Translator: Vian
Slightly edited: Vian (Please tell me if you find any mistakes, but it should be readable.)
Among the ten of thousands of troops, among the rising smoke from all directions, a handsome but sinister looking man wield his sword and issued a reward to his ten of thousands of troops.
What kind of feeling was this?
The audience didn't know what kind of feelings Wanqi Yao had, but they knew they felt as if they were about to explode!!!
[Dongli Lan knows Wanqi Yao?! EH EH EH?! Did I miss something? Did I just happen to forget that they actually knew each other?!]
[Hell, Dongli Lan is such a ruthless and overbearing person! To actually know Yaoyao, this feeling… is too sensational! Did these two had a relationship they couldn't tell other people, and to even giving out such a big reward… Why does Dongli Lan want to kill my family's Yaoyao? What's the relationship between them! @Vie for Supremacy crew]
[He is a demonically handsome and arrogant cold-blooded Crown Prince while he is a peerlessly talented and young military adviser. When he first saw him on the battlefield, he raised his sword to take his life. It is unknown if the two will be emotionally entangled later on, vowing to be together for three lifetimes. ]
[...Upstair's synopsis is quite shocking, but how come once I accept it also seems very touching ah! Therefore, what's the relation between Dongli Lan and Wanqi Yao, how come they seem to know each other from before?]
The two episodes this evening tells about another battle between Chu State and Liang Empire.
Prior to this, the Chu State's army defeated the Liang Empire under Wanqi Yao's guidance and regained the land they lost nine years ago. One month later, Liang Empire's Crown Prince Dongli Lan personally lead the troops to the border. The two sides met at the border, and a huge battle broke out.
All said and done, Liang Empire had a powerful and well-trained army. Their forces are better than Chu State's. Although Chu State has Wanqi Yao, they still could not gain an advantage from Liang Empire's hands. The two sides were at a tie and once again stood on the battlefront at the border, mutually at a standstill with none daring to take a step forward.
These two episodes only showed this much, but Dongli Lan's "surprising" attitude towards Wanqi Yao made all the viewers speculate. Soon, the discussion online has already caused #VieforSupremacy super thread to explode. It didn't take long for someone to speculate Dongli Lan's possible identity.
[In the first few episodes, Wanqi Yao inadvertently told Xiao Xiang that he also had a friend, his shixiong. The two grew up together, their feelings were extremely deep but they then lost contact. If Dongli Lan really knows Wanqi Yao, he could be Wanqi Yao's shixiong or knows his shixiong! ]
The two episode updates the next day confirmed this netizen's guess.
Xiao Xiang asked Wanqi Yao about his relationship with Dongli Lan, Wanqi Yao smiled and answered: "He is my shixiong."
Then it showed a pleasant and happy memory.
Dongli Lan was born from a palace maid. Since young, he was not favored by the Emperor of Liang Empire. He once fell into the lake by "accident" and almost drowned. Later on, although he did not die, he was infected with smallpox and was sent out of the palace to ward off evil. There, he met the former Master of Wang Qiu Pavilion who was also Wanqi Yao's teacher.
Wang Qiu Pavilion was not only a place for economic policies but also for exceptional martial arts. The previous Pavilion Master saw that Dongli Lan had an excellent physique and could not help but accept him as a disciple and taught him martial arts after curing his disease. Half a year later, he brought in Wanqi Yao and in the same manner, taught him martial arts and stratagems.
However, Wanqi Yao had no talent for martial arts while Dongli Lan was exceptional. His martial arts was superb and the person himself was brimming with talent.
In martial arts, Wanqi Yao was not as good as Dongli Lan; In liberal arts, Wanqi Yao excelled over Dongli Lan. Dongli Lan has never won over Wanqi Yao in planning strategies but he has already surpassed most people. When Xiao Xiang asked why did Dongli Lan leave, Wanqi Yao helplessly shook his head: "We all thought Master would choose shixiong to become the next Pavilion Master. We never thought Master would secretly choose me."
