Si Xuan is a small star. She has been in the industry for five years and has been playing in various small productions. The most successful one she has ever played was a supporting role in a horror film.

So when the director of "Chronicles of Great Writers of the Republic of China" leaked the news that he would be conducting an open casting for the supporting roles in the new movie, Si Xuan's agent did everything he could to get this opportunity and got her in.

Before she left, her agent gave her a thorough analysis of the pros and cons.

"Shi Jing is a newcomer after all, and it's hard to say what he will be like in the future. Who knows if "Records of the Republic of China's Literary Masters" is a flash in the pan? Moreover, his new movie is self-funded, and there is no capital behind it. It's hard to say what the future holds. Therefore, the industry is still taking a wait-and-see attitude towards his new drama."

Si Xuan was puzzled: "Then why did you recommend me to go?"

"Because this is the best and most suitable opportunity you can get." The agent said bluntly: "Other actors with a certain reputation may not be interested in this drama, so it is easier for unknown actors to get the chance."

"Picking up a bargain?"

"Yes, take advantage of the opportunity. Who knows, this drama might be as popular as "Records of the Republic of China's Literary Masters", and you will become the next Huang Tingting."

Si Xuan was half-believing and half-doubting: "What if it fails?"

The agent laughed: "It flopped, so it flopped. Just consider it as gaining acting experience. It's as if none of your previous dramas had flopped."

Si Xuan: ...What you said makes a lot of fucking sense.

Then Si Xuan came to the audition alone with great confidence.

As for the agent?

Sorry, a nobody like her doesn't deserve to be accompanied by an agent. It's already a blessing that the agent can get her this audition opportunity.

The moment Si Xuan walked into the waiting room, she was immediately stabbed by countless gazes. Relying on her thick skin, she looked back calmly.

At this sight, fireworks went off in her mind.

The agent was right! All the people who came to audition were unknown! Some of them seemed to be models for fashion magazines.

So this scene, to put it bluntly, is a large-scale show of noobs fighting each other (…) and what Si Xuan needs to do is to stand out among this group of noobs and become the relatively less noob.

So in the eyes of other competitors, they saw this new woman calmly meeting their probing gazes, with her chin slightly raised, her back straightened, and she confidently walked to the empty seat and sat down.

Si Xuan took a deep breath, barely noticing it, calmed her breathing, then used the terminal to call up the script for her audition and read it carefully.

It hasn't been long since she got the script, only three days including today.

The script was not long, just over one page, and it was the part she was going to perform in this audition. She had already stored the content of the script in the learning chip in her brain, and now she knew it by heart. But she still couldn't help but want to read the script again to try to understand the character's emotions.

The role she auditioned for this time was Shangguan Wan'er, a court lady who had a lot of scenes in the movie and was positioned as the second female lead. She had never played a role like this before, which had a lot of depth to explore.

All her knowledge of Shangguan Wan'er came from the content of this short one-page script, and more was only through her imagination.

Just as she was absorbed in her thoughts, a harsh voice suddenly rang out from the side: "Hey, who was that? Isn't this Si Xuan?"

Si Xuan frowned and looked up at the person who came, with undisguised disgust in her eyes, "Weina, why are you here?"

Wei Na raised her chin slightly, her eyes and eyebrows full of sarcasm: "If someone like you can come, why can't I come?"

Si Xuan glared at her fiercely, knowing that this was not the time to argue with her, so she simply lowered her head to read the script again and ignored her.

There were conflicts between Wei Na's agent and her agent, so the artists under the two agents often had conflicts. Si Xuan had had conflicts with Wei Na several times before.

She was quiet, but Wei Na sat down next to her and asked, "Who is the role you are auditioning for?"

There was nothing to hide, so Si Xuan answered openly: "Shangguan Wan'er."

Wei Na leaned close to her ear and spoke maliciously, "I'm afraid you've come here for nothing. The role has already been decided for me. I'm here just to go through the motions."

Si Xuan: ...Do you fucking think I will believe it?

After so long of fighting, how could she not understand Wei Na's little trick? She was just trying to put mental pressure on her.

So she grinned and replied softly, "You're so confident, be careful not to get slapped in the face." And Wei Na might not be here to audition for the role of Shangguan Wan'er. Judging from her style, it's possible that she's here to audition for the role of Princess Taiping.

Having failed to achieve her goal, Wei Na snorted coldly and picked up the script to continue reading.

