Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 723: The Competitive King’s Crocodile Tears

Although he was riding a tall warhorse and could slaughter enemies nonstop in one breath, filming these scenes was really enjoyable, it gave him a relaxed feeling of finally returning to what he was good at, but in such chaotic scenes, getting the horse to cooperate with his every move at any time was not entirely smooth.

So besides being busy shooting, Xiao He had to learn a lot from the handlers and spend extra time getting closer to his “partner,” building some rapport.

A few days later, when this scene wrapped and Director Chou finally confirmed everything was fine, Xiao He immediately wanted to get down and bow to the horse on the spot!

“Good horse, extra ration for you today! Definitely extra ration!”

The first thing Xiao He did after dismounting was not to take off his armor, already soaked with sweat, but to accept a carrot handed by the young assistant and very reverently offer it to the cavalry in front of him.

He’d really been put through the wringer lately.

Playing the general rampaging and slaughtering was indeed satisfying, but under the scorching sun, wearing a full set of armor, and performing difficult mounted combat stunts had left Xiao He feeling physically and mentally exhausted.

Thinking about it, he was nearly shedding crocodile tears worthy of a competitive king.

The black horse, which could still “perform” leisurely even amid chaos, happily snorted, then paced over to Xiao He and, with great dignity, lowered its head and bit the carrot he offered, beginning its post-performance snack.

Xiao Chen hurried to remove the helmet from Xiao He’s head, and others came up to help strip off his clothes; Xiao He lowered his head and cooperated with their movements, struggling to free himself from the heavy silver armor.

When the cumbersome piece finally hit the ground, Xiao He breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling as if he had just crawled out of water, drenched through.

“Thanks for your hard work, thanks for your hard work.”

When Xiao He lifted his head again, he saw Chou Zhenlong with a smile on his face.

Chou Zhenlong had been filming the military battle sequences these past days with great satisfaction, utterly absorbed.

Only when this major spectacle was officially over did he finally remember his hardworking male lead and rushed over to “warmly” console him: “Xiao Xiao, you’ve worked really hard on the shoot recently! How about we take a day off on May Day? Everyone’s been pretty exhausted lately.”

Hearing that, Xiao He managed a polite yet edge-laced smile: “Hehe, Director Chou, you’ve worked hard too.”

They’d been busy as dogs lately, and he was being offered only a single day off on May Day?

—And most likely a compensatory day off.

Taking that day off would mean having to make up days later; in any case it absolutely could not delay the production schedule.

Hehe, Xiao He judged, it would be better not to have a day off at all.

Forget it, just looking at Director Chou’s face already made his stomach churn.

If Emperor Chen was an absolute autocrat in the court, then Chou Zhenlong was no less so on the set of Imperial Enterprise.

He had his own interpretations of many aspects of Emperor Chen, though of course these interpretations were about small details rather than the major plot lines; different people might interpret those details differently. It’s like whether a historical figure preferred sweet or spicy food—history doesn’t record it, and no one can give a definitive answer, so the matter itself is harmless.

But Director Chou loved to obsess over those small details, and would drill expressions and movements with Xiao He until, after filming five or six versions, he was finally satisfied.

Within the whole crew, not just Xiao He, everyone wore a bitter expression when they saw the director.

Now Xiao He finally understood why, when Chou had once announced he was retiring and wouldn’t return to directing in the industry, the actors who had worked with him celebrated on Weibo all night.

—You think I was celebrating that you finally retired?

I was celebrating that this great tyrant was gone!

But who would have imagined, after so many years, new victims would appear...

Victim Xiao He was very unsettled, and could only try to calm his midnight urge to stuff Director Chou into a sack and beat him, wiping his sweat with a tissue while glancing around.

“By the way, where’s Screenwriter Qin recently? For such an important plot, he hasn’t been on set these days.”

Xiao He asked with puzzled concern.

Qin Nianhuang, the screenwriter for Imperial Enterprise mentioned earlier.

This man, a die-hard fan of Emperor Chen as a historical figure, had never missed almost any of Xiao He’s shoots—he insisted on being on site to watch, and if he felt Xiao He’s performance lacked somewhere, he would immediately point it out and have Xiao He redo it to ensure his idol wasn’t tainted.

This time was truly strange.

The battle where Qin Zhuo, the future Emperor Chen, participated as a general was one of the major engagements that led to him being later called a young hero in history. It not only defeated the external invader Yao Bo but also captured a city, laying a solid foundation for overthrowing the old regime.

Logically, such an important plot point, such an intensely exciting battle, Screenwriter Qin would never miss.

But they’d been filming it for several days, and even after this scene finished, Screenwriter Qin was nowhere to be seen.

Even the rest of the crew didn’t know where he had gone recently.

Xiao He was a little surprised, feeling that something was off.

Coincidentally, since today’s filming had wrapped ahead of schedule and he had no work in the afternoon, Xiao He took the opportunity to ask about Screenwriter Qin.

“Oh, him? He had an emergency, he returned to Beijing.”

When Chou Zhenlong heard Xiao He’s question, for some reason he hesitated a bit, then smiled and brushed the topic off, “What? Now that he’s not here, you’re actually starting to miss his fly pages? I’ll have a word with him later, tell him to use his imagination and talent more to help polish the script and the characters for you.”

Xiao He immediately refused: “No need for that, I was just asking.”

Though under Director Chou and Screenwriter Qin’s high standards Xiao He had learned a lot during the Imperial Enterprise shoot, if they rewrote his script again he really would die to prove a point!

Immediately!

Just thinking about how tedious historical dramas tend to be and how long they take to film made Xiao He despair, feeling his wrap day was nowhere in sight.

Director Chou left cheerfully with his hands behind his back, looking carefree, but his legs seemed overly springy, as if he was afraid Xiao He would keep asking questions.

Xiao He narrowed his eyes, contemplating.

“Xiao He!”

At that moment Shu Han walked over.

“I wrapped my last scene this afternoon, come have dinner with us tonight?”

Originally Shu Han’s scenes would end tomorrow, but because Xiao He’s team had finished ahead, Shu Han’s remaining scenes were moved up to the afternoon and wrapped all at once, so he didn’t have to stay an extra day on the Imperial Enterprise set.

Xiao He naturally nodded and agreed to the dinner invitation, feeling a twinge of envy: “Ah, you wrapped today! Lucky you.”

Everyone had been working so hard.

Now Shu Han was wrapping too.

If even his distressed brother wasn’t around to keep him company, what else could he rely on to survive?

“Sigh—”

Xiao He let out a long sigh and said casually, “I really want to get off work too—”