TL: Hua

Chapter 95

“Cut.”

Guo Fang stared at the monitor, unable to resist rewatching the segment.

Originally, he thought that for this scene, Gu Siye and Lin Yanran, this temporary CP, would need at least three or four takes to produce a decent effect.

To his surprise, they nailed it in a single take.

Even Lin Yanran, whom he had been most worried about, delivered every expression and emotion perfectly, despite having very few lines.

Great actors complement one another.

Guo Fang knew that when a novice like Lin Yanran acted opposite a genius like Gu Siye, his emotions would be drawn out and elevated.

However, he hadn’t expected Lin Yanran to immerse himself so deeply in the character, nor to handle Gu Siye’s performance so seamlessly.

In this scene, Lin Yanran played the vulnerable party; though his presence was weaker in character, his acting didn’t fall short of Gu Siye’s at all.

Despite his lack of acting experience, the result was better than many professionally trained actors.

As a director, Guo Fang knew that acting prowess didn’t always correlate with formal training. Some people were born actors. Even without experience, they could deliver a masterpiece.

Lin Yanran was undoubtedly one of them.

In their brief time working together, Guo Fang found him to be highly intelligent and perceptive.

He understood minor issues almost immediately after being told once.

Furthermore, Lin Yanran had clearly done his homework in private.

Take his lines, for instance, he never forgot a word, and the emotional nuance of every sentence was handled with exquisite precision.

He wasn’t like some actors who refused to memorize scripts and showed up on set only able to recite “1, 2, 3, 4.”

Guo Fang didn’t think he had a bad temper; it was just that some people truly deserved a scolding.

While filming Gu Siye and Lin Yanran, he hadn’t lost his temper once; he was in a state of pure delight.

As Guo Fang was thinking about this, the monitor flashed to the final close-up of Lin Yanran’s tears.

It was tragic, beautiful, and heart-wrenching.

Guo Fang loved extreme beauty. Having worked with so many actors, he rarely saw anyone who looked so stunning while crying.

Although the final cut wasn’t ready, he could already imagine how high the public’s appraisal of Lin Yanran would be once this short drama was released.

Guo Fang was a man who followed his whims.

Since he was happy with the shoot, he immediately pulled out his phone to update his Weibo.

Guo Fang V: Just filmed a very beautiful shot.

Guo Fang’s personal popularity couldn’t match the stars in the industry, but his reputation earned him plenty of fans.

Seeing his sudden update, many fans left comments: [I don’t believe how beautiful it is unless you let me see it.]

In the past, a cool guy like Guo Fang wouldn’t have bothered responding.

But today, finishing early put him in a great mood, so he replied to a fan, [You’ll know in a few days.]

The staff members who had been cleared from the set earlier heard that the passionate scene was already finished. While thinking it was a bit too fast, they hurried back, rubbing their hands in anticipation, hoping to catch some lingering fumes of the action.

Instead, they saw Gu Siye pulling Lin Yanran up from the bed, taking a tissue from an assistant to help him wipe away his tears.

The emotional conflict in this scene was intense, and Lin Yanran was still immersed in it, unable to pull his emotions back immediately.

The script hadn’t specified his exact expression for this part, simply stating: [Sheng Zhao is conflicted and heartbroken.]

However, after hearing Gu Siye’s perfectly delivered improvised line: “Xiao Zhao, can we start over?” Lin Yanran felt, in a daze, as if he and Gu Siye truly shared a past and present life.

Though he had always known Gu Siye was a brilliant actor, that realization was clearer now than ever before.

He recalled watching some of Gu Siye’s films while studying.

After watching them, feeling somewhat unsatisfied, he secretly searched for reviews online.

Since Gu Siye had won the Best Actor award for his very first film, praise for his acting was a given.

However, on some niche websites, Lin Yanran had seen people nitpicking Gu Siye’s work.

They claimed his two movies were both plot-driven with no romantic interest and that the genres were too similar.

They argued that while he won Best Actor, he could only play specific types of roles and lacked range.

The reviewer’s “everyone is drunk but me” attitude had angered many people at the time.

After being attacked by Gu Siye’s fans, the reviewer didn’t dare make a scene but continued to subtly diss Gu Siye.

On the day Lin Yanran stumbled upon the review, he saw a comment saying that five years had passed and Gu Siye still hadn’t dared to challenge other genres.

Lin Yanran usually didn’t care what people said; if they spoke about him that way, he would just laugh it off.

But seeing someone so bitter toward Gu Siye had made him inexplicably angry at the time.

