Chapter 1: A No-Name Star

Chapter 1: A No-Name Star

"How can it still be a One-Star Palace Maid look?"

In the middle of the night at a university dormitory, a sophomore girl was hiding under her blankets, engrossed in a mobile game about palace intrigue.

"I refuse to accept this! I'm staking my honor as a suntanned beauty!"

She was said to be the sister of the legendary fair-skinned official Bao Qingtian, but there was no such honor for her. All she ever got were one-star cards and panda eyes.

She was an unlucky person, Tang Fei, whose very name seemed to embody her fate.

The next day, Tang Fei was running an 800-meter fitness test on the school track. After one lap, with heavy legs, numb arms, and lungs that felt like bellows, she stumbled and fell a hundred meters short of the finish line, panting heavily.

Breathing was a struggle, her eyelids felt leaden, like a fish out of water, gasping for air that wouldn't come.

Bang!

She collapsed onto the track.

In her dazed state, she opened her eyes to see a male classmate dressed in a white T-shirt, his demeanor refreshing, holding water to her lips.

" Cousins, wake up, drink some water."

What's going on? Am I dreaming?

Just as Tang Fei was about to speak, a searing pain akin to being hit by a basketball assaulted her brain, and she could hear the sound of water echoing within.

She had received the memories of the original Tang Fei, becoming another person with the same name and surname.

A rather beleaguered, scandal-ridden minor celebrity on the fringes of the entertainment industry.

The original Tang Fei's world had subtle differences in history and geography compared to Tang Fei's previous life.

The original Tang Fei had dropped out of junior high school to work, and there was a competition that promised payment just for registering.

She had entered the contest to earn money and, amidst the eleven contestants, had secured a commendable tenth place!

Don't misunderstand, it wasn't that the original Tang Fei sang poorly; the top nine were all connected through nepotism...

This was an event organized for the privileged offspring to gain practical experience.

The organizer was none other than Yao Hui, the talent agency that had originally signed her after discovering her potential, binding her to an eight-year contract and thus launching her into the entertainment industry.

She was quite fortunate. Her first drama became a hit - a genuine low-budget, poverty-stricken, and amateurishly acted ancient costume series where she played the female lead.

The series gained popularity due to its absurd plot and ridiculous dialogue, being embraced as an unconventional comedy for its unintentional humor.

Her character, with her attractive looks and adorable attire, amassed a large fan base.

But those were past glories.

Now, she has been deserted by both her company and fans.

Currently, lying on a hospital bed with her eyes still closed, people from the production team were already gossiping about her.

"One would think having a pretty face gives you the right to be arrogant, throwing acid at Yao Hui's top star. She's insane."

"A high school dropout with a questionable brain. She even pushed someone on set, over two hundred pounds fell because of her. She might as well stream herself lifting weights; who knows, she could be more popular than she is now."

"Stupid and venomous, tsk."

"The props were probably mishandled, leaving her hanging for hours."

"Perhaps someone couldn't stand her and decided to teach her a lesson? She deserved it anyway."

Song Li was Yao Hui's ace, even though she joined the company after Tang Fei. With her background in a professional academy, everyone in the company praised Song Li for her amiable personality and exceptional skills, outshining Tang Fei.

The company placed more value on Song Li. To serious professionals, Tang Fei was seen as someone devoid of any talent beyond her looks and figure, lacking formal education, connections, or innate gifts. Her potential appeared limited, and her career path seemed short.

It had to be said that the company's judgment of people was accurate, albeit somewhat ruthless. They discarded Tang Fei once Song Li emerged, sending her from heaven to hell.

When rumors of a rift between Yao Hui's two leading ladies became widespread, the company planned a drama project with Song Li as the lead and Tang Fei as the second lead, casting them as sisters to dispel the intra-company feud. However, trouble arose as soon as filming began.

Tang Fei was bullied on set, which fueled her anger, leading to an argument with Song Li. In a fit of rage, she grabbed a soda bottle and splashed its contents on Song Li's face.

That incident was promptly twisted into her throwing acid, a clumsy act that left the original owner unable to defend herself.

The company took a clear stance, abandoning Tang Fei in favor of Song Li.

Sensation-seeking accounts suddenly flooded the internet with her scandals, using sensational and malicious headlines.

