Chapter 48 Happy Birthday!

The opening ceremony went smoothly, but Shu Ming still had a lot to learn!

In fact, Zhu Zhen’s arrogance and pride are just a fleeting foreshadowing in the movie.

The real burden on Shu Ming lies in the later transformation of "Zhu Zhen".

The later plot is where the real charm of this character lies.

Which noble family can enjoy eternal prosperity?

They all obey the emperor's orders and consider each other's interests.

The Yong Dynasty had already entered its late stage at this time, with intertwined forces and turbulent waves in the dark.

One second he was a powerful and influential official in the court, and the next second he was a criminal thrown into prison.

One moment, he was a young general returning from a triumphant victory, fully expecting to be rewarded for his achievements and leave his name in history; the next moment, having just arrived in Beijing, he had to face the reality of his entire family being imprisoned and his father's tragic death...

Zhu Zhen thought many times that it would be better if he had died at that time.

Unfortunately... there is no if.

Public opinion suppressed the guillotine that was about to chop off his neck, and the advice that came like snowflakes saved his life.

The blurry figure on the highest seat waved his hand lightly, forcing him to accept this great imperial grace.

The sixteen-year-old Zhu Zhen was purified and was forced by fate to be pushed into the high palace walls where no sunlight could be seen.

He became a pure lackey of the Censorate and the Imperial Guard; he became a sharp knife used by the emperor to play power games.

Fabricating charges and killing loyal officials are their specialties.

And Zhu Zhen is the best at framing others!

He is eloquent and will do anything to achieve his goals.

Later, in order to help the prince who supported the power of the Censorate and the Imperial Guards to take the throne as soon as possible, they even persuaded the emperor to lead the army in person, which resulted in the emperor being captured. The country was left in a precarious situation like duckweed in the wind and rain, and was in danger of extinction!

But according to history books, he is not a completely evil person. He would help a beggar on the street, and he would fight to the last moment in the defense of the capital.

But this cannot erase his heinous crimes.

This is what Shu Ming said after repeated discussions with Rong Ankang and Qiao Minxue.

"This is the only meaning of Zhu Zhen's life."

"The sudden reversal of power made Zhu Zhen realize that taking up the butcher knife was the only way to survive.

Only the Censorate and the Imperial Guard, and only the emperor, could give him the power to protect himself - in the beginning, Zhu Zhen only wanted to protect himself.

Zhu Zhen, who had long been bullied and insulted, and who had long been immersed in the manipulation of power, had long forgotten what he looked like at the age of fifteen. For him, just being alive was already quite difficult, even if it meant living like a dog.

Shu Ming rested his chin on his hand, pondering for a moment before adding, "Or perhaps, the feeling of harming others also gave him a taste of revenge. After all, in his eyes, the court officials who didn't lend a hand, the powerful who fanned the flames, and the mediocre people who sat on the throne were all the murderers who had caused him to fall to this point.

However, his childhood dream was still to defend his country. In his eyes, civilians were innocent.

Zhu Zhen is weak, hateful, deeply sinful, and deserves to die.

Only occasionally, one could sense a bit of pity in his experiences.

Rong Ankang said: "The difficulty lies in showing the inferiority and vanity hidden beneath Zhu Zhen's skin."

Shu Ming pondered over this for a long time, and had countless sleepless nights, before he created this lifelike Zhu Zhen on the set today!

Others didn't know, but Rong Ankang was very satisfied.

As fate would have it, fate had given him a "Zhu Zhen" who was perfectly suitable for him!

The scene was in place, everything was ready, he sat in front of the monitor and shouted "Cut" -

**

Five years later, when the male protagonist Qi Hong met Zhu Zhen again, he saw the youngest son of his deceased friend.

The arrogant young man who rode a white horse with a silver saddle has become the man who wears a black hat with gold decoration, a red fan-shaped cap and black tung-bottomed boots. If it weren't for the narrow sleeves that are unique to eunuchs, at first glance, he would be no different from a simple civil official in the court! [1]

Zhu Zhenyin practiced martial arts since he was young. Even though he has been tortured by illness in recent years and has lost a lot of weight, his back is still straight and his steps are as fast as the wind.

