Chapter 24: On Set: Filming Continues

Chapter 24: On Set: Filming Continues

Lu Xu stated that, in fact, the agent had been skimming a relatively small but significant portion of the earnings. However, the agent had been responsible for the entire Verse team and thus had influence over business decisions and event participation, making it inevitable that they would seek personal gains along the way.

This was the norm in the entertainment industry.

The next day, after discovering another sum had been added to his account, Lu Xu knew he had gambled correctly.

He didn’t want to have any association with the members of Verse anymore. Not long after he had transitioned into this new life, he began removing the Verse label from himself. However, even though he didn’t want to mention Verse again, mentioning Verse was how the other three members tried to stay relevant.

As soon as he arrived, he learned just how much Xie Qingyang loved Verse, how much Gu Sinian loved Verse, and how much Meng Qin loved Verse. Only Lu Xu did not.

But Lu Xu always felt that love, or the lack thereof, was demonstrated through actions, not words.

The original owner of his body had been willing to pay for performance outfits out of his own pocket just because he didn’t want to ruin Verse’s stage. He had endured bullying without speaking out, not only due to his personality but also because he wanted to maintain the beautiful image of Verse in the fans' hearts.

But Lu Xu was different.

A few days ago, Lu Xu had been browsing discussion threads, and there was a blogger analyzing the reasons behind Verse’s disbandment.

If the original owner had seen this post, he would probably have been very upset.

But Lu Xu felt that Verse was destined to become what it was now—from the moment it became a four-member group, everything had been set in stone.

Because the members of Verse were Xie Qingyang, Meng Qin, Gu Sinian, and Lu Xu, and no one else.

The original owner had tried hard, but it wasn’t just his effort that mattered.

…

After Lu Xu exposed the “commission deduction” issue, Ling Ge Entertainment didn’t stir up any more trouble and only issued a statement saying they would conduct a thorough investigation.

As for how long the investigation would take and whether the results would be made public, that was all uncertain.

But Lu Xu clearly felt that the frequency of Ling Ge’s artists appearing on hot searches had decreased significantly. Coincidentally, *Rising Sun* had found a new director, Gu Sinian was filming on set quietly, and Meng Qin even made a guest appearance, leaving fewer opportunities for marketers to capitalize on.

Of course, after this incident, the reputation of the Verse members still declined.

Lu Xu’s donation receipt led many marketers to quietly review the various donations made by Verse members, only to find that although the others boasted loudly about “our Verse,” most of the donations were made from Lu Xu’s account.

Along with the 100,000 yuan he had transferred to his former bandmate to compensate for the losses, while buying up trending topics like crazy, fans slowly realized that the other three members of Verse were not as innocent as they had thought, and Lu Xu was not the sole person who had destroyed Verse as they had imagined.

“In terms of popularity, the one who least wanted Verse to disband was Lu Xu. Before the disbandment, he could lend Yao Yuan 6 million yuan. After the disbandment, his pay for *The Noble Son* was 500,000 yuan.”

“I don’t know much about Verse, but judging by his acting skills, I feel that Lu Xu is probably a very serious personality.”

The process of an idol losing fans is a gradual one. Ever since Verse disbanded, the members had braced themselves for a drop in popularity.

However, thanks to Lu Xu, Xie Qingyang and the others had attracted some sympathetic fans, and their popularity decline had been slower than other disbanded boy groups. But recently, the members realized that their popularity was crashing faster than they could have imagined.

Idols are supposed to fulfill their fans' dreams. No matter what the idol’s true personality is, when facing fans, they must maintain the persona that the fans love.

Once the persona crumbles, the idol will find it nearly impossible to stay afloat.

…

After returning to the *Son of Heaven* crew, Lu Xu resumed his familiar rhythm.

During this time, he had many scenes to film, including court and palace scenes. Most of the actors he worked with were not as famous as Cheng Yun, but their control over their roles made Lu Xu focus intently without any distractions.

After news broke about his role in *The Son of Heaven*, paparazzi started showing up on set to get more details.

Unfortunately for them, the crew was mostly older men, with very few young actors around. Director Liu Chunfeng had the look of a boxing coach, and the paparazzi were too intimidated to return, fearing they’d get knocked out.

"Lu Xu, let's go over the lines for this afternoon?" As soon as he arrived at the crew in the morning, Guo Yining waved to Lu Xu.

"Count me in," added another actor, who played a minister in the show, as he joined them.

None of them had any scenes in the morning, but the scene in the afternoon was a crucial one. Lu Xu had a lot of lines, and the plot was quite complex. Director Liu Chunfeng rescheduled everyone’s scenes to make sure the actors had enough time to prepare for the crucial afternoon shoot.

Lu Xu was too focused on the script to even check the gossip news.

Recently, he had received offers from several agencies, some of which were larger than Ling Ge Entertainment. However, Lu Xu planned to wait until *The Son of Heaven* was finished before considering any of them.

He wanted an agency with more established operations, one that wouldn’t limit his choices but would help him land the roles he desired.

In a way, this was a perk reserved for A-listers.

Lu Xu had always been this ambitious.

...

"This scene is difficult to play; how do you understand it?" Guo Yining looked at Lu Xu.

The scene in the afternoon was a turning point in *The Son of Heaven*—Prince Qin Zhao faced his first crisis of potential dethronement.

Before this scene, Qin Zhao had a deep admiration for his father, Emperor Cheng, but the emperor found him too weak and lacking the qualities to rule an empire. However, Qin Zhao’s weakness meant he wasn’t cold-hearted enough, and there was still kindness in him.

