Inside the hotel suite.

Xu Huanhuan curled up in the middle of the sofa, her nails dyed a charming red, flipping through the photos on her phone one by one.

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The photos were sent by the manager of the villa.

In the photos, Yu Wantang lay in the corner of the firewood room, her coarse cloth clothes stained with dust, and her hair disheveled. The person who took the photos was very sensible, deliberately shooting from a high angle to make her look both disheveled and pitiful.

Xu Huanhuan used two fingers to zoom in on the photo, stared at that face for a long time, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled up.

"Not bad at all." She shook her phone, a layer of excitement welling up in her eyes, "What do you guys think? Will she make a fuss after she wakes up?"

Opposite her, Gu Yanshen wore a well-tailored dark suit, his cufflinks gleaming with a cold light. He was still holding a glass of red wine, his thumb absentmindedly rubbing the rim of the glass.

"She still hasn't figured out where she is, so she doesn't dare make a fuss."

"What if she does make a fuss?" Xu Huanhuan flipped her phone down onto her knees, her tone coquettish, "If she really starts acting up, do you expect the sleeping potion to drug her for the rest of her life? That wouldn't be any fun at all."

"Huanhuan, you're just too kind."

Gu Yanshen swirled his wine glass, his voice unhurried.

"To make her thoroughly believe that she has time-traveled, we can't let her be too comfortable. First, find an excuse to make her kneel for a few hours, until her legs go numb, and then she'll know what superiority and inferiority mean."

Clearly Yu Wantang's fiancé, his tone when talking about how to torture his own fiancée was as casual as discussing what to eat for dinner.

"Yanshen is right."

A long black box rested beside Chen Yu's feet, its lid open, revealing a brand-new riding crop lying inside.

He pulled out the whip, weighed it in his palm, and grinned.

"Just bought it, the feel is indeed quite good. After locking her up for a few days to wear down her spirit, I can just use her to practice."

Xu Huanhuan covered her lips with her palm, putting on a look of unbearable pity.

"Isn't that a bit too much?"

"How could it be?" Chen Yu leaned back against the back of the chair, the tip of the whip sweeping back and forth across the carpet, "You said it yourself, this is called an immersive experience. Since she's a maid, she has to abide by a maid's rules."

Yu Wanzhou was curled up in a single-sofa on the other side scrolling through his phone, without even raising his head.

"My sister is all bark and bite; a few beatings will make her obedient." He swiped his thumb across the screen, nonchalant, "Once she's obedient, making her serve us tea and water every day will be truly interesting."

Pausing for a moment, he added another sentence, "Besides, making her suffer a bit now is for her own good. In the future, when she marries into the Gu Family and causes less trouble, she'll even have to thank us."

The few of them looked at each other and laughed.

No one felt anything was wrong.

Wasn't it just locking someone up and playing an ancient role-playing game?

Yu Wantang was just stupid herself for believing in time travel; that was her own foolishness.

Just as they were laughing, Xu Huanhuan's phone rang.

"Miss Xu, the villa… something happened at the villa!"

The four of them hurriedly drove up the mountain.

Two hours later, the car drove into the gates of the villa.

Deep inside the villa, a certain hidden dressing room.

This place was originally a filming location. A row of ancient costumes hung on the walls, with silks and satins piled all over the shelves, and the dressing table was filled with wigs, hairpins, and various pieces of jewelry.

Xu Huanhuan changed into a pink ruqun, with a light-colored belt tied around her waist and delicate peach blossoms embroidered on her chest. The ends of her eyebrows slightly turned up, a touch of rouge pressed at the corners of her eyes, and her hair was pinned with pearls and emeralds, with a golden hair ornament dangling by her temples—she was the spitting image of a pampered young lady from a prestigious family.

She stared at herself in the mirror, the corners of her lips slowly curving up.

So what if Yu Wantang was the eldest young lady of the Yu Family? Right now, wasn't she still at her mercy?

Yu Wanzhou changed into a sapphire-blue brocade long robe, with a suet jade pendant hanging from his waist and his hair crown wrapped in gold threads. He was young to begin with, and deliberately held his chin high, forcefully squeezing out a bit of pampered arrogance.

Before leaving, he casually picked up the gold-dusted folding fan on the table, unfolded it with a swish, and waved it twice at the mirror.

"Look, don't I look like a noble young master from a storybook?"

"You do." Chen Yu was tucking that riding crop behind his waist. In black martial arts attire, his long hair tied back with a hair ribbon without a crown, his brows and eyes cold and stern, standing there, he truly had a bit of striking and handsome elegance.

Gu Yanshen came out last.

In a dark python robe, dark gold python patterns crawling all over the hem of the robe, his waist bound with a jade belt, and wearing a jade crown on his head, his expression serious, once he put on airs, that steady vibe came right out.