The audition started soon. Si Xuan arrived late, so her seat was at the back.

She watched helplessly as beautiful girls and handsome boys walked in and out one after another, and her originally calm mood gradually began to become tense.

Finally, it was her turn.

She straightened her clothes, exhaled, and slowly walked into the audition room.

…

Ever since the announcement of the open casting, Le Jing has received many resumes. He looked through them carefully and found that most of them were from minor actors and minor stars, not even a third-tier actor.

Le Jing sighed at this situation.

He was still a little anxious.

Whenever he thought about how much history he hadn't captured, he couldn't help but get anxious. The history he knew was too vast, and he could only capture a tiny fraction of it in his lifetime. So he had to race against time.

Even though "Records of the Great Writers of the Republic of China" has become a hit, he is young, has no awards to support him, and has no capital to back him up. In the eyes of people in the industry, he is just a young man who has just started out. As the saying goes, a young man with no hair on his lips cannot do things well. The industry is still taking a wait-and-see attitude towards him.

So this time he spread the word, and only some small stars who wanted to try their luck came to audition.

After careful consideration, Le Jing decided to hold the audition. Maybe he could find one or two rough diamonds? Besides, these young actors were paid less and were more obedient. If they were really famous actors, they might not obey him.

But Le Jing was destined to be disappointed.

This morning, he interviewed four or five "Princess Taiping", two or three "Shangguan Wan'er", four or five "Li Xian", and one empress's male favorite "Zhang Changzong", but his acting skills did not satisfy him.

It seems that he is a little naive.

He began to hesitate whether to hold auditions after the award season, when Chronicles of Great Writers of the Republic of China won several awards.

"Next."

He picked up the resume and took a look at it. Si Xuan was another small star. She had acted in flop dramas before, but her appearance was dignified and elegant, which was very consistent with Shangguan Wan'er's character.

Si Xuan walked in. She was indeed a bright and generous girl. She passed the test in terms of appearance.

Le Jing: "Let's start the show."

This scene tells the story of Wu Zetian summoning Shangguan Wan'er and giving her a test on the spot. Shangguan Wan'er wrote with divine power in a short time, and it was gorgeous and brilliant, like a masterpiece of a master. Wu Zetian, who was not yet the emperor at the time, was delighted by her talent and immediately issued an order to exempt her from her slave status and let her take charge of the imperial edicts in the palace.

From a slave to a female official, does it sound inspiring? But Shangguan Wan'er became a slave thanks to Wu Zetian.

Shangguan Wan'er came from a prominent family. Her grandfather was the famous prime minister Shangguan Yi. Because Shangguan Yi wrote a letter to request the abdication of the empress, Wu Zetian was furious and executed him for treason. The Shangguan family was convicted, and Shangguan Wan'er went from being a noble lady to a maid in the palace.

Wu Zetian was the enemy of the Shangguan family and Shangguan Wan'er. However, Shangguan Wan'er could only rely on pleasing her enemies to have a chance to turn things around. The complex feelings involved cannot be explained in a few words.

In the script, Le Jing also briefly mentioned the feud between Shangguan Wan'er and Wu Zetian, hoping that the actors could use this as a reference to further enrich and improve Shangguan Wan'er's character.

However, the Shangguan Wan'er he interviewed before was either too resentful or too flattering, and none of them could satisfy Le Jing.

Si Xuan took a deep breath, cleared her mind, and began the performance with full concentration.

An assistant began to read Wu Zetian's lines and acted with Si Xuan.

[“Are you Shangguan Wan’er?”

Shangguan Wan'er knelt with her head lowered, not daring to look directly at the emperor's face: "It is the maidservant."

This woman was the one who harmed their family and was the real culprit for her falling to this point.

But she is also a queen, in a high position of power, and is her hope to change her fate and revive her family.

She...can't hate, and dare not hate.

"I heard that you have good literary talent. Write an article for me to read."

"Your Majesty, please ask the question."

The empress asked a question.

Shangguan Wan'er finished the painting without hesitation, in one go.

"The rumors are true. You are indeed a talented woman. With such talent, it would be a pity for you to stay in the inner court as a maid. You should be in charge of imperial decrees in the future."

Shangguan Wan'er was shocked and tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't dare to raise her head. Instead, she lowered her head even lower and replied in a trembling voice, "Thank you, Madam, for your grace."

Le Jing was a little surprised.

