The scene between Su Zhiyi and Gu Yumo went smoothly, with only one NG because Su Zhiyi messed up a line, and they passed on the second take.
"Do you really want to go to the Northern Frontier with Young Master Xie? I will report this to my Imperial Brother, but the Northern Frontier is bitterly cold, desolate, and lonely—beyond what ordinary people can endure."
"Jingshu, have you thought it through?"
Gu Yumo pondered for a long time, then firmly nodded to Su Zhiyi. "I have. It's not just for Xie Huan, but also for the people of Great Jiang, and for my father and brother who died in battle in the Northern Frontier. If the people there live in misery, their spirits in heaven cannot rest. For them, I must go." Her gaze grew resolute, and the more she spoke, the more she immersed herself in the role, tears glistening in her eyes. "I will take Qi family's grain and carriages and go to the Northern Frontier with Xie Huan. Ruyue, please convey my words to His Majesty. Thank you."
Her words fell with force, and the set fell silent.
"Cut."
The director called out, nodded with satisfaction, and everyone relaxed their tense nerves.
"This take is good. Yumo, your part is done for now. You can step down. Xiao Xia, it's your turn with Zhiyi."
Gu Yumo let out a long breath of relief and smiled at Su Zhiyi. "I'll head down now. Good luck!"
"Mm, you've been acting all morning and must be tired. Go rest."
Su Zhiyi had been fine when acting opposite Gu Yumo, with natural skill and no mistakes.
Her scene with Xia Xu came next: after she told the emperor about the lead couple's situation in the palace—since the leads in this idol drama never speak their minds, someone needed to speak for them—she would then find the male lead, earnestly persuade him to apologize to the female lead, and then he would apologize, they would open up, reconcile, and receive the emperor's decree to go to the Northern Frontier together.
This scene had strong emotional shifts, requiring her to convey anger.
But as soon as she faced the camera and a male actor she wasn't familiar with, her acting easily fell apart. Her anger turned into a blank stare, making the director sigh repeatedly and call multiple NGs.
Gu Yu had been watching Su Zhiyi's performance from outside the set, very attentively.
Gu Yumo, holding up her heavy, long dress, held her breath and quietly crept up behind Gu Yu.
Gu Yu's attention was entirely on Su Zhiyi, focused so intently that he didn't notice Gu Yumo's approach.
"What are you looking at!"
Gu Yumo suddenly slapped Gu Yu's shoulder. Startled, he turned his head sharply, a crack appearing in his usually cold and indifferent face.
He suppressed his nearly exposed emotions and lowered his voice. "What is it?"
"I saw you standing here all along, so I came to talk to you." Gu Yumo followed the direction he had been looking and predictably saw Su Zhiyi, who was troubled after another NG.
Su Zhiyi looked like she had a headache, her pretty face scrunched into a frown. The director was also helpless, holding the script and breaking down every move and line for her.
Su Zhiyi seemed not to understand and shook her head blankly. The director, at his wit's end, personally went in and acted out the scene for her.
Gu Yumo withdrew her gaze and grinned mischievously at Gu Yu. "Hehe, caught you secretly watching Sister Zhiyi, didn't I?"
"..."
Gu Yu's brow twitched, the anger on his face gradually fading, replaced by a hint of unease hidden beneath his cold exterior.
"No," he said awkwardly. "The Gu Family invested in this drama. I'm just fulfilling my duty as an investor, supervising the production."
"Oh—" Gu Yumo's tone was teasing, her expression saying she saw right through him. "Just supervising the production~"
Gu Yu didn't reply, but his thin lips pressed into a tight line, betraying his inner turmoil.
Gu Yumo didn't keep teasing him. She knew exactly what her brother was thinking.
After over a dozen NGs, Su Zhiyi finally managed to produce a version that the director found acceptable. Exhausted, she almost wanted to summon System 030 and have it send her to another world.
The next scene was a conversation with the emperor and the Regent King. The set had been prepared in advance, and everyone moved to another ancient study set.
By the way, she still didn't know who was playing the Regent King.
Su Zhiyi knew her scenes mainly revolved around three characters: her female lead's best friend, her imperial brother, and the Regent King.
The Regent King was a powerful minister of the late emperor, his most trusted sworn brother—skilled in both civil governance and military conquest. Back then, several princes had fought to the death for the crown prince position before the late emperor's death.
In the end, all of them died, leaving only the young emperor, Su Zhiyi, and a few princesses born to consorts. At only twenty years old, the Regent King was entrusted by the dying late emperor with the heavy responsibility of clearing all obstacles for the young crown prince, supporting his ascension, and raising Su Zhiyi, who was still an infant.