Chen Yu had changed into a set of black martial arts attire.

He didn't wear a crown, only tying his long hair with a black hair ribbon. With cold and stern brows and eyes, standing there, he truly possessed a bit of striking and handsome elegance.

The four of them tidied up their clothes and accessories, and walked towards the main hall.

In the main hall, a pot of hot tea was placed on the Eight Immortals table, with white steam curling upwards.

Yu Wantang sat right in the main seat that originally belonged to the master of the Xu residence. Wearing a coarse cloth ruqun, she held a celadon teacup in her hands, lowering her head to blow away the tea foam.

Just as Xu Huanhuan stepped across the threshold, she stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing this scene.

According to the script, Yu Wantang should be cowering in the firewood room crying right now, trembling all over.

Instead of sitting in the main seat, drinking tea.

"Vile maid!"

She lifted the hem of her skirt and stepped forward quickly, reprimanding harshly, "Is this a place someone like you can sit? Who gave you the guts, get down here!"

Yu Wantang held the teacup, without even lifting her eyelids.

Gu Yanshen walked in, nonchalantly looked around first, and then let his gaze fall on Yu Wanzhou, putting on a displeased expression.

"Brother Xu, how is it that the maids in your esteemed residence are so devoid of manners?"

According to the settings they had concocted, the Xu residence was a famous imperial merchant in the capital, Xu Huanhuan was the legitimate eldest young lady, and Yu Wanzhou was cast as her biological younger brother born of the same mother. Gu Yanshen's identity was the heir of a marquis's manor, while Chen Yu had the persona of a young general.

Yu Wanzhou closed his folding fan with a swish, bowing affectedly, "My Lord Heir, you are making a laughingstock of us."

"Someone come! Drag this unruly servant out and give her twenty strokes of the staff!"

The two manservants waiting at the door responded and stepped forward.

Xu Huanhuan folded her arms, her chin slightly raised, waiting for Yu Wantang to kneel and beg for mercy.

"Are you done talking?" Yu Wantang placed the teacup onto the table. "Since you're done talking, it's my turn."

Xu Huanhuan's brows knitted together: "What did you sa—"

Before her words finished falling, Yu Wantang raised her hand and leisurely clapped twice.

"All of you, come out."

As the applause fell, a dozen or so people swarmed in from outside the hall in a rush.

They were all actors wearing ancient costumes—manservants, maids, guards, and so on. The previously relatively spacious hall was crowded to the brim in the blink of an eye.

Yu Wanzhou didn't notice anything amiss and shouted out again.

"What are you all standing around for? Lock this vile maid back in the firewood room!"

No one moved.

Then, the four of them watched with their own eyes as those people walked towards them.

Xu Huanhuan's shoulders sank heavily.

Two manservants grabbed her from left and right, their iron-plier-like fingers pinching into her flesh through the light gauze.

"What are you doing?!" She struggled desperately, "Let go! Did you hear me, let go!"

That manservant remained silent, the strength in his hands instead becoming a bit heavier.

Yu Wanzhou: "Have you rebelled?! Are you all crazy? I am… the Young Master!"

Gu Yanshen was so angry that the blue veins on his temples throbbed violently, "Have you lot rebelled? Do you know who pays your wages?"

The few actors holding him down looked at each other and then uniformly looked towards Yu Wantang. Seeing that she didn't speak, not a single person let go.

Yu Wantang stood up, walked over to Xu Huanhuan, squatted down, and reached out to gently pat her face.

Once, and then again.

The movement was very light, carrying a hint of mockery.

"What do you, this bitch, want to do?!" Xu Huanhuan shook all over with anger, her exquisite face turning red.

"Nothing much." Yu Wantang looked at her, her smile shallow, "I just think your outfit is quite nice, but not just anyone can play the role of a prestigious young lady."

These words smashed into her ears, causing a buzzing sound to ring inside Xu Huanhuan's head.

Yu Wantang knew this was fake?

Impossible.

She had personally arranged the sleeping potion, the firewood room was decorated according to the script, and even that bowl of spoiled porridge floating with vegetable leaves was matched according to historical angst novels.

It was watertight.

Where on earth did things go wrong?

"What's wrong, are you addicted to acting?"

Yu Wantang straightened her body and dusted off the non-existent dust on her skirt.

Her gaze swept across the four faces one by one, her smile deepening bit by bit.

"You spent money to hire so many people and set up such a big stage. Since you love acting so much, next, I'll be the director, and we'll have a good performance together."

Looking at the smile in Yu Wantang's eyes, even though she was clearly smiling, it sent a chill down the backs of all four people.

A strong, bad premonition suddenly arose.

This script…

seemed to have gone out of control.