Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 339 - 320: Taking You Home

Shen Jianian pressed the phone screen and glanced at the time. The look created in the morning was almost ruined after lunch and a nap, so she couldn’t go on camera directly; it needed to be redone.

"It won’t take too much of your time," Tong Yan spoke with rare humility, eyes pleading, hoping Shen Jianian wouldn’t refuse her.

Shen Jianian thought for a moment and gave Xiao Yu a look.

Xiao Yu understood and temporarily walked away.

Standing under the sun was too hot, so Shen Jianian walked straight to the shade. Tong Yan silently followed, her nails digging into her palm, her lips nearly bitten to pieces by herself.

Shen Jianian stopped, turned around to look at the person in front of her, her expression calm: "Say what you want to say."

Before deciding to find Shen Jianian, Tong Yan prepared many words, but upon seeing her, she couldn’t utter a single one.

Shen Jianian looked at her phone again, her brow slightly furrowed. She didn’t have time to watch Tong Yan put on a performance of remorse: "If you have nothing to say, I’ll leave first. Makeup takes time, and I have to find the director afterwards."

"Wait, don’t go," Tong Yan reached out to grab her, fearing she would really leave.

Shen Jianian lowered her eyes, looking at the hand holding her arm.

Tong Yan seemed to realize something, hurriedly released her, slowly raised her tearful eyes: "Do you already know?"

Shen Jianian didn’t understand her meaning: "Know what?"

"Online... the rumor about you and Fu Feibai was released by people I hired," Tong Yan finally gathered the courage to confess to her, "I was momentarily foolish, could you... could you spare me?"

Shen Jianian found it difficult to understand: "How do you want me to spare you?"

Tong Yan lowered her head in shame. She knew her request was excessive; after repeatedly provoking and defaming Shen Jianian, when things reached an irreversible point, only then did she remember to seek forgiveness, hoping not to be held accountable. There is no such easy path in the world; doing evil without responsibility.

"I can publicly apologize to you, as long as you don’t..." Tong Yan sobbed, barely able to speak, "don’t let Fu Jichen ban me. My family isn’t wealthy, and it’s been hard to get here; I can’t go back to square one. Shen Jianian, you have Fu Jichen behind you, you’ll never understand the struggles of people like us."

"Stop." Shen Jianian interrupted her, "I agreed to talk to you, not to listen to your complaints. I don’t see any remorse in you; even your apology feels like moral coercion. Why should I accept the harm you inflicted just because I have Fu Jichen? Do these correlate? When you’re hurting others, do you ever think of their struggles?"

Tong Yan bit her lip, tears hanging on her chin.

Shen Jianian: "You said you would publicly apologize to me. If it’s like last time, posting a few indifferent words on Weibo, then it’s unnecessary. I don’t need that form of apology."

Tong Yan raised her hand to wipe the tears off her face: "Tell me what it takes to forgive me, whatever you say, I’ll do it."

Shen Jianian shook her head: "You’re apologizing to me now not because you’ve suddenly realized, recognized the wrongs towards me, but because you’re afraid of losing everything you have. You’re protecting your own interests."

In the end, it’s still for herself, not moral awakening.

"If you didn’t know about my relationship with Fu Jichen, would you spare me?" Shen Jianian said, a faint smile appearing on her lips, "You wouldn’t. You would try every means to destroy me, ensuring I’d never recover. Tong Yan, actually, you needn’t exhaust so much effort; after this movie, I really won’t be staying in the entertainment industry. Your competition is vast, but I’m not among them."

Tong Yan stared at her dumbfounded; when she decided to confess to Shen Jianian, she imagined countless ways Shen Jianian might humiliate her, yet this response was unexpected.

Her past schemes seemed like jokes.

"Let’s leave it at that. After finishing the remaining scenes, we probably won’t meet again."

After speaking, Shen Jianian did not look at Tong Yan, stepped into the sunlight, her slender and solitary silhouette resembling Ruoyu in the script, who stands alone.

Tong Yan seemed to understand why Wang Kelun chose Shen Jianian for this role; the resilience within her didn’t seem like acting.

It’s as if after experiencing many things, she has managed to preserve the most authentic calm and composure.

That’s truly commendable.

In fact, Shen Jianian indeed went through many things; during that press conference, Fu Jichen mentioned she had a car accident, injured severely, to the point of facial disfigurement.

*

Tong Yan worried for many days, the anticipated "judgment" never came.

Her role was limited; after finishing her last scene, without any wrap-up ceremony, while the others in the crew were busy, she alone with her assistant returned to the hotel, packed her belongings, checked out, and left Fengshan Film and Television City.

