After Gu Chen returned to the Songhe Villa, he found that the swords he had custom-designed were already delivered and temporarily stored by Zhang Ma.

Seeing him back, Aunt Zhang helped him put away his luggage and then carried out the long wooden boxes one by one. She said, “Mr. Gu, what did you buy? They’re quite heavy…”

As Gu Chen opened the sandalwood boxes, revealing the exquisitely crafted longswords inside, which gleamed with a cold light under the pavilion’s crystal chandelier, Zhang Ma, though she didn’t understand much, felt a bit dazzled. She gasped and said, “These must be very expensive, right?”

Gu Chen replied, “Not too bad, quite worth it.”

Although he spent several hundred thousand, these swords, in both appearance and quality, perfectly matched his design ideas. The only downside was that, in the modern world, they were not sharpened. Still, the cost-effectiveness was high, especially since Mr. Li’s 5 million was still unspent and he wasn’t sure where to use it yet.

Gu Chen first picked the lightest sword, named Hongyu. He drew the blade from its sheath, flicked it to test the sound, and then casually performed a few sword flourishes.

Aunt Zhangwas startled, feeling dazzled by the swift movements, and instinctively took a few steps back, quickly saying, “Mr. Gu, be careful! Don’t hurt yourself!”

However, Gu Chen casually performed a flourish, and with a whoosh, the sword slid back into its sheath. It was done effortlessly and with apparent ease.

Aunt Zhangwas stunned. Were these actions reasonable? Could Mr. Gu be a hidden martial arts master?

After a moment, she asked, “Mr. Gu, what are you planning to do with these swords?”

Gu Chen replied calmly, “To exercise.”

He found the Hongyu sword quite suitable; apart from the lack of spiritual or inner power in reality, it was nearly perfect. He felt that in a couple of days, he could replace his morning routine with sword practice.

Aunt Zhang asked, “Ah? You need special swords for exercising? Did you even have them custom-made?”

Seeing Zhang Ma’s disbelief, Gu Chen joked, “For slaying demons and exorcising evil.”

“Oh, oh.” Aunt Zhang nodded, somewhat awed but still puzzled. After a moment, she lowered her voice and asked, “Mr. Gu… are there any demons or ghosts on this mountain? I’m a bit superstitious and believe that ghosts exist, so you can tell me the truth.” Having cooked for Mr. Gu for a few days, she felt he seemed like a celestial being, untouched by the mundane world.

Gu Chen replied, “… There really aren’t any.”

Zhang Ma’s voice grew even quieter, and she looked as if she understood: “Is it a requirement from your sect?”

This familiar feeling… Gu Chen felt a bit uncomfortable and quickly redirected the topic: “Aunt Zhang, could you clear out a room to store these things?”

The pavilion wasn’t a large villa; it was more about elegance, with only a few bedrooms. Besides Mr. Li’s main bedroom, which had a complete functional layout, Gu Chen’s secondary bedroom was a bit small, so he needed to set up a separate room for storage.

Aunt Zhang nodded, “Alright. Do these swords need any special offerings?”

Gu Chen said, “… No, just don’t let them gather dust or rust.”

Aunt Zhang was a bit incredulous, “Ah? Do swords really rust?”

Gu Chen smiled, “Of course. They’re not stainless steel swords, so who knows if they’ll rust.”

…..

“Stop, stop, stop! Halt the filming!”

In the set, Li Jingwei was visibly upset and had to interrupt the shoot directly.

Unlike the “gentle and reserved” demeanor she showed in front of the old master Li at the old residence, Li Jingwei was a decisive and authoritative figure on set. As a director, being able to control the scene was essential, and her strong command had earned her multiple awards at just 26, making her a rising star in the industry.

However, the man in the white ancient costume in the frame was challenging her authority.

Despite this, she softened her tone and spoke as diplomatically as possible, “Mr. Yu, how many times have I said this? You need to tone down your performance…”

“Miss Li, I need a break to find my feeling.”

The actor waved his sleeve and stepped out of the frame, while his assistant and makeup artist hurried over to help him—some removing his outer robe and others touching up his makeup.

The costume, though white, was intricately crafted with elaborate gold thread patterns, making it quite expensive. Now, it was carelessly draped over the back of a chair. Li Jingwei wasn’t angry yet, but her expression had turned slightly frosty.

