Delicate Beauty in the Palm : Chapter 50 - Your Highness the Princess
Chapter 50: Your Highness the Princess
Chen Die ran straight into her apartment, panting, feeling oddly hot all over, though she couldn’t say exactly where—it was just an uncomfortable heat.
She tossed her bag onto the sofa, paused for a moment, then ran to the window. Wen Liang’s car had just driven off.
She stood there for two seconds before suddenly getting nervous—what if someone had taken photos of them in the car or seen something?
Then she remembered Wen Liang’s car windows were tinted. You couldn’t see inside from the outside, so there was nothing to worry about.
Her head was still spinning from what had just happened. After a few waves of panic, she finally collapsed onto the couch, exhausted.
She couldn’t focus on <A-Xiao> script anymore, so she decided to go take a shower instead.
The bathroom filled with steam.
Hot water poured over her skin, fogging up the mirror and glass until everything was misty and blurred.
When she stepped out of the shower, water droplets on the mirror slid down in streaks, creating a patchy reflection.
Before she could even get dressed, she caught a glimpse of a few faint red fingerprints beneath her chest through the foggy mirror.
“......”
Her face burned. She cursed Wen Liang again in her mind, didn’t dare take another look, and quickly got dressed before slipping into her slippers and leaving the bathroom.
Chen Die let herself cool off a bit. The rain was still pouring hard outside, just like before.
She sent Wen Liang a message asking if he’d made it home.
[Wen Liang: Got home. What are you doing?]
[Chen Die: Getting ready to read the script.]
After sending the message, she earnestly dove into the script.
It was another serious film. By the time she reached the ending, she was moved to tears. Still immersed in the emotion, she messaged Fang Ruan to say the script was good.
The company would handle negotiations with Ye Chuqing’s mother, Huang Sheng, since Chen Die was scheduled to film <Three Meals a Day> again in a couple of days. The film audition was arranged for the day after the variety show recording.
Ye Chuqing accompanied her to the audition.
Huang Sheng had only selected two actresses for the role. The other one was someone Chen Die knew—an alumna from school, one year her senior.
Huang Sheng had done her homework on both of them, thoroughly understanding their strengths and acting styles, so the audition process was fairly simple: a short scene reading, followed by trying on a qipao to get a feel for the character.
Once Chen Die put on the qipao, her figure stood out beautifully—slim waist, curvy hips, elegant neck, and smooth pale skin like silk. Styled with wavy hair, she looked stunning.
Ye Chuqing praised her non-stop and snapped a ton of photos.
With a face and body like Chen Die’s, no filters were needed. Every shot looked like a magazine cover. Ye Chuqing couldn’t get enough of it and even posted one to her Moments (social feed).
It immediately got tons of likes and comments.
One of Ye Chuqing’s old friends—someone she used to dislike—asked where the qipao was from.
She rolled her eyes and replied: You don’t get it. It’s not the qipao—it’s the face and body that matter, got it?
While replying, she asked Chen Die, “You got any plans later?”
“Nope. Why?”
“Let’s grab a bite.”
“Sure.” Chen Die changed, packed up her stuff.
The two of them said goodbye to Huang Sheng and left.
They picked a restaurant and sat down to eat.
“Holy shit,” Ye Chuqing suddenly cursed, staring at her phone.
Chen Die looked up. “What happened?”
“Wen Liang,” Ye Chuqing said slowly, “liked my post.”
“......”
She shoved her phone in Chen Die’s face. It was the Moments post, buried among tons of likes—there was Wen Liang’s name.
“That’s so damn ironic. When I added him during that blind date mix-up, he didn’t react at all. I thought he was one of those old-school guys who don’t even use social media. Turns out he does like posts.”
Ye Chuqing imitated a fan’s gushing tone, “Sister Die’s qipao photo has blessed my feed~”
“…” Chen Die gave a helpless laugh. “I thought he didn’t use Moments either.”
“Huh?”
“To be honest… I don’t think he’s ever liked any of my posts.”
“What?” Ye Chuqing blinked, stunned. After a pause, she finally said, “Wow, now I feel guilty.”
