Chapter 483: Can You Handle This?

Liu Tianxian is capable of performing action scenes; her movements are fluid yet powerful, highly visually compelling.

Later, in her role as Hua Mulan, she was rated by IMDb as one of Asia's three leading female actresses, the other two being Guoji Zhang and Yang Ziqiong.

She is also the only female actress to have appeared on the world's top martial arts magazine.

But for various reasons, Chinese audiences always overlook her identity as a sword-and-horse actress and her action potential.

Perhaps she is too beautiful and her temperament doesn't match, or perhaps her filmography is too sparse, lacking a landmark role to showcase her talent.

Her only film, Superbody 1, still carries exaggerated sci-fi elements.

At this moment, the big screen was showing the movie Xiu Chun Dao; the costumes and visuals were exquisitely detailed, and the action sequences were outstanding—both Xie Miao and the selected actors had solid martial arts backgrounds.

The two of them started chatting; Fang Hong sat between them, eyes on the movie, ears tuned to their conversation.

"How about I cast you in my next film? Make you the heir of the Qi Family Saber, with a sword technique so refined it's divine—what do you say?" Lu Yang joked; he was quite familiar with Liu Tianxian.

His next script isn't finished yet, but he already has some ideas that can connect with the first film.

"Sure, but I'm taking you seriously now," Liu Tianxian smiled, eyes half-lidded.

Lu Yang glanced at the Principal; seeing no reaction, he chuckled: "No problem, as long as you're available when the time comes—I'll reach out once the project is greenlit."

"Fine, I'll be waiting," Liu Tianxian was eager to take on such hardcore action roles.

Punches that land with bone-cracking force, blades that strike to kill—pure adrenaline! She wanted to challenge every facet of herself, refusing to be boxed into a fixed acting mold.

"Action scenes are grueling, and you're always getting injured—can you even handle it?" Fang Hong spoke up.

He knew the character Lu Yang meant—truly a compelling role, if the plot were rewritten and refined.

Remove Da Mimi's character, strengthen the Qi Family Saber heir, and it could become a masterpiece.

It all depends on how it's written; if Liu Tianxian plays it, we'll have to see.

"Why can't I handle it? I'm tough—I can endure hardship." Liu Tianxian was indeed known for her grit and perseverance on set.

As long as it wasn't an extreme demand, no matter how hard or exhausting, she could grit her teeth and push through.

Fang Hong reached out and touched her stomach: "Can you handle this?"

"Get lost—there isn't even a shadow of one."

Liu Tianxian slapped his mischievous hand: "It's not even clear when we'll shoot—why the rush?"

Fang Hong smiled, said nothing, and went back to watching the movie.

Liu Tianxian also turned her gaze to the screen; the film had now clearly established the identities of the three protagonists—the three brothers.

The eldest brother, Lu Jianxing, played by Wang Qianyuan, is highly skilled in martial arts with lofty ambitions, wanting to be promoted to a hundred-man captain but failing to achieve it.

In the late Ming bureaucracy, advancement requires money to grease palms; without funds or connections, he remains stuck as a sergeant.

Next is the youngest brother, Jin Yichuan, played by Li Dongxue; his real name is Ding Xian, formerly a bandit who killed a Jin Yi Wei corporal and assumed his identity to become one himself.

Lu Jianxing still doesn't know his secret, but the second brother, Shen Lian—played by Xie Miao—has already suspected it.

But his senior brother, Ding Xiu, recently found out and has been extorting money from him, threatening to expose him otherwise.

Ding Xiu is played by Zhou Yiwei; his acting is unquestionable.

But when Ding Xiu demanded a hundred taels of silver, Jin Yichuan finally snapped and attacked him.

Yet he was subdued in a single move, coughing uncontrollably—he suffers from tuberculosis.

Here, both Ding Xiu and Jin Yichuan are disciples of Ding Baiying from the second film—the very heir to the Qi Family Saber that Lu Yang just mentioned.

