WuxiaWorldEU

Chapter 107 - Filming

【My god I’m gonna choke, how can there be such a handsome man in the world?!】

【This is PDA, right? Right? Chairman Yu just showed off over there, then this side posted a selfie.】

【Script, script, am I the only one focusing on the script?】

【Begging for Xiaotang Under The Moon ah, beg beg beggg!】

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Everyone made various guesses as to what the script was about, and the most noise was about ‘Xiaotang Under The Moon’. Of course, everyone knew in their hearts that it would be very hard to film this. However, Song Xiao had been able to turn a Chinese novel into a Hollywood animated film, so it wasn’t impossible to film this script either.

After a discussion about the script, everyone’s attention once again returned to the photo.

The online users fell into another frenzy and amused themselves by putting together the two photographs of the unfeeling chairman, which Yu Tang had posted before, and this gentle chairman Song Xiao. When placed together, it was like Yu Tang was staring at Song Xiao’s side profile.

Everyone arrived at the conclusion: Sure enough, only a handsome chairman was a match for an overbearing chairman?

The online users who liked to fan the flames dug out photos of the two of them in their teens, from that post that was ancient history on the Xiaotang Moon forum.

In the cinema, a schoolboy in a woolen jacket smiled brightly while holding a bucket of popcorn. The other schoolboy was wearing a black sweater and sleeping like the dead on his shoulder. The online user who revealed this picture said that this was Chairman Yu and Chief Song when they were younger.

【If this is for real, then it isn’t strange at all for the two of them to have such a good relationship now.】

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【A bromance at such a young age? Sparkly eyes.】

【The young Chief Song is so cute ah, ahhhh!】

Because the fair and tender Song Xiao was too cute in that childhood photo, everyone spontaneously began to dig around and turn the Internet upside down for photos of ‘Pudding Gongzi. However, due to Song Zicheng’s intervention back then, there were very few photos that could be found now. There was only a handful, but this was still enough for the online users to have fun for another spell.

Song Xiao didn’t expect the online users to react with this much excitement. His tens of thousands of fans skyrocketed to hundreds of thousands overnight, until it even broke through a million. Yu Tang’s fans, on the other hand, had long reached a million.

“The way modern people think is really different.” Song Xiao looked at the comments left by these online users and didn’t know what to say.

When this became a hot topic once more, Song Xiao posted another photo. This time, there was no one in the photo, and it was merely of a fair hand flipping open a script. On it were written four large, impressive words: ‘Golden Age of Jinghong’.

Everyone who went through middle school knew of the Golden Age of Jinghong. This was the most glorious period of Great Yu, and was also the most glorious period in all of ancient history. At that time, the whole world was at peace, the people were open-minded, the seas were quiet and the rivers were clear, and dozens of nations came to offer tribute.

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Fans of both the original work and the empress were incredibly excited when they saw the news, but everyone was also very worried. For example, would the romance plot be cut out, or would the script skirt around the issue of the male empress?

The production team set up an official Weibo and answered the questions which the online users had.

‘Golden Age of Jinghong’ was an account of two generations of emperors. Though Emperor Jingyuan’s rule wasn’t a long one, it took up half the original book. That was because, compared with his little brother who lived peacefully, Emperor Jingyuan’s life was too tumultuous, but just as marvelous. And Empress Duanhui, as Emperor Jingyuan’s one and only love, was the source of most of his fortunes and misfortunes.

Golden Age of Jinghong Official Weibo: There is no need to worry, everyone, we will definitely respect the original work and history. We will absolutely not add a female lead, and will not edit out any scenes of important characters. Please look forward to it.

When this post came out, everyone’s expectations for this TV series reached an unprecedented height. There were also abundant guesses over who the actors could be. The same actor definitely couldn’t be used for the character of Emperor Hongyuan, who had to be played from young to old. Emperor Jingyuan and Empress Duanhui, on the other hand, would be from their teens until they were young adults, and this change could be performed with makeup and the actors’ own skills.

【Right now, my mind is full of Chairman Yu and Chief Song as the emperor and empress; I can’t think of any other actors.】 There were some users who said this, and even ran to Yu Tang’s Weibo to kneel down and beg him to act as Emperor Jingyuan.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Even though there were a lot of cries, it was impossible for Song Xiao to truly have the emperor act, and he himself wouldn’t, either.

The actor for Emperor Jingyuan had to be able to convey the feeling of an eternal emperor, and had to have exceedingly good acting skills. The bitterness of not being doted on by his father emperor in his childhood, the pressure of falling for a man in his youth, and the imperiousness of opening new lands and territories after ascending the throne… Most importantly, Emperor Jingyuan was the only emperor in history to be accurately depicted in a portrait. He had been painted too handsomely in his portrait, so they couldn’t find someone who was less good-looking to play the part.

Those that were too handsome couldn’t act, while those who could weren’t very handsome. After going back and forth, Song Xiao had his eye on someone who had just been crowned film emperor, Mu Chen.

Mu Chen wasn’t an artist under Xinghai Entertainment, but was the face of a large film and television company in the capital. He was extremely handsome and was also a veteran actor: 31 years old this year, he started his career at 16, and had already been acting for 15 years.

“This Mu Chen isn’t easy to invite. He’s expensive, and he hasn’t accepted a TV script for two years already.” The production team was in a bit of a tight spot. This type of actor who already had the title of film emperor would very rarely return to TV.

They had already given Mu Chen the script and expressed that they hoped he would be interested in the role. However, even though the other party had politely accepted the script, he had never given a reply.

Song Xiao frowned slightly. The price could be easily negotiated since good actors deserved a good price, but there was nothing they could do if the other party wasn’t willing to do a TV show.

