*Splash

Qin Shu heard the noise of some liquid splashing to the back of him. He had his back to the impact but looked down to find some brown splotches around his shoes

Mud?

Where did this come from? It couldn't be...

Qin Shu had a bad feeling as he turned back to see the noble lady that was trying to snatch his pendant away from him a few moments ago, sprawled onto the ground covered in dirty mud, looking very pitiful

None of the previous majestic dignified apearance could be seen on Murong Yin as her robes lost it's luster, turning similar to the dirty clothes of beggars

The red roses embroidered around her waist became brown splotches circumbventing the fron t portion of the black robe

"Miss!"

The maids that accompanied Murong Yin saw her accident and turned pale with fright as they rushed forward to help her up, trying their best to cover her from the sight of others

Murong Yin trembingly looked at her dirty dress, she attempted to rub the brown spots out with her hands only to see more areas of mud appearing on her dress, smudging the robe further into filth

The sound of her fall attracted the attention of the surrounding market crowd, passerbys started to gather around her and Qin Shu, encompassing most of the space around them

Despite the best attempts of her maids and guards, the peering gazes of the crowd burned on Murong Yin and their whisperings between each other could be heard clearly in her ears

"Oh my, poor girl, to fall on the muddy floor like that"

"Ah, how embarassing"

"I would be so ashamed in her situation"

Anger surged inside Murong Yin from reciving these sympathetic and insulting words, never had she ever looked so embarassed in front of others, not to mention there are countless eyes on her now

She hated this and the person who caused this situation

She lifted her face and stared fiercely with bloodshot eyes at Qin Shu who looked awkwardly back at her with sympathy and a bit of guilt on his face

Looking at the pitiful state of the young lady who took the initiative to trouble him, Qin Shu couldn't help being a little symapthetic to the girl

Although she had tried to steal his pendant, being seen in this type of look when she is just a little boudoir girl is too harsh of a punishment

When Murong Yin tried to sneak up on him, he sidestepped unconciously without looking at the front of his feet, so he never saw the spot in front was covered in mud

Qin Shu was going to hand over a handkerchief to Murong Yin from his robes, but became suprised by the teary eyes of Murong Yin

There were moist water droplets on the verge of forming near the corner of her eyes which added a soft tender to her usually cold look, and also her trembling lips made Murong Yin's overall look very different from the proud eldest lady of a few minutes ago

Qin Shu experienced a missed heartbeat at this moment

Murong Yin saw the stunned apearance of her target of hatred, and turned to her guards and released an order loudly

"What are you waiting for, Capture him!" 

Murong Yin's guards and maids immediately ran to Qin Shu, but as a young man who studied martial arts since childhood, Qin Shu outpaced them easily

Breaking away from his stupor, he took his bookboy along with him out of the pursuer's eyes

As he got farther away, the cries of frustration from Murong Yin became softer, and eventually inaudible

A few hours after escpaing, Qin Shu entered a high end tea house to meet up with one of his close friends

He discussed with him his misfortunes in the market including how he encountered trouble with a random young lady dressed in black and almost got caught by her guards

"That young lady you met in the market, wouldn't that be Murong Yin of the Murong general's mansion, she is the only noble lady I know that wears black?"

"Murong Yin!?"

Qin Shu had heard of this name, isn't this the fiancee his mother had told him about a couple of months ago. It was stated by his mother that his fiancee was a girl of noble birth that had been known for her graceful charming apearance along with her good-natured personality

Qin Shu really doubted whether the people her mother had heard this from had eyes that worked, the girl that he met in the market wasn't graceful, and surely didn't have a good-natured personality

Qin Shu looked a little helpless as he remembered their first encounter

He recalled how the dignified eldest lady had tried to bargain with him for his sister's gift, but later on lost her faked apearance and glared at him with the tearful fierce eyes of a wronged little beast

Thinking back at that look, Qin Shu couldn't help thinking she was cute

A smile started growing without him knowing it

"CUT!"

Director Yan excitingly shouted with enthusiasm, standing up with shining eyes as she stared at the male actor and Tang Ling on the set

"Great work! Especially Miss Tang, I didn't expect you to go from a dignified composed noble lady to a charming willful little princess this fluently, me and the scriptwriter hadn't thought of viewing Murong Yin with this type of character, as expected of the 'film empress', your acting skills and comprehension of characters are unmatched"

Director Yan then looked at Zhou Wuyan, the actor who played the male lead alongside Tang Ling

"You too Xiao Zhou, that improvisation of a soft looking face in the end was a great unscripted addition"

Zhou Wuyan kept a smile thanked the director for this compliment, but unknown to everyone else, he inwardly felt startled from this compliment

He himself didn't know he was smiling, he just lost himself in acting the scene when performing with Tang Ling and couldn't help finding Murong Yin cute, he wasn't thinking of the script at all, it was his personal feeling s that spread out unconciously

With the help of the actor playing the maid, Tang Ling stood up from the ground and also smiled to Director yan

"Thank you director, you're too kind, it was only with the additional mud added that I was able to make Murong Yin more pitiful like in the situation, changing the established dignified arroagance, to a maore likeable personality"

Director Yan felt his face turn hot from Tang Ling's praise, he himself knew that the mud had not been for improving the overall scene but was requested from the Shen family's young master to punish Tang Ling

He knew from the moment the scene ended that he still underestimated this woman's acting skills, although he had expected great acting skills after watching Tang Ling's previous films, he was still breathtaken from the outstanding performance she had shown incomparable to her prior roles

With this level of acting and improvisation from Tang Ling, even if the budget was halved, worst possible outcome is cheaper materials for the props and attires, the film could still be succesful based on acting alone

Bonus (Extras)

Tang Ling: Acting is one of my great skills! If need be, I can act anything

System: [If only your everyday self was acting, or better yet, you can at least act smarter]