For this film, Shu Ming specially learned the small square step from his opera teacher before joining the crew to start filming.

This was also the final agreement between him and Rong Ankang.

Zhu Zhen may not be a "bad guy" with a sinister look in the traditional sense. The pampered life he lived for the first fifteen years of his life still left a deep mark on him.

For example, walking, for example, bowing——

Zhu Zhen stood tall and straight like a pine tree, the hem of his vermilion official uniform fluttering with every step.

He was fair and beardless because of the cleansing, with a face like a beautiful girl and a faint smile on his lips. He bowed and saluted Qi Hong, looking a bit like a noble young man from a wealthy family.

Unfortunately, the words that came out were extremely vicious.

"Master Qi, it would be best if you agree as soon as possible. Heaven is merciful and has repeatedly sent down auspicious omens. This is a hint to us, to His Majesty, that we should pray for the people in the temple."

The cabinet has been arguing about this matter all morning.

In order to satisfy his own selfish desires and fill the empty treasury, the emperor actually used the pretext of praying for blessings and building a temple.

A few years ago, a large amount of military rations were taken from the border, which led to Zhu Zhen's father being imprisoned.

But in recent years, the border situation has been tense, and several cities have been lost, making it impossible to move forward. So they turned around and wanted to investigate a large number of corrupt officials!

How can this be considered a corrupt official? It's clearly a scapegoat! It's an excuse for powerful officials to bring down the clean stream!

There's no way you can make money by copying!

Zhu Zhen, who was standing by, was still talking to himself: "...I heard that Lord Qi is still in his hometown of Danzhou, with his wife, children and relatives?"

Qi Hong was originally facing sideways towards him, but at this moment he couldn't help but look back at Zhu Zhen.

Threat...a blatant threat!

Zhu Zhen raised his eyes. Although there was a smile on the corner of his lips, there was no warmth in his eyes, only a bit of coldness that was not like that of an ordinary person.

"Master Qi, serving the court is the foundation of us both, and a blessing for the country."

"Who can defy the will of Heaven? Otherwise, if our prayers don't materialize and a flood strikes this summer, leaving three or five hundred thousand people homeless, whose fault is that?"

Zhu Zhen smiled slightly.

The two stood facing each other in the corridor.

One person had a heart of stone and an indifferent expression, while the other glared at him with resentment.

Zhu Zhen's implication is -

If you, Qi Hong, insist on stopping me, you may not die at the hands of me, Zhu Zhen.

But it is not known whether he will die under the pressure of public opinion and become the scapegoat of the emperor.

At this point, the power of the factory guards represented by Zhu Zhen and the Qingliu faction in the cabinet represented by Qi Hong officially had their first head-on confrontation.

All forces have come on stage, and the good show can finally begin.

The opening announcement of the play was made by a young eunuch who stumbled over to the side:

"Report—bad news! Qingzhou has been defeated, and the enemy is already attacking Tongzhuang!"

Qi Hong didn't care about his own expression and turned around suddenly.

Tongzhuang is only 500 miles away from the capital. What’s the difference between this and an enemy at the gates?

The camera zooms out slightly and moves in a cross-directional manner.

The monitor showed two faces with different thoughts.

A loyal and brave man with a solemn expression.

One person had a plan in mind, lowered his eyes and smiled softly.

The sky gradually darkened. Was it the afterglow of sunset, or... a sign of impending storm?

**

"Good! One pass."

Anyone who has seen the big monitor will sigh that this scene is so beautifully filmed.

From the eyes, to the movement, to the delicate lighting.

This is the significance of Rong Ankang's insistence on single-camera shooting.

Multi-camera shooting does increase efficiency, but lighting from multiple angles makes it easier to make the light flat.

There is light on the left and right side of the character, so where can there be a shadow?

Without shadows and dark contrasts, how can light be called light?

Therefore, its depth is naturally not as good as the effect of single-camera lighting.

After Rong Ankang's meticulous arrangement, the weighty sense of history in the lens comes to mind all at once!

Especially the last frozen scene of the two of them, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to just pull it out and use it as a movie promotional poster!

However, there are ten thousand advantages to slowly refining and shooting with a single camera, but only one disadvantage.