But this time, Qin Zhao finally understood what he really meant to his father.

Acts like bringing medicine when his father was ill, taking exams, or competing for his father’s favor were just minor maneuvers. It wasn’t until he truly encountered the authority of a ruler that Qin Zhao understood what imperial power meant.

When Guo Yining asked Lu Xu this, it wasn’t to test him.

It was true that *The Son of Heaven* crew was full of older men who would occasionally guide others in acting out of boredom. However, Lu Xu didn’t need their guidance. Since receiving the script, he had been pondering the character of Qin Zhao, and his understanding of the role was certainly more thorough than others.

Lu Xu and Guo Yining muttered together, discussing while jotting down key points. Halfway through, Cheng Yun squeezed in, turning a long bench into a seat for three.

"Aren’t you hot?" Guo Yining shot him a glare.

"Not at all," Cheng Yun replied, seemingly unaware that he was hogging space.

After Cheng Yun joined, even more people gathered around. Someone brought over a small round table, loaded with nuts, fruit platters, and a variety of teas—black, green, and white—all freshly brewed. Even scriptwriter Qin Yu eventually joined in, grabbing a seat.

Director Liu Chunfeng, who was intently watching the monitor, felt a bit left out. Due to his personality, he sometimes had the illusion that he was being excluded by the entire crew.

In short, the scope of the script discussion expanded further.

Cheng Yun, being more talkative, discussed his views on the afternoon scene with Lu Xu, giving him a heads-up. This way, they would have more chemistry when shooting began in the afternoon.

Good communication among actors was key; acting is never a solo effort.

Lu Xu could sense that in recent days, Cheng Yun had become more serious about the role of Emperor Cheng. Cheng Yun was the type of actor who could endure hardship and had sufficient acting skills to handle any kind of role. However, whether it was due to a lack of audience appeal or something else, the viewership ratings for the dramas where he played the lead were just average, even though the critical reception was good.

Lu Xu suspected that the change in Cheng Yun's attitude stemmed from the doubts online about his leading role in *The Son of Heaven*.

To some extent, this matter was triggered by Lu Xu.

If Lu Xu hadn't taken on the role of Qin Zhao, the cast of *The Son of Heaven* would have belonged to the category that rarely attracted attention from netizens. Even if the series had a decent level of heat, the actors remained low-key and unnoticed.

Lu Xu guessed that Cheng Yun must feel a deep resentment in his heart.

He had long been referred to as a "reliable supporting actor," but as an actor, who would be willing to forever play a supporting role?

Moreover, Cheng Yun was not the type of actor destined to always be a supporting character. With his lead roles consistently overlooked, he probably also began to doubt himself—before *The Son of Heaven*, he hadn't been a lead actor for more than a decade.

For Cheng Yun, the reality that his lead dramas received no attention was more like a curse.

Lu Xu sighed; he felt powerless to change it. The only thing he could do was give his best performance.

Whether a drama would become a hit was unclear to the actors before they accepted the role. It all depended on the audience.

…

As soon as noon passed, the actors made some preparations, and the filming of this important scene officially began.

In the script, after Qin Zhao reached adulthood, Emperor Cheng allowed him to participate in political affairs and handle some matters in the capital.

Emperor Cheng was not yet old, but there were already people eyeing Qin Zhao, the crown prince, eager to establish connections with him to secure a share of the credit for his future enthronement. In addition, the crown prince's interactions with his maternal family became more frequent—the imperial father-in-law and the imperial brother-in-law, both important court officials, were natural supporters of the crown prince.

At this time, the court was filled with intrigue and deception. A severe drought in Shaanxi left the land strewn with the bodies of the starving, yet some officials were embezzling relief supplies. In the spring examinations, a cheating scandal occurred, and Shi Xian, the Deputy Minister of Rites, was executed along with his entire family. Upon investigation, the Son of Heaven discovered that Crown Prince Qin Zhao seemed implicated in both matters.

Or rather—someone needed Emperor Cheng to believe so.

Emperor Cheng might not have been entirely unaware that Qin Zhao's role in these two incidents was limited. After all, the crown prince at this point was still a figurehead, and at most, someone had used Qin Zhao's name to pull strings behind the scenes.

But Emperor Cheng used this incident to issue a warning to Qin Zhao, hinting at his potential intent to remove him as heir apparent.

At this moment, Emperor Cheng had not actually considered deposing the crown prince, but Qin Zhao was unaware of this, nor were the supporters of the other princes.

This was the origin of Qin Zhao's rebellion and the opening act of the drama for the imperial succession.

As Lu Xu analyzed the script, he concentrated on Qin Zhao’s evolving mindset.

As a crown prince, Qin Zhao had the pride that came with the position. From a young age, he had been the heir apparent, embodying the role of a "ruler." This influenced his actions to carry a certain sense of proportion.

The spring examinations were meant to select talented individuals for the country. If cheating became rampant, who would bother studying hard in the future?

In the case of a drought, if the crown prince thought of embezzlement, how could he stabilize the empire when he truly became emperor in the future?

So at first, Qin Zhao remained calm and proud, trusting only his father and believing that innocence would prevail. However, as court officials repeatedly emphasized the consequences, and Emperor Cheng's gaze toward him grew increasingly cold, Qin Zhao suddenly realized that although he was the crown prince, the legitimate heir, at this moment in the court, no one would support him.