Si Xuan had put a lot of effort into this, and although it was a little different from what he had imagined, that was also due to her lack of understanding of Shangguan Wan'er. It was already remarkable that she could perform to this extent with just a page of script.

As for other shortcomings, there will be plenty of opportunities to improve them in the future.

Le Jing nodded with satisfaction, but did not express his satisfaction out loud, and asked her to go back and wait for notification.

Si Xuan came out, feeling very nervous, not knowing how she had performed. The director hadn't expressed any opinion, so did that mean she was out of luck?

Oh, oh, oh, she finally got this opportunity. If she doesn’t get the role, her agent will kill her.

She prayed silently in her heart, God, please bless Director Shi to fall in love with her. She is willing to exchange ten pounds of flesh on her body for it!

After Si Xuan, he has not found any other suitable actresses, but he is already very satisfied with Si Xuan, and he can't ask for more. As for other roles, it seems that he can only wait and see. After "Records of Literary Masters of the Republic of China" achieves better results and wins several professional awards, he will be qualified to choose.

Le Jing now feels that he doesn’t have enough time. If possible, he would even like to save time for sleeping.

After a tiring day of interviews, Le Jing was still thinking about the new movie while lying on the bed.

There are many movies and TV series about Wu Zetian in China, and her life has been filmed so many times that nothing new can be done. So Le Jing decided to take a different approach and witness the life of the empress after she ascended the throne from the perspective of an observer.

This bystander is not a person, but a dog, a royal dog. But she is not an ordinary dog.

The soul of a dead palace maid is attached to her.

The palace girl lived a miserable life, being beaten to death for a trivial mistake. But after she was reincarnated as a dog, she became the queen's favorite, enjoying a high status in the palace and becoming a real dog master.

The story begins when Wu Zetian ascended the throne.

Wu Zetian reigned for 15 years, which is almost the lifespan of a dog.

This royal dog accompanied Wu Zetian, and accompanied the empress through glory and lows, witnessed one dazzling political struggle after another, and saw wave after wave of forces coming and going in the palace.

The scene that Si Xuan just auditioned for came from Shangguan Wan'er's memories before her death.

This court lady who relied on the empress to gain power was soon purged by the new emperor after the empress's death and died with hatred. Before she died, she recalled her first encounter with the empress.

This woman destroyed her family, but made Shangguan Wan'er successful.

If it weren't for Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan'er would have been an ordinary rich lady. With Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan'er became a concubine, gained power, became a chess player, and was qualified to play chess with men.

She hated her, but she admired her even more.

Without Shangguan Wan'er, Wu Zetian is still the greatest female emperor in history, but without Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan'er is nothing.

That's why she died so easily.

Le Jing is looking forward to what kind of performance and interpretation Si Xuan will give after learning the complete script.

Le Jing thought about the name of the movie for a long time and finally decided to tentatively name it "The Queen's Dog".

This is the first female emperor in history from a dog's perspective.

Le Jing sincerely began to thank the development of AI technology, which made his idea come true easily. If it were Earth, it would not be easy to train a qualified dog actor.

But now with AI technology, through post-production, dogs can also have superb acting skills.

While he was thinking, Le Jing's phone rang.

Another unfamiliar number.

Where is this reporter from?

He answered the call casually, and then received a piece of news that was expected and reasonable.

The Red Peony Organizing Committee invited the crew of "Chronicles of Great Writers of the Republic of China" to participate in the awards ceremony at the end of October.

This indicates that "Chronicles of Great Writers of the Republic of China" will at least receive a few nominations.

If "Records of Great Writers of the Republic of China" wins an award...

Le Jing smiled silently. By then, he would be qualified to choose the actors.

The author has something to say:

Thanks to a reader who caught me, I realized that I typed my male favorite Zhang Changzong as Zhang Zongchang, and I suddenly changed from a male favorite to a Fengtian warlord (…) He was the Zhang Zongchang who wrote “The Jade Emperor also has the surname Zhang, why are you making things difficult for me, Zhang Zongchang? If it doesn’t rain within three days, I will first tear down the Dragon Emperor Temple and then use cannons to bomb your mother”_(?□`」 ∠)_ No wonder I think Zhang Zongchang is easier to fight than Zhang Changzong (…)

The original setting was that the bystander was a cat, but after readers found out, I suddenly realized that Wu Zetian hated cats and ordered that cats were not allowed in the palace, so I changed the protagonist to a dog.