was the story of an empress during the Great Zhuo Dynasty. The story depicted her life when she was young till her older years. The story was told from the lens of struggles within the palace, depicting the ups and downs of this beautiful and outstanding female statesman.
The female protagonist"s name was Shen Yu and she was a literary official. Since young, she had known the son of a General"s family next door, called Xu Changqing. The two people had grown to eleven years old as childhood friends. Xu Changqing wanted to follow his father to war and during his teenage years, said that he would propose marriage after returning.
A female official in the Zhuo Dynasty needed to first pa.s.s the general selections. After that, only after her name plaque had been discarded[3] could she marry of her own volition. If she were chosen by n.o.bility, she would need to remain in the palace.
"Xiao Yu, wait for me to come back. When I"m back, I"ll let Mother find a matchmaker to go to your house," The actor playing little Xu Changqing leapt over the wall and grabbed onto little Shen Yu"s hand.
"Master said that men and women should not touch hands," Little Shen Yu shook off his hand and sat at the side while pouting.
Chu Qin observed Wenyu"s acting and smiled slightly. This child was indeed a good seedling. After this drama started screening, he should let Wenqing bring her sister when she came to Confusion.
"Qin-ge, you"re here too!" A slightly familiar voice echoed behind him. Chu Qin frowned a little and turned around, seeing a man dressed in eunuch"s attire coming towards him with a face full of smiles.
This eunuch"s clothing wasn"t anything elaborate. From a glance, it was obvious that it was given to those playing small roles. Furthermore, it was only the outerwear - the angle at which the gown diverged revealed the jeans below. Several actors playing small roles saw this person walking over and discretely looked over repeatedly.
"Wei Yan?" Chu Qin"s memory for people had always been rather accurate. Especially if it was Wei Yan, this sort of deeply impressionable guy. He remembered the time when Wu Wan pleaded with Zhong Yibin to squeeze this cousin of his into the crew, but he also remembered that after that, Wu Wan had quarrelled with Zhong Yibin till things were no longer as pleasant. This matter had then been left unsettled, how then did this guy appear here.
"Qin-ge, your memory is really good," The smile on Wei Yan"s face grew even wider and he wiggled his brows at a nearby girl who played a small role. Wu Wan may have found another opportunity for him but this drama of Shengshi"s reportedly had a large investment. It would definitely be popular. He didn"t want to give it up, so he thickened his skin and came over.
The good thing was that Zhong Yibin had indeed arranged for such a thing before, so the workers still had some impression of him. Anyway, it was just a small role and it wasn"t any major issue, so they accepted him. It was only after he set foot into the industry did Wei Yan deeply feel how high Chu Qin"s status was, and how many connections he had. Thinking back to the time when he faced him with such an att.i.tude, he truly regretted it.
Chu Qin wasn"t too fond of Wei Yan, so he made a faint sound of agreement and turned around to chat with male lead one.
Seeing Wei Yan return with a face full of delight, a few actors who played small roles were somewhat envious. This person actually knew Chu Qin - his chances in the future would be plentiful then, unlike them, who even after mixing around in the circle for so many years, continued to remain small fry.
"Wei Yan, when you blow up next time, don"t forget us brothers," The few people who were more familiar with him came up to tease him. The gazes of the department flowers that Wei Yan had brought along also changed.
Wei Yan couldn"t help feeling somewhat elated. He waved a hand and expressed that "in the future, the benefits for his brothers would be plentiful".
"Wei Yan, could you bring me to say a few words to Qin-ge?" The department flower moved to Wei Yan"s side and asked him in a low voice.
"Eh…" The smile on Wei Yan"s face turned stiff. He was not at all familiar with Chu Qin and they even had some past history. Their interaction today was nothing more than the fox exploiting the tiger"s might[4]. If he really did bring the department flower over to recommend her and Chu Qin didn"t show him any face, he would then be embarra.s.sed. "Chu Qin"s schedule is very tight. If we speak to him now, he wouldn"t be happy either. The next time around when he"s around, remember to follow me closely."
The department flower stared at him and looked at Chu Qin, who was leisurely chatting on the other end with male lead one. Her lips curled. Acting like this, even pretending like he was close to the other party when the truth was that they were only on hi-bye terms.
