Chapter 846 - 845: Cheng Zhirang! I Misjudged You!

After moving Shi Yuhuai into the real dark room, Mu Qiu happily clapped his hands and closed the door.

"Brother Huai, from now on you’re just a useless cannon fodder. Once our group performance officially starts and Brother Cheng opens this door, you’ll see daylight again. You must endure, hang in there!"

Shi Yuhuai signaled with his eyes: Get lost.

Once the door was shut, Mu Qiu stood on the steps and did the second thing, inquiring about Zhu Qi’s identity.

"You’ve returned to replace Brother Huai’s identity, right? So the role originally planned for Brother Huai in our story will now be shifted to you?"

"No."

Zhu Qi pulled out a piece of paper from his wide sleeve.

Those who still had vivid memories of his "self-brought corpse guide" flinched.

He glanced at the paper briefly, stuffed it back, and said, "I’m just Brother Huai’s stand-in, here to help share some of the roles, basically a so-called tool man, substituting Brother Huai to wander outside.

After all, everyone’s formed in groups of three, you can’t always be a group of two, too much PDA isn’t good either."

Mu Qiu: "......"

"But when it comes to Brother Huai’s part in the story, I can retreat with accomplishment. Obviously, I didn’t come back just for half an hour and leave," Zhu Qi chuckled, looking at Guan Yu’s group and said:

"When they don’t need me, you can hire me at a high price to be an extra or a slightly significant passerby, I’ve got some acting skills, guaranteed satisfaction!"

Guan Yu gave him a once-over: "Well look at you, you haven’t even started this job and already scoping out the next one? Are you here for the reality show or just taking on temp jobs?"

"That’s very insightful, I’m here for the temp work." He laughed.

Mu Qiu rubbed his chin, nodding: "So it’s clear now, you have no special role assigned. Thirdly, is our story performance happening simultaneously? Do you know?"

Zhu Qi nodded again: "It’s just as notified in the broadcast, our show’s sponsor dad has funded a newly launched product, allowing three split screens in a single live stream room. Like switching channels on a connected TV, choose whichever screen you like to watch the live performance, and accumulate votes by liking. It’s quite impressive, I heard it is included in the hundred-thousand-dollar gift pack."

After briefly explaining two sentences, he happily said to the camera: "Sponsor dad, did I do a good job on the verbal ad? Will you like it?"

"More like pointing your acupuncture, be serious for a moment, tell us any other news you know." Guan Yu said.

"Really, nothing else, I’m just a tool man."

Shu Ran squinted at him: "You don’t know anything about that spy either?"

Zhu Qi looked honest: "No, but I suspect that the side quest of this game is to find the spy."

"What spy? Can you speak properly?"

Mu Qiu earnestly, righteously corrected him: "That’s called a justice enforcer, it’s you, it’s me, it’s every one of us wanting to be the leading protagonist in life!"

Zhu Qi: "...making things up is your strong suit."

"So what should we be doing now?" Li Yang pulled Song Weili closer to ask.

Mu Qiu: "Hasn’t Sister Guan Yu summed it up already? Go out, run into NPCs, refine identities, create even cooler stories, earn higher votes, and enjoy life outside."

Li Yang clasped his hands: "Got it, defeat the unlucky director, staunchly uphold the rights of electronic sounds!"

Zhu Qi leaned back slightly, furrowed his brows regrettably as he looked at him: "When we first met in episode one, Li Yang, you weren’t this kind of person!"

Shu Ran patted Li Yang’s shoulder, spoke to Zhu Qi: "He’s grown."

Song Weili also wanted to say something but then strange chaotic sounds erupted outside, followed by many people shouting for the Crown Prince.

"NPCs must have come out, Brother Cheng and the others are outside." Zhu Qi said.

Mu Qiu curiously walked outside, a group of people leaned at the bend, peeking at the wide green stone road outside where a batch of maidservants was kneeling.

Guan Yu whispered: "The show team really knows how to hire extras, this entire group, all with hair and makeup identical - kind of a hassle."

Mu Qiu hushed them, looking at Cheng Zhirang standing in front of the maidservants.

He couldn’t move, dressed in black robes, standing tall with fists placed before the abdomen, frowning as he listened to their chaotic cries.

That seemed to be his usual demeanor when acting in costume dramas.

A maidservant shouted loudly: "Your Highness! Absolutely not! His Majesty has already bestowed marriage upon you, you’re powerless to reverse the situation! If you rush forth with a sword, you’ll be mistaken for attempting to assassinate His Majesty, and then you won’t remain Crown Prince!"

Another maidservant quickly followed up: "Besides, what’s so bad about Miss Zhang? Why must you yearn for Prince Shi’s fiancée? Miss Zhang is already in the Eastern Palace, you should stop going out to see Miss Mu!"

From afar, Mu Qiu: "???"

Wow, that development added some flesh, directly adding a wife for Cheng Zhirang. This is setting their story up to become the compelling tales of extramarital entanglements that must say something!

From behind, Zhu Qi murmured: "Actually, if you need a Crown Princess Consort, I can perform that role too."

Mu Qiu turned around, shocked looking at him: "...is this the legendary bearing humiliation heavily?"

Li Yang almost couldn’t hold his laughter.

Maidservants continued their performance on the road ahead.

"Your Highness! Clear your mind! What does Miss Mu have that attracts you? She just resembles Miss Bai greatly, but like Miss Bai, she’s unattainable, making you feel unsatisfied!"

Cheng Zhirang froze and lifted his head, meeting Mu Qiu’s gaze peering from the corner.

Guan Yu: "Clever, even adding a substitute trope?"

Mu Qiu was left speechless, stepping forward, Cheng Zhirang prepared to move too, but then a maidservant clutched his foot directly, wailing in desperation:

"Your Highness! Don’t go! Don’t meet her!"

"Could you please let go, I’m worried about stepping on..."

"Cheng Zhirang!"

Mu Qiu jumped out, tremblingly pointing at him, with an exaggerated sad expression:

"So that’s how it is! You just see me as someone else’s substitute! And I was ready to talk to Prince Shi about breaking the engagement yesterday, reading your letter over again, reminiscing when you called me Sweet! Turns out... turns out that’s how it is! Too deceptive!"

Cheng Zhirang: "...?"

Behind him, An Zhou and Xu Jihua were completely thunderstruck, not anticipating she’d pick up the scene so quickly and fiercely.

Cheng Zhirang momentarily also couldn’t find words to catch up with her act, subconsciously shouted her name: "Qiuqiu..."

"Qiuqiu?! Whose maiden name is Qiuqiu?! Is it that Miss Bai’s?! So you really always have just treated me as a substitute... My true name is clearly Mu Dazhuang!"

Now Cheng Zhirang was truly thunderstruck, scorched from inside out.