whether it was karmic retribution or a disaster he courted for himself, he wouldn’t survive, nor would he come back.

Thinking of this, his voice died down, like a pile of smouldering coal that had burned out completely, no longer able to come aflame, turning into white ashen dust inch after inch.

“The man who poisoned me, either way... I won’t see him anymore.”

He said, the nature of the emotions in his voice ungraspable.

But that calm and easy tone had now disappeared—although the first and the second phrases were coherent, there was a very clear divide between the emotions in them. At last, he even laughed hollowly, blandly, “Hah...”

Did he not hate, did he hate to the bone—or perhaps, did the man himself was at loss of what he felt? It could very much leave one with a lasting afterthought—

Audience 1: 〒▽〒 My Fang Yisheng aaaahhh...【The inn-master Fang’s loyal-to-death-fan’s heart’s shattered】

Audience 2: 〒▽〒 I remember this part, this one’s so painful aaaah!!

Audience 3: 〒▽〒 I really hate Bai Ke so much! I hate him! But Fang Yisheng does not... Or at least I think that he doesn’t. This way it hurts more, okay?! *sobs*

Audience 4: 〒▽〒 The difference between those two phrases was so strong... Such a magnificent person, to become so miserable in the end...

Audience 5: 〒▽〒 My heart hurts, this pain is too much to bear!!【Bai Ke, you bastard!! Bastard!!!】

Audience 6: 〒▽〒 I’m in for No.7! I’m so in that my face is wet from tears!【I don’t have enough tissues, sobs...】

The “Fang Yisheng” fans among the original novel readers received a critical hit from Qi Jing, only for Crossing the bridge noodles to deal them another one. As they were saying, “all the glass hearts got smashed into bits and pieces”.

The characterisation Crossing the bridge noodles went for was cold and indifferent. Towards the last scene, those two temperaments made the encounter with this character even more heart-wrenching, each cough stirring the listeners’ hearts, “Cough... cough cough cough...”

When he finished coughing, he sighed lightly, feebly. The image painted through this portrayal was that of him lying alone on the bed, sounding nothing like he was still a living human, displaying the man’s hopeless and dispassionate state of mind.

Crossing the bridge noodles gasped weakly as he called in a low voice, “Lu Wei...”

His voice was so faint, it was scarcely audible. So he called once again, mustering strength to raise his voice, “Lu Wei... You come over here.”

The way he spoke was like a weak, flickering flame, but although each time he spoke made one think that it would go out soon, it still kept on burning. The flame may be weak, but at that time, it was still dancing around—maybe it still had a desire it had yet to give up on. “What time is it now? The sun... it still hasn’t risen?”

Counting each day everyday, half a year had already passed, yet it felt like but a one day—yet another ill omen.

Likewise for him, and for Bai Ke.

By the time the young page holding his tears back by the couch made him realise that he has lost sight in his eyes, he was shocked first, his breathing falling into disarray, only later slowly returning back to his previous calmness. With death looming over him, he grew fearless instead, “Lu Wei... Don’t cry. I, Fang Yisheng, I spent all my life tricking and deceiving... And during that, my eyes saw all kinds of endless carnages.”

After saying this, he heaved a long, quiet sigh, unable to constrain grief spilling from his voice, “For me to not see anymore now, I feel relieved instead.”

At least he could now be freed from seeing that man’s end with his own eyes—no matter if he would live or die, he didn’t want to see any of it.

“The man who poisoned me...” He said, as if muttering to himself to carve those words in his heart, to purge any of the other thoughts from it, “I won’t see him anymore. “Either way, I won’t see him anymore...”

Audience 1: ┭┮﹏┭┮ ...

Audience 2: ┭┮﹏┭┮ How many times the Fang faction needs to get their heart shattered... *sobs* My heart is hurting too much already!!【cries clawing at the ground】

Audience 3: ┭┮﹏┭┮ Little Noodles is so amazing... I rarely hear him doing the young adult voice, but it’s so crazy!! Turns out that he can still be so handsome even when he’s not voice acting a feeble young boy...

Audience 4: ┭┮﹏┭┮ But listening to those parts too many times is no good for your heart!! No.7’s way of dealing angst and No.8’s angst are not exactly the same, but they’re both so immersive! 【Thumbs up, a thumb a person】

Audience 5: ┭┮﹏┭┮ I can’t take it, I’m going back to crying a bit more...

Audience 6: ┭┮﹏┭┮ Date’s bitter laugh and Crossing the bridge noodle’s downheartedness are both! so! on! point!【So on point that I can’t stop my tears from streaming down my face】

“You two are making fun of me on purpose...” Yuan Zhengming kept muttering this all the way until the scoring section. Fascinated by how Qi Jing and Crossing the bridge noodles both went completely different routes with their performance, he actually kept his fussy pickiness in check, fully absorbed in listening to their differences, so by the time the third scene was finished, he finally realised that he was already late to call any cuts.

“I was too careless... too careless...” But even though he complained grudgingly, the sheer fact that he could get so absorbed in listening to it was a good enough proof that those two contestants really had some skill to them, so there was no need to call cuts. His repetitive muttering was also his private, unreconciled grumbling, nothing more.

Since none of them got cut, Pu Yuzhi’s score would ultimately settle their position. But even this score made Yuan Zhengming yell “You’re all making fun of me!”.

