Chapter 73

She even arrived earlier than the others.

This film was invested by Shen's Films, and several supporting roles were cast by artists from Jianfeng, so it's normal for her to appear here, but the entire crew is under the control of Su Ning, so her presence or absence won't change anything.

Zhu Lan mainly wanted to see what had become of this resource that she had previously looked down upon, and what the result of Su Ning's choice was.

When she came, she saw Ji Mowei and the other person, and raised her eyebrows. She thought that Su Ning did not ask Li Chu, who was his own company employee, to come over, but asked these two people instead. She didn't know whether it was to win people's hearts or to force their way in to show off his reputation.

Ji Mowei knew what she was thinking as soon as he saw her expression, and was too lazy to explain that this was the path they had chosen themselves.

The more he got along with Su Ning, the more he felt that Mr. Su was not as complicated as these people thought. He was just teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and taking into account the actual situation of their personal wishes. Why think so much?

Ye Qiuxin hadn't arrived yet, so these two auditioned first. Zhu Lan took a look and to be honest, it was a bit beyond her expectations.

She knows the acting skills of young idols. Not to mention how good their performances are, even being able to pronounce words and lines clearly is considered standing out from the crowd at the beginning. However, the performances of these two are indeed different. Moreover, idol acting also has its own advantages. They have strong control over their bodies and the ability to learn in front of the camera.

These were all filled in by Tong Feifan, including the lines, movements, positioning and performance in front of the camera. After practice, the progress can be said to be rapid.

When you first enter the industry, you must follow the right person. Su Ning insisted on hiring Tong Feifan. Many people said that it was a waste of talent and that it was just a gimmick. But now it has been proved that high standards are really useful.

Several minor supporting roles in the play were decided very quickly, and soon after, Jixue arrived. Since they had met a lot before and had collaborated on a short play, she and Ji Mowei greeted each other in a friendly manner, and then shook hands with Ye Qiuxin who had just arrived.

Among a group of actors, Ye Qiuxin's face is not outstanding. She is a beauty, but there are too many beauties in the entertainment industry. The competition among actresses of her generation is even more fierce, with all kinds of works, awards and endorsements competing against each other.

It is true that she is relatively unknown, especially on the Internet, and many young people don't know her very well.

Ye Qiuxin's previous starring roles were mostly dramas and historical dramas, which had high ratings, but she herself was not very interested in marketing and did not take on any business opportunities. She just focused on acting, and her personality seemed ordinary, not cold, but not overly enthusiastic either.

She plays the female lead, Luo Suyan, who is set to be a dignified and steady girl from an aristocratic family. She is childhood sweethearts with the crown prince and is only waiting for the crown prince to finish his mourning period before marrying into the Eastern Palace. However, the old emperor is incompetent and superstitious about astronomy, so he seizes his son's wife and forces her into the palace, and makes her the Empress Li.

Thus, the world of the girl from aristocratic family who had originally aspired to be a good wife and help her husband and wife live in harmony collapsed in an instant.

Deep down, she hated the old emperor who was vicious, cruel, merciless, and romantic, and she didn't want to compete for favor in the harem. So at the beginning, she felt new and proud, and the emperor wanted to pamper her, even with unlimited and extraordinary pampering, and he would pamper her to the utmost, as if it was a sweet pampering story.

The life of a favored concubine is really too easy.

No woman, or even anyone, can remain completely indifferent in such pampering. The heroine is inevitably shaken, but she abides by the rules and thinks she has kept the bottom line. But soon, the old emperor has a new one.

Once the favor is transferred, the gap comes.

It turned out that those who were jealous of her started to attack. It was an ordinary game. For the first time, Russell felt like he fell from a high altitude into the clouds and felt the true cruelty of this damn place.

It turned out that the favor she disdained was the cost of saving her life here.

Fortunately, Princess Zhenyue came to the rescue and spoke for her, so that she was only confined to house arrest - Zhao Zhenyue, who has a very important role in the play, has always been on the side of the heroine, and is a character with a very important role in the decent faction, and she was enlightened at this time.

Su Ning wanted to give this role to Ji Xue, and now the two of them are trying out for this scene.

Zhenyue is applying medicine to the heroine.

There was a long scratch from the side of Luo Suyan's face to her neck, which almost disfigured her, but she was the one who was punished. The other party framed her with eloquence and cried in the emperor's arms, and she was caught off guard.

She sat there facing the mirror, her whole body trembling slightly, her tears accumulating in her eye sockets as if she was talking to herself: "Why doesn't Your Majesty believe me?"

Anyone who saw this scene would feel sorry for her.

At this time, she still felt aggrieved about the slander she had suffered, immersed in grief, and didn't know why she had lost her love. She cried about her fate that she had never determined herself.

Zhenyue called her, "My Lady."

When Luo Suyan heard the title, he seemed to be stimulated by something and looked at Zhenyue's face through the mirror.

