Chapter 31
◎Gani is really good to use◎
Lan Hua has been living in misery these past few days. The reason is simple: anyone would get uncomfortable being stared at like a corpse from morning till night. Finally, Lan Hua, unable to bear it any longer, asked Duke Lan Xi to leave Chaohua Manor.
Once he was no longer being "stalked" every day, the tedium and boredom of his life as a corpse began to surface.
"Why are TV dramas and movies so dull and boring these days?" Lan Hua asked.
Lan Yang: "Because your mind isn't on the TV show." Please, switching between shows every few seconds is a classic sign that your mind isn't on the show; even the best show is useless without it. This old man is just being frustrating due to his mobility issues and deliberately finding fault.
It's pitiful that he, a high-ranking fleet admiral, was training troops with Lan Hong in the Haihe System, but now he can only sit here with this old man watching him rapidly switch between movies and TV series, unable to even watch a complete show. He reasonably suspects that the young master is deliberately tormenting him.
"You look rather down?" Lan Hua glanced at Lan Yang and smiled. "Don't you want to keep me company?"
Lan Yang forced a smile and said, "No, no, it's my honor to accompany the young master."
Lan Hua: "Your smile looks a tiny bit fake."
Lan Yang: "..." He was so tired that he could barely manage a fake smile. He wanted to go back to the army, he wanted to go to the battlefield! He should have been able to roam freely on the battlefield, but now he was bound to the Great Demon King and became his corpse! He felt like he was withering away.
"I was wrong," Lan Yang said weakly.
Lan Hua blinked: "Where did you go wrong?"
Lan Yang: "I was wrong about everything." The ball was let go.
Lan Hua: "I'm seriously injured and bedridden, and no one cares about me. It's heartbreaking."
Lan Yang: "..." When it comes to being pretentious, no one can compare to his young master. If he wanted to, the number of people who wanted to come see him could probably overwhelm the entire Chaohua Manor.
Despite his thoughts, he learned from his previous experience and remained silent.
“Your expression betrayed you,” Lan Hua said.
Lan Yang remained unmoved after hearing Lan Hua's words. He was confident in his ability to control his expression. If he actually believed the young master's obviously baiting words and gave himself away, he would truly suffer a loss.
Lan Hua shook her head, somewhat disappointed, looking at Lan Yang's obviously forced poker face. Lan Yang was clearly not as fun as before; he used to be so lively and energetic. After spending so much time with Lan Hong, he'd actually become as expressionless and poker-like as Lan Hong—truly boring.
Because she was teasing Lan Yang, Lan Hua didn't continue switching shows, and the last show was left unattended on the projector.
When Lan Hua found Lan Yang's poker-like performance uninteresting and turned her attention back to the projection, the projection showed the scene of the protagonist and his beloved embracing in the rain after their broken relationship was reunited.
After a long embrace, the two reluctantly parted. The white moonlight revealed a shy, bashful face… um… it was played by Jia Ni.
Lan Hua didn't have a deep impression or feeling about Jia Ni. If it weren't for his need to find the fastest way to become famous in the entertainment industry, and Jia Ni's "pretty face" image just happened to suit his taste and requirements, he probably wouldn't even have remembered Jia Ni's face.
His specially hired team had done considerable research on Jia Ni's "pretty face" image and successfully implemented it for him. Therefore, his path to fame in the entertainment industry was essentially a trial and error process, learning by observing Jia Ni's approach.
Besides, if it weren't for Gani's wholehearted participation, which was funded by herself from beginning to end, he would have had to find another way to make the wedding between him and the third prince, Osei, seem reasonable.
"Gani is really useful," Lan Hua exclaimed, looking at the projector. It saved him a lot of trouble. During that time, because of Regas's disappearance, he was actually quite restless, and many things weren't planned as meticulously and precisely as usual. Only when things are placed in the glamorous world of entertainment do many unreasonable things seem less prominent and less likely to attract attention.
After hearing Lan Hua's remark, Lan Yang turned his attention to the projection. On the projection, Jia Ni's already thin clothes were soaked by the rain. The fabric absorbed the water and became transparent, clinging tightly to Jia Ni's body, clearly outlining the lines of his body, half-concealed and half-revealed, arousing the imagination.
Lan Yang: "Young Master, your words could easily lead to negative associations..."
Lan Hua: "What negative associations do you have with this?"
Lan Yang: "..." Was the young master doing this on purpose? If he actually said it aloud, he'd probably get another accusation. Entrapment is strictly prohibited!
Lan Yang remained silent, and Lan Hua stopped speaking as well; the atmosphere was eerily quiet. Only in the projection, the white moonlight, played by Jia Ni, and the male lead gazed deeply into each other's eyes…
Lan Yang coughed, forcing a change of topic to break the awkward atmosphere: "Everyone on the StarNet misses you." Lan Yang went to great lengths to find a safe topic. He definitely wouldn't mention anything related to himself, the Southern Region, or Crown Prince Regas, because he could easily step on a landmine and be inexplicably attacked. As for safe, harmless, and not-too-boring topics… Lan Yang glanced at the projection, thinking about the days his young master stirred up trouble in the entertainment industry before entering the black hole, and a flash of inspiration struck him… topics about the entertainment industry were both interesting and safe.