“......”
“But then again, you barely post anything. If you posted a qipao photo of yourself, I bet Wen Liang would instantly like it, maybe even comment ten times. And then—” she grinned, “he’d probably drag you home and keep you there for days.”
Chen Die gave her a look. “Alright, enough with the fantasy.”
While they were talking, the bell above the restaurant door jingled—another group of people came in.
At the front was Chen Shuyuan, followed by three of her girlfriends.
Chen Die and Ye Chuqing both noticed her and exchanged a glance.
Despite the online uproar and accusations of plagiarism, Chen Shuyuan didn’t seem affected at all—she was still smiling and chatting with her girlfriends.
Ye Chuqing frowned, thinking she'd underestimated her.
She immediately snapped a photo of the still-smiling Chen Shuyuan and sent it to Chen Shao.
[Ye Chuqing: What kind of superhuman is this fake sister of yours? Getting cursed out by the entire internet and still totally unfazed?]
Back then, she and Chen Shao had deliberately delayed handling the plagiarism scandal, intending to let the internet teach Chen Shuyuan a lesson. After the netizens tore into her for a few days, they’d slowly revoke her eligibility for the competition
Who could’ve guessed that someone could be this shameless?
Chen Shao didn’t reply right away—he was probably busy.
Though honestly, Ye Chuqing couldn’t imagine what someone like Chen Shao could be so busy with.
On the other side, Chen Shuyuan hadn’t noticed them. Her voice carried clearly through the quiet restaurant.
In reality, Chen Shuyuan hadn’t been so calm at first. In the days right after the plagiarism scandal broke, she had been terrified by the overwhelming online backlash and didn’t even dare to look at her phone. But then Lin Quan spoke with Chen Shao, and after observing for a few days with no reaction from the organizers, she began to relax.
Perhaps influenced by the childhood rumors of being a ‘switched-at-birth’ fake heiress, Chen Shuyuan had developed an obsessive attachment to her identity as part of the Chen family.
So when people online started saying that the investors were shielding her, she actually felt satisfied.
The appetizers arrived. Chen Shuyuan sipped her soup and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s been so long since I’ve gone out for a nice meal.”
“Don’t let those internet trolls get to you,” one of her friends comforted. “They’re just bored people with nothing better to do, acting tough behind their keyboards.”
Chen Shuyuan nodded and sighed. “I can’t even step forward to explain myself. Like I’d be dumb enough to plagiarize a script by someone as famous as Director Feng Zhi.”
Her friend asked curiously, “Then what happened?”
“I bought the script from another screenwriter. That competition was for short film directors, right? I had no idea I’d be so unlucky—to go through so many options and end up buying one that turned out to be plagiarized.”
“What about that screenwriter now?”
Chen Shuyuan shrugged. “Can’t get in touch. Blocked me everywhere. Honestly, I’m starting to think the whole thing was orchestrated by the guy who’s currently in second place. Rumor has it he’s the one who reported me.”
“Well, good thing your brother’s got your back. The organizers aren’t going to care about someone who came in second. Your brother investing in your movie just keeps the money in the family.”
Chen Shuyuan smiled. “Yeah, lucky for me my brother was the one backing the competition.”
“Shuyuan, maybe you should have your brother publicly explain that it wasn’t you who plagiarized. Worst-case scenario, people just say you didn’t do your due diligence.”
Chen Shuyuan paused, chopsticks in hand, then smiled. “Forget it. If he steps in, he might get dragged into the mess too.”
“Oh right—what’s going on with that Chen Die girl? What’s her relationship with your brother, really?”
Ever since the fiasco at the fashion show, rumors had been flying among the socialites—some said Chen Die was actually Chen Shao’s real cousin, and that Chen Shuyuan was the fake.
All sorts of secrets floated around in business circles—many knew the truth about illegitimate children, but kept quiet. That day at the show, Ye Chuqing’s comments made it sound like she believed Chen Shuyuan was the one occupying the magpie’s nest.