It's just too slow to shoot!

Rong Ankang is considered a very efficient director. The entire crew is like a tightly-knit industrial machine, running non-stop without wasting excessive time.

However, although the shooting intensity is high, it is different from other crews' shooting methods that are just for the sake of working hours.

Rong Ankang's crew would finish filming the daytime scenes as soon as the daylight faded. On days without night scenes, everyone even had time to play checkers and Monopoly.

Qiao Minxue is a self-disciplined man who exercises regularly and always restrains himself. He often makes appointments with the crew's martial arts instructor to go jogging at night.

Later, Hao Ning thought it was fun and started running too.

Finally, Shu Ming, who was watching the show on the side, was also rescued.

After a few weeks, this small night running team became almost famous in the film and television base.

Everyone has good physical fitness. The more they run, the better their condition becomes. Filming is also more efficient, and the progress is really fast.

Even so, it took a full month to shoot the beginning of this movie.

The filming lasted until mid-to-late May, when Shu Ming’s 19th birthday came, and only then was the scene that marked the official start of the film’s plot captured.

Fortunately, this is the last scene this afternoon. After filming this, everyone can have dinner!

After Director Rong shouted "cut", everyone dispersed.

The eldest brother came to pick up Shu Ming and put his coat on him.

The evening breeze was a little chilly, and Shu Ming stood quietly for a while under the shade of the tree.

He could be considered an experiential person, and the more he brought Zhu Zhen, who was deep in thought in the later stages, the more silent he became.

Sometimes, even the people around him have a hard time figuring out what he is thinking.

"Zhu Zhen" has always been thin due to the physical torture he suffered.

Of course, the director also asked Shu Ming to lose weight.

Guan Xianyi is ready for a big battle - when he encounters some artists who love to eat and gain weight easily, losing weight is no different from fighting a war!

As a result, after Shu Ming got into the state, he naturally lost weight.

Or to be more precise, since the late stage of "Choice 1", Shu Ming has never really recovered!

When filming "The Execution of the Zhu Family", I didn't eat anything for two days in a row and I almost cried all the time.

Guan Xianyi thought about it for a long time and felt that this was even more tiring than watching the actors lose weight.

Fortunately, Shu Ming is a smart kid and he realized that this would not be a good thing.

After learning from senior crew members such as Qiao Minxue, I also consciously tried to "step out of the role" in my daily life, and I feel much better these days!

Right now, the reason why Shu Ming was standing under the shade of the tree was to adjust his off-stage state.

However, Shu Ming's temperament is still closer to "Zhu Zhen", and his every move and gesture has a bit of the meaning of a young master from an ancient aristocratic family.

How should I put it? It just has more aura and a kind of indescribable connotation and charm.

His acting experience has given him a level that makes people want to get closer and explore him, and a depth that is worth exploring.

Occasionally, there were a few leaked photos taken by fans, and people’s comments changed from “Little Shu baby~” to “Husband is so handsome!!”

After looking at him again and again, Guan Xianyi had to admit that he was indeed more handsome!

But no matter how handsome Shu Xiaoming is, he is only nineteen years old.

Guan Xianyi stood behind Shu Ming, and while the child was adjusting to his acting state, he quickly waved to the person pushing the cake outside the venue.

More and more people gathered.

Immersed in his own thoughts, Shu Xiaoming stood in the shade of the tree for a long time without noticing. He rubbed his cheeks hard and exhaled heavily.

He first took off his coat, and then prepared to go back to the nanny car to drink a sip of water, but he turned around unexpectedly, and the whole puppy was stunned on the spot -

Many people stood in front of him with smiles on their faces, including the leading actors of the crew, the two directors, his brother, Guan Xianyi and others... A staff member wearing a mask and a hat pushed out a not-so-big cake from the side.

It was dark, and in the flickering candlelight were everyone's smiling faces and sincere birthday wishes.

"Happy birthday!!"

Shu Ming blinked his eyes, so touched...

But wait—

Then didn't everyone see the dazed look on his face as he stood under the tree just now?

The child's face suddenly turned red.

How embarrassing!

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Author's comments: [1] Clothing references "History of Ming Dynasty" + quotes from Li Bai's poems