Love Rival Is Getting Prettier Everyday - Chap 34
Chapter 34: The Trailer is Here!
The live barrage flooded the screen.
“It’s coming, it’s coming.”
“This broadcast is so damn eye-catching. It’s full of hotties and beauties!”
“It’s said that Yang Lizhi had a facelift. She’s still the number one huadan in ancient costume!”
“She such a gorgeous little flower. So beautiful.”
“Bai Qingquan looks very suitable wearing white clothes. Our fairy boy!”
“I like to watch this kind of thing in the entertainment industry the most. When I see it, my heart gets excited. Only in this circle can I see so many beautiful and good-looking people.”
“There are really too many beauties in this drama, but Shen Jintai still stood out!”
“Yes, I was about to say that he’s actually very attractive among a group of handsome guys.”
“It’s a pity we can’t see his ass in that costume.”
“Am I the only one who noticed that he looks the best, with that fair face and red lips?”
“The Shen Jintai, who used to be all bells and whistles, feels like it was a lifetime ago. He looks like he has a good temperament now. He has a really good figure and a really straight back!”
At the scene, it was the moonlight powders who had the highest voices, but amidst the screams of the group of moonlight powders, Shen Jintai seemed to have heard a few people calling his name. He looked over with a smile and beckoned to the fans.
“Shen Jintai!” He saw a familiar face. It was the girl he had last met when he had dinner with Yan Yaoxuan.
There were more than a dozen gold powders this time. They were all very excited when they saw Shen Jintai. Shen Jintai walked over and greeted them.
Bai Qingquan refused to lose to him and ran over to greet the moonlight powders. The fans were excited, and their emotions were so out of control that the crew had to pull them back.
“A lot of people are here today.” Liu Hui took out a small mirror to take another look at his makeup. It wasn’t just fans who were here today, but also many media outlets, except they were allowed to take pictures. Those who use their faces to eat must be beautiful*.
*It means making a living with your looks.
While looking in the mirror, he heard the screams of moonlight powders, plum powders, and gold powders. Song Wei and the old actors weren’t surprised, but he was envious and jealous. He had played many leading roles in the past, yet why hasn’t he attracted any new fans!
“Everyone get ready, the shooting will start immediately. All departments are in place!” The executive director shouted into his megaphone.
Today’s scene was the highlight of the foreign feudal dynasty. At this banquet, several princes and the forces behind them confront each other. The climax of the banquet was a major case of poisoning.
Guo Rui wanted to show off his skills. The opening scene of the troupe was a long shot. For a large-scale scene involving so many parties, scheduling was important. A director with insufficient skill wouldn’t be able to shoot such a shot. The single shot had to capture all the main characters.
“Three, two, one, ACTION!”
The camera followed a group of palace attendants as they slowly walked into the banquet hall. Several important concubines showed their faces one by one until it was fixed on a delicate-looking palace girl, who was walking softly and quietly. After reaching the third prince, she bowed and handed over the plate.
Zhou Ying has already attracted criticism and some opposition from the court because of his affection for the eunuch Li Xu. He was a virtuous person, but he was far inferior to the second son, Zhou Jing, in terms of talent. His popularity fell even further with the citizens after the eunuch incident.
However, the old emperor valued this eldest son the most, and with the prominence of Empress Xiao’s family background, the position of the crown prince remained stable.
Some, though, couldn’t hold back and remained dissatisfied with the status quo. This group was led by the third prince, Zhou Yan.
“He is just luckier than us. He was born in the belly of the Empress. When it comes to the talent of governing the country, let alone second brother, he is not even comparable to me!” Zhou Yan said as he glared at the crown prince.
Zhou Jing smiled and said, “As long as the Xiao clan exists, if prince brother does not make any big mistakes, his position cannot be abolished.” He turned to look at the crown prince as well and saw Li Xu standing upright behind him, with scars on his cheeks.
“Are you okay?” Zhou Ying asked in a low voice.
Li Xu said, “The Prince’s Palace banquet… You really shouldn’t have brought me to such an occasion.”
“I just want my mother to know my determination. The more absurd I am, the less she dares to touch you easily.”