Unwilling to accept this situation, the proud and arrogant Dongli Lan betrayed Wang Qiu Pavilion and returned to the Liang Empire, snatching away the Crown Prince position. The Liang Emperor became a figurehead and he became the Emperor of Liang Empire in the truest sense.
Seeing this past, the fans couldn't help but "emotionally lament" for this ill-fated relationship.
[Dog-blood, really dog-blooded, but… so cool! The relationship between these two is so moving!]
[I saw in Yaoyao's memory the little crown prince being so good to Yaoyao. He would even use his sword to cut open the fruits for him and bring little Yaoyao to sneak out of Wang Qiu Pavilion to go play in town. How can the Crown Prince want to kill Yaoyao ah, I don't believe it!]
[What do you know? This is called 'love kills'! Hahahaha I'm giving the screenwriter a lollipop today, the screenwriter really knows how to have fun, even the BL novels this year don't dare to write something like this~ The screenwriter has a really big pit in their brain~~ kiss =3=]
Dongli Lan and Wanqi Yao have barely met in four episodes, but their CP suddenly become popular.
The CP "LanYao" bursted into popularity. In the beginning, only a small number of people talked about it, but when someone drew a comic strip with two bun-face little Yaoyao and little Crown Prince, all the rotten women were blown away.
At 12 a.m. that night, the CP "LanYao" became the most popular in the #VieforSupremacy super thread, leaving the male and female leads' CP "XiangXian" behind by a notch. By the end of the day, many fan scenarios detailing this pair of martial brothers' affections popped up to feed the fans. The scenarios had also lead to many cute pieces which poked at people's hearts.
Then it was later followed up by fan artists' four komas. Although there weren't many komas, there were several masterpieces.
In the update on the third day, there was no more explanation about the relationship between Wanqi Yao and Dongli Lan. However, it did reveal something: Wanqi Yao has always kept the jade pendant that was given to him by Dongli Lan.
Xiao Xiang once accidentally bumped into this jade pendant. Fortunately, it did not break. Xiao Xiang repeated apologized, but Wanqi Yao smiled: "Since it is not broken, then it is fine. This jade pendant is not worth much money, at most, it only cost about two silvers. However, this is a remnant shixiong's mother left for him. When I was a child, I once helped shixiong take the blame for something. When I came out of the Discipline Hall after kneeling for three days, I saw that shixiong has also been guarding the door outside for three days. Later, he gave me this jade pendant, saying that he owed me and that the pendant will serve as a token for it."
Xiao Xiang could not help but feel surprised: "Then when he saw you previously, why did he…"
The remaining words Xiao Xiang did not say, but Wanqi Yao knew what she wanted to ask.
He was willing to use such an important jade pendant as a token and give it to his shidi. How could it be that when he opened his mouth, it was to ask for his life?
Wanqi Yao gave a faint smile and shook his head. With no trace of resentment, he said: "At that time, we were still young. I am afraid shixiong most likely have forgotten about it."
Naturally, Xiao Xiang was not the kind of person who would ask Wanqi Yao to use the jade pendant to ask Dongli Lan to surrender, so she merely nodded and did not mention this matter again. But when the viewers saw that she didn't ask anymore, they were anxious enough to go mad.
[My god ah! Yaoyao is so understanding, so wise, so beautiful. If I was Dongli Lan, don't say I won't be whatever Pavilion Master, even if you used to world to trade, I still wouldn't want it! I just want my family's Yaoyao!!!]
[I've already come up with their CP: Ruthless, devilishly handsome, and overbearing Gong x Adoring, gentle, intelligent, and peerless Shou!]
[Reporting Administrator, I think an amnesia episode is very suitable for our family!]
[…Do you all think that Yaoyao is the shou? As far as I'm concerned, Yaoyao is a black-bellied gong. His appearance looks extremely kind and pure but once you look deeper, BAM! Black-hearted Beauty!]
