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Chapter Twelve

"Suizhou City's people will never forget Your Excellency's great kindness and virtue."

Suizhou City...

Li Wenchuan's pupils contracted sharply. In his memories, there had only ever been one Suizhou City.

Ever since he had accidentally traveled here, he had deliberately avoided thinking about certain things—like what had become of the people from before, and what would happen to those he had left behind...

The last time he had seen Jiang Chengyu, Jiang Chengyu had already truly risen to the rank of a high-ranking minister. It seemed his imperial mother had helped as well. If so, there should have been no problem with the entire court's operations.

But he did not dare think about what would become of Jiang Chengyu. What if what was shown in the film was Jiang Chengyu's life afterward?

"When I took this role, the director said it was adapted from a historical figure," the person beside him murmured.

Onscreen, the young powerful minister from everyone's recollections stroked the jade thumb ring on his thumb as he sat on the second step of the imperial court. Above him sat the young Son of Heaven, and below him stood the silent, bowed pillars of the court.

When the ministers raised their proposals, the emperor, who was not even as large as the dragon throne, answered haltingly, his gaze fixed on the seated chancellor.

The moment the chancellor's hand paused, his voice gradually faded, even taking on a tearful edge.

The chancellor frowned. Most people could not see it, but the strongest emotion in his eyes was disappointment. This little emperor could not become the ruler of a nation he had envisioned.

The clear features on the screen overlapped with, then separated from, the features of the person sitting so close beside him. They were the same face, yet different people. Something had been forcibly severed. In the end, they were not the same person.

"I heard that Chancellor Jiang in history was not allowed peace even after a hundred years," Jiang Hansheng continued softly.

The flashback ended. An imperial eunuch holding a sacred decree led a vast force of imperial guards to surround the chancellor's residence. The eunuch walked straight-backed at the front, his face expressionless, and coldly spat a single word: "Confiscate!"

At the same time, the stone monument at the chancellor's burial site was smashed apart, and his grave was viciously dug open with iron shovels.

Li Wenchuan held his breath. It felt as though a hand had viciously clenched his heart; the slightest movement brought tearing pain. Starting from his heart, it swept through every limb and bone like a tide, until even his fingers ached and went numb.

"When I acted this role, I kept wondering what exactly he had persisted for," Jiang Hansheng said carelessly after taking a sip of Coke. "The throne was only one step away, yet he willingly served as a minister for decades, only to be suspected by the new emperor he had raised with his own hands."

"Why do you think he did that?" Jiang Hansheng turned his head and stared directly at Li Wenchuan's profile.

Li Wenchuan kept watching the screen without turning around. Otherwise, he would have noticed that the look in the eyes of the man beside him was no different from that of Chancellor Jiang Chengyu, who had once controlled everything from behind the scenes. It was the look of someone who had spotted prey and was slowly closing in.

Whenever Jiang Chengyu revealed that look, it usually meant his scheme had already begun.

Someone in the theater had started crying, and faint sniffling could be heard. Others quietly raised their hands beneath their glasses to wipe away the moisture. Most of the girls struggled to control their emotions while tilting their heads up slightly, afraid their tears would ruin their makeup.

None of them knew that the film's lead actor was sitting in the theater, casually drinking and eating popcorn as though the person onscreen was not him.

But Li Wenchuan thought that really was not him.

What made Jiang Hansheng exceptional was that every character he played was only that character, while he himself was always Jiang Hansheng.

After throwing themselves wholeheartedly into a drama, many actors found it difficult to pull themselves out of character. That had never been a problem for Jiang Hansheng. In plenty of behind-the-scenes clips, one could see him with tears in his eyes one second, then laughing and chatting the next after the director called "Cut." Even his scene partners had trouble keeping up with him.

"Movie Emperor Jiang is impressive." Li Wenchuan's praise held no emotion. He abruptly pulled himself out of his earlier loss of composure and returned to his lazy, listless state.

"Thank you. I think so too." Jiang Hansheng nodded solemnly, leaving Li Wenchuan speechless.

Jiang Hansheng had indeed worked hard, and the film had indeed been adapted from that Chancellor Jiang in history. But it had also undergone extensive artistic alterations, so that person was not him. Besides, without Li Wenchuan, what meaning would Jiang Chengyu's existence have had?

Jiang Chengyu had suffered through an entire lifetime, all for that person.

As they left the theater, Li Wenchuan saw a notification on his phone—Deliverance had surpassed one billion at the box office after two days in theaters, another milestone work in film history...

"The director and subject matter are both very good," Jiang Hansheng said, leaning closer after seeing what Li Wenchuan was reading.

After all, according to the information he had seen, Li Wenchuan was a highly jealous person. He did not know whether it was true, but he did not dare rush ahead recklessly. He had patience. He would slowly figure out the causes and consequences of everything.

Li Wenchuan nodded at his words and sighed. "You must make a lot of money."

Jiang Hansheng: "..."

A great many words lodged in his throat, neither rising nor falling. It was suffocating.

Li Wenchuan checked his bank balance again, then cast Jiang Hansheng a few envious glances. Ever since money had become nothing more than a string of numbers, he had lost all sense of how much he was spending. Before he knew it, he was nearly broke. If every bill had not checked out, he would have thought a black hole had swallowed it all.

Jiang Hansheng got goosebumps under that complicated, ambiguous gaze and answered stiffly, "Not bad?"

Li Wenchuan nodded, indicating that he understood, then began considering whether he should ask He Meng if there had been any work lately. A slacker could coast through life, but only if he could first scrape together enough food to wait for death.

A few girls nearby had gathered together. One of them waved another friend over, subtly pointed in a direction, and said, "Look, those two guys are so handsome."

A girl in a black dress stood on tiptoe and looked several times, then asked doubtfully, "Why do they look so familiar?"

"Maybe every handsome guy looks familiar to you," her friend teased with a smile, bumping her shoulder. "Why don't you go ask for his WeChat?"

The others chimed in, "Right, just say, 'Big brother, I think I've seen you before. You look so familiar.'"

The girl in the black dress stamped her foot. "Oh, stop talking nonsense. I really think he looks familiar."

The girl who had spoken first slowly agreed as well. "I think so too..."

The others could not figure it out. In truth, they simply did not follow celebrities, so all they saw were two handsome young men.

"They seem to be Jiang Hansheng and Li Wenchuan!" The girl in the black dress suddenly realized, then gasped. She lowered her voice and covered her mouth excitedly before immediately opening her camera and secretly taking a picture.

"Li Wenchuan? Who's that..." The first girl looked confused. She knew Jiang Hansheng, but who was Li Wenchuan? The name did sound vaguely familiar.

"Oh, he was the one in red from that episode of You and Me Back Then where Jiang Hansheng was a guest."

"Oh, oh, oh, him! Wait, those two?! No way!"

"Damn, I think so too."

She casually posted on Weibo: "Came out to watch a movie and think I ran into Jiang Hansheng and Li Wenchuan after it ended. Not sure if it's really them, but they look like them." She attached the photo as well. It happened to show Li Wenchuan handing his Sprite to Jiang Hansheng and asking him to throw it away for him.

Even the girl in the black dress had not expected that within a few hours, her casually posted Weibo would blow up. Her notifications kept flashing, seriously affecting her ability to use her phone.

The trending search was now hanging there in plain sight—Jiang Hansheng and Li Wenchuan's late-night movie date.