【No.7 – Don’t ask for my return date】

【Elapsed Time】：2:00

【Voice Quality】：4.0

【Enunciation】：4.0

【Foundation Points】：4.0

【Charisma】：4.5

Judging panel’s evaluation: 2.00 + 4.0 + 4.0 + 4.0 + 4.5 = 18.5 points

Additional audience vote points: 78.9% voting ratio = 0.789 points

Overall score: 18.5 + 0.789 = 19.289 points

【No.8 – Crossing the bridge noodles】

【Elapsed Time】：2:00

【Voice Quality】：4.0

【Enunciation】：4.0

【Foundation Points】：4.0

【Charisma】：4.5

Judging panel’s evaluation: 2.00 + 4.0 + 4.0 + 4.0 + 4.5 = 18.5 points

Additional audience vote points: 80.1% voting ratio = 0.801 points

Overall score: 18.5 + 0.801 = 19.301 points

In terms of a number of fans at the scene, Crossing the bridge noodles still had an upper hand, getting into the lead by a tiniest of a margin. But looking at it from the other side, for Qi Jing, who has always had a rather low-key fanbase, to be able to get about the same support as a popular VA like Crossing the bridge noodles, it was already a very good achievement. Aside from the audience vote points, their scores were absolutely identical, with no difference to speak of.

The fans also voiced their joy for this result.

Audience 1:╰(*°▽°*)╯Waah! I’m so hyped! Little Noodles is now first in the ranking!

Audience 2:╰(*°▽°*)╯Even though Date’s score is this little bit smaller, but it’s so close!! It’s basically the same if you look at the judge’s evaluation. Congrats, congrats! The two of you are both amazing!!

Audience 3: So can we, the Time Limit shippers, finally rise back to life, huh... I’m so moved I’m gonna cry... Even the scores are almost the same and stuff, it really makes me giddy...【covering face, fine, I know that both of them already are taken IRL, but I can’t help but ship “Time Limit”.】

When Qi Jing saw this outcome, even as the second place, he still felt very happy—honestly, the importance of their speech at the beginning of the audition was way beyond any actual ranking.

He assumed that after the end of the audition, Crossing the bridge noodles would want to return to his room to take care of the feverish “that guy”, so he didn’t use the voice chat, typing the message out directly.

【You】said to【No.8 – Crossing the bridge noodles】: ^_^ Congratulations.

【No.8 – Crossing the bridge noodles】said to【You】: You too. But this overall score also included the factor of fans in it, so you could have easily got an even higher score...

【You】said to【No.8 – Crossing the bridge noodles】: Haha, do you really think that I would mind this?

【No.8 – Crossing the bridge noodles】said to【You】: (smile)

【You】said to【No.8 – Crossing the bridge noodles】: There will be a huge drama in the forum tomorrow for sure, so rest well before that. You better go take a rest after the feedback section.

【No.8 – Crossing the bridge noodles】said to【You】: I’ll be going now, I can listen to the recording of the feedback tomorrow, otherwise that guy would make a fuss. Have a good night, Return Date.

Qi Jing was taken aback, then also replied with a “goodbye”, looking as Crossing the bridge noodles’ account disappeared from the channel members’ list.

—Goodnight.He suddenly remembered how Shen Yan would say this into his ear before sleeping every night, filling his heart to the brim with warmth. All at once he started to envy Crossing the bridge noodles—at least he had his man by his side, he didn’t have to wait until the next day for him.

Qi Jing wore the headphones and listened to the other people’s auditions, but he couldn’t get into this no matter what. It wasn’t because of the performances being too dull or the atmosphere bland, it was simply because his heart wasn’t there. So he heaved a low sigh and escaped the channel, planning to do the same as Crossing the bridge noodles and find time to listen to the feedback the next day. “Forget it... Sleep it is, then.”

He sat there, in the study, for a good couple of minutes, then stood up to clean himself quickly before going back to the bedroom and lying down with the lights off.

Early to sleep, early to rise, so maybe this way time would pass faster—a very unscientific way of thinking, and he was amusing himself with this sort of self-deception, but either way, there was nothing fake about sleeping.

These few months, Qi Jing’s sleeping quality only now slowly recovered back to normal, but he was still a light sleeper, rather slow at falling deep asleep by himself.

“Umh...” In the pitch-dark room, he moved around sluggishly, not knowing how much time had already passed, only knowing that his consciousness was hovering in a haze yet still not disappearing. Because it was too quiet, even his own breathing could cause his already dispersing consciousness to gather back, this back and forth growing a bit hard to bear.

Qi Jing quietly rubbed half his face against Shen Yan’s pillow, only then slowly falling asleep.

Thinking back to it later, he really had to fall asleep at that time, since the sound of the keys hadn’t woken him up, nor did the sound of the steps, or the sound of things being put down.

What woke him up was that tender kiss falling lightly on his forehead, and also a low call.

“Qi Jing.”

A/N:

The “Fang Yisheng” auditions were written as a contrast for each other, but in reality, Qi Jing’s audition went first, and Noodle’s second. It was written this way to increase the sense of comparison, I hope that the readers won’t get confused by it. For me to get so depressed while writing a play within a play, this really is so... _(:3」∠) (Bai Ke’s just too much of a scum)

And the very very last, to be honest, when I wrote the last few paragraphs... I actually felt like hiding my face in my hands and screeching like an idiot, cough.

Welcome home, Kitty’s Papa!! >//////<

T/N:

Those two performances were both so *clutches heart*

But the No.1 for me in this chapter still goes to the lovesick Qi Jing towards the end (●’◡’●)