As he spoke, he looked up at Empress Xiao, who was not far away.
Empress Xiao frowned slightly, and when she noticed that the emperor beside her was also looking at the prince, she reluctantly smiled and said, “The prince did this on purpose for his concubines. This child is still so stubborn.” She wanted to tell the emperor that the prince was being ridiculous, not because he loved Li Xu, but because he wanted to argue with her.
Recently, rumors rose throughout the court that the emperor plans to abolish the crown prince. Although she knew these were simply rumors, they had been circulating too much, and it made her heart extremely uneasy.
Yet still, in such a dire situation, the prince brought along Li Xu to attend today’s event. It could be seen that in her son’s heart, beauty was more important than country.
She stretched out her hand to attract her chief eunuch and whispered a few words to him. He Lanbi, who was sitting next to her, took a sip of wine and secretly looked at Zhou Jing on the opposite side.
The camera then returned to Zhou Jing. Zhou Yan, the third prince beside him, frowned suddenly, trembled for a few seconds, and spurted out blood.
This group of shots was shot three times in a row. Starting from this point, the series would set off a rhythm of at least one death per episode.
The fans who were visiting the set dared not make any noise.
During the live shooting, the environment was noisy, filters and editing were not used, and the clips were incoherent, but after the last mouthful of blood spurted out, every scene had a constant climax.
Chaos erupted. There were those who shouted grievances, those who were dragged away by the guards, those who cried, and those who fell to the ground and prostrated. These different scenes switch back and forth, giving rise to higher levels of excitement.
Due to the principle of confidentiality, during the live broadcast, the cameras were far away, and the lines could not be heard clearly, but the intensity of the palace fight could be seen by just looking at the picture.
The barrage became more intense.
“It was Wei Qian, the actor of Concubine Shu, who was dragged away just now. This is her role.”
“Damn, it looks wonderful.”
“Palace fights are so cruel. My heart beats faster when I hear them tearing at each other!”
“Slap drama! Slap drama!”
“The queen and the prince are miserable! But isn’t the crew afraid of spoilers like this?”
“It’s adapted from the novel. Spoilers incoming. The poisoning case was the original famous scene. It’s followed by the witch trial, then by the abolition of the crown prince. The Xiao clan gets punished, the Empress goes crazy, and the heroine, He Lanbi, becomes a slave because of her in-law relationship with the Xiao clan.”
“It turns out to be a relative. How could Empress Xiao’s niece be surnamed He.”
“He Lanbi is Xiao Yan’s eldest daughter. She was adopted by Xiao Yan when she was seven or eight years old. Her life is also very bloody. There will be no spoilers here.”
“Although I can’t hear what they’re talking about, I feel that everyone’s acting skills are very good, including Shen Jintai!”
“Yes, yes, I’m so excited to see it. The scene where Shen Jintai prostrated his head and cried just now. It looked so emotional!”
“Can’t wait to watch this show!”
“I just came back from watching the trailer on the official blog. I want to say, I have decided on this drama!”
“The trailer was released? Shit, it’s already 10. I’m going to see it!”
“Wow, wow, wow! The trailer looks great, especially Shen Jintai raising his eyebrows!”
“Is the main protagonist of this drama really not Shen Jintai? It was in the final shot!”
After half an hour of the trailer being posted, it successfully landed on the hot search and quickly rose to the top ten.
Moonlight powders only saw Bai Qingquan’s beauty. “Gold raises idlers, flowers raises laughter*, our brother truly is the supreme Bai Yueguang!”
*I think it’s referencing a poem. Can’t find a source. Supposedly, it means it lives up to its image.
Yang Lizhi’s fans only saw their sister’s unparalleled beauty. “Her looking back image, I love it!”
The gold powders screamed even louder.
The reborn Shen Jintai! How could their brother suddenly become so textured! Except for the low screen time and shots, there were no other shortcomings!
When can they see the full thing!
Yan Yaoxuan was sitting in a car heading to the airport. He repeatedly watched the trailer more than a dozen times. He finally adjusted it to full screen and cut out the shot of Shen Jintai raising his eyebrows, making it his screensaver. He put the phone down and turned to look out the window.
