CH 25

Xie Luyu was rather late when he arrived. The tables in the audition room were pretty much full. The only seats left were in the very center. Director Wang sat in the middle all by himself, and the two seats beside him were empty.

Others might have been frightened of him, but Xie Luyu definitely was not. He casually strolled over and sat himself right next to Wang Haisheng. 0G eHU

Director Wang glanced at him as he was flipping through the script. Then, he pointed towards a sofa sitting in a corner of the room.

“Sit over there. It’s inconvenient for you to walk back and forth. I need you to help with the audition.”

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Xie Luyu: …

He freaking knew it! NO1qJL

Wang Haisheng, this son of a bitch, never lets him down.

Whenever they were filming, Wang Haisheng would play nice, but, as soon as filming was over, he’d switch up immediately. It was really unbelievable.

Xie Luyu plopped himself onto the sofa. As soon as he sat down, the director’s assistant handed him a script.

The kid smiled, a little embarrassed.

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“Xie ge, the director said to focus on the parts that are circled. It might come up during the audition.”

Xie Luyu knew this was going to happen, but he was still a little sad.

Fine.

Xie Luyu resigned himself to his fate and started reading. 4QsUew

He had already read the script before. He had even memorized most of the lines.

The story was set in ancient times, during the turmoil of war.

Ke Chengqi, one of the capital city’s playboys.

There was a seven in his name because he was the seventh child. The Ke family was a well-known military family. They had been practicing martial arts for many generations. During times of peace, they devotedly protected the nation and monarch. During times of chaos, they picked up their weapons and fought valiantly. ZMXAV8

Their military exploits built up over several generations and created the Ke family’s grandiose reputation.

The Ke family was a large and prosperous family. The heads of the main branch were Ke Chengqi’s grandfather and grandmother. Ke Chengqi’s father had a total of nine siblings.

Ke Chengqi’s generation wasn’t lacking in successors either. He had a whole bunch of cousins, as could be seen from his name.

He was unremarkable among his successful cousins. gnbyNF

He wasn’t as impressive as his older cousins, nor was he as favored as his younger cousins.

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It might have been this reason that the illustrious Ke family ended up producing an outlier like Ke Chengqi. IzeT3Q

He didn’t like the blade, sword, or spear. He only cared about looking good and dressing well.

However, a sudden disaster befell the Ke family and they were met with disaster. In a single night, Ke Chengqi instantly lost his family’s protection.

The crime of treason.

The honorable head of the Ke family knelt before the palace for an entire day and night, begging for forgiveness. In the end, he was rewarded with the exile of all the men in the Ke family who had entered officialdom. The once glorious Ke family instantly fell into the depths of despair. OKtNvk

Ke Chengqi was still immersed in pleasure and self-indulgence when he was suddenly shaken out of his beautiful dream. His friends had all left him to dry before he even had the chance to wipe the wine from his lips.

His elder brother, his father, and his many cousins ​​were all exiled. His mother hung herself.

Of the cousins who were left, the oldest were around seven or eight years old, while the youngest didn’t even know how to read yet.

His grandparents were already getting on in age. 2IG1kV

In an instant, he became the only pillar the Ke family could rely on.

Ke Chengqi had no choice but to throw away his elegant folding fan, and with it the life he used to have. Before, he used to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but now he had to hold back his temper and keep the family afloat.

In the end, his uncalloused hands took up the sword and spear.

Before he even had time to think, he was pushed forward into the world, carrying the entire family on his thin shoulders. oG8tg9

Just as he was at the end of his rope, war broke out along the frontier.

He sat blankly in front of the ancestral tablet all night. Finally, he picked up his sword and enlisted, signing a life-and-death contract.

Little by little, he used his exploits in battle to atone for a crime of which he knew nothing about, all so his family could have a space to breathe.

When he finally returned victorious, he was met with the sight of his father and uncles, his brother and cousins, all standing at the entrance of their family residence, quietly welcoming him. lBRsPD

Tears welled up in Ke Chengqi’s eyes. Over the past few years, he had worked hard to earn military achievements in order to atone for their family’s sins, little by little.

Ke Chengqi laughed.

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As he laughed, the illustrious and decorated Ke Chengqi hugged his elder brother tightly. Under his uncles and cousins watchful eyes, Ke Chengqi burst into tears, as if he was still the young man who wore his emotions on his sleeve from so many years ago.

Ke Chengqi defended the glory of the Ke family. After such a long and difficult journey, he could finally breathe for a moment. yEaMLb

By now, he had learned a lot, and he had obtained a powerful position.

The rights and wrongs in the past seemed to disappear with the wind.

His heroic deeds were shared all along the streets of the capital.

Everyone knew that the Ke family was a long-standing family name, and everyone knew that Ke Chengqi was a general to admire. 8kSuTQ

The hedonistic lifestyle of his youth had become a distant dream.

Although it was your typical commercial film, the quality wasn’t bad, and it had its good points. At the very least, Xie Luyu felt a little interested after reading the script.

Director Wang planned to decide on the casting of several supporting roles with this audition.