At the mention of Chen Die, Chen Shuyuan’s face immediately darkened. “What kind of relationship could they have! I’ve known Chen Die since high school. Even back then she had her claws in Wen Liang—she’s always been cunning.”
“What? She knew Wen Liang that early?”
“Of course. Back then, Wen Liang wasn’t favored in the Wen family. His mother died early, and his father’s new wife had a younger son. They wouldn’t even set out a place for Wen Liang at the dinner table. Chen Die used that to hook him in. Girls like us wouldn’t even dare, but her? She’d do anything to live comfortably—shameless doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
She was about to continue when one of her friends frantically gave her a warning look.
She froze mid-sentence and turned her head.
A pair of high heels stood in front of her—the crystal-embellished ones Wen Liang had bought for Chen Die at the fashion show.
Before she could react, Chen Die slapped her across the face.
A loud smack echoed. Chen Shuyuan’s head snapped to the side.
The restaurant wasn’t full, but there were still a few customers. The sudden noise stunned them into silence for a few seconds. Once they recognized Chen Die, a wave of murmurs broke out.
“What the hell are you doing?! Just because you're guilty doesn’t mean others can’t talk about it!”
“Exactly!”
Chen Shuyuan’s girlfriends immediately shouted in protest.
“Shut up.” Chen Die shot them a cold glance, clearly not interested in wasting words.
She was already tall among women and had heels on—giving her an even more commanding presence.
“Chen Shuyuan,” she said, locking eyes with her.
“I wasn’t planning to kick you while you’re down about all this. But clearly, you don’t know your place. So let me spell it out for you.”
“You said you bought someone else’s script. But weren’t you competing in the original script category? You wanted both fame and profit, and didn’t even have the decency to use your own work. How do you have the face to blame some ghostwriter?”
Chen Shuyuan’s face burned, and her chest heaved with rage.
“As for the relationship between me and Chen Shao, since you're all so curious, I’ll tell you myself.”
Chen Die took out her phone, dialed Chen Shao’s number, and put it on speaker.
As soon as the call connected, Chen Shao’s familiar voice came through: “Sister, looking for me?”
Chen Die squinted slightly and chuckled, casting a light glance at the few people in front of her. Chen Shuyuan stopped talking, and so did her few girlfriends.
“Yeah, just needed to talk to you about something. I ran into Chen Shuyuan and we were just chatting.”
Chen Shao seemed to realize what this call was about and chuckled lazily, “Oh, that dumbass is bullying you again?”
Ye Chuqing: “……”
Chen Die: “……” That sharp and direct ‘dumbass’ nearly made her feel a bit sorry for Chen Shuyuan.
“You guys were just saying you wanted Chen Shao to clear things up, right? Why don’t you tell him now?” As she spoke, Chen Die bent down and held the phone to Chen Shuyuan’s mouth.
Ye Chuqing, watching from the side, couldn’t help but want to laugh.
This person, even when being aggressive, was brazenly open about it—almost endearing.
Chen Shuyuan’s eyes turned red with anger. She snatched the phone and hung up immediately.
“Chen Die, don’t go too far!” she said in a low voice.
Chen Die didn’t mind the call being cut. She straightened up and crossed her arms. “How did I go too far? I was just patiently explaining your friends’ questions, wasn’t I?”
Chen Shuyuan didn’t dare respond and grabbed her bag to leave, but Chen Die blocked her with a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back.
She was about to speak, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone nearby filming a video, so she leaned close to Chen Shuyuan’s ear and said, “I’ve put up with you long enough. If you dare spread rumors about me and Wen Liang again, just try it.”
Then, as if nothing had happened, she gave them all a friendly smile. “Well, we’ll be off then. You all enjoy your meal.”
Ye Chuqing stopped her. “Wait a minute.”
“Hmm?” Chen Die paused mid-step.
Ye Chuqing extended a hand toward Chen Shuyuan. “Hello, I’m Ye Chuqing, one of the organizers of the Microfilm Director’s Competition.”
Of course, Chen Shuyuan wouldn’t shake her hand, but she hadn’t expected that the person who had just publicly humiliated her would turn out to be one of the competition’s organizers.