Lu Yang wants Liu Tianxian to play this role in the next film! On the big screen, Shen Lian is now chatting in the room of Zhou Miaotong at Jiaofangsi, deeply infatuated with her, wanting to redeem her from Jiaofangsi and live with her in seclusion.

That's the character played by Nazha—dressed in white, pure and lovely, with a blank expression, undeniably beautiful.

Of course, her acting isn't worth discussing—it's purely a decorative role, meant to flesh out the characters.

Even Xia Jie's dead-fish eyes could play this part—why can't Nazha?

When Nazha first appeared on screen, the theater stirred slightly.

Nazha herself felt uneasy, straining to listen to the audience's whispers—but heard nothing.

The audience only thought she was beautiful, staring at her face, utterly absorbed in the movie—no one was talking about her.

This left Nazha pouting in disappointment; she turned her big eyes back to the big screen.

At this point, the backgrounds of the three brothers had all been laid out; they shared one common goal: money! The eldest needs money for promotion; the second needs money to redeem his woman; the third needs money to pay off his senior brother, Ding Xiu.

Soon, opportunity arrives: Zhao Jingzhong, the former chief eunuch of the Eastern Depot—played by Nieyuan—finds them and orders them to hunt down and kill the exiled grand eunuch Wei Zhongxian.

As for why? Seeing how they've sunk to this level, they clearly aren't part of the Eunuch Party.

Kill Wei Zhongxian, and they'll be promoted with a hefty reward—they naturally accepted the mission.

On a rainy night, in a Ming-Qing-style inn, the three brothers, wearing conical hats, appear in the courtyard; a large group of guards surround them with drawn blades, the scene brimming with lethal intent.

A flash of lightning reveals their Jin Yi Wei uniforms—the Flying Fish Suits—freezing the guards in place, too terrified to move.

For seeing a Flying Fish Suit is like facing the Grim Reaper—immensely intimidating.

This is the film's first exhilarating, tense, and thrilling battle; the three brothers stand firm with swords drawn, and the fight erupts.

The theater audience falls utterly silent, gripping their hands as they watch the battle, feeling their blood surge.

Only when Shen Lian reaches the upper-floor chamber does the tension ease slightly—here appears Wei Zhongxian, played by Jin Shijie.

The moment he appears, every viewer in the theater tenses—this veteran actor's sinister aura chills the bones.

On screen, Wei Zhongxian speaks only three lines—and Shen Lian lets him go.

First: "I stole half the imperial treasury's gold. Kill me, and you won't recover it—you'll still be dead when you return."

Second: "There's four hundred taels of gold on my desk. Spare me, and it's all yours. I'll even tell you where I hid the rest—so you can report back and save your skin."

Third: "Kill me, and all my subordinates across the empire will hunt down and exterminate you three brothers. Either way, you die. So why not take the gamble?"

With just these three lines, Jin Shijie portrayed the villain's cunning and near-psychotic cruelty with devastating precision, leaving some viewers shivering.

Some timid viewers stiffened involuntarily; others clutched their companions' hands, feeling an endless chill; some even gasped sharply—because Jin Shijie's performance radiated pure, icy malice.

Liu Tianxian had originally watched with a relaxed, casual attitude, but after this veteran actor appeared, her heart tightened too.

That's what real acting looks like. She felt that even though she had won Best Actress, the gap between her and that level was still huge.

No wonder Fang Hong told her to watch this film — not only the costumes, props, action, visuals, acting, and plot, every part of it was a work of conscience.

It was clearly a film carefully polished and shot with real effort.

"That person's acting is really good." Liu Tianxian sighed — even watching it gave her a bit of fear.

"Sometimes winning an award doesn't mean anything. Truly good acting doesn't need an award to validate it — it can move the audience's senses, so the audience naturally feels it.

Your bouquet — the audience may say the plot is good, but the real audience didn't feel much emotion transferred onto you." Fang Hong said.