This included the eldest brother, the mother, and the father. These three roles appeared a bit more than the others. klTPeq

The casting for these roles went very smoothly. Xie Luyu hardly even needed to lift a finger for their auditions.

Lastly, there was one more role to decide. Xie Luyu knew that the screenwriter had hesitated for a long time about deleting him from the script. The requirements for this role were simply too high for any actor to achieve.

Ke Mu. He was originally a very clever child, and he studied well.

However, he suffered a fever when he was a child and wasn’t able to receive timely treatment. As a result, he never fully recovered. da6pXl

After the fever, he forgot all the books he had read before. He would take several hours just to read two or three sentences. He would stumble over his words when reading aloud.

No matter how old he was, he always had the same naivete of a child.

However, he was unexpectedly talented in martial arts.

Ke Mu’s father was a subordinate of Ke Chengqi’s father. He died young on the battlefield, leaving Ke Mu behind with the Ke family as Ke Chengqi’s companion. hzY5V

He was very hard-headed. When he was a child, he was told to listen to Ke Chengqi, so he listened to Ke Chengqi until the day he died.

Ke Mu was so obedient that people couldn’t help but care for him a bit more.

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When Ke Chengqi was younger, he wasn’t afraid of anything. He didn’t like how his mother, father, and even his eldest brother preferred Ke Mu over him, so he didn’t like Ke Mu. He would find any possible chance to make trouble for Ke Mu.

He even straight-up called Ke Mu his dog. Although this sounded rather unpleasant, it wasn’t exactly wrong. Zgbv4A

When Ke Chengqi was frolicking through the city’s brothels, Ke Mu would be by his side pouring wine. When Ke Chengqi headed out to battle, Ke Mu broke through enemy formations for Ke Chengqi.

Like a loyal dog, Ke Mu let Ke Chengqi scold him and beat him as he liked. He automatically put his fangs away whenever he was facing Ke Chengqi.

Later on, Ke Mu exchanged his life for Ke Chengqi’s during a highly disadvantageous battle. Overall, he didn’t have a whole lot of scenes.

This was all fine, but, in the script, Ke Mu was described as being a worldly beauty, the pinnacle of attractiveness. He was so beautiful that, when he went out to battle, the emperor’s only daughter caught a glimpse of him and immediately fell in love. P5xsJO

Since then, she refused to marry anyone but him. Even after finding out that he was ignorant regarding matters of the heart, she was still infatuated with him. She loved his attractive face. She loved his sculpted waist and chiseled back. She loved his crystal clear eyes. She loved how he was different from other men. She loved his clean and pure heart.

But Ke Chengqi wouldn’t let him go.

There used to be many people who wanted to take Ke Mu from him. There was no shortage of high-ranking individuals using all manner of coercion trying to steal Ke Mu away. Even during the most difficult times, Ke Chengqi never let go of him.

However, this time was different. Everyone could see the princess’ sincerity. She made no secret of her love. This rumor had even spread outside the palace and was used as material by storytellers. QPJtdf

This time, so long as he pushed Ke Mu forward, what awaited Ke Mu was a lifetime of peace and happiness. Even his grandfather and grandmother felt that this was heaven’s blessing for Ke Mu and for the Ke family.

However, Ke Chengqi turned the princess down. So long as Ke Chengqi did not allow it, Ke Mu would not agree.

In the end, they couldn’t outright refuse, so they dragged it out. The issue was dragged on and on until, finally, Ke Mu died on the battlefield.

Xie Luyu believed that the role of Ke Mu would be brilliant if it was played well. 7niNaQ

This was a very emotive character. Xie Luyu could already imagine the tears that were sure to follow. People were definitely going to be cursing them out underneath the official Weibo account.

However, when he opened the script that Wang Haisheng gave him, he discovered that the number of scenes for this character had been cut down by a lot. The role was reduced to being just another pretty face.

In the end, he didn’t even end up dying on the battlefield. Instead, he protected Ke Chengqi from an assassin and died before he even had the chance to grow up.

Xie Luyu flipped towards the end of the script and found the original version at the back. 0TFN8D

Xie Luyu immediately knew what Wang Haisheng was thinking.

There were two versions. One was just a pretty face, and the other had an actual role to play. Which version was chosen would naturally depend upon who the actor was.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

The audition for Ke Mu began, and the first actor walked in. He hadn’t even started speaking yet.

Over by the director’s table, Wang Haisheng raised his camera and snapped a photo. VHPf3G

Then, he didn’t even give the actor a glance. He looked down to check the photo.

Xie Luyu: …

They had invited a lot of influencers to the auditions this time. There simply weren’t enough actors in their circle that met the requirements.

Going off of Director Wang’s simple and rude behavior, Xie Luyu could already guess what their criteria was. They probably invited anyone with a pretty photo. JOjzSc

However, photoshop had already become an artform within their line of business. Photo editing today could no longer be described as just a simple touch up.

Wang Haisheng took their photo as soon as they walked through the door. He was probably trying to see whether it was consistent with their photos from before and whether they looked good in front of the camera.