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“Have Mu Sha go.” As they were speaking, a voice that had the hint of a smile in it rang out at the door. Everyone turned their heads to look, and the seniors of Xinghai Entertainment couldn’t help crying out in surprise.

“Chief Xiao!” The person who had come was none other than Xiao Zhengqing, who had just returned from America. Because the film had been sold to China, and there was a huge project here which required him to come and discuss it in person, he had dropped by to see Song Xiao in passing.

“Chief Xiao is right ah, how could I have forgotten that?!” The director slapped his thigh.

The actress playing the empress dowager in this TV show was Xinghai Entertainment’s number one sister, Mu Sha. Mu Chen was Mu Sha’s little brother.

“Have my brother act as my son?” When Mu Sha heard this, she immediately burst into loud laughter. “Sure, watch me.”

The next day, the sister of the film emperor Mu Chen pulled him along by the ear to report to the production team.

The candidate for Empress Duanhui was a gentle and handsome young star, Qiao Su.

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Qiao Su was a well-known pretty boy, who had only acted in ancient dramas. In his very first role, he acted as a frail and delicate yet big-hearted immortal gongzi, and countless young men and women turned into his fans. He acted in several other shows after that, and always played the good-looking second male lead who was often superior to the male lead, and caused people to sigh over how blind the female lead was to not choose the second male lead.

Song Xiao was particularly earnest about this show for various reasons, and he invited a teacher of traditional etiquette to come and teach the actors the etiquette of Great Yu. He himself became the history consultant, and personally oversaw everything, from the palace decor to the actors’ costumes and accessories as he did his best to present a true picture of the Golden Age of Jinghong.

After everyone waited eagerly for half a month, the first batch of final makeup shots were finally released.

The royal robes for the emperor of Great Yu were black; it was a wide-sleeved changpao with a bright yellow hem and a dragon pattern on it, which looked very handsome on Mu Chen. Qiao Su wore the white attire common of scholars, a white jade crown on his head.

The emperor’s expression was dignified and assertive, while the young scholar’s indifferent eyes saw beyond life and death. It was just simple stills, but they illuminated the glory and tragedy of the lives of the emperor and empress.

The audience who were worried that the production team would cut costs and wouldn’t be able to invite good actors instantly couldn’t calm down when they saw the final makeup shots.

【My film emperor Mu Chen ah; since they’re able to invite the film emperor, this show has to be on point!】

Mu Chen stood for quality. Given his growing status in the circle, he only worked with good quality and with production crews that had money. Money might not be omnipotent, but it could at the very least guarantee that the show wouldn’t have ‘Taobao’s hottest hanfu’ and ‘laughably low-budget special effects’.

Qiao Su’s fans had already gone crazy. Their immortal gongzi looked good in every role he acted, but this time, he was going to act as a male empress, a male empress who had been forcibly married into the palace by the emperor due to his extreme beauty! The one who became the top scholar at 17 and the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue in his twenties, the teacher to the emperor’s little brother, who finally married the emperor! Such a charismatic role truly was too suitable for Qiao Su.

However, the fans of the original work were a little worried. They had faith in Mu Chen’s acting skills, but weren’t optimistic about Qiao Su, who was just a pretty face. The official team didn’t come out to explain anything; they merely threw out a bunch of stills and ran off, and left the Internet to explode with earth-shaking noise.

All the major media outlets were also in a tizzy as they reported that the final work in the series on the age of prosperity was finally going to be filmed. Furthermore, it looked like an excellent cast and crew, and everyone should properly look forward to it.

Yu Tang, who was handling official business at the company, felt somewhat unhappy when he saw the final makeup shots online. How was this Qiao Su good-looking? He didn’t have the slightest bit of his empress’s magnificence from back then.

“Chairman?” The department head who was giving a report on his plan saw Yu Tang’s ugly expression and immediately became nervous.

“Continue.” Yu Tang put down his phone and looked at the person giving the report with eyes filled with killing intent.

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That person instantly became even more nervous, and started to stutter. Before he could finish speaking, the chairman threw the plan back in his face. “Redo it.”

Weeping and clutching the plan, the planning department head left the chairman’s office. Yu Tang raised his hand and gave Song Xiao a call. “Are you with the crew? I’ll come visit the set tomorrow.”

Song Xiao had recently been keeping watch in the production team since he wanted to personally keep a handle on things with this show; company matters had been handed over to his dad to take care of.

The production team was at the movie city close to the capital. It was near Dayu’s pseudo-classical building, and had a lot of natural scenery.

The scene they were shooting was of Emperor Jingyuan wilfully issuing the imperial decree of wanting to marry the young assistant minister. Qiao Su, wearing the official attire of the assistant minister, knelt on the floor and listened blankly to the court eunuch proclaim the decree, his eyes filled with panic.

“Cut!” the director yelled. “Qiao Su ah, your mood isn’t right!”

Even though Qiao Su’s acting wasn’t as flawless as Mu Chen’s, it was still pretty good. He was also more modest in behaviour, and when he heard the director say that it wasn’t right, he remained kneeling as he listened to the director explain.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“The original work said that the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue was panic-stricken at that time, but not really. How to put it ne…” The director scratched his head. Honestly, he couldn’t explain the feeling either.

“Actually, aside from panic, he was also somewhat secretly delighted.” Sitting on the side, Song Xiao suddenly spoke up. When everyone looked at him, he unhurriedly continued to explain, “The emperor raised this issue when he had just ascended the throne, and the officials were deeply opposed to it. But Empress Duanhui knew that the emperor was interested in him, and yet still went to tutor his imperial younger brother. This indicated that, in truth, he was also interested in the emperor.”

Yu Tang, who had been walking over, just happened to hear these words, and immediately froze.

Little Theater

Fish Tang: You clearly know I have a hidden agenda, why did you still become a tutor?