Chapter 137: The Grand Finale

Chapter 137: The Grand Finale

The audience finally saw the death of Nie Yunzhang.

The young hero who once rode gallantly on horseback now lay on his sickbed, as the Son of Heaven wept uncontrollably. Yet Nie Yunzhang remained remarkably calm.

His mind was still set on defending the borders and making sure the people there could live without worry.

Though the Son of Heaven ruled the entire kingdom, possessed immeasurable wealth and power, and could summon the most skilled physicians, he could not save Nie Yunzhang's life. The repeated assurances of "I will cure you" and "You will not die" rang hollow and powerless.

"Even though I knew how it would end, I still feel heartbroken."

"Me too..."

"Oh no, please no."

"A heavy sigh escaped them."

In the scene, Nie Yunzhang still asked for nothing for himself, not even for his family.

When the Son of Heaven asked why he didn't ask for anything, Nie Yunzhang simply replied, "They will live longer than me."

Why should the living depend on the dead?

If he were still alive, he would have done everything for his family and the Nie clan. But he was on the verge of death.

Those he had protected would all live longer than him. He had worried for them in life; surely, he shouldn't have to protect them from beyond the grave?

The Son of Heaven wept again, saying Nie Yunzhang would surely become a god in heaven.

Instead, Nie Yunzhang, with his feeble hand, gently patted the Son of Heaven's back: "Your Majesty, I have killed too many people. I cannot go to heaven."

His eyes had lost the clarity of his youth. After enduring the battlefield's hardships and seeing both enemies and loyal comrades die, Nie Yunzhang had become more composed but less innocent.

But facing the emperor he had always been loyal to, his childhood friend, he remained open, feeling helpless at the sight of the Son of Heaven's tears.

Yet... his life had not been wasted.

Some coveted his power, fearing the Nie family would lose their court support after Nie Yunzhang's death. But there were also those who truly cared for him, even if that person was now the exalted Son of Heaven.

That was all that mattered.

The final scene of Nie Yunzhang's life depicted him lying on his sickbed, his eyes closed, as if he had merely fallen asleep.

For the dynasty, a great star had fallen in that moment.

The Son of Heaven had lost his loyal sword and became even more hardened. Yet, even in his later years, as people came and went around him—some executed with their entire clans, others meeting gruesome deaths, and some retiring to their hometowns—the Son of Heaven never forgot Nie Yunzhang. He remembered the realm Nie Yunzhang had helped him secure in their youth and the promises they had made to each other.

"Oh no, the history books say that Nie Yunzhang was buried beside the emperor."

"Nie Yunzhang didn't want the Son of Heaven to protect the Nie family, but historically, during the emperor's reign, the Nie family suffered the least among the powerful clans."

"Nie Yunzhang didn't really want to die. As he neared death, his father came to ask him who should inherit the title. What could he say? He said it was up to the emperor, but his father insisted he plead with the emperor. The scheming was so obvious it felt like it was hitting me in the face."

"Oh no, I cried more than the emperor."

"Even though I knew Nie Yunzhang's fate, at this moment, I still couldn't bear it."

In the finale episode of "Chivalrous Fragrance," the tears of the Emperor and Nie Yunzhang's resigned smile trended together.

Nie Yunzhang's melancholy, his final wish... The young general who was once invincible on the battlefield was as fragile as any ordinary person.

"I'm so heartbroken!!!"

"Why does Nie Yunzhang have to end like this?"

"I can only say, Lu Xu excels at portraying such tragic characters. He doesn't often use tears to express this kind of sadness, but even without tears, looking at his expression, his movements, I still couldn't let go for a long time."

"Before starting 'Chivalrous Fragrance,' I thought it was just an ordinary historical drama, with known people, known events—how much sadness could it evoke? But as I watched, I couldn't help but get invested, and later I thought, this sense of inevitability is even more heartbreaking, isn't it? Who wouldn't want to rewrite Nie Yunzhang's ending?"

"Count me in for rewriting the ending."

Thus, shortly after the finale of "Chivalrous Fragrance," a popular fanfiction website overnight spawned numerous fanfictions about Nie Yunzhang, with different orientations and themes, but most endings were similar—Nie Yunzhang survived, living a long and fulfilling life, even reaching a hundred years old.

Industry experts predicted "Chivalrous Fragrance" would reach a popularity score of 15,000+, comparable to "Illusory Realm."

However, the finale of "Chivalrous Fragrance" coincided with Lu Xu's nomination for the Golden Flame Award.

Plus, the scene in the finale with Nie Yunzhang could be described as tragic.

The saddest thing in the world is to die before fulfilling one's ambitions, to have a hero die young. "Chivalrous Fragrance" is not a tragedy, but it had heart-wrenching moments crafted from the start.

The audience is remarkably forgiving; as long as a drama has points worth watching, they are willing to keep following it.

Moreover, the story of "Chivalrous Fragrance" has come to this point—how could they resist waiting for Nie Yunzhang's ultimate fate?

In this finale episode, the popularity of "Chivalrous Fragrance" was 16,166, still breaking through the 16,000 mark.

"Incredible! Absolutely incredible!"

"The undisputed top actor in the drama industry! Lu Xu!!"

