7 chapter 7
◎Even crazier◎
The night before the wedding
When Jia Ni posted a photo of himself dancing with the Third Prince, Lan Ye naturally received the news immediately.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Lan Yang's projection was right next to Lan Ye's chair, and he asked with amusement.
"Heartbroken? Heartbroken?" Lan Ye thought hard for a moment, then gave up. "I can't imagine. It just feels like I'm watching for fun."
Lan Yang sighed, "Young Master, please pay more attention. How are you going to act tomorrow with this detached attitude? The outside world's evaluation of your acting skills is actually quite accurate, I hope you know that."
“I’ve been practicing really hard,” Lan Ye said, pointing to the AI acting coach in front of her. “I’ve even been mimicking facial expressions.”
"No wonder the young master's expression looks a bit distorted right now, he hasn't adjusted yet." Lan Yang couldn't help but laugh out loud. "After you went into the entertainment industry, I realized that there are things you're not good at."
Marquis Lanhua of the Southern Region, the young master of the Lan family, the uncrowned king of the Southern Region, and the army commander, was a figure of great renown. He was the only person in the Silver Glow Empire who was on par with Crown Prince Regas, an unattainable, god-like figure in the eyes of everyone. Before Lanhua went mad because of Crown Prince Regas's disappearance, Lan Yang also thought so.
And now, Lan Yang has once again confirmed that Lan Ye's acting skills are so bad they're unbearable to watch, not even reaching the level of a normal person. His success in the entertainment industry, besides the money-driven, overwhelming marketing, is entirely due to his face.
Lan Hua of the Southern Region, though renowned, had few who had ever seen his true face before—only his family, confidants, and Crown Prince Regas. Lan Hua rarely appeared in public; even at unavoidable celebrations and ceremonies, he wore a bionic face. While the bionic face bore a 60% resemblance to his real appearance, it still paled in comparison. Initially, Lan Hua used the bionic face for a simple reason: he was tired of the excessive attention drawn to his beautiful face.
Therefore, Lan Ye's face is Lan Hua's real face, while Lan Hua's face is a bionic face that is 60% identical to the real face.
"I've done my best." Lan Ye gave up struggling, completely accepting her poor acting skills. "Tomorrow, Ou Sai won't let the wedding continue until the end. After all, he thinks the Lan family has no hope, and he'll definitely seize the Subec family. There will be some chaos after the wedding is interrupted, and the palace's etiquette officials will rearrange the follow-up matters. You can take advantage of that time to 'forcibly' take me away. Even if the Lan family doesn't acknowledge Lan Ye's status, Lan Ye is still of Lan family blood, and leaving him there will only make the Lan family look bad."
Lan Yang said, "Of course I have no problem with that. But just to accommodate the fact that the Lan family looks down on 'Lan Ye,' when I take 'Lan Ye' away by force, I won't be very gentle..." If it weren't for the young master's order, he wouldn't dare to do this even if he had a hundred lives.
Lan Ye smiled insincerely and said, "Don't worry, I won't blame you."
Lan Yang shuddered. As Lan Ye's confidant, he knew his master's ways all too well; there would definitely be a trap waiting for him afterward.
"Why am I always the one who gets hurt?" He was on the verge of tears.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Aren't I the one who will be the most 'hurt' tomorrow?" Lan Ye said lazily, resting his chin on his right hand.
Lan Yang looked at Lan Ye with admiration. Although he knew that tomorrow's wedding and what would happen during it were just a show in Lan Ye's eyes, a show he had orchestrated, Lan Ye was using his real face. And apart from those in the know, to everyone else, Lan Ye was being jilted by the Third Prince in front of the entire universe.
Lan Yang considered it from his own perspective; he definitely couldn't handle it. But his young master, Lan Ye… he wouldn't be surprised by anything that guy did. Unless Crown Prince Regas could come back to life, Lan Ye would probably go insane.
"Young Master, may I ask you a question?" Lan Yang said.
“Ask away.” Lan Ye stared at the AI performance coach, looking conflicted. The AI performance coach was demonstrating an expression that conveyed shock, anger, and despair, with every muscle movement marked with precise angles and force data.
"That expression is really ugly..." Lan Ye said with disgust. He couldn't imagine that he would have such an expression on his face.
"It would be best to send someone to create some chaos at the Wanyi Temple to cover things up," Lan Ye muttered to himself. He really couldn't bring himself to make that expression on Ouse's face; his acting skills weren't up to par, so he could only make up for it with chaos, making the scene even more chaotic to cover things up.
"Hmm? What do you want to ask?" After Lan Ye had figured out a way to cover up his terrible acting skills, he remembered what Lan Yang had just said. "What question is so troubling?" Lan Yang's troubled expression piqued Lan Ye's curiosity.
Lan Yang hesitated for a long time, thinking that since he was going to "forcefully and unceremoniously" take Lan Ye away from the wedding tomorrow anyway, and the traps were already set, asking one more question would only be a matter of how many more traps there would be. So he gritted his teeth and asked, "Why use your true appearance?"
