The two of them were arch-enemies after all; neither one wanted the other to beat them, so during their scenes together, they each put in hard work to perform their best. As soon as they started shooting Ji Yi and Qian Ge's scenes, the two of them performed incredibly well. Aside from the occasional lighting and positioning problems that led to some outtakes, all the scenes with the two of them were practically shot in one go.
The original plan was to finish filming the scenes by six in the afternoon, but by three of o'clock, they were already on their final and most important scene of the day: Ji Yi and Qian Ge's characters got into an argument where the female lead tossed the second female character to the ground in a rage.
Seeing as there was a possibility of leaving earlier, each and every person on set carried a tinge of happiness on their face and everyone worked a lot quicker than before. Soon enough, the set for the final scene was all ready to start shooting.
When Ji Yi and Qian Ge finished touching up their makeup, the assistant director raised the mic and cried, "Get ready." With that, the set fell silent.
Ji Yi and Qian Ge got into their respective positions.
The assistant director turned his head and shot a glance at He Jichen, who was wearing a long black trench coat. He Jichen took two glances at the monitor then gave a slight nod. Only then did the assistant director raise the microphone and cry at Ji Yi and Qian Ge again, "Action!"
With those words, Qian Ge and Ji Yi instantly got into character.
Qian Ge, who was dressed in all-red Chinese bridal wear, stood two flights of stairs above Ji Yi on the temple steps. She coldly spoke down at Ji Yi: "I told you. I won't go with you!"
Dressed in light green, Ji Yi had a sword in one hand as she stared at the woman who was about to marry into the imperial family and become an imperial concubine. Without backing down, Ji Yi asked in neither a pushy nor humble way: "I'll ask you one more time. Are you sure you won't come with me?"
Qian Ge seemed to grow impatient. This time, she didn't even reply to Ji Yi and immediately walked away.
When Qian Ge brushed past Ji Yi, Ji Yi raised her hand and used the blade to block Qian Ge's path. "Come with me!"
Qian Ge raised her hand and gently pushed the sword away as though she hadn't heard what Ji Yi said. Then she proceeded to walk down the long flight of stairs.
Ji Yi hurriedly caught up to Qian Ge, the ineloquent young woman, and she cried the same three words, "Come with me!"
Qian Ge shot a look at the two guards standing to one side. Immediately understanding what she meant, the guards headed towards Ji YI to hold her back.
But Ji Yi was one step ahead as she grabbed Qian Ge's sleeve. "Since you refuse to come with me, I'll have to bring you by force!"
Qian Ge tried to resist but seeing as she couldn't struggle out of Ji Yi's arms, a flash of rage crossed her eyes. A second later, she gritted her teeth and blurted just two words, "Let go!"
Ji Yi pulled harder. Qian Ge suddenly exploded and violently swung her arm, causing Ji Yi to fall down to the cushioned floor with a mighty crash.
With that, the director cried "Cut!", ending the scene.
Qian Ge immediately got out of character and glanced down at Ji Yi from above with a faint smirk in her eyes.
Having fallen so heavily just now, her clothes were probably torn up. As soon she got up, she would become a laughing stock.