The fervent discussion about "LanYao" CP was very profitable for "Vie for Supremacy". At the same time, it was also beneficial for the two involved parties.
Originally because of "Ambush" popularity, Rong Xu had also become popular overnight. Just by relying on a weekly drama, he left the third-tier and became a second-tier star. Now, with a good plot and role of the loved Wanqi Yao, he slowly amassed high popularity the other ordinary second-tier stars don't have.
From July when Rong Xu entered the "Vie for Supremacy" crew, to November when "Ambush" was aired, and even now when half of "Vie for Supremacy" has been aired, only half a year has passed. However, within this past six months, talk about him was everywhere.
Now, due to the "LanYao" CP, he and Ye Qiao are often mentioned by the netizens.
Rong Xu's popularity was increasing everyday with at least ten thousand more fans following each day. On every post he makes on Weibo, there would be over ten thousand comments and forwards while Ye Qiao's post would have more than five thousand comments and forwards.
This was not to say Rong Xu's four million plus fans on Weibo can surpass Ye Qiao's seven million fans, but rather because Rong Xu's fans have only been following him for the past six months so naturally, they were extremely active.
With the popularity of the "LanYao" CP, Ye Qiao ushered in the second spring of his career.
Many viewers are talking about the relationship between Dongli Lan and Wanqi Yao, and there are also many viewers following Ye Qiao's Weibo and his forum on his company's site. Ye Qiao's popularity rose sharply. It was really like what Dong Zheng said half a year ago. That year, Qi Li Studio was able to release a box office black horse, a homosexual movie. And now Qi Li Studio did the same thing in "Vie for Supremacy", lifting up the second male lead and supporting male character instantly.
Many stars would suddenly become famous because of a drama series or movie. Just like now, in the "Vie for Supremacy" cast, the female lead Tang Menglan has always been popular and was the most famous flower in the drama series circle. She continues to perform well as always, stabilizing her nickname as the Queen.
"Vie for Supremacy" latest ratings was 3.4.
Judging from the excited discussion among the viewers, this number will only continue to rise, not fall.
The male lead Dong Zheng has also got his first 'highly-rated' drama with "Vie for Supremacy".
Among them, the ones who gained the most was the second male lead Ye Qiao and supporting character Rong Xu. For the former, this was his comeback; for the latter, this was the foundation for his steady climb up.
Among the whole cast, only the third male lead Song Mingfei didn't make a big splash. But this also can't be blamed on him. After all, his role has not yet officially appeared. After the official appearance, there perhaps may be a big improvement.
For these things, Rong Xu only heard Luo Zhentao talk about it a little to roughly understand. He didn't prevent the crew and Ye Qiao from using the "LanYao" CP to add to the fire– Correct, the popularity of "LanYao" CP was not something just pushed by the fans, there was also official manipulation from the shadows.
This justifiable marketing can simultaneously increase Rong Xu's exposure and let him, this newcomer, gain more attention from the audience. It was simply killing two birds with one stone, why would he not allow it? Especially since Rong Xu didn't even need to lift a hand, he only needed to put in his own name. The "Vie for Supremacy" crew and Ye Qiao's PR team will naturally help operate things. Not to mention he had also been busy preparing for his new movie.
***
In order to film "Black Clouds", the crew specially invited a vocal teacher for Rong Xu to teach him how to sing.
Originally, according to Director Liang's thoughts, although Rong Xu's singing was very good, it still did not have a stable foundation. As it was known, movies cannot be dubbed. To use dubbing means that you are giving up winning an award with this role.
Film awards are extremely demanding on actors. If your voice wasn't your own, if the emotion in the role's voice wasn't something you displayed, then you will not win the corresponding award. Even if your performance was outstanding, you will still not win any film awards. It is exactly that strict.
