remember
Chu Yiran had a dream; he dreamt of the scene when he first entered the palace.
Inside the palace walls in December, fine snow fell like cotton. Under the eaves of the Wenhua Hall, a row of young boys shivered from the cold. Chu Yiran's fingertips were red, but he still stood straight, motionless in the cold wind.
That day was the selection of the Crown Prince's study companion. The sons of noble families all came to the palace to participate in the selection. The Chu family had been a military family for generations, and everyone believed that Chu Yiran was the only choice to be the Crown Prince's study companion.
A palace servant lifted the thick curtain to serve tea to the nobles in the hall. Through the gap in the curtain, Chu Yiran saw a human figure curled up on the brocade carpet—a thin palace servant, bare-backed, supporting a pair of white jade-like feet. Following the brocade trousers upwards, the densely woven gold dragon pattern stung his eyes in the sunlight.
The seventeen-year-old crown prince leaned against the phoenix-shaped armchair, pressing his feet against the backs of the palace servants, causing them to tremble.
Four or five palace servants surrounded the crown prince, who had a grape handed to him by the empress in his mouth, the bright red juice overflowing from the corner of his lips. Immediately, a palace servant knelt down and presented him with a silk handkerchief.
Everyone was putting in their best effort, but Chu Yiran turned his eyes away with a look of disgust. The next second, his gaze was drawn to a figure in the corner of the side hall.
A thin, plain cotton robe wrapped around his slender figure. The boy's eyes were like black jade tempered with ice. He leaned against the wall with one hand, peeking out half of his head and secretly looking in this direction.
—That was Su Jing, the “demon child” who caused his mother’s early death, and the “unlucky prince” that everyone in the palace avoided.
Chu Yiran found it amusing. He had never seen this "famous" seventh prince before, so he seized the opportunity to slip out behind the palace servants.
He circled most of the palace and found Su Jing, who was still peering over the wall. He was about to tease this unpopular "bad boy" from behind when he was suddenly pulled away before he could even put his hand on the other's shoulder.
Chu Yiran's body tensed up suddenly. Before he could react, he was slammed against the wall, and a worn-out silver hairpin was pressed against his neck.
Su Jing was more than half a head taller than him. The sleeve of his left hand, which was holding the hairpin, was rolled up, revealing a section of his forearm—a hideous burn scar on his pale skin.
Chu Yiran was shocked. He had been learning martial arts from his father, Chu Zhongyi, since he was a child and was always much more agile than his peers. He never expected that he would be suppressed by Su Jing in one move.
The silver hairpin was sharp and exuded a chilling aura, but it was far less cold and piercing than Su Jing's exposed skin.
Chu Yiran couldn't help but shiver, then smiled and asked, "Isn't Your Highness cold?"
"It's none of your business." The boy's voice was hoarse, with a cold tone like metal striking stone, indifferent yet sharp.
After saying that, Su Jing put away the silver hairpin and was about to leave. His back was thin and bony, but his martial arts training gave him sharp lines, like an unsharpened narrow knife.
"Hey—" Chu Yiran followed relentlessly, "You're much better than those pampered princes, but still a bit worse than me. What you did just now was a sneak attack, that's despicable! My father said, 'A gentleman who practices martial arts must first be courteous.' You lack martial ethics, so let's spar a couple more times, and I'll show you what I'm capable of! Also, who is your martial arts master, and how long do you practice every day? Tell me quickly..."
The two walked one after the other, leaving long footprints in the snow.
The following day, during the palace selection, Chu Yiran accidentally knocked over the inkstone in front of the Crown Prince and the Grand Tutor, spilling ink on the exam paper. He failed to become the Crown Prince's study companion that everyone had been hoping for, and instead spent his days following behind that "unlucky prince" Su Jing.
This continued for thirteen years.
——
Chu Yiran woke up to the smell of disinfectant, his gaze gradually focusing on the stark white ceiling of the hospital. A burning sting still lingered in his throat, and he raised his hand to touch the side of his neck—the swelling caused by the allergic reaction had subsided, but his memory was becoming increasingly clear.
The original owner was allergic to pollen.
—These were the last memories that flooded into Chu Yiran's mind before she fainted.
"Ran-ge! You're finally awake!" Sun Xiaoxiao rushed to the bedside, clutching a stack of medical reports in her hand. "You scared me to death! You just collapsed so gracefully, and you even fell right on top of Su Jing."
“Su Jing…” Chu Yiran repeated the name in a low voice, the face that looked exactly like the emperor in her previous life appearing in her mind.