Even his true identity—Lan Hua—was represented by a bionic face. It's as if Lan Ye, using a fake identity, was using his real face. Creating a bionic face that rivals his true appearance wouldn't be difficult for him. Therefore, Lan Yang never understood why Lan Ye would use his real face.
“Because—” Lan Ye turned off the AI performance coach’s projection, the smile on her face gradually fading, “I want him to see me.”
Lan Ye turned on the light screen and his fingers flew across the screen. Then, a projection of a person appeared in front of him, with a gentle yet handsome appearance that even Lan Ye could not outshine.
Lan Yang saw the projection of Prince Regas. Although he wanted to speak, he held back and said nothing. Since it concerned Prince Regas, for the sake of his life, he could only listen and not mention it.
“My face and news of my marriage are all over the universe. I just want him to see it. If he's still alive, why won't he even give me a message—” Lan Ye lowered his eyes, chuckled softly, and then laughed louder and louder.
Lan Yang covered his eyes, indicating that he hadn't seen anything. Because Lan Ye was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face. This was not a scene he could bear to witness. Lan Yang felt a pang of regret; he knew he would eventually be tormented to death by Lan Ye because of his sharp tongue, but while he regretted it now, he would still dare to cause trouble next time.
"Alright, get back to work. If you make a mistake tomorrow, I'll beat you up."
"Yes, ma'am." Lan Yang didn't dare to be cheeky anymore and quickly logged off.
As expected, things proceeded as planned. The Third Prince broke off the engagement and left on the spot, leaving behind a commotion among the guests at the Wanyi Temple and countless spectators watching the live broadcast. After the wedding was interrupted, Lan Ye was also "forcibly" taken away from the scene by Lan Yang, who represented the Lan family of the Southern Region.
Where is Lan Ye? What is his situation? These questions have become among the most pressing concerns for the public after the wedding was interrupted. However, aside from various speculations and numerous unverified rumors, there has been no official news or concrete evidence.
Lan Ye's Starblog virtual lobby is always crowded with people waiting for the latest news, but unfortunately, the lobby has been symbolically overgrown with virtual projections because Lan Ye hasn't posted a single Starblog post in more than half a month, and Lan Ye still hasn't sent any news.
"Don't wait any longer, Lan Ye is being held at the Stafar Sanatorium."
On the StarNet, there are countless rumors about Lan Ye's whereabouts, but this reply in the discussion room quickly attracted everyone's attention because the person who replied to this message was Duke Balan, who was verified by the StarNet.
The Duke of Balan's mother is Princess Sia, the sister of the current Emperor Leo VI. Princess Sia lives at the Stafal Sanatorium, and the Duke of Balan visits her regularly.
Netizens went to Duke Baran's Starbucks to check for clues and found that his latest Starbucks post was made yesterday, and the location was set to the Stafal Sanatorium.
Although the Duke of Balan only replied with a single sentence and did not provide any evidence such as a photographic projection, his identity and his movements over the past few days made his words more reliable than other information about Lan Ye.
Curious netizens flocked to Duke Balan's Star Hall to inquire about the gossip. Although Duke Balan replied only briefly, he did confirm that he had seen Lan Ye by chance while visiting Princess Xaya.
The Stafar Sanatorium, located on the beautiful planet Swan, is a renowned yet mysterious institution within the Silver Glow Empire. Its inhabitants—or rather, those imprisoned there—are primarily high-ranking officials and their families. While some genuinely need treatment, many are there for "depression." The Stafar Sanatorium is a magnificent cage; entry is difficult, but escape is even harder. This explains why Lan Ye has remained completely silent, seemingly vanished.
Although Lan Ye's whereabouts have been basically confirmed, the fact that his whereabouts are known has sparked a heated discussion: How did Lan Ye get in?
Even if Lan Ye were truly insane, he couldn't possibly get into such a high-level sanatorium on his own. There are only two possibilities for his entry: either the Third Prince considered him a nuisance and sent him there, or the Lan family felt ashamed and sent him there. Both possibilities are highly probable. After all, to both the Third Prince and the Lan family, Lan Ye was a superfluous and troublesome person.
No one expected things to take such a dramatic turn. After all, just a short while ago, Lan Ye was the envy of everyone, but unexpectedly, under the spotlight, at what should have been the most glorious moment of his life, he fell to the bottom, becoming a laughing stock in the entire universe and even losing his freedom.
******
The Southern Cross Galaxy is the main star system of the Silver Empire's southern region, and the full title of the Southern Region's lord is the Duke of the Southern Cross. The current Duke of the Southern Cross is Lan Xi, the current head of the Lan family, who is low-key and approachable.
At this moment, the usually mild-tempered Duke Lanxi was on the verge of losing his temper, and the culprit was the person in front of him—his only son, Lanhua.
Duke Lanxi pressed his forehead. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?! He's already dead! You've had enough of your madness, it's time to wake up!"
Two years had passed, and he thought Lan Hua should have calmed down by now, but he never expected him to go even crazier.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
