Day 120
“Action!”
The clapperboard fell down with a snap, and the young man's aura changed instantly.
He reclined on the gilded throne, his dark python robe slightly open, his fingertips twirling a white jade chess piece. His posture should have been languid, but a hint of frost settled between his brows—a detail not in the script.
"Xie Fan." He suddenly chuckled, and the chess piece landed on the Tianyuan position on the chessboard with a "thump". "Do you think this move of mine was brilliant?"
The camera panned to Bai Wenji. He stood in the shadows, dressed in a plain white robe. He merely raised his eyes at the words. He had no lines, yet the assistant director behind the monitor unconsciously sat up straighter. This trainee was truly a perfect fit for the role. He barely needed to "act." His face, appearing on the screen, conveyed the loneliness of a pine tree crushed by snow.
but……
"Cut!" Director Zhang suddenly called a halt. "Xun Yan, your acting was great, but... it's still a little lacking. Xiao Bai's character is already more impactful, and as the king, you need to be more outgoing to hold the audience's attention and achieve a balance between the two characters, so..."
"Going to be more like a madman, huh?"
Fu Xunyan maintained his arrogant attitude on the throne as he answered, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the dark patterns on his python robe.
He and Bai Wenji had only received the script two hours ago. Although he didn't have many scenes, he had to read all the chapters to ensure that he understood the role correctly, which was only covered on three pages.
In the play titled "Yucheng", Fu Xunyan plays Xiao Yan, whose name was erased from history books and who was a shadow that disappeared on the night of the palace coup.
Ten years ago, the fifteen-year-old Crown Prince Xiao Yan should have died in a sea of fire.
But he survived, lurking like a venomous snake in the darkest corners of the dynasty. From then on, there was no more prince in the world, only the owner of the "Night Owl" who lived in legend.
He manipulates everything from behind the scenes, the only time he reveals his true identity is at the abandoned observatory. After three years of tracking him down, the hero and heroine finally catch him, only to find him playing chess with his back to the moonlight. Beneath his dark cloak, half of his pale wrist is revealed, along with knuckles delicately polished from iron—three of his fingers were severed by a single blow during his escape from the coup.
"Surprised?" He chuckled, and the chess piece continued to fall steadily. "You found me, congratulations."
His good hand supported his chin, and his face was lazy and beautiful in the moonlight, but it looked like it was carved out of ice and had no human touch.
There was no fear in his eyes, no expectation, no joy, no fear, no panic, as if the person he was facing was not the enemy he had fought for more than 30 episodes, but a passerby from somewhere.
"Xiao Yan! You have killed so many people, committed such a big mistake, and turned the country upside down, but you don't have any regrets at all!" Qin Lianhe, the third prince of the current dynasty and the male protagonist of this drama, asked coldly.
"Well, yeah, maybe I'm doing something wrong."
He was clearly admitting his mistake, but he still yawned.
Qin Lianhe was so angry at his nonchalant attitude that he almost raised his knife to attack him.
Only Xie Fan, the counselor who always stayed by Xiao Yan's side, saw the surging water in the depths of those emotionless eyes under the moonlight.
He stood in the corner of the night, feeling a deep sorrow for the master he served.
The previous monarch was a tyrant and his crimes were unforgivable.
But Crown Prince Xiao Yan was not.
His father did not like him because he was born to the empress. Especially after the court officials disagreed with making the concubine's son the crown prince, the emperor disliked Xiao Yan even more.
He did not attach importance to his education and restricted his mother's contact with him.
The fifteen-year-old prince had not even read a few books. He relied entirely on his own efforts and secretly stole classics from various places in the palace.
If it were someone else, he would have been spoiled long ago.
Xie Fan, who was studying with Xiao Yan at the time, was well aware of Xiao Yan's efforts. He talked to his father about the prince, and his father only sighed with regret and sadness, saying that it was the most unfortunate thing in the world that such a well-behaved child was born in the emperor's family and in the queen's womb.
Fifteen-year-old Xiao Yan was not particularly talented. In Xie Fan's eyes, he had other shortcomings, such as being too cowardly and too foolishly kind. He was not a good prince.
