A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

After getting the amulet back, Xia Ling felt much calmer and at ease.

She was afraid of agitating Pei Ziheng and did not dare to hang it around her neck all the time, but she still kept it in her handbag that she carried around at all times. She would take it out from time to time and sit alone recalling her memories with Li Lei and the short time of bliss they experienced together. These memories gave her the courage to continue on the long road in front of her that seemed to bring nothing but loneliness.

Pei Ziheng was very busy and would leave the house early and return late at night. He would usually return when she had already fallen asleep and leave before she woke up. Occasionally, she would see him in the office, always looking to be in a rush.

She should be happy with this situation.

Not seeing each other all the time meant less time for any hurt to be dealt out.

However, she knew what he was busy with. The war between Imperial Entertainment and Skyart Entertainment was highly publicized, and both companies were fighting against each other in every way possible. Neither side was willing to back down, and their war was affecting the entire industry. The stock market was highly volatile, and everyone embroiled in the midst of the war felt like they were riding a roller-coaster.

She was concerned, fearing that Li Lei would lose to Pei Ziheng and lose everything he had built up.

She was also worried for Pei Ziheng. If Imperial Entertainment really were beaten down, what was he going to do? She chided herself immediately after the thought. Pei Ziheng was so domineering, how could he be beaten? And even if he were, wouldn’t that be just what she wanted so that she could return to Li Lei’s side with the child?

She did not understand the ways of business, and could only glean snippets of what was happening from the news. This made her very jittery.

Perhaps due to all her worrying, her pregnancy was not a smooth one.

This day, after Senior Zhang had completed his regular check-up on her, he said, “You need to relax and maintain a good mood. Otherwise, it might harm both you and the child.”

Xia Ling nodded her head. Rationally, she knew that there was nothing she could do about the war of the businesses, and there was no point in her worrying. Ensuring the child was healthy was more important, and she could not take Senior Zhang’s advice lightly.

She forced herself to shift her attention to something else.

In these two lives, the only thing that she would lose herself in was singing.

Hence, she frequented the recording studio and asked to be scheduled for simple events and recordings to keep herself busy while ensuring that there was not too much strain on her body. Chu Chen contacted all the departments in Imperial Entertainment and did all he could to give her the best resources and schedule her for the best shows. Coupled with the fan base she had already built up, her popularity continued to soar.

Chu Chen accompanied her to the broadcasting station for an interview.

When they entered the broadcasting station, she realized that many people looking were at her with weird expressions. They seemed gleeful and had something to say but kept it to themselves.

Xia Ling felt uncomfortable and asked Chu Chen, “Why is everyone looking at me like that?”

Chu Chen replied confidently and respectfully, “Perhaps everyone just finds it intriguing to see you here given that you rarely come out these days.”

She accepted his answer but felt that something was lacking about it. There was a saying that one would become dumb for three years after getting pregnant, and Xia Ling felt like she had become dumber since the start of her pregnancy. It wasn’t long before she forgot about this issue.

They entered the filming studio.

Chu Chen verified with the emcee with a serious expression on his face. “There have been no changes to the interview question list, right? You understand what questions to ask and not to ask, right?”

The famous emcee gave Xia Ling a look before replying, “Of course. I’m not the paparazzi, and my program doesn’t care about gossips. Big Manager Chu, don’t worry. I have my work ethics.”

Something seemed off to Xia Ling, and she turned to look at Chu Chen again with a suspicious expression.

Chu Chen continued to smile confidently and said to her, “I’m just doing the usual verifications.”

Xia Ling thought about it and recalled that Chu Chen used to do the same in her past life. He would ensure that everything was in order and be extremely picky towards the filming staff. The entertainment circle was such that you had much more control if you were popular. Many artistes were happy to answer everything and anything when they were relatively unknown but would clam up after they had gotten famous, becoming much more selective about the questions they would take.

Chu Chen would always help her to pick and choose as appropriate.

However, his seriousness today was unusual.

Xia Ling shook her head and brushed her concerns off as her pregnancy hormones worked up again. She turned her attention to the emcee as they began the interview.

The interview recording went about smoothly and was completed in under an hour. Chu Chen breathed a sigh of relief and hustled Xia Ling out of the recording studio with her assistant, make-up artist, and bodyguards in tow.

The moment they walked out of the broadcasting station, they were surrounded by a group of reporters with all types of cameras.

“Miss Ye, what views do you have about the war between Imperial Entertainment and Skyart Entertainment?”

“Do you know if Li Lei and Pei Ziheng started this war because of you?”

“We heard that Li Lei said that he would not stop until one of them is dead. Is this true?”

“Miss Ye, I heard that you have a complicated relationship with Boss Li. You became famous by sleeping with him, and then went to Boss Pei when he offered you a higher price. Is this true?”

All kinds of questions were shot at Xia Ling from all directions.

Xia Ling was in a daze for a few seconds before coming back to her senses. So this was why Chu Chen was so tense in the recording studio earlier. He had probably heard of all these rumors being passed around.

The questions were fired at her one after another.

Thankfully, she was used to all kinds of situations being an artiste in her two lives. She kept her mouth shut and did not say a word as she was sheltered through the crowd and onto the waiting car by the bodyguards.

In the car, her assistant let out a long sigh. “Thank God this isn’t the Rolls-Royce.”

Typically, Xia Ling would sit in Pei Ziheng’s Rolls-Royce when going in and out of Imperial Entertainment. However, she would usually take the huge van when going on schedules given that many people in her team would follow.

Chu Chen glared at the assistant.

Xia Ling found her train of thought and asked, “What’s going on? Why is there such a commotion outside? Why are there so many rumors being passed around?” She was aware of the war between Imperial Entertainment and Skyart Entertainment and knew that she was the reason it started. However, who was the one who leaked this out to the press?

Chu Chen’s eyes narrowed as he said, “Li Lei suddenly pounced on us, and he’s biting onto Imperial Entertainment like a crazy dog and not letting go. The netizens are definitely going to guess what brought it on; thus, there are all sorts of rumors out there. The public likes to read these tabloids and gossips, and your three-way romance with the two big bosses is probably the favorite kind.”

Xia Ling ignored the second half of his sentence.

She saw red the moment he said “crazy dog.”

“Who are you calling a crazy dog?!” She snapped in a cold voice.

Chu Chen’s expression was calm. “Whoever wants to destroy Imperial Entertainment is a crazy dog.” He was from Imperial Entertainment and had placed all his bets on Pei Ziheng. As such, he definitely was not happy with Li Lei for throwing in so much instability to the mix.

Xia Ling’s chest heaved with anger as she continued coldly, “Chu Chen, how dare you call anyone else a dog? You’re the only one that should be called a dog! Pei Ziheng’s lackey! Don’t you feel so undervalued being my manager? Since you’re always talking back to me, why don’t you go back and grovel at Pei Ziheng’s feet? You should just go be Pei Ziheng’s secretary, you dog!”