Now, however, he suddenly wasn’t so angry anymore.

Stepping out of the emotional haze, Lin Yanran took the tissue from Gu Siye’s hand, looked up at him, and showed a smile.

“Teacher Gu, you’re so amazing.”

The staff who had just arrived saw them wiping tears and thought the aftercare of this dog-blood drama was incredibly sweet. Even though they had seen such things hundreds of times on sets, they were still charmed.

But before they could even start shipping them, they were floored by Lin Yanran’s first words.

Several girls grabbed each other’s hands, looking at Lin Yanran with excitement: Baby, you were bullied to the point of crying, and you still think he’s amazing!!!

Just how “amazing” was that passionate scene? Hurry up and let me see it!!!

Gu Siye didn’t know why Lin Yanran suddenly said that, but there was nothing wrong with being praised by the person he liked.

He glanced at the excited onlookers and changed his intended “Amazing in what way?” to: “The same goes to you, Teacher Yanran.”

That was all for today’s scenes. Since the confinement scene was done in one take, everyone could leave early.

Gu Siye and Lin Yanran went to remove their makeup and change clothes.

When the camera crew from The Best Screenwriter program, who had also been cleared out, rushed in with their equipment, they were suddenly notified that filming was over and they were getting off work early.

The crew was stunned by the efficiency of the pair. One of them exclaimed, “Teacher Gu and the others are way too fast!”

The young man’s voice was quite booming, and his words happened to be heard by Lin Yanran and Gu Siye as they walked by.

Both of them paused in their tracks.

Some of the surrounding staff couldn’t help but die laughing.

Gu Siye laughed too.

He looked up slightly at the young man and said with a teasing smile, “I’ll give you one chance to pick a different word.”

*

“Imperial Power” was just a short web drama, incomparable to a real movie.

Consequently, the production team only allocated a three-day shooting schedule.

Most of the scenes from the first two days were finished. On the final day, only the last confrontation between Gu Siye and Lin Yanran remained, along with Sheng Zhao’s jumping-off-the-building scene.

This final confrontation followed a classic dog-blood trope.

Sheng Zhao’s mother had uncovered clues suggesting that Sheng Yi might not be the son of the late emperor but rather a bastard born of an affair between his foreign mother and another man during an invasion.

She schemed to find an informant, asking Sheng Zhao, who remained by Sheng Yi’s side, to find proof of this to overthrow him.

Because Sheng Yi had previously caught him contacting his mother, Sheng Zhao was afraid of being discovered and initially refused.

However, those unwilling to give up their claim to the throne resorted to death threats. They sent him a blood-written letter from his mother along with a lock of hair and even invoked the memory of his deceased father and the brothers Sheng Yi had executed.

The bloody letter stated clearly: Under no circumstances should you hand over this great land to a foreign bastard; otherwise, the next time we meet will be in the afterlife.

Under the coercion of everyone involved, Sheng Zhao relented and took the initiative to ease the tension in his relationship with Sheng Yi.

Sheng Yi, currently in a “wife-chasing crematorium” phase, craved this bit of warmth. He turned a blind eye to the dealings between Sheng Zhao and his mother, even going so far as to “accidentally” let Sheng Zhao find the jade pendant that served as a token of love between his own mother and biological father.

Just as Sheng Zhao was preparing to send someone to smuggle the pendant out, Sheng Yi intercepted him.

“What are you hiding in your hand? My jade pendant? If you like it, take it and play with it.”

Seeing the man appear so suddenly, Sheng Zhao’s face turned deathly pale.

Sheng Yi supported his body, gently stroked his face, and smiled. “Giving it to your mother is fine, too.”

The pendant hidden in his sleeve hit the floor with a sharp clack.

The fragile relationship between the two was completely severed along with that sound.

Sheng Yi’s lips curled slightly as he pulled Sheng Zhao toward the bed.

He spoke slowly, his tone ambiguous.

“Didn’t your mother also instruct you to kill me?”

Sheng Yi smiled as he handed the dagger hidden under the pillow directly to Sheng Zhao. “You can do it right now.”

Terrified, Sheng Zhao took two steps back, not daring to take the blade.

Sheng Yi wouldn’t allow it.

He forced the dagger into Sheng Zhao’s palm, making him grip it tightly.

“Since you’ve already taken the pendant, you might as well finish this job. That way, your mother and those remnants of the previous dynasty will crown you as the new emperor.”

Sheng Yi’s tone grew increasingly intimate; he even used one hand to pull Sheng Zhao gently into his embrace.