"Although the director and screenwriter lineup is strong, it must be said that the actor's charisma is also hard to ignore. Lu Xu's dramas always seem... magical."

"Lu Xu, give me back my tears! Ahhh! Really, every single one of his dramas makes me cry. I have work tomorrow, and my eyes are puffy from crying."

"...So this season saw dramas with popularity ratings of 16,000+, 15,000+, and 14,000+—truly remarkable. Other production teams should take notes instead of churning out bad dramas that tear each other apart, unappealing on-screen and even worse off-screen."

Lu Xu continues to receive offers for TV dramas.

In short, now there is no doubt—in terms of drama popularity and awards, he is the undisputed top actor in the drama industry.

The fan-made content and edits of "Chivalrous Fragrance" are also numerous. Although during the drama's filming, Liu Chunfeng and Qin Yu did not deliberately sell the CP of the Emperor and Nie Yunzhang, nor did Lu Xu and Shao Yao, they couldn't curb the audience's creative interpretations, resulting in one creation after another.

But to some extent, this is a privilege reserved for hit dramas.

Even—because the ending of "Chivalrous Fragrance" is too sad, and tragedies, especially such fateful tragedies, have a greater aftertaste, leaving viewers unable to move on after watching. After the finale, "Chivalrous Fragrance" still maintained high popularity for nearly half a month.

In this half month, the drama's popularity has always been over ten thousand, even surpassing several newly released dramas.

"It's tough being Lu Xu's competitor—laughing to death!"

"Lu Xu, a formidable obstacle in the drama industry."

"Actually... I don't know why, but I rewatched the finale of 'Chivalrous Fragrance' eight times, on repeat, unable to stop."

"Me too..."

Lu Xu is truly the most handsome version of Nie Yunzhang, fulfilling all my expectations of the character. I was already a fan of Nie Yunzhang, and Lu Xu's performance perfectly restored this character.

Anyway, with 'Chivalrous Fragrance' wrapping up, this season is officially over. 'Illusory Realm,' 'Chivalrous Fragrance,' and 'War Flames' have each achieved their own successes. 'Illusory Realm' consistently held the top spot on the popularity charts during its broadcast, but in terms of overall popularity, 'Chivalrous Fragrance' still came out on top.

It's likely that next year's Star Awards will see these three dramas competing again, but by then, 'Illusory Realm' might have the smallest advantage among the three.

But for the production teams, just being popular is a win.

Some industry insiders have specifically calculated the benefits for these three dramas, and all three have benefited, both financially and in terms of actor development. Investors and various talent agencies have all reaped benefits.

A rare win-win for all the dramas involved.

I always said, what's the point of all that fighting! It's really funny when you realize it's just a bunch of amateurs fighting.

As soon as the person above mentioned it, I knew it was 'XX' and 'XXXX,' right? The ones that caused such a stir, with the male and female leads crying for half an hour in a live stream, and the host being criticized for not comforting them properly, leading to them quitting the internet? Neither drama even broke 9000 in popularity, which is just laughable.

'Illusory Realm' mainly learned from the mistakes of 'The Empress.' Continuing to fight would only hurt both sides, and Qiao Mengyao needs this drama to show what she's made of.

Liu Chunfeng and Qin Yu never planned to fight. Lack of experience was one reason, and another was that the production team couldn't afford to get involved in such fights. The marketing budget was already tight.

Fortunately, Lu Xu's dramas come with their own advantage, so the production team's marketing expenses were actually quite low.

After the finale, Liu Chunfeng and Qin Yu specifically invited Lu Xu out for a meal, and Shao Yao was also invited—he was mainly responsible for choosing the restaurant.

Liu Chunfeng joked that if Shao Yao ever quits acting, he could become a food critic. He can instantly tell the difference between pre-made and freshly cooked dishes.

"With this one finished, we have new dramas to shoot," Liu Chunfeng laughed. "Succeed with one, and you get offers for the next, then a few failures, and when you recover, you can take on new projects again."

That's how it was after 'The Son of Heaven.' Liu Chunfeng has already figured out the pattern.

But he's quite calm about it. As a director, creating one classic drama is already a challenge, let alone more than one.

"I bet you'll be nominated for Best Actor in a Television Series next year," Liu Chunfeng said to Lu Xu, then turned to Shao Yao, "And you might get a supporting actor nomination."

But... it was like casting pearls before swine.

These two were too busy eating, each more voracious than the other, as if the Star Awards were no big deal.

Lu Xu has already won awards, but for Shao Yao, winning might not be as important as eating and learning to argue.

But perhaps it's also because these two have already fulfilled their responsibilities as actors, perfectly portraying their characters in their works. Awards are just a bonus; it's nice to have them, but if not, as long as they can be proud of themselves, that's enough.

"Eat up, eat up," the director thought for a moment, then added more dishes for them. Otherwise, he suspected that with Lu Xu and Shao Yao's personalities, they might complain later that he didn't feed them enough.

Liu Chunfeng thought more and more that this was possible. Lu Xu might be a bit better, but Shao Yao would definitely loudly declare he wasn't full.

"That won't happen," Qin Yu suddenly said.

"The agent would only suspect you fed them protein powder," the screenwriter said with such a straight face.