So if it was possible, "Black Clouds" wants to let Rong Xu sing. Only under the circumstances that it was truly impossible will the crew then consider dubbing or replace the singing part with Ling Xiao's voice. However, either way would still affect the movie.
Director Liang's thoughts were correct, however, he never imagined that the professional vocal teacher he specially invited from the music industry would angrily find him after teaching Rong Xu for ten minutes, indignantly complaining: "Old Liang, I never thought you were this kind of person. You asked me to come to help you teach him because this Rong Xu had some skills but never released an album before. Is this how you lie to your old friend?"
Director Liang was stupefied: "I…lied to you? What did I lie to you about? Old Chen, you have to tell me clearly."
Teacher Chen's lip twitched. Speechlessly, he said: "Rong Xu's basics are solid yet you still told me he never properly learned! I might as well write my name backward! Enough, enough, I can't teach him anything in such a short time. Even if you give me a year, I can at most help him regulate his voice. In terms of skill, he's very developed. Don't play with me anymore, invite me for dinner tonight and I'll act as if this didn't happen."
Director Liang: "..." So after he paid you to come teach a ten minute lesson he still needs to treat you to dinner?!
This matter couldn't be blamed on Director Liang. Of course, it couldn't be blamed on Rong Xu either.
The day before, Director Liang had told him to come early to the studio today for a lesson. Director Liang didn't clearly state what it was for so Rong Xu didn't expect that Director Liang had actually invited a vocal teacher for him. In his last life, Rong Xu studied vocal music for three years. Although he wouldn't say he was an expert, he was very diligent and his basics are solid.
After this mistake, Rong Xu personally invited Director Liang and Teacher Chen to a meal.
At the dining table, a famous director and a well-known vocal teacher drank and talked, not caring about what happened earlier at all. However, when Rong Xu wanted to drink a bit of red wine, Teacher Chen suddenly became sober and seriously scolded: "If you want to sing well, you should avoid alcohol and anything stimulating and heavy in taste."
Director Liang guffawed: "Stop worrying, the child is just starring in a movie. He's an actor, not a singer."
Teacher Chen also laughed boisterously: "Look at me, I've already forgot. I guess I'm just used to paying attention to it."
At their side, Rong Xu helplessly nodded with a small smile.
Looking at this, it seems these two people really drank a bit too much today.
Perhaps because of his habits from his last life, but in this world, Rong Xu still never drank any alcohol. At most, it would only be a little red wine. He subconsciously protected his throat. Clearly, he was only an actor right now, but he still habitually protected his throat.
This kind of habit goes deep into the bones. Just like when he practiced vocalization again and again, practicing till his throat was dry and sore. As long as he starts something, he will continue to work hard, never stopping.
Two more days passed. "Vie for Supremacy" was about to reach the halfway point and Wanqi Yao's scenes were also quickly coming to an end. The audience naturally doesn't know this, but it was rare for Rong Xu to frequently open his phone with such interest and check out the fans' comments online.
***
"Black Clouds" crew has already completed the preparations. Tomorrow was the official opening ceremony. During this time, Rong Xu has been staying with the crew and following an old composer to learn Ling Xiao's habits and interests from when he was alive. He wants to act as this person, so he naturally needs to understand the other party in order to showcase the real Ling Xiao.
The next morning, the sky just brighten, and the "Black Clouds" crew was in a quiet state as they lighted the incenses and began the opening ceremony.
The male and female leads all arrived. The Director, producers, investors, screenwriters, and others were also present. Director Liang first offered incenses, next was the male lead Rong Xu, female lead Yu Siyu, then there were the producers, investors…
The process was no different from any other crews, everyone completed their task with ease. After Director Liang led the two leads, producers, and investors to cut the red flower ball symbolizing the opening ceremony, "Black Clouds" filming officially started.
Everything appeared simple, but there was one part that was a bit strange——
There was no media.