Sun Xiaoxiao, oblivious to his odd behavior, continued rambling on, "But Actor Su was quite gentlemanly. He and the nurses helped carry you to the bed, and then he went to see Sister Xing before leaving. Ah, no wonder he's a top star, his manners are just different..."
Chu Yiran interrupted her: "Best Actor? Top Star?"
"Ran-ge, why do you look like that? Didn't you say before that you entered this industry because you like Su Jing? You even repeated a year of high school to get into Su Jing's alma mater..." Sun Xiaoxiao looked at Chu Yiran with some suspicion, then took out her phone and swiped a few times, "Even if you were excited to see your idol, wasn't it a bit rude to just rush over like that? But Su Jingdi just won the Golden River Award for Best Actor last month for 'The Green Robe and the Bone Knife,' and Xing-jie seems to have a pretty good relationship with him. If we can get on his good side..."
Sun Xiaoxiao started laughing so hard she couldn't stop, completely absorbed in her own fantasy and oblivious to the world around her.
On the screen, Su Jing's resume was dazzlingly impressive—her father was a singer, her mother was a national second-level actress, she came from a family of performers, entered the entertainment industry at the age of eight, won the Star Award for Best Newcomer at the age of nineteen, and later was admitted to a top film academy in China. She has countless representative works in her twenty years in the industry...
The original owner's memories also flooded into his mind along with the introduction on the screen. In this world, Su Jing was a star-studded, privileged young man, and also the original owner Chu Yiran's idol since childhood. He was deeply attracted from the first time he saw Su Jing on TV, and during his student days, he watched countless films and television shows starring Su Jing.
TV dramas, movies, variety shows, commercials... Images of Su Jing from this world, active on the big screen from childhood to adulthood, flashed through Chu Yiran's mind like a revolving lantern. These were completely different from the sinister prince Su Jing in his memory, who struggled to survive in the deep palace and did anything to seize the throne.
Is this a coincidence? Just like Zheng Shuyi, is the Su Jing in this world the same person as the Su Jing in the previous life in terms of name and appearance, but not the same person?
—Or... did Su Jing also transmigrate here like him?
"Excuse me, who are you...?" The image of Su Jing frowning from earlier flashed through my mind. "Have we met before?"
"It's none of your business." The calm and indifferent eyes from his past life overlapped with Su Jing's in this life, and Chu Yiran's breathing became rapid.
no.
He has to verify it.
Thinking of this, Chu Yiran immediately pulled out the IV needle in his left hand, and while getting up and putting on his coat, he said to Sun Xiaoxiao, "Xiaoxiao, can you ask me where Su Jing lives and where he is now? I have something I need to go see him about."
Seeing Chu Yiran's flustered appearance, Sun Xiaoxiao also became anxious and stepped forward to grab his waist: "Brother Ran, are you having another episode? What am I, some nobody? Where am I supposed to find out about Actor Su for you? We're miles apart in status, we haven't even crossed paths for the past twenty years. If things go wrong, we might never see each other again. Even if you get excited when you see your idol, you can't be like those obsessive fans and stalk him!"
Sun Xiaoxiao became increasingly distressed as she spoke: "Brother Ran, the crew just called to tell you to go back to Hengdian tomorrow. Our careers have finally started to pick up, so you absolutely can't cause any more trouble! If you focus on your career now, you might have a chance to meet your idol in the future. We have a long road ahead of us!!"
Sun Xiaoxiao's earnest persuasion brought Chu Yiran back to reality. He paused, then precisely extracted the key words: "Are you saying that Su Jing and I are completely unrelated and will never see each other again?"
“It’s not that absolute. Although we can’t even get a supporting role in Su Jing’s movies right now, although we can’t even sit in the same VIP area as him at the same event, and although you went through all sorts of trouble to get an autographed photo from Su Jing at the film festival last time…” Sun Xiaoxiao released Chu Yiran’s waist, becoming more and more guilty as she spoke, “But we have a long way to go! Maybe you’ll be able to stand up for yourself someday, Ran-ge!”
Yes, in this world, he and Su Jing have no connection whatsoever.
Whether Su Jing in this world is a different person or has transmigrated from his previous life, could he possibly kill him again?
"Su Jing, if there is an afterlife, I only wish that we... will never meet again."
The last words from his past life flashed through his mind, and Chu Yiran took a deep breath: "Xiaoxiao, let's pack up and get ready to go to Hengdian."
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