The male and female leads, who were supposed to be acting with this actor, looked confused and awkwardly glanced at Li Jingwei, unsure whether to continue.

Li Jingwei gave them a reassuring smile and said, “Everyone, let’s take a break.”

The two new actors immediately expressed their gratitude and politeness, saying, “Alright, thank you, Director Li.”

Maintaining her patience, Li Jingwei approached Mr. Yu and said, “Mr. Yu, regarding the issue we discussed earlier, I hope you can tone down your emotions during the performance and internalize your acting a bit more…”

Mr. Yu, whose full name was Yu Miao, was a renowned actor who had already won three major awards by the age of 30 and was widely recognized for his excellent acting skills. Li Jingwei had spent a significant amount of money to secure him for this supporting role. She was trying her best to communicate patiently with him. Despite her position in the Li family, she had to show some deference to the triple award-winning actor as a rising director in the industry.

“Miss Li,” Yu Miao said with an unhappy expression, even addressing her without using her director title, “How else am I supposed to hold back? Instead of repeatedly emphasizing that I should restrain myself, you should have the young actors work on improving their skills. After all, I don’t want to overshadow them on camera.”

Li Jingwei was truly speechless. She frowned and said, “No, that’s not what I mean. Have you read the original novel?”

It was common for experienced actors to overshadow inexperienced ones, but this wasn’t the case here. Yu Miao seemed to be over-relying on his acting skills and was performing too forcefully.

The immortal lord in the book was depicted as ethereal and detached, with a sense of aloofness and coldness, yet he was one of the strongest beings in the celestial realm. Besides the celestial aura and mystery, he also needed to convey an imposing presence without anger.

Thus, Li Jingwei believed that it wasn’t about using excessive expressions or performance but about a more internalized portrayal that conveyed that feeling.

Yu Miao responded, “I only have three scenes in the script, and it’s already written clearly. If you want me to understand something more, you could just tell me directly. Otherwise, you might as well show me how to act it out step by step.”

Yu Miao, who usually reads the original novels and does character studies for significant roles, felt that for such a minor supporting role in an online novel, the cost-benefit ratio was too low.

Li Jingwei had to adjust her approach and said, “In that case, please reduce the use of expressive gestures and instead convey the character through your gaze, demeanor, and subtle movements. Is that acceptable?”

She knew it was challenging to portray the immortal lord from the book accurately. That’s why she specifically hired Yu Miao, who was renowned for his acting skills and highly rated by fans, to play this role.

However, Yu Miao seemed accustomed to being the center of attention as the lead and didn’t take this minor role seriously. Li Jingwei couldn’t afford to offend him entirely by criticizing his performance too harshly.

Yu Miao sighed and said, “It seems Miss Li still thinks I’m overshadowing the younger actors. Perhaps you should have hired an actor more suited to your production’s level for this role. As it stands, the progress is being delayed and wasting everyone’s time.”

Li Jingwei wasn’t angry and smiled at him, replying, “… In that case, you can continue finding your feel. I’ll have the scheduling coordinator adjust the schedule to postpone your scenes.”

Even though the Li family was wealthy, if Yu Miao’s performance was unsatisfactory, she couldn’t just throw a tantrum and demand he be replaced, as it would incur high breach of contract fees and further complicate finding a suitable actor. Controlling the film’s overall cost was crucial, and being a director meant she had to manage professionally, not just as a wealthy family member. Even if this one instance was problematic, she had to be practical if she wanted to continue in this industry.

Yu Miao responded, “Since Miss Li is unclear about what feeling you want, I’ll have my writing team revise the script and handle my parts. How does that sound?”

Li Jingwei directly said, “No. If changes are needed, I suggest your agent renegotiate the contract.”

After speaking, Li Jingwei turned and called over the production coordinator, saying, “Let’s have a meeting later to rearrange the schedule. I plan to start with shooting the outdoor scenes at Songhe Mountain.” That was her brother’s domain, and using it was convenient and easily arranged.

….

Since everything had been well-prepared in advance and with numerous senior business figures overseeing it, Li Jiashu’s company was set up and officially opened within half a month.

On the day of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he invited Gu Chen, but Gu Chen didn’t attend. Instead, the third young master of the Gu family, Gu Heng, and the young master of the Cheng family, Cheng Siyu, showed up.