Actually, from the beginning to the end of the opening ceremony, not a single media participated in the ceremony! The on-field people present were only the crew members, the actors' managers, and assistants. Aside from them, no media reporter could be seen.
This was not to say that "Black Clouds" was not worthy of being covered or that reporters didn't want to know the inside scoop. On the contrary, inside S-city's Film City, hundreds of reporters and journalists surrounded the studio, racking their brains and trying every means to sneak inside to get the first scoop.
One reporter braved the biting cold wind while complaining: "The "Black Clouds" crew actually refused to all interviews, that's way too strange!"
Since this morning, "Black Clouds" crew was alert. They sealed off the vicinity of the studio and didn't allow any media to enter.
Director Liang absolutely refused to accept interviews from every media outlet and forbid all crew members from disclosing any new on the crew. Even the cast can't be mentioned. Whoever leaks any news would be immediately dismissed.
More mysterious they were, the more the outside world wants to know the crew's situation.
"Black Clouds" was a movie to commemorate Ling Xiao –this bit was something everyone already knew. From a year ago when this film was launched to now when the filming officially started, every fan of Ling Xiao's was fervently paying attention to it. Nationwide… no, it should be said that fans all over the world was anticipating every detail of this movie. With their anticipation, the media naturally wants to dig up news.
***
The opening ceremony ended just like this without the media.
When they were preparing for the character photoshoot in the afternoon, Director liang seems to be afraid that Rong Xu would misunderstand so he specially called him over and patiently explained: "Please do not think too much, our movie is destined to be watched by hundreds of millions of fans. Ling Xiao's Weibo still has nearly two hundred million fans to this day so I didn't make open to the public what's happening in the crew in order to not disturb the crew's filming."
Hearing this, Rong Xu lightly nodded his head and smiled: "I understand, I know that Director Liang did this so we can concentrate on making a good movie regardless of the evaluation outside."
Upon hearing this, Director Liang laughed and exclaimed in a bold and free northeastern accent: "You, this child, is very understanding ah, not bad, not bad. If you have time you should go talk to Yu Siyu, she a good person and she's your senior from Huaxia Entertainment. She should take good care of you."
Rong Xu responded with a smile.
Perhaps because she heard what Director Liang said, but that evening, Yu Siyu came over to Rong Xu.
She was a gentle and warm beauty. Her soft black hair was tied up into a bun with only one or two stray strands falling onto her cheeks, making her appear gentler. Different from Tang Menglan's bright and easy-going style, and also unlike Zhang Tongtong's dignified beauty, Yu Siyu appears to have an innate gentleness. Anyone who sees her would not have any inclination to be angry as she appears so sweet-tempered and warm.
But unlike her appearance, she spoke very directly: "We're all from the same company. Rong Xu, if you have any questions in the future, you can come ask me. You only debuted for half a year and only acted in two TV dramas. You can find me for any movie related questions."
After listening to this, Rong Xu did not refuse and smiled: "Thank you, Yu jie."
Yu Siyu shook her head: "No need to thank me. The lead of this movie is you. If you happen to encounter any problems, then this movie will also inevitably have problems. I liked Ling Xiao a lot, although my favorite song isn't "Black Clouds", he was my favorite singer. I'm looking forward to seeing you act out a real 'Ling Xiao.'"
This sentence solved the question that Rong Xu always had.
When he received the script, Rong Xu knew that the film's female lead was Yu Siyu.
The candidates for the male lead at most was some small stars. Among them, he and Ling Zhen have never acted in a movie before, and he was even more of a newcomer since he started not long ago. Jiao Jingshan has been in several movies, but his box office was very general and his performance in dramas didn't count as anything extraordinary. So why would Yu Siyu actually come to help film a biography with this kind of male lead?
It turns out Yu Siyu also likes Ling Xiao.
This clearly explains it.
