Chapter 35

On the first day of the shoot, the production crew didn’t have too many arrangements. After lunch, they spent the afternoon taking makeup photos of the main actors.

During this time, Lan Ying and the bodyguards had gone ahead to the hotel arranged by the production crew. Mu Xingyu’s suite was quite comfortable, and to help him blend in better with the crew, Lan Ying chose not to change the room. When Mu Xingyu returned from his makeup photo session, he found that Lan Ying had already organized his luggage.

“Take a look at the room; is there anything you’re not satisfied with?” Lan Ying asked.

“It’s fine.” The room was spacious, with a private bathroom, a resting area, and a guest area. Mu Xingyu wasn’t particularly demanding when he was filming.

“Alright, if you need anything, just ask Xiao Wen to buy it for you. I’ll be heading out now. If you have any issues, remember to call me,” Lan Ying said.

“Okay.” Mu Xingyu nodded and was about to see Lan Ying off.

Suddenly, Lan Ying stopped in her tracks. “There’s one thing I want to remind you of. Jiang Zhidong is a good actor, but he’s quite arrogant. Be careful when dealing with him.”

“I will.” Mu Xingyu had already noticed Jiang Zhidong’s proud personality upon their first meeting. However, since Jiang Zhidong was a skilled actor and held the title of “Best Actor,” he planned to be cautious while working with him.

Lan Ying left with the bodyguards. Initially, she intended to leave one bodyguard behind to protect Mu Xingyu. However, Mu Xingyu insisted that there wouldn’t be any issues within the production crew and didn’t want the crew to think he was too high-maintenance, so he decided not to keep any bodyguards.

After dinner, Mu Xingyu asked Xiao Wen to buy a cup. Naturally, this cup was meant for storing spiritual water. He planned to save the spiritual water during his time on the set and feed it to Gu Yunzhou when he returned home, so as not to waste it.

Once he finished getting ready for bed, he put on his pajamas and sat on the bed. He initiated a video call with Gu Yunzhou.

Soon, the video call connected, and on the screen appeared Gu Yunzhou dressed in formal attire. Mu Xingyu keenly noticed that Gu Yunzhou wasn’t at home but in the company’s office.

“Why haven’t you gone home yet?” Mu Xingyu checked the time and asked somewhat displeased.

Gu Yunzhou smiled faintly, “No one is waiting for me at home, so I stayed at the company to finish some work.”

“If grandpa hears this, he’ll be very disappointed,” Mu Xingyu said, smiling.

“Don’t tell Grandpa,” Gu Yunzhou replied with a smile, then asked, “How was your day at the set? How did it go?”

“Nothing much happened today. It was mostly the opening ceremony. The actual filming starts tomorrow.” Mu Xingyu shared his schedule for the day and then encouraged Gu Yunzhou to head home early.

“Alright, I’ll finish up this document, and then I’ll head back.”

Mu Xingyu and Gu Yunzhou chatted for a while, and when Gu Yunzhou got into the Hummer, they ended the video call.

Having switched to a different bed and without the familiar presence of Gu Yunzhou, Mu Xingyu tossed and turned for a long time before finally entering the dreamland.

The next morning, he got up early, dropped spiritual water into the cup, and then went to have breakfast with Xiao Wen.

When they arrived at the set, it was still early, and there weren’t many people in the makeup room.

As the second male lead, Mu Xingyu didn’t have a dedicated makeup room, and the makeup artist was hired by the production team. However, he had arrived early, so the makeup artist quickly finished his makeup.

Leaving the makeup room, Xiao Wen said, “Xingyu Ge, let’s call Liu Min over. Otherwise, when we encounter a lot of people, it will delay a lot of time for makeup.”

“Alright, you inform Liu Min.”

Mu Xingyu originally wanted to keep a low profile, but considering the time cost, he decided to have Liu Min come over. Moreover, he had observed that, apart from the male and female leads, at least four other actors had brought their makeup artists, so having Liu Min come over wouldn’t be too conspicuous.

At this moment, Zhou Ruxuan walked over, “Xingyu, why are you here so early!”

“Ruxuan Jie,” Mu Xingyu nodded and smiled.

Zhou Ruxuan was young and beautiful, but she was three years older than Mu Xingyu, so he called her “Ruxuan Jie” (Sister Ruxuan).

But when Zhou Ruxuan heard that, she pursed her lips and asked, “Can you call me ‘Xuan Xuan’? Adding ‘Jie’ makes me feel so old.”

Mu Xingyu knew that actresses were sensitive about their age, so he quickly nodded and said, “Xuan Xuan.”

Zhou Ruxuan burst into laughter and handed a bag to Mu Xingyu with a cheerful mood, “Xingyu, these are the most famous buns in Pengcheng. Give them a try.”

“No need, I’ve already had breakfast,” Mu Xingyu replied.

“Take it; it’s my token of goodwill,” Zhou Ruxuan insisted, handing the bag to Mu Xingyu.

Mu Xingyu had to accept the bag, and at Zhou Ruxuan’s urging, he tried one of the buns, which indeed tasted very good.

“Very delicious, thank you, Xuan Xuan,” he said.

“No need to thank me, I’ll bring you more tomorrow,” Zhou Ruxuan said with a smile.

Mu Xingyu initially didn’t want to trouble Zhou Ruxuan, but Zhou Ruxuan went to the makeup room right after speaking, so he had to retract his words.

He shared the remaining buns with Xiao Wen. Xiao Wen also found them delicious and couldn’t help but say, “I didn’t expect even big stars to like street food.”