As Sheng Yi spoke, a smile played on his lips—sinister and manic. Like a beast from hell, he guided Sheng Zhao’s hand, leading him toward the abyss.

“Xiao Zhao, the heart is right here. Stab here. Stab deeper.”

Sheng Yi lowered his gaze, guiding Sheng Zhao and holding his hand, pressing the blade point by point against his own chest.

Sheng Zhao’s lips were white, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

He wanted to let go, but his fingers were held fast by the other man.

Sheng Yi’s tone was flippant as he deliberately tilted Sheng Zhao’s chin. “What, you can’t bear to?”

Powerless to struggle, Sheng Zhao shook his head, looking at him pleadingly.

That look hurt Sheng Yi’s heart. He averted his gaze, looked down, and chuckled. “Then I guess you can bear to.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Sheng Zhao heard the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh.

The man before him gripped his hand, his eyes bloodshot. “Use more force. How can this little bit of strength be enough to hurt?”

The dagger, slanted into Sheng Yi’s chest, sank deeper.

Fresh blood flowed down the blade onto Sheng Zhao’s hand.

His originally fair and slender fingers were stained bright red. Wherever the blood flowed, it left a vivid, seductive trail.

The tip of the knife continued to push into the flesh, and the blood on Sheng Yi’s body continued to stain both their clothes.

Sheng Zhao instantly lost all strength, nearly unable to stand.

“Are you crazy?”

Sheng Zhao felt a surge of blood in his throat, and his voice trembled violently as he spoke.

He found strength from somewhere and broke free from the other’s grip, and the blade fell to the floor.

Ignoring everything else, he frantically tore at his own hem, trying to stop the bleeding.

Sheng Yi chuckled. In the depths of his pitch-black eyes, two small flames flickered back to life.

He gently picked up the hand Sheng Zhao had used to hold the knife and slowly brought it to his lips, nuzzling it softly.

“I’ve been crazy for a long time.”

His cheeks and lips were stained red by the blood on Sheng Zhao’s hand.

The camera pulled back.

Red candles flickered; white robes were stained with blood.

Sheng Yi whispered while holding Sheng Zhao in his arms, “You do have me in your heart, Xiao Zhao.”

“We can never be separated.”

The staff watching from the sidelines were wiping away tears one second and turning into total CP dogs the next.

Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!

This kind of stabbing-the-heart plot is so insane and thrilling!!

Especially at the end. Even though nothing explicitly happened, the way Teacher Gu rubbed Yanran’s hand was so erotic and intense.

Having witnessed such an explosive scene, many people felt an itch they had to scratch.

Someone figured that since filming was over and the production team was about to announce it anyway, they couldn’t resist going to an anonymous forum to leak some info.

Of course, because they had signed a non-disclosure agreement, the staff member didn’t dare be too obvious. With uncontrollable excitement, she claimed that a “friend” had told her Lin Yanran looked stunning in the drama, his acting was incredible, and the CP chemistry was off the charts.

She then cryptically added that the male actor playing Lin Yanran’s partner had great acting skills and was a huge star.

The leaker was just too excited and wanted to share.

After posting, she immediately deleted her account.

However, after the fans finished screaming in excitement, some passersby who saw the gossip started opening threads to ask what was going on.

Consequently, some people on the internet who loved being contrarians began to find excuses to “rebel.”

[Opening so many threads, is this early hype??]

[I don’t really care about him, but seeing him hype things up every day makes me dislike him.]

[Stop the hype. The last person who pretended to be an industry insider to hype their idol’s acting already failed miserably.]

[Yanran has never acted before, and you’re already praising his acting to the skies?]

[The actor taking over the role is a ‘huge star’? How huge? Don’t tell me they invited Gao Zitai, that ‘huge star’ who’s Yanran’s bootlicker? Hahahaha.]

Just as this group was accusing Lin Yanran’s team of faking hype, The Best Screenwriter program posted a Weibo and revealed the stills for “Imperial Power.”

The Best Screen Writer Official Weibo: #BestScreenWriter# The special guest for the “Imperial Power” crew is finally revealed today!!! We are honored to have @GuSiye and @Yanran join us. In the drama, they play out a beautiful and tragic love-hate relationship, delivering absolutely stunning performances. Babies, hasn’t it been a long time since you saw Teacher Gu act? Are you looking forward to Teacher Yanran’s screen debut? Don’t forget to tune in to XX Satellite TV tomorrow at 8:00 PM for the premiere~

As soon as this Weibo was posted, the comments section exploded.

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