Shen Jianian and the other actors stayed for two more days, continuing to film at several other locations. Fu Jichen returned to Beicheng.

Filming doesn’t follow the order of the script; sometimes scenes from later are filmed earlier, and vice versa, so it’s unpredictable. But coincidentally, Shen Jianian’s final scene is indeed the last scene in the script.

Wang Kelun took this scene very seriously. Before filming began, he explained every detail to Shen Jianian. After finishing, he regretted it a bit, wondering if he had been too thorough, potentially affecting Shen Jianian’s performance.

Having explained everything, there was no way to retract it. Wang Kelun sat back behind the monitor, picked up the megaphone to coordinate the set: "Places, everyone—"

They were in a dense forest, surrounded by towering trees that blocked out all sunlight, creating a dark, eerie, and mysterious atmosphere.

Shen Jianian’s character Ruoyu had her identity doubted. Prince Zhe set a trap, luring her to the forest and revealing her undercover status.

Prince Zhe drew his sword, the tip pointing at Ruoyu clad in black, his gaze cold, devoid of affection: "I’ve heard of your great musical skills, but might I have the pleasure of witnessing your swordsmanship today?"

A flash of cold light cut through the air, the sword was unsheathed and held by Shen Jianian.

The two exchanged several blows; since they had rehearsed the moves many times, the actual filming went smoothly, and the director didn’t call "cut."

At one moment, Ruoyu couldn’t react in time, stumbled back several steps, and when she raised her head, the person in front was gone. A voice spoke from behind: "Has no one ever told you not to expose your back to those you don’t trust?"

Malice flashed through Ruoyu’s eyes. Based on the direction of the voice, she reversed her grip and thrust the only weapon on her—the Mystic Iron Sword—into the person’s chest.

Unfortunately, Prince Zhe was prepared; beneath his brocade robe was soft armor, and the sharp sword didn’t harm him at all.

With no weapon left to counter him, Ruoyu’s first instinct was to flee the scene. As she thought she was escaping successfully, an arrow shot from behind.

The wire dragged Shen Jianian down mid-air, and the special effects makeup artist and props master approached to attach half an arrow to her back, giving the appearance of it penetrating her body.

Once everything was ready, unnecessary personnel quickly retreated, Shen Jianian closed her eyes to gather emotion, and upon reopening them, she was Ruoyu from the film again, not Shen Jianian.

Her lips were stained with blood, and she dragged her wounded body slowly into the depths of the forest. The camera zoomed in, and a tear slid down her cheek. She instinctively looked at the sky, unaware that she was crying, thinking it was raining.

"Cut!"

Director Wang Kelun stood up excitedly and clapped; that final shot, as seen from the monitor, was full of emotion.

Ruoyu remained emotionless; from start to finish, she was merely an assassination tool cultivated by others, yet in the end, she shed a tear for someone. Was it love? Not quite. Perhaps it was pure sadness. That’s why she didn’t realize she was crying.

"Congratulations, the filming’s wrapped." Wang Kelun approached Shen Jianian, politely hugged her, and praised, "That last tear was beautiful."

Shen Jianian touched her face blankly; like Ruoyu in the film, she had no idea she had cried, it was a purely natural release of emotion.

"Thank you." Shen Jianian didn’t know what to say, so she thanked him.

Wang Kelun chuckled, "Thank me for what? You should thank yourself; you brought this character to life."

That evening, the crew held a small wrap party. They were in a remote southern town with no upscale restaurants, so a group gathered at a local farmhouse restaurant, with a cake and flowers arranged for Shen Jianian.

Everyone hadn’t relaxed like this in a long time; eating, chatting, and taking a group photo.

Shen Jianian was carefree and laughed throughout the night, drinking two glasses of plum wine brewed by the restaurant owner. Through her blurred vision, she seemed to see Fu Jichen.

She blinked, the figure didn’t vanish from view, she reached out to touch, and felt something solid.

Witnessing Shen Jianian’s silly response, everyone couldn’t help but laugh. Was she drunk or shocked by the sudden surprise?

Their relationship was no secret; Fu Jichen calmly grasped Shen Jianian’s extended hand, not angry about her getting drunk, still smiling as he spoke: "How many drinks have you had?"

Shen Jianian didn’t answer but asked, "Is that really you?"

"Who else would it be?"

"I thought I was hallucinating," Shen Jianian asked him, "Why are you here?"

"I came to take you home."

Fu Jichen said something to the others, then led Shen Jianian away. After a few steps, she started to stagger, as if walking on clouds. Fu Jichen chuckled and simply picked her up, crossing the yard.

The summer night was filled with cicada calls and floral scents, their shadows overlapped under the streetlights.