“Princess Hua Zhao” and Princess Hua Zhao
— Historical drama “Princess Hua Zhao” successfully completed. Audience ratings of the grand finale break 2 stars on two broadcast networks and break 3 stars on one!
— “Princess Hua Zhao” emotional highlights and fierce red clothes. Don’t cry!1
— Behind-the-scenes footage of the blockbuster hit “Princess Hua Zhao,” a phenomenal drama that fully deserves the talk surrounding it — director and producer reveal secret stories from the shooting!
……
“Xingfei, the stream will begin in 5 minutes. Change your online status, the fans are all waiting for you.”
Inside the lounge, the agent directed the camera team to set up the cameras and lights well while urging the makeup assistant to help her artist tidy up her makeup.
Cheng Xingfei sat elegantly on the sofa. On the coffee table in front of her was the planning script for the livestream, which she had already memorized by heart.
She looked up at her agent and lightly nodded. “Sister P, don’t worry. We’ve already been through the script several times, I won’t forget it.”
Cheng Xingfei made her debut as a child star at 10 years old. Since then to this year, it had been exactly 10 years. Growing up beneath the audience’s eyes, with good acting and a humble personality, she had the greatest audience appeal among this generation of “flowers.”
Last year, the contract expired between Cheng Xingfei and her previous company, so she jumped over to her current “Fengyin Entertainment.” This agency’s boss was one of the best female agents in the circle, Sister P. The contract Sister P gave her was quite satisfactory, but it had a particularly preferential treatment — Cheng Xingfei could make “one decision.” In other words, if a company wanted her to join their drama but she didn’t want to join, then she could refuse; if the prospects of a company’s drama didn’t look good but she liked it, then she could join.
And so Cheng Xingfei used her “one decision” to join the drama “Princess Hua Zhao.”
What you need to know is that historical dramas are the most difficult dramas to shoot. If you make a slight mistake, historians will curse you to death.
The Princess Hua Zhao from history carried a mixed reputation. She was savage by nature, relied on the emperor’s favor to do all sorts of absurd things, and drew the ire of the people. Yet it was this savage and willful princess who bewitched the enemy troops with her offering of a red-clothed dance, when the Huns went south to destroy the country and massacre everyone in the city, finally snatching the opportunity for tens of thousands of people in the capital to flee.
… Finally, Princess Hua Zhao jumped from the city walls, committing suicide before the the iron heel of the Hun general.
This role was complex and contradictory; it was the tragedy of a princess who was both arrogant and heroic. Her life was only a short 20 years, unmarried and with no offspring remaining, and in the historical records, she only had a few thin pages, a few lonesome penstrokes. As well as… a red-clothed portrait that had been unearthed from a cenotaph.
The girl in the portrait was bright and stirring, her luminous smile like the blazing sun. And she looked quite similar to Cheng Xingfei!
Therefore, after the director received the script, he immediately sent it to Fengyin Entertainment.
Sister P didn’t approve of Cheng Xingfei’s participation in this project.
Publicly, historical dramas have a long shooting cycle and the post-production cycle is even longer, during which it is easy to make mistakes. A drama can be pushed back for several years, delaying an actor. Moreover, although the story was named after the character, it was by nature a historical drama that used the female perspective to tell an account of the rise and fall of a dynasty within 20 years. If the ratings of such a drama were unsatisfactory, the audience wouldn’t say that it was the director or screenwriter who were bad, but that it was Cheng Xingfei who was too bad.
Privately? … How to put it, people in this circle more or less all have some spiritual beliefs, otherwise they wouldn’t need to pay their respects to the pig’s head every time before turning on the camera. Cheng Xingfei looked so similar to the Princess Hua Zhao of a thousand years past, what if she was “haunted” after filming this drama…
But after Cheng Xingfei read the script, she made up her mind to join this drama.
In truth, she really liked the script. She didn’t want to be a superficial traffic2 actress. She wanted to improve her acting, so naturally, she had to take on contrasting and difficult roles. Princess Hua Zhao met her needs perfectly!
Finally, Cheng Xingfei entered the cast in a lowkey manner. Nearly ten months or “no exposure” were exchanged for today’s top ratings!!
— “Princess Hua Zhao” exploded! And it was a huge explosion!
Before it started broadcasting, no one was optimistic about this historical drama that told a dynasty’s rise and fall from the female point of view. Even her fans were all complaining in private that her company had given her such a dull and uninteresting project.
