"We're shooting now. Please clear the set! All stand by!"
The lighting crew has used several sets of lights to illuminate the set in layers, so that even this late at night the theatre stage in the water looks colourful and striking.
"Quiet, please... And roll sounds!"
"Rolling!" The sound recordist responds.
"Cameras are running!" Du Jinghai waves his hand to indicate.
"Mark it!"
Amélie takes on the temporary job of a clapper loader and shouts into the megaphone, "Du Shiniang! Scene three slate one take one!"
After a loud click of the clapperboard, and Yuan Ge's "Camera set! Action", a major night scene in the film begins its shooting by the Dragon Pond.
The entire cast and crew were told to work late into the night today, as this scene of Du Shiniang is the first time that Qiuchen appears on stage since he was sold into the Rong Mansion and is also a scene of intense emotional conflict between him and his unfaithful lover Liang Zitang. In this reunion of theirs, Liang Zitang has become the son-in-law of the House of Rong and has risen to the high rank of Third Grade Secretary.
The monitor screen in front of Yuan Ge perfectly depicts the extravagance of the opera stage in the Dragon Pond.
***
Facing the opera stage, across the dark water, colourful lanterns are hung from the Lotus Heart Pavilion, inside where, at this moment, sits the Second Lord Ronglu, the Third Lord Huilu, Liang Zitang, Miss Rong and many other members of the Rong family watching the opera. The sound of drums, huqin and strings before the opening scene drifts clearly across the water.
Liang Zitang, played by Stephen, stares blankly at the other side of the pond, as if he cannot feel the night breeze.
I wonder why the person who is tugging at my heart is not out yet?
He still remembered that midsummer when he first saw that beautiful face. That was also on this water stage in the Rong Mansion.
As a student who went to the capital to sit for the imperial examinations, he had an eye-opening experience when he first arrived there. It turned out that the lords of the capital preferred men to women. It was no longer considered romantic to court famous courtesans to listen to poetry and music. If a ranked official, or a scholar who pride himself on his talent and elegance, does not go to the opera house and know about opera, he is considered a vulgar man who has no taste and is cut off from the elite social circle of the capital.
Liang Zitang has always been fond of men and knows the unspoken rules of promotion in the official world. If he could befriend a famous opera singer, he would naturally be able to enter the heart of the capital's elite social circle and get to know the most important people, which would help him in his career. This would be much more useful than preparing for the imperial examinations.
He managed to squeeze into the shows of famous opera troupes several times, and his effort finally paid off when he met the Third Lord, Huilu. Naturally, he knew all about Huilu's identity and background, but as their conversations were all about opera, he was unable to make deeper acquaintances with him until that day when the Third Lord finally let him come to his residence to watch the Jinyu Troupe's performance. Sandwiched between a group of officials and gentry, looking with trepidation at the mansion comparable to an imperial garden, and at the waterfront stage by the Dragon Pond, which looked like a moon palace, he understood what it meant to live like a god … …
"My Lord, why do you seem as if you have lost your soul all the time? Let Luohua make another toast to congratulate Your Excellency on your promotion to the Third Grade Secretary!"
Liang Zitang is startled when Luohua comes over to toast him, and only when he looks at the Third Grade court uniform he is wearing does he snap out of his trance. The water stage of the Rong Mansion is just as it has been in the past, as surreal as a painting, but he has gone from being a timid outsider sitting behind the Third Lord watching an opera play to becoming a family member of this great House of Rong. And all this change is because he had met Rong Qiuchen.
Yes, he has lost his soul. But his soul was lost a long time ago, here, but not now.
That day, when he caught a glimpse of the unusual purity in those captivating eyes, it was as if his soul had fallen into a pool of pristine water that had been frozen for ten thousand years, never to be found again.
When the owner of those eyes stood on the stage, he was as distant as a fairy living in the moon palace; and when he stood in front of him, he was so aloof that there was not a hint of a smile on his face. He still remembers that time when this beautiful man was forced by a group of officials to make toasts with a "lip cup"[1], his eyes clearly filled with tears, and he made a public fool of himself to save that man from his embarrassment. This was the first time he was rewarded with a grateful look from those beautiful eyes, which led to the subsequent entangled love … …
While he is deep in his thoughts, the introduction music to the play has stopped, and a boy comes on stage and reads out the opening lines to set the scene[2]:
"Du Shiniang accompanied her husband to the capital for his exams, but she didn't know that he was too engrossed in sensual pleasures to think about the examinations. All the money they brought with them was spent, so it was all up to Shiniang to plan the expenses …"
The Third Lord looks puzzled and says curiously, "Yo! What's this story? Even I have never heard of it! It seems to be the story of Du Shiniang, but it's not quite the same. Is Qiuchen writing his own play now?"
Liang Zitang, however, has already figured out the significance of the story. It turns out that the play is based on the traditional story of Du Shiniang. In the story, Li Jia, an ungrateful scholar goes to the capital to sit for the imperial examinations, but he has spent all his money in debauchery. Li Jia is played by Yiran, the third elder brother of Qiuchen and the current master of the Jinyu Troupe, with whom Qiuchen has always had a very close relationship. Looking at Yiran's movements and mannerisms, he is deliberately imitating himself. It is evident that he felt sorry for Qiuchen's current situation and used the opportunity of this performance to mock himself.
Liang Zitang feels like he was sitting on pins and needles, but he can only watch the play patiently as if nothing is wrong. Since he married Miss Rong, he hasn't had the chance to see the man who is now the Third Lord's personal servant... and in his heart he is still fond of him. Now that they have met again, could he forgive him? After all, he has always been so kind…
--------------------
[1] The term "lip cup" refers to the mouth-to-mouth passing of a drink. One person takes a sip of wine and feeds it directly into the other person's mouth. It's an intimate but usually disrespectful act.
[2] It's a part of the formulation of the Beijing opera. When a play starts, a character enters for the first time, an 'entrance speech' or 'self-introduction speech' is given, which includes a prelude poem, a set-the-scene poem, and a prose set-the-scene speech, in that order.