Five years ago, Yu Siyu took the Golden Phoenix Award for the Best Newcomer; three years ago, she won the Effie Award for Best Supporting Actress. Last year and the previous year, she was nominated for Oscar's Best Supporting Actress. Last month, she was also nominated for the Golden Phoenix Award for Best Lead Actress.
In terms of awards, Yu Siyu was absolutely a first-tier coffee seat. Moreover, the most remarkable thing was that while Yu Siyu has indeed won many awards, her box office was even more amazing.
If one says the Tang Menglan was The Queen of Ratings for top TV dramas, then Yu Siyu was the Box Office Queen for A-list movies. In the past six years, with eleven movies, her total global box office totaled up to 1.23 billion!
Yu Siyu can't be compared with international film stars like Wen Xuan and Xia Muyan, however, she is only twenty-nine. She was still young. She still has not won any awards for Best Actress, but already has such a high box office performance. Therefore, she was the Queen in all A-list movies and every Director's beloved female lead.
After chatting with Yu Siyu for a while, Rong Xu discovered that although the actress has a relatively straight temper, it was in line with what Director Liang said: She's a good person. She speaks straightforwardly and won't go around beating the bushes. However, in terms of her professionalism, she was not careless and was very patient with people.
To sum it up, she really wants to use her identity as senior to thoroughly take care of Rong Xu.
For example, before everyone went back to the hotel this evening, Yu Siyu suddenly reminded Rong Xu: "You're still young, it's possible to be a bit impulsive so there are some things you need to pay attention to. Although this movie doesn't have a huge investment, there are a lot of big coffee seats that will be coming for a guest appearance. As far as I know, Xia Muyan and Chu Qi will also come. So Rong Xu, you need to pay attention to your words and actions, don't be rude okay."
This kind of reminders appears to be meticulously detailed, not the slightest bit tactful or restrained, but it was quite beneficial to Rong Xu.
If other newcomers heard this, he afraid they would think Yu Siyu was warning themselves: You're only a small star, you need to pay attention to your identity when you see the big celebrities, don't be insolent and impetuous. However, Rong Xu knows that she was only worried that he would inadvertently offend them and not even be aware of it.
Thinking of this, Rong Xu couldn't help but give Yu Siyu some extra points, he smiled: "Thank you, see you tomorrow Yu jie."
Yu Siyu slightly nodded: "See you tomorrow."
There are many people in the world, it really was intriguing. As Rong Xu went to his room, he thought about it. Obviously, Yu Siyu's appearance was very pure and gentle, how come the person herself was so serious? It this was known to her fans, he's afraid no one would believe it.
As he pondered the thought, Rong Xu took out the key and inserted it into the keyhole. As he gently opened the door, a steady footstep sounded from behind him before finally stopping not far from his side.
The door opened with a 'creak–'. Just before he entered the room, Rong Xu unconsciously turned his head, wanting to see who was next to him. But in the split second he saw the other, his body froze. The first thought that crossed his mind was——
So it turns out that Qin Cheng was also coming as a guest in the movie?!
The handsome and indifferent man lowered his gaze, calmly looking at the youth. The look in that pair of phoenix eyes was deep and profound, hiding all emotions. He quietly watched the youth stare dazedly in front of him. Watching and watching, he suddenly thought of the youth's foolishly cute appearance on "Extremely Entertaining."
The thin lips couldn't help but curve, but there was a hint of surprise in Qin Cheng's voice, he asked surprised: "What a coincident, could it be… that you're also here to film "Black Clouds"?"
Four komas – These kind of comics:
Taken from Google-sensei so don't ask me where this is from lol
Vocal music – A type of music performed by one or more singers, either with instrumental accompaniment, or without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella), in which singing provides the main focus of the piece.
Red Flower Ball – You've probably seen it before if you watched CN dramas or went to a Chinese New Year festival. I usually see it in traditional weddings where the bride and groom would each hold each end, but it's also used when you're opening a new shop and the like. It's like the red ribbon you would cut for a grand opening.