"You have privately called me the Empress's sister-in-law before," she said, "I am not the Empress at all..."

She wanted so badly to go back to the past.

But Zhenyue interrupted her and said, "Your Highness, this is the palace, you can't say anything nonsense."

So Luo Suyan shut up.

The tears that had been welling up in her eyes finally fell down at this moment, and she asked again, "How did it become like this?"

She didn't know what she had done wrong from beginning to end.

But what made her feel even more embarrassed was that she didn't know whether she was feeling pain from entering the palace or was at a loss because of losing the emperor's favor.

At first, she clearly felt ashamed of such pampering, but now, after experiencing real hardship, she actually began to miss the old days. And today, if Zhenyue hadn't come, she would have almost not been able to eat a hot meal, and she wouldn't have had any medicine to apply on her face. The eldest daughter of the Luo family had never suffered such hardship in her life.

But Zhenyue, who was in the palace, knew very well that her father was not stupid. He knew everything. It was not that he did not believe her. Everyone knew that she was wronged. It was just that once the novelty of the person in power wore off, he felt that such a dignified beauty was meaningless, so he tried to temper her like taming an animal.

After experiencing a little bit of pain, you will not be so arrogant in the future.

This is cruel and true, but Zhenyue brought worse news. The Luo family is a military family, and the father and brother are generals. There are constant wars on the border. The father and brother of the Luo family were ordered to go to war, but they were ambushed halfway and urgently needed to be rescued.

But now the court is also in chaos. Even if the prince helps to speak up, Prime Minister Jiang and his people, who have always been at odds with the Luo family, are unwilling to send troops. They are even opposed to the prince and keep delaying. The last time it was Prime Minister Jiang's daughter, Concubine Yi, who framed Luo Suyan in the palace. This was a personal grudge, but it also involved the court.

"…Your Majesty, there is not much time left. How can the frontline wait? Only if you cheer up can the Luo family be saved," Zhen Yue said, "I really don't want to see the Luo family end up like this. The border is in danger, but these bureaucratic insects are acting out of their own selfish desires…"

Zhao Zhenyue was a daughter of a noble family, but she was concerned about the country and the people.

Although Luo Suyan's family was a military family, their daughter was raised to be a lady from a wealthy family. She was taught female discipline and education since she was young. Her father and brothers doted on her and wanted to keep her in a large mansion. They never asked her to take on any responsibilities.

Luo Suyan's first reaction was: "Me? I can't do that. Women, women should be humble...be obedient, and the harem cannot interfere in government affairs. This is, this is..."

She spoke incoherently, and could no longer remember the many rules she had memorized.

The only thing that lingered in my mind was Zhenyue's last words: "That was a trick to fool people like you. Now, the lives of Luo's father and brother are in your hands."

Zhenyue couldn't stay here any longer, fearing that she would be discovered. She sighed, left the medicine and left. Luo Suyan was still sitting in front of the mirror. She looked at the scar on her cheek where the medicine was applied, and could still see the obvious red mark. She closed her eyes silently.

She was going to go against her education and become a seductive concubine who seduced the emperor.

Ye Qiuxin and Jixue finished their rehearsal and then turned around. The whole place was silent and no one spoke.

It was Ye Qiuxin who broke the silence. She hadn't wiped away the tears yet and said to the director, "I think the sentence 'Why doesn't your majesty believe me' should be moved to the back, to the middle. The emotion will be more natural. What do you think, director?"

Guo Baomu took a look and said, "Okay."

They had already started discussing the play, but Ji Mowei and Qu Shoubai, who were standing aside and watching, had not yet come to their senses.

So amazing.

The reason why I chose this episode is that it is very representative. After this, Luo Suyan changed. The zither she used to cultivate her sentiments became a tool for winning favor. The gentle and soft song that flew over the palace walls won back the old emperor's heart. In order to please her, he immediately sent troops out.

This incident was a decisive node in the heroine's growth. The old emperor thought he had tamed a pet, but after Luo Suyan succeeded once, he no longer thought so.

She used to think that the prince was already a very powerful man, the future husband whom she once regarded as the god, the most respected and capable person in the world, and that he would inherit the throne sooner or later.

But when something happened to the Luo family, even if he tried so hard, he could not persuade the old emperor. But he only needed a word after gaining favor. It was so simple and easy.

The lady in the inner circle realized not how good it was to compete for favor, but how good power was, and that the things that men would not let her touch were so wonderful. Later, she knew more clearly that competing for favor was an indirect way to gain power, and that it also depended on the mood of the man on the throne, and it was far less satisfying than controlling it herself.

This is also the reason why Su Ning chose this script among many others.

There have been many dramas about house fighting and palace fighting, some of which are successful, and many of which are unsuccessful. The concept of such dramas, that is, the root of the script, is very important. Women can fall in love in palace fighting and house fighting, but just fighting for love is boring. However, it is much more interesting when women resist and fight for power. If the audience can see the cannibalistic nature of the feudal court in such a drama, it will be a step up.