The few small fry actors didn"t notice their conversation. Over the course of the next few days, they treated Wei Yan very politely. Within the crew, whether one"s status was high or low, and whether they had a backer or not, was all of extreme importance. Wei Yan having a backer like Chu Qin meant that his future would be limitless.
However, as time went on, Wei Yan"s treatment in the crew didn"t increase even a tiny bit. He still played random roles like guards, eunuchs, bystanders and corpses. Several actors playing small roles noticed that Wei Yan wasn"t being given any preferential treatment and their perception of him gradually changed.
"Looks like that youngster doesn"t have much connection to Chu Qin," A small fry uncle drew out a cigarette and looked fiercely at Wei Yan on the other side, who enjoyed chatting very much.
"Acting like he"s some big shot, so what if he can say a few words to famous people. I can also chat with Wenqing for half a day," Another small fry spat out. They had actually been tricked by a youngster acting as a pretentious price, how infuriating.
"Wei Yan was beaten up?" Chu Qin was drinking tea in Zhong Yibin"s office and was somewhat astonished when hearing this piece of news.
"That smelly mouth, there are too many people who see him as an eyesore," Zhong Yibin hmph-ed coldly. This person really had thick skin. His family"s cousin didn"t dare to seek him out anymore, but he still swaggered over.
Chu Qin shook his head, dismissing with a laugh the news of Wei Yan. "What instructions does Boss Zhong have for me?"
"I heard that Chen Jiming s.n.a.t.c.hed your position at the National Day party," Zhong Yibin tapped a finger against the plan for the party that was resting on his desk.
"No, I threw it to him," Chu Qin"s eyes narrowed. He could understand the station"s leader wanting to nurture a new host, but it was somewhat laughable to so eagerly want to replace him. He might as well let them flop around - when they suffered a setback, they would then know how to plead with him.
He gazed at the man with narrowed eyes in front of him - the waves of gleaming reflection in his beautiful eyes illuminated the tinge of craftiness in them, like a little fox that had secretly done bad things. Zhong Yibin stared till his heart felt itchy. He grabbed the hand Chu Qin had resting on the table and played with it. "As compensation, Director daren[5] will invite you on a trip to Korea, okay?"
The author has something to say:
Small theatre:
Niohuru[6] · Qin Qin: I"ve seen second elder brother
Aisin Gioro[7] · Bing: Very good, you have already succeeded in attracting ben[8] Bing"s attention
Niohuru · Qin Qin: Even if you borrow imperial power to obtain my body, you will never obtain my heart
Aisin Gioro · Bing: It"s fine, I only want the body（?﹃?）
Niohuru · Qin Qin: →_→
[1] 花盆底鞋子: Literal translation is "flower bowl" shoes but the term Manchu appears to be the proper term for it. Manchu shoes are a type of wooden platform shoes that were adapted by the Manchus in order to emulate the particular gait that bound feet necessitated (the Manchus did not bind their feet). They look like this:
[2] Same concept as the "ge" that is usually put behind people"s names. "Ge" means older brother and can be used as a form of address for both blood-related and non-blood-related people. There pretty much isn"t any difference between "ge" and "ge-ge"; they mean the same thing.
[3] 撂牌子: A phrase a.s.sociated with the Qing dynasty"s selection process for admitting women into the palace. If a woman was chosen, she would be considered as having "left her plaque". If she was not chosen, she would be considered as having her "plaque discarded". Those who were initially chosen would still have to undergo a second round of selections, of which some will also have their "plaques discarded".
[4] Using powerful connections to intimidate others.
[5] 大人: A t.i.tle of respect towards superiors, commonly used in the ancient times.
[6] The Niohuru was a prominent Manchu clan during the Qing dynasty. The clan was well known then for producing a variety of consorts of all ranks for emperors, several of whom went on to become mothers to reigning emperors (taken from Wikipedia).
[7] Aisin Gioro was the imperial clan of Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The word Aisin means gold in the Manchu language and Gioro is the name of their ancestral home in present-day Yilan, Heilongjiang Province.
[8] The "ben" here is meant to be a play on benzuo, so instead of zuo it"s Bing.
Translator"s corner: We"re halfway through!! Thank you for all the support so far ?