"Miss me?" Lan Hua stared at Lan Yang with a half-smile, finding his racking-for-himself appearance much more interesting than his previous poker face.
“Yes.” Lan Yang nodded repeatedly, then pulled up the discussions of netizens on the StarNet Entertainment section of his smart bracelet and said, “Now that you’re not in the entertainment industry, it’s become so that only Jia Ni is the only star who takes the ‘pretty face’ route. We’re all sick of eating his and Ou Sai’s gossip every day.”
Lan Hua: "And then?"
Lan Yang: "..." He was just trying to start a conversation.
Lan Hua: "Are you suggesting I go back to the entertainment industry to create new entertainment for the gossip-loving public? Do you think I'm that bored?"
Lan Yang: "Young Master, who are you! Of course I didn't mean that!" Lan Yang was almost in tears. He had thought that topics from the entertainment industry would be safer. Now he finally understood that when you encounter someone specifically looking for trouble, no topic is safe! Besides, he actually felt that the young master was indeed that bored…
Lan Hua said thoughtfully, "I have an idea..."
Lan Yang: "..." Whatever you say goes, he just needs to keep quiet and be amazed.
******
After a period of recuperation, Regas's injuries had completely healed. During his recovery, he refused all requests to see the Crown Prince, except for a few people like the Emperor and Empress whom he couldn't refuse. However, even after being rejected, most people remained persistent, frequently sending requests hoping that His Highness the Crown Prince would have time to grant them an audience. After all, this was a rare opportunity to see His Highness the Crown Prince.
According to royal regulations, one must apply a week in advance to visit the wounded, thus avoiding the awkward situation of arriving directly only to be turned away and left waiting outside.
"Your Highness, the Third Prince and Prince Gani Subec have requested a visitation permit."
Although countless visitation requests are received daily, all of them are rejected without exception. However, the chief steward still has to report these requests to His Highness the Crown Prince. Requests from minor nobles can be screened out directly, but those from the direct royal family and nobles from the four regions still need His Highness's decision.
Regas sat behind his desk looking at the defense map. After hearing the chief steward's report, he didn't look up, but simply waved his hand and said, "All visitation requests are rejected."
"Understood," the steward said. "There's one more application..."
Those who could become the chief steward in the Crown Prince's palace were no ordinary people; they were used to all sorts of storms and unexpected troubles. Regas had never seen his palace steward show such a hesitant expression before.
He looked up and asked gently, "Please speak freely."
The steward coughed, regaining his usual capable demeanor, and said, "Your Highness, it's an application from Lord Lanhua."
Regas chuckled, "What kind of application is it?" Only Lan Hua could produce an application that would make the steward look so conflicted. He was also a little curious about what kind of application it was. Lan Hua's ideas were always wildly imaginative, and even his closest confidants rarely guessed what he was thinking.
“It’s an authorization request,” the butler said.
"Continue," Regas listened attentively.
The butler continued, "Lord Lanhua plans to invest in a movie, and the lead role requires your image. You can see the details in the application."
Modern film and television production falls into two main categories: one is direct live-action acting, and the other is the use of technology to create virtual human actors. In this technologically advanced era, human resources have become a scarce resource, so live-action films and television dramas are generally considered to have a higher level of sophistication than those featuring virtual human actors.
Moreover, the production costs of films and television dramas featuring synthetic virtual humans are far higher than those featuring real people. Most importantly, if a synthetic virtual human's appearance is based on a living real person, that person's authorization is required. Therefore, synthetic virtual humans are more commonly seen in documentaries or promotional videos. Popular films and television dramas, whether for the sake of creating stars, maintaining a high-end image, or even for cost control and licensing difficulties, tend to use real people.
"Hmm, let me see." Regas's personal computer immediately received the original application and script sent by the butler.
In fact, Lan Hua could contact Regas directly without going through official channels. However, Lan Hua didn't want to deal with Regas directly at the moment. Regas naturally understood Lan Hua's thoughts, but pushing him too hard now would only backfire, so he could only indulge him, even though he missed him very much…
Regas looked at the authorization application and the script and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Give it to him," Regas said to the steward with a smile.
The steward nodded and left to make the next arrangements. In truth, he understood that no matter what the script's content was, His Highness would grant the authorization request as long as it came from Lord Lanhua.
After the steward left, Regas didn't continue looking at the defense map; instead, he picked up the script Lan Hua had handed him. He only learned upon his return that Lan Hua had acquired a new alias in the entertainment industry, and was even using her real appearance…
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-08-27 21:04:42 and 2022-08-29 21:02:27!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Jiangshan┵ 3 bottles; Guh 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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