Summer was coming to an end, and autumn would soon arrive.
The fans and actors at the filming location were unable to see the trailer yet. The set visit was coming to an end. After a series of climatic scenes, the crew was nervously shooting the last scene.
Li Xu, wearing a robe, was running in the corridor. His feet were clattering on the wooden floor as the executive director shouted from behind the camera, “Li Xu, turn around!”
Shen Jintai, with blood on his forehead, turned his head abruptly when he heard the words, and an arrow flew across his cheek.
“Cut!”
The makeup artist hurriedly ran over and applied fake blood to Shen Jintai’s face and painted scars. Shen Jintai’s chest was still undulating violently. His eyebrows drooped slightly, and he didn’t say a word. He was obviously immersed in his emotions.
With a bow in his hand, Bai Qingquan walked to the other end of the corridor and stood still, looking at Shen Jintai.
He’d just finished a fight scene with Shen Jintai, and his chest was pounding with excitement. Following this was an emotional rivalry scene that made him even more excited.
After the makeup artist finished, Guo Rui stood behind the monitor and said, “Adjust your mood and get ready to shoot.”
Shen Jintai sighed solemnly, raised his head, and nodded to the director.
“Three, two, one, action!”
A staff member squatted next to him and raised the hair dryer in his hand. Shen Jintai’s long hair drifted away. His eyes were flushed as he looked at the camera.
The rocker camera turned around, as his facial muscles twitched slightly. His thin lips were tightly pursed, and tears puddled in his eyes. Zhou Jing pointed at him and yelled, “If you dare to take another step, I will shoot you!”
“His royal highness promised me that he would never kill him!”
“Do you think I’m the only one who wanted his life?” Bai Qingquan’s eyes were also red. “The situation has reached this point and it’s no longer beyond our control. If you go to him, you will just accompany him to death.”
Shen Jintai stared at him and said, “You can save him.”
Bai Qingquan’s lips trembled. “I will neither kill nor save him.”
He looked at Shen Jintai. There were blood marks on Shen Jintai’s face, and his pair of eyes seemed to be saying something. He was really conquered by Shen Jintai’s acting skills. Today, Shen Jintai’s acting skills captured the audience and grabbed the limelight that he loved.
Shen Jintai had no lines at this moment. He only saw a slight change in his expression. He stared at him for a while, then turned around and ran forward. Bai Qingquan stepped forward and shouted, “Don’t forget whose slave you are!”
Shen Jintai stopped, turned his head, and said, “I am your servant, but I belong to the crown prince… I belong to the crown prince…”
He didn’t have time to continue. He just looked back at him; his expression full of grief. His long hair was scattered, and there was blood on his forehead and face staining his green robe and white shirt.
Suddenly, with a ding dong, Xiao Ai came online at this moment and said, “…Dear, Bai Yueguang’s favorability for you has increased by 31 points. Here’s your reward for your killer waist with the venus dimples and the may cherries. Along with this, your beauty reward for sharp eyebrows and gorgeous eyes has been rewarded as well.”
Shen Jintai didn’t seem to hear it.
Xiao Ai remained for three seconds, then with a beep, went offline.
Shen Jintai wiped away the stream of tears and turned his head and walked forward with great stride.
The bow and arrow in Bai Qingquan’s hand fell to the ground, making a loud clattering sound. Shen Jintai’s clothes were messy. He had a jade crown tied to his hair, and he was dressed in a long blue and white robe embroidered with flowers and bamboo leaf patterns. He looked elegant and captivating.
This was just the beginning. Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan would appear on screen for this nearly one-year-long drama series. This was the start of their journey of falling in love and killing each other as the two most powerful young actors in the entertainment industry.
The trailers were also launched at this time by the two first-tier satellite TV channels. Yang Lizhi was in the middle, followed by Bai Qingquan and Shen Jintai. The representative of the satellite TV stations echoed in the most sensational voice:
[Have you ever chased a dream like this?
Have you ever loved someone like this?
The turbulent waves in the court, the anger in the palace, the love and resentment.
The curtain draws open, the show’s about to start, and in September, we’ll meet at The East Palace.]