“Big stars are also human,” Mu Xingyu laughed, “She seems quite easy to get along with. I hope we have a pleasant time filming together.”

“Definitely.”

…..

Soon, it was time to start filming. The first scene didn’t involve Mu Xingyu; he stayed close to Director Zhang and watched how Jiang Zhidong acted.

Filming on the set doesn’t follow the chronological order of the script but rather concentrates on shooting the content of a particular scene. For the first scene of the day, they were filming the part where Song Qinghe, after obtaining military power, starts discussing the strategy to invade the Chen Dynasty with his generals.

Jiang Zhidong had a rugged appearance, and when he put on the armor, he looked even more heroic. The first scene impressed everyone.

“He truly deserves the title of Best Actor,” one of the actors praised.

“Yes, he’s acting so well.”

However, Jiang Zhidong remained nonchalant, saying it was nothing.

As a movie actor and a recipient of the Golden Dragon Award for Best Actor, Jiang Zhidong had his own pride. This was his first time shooting a TV series, and he hoped to show the crew his formidable skills through his outstanding acting. By now, he had achieved his goal.

Soon, it was time for the scenes between Mu Xingyu and Jiang Zhidong. Mu Xingyu played the role of Shen Qian, who, upon learning that Song Qinghe intended to launch an expedition against the Chen Dynasty, risked his own safety to persuade Song Qinghe to reconsider.

With opposing positions, it was natural that they couldn’t come to an agreement.

Song Qinghe’s subordinates even advised him to capture Shen Qian, but Song Qinghe, taking old friendships into account and thinking about not harming the envoy in times of war, eventually let Shen Qian go.

Shen Qian remained calm throughout, but his clenched fists inside his sleeves revealed restraint and a sense of loss. He had no reason to blame Song Qinghe; if he wasn’t the prince of the Chen Dynasty, he might have become a member of the expeditionary force. But there were no ifs in reality.

This seemingly calm encounter was actually filled with underlying tension, demanding actors to have strong emotional control.

Jiang Zhidong initially thought that Mu Xingyu, in his first acting experience, wouldn’t be able to handle the character’s emotions properly. However, after the entire scene was filmed, Mu Xingyu had shown great control over his character’s emotions. and even received praise from Director Zhang, which surprised Jiang Zhidong.

“Xingyu, you were amazing in the scene,” immediately after filming, Zhou Ruxuan approached Mu Xingyu and praised him.

“Xuan xuan, you’re too kind,” Mu Xingyu replied.

Jiang Zhidong received a glass of water from his assistant, Xu Zhou, and observed Zhou Ruxuan approaching Mu Xingyu with a flash of disdain in his eyes.

Zhou Ruxuan had always desired to marry into a wealthy family, and now she was trying to get close to Mu Xingyu. It seemed that she had set her sights on him.

In the afternoon, the official Weibo account of the TV series released the actors’ makeup photos. This time, instead of revealing all the information at once, the Weibo account released a makeup photo every hour based on the importance of the characters.

First, they shared the makeup photo of the male lead, followed by the female lead, and then Mu Xingyu.

While Jiang Zhidong had won Best Actor awards, he didn’t have a huge fan base, so his makeup photo didn’t generate much buzz on Weibo.

However, when the makeup photo of the female lead, Zhou Ruxuan, was posted, her passionate fans immediately started sharing and creating hashtags, pushing the topic into the top ten trending topics.

Seeing Zhou Ruxuan’s makeup photo generate a lot of attention, Jiang Zhidong furrowed his brows. He felt that as the male lead, he should be getting more attention and didn’t appreciate Zhou Ruxuan’s fans stealing the spotlight.

But when Mu Xingyu’s makeup photo was released, it caused his brows to furrow even more.

Mu Xingyu was naturally handsome, and in the makeup photo, he was dressed as a prince, exuding an air of nobility. His photo received widespread admiration and quickly climbed to the trending topics. In the end, it even surpassed the female lead’s ranking.

Jiang Zhidong felt very uncomfortable about this, especially since he looked down on Mu Xingyu, considering him just a wealthy young master.

“Did he buy this trend?” Jiang Zhidong asked Xu Zhou.

“I can’t tell,” Xu Zhou replied. “Jiang-ge, these internet-famous stars have rapidly changing popularity. You don’t need to worry about them.”

“Jiang Ge, you are the male lead, and the whole series revolves around you. You don’t need to be concerned about them.”

Jiang Zhidong waved his hand impatiently and said, “Let it go this time. Next time, I’ll buy my way to the top.”

In reality, Mu Xingyu didn’t pay much attention to the makeup photos. When the official Weibo released his makeup photo, he was busy preparing for filming, so he didn’t even retweet it; he had Xiao Wen do it for him.

After a long day of filming, Mu Xingyu felt a bit tired. He took out the cup and intended to use a drop of the spiritual water inside. To his surprise, the originally clear water had become cloudy.

“What’s going on?” Mu Xingyu was worried. He tasted a bit of it and found it slightly bitter.

“Could it be that the spiritual water can’t be left out for too long?” Mu Xingyu felt frustrated. He had initially planned to put the water in a cup and give it to Gou Yunzhou to consume when he got back. However, now he had a problem.

He quickly washed the cup, dropped another bit of water inside, and placed it back in the refrigerator, intending to check it again in an hour.

Mu Xingyu finished his evening routine, read the script, and waited for the designated time. An hour later, he opened the refrigerator and found that the water was still cloudy.

What could he do now? Mu Xingyu was facing a dilemma.

Translator’s Note-Guys don’t forget to support and comment your views(^-^)

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