Pressing the answer button, Hua Ruyi's voice, with its distinct Northeast accent, came through, "Little sister, there's a job for you!"
Jiang Ling blinked in surprise, then smiled, "Alright!"
Without a doubt, this drama must have been assigned to Hua Ruyi by the system. After all, "The Legend of the Butterfly Lovers" was considered a period romance idol drama, and it was only fitting to have the top idol drama director, Hua Ruyi, helm it, so as not to tarnish such a good story.
With Jiang Ling's love and career both thriving, Shen Mingjue and An Qiuyan, who had previously caused the original owner such distress, were now living in dire straits.
Within the Shen family, the struggle for money and power had turned into a bitter fight, draining their vitality. Meanwhile, Mei Ruohan took the opportunity to prey on them. For every bit of energy the Shen brothers consumed, the Mei family gained more. In the end, Shen Minghuang emerged victorious with a clever move, while Shen Mingjue was defeated and forced out of the competition.
Although Shen Minghuang won, it was a Pyrrhic victory, with their foundations severely depleted. The Mei family, on the other hand, grew fat and powerful from the ordeal.
One day, just as Jiang Ling finished filming the scene where the sedan chairs were swapped in the rain for "The Legend of the Butterfly Lovers," she suddenly heard explosive news.
An Qiuyan had been disfigured!
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ling was completely bewildered. What had happened? How did that little bitch An Qiuyan get disfigured? Could it have been Shen Mingjue? Jiang Ling quickly asked Sister Sa to help her find out.
The results of the inquiry were exactly as she had expected; it was indeed Shen Mingjue who had done it.
It turned out that Shen Mingjue, having lost in the competition, was dejected and spent his days drinking and acting out. An Qiuyan, seeing him like this, was reminded of her own scummy father. When he had lost all their family fortune, he also drank heavily every day, and while drinking, he would beat her mother. She couldn't stand seeing Shen Mingjue like this, so she urged him to pull himself together and fight Shen Minghuang to the end.
Shen Mingjue ignored her completely, continuing to drink. In her anger, An Qiuyan threatened him, "If you don't get your act together, I'll expose your background, and you won't even have money to drink."
Hearing this, Shen Mingjue's blood boiled. The rage, fueled by alcohol, was like Wu Zetian losing her sanity after her husband's death. Shen Mingjue grabbed a wine bottle and smashed it hard onto An Qiuyan.
An Qiuyan let out a pained scream, but Shen Mingjue, still not satisfied, used the broken bottle to slash An Qiuyan's face. Her beautiful, pure face was ruined just like that.
When Shen Mingjue sobered up and saw An Qiuyan's state, he was startled and quickly fled to another town to hide. An Qiuyan missed the best time for treatment. By the time she was sent to the hospital, her face was so badly injured that even after treatment, she would be left with extremely ugly scars.
When the incident broke out, Old Master Shen was both shocked and furious, but he had no choice but to help clean up the mess. He sent people to look for Shen Mingjue and went to the hospital himself, offering a large sum of money to appease An Qiuyan and persuade her to let the matter drop.
However, Shen Minghuang was unwilling to miss this opportunity for revenge. He personally went to the hospital and told An Qiuyan that he already knew the truth about the swapped sedan chairs. Once the Old Master found out, he would no longer help Shen Mingjue, and she would not receive a single penny of the compensation promised by the Old Master. Instead, she should sue Shen Mingjue for assault and battery, sending him to prison to sew, thus avenging herself. If An Qiuyan agreed to sue, he would double whatever the Old Master promised her. To show his sincerity, Shen Minghuang also transferred some money to An Qiuyan's account to cover her initial medical expenses.