Ye Chuqing didn’t mind at all, withdrew her hand with a smile, and said, “Regarding the plagiarism in your script, I’m here to personally inform you that your competition entry is officially canceled as of now.”
Chen Die had already noticed someone recording and guessed it would end up online.
Sure enough, when Wen Liang came to visit her that night at Lifan Xinyuan, the video had already made it to the trending list—with a red “hot” tag beside it.
These days, Wen Liang would come over after work as long as Chen Die had no assignments in Yan City.
Even though she had rejected him once in the car, he never brought it up again. Still, Chen Die had seen through some of his flaws through the little things he did.
He really could be a piece of work.
The video didn’t capture the moment Chen Die slapped someone, but it clearly recorded everything said afterward, including Ye Chuqing’s final words.
The original second-place entry on the competition’s official website had now been promoted to first place.
People were outraged by the whole affair, defending Feng Zhi and the second-place contestant. Now that justice had finally been served, they all credited Chen Die.
[Our Sister Die is so badass!!!]
[I’ll love the <Hairpin Flowers> crew forever, sob sob sob (////) Director Feng may have stayed silent, but Sister Die came through like a fearless rookie. That’s exactly how you handle people like this!!]
[Unbelievable—our heiress has an investor for a brother and a BFF who’s a competition organizer.]
[Ah… this is so satisfying.]
[I’ll love Chen Die forever!!!]
[Why are even bitchy pretty girls this adorable…]
……
Wen Liang had just finished a work call. He sat beside her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, twirling her hair with his fingers, and leaned against her while watching the video again.
The slap wasn’t caught on camera, but the subtitles mentioned it.
Wen Liang glanced at the caption and smiled. “You slapped someone?”
“......”
Chen Die felt oddly embarrassed by his question and quietly replied, “Yeah, I was just so mad… I couldn’t hold it in.”
Wen Liang took her right hand and opened her palm. “This hand?”
“Yeah.”
“Does it hurt?”
“......”
Wen Liang asked casually, as if he hadn’t just heard how badly Chen Shuyuan had been slapped.
He had always been a cold, hard man—but Chen Die wasn’t. For a moment, his question made her feel like they were just two villainous bullies picking on the weak.
She pursed her lips and leaned softly into Wen Liang's arms, whispering, “It hurt a little when I hit her.”
Wen Liang laughed.
In the past, he probably would’ve called her dramatic, but today he seemed to be in a good mood. He even pretended to take it seriously and gently massaged her palm.
After a while, he asked, “What did she do today that made you so mad?”
Actually, what made Chen Die lose control and slap her wasn’t even the plagiarism scapegoating—it was what she said afterward about Wen Liang.
She just couldn’t stand hearing anyone talk about Wen Liang like that.
When she didn’t answer right away, Wen Liang squeezed her hand again and said, “I’m asking you.”
“She said some really nasty things.”
Wen Liang: “About you?”
“The stuff about me is the usual crap—I’m tired of hearing it. But this time she dragged you into it too.” Chen Die paused, recalling the things Chen Shuyuan said, and frowned again. “So annoying.”
Wen Liang’s hand froze for a moment before he burst out laughing.
In fact, the more he laughed, the more amused he seemed. He tilted his chin and stroked Chen Die’s head, laughing for quite a while.
Chen Die turned to look at him sideways and asked sincerely, “Have you been in too good of a mood lately? Even someone like Chen Shuyuan dares to talk about you now.”
“My baby,” Wen Liang murmured as he wrapped his arms around her.
Chen Die leaned against him. His lips were right by her ear as he spoke, his voice low and rich with a hint of a nasal tone—it rumbled like a bass speaker, and he actually called her ‘baby’.
For a split second, Chen Die felt just like Qu Fang had when he ran into her last time—completely overwhelmed by lust for Wen Liang. Half her body felt numb.
She blinked slowly and lifted her head to look at him.
Wen Liang drawled lazily, “A princess doesn’t need to wield a sword to slay the dragon.”
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