A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-1135

Xia Ling felt her abdomen hurting. Something was up with her baby, but she did not know what.

She hoped that it would just die. But this thought her into further despair as if her heart was gripped tightly by an invisible hand. She bit her lip and forced herself to stand firmly. However, her pale face still exposed her emotions.

Zheng Chenhao and Zi Xun saw her sadness and couldn’t help but question it—

You were the one who attacked Li Bingman so aggressively, but why does it seem like you came out of this worse off than her?

Chu Chen was afraid something would happen to the baby. With a compassionate and firm tone, he said, “Xiao Ling, do you feel unwell anywhere? Let me help you back to the office.”

Xia Ling shook off his hand. “I’ll walk by myself.”

As she was walking away, she endured the pain in her abdomen and kicked Li Bingman twice again. “Spread rumors about me! Steal my acting jobs! Don’t let me see you again. If not, I’ll beat you up every time I see you!”

She had always been bad-tempered. Hence, her actions didn’t come as a surprise.

Li Bingman was infuriated. They were already separated by the others and the fight was over, but Xia Ling still added in those kicks. She could not bear this humiliation and shouted, “I’ll fight you to death!”

Without any care, she rushed towards Xia Ling and scratched her face.

Chu Chen pushed her aside. Li Bingman did not anticipate it and fell to the ground.

Chu Chen stared at her with dagger-sharp eyes and said, “Don’t let me catch you disturbing Xiao Ling again. If I see it one more time, I’ll shelve you immediately.”

Shelve immediately!

Everyone was shocked. They now understood why Chu Cheng still sided with Xia Ling. For a tier-one actress like Li Bingman, even Chu Chen did not have the authority to shelve her. If he could threaten to do this, it either meant that Pei Ziheng had allowed him to do so, or he predicted that Pei Ziheng weighed Li Bingman’s contribution to Imperial Entertainment as being less important than that of Xia Ling’s wellbeing.

Chu Chen was an important figure to Pei Ziheng and his judgment was generally correct.

Zheng Chenhao and Zi Xun looked distraught. If this was the case, the rumors about Xia Ling losing favor were all fake? She was still the one person not to offend in Imperial Entertainment; they still had to give up their resources to her and tolerate her ego!

As for Li Bingman, she shivered in fear when she heard this.

God have mercy. She only provoked Xia Ling as she thought she had lost favor. If Xia Ling was still Pei Ziheng’s favorite, she… she could not imagine the price she would have to pay for her actions.

“Xia Ling! Xiao Ling!” Anxious, she hugged Xia Ling’s legs. “I’m sorry. I should not have fought with you, nor for next year’s top star. But I didn’t spread rumors about you, I swear! Please believe me! Xiao Ling, we trained so many years together in the training camp, can you forgive me this once?” She whimpered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Zheng Chenhao shot her a look of disdain. Li Bingman was actually stooping so low for survival.

In the very beginning, she was the one that spread all those rumors about Xia Ling. He knew this very well!

Xia Ling looked down at the crying woman and said scornfully, “Don’t get your tears and mucus on my leg.”

Li Bingman quickly let go of her legs. She continued crying, “Xiao Ling, please forgive me…” Her feud with Xia Ling had a long history. It started when they first entered the training camp and were competing for the top spot. She had swallowed her pride to be Xia Ling’s underling, and after their debut, she had to watch her sister Li Bingyu leave the industry because of Xia Ling’s dominance…

She was not content with her fate and tried her best to surpass Xia Ling, but she never succeeded.

It was not easy for an actress in the entertainment industry. Apart from their popularity and acting jobs, it also depended on whether they had strong backing. Clearly, Li Bingman, who was born a commoner, did not have this advantage. As she became more popular, she had to attend more dinners and dates. For more resources and backing, she had to rush from one entertaining event to the next. One day she might be with a tycoon and the next day a director… After serving them with her body, she would cry herself to sleep at night.

Once, she had attended an event together with Xia Ling. In the dressing room, Xia Ling commented casually in front of the many other actors and staff. “Bingman, your complexion is getting worse. Your skin is loosening, that is a sign of aging. You have to take care of it.”

Her voice was loud and clear, and many actors turned their heads to her.

Li Bingman was embarrassed. She was barely 20, but in Xia Ling’s words, she became someone with loose skin and aging? However, she knew why her skin looked terrible—the night before, she was out making love with a tycoon the entire night until her bones felt like collapsing. This morning she had to wake up early for this show. It would have been a miracle if her skin stayed perfect.

As for Xia Ling, her skin was watertight. She casually took some rose essence and spread over the back of her hands. A petal-like glow could be seen faintly on her soft, fair skin. It was so beautiful.

“Ziheng came over yesterday and told me the magnolia one did not smell nice. He wanted me to change to the rose one.” Xia Ling chatted with Li Bingman while applying her skincare products. “I bought a whole set, they are all limited edition. I only used the magnolia one once, it’s a pity to throw it away, how about I give it to you? You need some of it for your skin.”

Li Bingman was infuriated. She felt that Xia Ling was treating her like a beggar. However, she did not dare to reject her, and instead acted like she was pleasantly surprised. “Thank you so much.”

A few actors sneered at the sight.

Even a tier-one actress had to act like a servant to Xia Ling, it was an eye-opening sight.

Li Bingman was embarrassed, but she could only swallow it down.

Xia Ling could not detect her embarrassment. She clapped her hands happily. “Alright then, I will get my assistant to pass it to you at night. Where are you staying tonight? Is it still with the old guy Zhao Tianfu? Someone saw the two of you together yesterday. In my opinion, he’s so old he could be your father, you should change a boyfriend.”

Li Bingman wanted to cover her mouth or even tear her to pieces. The sneering from those around her seemed to have come back. Her face was burning with embarrassment. Only Xia Ling would naively think that he was her boyfriend! The rest knew instantly that he was just a rich man looking for fun and did not treat Li Bingman seriously. Calling him her boyfriend was overestimating Li Bingman!