Li Jiashu thought to himself: Those who should come didn’t, and those who shouldn’t have come in droves.

Cheng Siyu still wanted to discuss persuading Gu Chen to work at Hu’an to help his mother, but since assisting Gu Chen with the previous recruitment, he had been unable to find him. Even at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he didn’t see him and asked, “Brother Jiashu, where’s Gu Chen? Why didn’t he come?”

Gu Heng, who was also informed by his family about Hu’an, inquired, “Yes, why didn’t Xiao Chen come?”

Li Jiashu, dealing with both Cheng Siyu and Gu Heng, replied, “Brother-in-law is retreating in the mountains for self-cultivation.” And could you please settle on a single way to address my brother-in-law?

“Oh, I see…” Gu Heng pondered. Could it be that the Li family discovered the Gu family’s intentions and thus isolated Gu Chen in the deep mountains? It felt almost as if they were cut off from the world…

However, since this was Li Jiashu’s event, it wasn’t appropriate to ask too much about Gu Chen. He changed the topic and said, “Jiashu, even though I’m the same age as you, my father often says that I rely too much on the family, while you have the ability to forge your own path at such a young age. He says I should learn more from you… and also from Gu Chen. My father often mentions that despite his academic shortcomings, he should gain more practical experience and broaden his horizons.”

Li Jiashu’s expression darkened immediately: “… Young Master Heng, I think you should actually learn more from my brother-in-law.”

Although his academic background was better than his brother-in-law’s, he had never looked down on her. In fact, he felt that she was even stronger than he was. He wasn’t sure why he felt that way, but it might be because his brother-in-law’s mental state seemed very stable.

Was this a subtle jab suggesting that he should cultivate himself like Gu Chen? Gu Heng awkwardly touched his nose, feeling disdain internally but still responded, “Of course, I should learn from all of you.”

Cheng Siyu found Gu Heng’s situation amusing. He was trying to get close to Li Jiashu and ended up being subtly criticized about self-cultivation. So, Cheng Siyu decided to remain silent and not disturb Li Jiashu.

Despite being a newly established company, many business people attended the event. After the ribbon-cutting, everyone mingled on-site.

An elder approached and said, “Jiashu, I heard you left the old master’s residence with Morong the other day?”

Li Jiashu was a bit puzzled but replied, “Yes, Uncle Ming, why do you ask?”

Mr. Ming continued, “Haven’t you heard? Yesterday, Morong sent Ling Weiguang and his mistress to jail. There had been a lot of buzz in the circle about Morong and Ling Weiguang’s divorce dispute. Everyone thought Morong wouldn’t gain much, and the issue would end there. No one expected she’d pull a stunt like this in the end.”

“I asked Morong if it was the old master’s doing, but she denied it. Now, there’s talk that Morong received guidance from a high-level expert at the old master’s place. Do you know anything about this situation?”

Li Jiashu responded, “Uh… I was indeed there that day, but it wasn’t my grandfather who gave the guidance.”

He joked about this being a matter of sending someone’s descendants to jail. If he claimed it was his grandfather’s advice, it would stir up conflicts between the Li and Ling families. He noticed that people related to the Ling family were already casting curious glances at him.

Mr. Ming nodded, observing that Li Jiashu’s expression didn’t seem to be lying. In fact, his inquiry was somewhat on behalf of the Ling family. The Ling family didn’t want to create issues with the Li family over a disgruntled descendant.

“So, Jiashu, since you were there that day, do you know which high-level expert guided Morong?”

Li Jiashu thought to himself, of course it was my brother-in-law, the high-level expert—“Except for you, I’m sending you to jail.”

But could he reveal his brother-in-law? Absolutely not.

So, Li Jiashu said, “Well… it was a friend of my grandfather’s. When Fourth Aunt came, she happened to be having tea with my grandfather, and when she mentioned Fourth Aunt’s matter, he casually said a few words.”

Mr. Ming continued to probe, “Do you know this gentleman’s name?”

Li Jiashu scratched his head, “I’m trying to remember… I think his last name might be Gu… I’m not too sure.”

Mr. Ming nodded, “Ah, it’s Mr. Gu… I understand now. Thank you, Jiashu.”

Li Jiashu responded, “… You’re welcome.”

Brother-in-law, you should thank me. Really.

Look at me, I’ve even helped you upgrade to a retired elder.