Chapter 176: Zhu Yuanzhang Completed
"Hold it tightly!"
"Dad, these thorns are all thorny..."
"It does have thorns on its body. You don't dare to grab it, right? Look, daddy will catch it for you!"
Zhu Yuanzhang [Xu Kun] remained calm as he plucked all the thorns off the bramble and handed the blood-stained bramble to Crown Prince Zhu Biao: "This bramble is like the emperor's scepter. While I'm still alive, I'll pluck all the thorns off it for you so that you can hold it more easily!"
…………
The queen's bedroom.
"Girl, are you still mad at me? I'm here to apologize to you, please don't ignore me..."
"Queen, listen to my command. I order you to open your eyes and talk to me immediately! Open your eyes and talk to me immediately! Open your eyes and talk to me immediately, talk to me immediately!"
"Ah~~~~~"
The heart-wrenching howls shook the entire imperial city.
…………
Imperial College.
Zhu Yuanzhang staggered forward, grabbed Zhu Biao's hand, and said with a sad face: "It's cold, it's all cold, Biao'er, why are your hands so cold?"
"We have painstakingly trained him for more than 20 years... I never thought that the old man would send the young man away..."
…………
In the Fengtian Palace.
"Why are you panicking?"
Facing many court officials, the old Zhu Yuanzhang, who had lost his wife and son and was blind, spoke in a very calm tone, but his slightly upturned white eyes revealed endless coldness and ferocity.
He pushed aside the two officials in the front row and slowly approached a shivering purple-robed civil servant. He tilted his ear and said, "Not only can I hear your panting, but I can also hear your pounding heartbeat."
The official was so frightened that he knelt on the ground in panic, and the other officials were all trembling.
Zhu Yuanzhang, who returned to the imperial steps step by step, was like a lonely and ferocious old wolf.
…………
"Tell the sun to stop, stop!"
"The emperor has ordered the sun to stand down~"
In the midsummer of the 31st year of Hongwu, the aging Zhu Yuanzhang exhausted his last breath, and the jade ruyi that had been glued back together also fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
"Click~"
After Feng Xiaoning shouted the last "click", he wanted to stand up, but he seemed to have lost all his strength. He slumped limply in the reclining chair, too lazy to move even a finger.
He has been filming TV series for so many years, and this time is the most arduous and torturous one. This experience also made him fully realize that he is no longer young.
"It's finished, it's finished!"
I don't know who started it, but soon the cheers grew louder than the sky.
From the start of filming on September 9th to the completion on December 15th, 12 episodes were shot in less than three months while ensuring high quality and quantity. One can imagine the hardships involved.
In other words, Feng Xiaoning's prestige is great enough, otherwise the crew members would have started a riot long ago.
Now that it has finally been completed, many people even cried with joy.
When the cheers gradually faded away, someone noticed that rhythmic snoring was coming from the shooting scene in the middle.
"what?"
Someone pointed at Xu Kun, who was sitting on the recliner with a face full of old-age makeup, and said, "Teacher Xu seems to have fallen asleep!"
"Shh~"
The assistant director made a gesture to silence the crowd, but thinking about the earth-shaking shouting just now, he knew that Xu Kun would not be woken up at all. In the end, he was carried back to the hotel like a dead pig, and then slept from dusk to the next evening.
Xu Kun turned over and sat up, and felt particularly uncomfortable with the wrinkles on his face. He scratched it with his hand and found that it was the old-age makeup that he had not washed off, and it had shrunk after such a long time.
He got up and went to the bathroom, where he scrubbed vigorously for a long time. Although the makeup was washed off, his face was still tight, as if he was wearing a human skin mask.
Perhaps someone heard him washing up, and soon Feng Xiaoning, who was also busy and looked tired, came over and said with a relieved smile: "If you don't get up, you will miss the celebration banquet tonight."
Then he patted Xu Kun on the shoulder and praised him sincerely, "In fact, at the beginning, I was most worried that you wouldn't be able to act out Zhu Yuanzhang's later years. Who knew that you would perform better and better later on - based on your performance in the last few episodes, I wouldn't be surprised if you won an award!"
Xu Kun laughed with a stiff face.
In fact, he was almost 50 in his previous life, and having been imprisoned for more than years, some of his mentality and state even made him look older than his peers; while some of his mentality and state remained the same as more than years ago.
For other actors, it is very difficult to perform across all age groups. Young people cannot act old, and old people find it difficult to act like they were young.
But for Xu Kun, he already has these two states and mentalities at the same time, so it is naturally much easier for him to act than for others, and it is more real and credible.
The wrap-up party was held in a restaurant next to the hotel. When Xu Kun and Feng Xiaoning walked in side by side, everyone stood up and applauded.
After more than two months of getting along with each other, many crew members were shocked by Xu Kun's "soul possession" and his "ruthlessness" towards himself made many people feel inferior.
For example, in the scene of pulling the bramble, props were used at first, but Director Feng was not satisfied with the result, so Xu Kun simply broke off a real bramble and pulled it.
Although the actual damage was much smaller than what was shown in the drama, with only a few bloody holes, the bloody scene, coupled with Xu Kun's unchanging and resolute expression, shocked many people.
Coming to the main table amid applause, Feng Xiaoning first gave a brief speech to thank the crew, and then handed the microphone to Xu Kun.
Xu Kun said directly: Let’s eat and drink well tonight, and we will set off for home tomorrow.
The applause suddenly broke out and the celebration banquet officially began.
The celebratory wine we used was naturally the original Lao Baigan. Normally, we drank it at a fixed time, place and quantity for fear of delaying filming, but this time we could finally drink it to our heart's content.
Almost half of the people were drunk.
Xu Kun was fine, and he even took advantage of the alcohol to play the role of Mr. Dick at night.
After they were done, he put his arm around Ning Jing's bare, sweaty back and asked with a smile, "Is this the last time I call you sister?"
Ning Jing lay lazily in his arms: "That depends on whether I need Mr. Dick in the future."
After a pause, he continued, "I won't be able to come back for at least half a year. There are still a lot of things to be resolved in the United States, especially the custody lawsuit, which is the most difficult to fight."
Xu Kun shrugged slightly after hearing this: "I can't help you with this. I can't even understand American bird language, let alone help you."
"Who said you can't help?"
Ning Jing teased Mr. Dick and said half-seriously, "If I can't win custody of my son, I'll come back to you to have a second child."
"Uh……"
Xu Kun was being held hostage, and he did not dare to push it away. He could only smile awkwardly and said, "I'm not Liu Dehua. This matter... hehe, hehe..."
In early December, Liu Dehua’s ex-girlfriend publicly expressed her hope that Liu Dehua could donate sperm to her so that she could leave behind a memory of their love.
"Look at you!"
Ning Jing patted Xu Kun on the belly angrily and sighed, "You are a good actor, but not a good man. I don't know how many girls you will harm in the future."
"That's what you said."
Xu Kun said dissatisfiedly: "It seems that I am the only one in the circle who harms young girls. Besides, you have ravaged a young man like me, haven't you?"
After a brief pause, he added, "In our circle, judging a person based solely on their relationship with a man is simply nitpicking. As long as both parties are willing, I think there is nothing wrong with it."
"Haha~"
Ning Jing sneered: "So-called consensual relationships are mostly because men hold power. If one day the situation is reversed, then..."
"Then it's time for female directors, female producers, and female investors to sleep with young guys!"
(End of this chapter)