In this drama, to her, the Regent King was not just her uncle by bond but also a second father—her de facto father.
Unfortunately, the Regent King had very little screen time and died early. After accompanying the lead couple to the Northern Frontier, he would die suddenly from illness at the age of thirty-eight.
"Yumo, do you know who's playing the Regent King?"
Su Zhiyi couldn't wait to ask before the scene started. She wanted to know which actor would play the character with whom she had the deepest bond.
She had already seen her Imperial Brother—among the crowd, only one person was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe.
"Huh? You don't know who's playing the Regent King?" Gu Yumo said.
Su Zhiyi shook her head.
"It's someone you're familiar with. Pei..." The answer was on the tip of her tongue, but before she could finish, Gu Yumo pointed ahead and said with a smile, "It's him!"
Then she waved in that direction. "Brother Pei, why are you just getting here? We've been waiting."
Su Zhiyi looked in the direction Gu Yumo pointed.
As it turned out, good-looking people always stood out in a crowd. Pei Yan wore a black robe. The makeup artist hardly needed to do much on his face—just lightly defined his brows, subtly deepened his facial contours, and emphasized his high brow bone, nose bridge, and smooth jawline, making his features look even more striking.
Some actors looked stunning in modern clothes but turned terrifying in historical costumes. Most of Pei Yan's films were period pieces or modern ones, so Su Zhiyi had never seen him in ancient costume on screen.
In ancient costume... he was very handsome. Even more like the male lead than the male lead.
Wait...!
What had Gu Yumo just said? Pei Yan was playing the Regent King?
System 030 chimed in just in time to explain: "This drama is adapted from a novel. In the novel, the Regent King also falls ill from years of campaigning and dies suddenly in the Northern Frontier. But his character is so compelling that his popularity is very high—only lower than the leads. The Regent King and the Elder Princess don't have many scenes together in the novel, but many readers ship them, to the point where the author regretted killing off the Regent King so early. To make it up to readers, the author even wrote a side story about them, making even more people ship the couple."
Although Su Zhiyi had no acting skills, she had the professionalism expected of an actor. Before joining the crew, she had read the original novel several times.
The Regent King character was indeed compelling. Probably because she was playing the Elder Princess, she focused on studying the Elder Princess's character and plot while reading. Compared to the male and female leads, she preferred the Regent King and the Elder Princess.
In the original novel, the Regent King was aloof, cold, and control-oriented—a fatherly type.
"This role really suits him," she commented.
"Wait..." She suddenly realized something important. "If their CP is so popular, will this crew make us do a fan service CP?"
It was fine to fabricate a wealthy brother-sister CP with Jiang Yuanheng.
But if she had to do a CP with Pei Yan...
She couldn't help but shiver, her eyes wide. She didn't dare imagine the bloodbath in her Weibo comments and DMs.
System 030 said, "Host, as you know, this kind of idol drama relies heavily on promotion. The director thought about creating a CP between you and Pei Yan for publicity. Your company even asked the director, saying they wanted to ride on Pei Yan's popularity."
"What?!"
Su Zhiyi's pupils dilated, cursing the idiotic company Qianyue Entertainment a thousand times in her mind.
"They want me dead! Let me ride Pei Yan's popularity?! Pei Yan's fan base is huge; if they get angry, they could expose my real identity!"
Pei Yan was a household name, known from eighty-year-olds to eight-year-olds. His fan count exceeded the total of all Qianyue Entertainment's artists combined; one spittle from each fan could drown the company. Not to mention she was a nobody D-list star...
"Wait." Su Zhiyi froze for a moment. "The director isn't really going to push it, is he?"
"Calm down! Host, calm down!" System 030 said loudly. "The director asked Pei Yan's opinion, and Pei Yan said he just wants to act well! Although the director doesn't know Pei Yan's background, he knows his status. Plus, since Pei Yan was originally invited by Gu Yu to guest star and add buzz to the drama, he dropped the idea."
Hearing this, Su Zhiyi relaxed the tense string inside her and let out the breath she had been holding. She nodded thoughtfully. "I see..."
No wonder when she read the script, it felt different from the original novel. Many scenes between her and the Regent King had been cut. The original novel had some descriptions of the Regent King caring for her for eighteen years, but in the script, it was glossed over in a sentence or two. This made the Regent King seem like a more insignificant transparent supporting character.
"It's fine to create a CP with someone else, but I really don't want to with him. I'm afraid that if we do, his fans will dig up my identity, and the company won't be able to protect me."
That way, her three million would really fly away.
"Actors, take your positions!" the director called out.
Su Zhiyi perked up, glanced from afar at Pei Yan, who stood tall and straight like a pine, then withdrew her gaze, followed the director's arrangements, and walked into the set.