Chapter 16: Always a Concubine

Chapter 16

Rong Dai stood on the stage, silently taking two deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down.

"Can you please give me a little time?" She looked towards the director. She needed some time to adapt, and also some time to recall that heartbreak that she had sealed away in her heart.

Lu Dao had a reputation in the industry for being extremely demanding, but the actors who emerged from under his tutelage were all wildly popular. Actors could only wait for the opportunity to work with him, and no one had ever dared ask him for time like this before.

The assistant stood to the side, wanting to remind her several times, but also afraid of Lu Dao's impatience and gloom.

"This scene requires very strong inner emotions. I need some time to get into character. Also, I'd like to ask everyone here to stay quiet. If possible, please turn off all this equipment too, thank you."

If this had been any other day, Lu Ye would absolutely not have agreed to an actor's request like this.

As an actor, you should be able to get into character at any time and place. This was an actor's most basic skill.

But for some reason today, when he saw Rong Dai's eyes like the stars in the sky, he nodded and agreed.

The assistant was overjoyed inside. He hurriedly called for the crew to turn off all the lights and equipment in the audition room.

The audition room became so quiet that you could only hear everyone's heartbeats and breathing. The crew left only one light on Rong Dai.

Standing under the pale bright light, Rong Dai placed a hand on her chest, softly exhaling. The events of her past life became clearer and clearer in her mind.

When she first met him as a youth, it was love at first sight. Her young heart silently promised itself to him.

Even just standing quietly in a crowd, that refined and gentle young man would make her notice him with just one glance.

Despite her parents' and clan's opposition, she insisted on marrying him, silently vowing to herself to be a good wife to him for life.

She succeeded.

She was the precious daughter of a prestigious clan with generations of glorious service to the throne, deeply favored by the Emperor.

Just as she wished, she became his Imperial Consort. He said he wanted to stand in that position in order to protect everything of theirs.

Having spent many years as an Imperial Consort, she had long ago cultivated that free-flowing imperial aura!

Her eyes held interwoven hatred and fury, grief and indignation unto despair. Intense emotions were interlaced, as if wanting to destroy everything under heaven!

A deranged yet tragic smile slowly crept up her exquisite face. Yet that smile too was interwoven with hate and rage. Her phoenix eyes stared fixedly ahead, as if someone really stood before her.

She didn't speak, only walked forward one step at a time, her gaze never leaving that spot.

Her smile was deranged, self-deprecating, tragic, enraged!

Her eyes were vicious, insane!

"I offered my sincere devotion with both hands, only to find that I was a pawn deftly arranged long ago by you, Your Majesty. How wonderful, perfectly wonderful!"

When she spoke, her words were extremely cold, full of mockery and indignation.

"Your Majesty spared my life, so I shall not die! I will wait to watch how Your Majesty's state and family will be ruined! Without my Rong clan's assistance, you are nothing but a destitute prince born of a lowly palace maid, unfit to stand on that throne!"

She hated herself for being blind, for not listening to her father and brothers, leading her Rong clan to this fate!

She hated this man even more for his heartlessness and ruthlessness, for his viciousness! Toying with her in his palm!

"As long as Rong Dai still draws breath for one more day, I will pray for you every day Your Majesty, to walk steadily, do not stumble and fall into an abyss of ten thousand feet, never to rise again for eternity! There is no need for Your Majesty to worry, I will voluntarily enter the Cold Palace."

In an instant, all emotion seemed to freeze over her face, like a lake sealed in ice, chillingly stark!

Her gaze suddenly shifted to another direction. Her hands were still clasped before her, still elegant and dignified. Her eyes revealed ridicule, her mouth hooking into a cold mocking smile:

"Even if I, Rong Dai, enter the Cold Palace, you can never sit on that throne. A concubine is forever just a concubine, always an unpresentable thing."

She smiled coldly. That coldness made people feel a chill down their spine, hair standing on end!

Her gaze turned again towards the "Emperor", her words utterly icy: "The position of Imperial Noble Consort suits you well, Your Majesty. I will just stand by and see what virtues and abilities Your Majesty possesses to manage this empire."