A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

When one was in a bad mood, the most delicious food would still taste like wax.

Pei Ziheng reminded her of the things she should watch out for during crisis management, before saying, “If it’s too tough, you still can return to Imperial Entertainment.”

Xia Ling shook her head wearily.

Pei Ziheng looked over at her. This petite girl next to him was looking paler than usual, and there was fatigue in her expression as well as a bit of panic. If this was the outcome of him letting her go, then he should just try to win her back. “Li Lei has no idea how to take care of you.” Pei Ziheng said in a low voice. “When you were in Imperial Entertainment, you never encountered something like this.”

“No one died when I was at Imperial.” Xia Ling instinctively rebutted him.

She couldn’t stand it when others spoke badly about Li Lei. He was already doing his all to give her the best he could. For something like this to happen was outside of Li Lei’s control. She was the one at fault for having allowed the photographer to take those photos.

However, Pei Ziheng said, “Who said no one died? Wang Jingwan.”

Both of them grew silent after he mentioned the name.

Indeed, Wang Jingwan had died then, didn’t she? Similarly, fingers were pointed at her, but Pei Ziheng had protected her and never allowed her to stand in front of the limelight and apologize.

But…

That was different.

Xia Ling lowered her head and looked at the half-drunk juice in her cup.

His “protection” then was just another form of torture and ridicule. She would rather stand in front of the cameras and flashlights to apologize to the public than to be imprisoned and isolated from the world under the ruse of being “sick.” Then, she had felt that she was being humiliated and tortured day after day,

The half-hour to the press conference passed in a flash.

The Rolls-Royce stopped at the venue of the press conference.

Some people recognized the car and started to snap photos ferociously. However, Xia Ling couldn’t think too much about this as she got off the car and was ushered by her staff through the crowds of people and reporters into the press conference hall.

She stood onstage accompanied by Lin Yunan.

As she scanned the media representatives in front of her, armed with camera lenses of all sizes, as well as the representatives from human rights organizations that were holding signposts of the dead kids that had taken drugs from her.

Seeing these photos, she recalled the incident that occurred.

They were two boisterous young boys that she had been teaching to sing for a while now. The little one had a particularly good voice, and she had praised him and told him that he would become a famous singer when he grew up.

When she was giving out the drugs, the two boys had rushed forward to be the first and had happily thanked her.

She had watched them swallow the two white pills with her own eyes…

She was the one that had personally caused their death.

Tears gathered in Xia Ling’s eyes, and she was about to swallow them back. However, she remembered Pei Ziheng’s advice: “If you don’t know what to say, then cry… Cry with all your might, uncontrollably if you can. Don’t give the reporters too much time to ask questions. After you’ve apologized, just leave as quickly as you can.”

She knew that the reporters were all like sharks circling their prey. If there was but a bit of loophole in her statement, they would rush forward and shred her to pieces. Hence, she let her tears flow, and her expression looked even more downcast than before.

Seeing her expression, Lin Yunan breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, artistes were not given lessons on crisis management in the training camps. Given that Xiao Ling was so innocent, Lin Yunan had been worried that she would make a mess of things.

Thankfully, she looked like she knew the importance of showing her guilt.

Lin Yunan, too, wore an expression of grief to complement her.

As Xia Ling cried, she choked out her apology to the orphanage and the children. She said that it was her oversight not to have checked the drugs and had given them to the kids so ignorantly.

The reporters asked pointedly, “Miss Ye, you only went for the charity event for show, didn’t you? You don’t care for the children’s health at all, right?”

She shook her head and said in a hoarse voice, “That’s not true… I love the children.”

“Is it because you’ve lost a child before and, therefore, you don’t place as much importance on other people’s children?” The reporters’ questions became sharper as the cameras flashed constantly at her.

This question caught her off-guard, and she almost lost her balance as her ears buzzed. Her tears fell with a vengeance, and she opened her mouth but no words came out. She couldn’t say a thing in front of so many people.

“Miss Ye, why aren’t you saying anything? Did I hit the nail on the head?”

“Yes, Miss Ye, you’ve lost a child before. You should know that kind of pain. How can you be so irresponsible and give deadly drugs to the kids?”

“I heard that the charity fund is shady. Can you tell us if that’s true?”

“There are many rumors saying that you’ve bought many high-end haute couture outfits and jewelry recently. Fendi, Chanel… pink diamond necklaces, etc. I’ve calculated that the quantity you’ve bought is way past what a typical singer’s income can afford. Did you embezzle some of the charity’s funds? Was that why you fed the kids inferior quality drugs?”

“Miss Ye, don’t you have a conscience?”

“Why are you so cruel? Why did you take the money that was meant to buy good drugs for the kids?”

The questions became more intense and harsh by the minute. She didn’t know how to answer all of them. At this moment, she looked down at the sea of flashing lights as all the faces in front of her blurred together.

She wanted to tell all of them that what they said was untrue. Things were not as they were speculating. However, it was useless. Nobody would listen to her…

The PR speech that Lin Yunan gave her and the advice that Pei Ziheng gave her on the way to the press conference were long forgotten in the face of the rampage from the reporters. Her mind was a complete blank, and all she could do was to cry and repeat. “Sorry… I don’t know… I’m really sorry… ”

Her voice grew hoarser and smaller by the second.

In contrast, the reporters became louder and more animated.

Seeing that things were not going well, Lin Yunan stood up and said as politely as he could to the reporters, “I’m sorry everyone, Xiao Ling’s emotions are getting the better of her. This incident has caused great trauma to her. We will conclude the press conference here today. Our spokesperson will take charge of responding to all additional questions.”

He held onto Xia Ling and prepared to take her backstage to rest.

“Don’t go!” A human rights representative in the crowd shouted. “Ye Xingling, explain yourself today! Did you or did you not embezzle charity funds and receive kickbacks from the factory? Did you feed the kids inferior quality drugs?! Where did you get the money for all your branded bags and expensive jewelry?!”

“Yes! Don’t try to worm your way out!” Others in the crowd shouted.

Lin Yunan ignored them and focused on bringing her away. However, the crowd surrounded them and refused to let them leave.

“Please give way. Sorry, please make way.” Lin Yunan started to get frustrated. If it weren’t for PR purposes, he would have long fought his way out of this crowd.