“He Xingzhou is captured; He Xingzhou is captured,” the announcement was made almost the same time.
“How much time do I have left?” Yun Xiangxiang asked the program team.”
“Six minutes,” they replied.
He Xingzhou stalled her for quite some time. Yun Xiangxiang looked at Lu Jin and shrugged. “Brother Jin, we are husband-and-wife after all. I won anyway, why don’t you make my victory sweeter?”
Lu Jin nodded smilingly. He walked toward Yun Xiangxiang and surrendered. “If it’s your orders, I won’t defy them.”
There wasn’t any point in that anyway. With three prisoners in her hands, she had won the game. Getting one more prisoner was just adding to the score.
It was also a physically demanding game. He wanted to make Yun Xiangxiang’s life easier.
Yun Xiangxiang smiled as she took him to her land. The announcer announced, “The game is over.”
Finally, everyone returned to where they gathered in the first place. Shen Yitang started being cheeky, “I forgot to ask for your introductions this morning. Yes, you guys are household names, but we should complete the formalities. Let’s start with the introductions. Lu Jin, you go first.”
Lu Jin stood at the rightmost spot. He greeted the camera. “Hello, everyone. I am Lu Jin, starring as King Wen of Chu in “The King’s Plan.” I am Madam Xi’s husband. I hope everyone will support “The King’s Plan.” Thank you.”
He Xingzhou stood next to Lu Jin. “Hello, audience. He Xingzhou here, the first husband of Madam Xi. All of you have to support the sanctity of marriage. Let’s get rid of the homewreckers!”
“Hey, everyone. It’s Sun Qiluo here. I am the elder sister of Madam Xi, the peerless beauty. Ah, I love her so much. Want to know how much I love her? Be sure to watch “The King’s Plan.” Out in theaters now,” Sun Qiluo followed the format.
Hou Cang didn’t want to break the immersion. “Hello, everyone in front of the screens. I’m Hou Cang, Madam Xi’s admirer.”
Hou Cang extended his hand toward Yun Xiangxiang, who was standing beside him. Naturally, the camera focused on Yun Xiangxiang.
“That’s right, I’m Yun Xiangxiang, playing as Madam Xi, the woman with two husbands, one admirer, and a loving sister,” Yun Xiangxiang concluded what they said. “Do please support our new film, “The King’s Plan,” out in theaters now.”
Everyone said one sentence. None of them were prolonged or boring. All promoted the film.
Shen Yitang was satisfied. He continued, “Next up is our game’s result. Yun Xiangxiang who played Madam Xi is our final winner.”
Shen Yitang clapped first before everyone else did. When the applause died down, He Xingzhou asked with trepidation, “Brother Shen, don’t tell me that the results are related to our dinner.”
“Hahahaha…,” Sun Qiluo and the others laughed. At any rate, they had a good lunch.
Having any dinner or not didn’t matter to them. He Xingzhou was the worst among the bunch. He only had rice rolls for breakfast. He didn’t even have a hearty one since he was out of time.
As he didn’t find the necessary pieces in the afternoon, he only had instant ramen as lunch. And now he didn’t win the final game either.
“Marquis of Xi, if you were this smart during the wars, the Xi Nation wouldn’t have fallen. Nor would your wife have gotten stolen,” Shen Yitang opened his wound in a formal tone.
“So…,” He Xingzhou gave Shen Yitang a death glare, “No dinner for me?”
Sun Qiluo and Hou Cang guffawed nonstop. Shen Yitang tried his best to not smile. “We want to give Xiangxiang her spoils of war.”
The staff stepped forward with a box in their hands. There was a logo belonging to a jewelry shop on the box. It must be something the sponsors gave.
Yun Xiangxiang opened it in front of everyone, revealing a jade Bi [1] laying inside. It had the same design as the one in their game. The difference lay within the materials used.
The game’s jade was made of plastic, but this was a bona fide jade. It gleamed when it was exposed to the sun.
“Everyone knows that Tengchong City is the City of Jades. This piece of Bi is also made out of jade, sponsored by…,” naturally, Shen Yitang had to insert an ad.
The Bi wasn’t made of any rare jades, but it was sculpted masterfully, bringing out its brilliant beauty. Tens of thousands of yuan wouldn’t be a waste on it.
“It’s so pretty,” Sun Qiluo loved it.
“We also have some prizes for the rest of the actors who made our day,” Shen Yitang asked the staff to give them the prizes.
Theirs were cards made out of pure gold. They also shone under the sunlight.
“I’m still thinking about my dinner,” He Xingzhou’s priority was to fill his stomach.
The pitiable look made everyone laugh. Shen Yitang immediately announced, “Tonight’s dinner shall be decided by the winner. All of them shall be Yunnan specialties.”
“My dear, please take pity on your poor husband. You have to choose the most nutritious, most delicious dinner for me,” He Xingzhou immediately pounced at Yun Xiangxiang and tugged at her sleeve.
Yun Xiangxiang pulled her sleeve out, “I remember someone saying that our love now only exists in the annals of history.”
“I mean, people rekindle old flames all the time. So can we,” He Xingzhou gave her a beguiling look.
Yun Xiangxiang was mildly annoyed at his mischief. “Anything you can’t eat?”
“I’m not a picky eater. Just choose all the specials,” He Xingzhou guaranteed.
“Anyone have anything they can’t eat?” Yun Xiangxiang turned around to ask.
None of them were picky eaters, nor did they have the right to be. They were actors, after all. The conditions of filming were not exactly what one would call luxurious either. When overtime struck, they wouldn’t even care if the food was cold. They wouldn’t try to be prim and proper right now.
“Everyone, please follow us to the great hall and await the food our winner has chosen for us,” Shen Yitang immediately beckoned everyone.
The staff asked Yun Xiangxiang inside to look at the menu. They wouldn’t tell anyone else about it as they wanted to keep the surprise factor.
Yun Xiangxiang laughed when she saw the menu. She then ordered the special noodles.
The tables in the main hall were split into sections, just like in the ancient era. Yun Xiangxiang would sit at the main table. On her left and right were Sun Qiluo and Hou Cang, He Xingzhou and Lu Jin respectively.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” He Xingzhou was inexplicably worried, especially when Yun Xiangxiang gave him a cryptic look when she came in.
“It’s edible, at least,” Lu Jin wasn’t worried.
While waiting for dinner, Shen Yitang started talking with them. All of it was about “The King’s Plan.”
He asked about the emergencies that happened during the filming and the interesting stories that happened. He took care of everyone involved. He was a social butterfly.
The timing was just right. The dishes were served right after they finished talking. Yun Xiangxiang was served first.
“Is this hot pot?” He Xingzhou tried to take a look. He noticed that there were a small stove and a big pot of soup.
“It’s the famous Yunnan wild mushroom feast,” the waiter introduced. “Yunnan would see a lot of rainfall come May. After that, mushrooms would grow everywhere.”
As he explained, numerous plates of wild mushrooms were served.