Exclusive revelation! Thirty body doubles for just one person! Uncovering the truth behind Tang Fei's on-set stand-ins in the world of actresses.

Astounding! Tang Fei refuses outdoor shoots for her films! Requires indoor sets for temperatures above thirty degrees Celsius or below twenty!

A pop sensation with illiteracy! Can't memorize her lines! Tang Fei recites "Two Tigers" on set, only saved by post-production dubbing.

Ranking the lowest educational backgrounds in showbiz! Tang Fei holds a junior high school degree!

Online rumors swirled that Tang Fei had brutally assaulted a male classmate in junior high, behaving like a fierce and uncouth tomboy.

A third-tier actress suddenly shot to fame as if she were an A-list celebrity!

At that time, Tang Fei's Weibo page was flooded with a single comment: "Young lady, do you want to be famous? The scandalous kind?"

The nascent starlet's career crashed overnight. That year, the original owner was only eighteen, and the company staff vanished. Later on, her cousin He Zhou came to assist her after he graduated.

The original owner, after having been struck by setbacks, spent his days at home practicing boxing and going for runs to pass the time, intending to simply endure until his contract expired so he could return home to participate in arranged meetings and eventually marry.

Tang Fei had signed a contract at the age of fifteen and was now twenty-two, with only a few months left until its expiration. She had thought she could safely see it through to the end, but the company, seeking to exploit the remaining value of her former self, dug up the incident where she had supposedly thrown sulfuric acid at Song Li years ago. They planned to use this as fodder for publicity, capitalizing on the current fame of the up-and-coming young acting sensation, Teacher Song Li, who was now the epitome of acting prowess.

She was even offered a role in a new production, cast as a malevolent supporting character to sustain her buzz.

Not a bit of it goes to waste.

Numerous articles with such headlines emerged on various forums and online social platforms.

In the role of the wicked supporting female lead, Tang Fei acts with genuine venom!

The maid is severely punished! Tang Fei falls under sanctions.

Concubine Tang Fei repents and pleads for mercy!

On her very first day in the production, she was left hanging in mid-air with no aid, causing the original owner's robust physique to succumb to heatstroke and end in death.

It was murder, wasn't it?

The entire recollection swirled in Tang Fei's mind, leaving her feeling dizzy and disoriented.

She gazed at the white ceiling, the white bedsheet, the white blanket, the back of her hand connected to an IV drip, and the two crew members who had been chattering incessantly but fell silent the moment she woke up.

They set down the fruit basket and hurriedly left.

Thirty minutes later, He Zhou returned with a medical record and a stack of payment receipts.

"Cousin, the crew is asking when we can resume filming. They say heatstroke can be treated with some Huoxiang Zhengqi Water, but you..." He Zhou paused, realizing that what he wanted to say next was inappropriate.

One could imagine the crew labeling her as overly dramatic or a diva.

"Let me think about it," Tang Fei said. She didn't feel any physical issues, but her acting skills were worse than the original owner's expressionless performance.

Given how the crew had treated the original owner, she couldn't rush back just yet. If something happened to her again, would she have a third chance at life?

It was only the first day of shooting, and the original owner might already have been victimized.

Now they were pushing for her to return before she was even discharged. Was the entertainment industry really that terrifying?

"Cousin, you getting heatstroke today definitely counts as work-related injury. You should stay in the hospital and play it out with them. If they don't let us perform, we profit from their misuse of our negative image. They can't just walk all over us!"

"Either they pay up or we quit. Who's afraid of whom?" He Zhou had been with Tang Fei for over three years, so he knew how to handle situations like these with indifference.

"Tango with them? That's settled then. I'll say I need further observation in the hospital," Tang Fei agreed. The original owner's career was already at rock bottom; it couldn't get much worse. She wasn't worried about dragging things out.

Besides, she didn't know how to act, and the original owner's memories didn't contain any relevant skills. There was no quick fix for acquiring acting skills to deal with the situation.

Ding-dong-ding...

A majestic and grand melody rang in her ears.

"Welcome, Your Highness!" A eunuch's high-pitched voice followed.

Before her eyes, a grand palace gate materialized, superimposing itself onto reality.

This... Was this the palace intrigue game she had been playing until late last night?