But after the drama broadcasted, the historical accuracy brought by the behind-the-scenes work, the stunning camera scenes, the perfect plot pacing, and also the superb acting of Cheng Xingfei herself… added up altogether, the ratings continued to rise, making it well-deserved of the talk surrounding it!
Whether it was in streets or alleyways or Weibo or Douyin, discussions about the drama were everywhere. If there was anyone who hadn’t watched the drama yet, then they were completely behind the times!
“Princess Hua Zhao”’s producer struck while the iron was hot to arrange an online livestream the day after the finale broadcasted, asking Cheng Xingfei to chat about Princess Hua Zhao with the audience.
Cheng Xingfei gladly agreed.
As soon as the livestream room was open, tens of thousands of viewers instantly flooded in. A few minutes later, the number of online viewers broke 10,000. Half an hour into the broadcast, they were closing in on 1 million!
On the public chat, countless viewers sent in tearful expressions. Even if their internet froze, they staunchly rushed back.
“I’m so sad. After watching the finale yesterday, I couldn’t sleep for the entire night. My dreams were full of the scene where Hua Zhao jumps off the city wall. After I woke up in the morning I found out that my tears had dripped onto my pillow. QAQ”
“I was so mindless today, I suddenly started crying in front of my computer screen at work and scared my coworkers.”
“Before, when I was chasing this drama, I’d have to replay the episode again the day after. But the last finale tortured me, 5555.3 That cute Hua Zhao, when she died so decisively in the end, I didn’t dare to watch it again!”
“I really love and hate the character of Princess Hua Zhao. There are times when I feel like she’s an old devil, and times when I feel like she’s a little angel. Cheng Xingfei’s acting is so good!”
This drama earned itself a high reputation. Countless praises swept across the public chat like a tide, each word and sentence expressing the audience’s approval of Cheng Xingfei.
Seeing these comments, Cheng Xingfei also teared up slightly.
She was filled with emotion toward this character. The memories from shooting came back bit by bit, just as vivid until this moment.
In front of the livestream, Cheng Xingfei was in a slight trance. The keen audience grew aware of it, and even the speed of the bullet comments slowed down by a lot.
Wuwuwu, as expected, the fairy is a fairy, even when she’s dazed she looks so good…
Cheng Xingfei lightly blinked, light glancing off the moisture in her eyes. She raised her eyes to look at the camera.
After a while, she opened her lips lightly and softly said, “Thank you very much to the audience, for supporting me. You like Hua Zhao and I also really like her. In history, Princess Hua Zhao was really such an odd girl, so I could only imagine her using the few pieces we get from history books. I like her, like her pride, her willfulness, and most of all, like her courage to sacrifice herself to hold back the enemy when her country was invaded and her family died.”
“In the last scene before we finished, I wore red dancing clothes and jumped off from the city wall. We used an indoor greenscreen to shoot this scene. At the time, I was hanging from wires and the production crew lay down very thick mats underneath. My agent and assistant were both watching me behind the camera to make sure that I was 100% safe.
“But the moment I jumped down, I thought, when Princess Hua Zhao jumped off the city wall, what was she feeling? Was there anyone who was worried about her safety?
“She was only 20 years old, the same age I am right now. But she chose to die for her country, to die for her sincerity.
“I’m so honored to be able to play such a fresh role. I don’t know if my performance can cross 1,000 years to comfort her spirit in heaven.”
“It was written in the historical records that after the princess died for her country, the people immediately searched for her body, but they couldn’t find it anywhere. So, they could only set up a cenotaph for her. There are times when I think that maybe, Princess Hua Zhao didn’t actually die? Maybe, she hid her name and abandoned her princess identity to become an ordinary person. Or maybe…” Cheng Xingfei stopped for a bit, then joked, “…If you follow the route of a dog-blood story, after she jumped off the city wall, she transmigrated.”
She laughed, lips raised, completely amused by her own imagination.
As a young girl, she also read transmigration books in her free time to blow off stream. She also joined in on supporting the transmigration dramas that her friends within the circle filmed. Naturally, she was no stranger to the idea of transmigrating from past to present.
“If possible, I hope that she could be born in the same era as me.
“I think that we would definitely be good friends.”
……
— “Achoo!!”
Under a drizzle in the middle of the night, by the 5th Ring Road,4 an elegant shadow wandered.
Looking from the back, it should have been a tall girl. But the strange thing was that she wasn’t wearing jeans and a tshirt, but was completely clothed in a red “ancient costume.”
