adbindia Chapter 334: Yu Ji Toasts the Overlord—Even Water Tastes Like Strong Wine
Chapter 334: Yu Ji Toasts the Overlord—Even Water Tastes Like Strong Wine
Chapter 334: Yu Ji Toasts the Overlord—Even Water Tastes Like Strong Wine 🍶
The large screen instantly switched, displaying four simultaneous video clips.
In the upper left corner, a veteran actress in a family drama was crying heart-wrenchingly after discovering her husband's infidelity.
In the upper right corner, a middle-aged actor in a police film, playing a mother who learns her undercover son has sacrificed himself, was silently weeping while pounding on a tombstone.
In the lower left corner, a young actress in a youth film was sobbing with despair and suppression in a rooftop corner after being bullied at school.
These three clips were textbook examples of explosive acting, the pinnacle of emotional release, tearjerking performances that could instantly make the audience empathize.
But the clip in the lower right corner was eerily quiet.
There were no lines, no scene partner, not even a full facial close-up.
In a dimly lit tent, the faint glow of battle fires seeped in from outside.
A woman in a bright red wedding dress danced alone to the ancient, simple music of Chu.
Her figure was slender, but her dance steps carried a determination as if marching to her death.
The camera slowly panned up from her skirt, passed her taut waistline, and finally settled on her tear-filled profile as she glanced back.
That tear did not fall.
It just hung there at the corner of her eye, reflecting the firelight from outside the tent.
Utterly beautiful, and utterly tragic.
It was precisely the final dance before Yu Ji's suicide in "The Legend of Han and Chu."
Sitting in the front row, Zhao Yingfei's body trembled slightly.
It was as if she had returned to that film set, to that scene that had drained all her energy.
Jiang Ci, sitting beside her, did not offer words of comfort.
He reached out and gently pushed the prop jade jue that had been lying on the table in front of him a few inches toward Zhao Yingfei's direction.
The jade jue slid silently across the smooth table surface.
Jue, meaning decision, severance.
At the Hongmen Feast, Fan Zeng used it to signal Xiang Yu to make the killing decision.
By pushing this token of "decisiveness" to her, he silently conveyed a message: It was you who made the choice.
Miraculously, Zhao Yingfei's trembling stopped.
She didn't look at the jade jue, but she felt it.
On stage, the award presenter opened the envelope, cleared his throat, and faced the microphone.
"The winner of the 33rd Golden Rooster Awards for Best Supporting Actress is—"
He paused, weighed down by the significance of the name.
"'The Legend of Han and Chu,' Zhao Yingfei!"
Boom!
Thunderous applause erupted throughout the venue.
Cameras and spotlights instantly focused on the figure in the dark red gown sitting in the front row.
Many actresses, upon winning awards, would cover their faces in excitement, cry tears of joy, or need support from others.
Zhao Yingfei did none of that.
She straightened her body, using all her strength.
Then, she stood up, not gracefully lifting the hem of her dress,
but roughly, grabbing the intricate, heavy skirt in one hand.
Holding the skirt in her hand, she straightened her back and walked step by step toward the stage.
Her high heels clicked crisply against the floor.
Tap, tap, tap.
Each step trod upon the ruins of her past, shattering the self that had been called a "pretty vase."
At this moment, it was not the actress Zhao Yingfei walking onto the stage.
It was Yu Ji, resolved to die.
She accepted the heavy trophy, stood before the microphone, and the applause in the venue gradually subsided.
Her fingers gripping the trophy were clenched very tightly.
"Many people say I'm a pretty vase, a resource-backed star."
Her first words made the entire venue fall silent.
The most piercing self-exposure.
Her voice trembled slightly, yet was exceptionally clear.
"That's right, before encountering 'The Legend of Han and Chu,' I was."
"But in that scene," she paused, raised her head, and faced the countless cameras, "I truly died once."
She didn't continue. Instead, she turned her body and, under the gaze of thousands, accurately found the figure sitting quietly in the audience.
"That day, before filming started, I couldn't find the feeling. I looked at the Hegemon's back, feeling like the sky was about to collapse,"
"But I just couldn't cry. I couldn't find the state Yu Ji should have had before going to her death."
"Until the director called 'action,' and he turned around."
"I saw his face."
Zhao Yingfei's tone unconsciously rose.
"There was... nothing on it. No love, no hatred, no reluctance. Only a deathly resolve determined to use his own life to fill the world."
"It was the deathly resolve in the Hegemon's eyes that, in that moment, killed Zhao Yingfei, who was still thinking about how to act the crying scene well, how to immerse herself in the role."
"Then, Yu Ji came to life."
After saying this, she turned her body to face the entire venue once more.
She raised the golden trophy in her hand high.
Under the dazzling lights, she loudly proclaimed to the man who had not stood up from beginning to end—
"This trophy, half of it belongs to you!"
"This half, toasts the Hegemon!"
As her words fell, all the broadcast directors in the venue frantically cut every close-up shot to Jiang Ci.
Everyone thought Jiang Ci would stand up, gracefully applaud and acknowledge, responding to this honor with a perfect smile.
Jiang Ci did not do so.
Amidst the boiling wave of noise in the venue, under the gaze of countless cameras,
Jiang Ci calmly picked up a glass of plain water from the table in front of him.
It was just an ordinary glass of water for guests.
On the glass wall, the red figure on the stage was reflected.
He raised his hand, lifting the glass into the air.
His gaze traversed the noisy sea of people, crossed the flashy vortex of fame and fortune, and met Zhao Yingfei's from afar on the stage.
That gaze held none of the actor Jiang Ci's politeness, nor the surprise of being thanked.
There was only a desolate wind from an ancient battlefield.
He was not toasting the award-winning actress Zhao Yingfei before him.
He was toasting Yu Ji, who, in a parallel universe over two thousand years ago, in his tent,
danced her final dance for him, staining her wedding dress with blood.
Then, he tilted his head back.
And drank the plain water in the glass in one gulp.
What he drank was not bland water, but the strongest liquor at the Wu River crossing, when bidding farewell to his Jiangdong comrades.
After drinking it all, he heavily thumped the empty glass back onto the table.
Emitting a soft "clack" sound.
A silent interaction, with tension stretched to the limit.
At this moment, the entire venue fell completely silent.
Reporters who had been frantically pressing their camera shutters a second ago stopped their actions.
Actors in the back row who had prepared congratulatory speeches stood with their mouths open, forgetting what they were going to say.
On stage, Zhao Yingfei, who had just been radiating formidable momentum, watched him drink that "liquor,"
and finally revealed an extremely beautiful smile.
Not far away, Qin Feng watched this scene quietly.
He watched the young man who drank plain water as if it were strong liquor,
and watched the woman in red on the stage who wept at his solitary response.
He let out a soft sigh.
At this moment, he was not the Film Emperor Qin Feng.
He was Liu Bang.
The Han Dynasty's founding emperor who possessed the world, won every war, yet throughout his entire life,
never obtained such a commitment of life and death, such unwavering devotion.
He possessed the empire.
But he forever lost that rival who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him, and that heroic spirit that could make a beauty willingly die for it.
Almost simultaneously.
Social media platforms across the entire internet were completely ignited by two hashtags with unstoppable force.
#Yu Ji Toasts the Hegemon#
#Jiang Ci Drinks Water as if it Were Wine#