Pei Yan learned from Yuyan Entertainment's official Weibo the next day that Su Yao had been confirmed as the female lead. After Su Yao reposted the Weibo, Director Jiang He personally liked it, which put Su Yao on another hot search.
He took a look at the list of already - confirmed cast and crew and found that the male lead hadn't been decided yet. He immediately made a phone call.
"Beep..."
After a few rings, a gentle and refined male voice came from the other end. "What? Why did Lawyer Pei suddenly think of calling me?"
Pei Yan hesitated for a while and then said, "I need your help..."
"Hmm? Go ahead. It's rare to hear you ask for help." Yan Nuo probably guessed what Pei Yan was going to say, but he wanted to hear it from Pei Yan's own mouth.
"Isn't your company investing in a movie? I see the male lead hasn't been decided yet. Do you want to give it a try?"
"The male lead hasn't been decided, but the female lead has. If I become the male lead, you won't mind?"
Yan Nuo was joking, but Pei Yan knew that he had probably agreed. However, the awkwardness in his heart doubled, which made him hang up the phone without answering.
Hearing the sound of the phone being hung up, Yan Nuo, who never laughed out loud, suddenly burst into laughter, scaring his assistant beside him.
After laughing enough, Yan Nuo began to rummage through his contacts.
The next day, the male lead of *The Long Maple at the End of Night* was also decided. It was the popular movie star Yan Nuo. This gentle and elegant man was going to play a tough general, which surprised everyone.
Then came the costume photos. Most onlookers thought that Su Yao and Yan Nuo didn't match their mental images of the male and female leads at all. But when the costume photos came out, they were all slapped in the face.
In the photo, the woman was still wearing that dazzling wedding dress, with deep pupils and slightly furrowed eyebrows, which perfectly matched Li Changfeng's personal image.
Yan Nuo, who had a face more suitable for a civil official, looked even more imposing than his appearance in the armor, with his head slightly lowered, his hair slightly disheveled, and bloodstains on his face.
There was also a photo of the two hugging each other, but their expressions were helpless. Just looking at it made people feel heart - rending and touched countless people's hearts.
The only two sad people were Pei Yan and Chu Zhao. Pei Yan watched the photos with a tense face. Who could he blame? Yan Nuo was just helping him. It was he who asked Yan Nuo to do it, but he just felt a little angry in his heart and didn't quite understand why.
Chu Zhao smashed things in his office. "Who allowed you to choose Yan Nuo?"
Wu Tian felt a bit embarrassed. "It was Director Jiang He who directly decided. At that time, you said to invite Director Jiang He, but Director Jiang He had a condition that he would decide the male lead... I thought that since Yan Nuo was also from our company, I agreed."
Chu Zhao finally understood what it meant to lift a rock only to drop it on his own feet. But then he thought that even if it wasn't Yan Nuo, it would be someone else. However, he still didn't like it in his heart because Su Yao had once crossed paths with Yan Nuo.
The only one who was scolded was Wu Shanshan. She was too sweet - looking and simply didn't fit the role of the evil imperial concubine, the second female lead.
There were three major shooting locations in total. The first part was shot in the film and television city, mainly about the palace intrigue. Here, the one who would play opposite Su Yao was mainly Wu Shanshan.
"Sister Yao, I always feel that this Wu Shanshan is not a good person. Be careful later." Li Yin reminded her while helping her pack her luggage.
"Come on. Sister has been in this circle for so long. I know better than you. Don't worry blindly. When the soldiers come, we'll block them; when the water comes, we'll dam it. It's that simple."
Although she said so, the first day of shooting wasn't a good start. To put it bluntly, the novel itself was about rebirth and revenge, and Su Yao was very good at revenge.
But she didn't expect to play opposite Wu Shanshan on the first day, a scene from the previous life.
In the previous life, the princess protected her younger brother and also the powerless crown prince. At that time, she thought it didn't matter whether her younger brother or this nominal younger brother became the emperor. It wasn't until she saw the crown prince ascend the throne and kill her younger brother as his first act that the princess went crazy and began to take revenge.
The crown princess played by Wu Shanshan thought that the unmarried princess was in her way. Although her husband was cruel, he still remembered the kindness of the imperial sister and didn't kill her completely. So she decided to do it herself.
The opening scene was supposed to be a good show, but according to the roles Wu Shanshan had played before, it was a bit difficult for her to master the role of the crown princess in a short time.
For example, Su Yao had "died" five times and they were still NG. The mistake wasn't on her. Either Wu Shanshan's tone was wrong or her movements weren't ruthless enough.
At this moment, Wu Shanshan was still maintaining her good - girl persona. Su Yao was exhausted. At first, the director beside them was still giving Wu Shanshan acting lessons, but after talking for a long time with no progress, he got angry.
"Who let such a person into the crew? We're all here waiting for her. Does she think she's acting in a campus youth drama?"
Although Jiang He didn't use any swear words when scolding, everyone who was scolded felt uncomfortable.
"Sorry, Director. I was wrong." Wu Shanshan was directly scared to cry, her shoulders twitching.
Su Yao was originally lying on the ground pretending to be dead, but her eyelids involuntarily drooped. Suddenly, someone pushed her, and she immediately did a backflip and got up.
"Who?" When she saw it was Jiang He, Su Yao immediately cowered. "Director, do you think we can come back tomorrow? It's getting late."
Jiang He pointed at Su Yao. "You perform for her and show her how the crown princess should act."
"Hey? I can't do it. Don't make things difficult for me."
"Can't? If she can't pass today, no one can leave!"
Su Yao was a bit embarrassed. Wasn't the director forcing her to do something she wasn't good at?
"Okay, I'll try to get into the mood."
After Su Yao agreed, she immediately immersed herself in the role of the crown princess.
At this time, the crown princess had become the queen. Naturally, she should have the dignity of a queen and the aura of remaining calm even in the face of chaos. But after being suppressed for so long, she also needed to release her emotions.
Su Yao closed her eyes and thought for a while. When she opened them again, she was like a different person.
The woman in the field gracefully walked up to Wu Shanshan, pinched her chin hard, and got close to her face.
"What, don't you recognize me? I still remember every single thing from that year!" Su Yao let go of Wu Shanshan, spread her sleeves, and left a back view for Wu Shanshan. "I'm still the crown princess! No, now I'm the queen."
Finally, the camera was fixed on a scene where she turned back, and her eyes could kill.
"Yes! That's right. That's how it should be!" Jiang He also walked up to Wu Shanshan. "See? This is the aura this role should have!"
Wu Shanshan was also scared and immediately nodded continuously. Then she buried her head, and her expression became ferocious.
"Right, this is the expression you have now. Very good. Come on, try again."
"..."
Su Yao saw the whole process, shook her head, and returned to her own position.