Even if the result is not good, at least it is an interesting work that he is worthy of.

Television series are not like movies, nor are they like short feature films like Glory that can be slowly polished. If a 60-episode television series is polished like this, it will take ten years to finish.

Therefore, the script of the TV series needs to be particularly solid, the main actors must have enough experience to keep up with such a pace, and the heroine must be able to hold up.

Ye Qiuxin didn't even change her costume. She was wearing casual clothes and acting out this scene with the snow. There were almost no extra movements. She just sat there, relying entirely on the lines and expressions.

Sitting in the chair and looking up, she has turned into Luo Suyan who has broken through a layer of "proper and dignified" shell. The red mark on her face is a metaphor for her breaking the eggshell.

Jixue was also very eye-catching, she was able to handle the role, and she had the ability to become stronger when faced with stronger opponents. Ye Qiuxin was a drama actress, and she was very strong in acting on stage. She was so amazing that she did not overshadow Zhenyue, who acted opposite her.

But this is a good show, and everyone around can see it.

Ji Mowei and Qu Shoubai, two newcomers who had just started acting, thought about this kind of play over and over again. Zhu Lan knew, of course, that she was aiming to make money, but that didn't mean she had no judgment after being in the industry for so many years.

Doesn't she know that the idol dramas shot by Yuedong are bad?

She knows it better than anyone, but this is how the industry is. Sometimes good shows don't make money, but bad ones do. It's hard to say.

Zhu Lan is a well-known producer. She has been in the industry for so many years. She is of course not only famous for those idol dramas. She has invested in many works that were both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. She has also invested in films that did not do well at the box office but won awards. Until now, she is still investing in some small projects that may lose money.

It is because of this process that Zhu Lan can see more clearly that good quality does not necessarily mean big money, and the audience's choice is fluid.

Some people think that artistry is above all else, but for Zhu Lan, she knows that she is worldly and never hides her worldliness. Profits are eternal. Being well-received but not popular is definitely not the best choice for Zhu Lan. If she has to choose, she will invest in bad dramas that make money.

But the performance of the movie on Valentine's Day reminded her, what if the audience doesn't buy it?

The choice of the industry is often a cycle. In the past few years, there were many serious dramas, so the public wanted to try something new, so the dynamic idol dramas were popular at the beginning because there was demand, and they also brought in traffic like Tang Lulu.

So they continued to shoot a batch of films, and a new one was released in the past two months, but the results were not satisfactory.

It seems that the audience has run out of patience, no longer likes this kind of youthful work, and is now pursuing quality works.

President Sheng had not originally intended to cause such a fall-out. Changing the award at short notice is very risky, but he is the person in charge of this project, and Yuedong is not a company named Sheng. If he fails to do well, the person in this position will have to be replaced.

The way capital solves this kind of decadence is to control variables, so Mr. Sheng can only think of a more popular Glory, a more popular traffic, a different group of fans, and then cut another wave, as if the problem will be solved. This is the most common practice in this circle.

But Su Ning disagreed.

At the award ceremony, Jian Zhi had a knife on his neck, but he still disagreed. If it weren't for the fact that Su Ning was connected to Shen Mingzheng and the Shen family behind him, it would have been possible for President Sheng to really put a knife on his neck.

It is not new that capital goes crazy for money. When Hong Kong was in chaos decades ago, some people even used guns to hit the backs of popular stars' heads when filming movies. Now, people have become much more moderate.

But Zhu Lan is not like President Sheng. The former has no way out, but she does. With her ability and status, she will immediately change direction as soon as she senses a change in the wind. If she can't make money there, she will find another way to make money.

Not only this one, before she came, she even visited the sets of several other palace fighting and house fighting dramas that were about to be released. Several of them have already started filming, and some of them feature popular stars.

But no matter how they market it outside, Zhu Lan has a general idea of ​​what it is like after taking a walk around the set.

Guo Baomu alone has won a lot as a director, but if we talk about quality, it has to be Su Ning.

What she wants is a winner-takes-all situation.

But now Su Ning has no shortage of investment or popularity, and there is no longer any place to plug in. However, there are still a few roles that have not been determined.

Forget about the female lead. Yuedong wanted to snatch the role of the female lead before, and even wanted to change the script and replace the original not-so-perfect prince role with one to promote a young actor, but that's impossible now.

However, this is a group drama, and many characters are also very outstanding, for example, Princess Zhenyue, Zhao Zhenyue.

It can be seen that the role is very important, and this is one of the few roles in the drama that is almost flawless. You can tell from the fact that Su Ning specially chose this role for Ji Xue.

If one wants to promote someone and reap the benefits of this drama, this role seems to be the best choice.

Zhu Lan watched silently, having already made a decision in her heart.