If you looked closer, you’d find that the embroidery on this set of clothes was beautiful. Gold silk was stitched completely around the skirt edges and sleeves, bringing a calm atmosphere and skillful design. If you looked again at her neck and hands, she was wearing a set of jewelry that still faintly glimmered with a colorful reflection even under the dim street lights.
Because it was very late, there was hardly anyone on the road. In the night, the distant high-rise buildings were like a steel behemoth, casting overlapping vast shadows on the ground.
Occasionally, a car galloped past the girl. When this happened, the girl would stop and hurry to avoid it, almost like it was the first time she’d seen anything like a car in her life.
Suddenly, a taxi with an “Empty Car” sign approached her, coming to a steady halt at her side.
The girl stopped and looked at the taxi warily.
The driver rolled down the window. He was a middle-aged man in his 50s. He had a square face and looked to be simple and honest.
“Miss, you’re walking alone on the road in the middle of the night. Are you lost? Or did you fight with your family and run away from home?”
The girl didn’t speak. She was beautiful, with an unforgettable type of beauty. A pair of round apricot eyes were measuring up the taxi curiously, then quickly moved away.
The taxi driver asked again, “Miss? Miss? Did you hear what I said?”
This time, the girl finally opened her mouth. “… Naturally, bengong5 has heard. Whose person are you and which place is this? You haven’t yet reported quickly?”
The taxi driver’s expression instantly became difficult to describe.
“Miss, did you watch too many imperial dramas?” The driver was a warmhearted person, nagging to himself, “You look like you’re about 20 years old? You’re wearing, what are they, it’s called hanfu, right? You look around the same age as my daughter. She also likes wearing this type of long-fluttering-sleeves ancient costume. She went away for college and it’s been so long since she returned home… Ay, well, anyway, I’m about to close my car and go home. If you want to go into the city, I’ll take you along for free.”
“…”
Driver: “Well, the rain is too cold, get in.”
Even though the driver had already delivered so much goodwill, the girl still stood there, not moving an inch.
Driver: “This is a regular taxi, don’t worry. I won’t scam you. Look, I have a camera right here, very safe! I can see that you’re the same age as my daughter, and you really look like that female star that she likes.”
“…” After a while, the girl finally opened her mouth. “How do I get onto this vehicle?”
Driver: “?”
Well. The driver helplessly got out of the car and opened the back car door for this young girl who seemed to be a little crazy. The girl frowned and looked at the narrow backseat. Finally, she straightened out her skirt and grudgingly sat inside.
The diver started the car. In the rainy and unbroken night, the taxi drove under the curtain of rain and set off on the road home.
Because he was driving late at night, the driver was afraid of being sleepy, and there was no one else but the girl to chat with on the road. But who knew if the girl had brain problems, or if she’d really watched too many imperial dramas. Her vocal inflection was quite strange, her words and sentences just like those of an ancient person’s.
And the answers to his questions were meaningless. Honestly, the driver was unable to understand the slang of young people nowadays.
The driver chatted for a while before remembering to ask the girl where she needed to go.
Who would think that the girl used such a straightforward and grand tone to say, “Why haven’t you taken bengong to see Father Emperor yet?”
Driver: “…”
Girl: “As long as you send me, bengong will grant you numerous rewards!”
Driver: “…” Why did he have such good intentions to send this crazy girl home?!
Unkindly, the driver said, “Fine, fine, fine. You want to see your father emperor, right? — tch!”
He hit the steering wheel and the car turned onto a different road.
Destination — History Museum.
tl note: A rather long “The author has something to say” incoming. I won’t usually translate the author notes, but I found this one rather interesting. To skip forward, click here →
The author has something to say:
[Important Announcement]
This piece is my attempt at “relationship polygons.”
[Note!!!!] The so-called relationship polygon does not refer to a love polygon.
In my free time, I like watching Korean dramas, so I can learn from them.
Let’s take the popular “Goblin” and “The King: Eternal Monarch” as an example. These two are excellent works, and other than their official CPs, there are many “cult” CPs.
There’s a full CP feeling between the characters, which can even transcend sexual orientation and the positions of the characters themselves, and even the official pairing.
So I thought: Why is this?
One day, I suddenly recognized that this type of “CP feeling” is actually based in the “interactions of established characters have tension.”