Xie Fan was very conflicted. He had always hoped that he could use his talents to assist the wise monarch and support the country, but Xiao Yan's future was bleak and the emperor was becoming increasingly insane.
But then you don’t have to worry about it anymore.
The local army from the north broke in and hacked the old emperor, his concubine, and his son to death in the magnificent hall.
Other innocent people should not have been involved, but Qin Lianhe's father was not without his own selfish motives at the time. He wanted to wipe out the roots of the evil to feel at ease, so he dragged out the queen, who had been silently worshipping Buddha in the temple for ten years, and beheaded her outside the temple.
After searching everywhere for the prince but failing to find him, a nationwide wanted notice was issued. Any garrison that saw the former prince could be executed in exchange for ten thousand taels of gold.
The young man under the moon was wearing a black cloak. Even though he had broad shoulders, such a handsome young man looked so weak.
Xie Fan could hardly hold back and wanted to rush up to tell Qin Lianhe that the sorrow in the first half of Xiao Yan's life was brought about by the old emperor, and the sins he committed in the second half of his life were all driven by your Qin family.
If the Qin family had not ruthlessly killed the queen, Xiao Yan would not have been forced by his uncle's family to grow up and seek revenge on the Xin Dynasty when he asked for help.
If the Qin family had not insisted on wiping out the entire family, Xiao Yan would not have had to abandon his name and be forced to hide in the dark.
Xie Fan knew Xiao Yan too well—and felt guilty towards him.
At that time, when he dragged the young man with three broken fingers out of the secret passage, the young man cried and asked if he could ignore the so-called filial piety and avenge his mother, and just go to a village and be an ordinary citizen.
Xie Fan shook his head.
"Your Highness, this is your responsibility. Even if not for your father, you must avenge the Qin family for your mother."
Really?
No, it’s because if the prince does not seek refuge with his uncle’s family, their Xie family will also be liquidated by the new dynasty because they have lost their support.
From then on, Xie Fan knew that he could no longer be called a gentleman.
He is a complete villain.
In the past ten years, no one asked about Xiao Yan's wishes. Everyone assumed that he was doing it voluntarily, voluntarily planning and strategizing, voluntarily provoking disputes, and working towards the goal of overthrowing the Qin Dynasty.
But perhaps, Xiao Yan had already become a hollow person.
That night, when Xie Fan firmly told him no, Xiao Yan was already dead.
When Fu Xunyan read the brief background setting, he almost immediately felt a sense of sadness - this character was not given much attention, and it might even be a sudden inspiration of the screenwriter.
But it's definitely a very complex, original—and heartbreaking—character.
All the villains so far have reasons to make things difficult for the male and female protagonists, but Xiao Yan is not one of them. From his own perspective, he actually has no intention of making things difficult for anyone.
He was just being swept along.
He had died a long time ago, so this empty body was just for others to use.
What did he mean by that? In his despair, he even had a kind of "madman's spirit" - that is, "Okay, since that's the case, then let it be as you wish."
Revenge is fine; rebellion is fine, but if you fail and die in the end, it doesn’t matter.
Chen Qingsong's vision is really accurate.
Xie Fan is a frank person, but he is not a kind gentleman. His coldness and arrogance are the mark of selfishness that the children of aristocratic families cannot get rid of, and Bai Wenji is almost exactly the same as him.
As for Fu Xunyan, although his inner self is completely opposite, after experiencing a lifetime, the occasional fatigue he reveals on his body perfectly fits Xiao Yan.
“Action!”
The clapperboard fell again.
People only saw the young man sitting there with his hand wearing an iron prosthesis scraping across the chessboard, leaving three marks, which seemed to contain emotions of anger, resentment and unwillingness, but if they looked at his face again, they would not be able to stop.
He was actually smiling.
"Well, yeah, maybe I'm doing something wrong."
"So, fair and selfless Third Prince, it's time for you to come and kill me."
