A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

The clown’s voice was amplified through the speakers and could be heard from anywhere in the castle.

Not— not a pass?!

Xia Yu was still looking for the other cards when she heard it, and could not believe her ears. She had taken so much effort, how could she end up in the last place, and not even pass the mission? No, she was not going to accept this result!

She and Zheng Chenhao hurried to the meeting point.

On the way there, she did not hide her unhappiness towards Zheng Chenhao and provoked him with criticisms. Zheng Chenhao, frustrated by what she had said, called out. “Emcee! I don’t agree with the results! We’re supposed to depend on our abilities to look for the cards and complete the tasks. Those two groups ganged up against us, it’s not fair!”

“You came to exchange tips with us, and we found others to exchange tips with as well.” Bai Murong gave a gloating smile. “Well, we just got a little luckier than you and managed to get all the information we needed. Emcee, I don’t think is against the rules, right?” Indeed, there were no rules for this program that said alliances and exchange of tips were not allowed, which was why Bai Murong was more than confident when he asked.

The clown emcee giggled. “Nope, everybody’s exchanges are valid. And it seems like Princess Luo Luo and Princess Xiao Ling, as well as their knights, are very close.”

Wait, was he implying that Xia Yu could not get along with the other two girls?

Xia Yu was the sensitive sort and got angry at that comment.

“Poor thing, you didn’t pass.” Luo Luo showed a sympathetic look and asked the emcee, “Does the one who finished in the last place have any punishments?” In her defense, Luo Luo was only casually asking.

The emcee snapped his fingers on hearing that.

“Oh, right! Punishment! I almost forgot.” He pointed at Xia Yu and Zheng Chenhao cheekily said, “Come over here, the two of you.”

Come over here? They knew it was nothing good, but could not do otherwise since they had to play according to the game rules.

“3, 2, 1!” The clown did a countdown and all of a sudden, a huge bucket of water was poured from above, drenching them both.

“Ah!” Xia Yu screamed and held onto Zheng Chenhao. She had always been pampered since she was young — in the orphanage, it was Xia Ling who took care of her, and after Pei Ziheng took her in, she became the princess in the eyes of the public. Everybody treated her so carefully as if she was a china doll that could shatter under any impact, when was she ever put through something this frightening and humiliating? It was no surprise that she got a shock.

When she recovered from her shock, she realized that she was holding onto Zheng Chenhao tightly with her body was against his. Through the drenched fabric, they could feel each other’s warmth.

“Let go of me!” She pushed Zheng Chenhao away instinctively. She looked disgusted at that moment as if what she had touched was garbage.

But Zheng Chenhao was not garbage, he was a heavenly king.

Even an ordinary man would not tolerate such an attitude from a girl in front of the public, much less the honored heavenly king Zheng Chenhao. He looked at her coldly and said, “Xia Yu, you’re the one who held onto me. I don’t even want to touch you.”

Xia Yu’s expression turned awful. How could she have hugged a man so readily, and then got despised by him for it, all in front of the camera?!

“You! I…” She was angry as much as she was ashamed of what had happened, even her teeth were chattering.

“Cut!” The director shouted.

“Are the both of you alright?” The director frowned as he walked over thinking that they might start arguing. He disapproved of Xia Yu’s behavior. It was just a television program, was there a need to act like this? If she really disliked Zheng Chenhao so much, she should not have participated in this program in the first place, especially since she had taken Zhou Yanxue’s rightful place.

Did Xia Yu not have any work ethics at all?

Only when Xia Yu saw the director’s expression did she realize that she had made everybody around unhappy. Now she had to swallow all her grievances, however awful she felt. She bit her lip and whispered. “I’m sorry I overreacted… I… I’ve never been this close to a man before.”

She made a teary face as she said, “Director, can you delete that segment?” She could not imagine how Brother Ziheng and the public would react if they aired that part.

Taking part in a program with another man was an entirely different matter from being caught holding onto another man intimately. She knew that Brother Ziheng would never allow his woman to get close with another man, considering how Brother Ziheng would not even allow her sister to hold another male celebrity’s hand when she was still alive…

She was going to replace her sister and be with Brother Ziheng for the rest of her life, how could she not take note of this taboo?

“Please, you have to delete that segment.” She was about to cry.

The director responded rather coldly. “We’ll see.” What mattered most to the production crew were the effects that they could get from airing the scenes. Up to that point of the filming, Luo Luo and Bai Murong’s team had shown some teenage-like romance, while Xia Ling and Rong Ping also had some chemistry. Only Xia Yu and Zheng Chenhao did not appear like a couple at all, which bummed the cameramen a little — what if they could not capture any sensational scene for the two of them? It took so much for them to finally get splashed with a bucket of water and for Xia Yu to display some sense of affection towards Zheng Chenhao.

The best part of this couple in the whole show thus far was Xia Yu hugging him in a moment of panic. And now she wanted it to be deleted? She could dream on.

“Director…” Knowing that the director was not planning on agreeing, Xia Yu decided to continue pleading.

“Don’t delay the filming.” The director was set on his decision. Xia Yu had quite a big name, but he would not let her call the shots on such an important program like Extraordinary Risks. In fact, he was more sympathetic towards Zheng Chenhao. “Brother Chenhao, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, we can continue filming.” Zheng Chenhao was proud at times, but he was very professional in his work. Also, he was not a fool who took things lying down. “Xia Yu, act your part well. Don’t be too nervous, you can’t even fulfill the criteria for being my girlfriend, and I have no interest in you at all. But since we’re in this program, we have to make it realistic, understand?”

He told Xia Yu off mercilessly.

Since Xia Yu had no qualms about embarrassing him, why did he have to consider so much for her?