Only the established characters will produce a chemical reaction when he/she generates interactions with other roles. Even if there’s no hint of romance whatsoever and even if there isn’t a loving word spoken, readers will still think, “This CP is a good match!”
I previous wrote “The Villainous Celebrity Wife of the CEO” with a similar theme. It was a story of “celebrity younger sister disappeared and the older sister became a celebrity to replace her.”
When that piece was serialized, I poured the same feelings into both the younger and older sisters, and also arranged a CP for the younger sister.
But the younger sister character was cursed and people thought the younger sister and her boyfriend’s CP was really boring.
I shared this puzzling thing with my senior in the film and TV circle. My senior told me that because I didn’t establish the character of the younger sister, everything that she did was hard for the readers to understand and accept. She and her boyfriend were a pair that I’d forcibly put together.
So with the idea of changing, experimenting, and learning, I decided to create this piece, “The Princess and the Film Empress.”
When I first created this piece, I made my concrete goals for this piece clear — “to establish each character, to write the interactions between each character fully.”
With regards to establishing the characters, I believe that I have done it.
With regards to interactions, I’ve written five sets of “relationships” in total for the four main characters that are appearing this time.
(Involves spoilers, omitted) /tl: author omitted this herself
……
Some comments said that the entanglement of four people is too troublesome and requested that the two pairs of CPs be completely separated without intersecting each other. Each would be respectively beautiful.
Uh… no matter if it’s movies, TV, animation, or novels, almost every type of twin / twin-themed work will touch upon the point of “I can’t tell who is who.” This type of discomfort is the essence of these works.
It’s because there’s this point, that the plot can be even fuller and more complex.
I also saw people say, “No matter who the princess is matched with, she’s picking up the man Xingfei doesn’t want.”
And more than one person was saying this.
Seriously, I don’t really understand where the logic of these words is?
The malice towards the two heroines is too big, and that’s completely insulting them.
And there was another worry in the comments section. The readers worried that if the two heroines developed emotional entanglements for the same man (whether it’s a love entanglement or a hate entanglement), then it was bound to affect the friendship between the two heroines and burn their bridge.
I guarantee to everyone right here that this “two women jealous in love over one man” has never appeared in my plan, from beginning to end.
Please, don’t take their friendship as so superficial.
Friendship that turns against itself because of a man is not called friendship.
The relationship between them is like friends at first sight, is keeping watch over and defending each other. Xingfei understands all the pain that Hua Zhao has experienced, Hua Zhao will take the initiative to stand up and sort out the problems when Xingfei is injured.
This piece is called “The Princess and the Film Empress,” not “The Princess and xxxx” or “The Film Empress and xxxx.” Forever and always, their friendship is superior to anything else.
Footnotes:
1 The latter half of a poem from the Classic of Poetry, congratulating a bride.
2 “Traffic” stars is a Chinese term used to (derogatorily) refer to celebrities who don’t have any actual talent but rely on their fans’ support to coast along. For example, fans can manipulate box office sales by buying out theater seats. Previously translated as “mediocre.”
3 5 in Chinese is pronounced wu, used in Internet shorthand to express crying
4 a ring road around Beijing that is linked to most of Beijing’s expressways
5 How certain members of the royal family in ancient China referred to themselves, carries the rough meaning of “I of this palace”
***
I… I picked up another novel… ahhhhh……..
Update 3/20/21: Again, to reiterate, this is NOT a GL novel. Please don’t come into this series expecting that, and please don’t add that tag onto its NU page and create false expectations for others. I’ve already dropped this but I don’t really want to stress myself over needing to monitor something like that. Thank you.
lilypad translations 
!!!!! I’m excited for this, because of the author’s commentary, to be honest!? Their friendship trumps love. That to me really makes me suuuuuuper happy??? Like, friendship is a thing. It is a real, true thing. Not everyone is malicious and jealous. There are some people who truly support their friends. This is such an underused theme, which always makes me salty. This one is in my good books from the start!! :D We’ll see how it goes!
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I know!!! I don’t know why, but I was just hit so hard by that line. The author’s note sounds super promising and I really hope that we get to see a great friendship! They’re just as important as romantic relationships, but webnovels tend to focus on romantic love. I feel like we never get to see really wholesome friends especially in celebrity/transmigration novels :( So the knowledge that our two FLs will have a strong friendship the whole time, supporting and defending each other, is just so incredibly comforting to me. I’m translating as I go (not reading ahead), so I’m just as excited to see what’s in store!
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