His sharp fingertips tapped his heart, and his indifferent eyes glanced at Qin Lianhe and the heroine Wen Xiao. Seeing that they still didn't move, he suddenly realized something and slowly used his fingertips to open his collar.
"It's okay, my heart is on the left side, don't worry about me cheating you."
"There are no traps here. It's just Xiao Xie and I."
"Kill me. This is your reward for completing this game."
How bizarre! Qin Lianhe and Wen Xiao were stunned, their eyes widening, completely at a loss.
"Card--"
The director stood up excitedly, "This scene is over, get ready to shoot the next scene!"
In an instant, gasps were heard all over the set, as if everyone had held their breath for just five minutes.
"Oh my God." Yang Yu, the leading actress who plays Wen Xiao and a well-known rising star born in the 1990s, covered her heart with her hands, her pretty face full of obsession.
"Prince, you are so handsome! Can you rebel? Can you rebel?"
The male lead next to her, Guo Heng, laughed angrily and poked her arm. "What's wrong with you? You're the super righteous female lead and you don't like men, so why are you suddenly so focused on looks?"
"He's just too handsome." Yang Yu clasped his hands together and continued to stare at Fu Xunyan with starry eyes, "Really, really, he's a completely despairing handsome guy who can be ravaged by anyone!"
Guo Heng covered his chest and pretended to be lonely: "Am I not handsome?"
Yang Yu: ...
"I don't want to discourage you."
Guo Heng was so angry that he laughed. He was a handsome man in ancient costume recognized by the public!
But when he looked at the young man in the cloak standing up from behind the chessboard... well, he was a little inferior.
Damn it! How can someone’s face be so smooth?
Director Zhang also had this question.
Before filming, he briefly told Fu Xunyan the key points of filming, especially the eyes and facial direction when facing the camera.
He had prepared himself mentally, staring intently at the monitor to make sure the other person's face looked good on camera, but he soon realized he was worrying too much—there was no need to worry! He looked good from every angle!
With the presence of Fu Xunyan and Bai Wenji, the set became completely lively and bustling. Everyone knew that they were just making a cameo appearance and would be leaving after filming tonight, so they all wanted to see them as much as possible. Many actors who had no roles today also came to watch.
"Ah, it's good to be smart." Male No. 5 sighed as he looked over there, "How did he manage to have only so many NGs in his first performance?"
It's really puzzling. He didn't even graduate from an acting major, but he has such a good grasp of the psychology of such a complex character as the prince.
"Why is it so lively here?"
Male No. 5 was startled when he turned around. A man with a bloody face was standing next to his shoulder.
"Oh my god! You are—ah, it's my second brother, why are you here?"
"I've finished filming today." The man wiped his face and continued looking towards the pavilion high over there. "Wow, is that the actor who plays your prince? He's quite imposing, and his face—wow, so handsome?"
"Where did you find this handsome guy?"
Male No. 5 shook his head. "I didn't dig her up. Chen Qingsong was out all afternoon and I kidnapped her from the company."
"Kidnapped? How do you mean?"
"Don't you think he looks familiar? And the one in white clothes next to him—does Fu Xunyan know him?"
The man known as the second brother was enlightened: "Ah, ah. I know, he was on the trending search a lot recently. It was the one from the talent show, right?"
"That's right."
"I thought the photos of singing and dancing trainees were all highly photoshopped, but this guy in real life is so handsome he's infuriating. Wait, what did you just say? Did Chen Qingsong just go back to the company and kidnap him?"
"What do you want to do?" Male No. 5 stared at the second brother warily.
The second brother scratched his head. "Hey, it's nothing. We're just sharing our experiences. You see, our team is in a difficult situation too. You know, the third male lead had an accident a while ago, and our director is trying to think of a way to fill this gap, so..."
"Can you give me an introduction?"
Male No. 5 was shocked. "You guys are in a serious drama, can't you find someone to take over?"
The second brother's face turned grim upon hearing this: "You also know our director's personality. Director Zhang may have a bad temper, but at least he speaks his mind. Our..."
"He is simply the silent King of Hell, King of Hell."
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