"You're saying my acting isn't good, huh?" Liu Tianxian stared at him dangerously.

"No, no, let's just watch the movie." Fang Hong said with a smile.

Liu Tianxian let out a "Hmph!" — yet in her heart she felt Fang Hong was right; the audience really hadn't felt much sensory impact from her character.

Watching the error-free version one by one!

It's just that the plot is good enough to resonate with you, and she happened to have gone through something similar, so it keeps people from breaking immersion. That's all — it doesn't necessarily mean the acting is great.

But that person's acting, whether visually or aurally, makes you feel that chill down your spine — that's the gap.

The continuous fight scenes on the big screen were brilliant, especially the one inside the Jin Du Yushi Fuyamen, which showcased Xie Miao's skill and martial arts foundation to the fullest — after all, he's the one who can take over Jet Li's mantle.

Sometimes people aren't lacking ability — they just lack opportunity.

Watching this action star, the audience found him familiar but couldn't place him. Someone whispered to the person beside them: "Who's the guy playing Shen Lian?"

"Xie Miao — the kid who played Jet Li's son." someone said.

"Oh, no wonder he looked so familiar. He's grown ugly now!"

"He's still pretty handsome, okay!"

"."

The audience was discussing it, and Xie Miao heard too. Though his face stayed expressionless, he still felt a real sense of accomplishment inside.

After all these years, it felt like he'd finally made it.

And he'd been with Jade Rabbit for many years too, stuck in a lukewarm, barely-there phase of just making cameos. Getting to play a lead role — he was genuinely grateful to the Principal.

After all, it was the Principal who personally recruited him back then.

Liu Tianxian couldn't help but turn her head to look at Xie Miao — he was sitting right in the front row, staring at the big screen.

She hadn't paid attention to this person before, but looking now, the man really did have real skill.

"The people you're collecting and promoting are all pretty good ones." Liu Tianxian tilted her head and whispered.

Zhang Songwen has acting, Xie Miao has martial arts skill — both were recruited by this man.

"Of course — without real ability, why would I recruit them?"

Fang Hong said one line, then made his stance clear again: "Back when I recruited Xie Miao, it was to have an action star, to fill the ecological niche of Wu Jing and Jet Li."

"Oh, I see. So do you have any martial arts film projects?" Liu Tianxian asked.

"Not for now — people need a rest, right? You can't shoot one right after another." Fang Hong said.

"I mean — is there a project or script for a female action star?" Liu Tianxian nudged him — this man really couldn't read between the lines.

"Didn't you already get a role from Lu Yang? Still want more?" Fang Hong said.

"Who knows when he'll shoot it. I want to satisfy my craving for being an action star too — it's been years since I did a fight scene." Liu Tianxian was tempted.

Doing martial arts scenes could break the audience's fixed perception of her, so they'd stop thinking she only makes romance films.

"We'll talk about it later — finish shooting 'Lucy 2' first, there's fighting in that too." Fang Hong said.

The two chatted quietly, not missing any of the film's plot. By now the story had reached a banquet at a restaurant.

The Grand Secretary announced that in three days the coffin would be opened to verify "Wei Zhongxian"'s corpse, and once identity was confirmed it would be proclaimed to the world that the Eunuch Party was destroyed.

This made Zhao Jingzhong worried — if it turned out not to be Wei Zhongxian, he'd be exposed. So he became even more determined to kill the three brothers.

Because only they knew the secret!

Meanwhile, Lu Jianxing got promoted, but it was exposed that he'd bought his post. He was mocked fiercely, and he had a clash with his brother Shen Lian.

Shen Lian knew he'd already caused a great disaster, so he let his elder brother vent his fury. The third brother, trying to break up the fight on the side, was accidentally hurt — and being ill with tuberculosis, he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.

Only then did elder brother Lu Jianxing stop and let it go.

Shen Lian finally told the truth, divided the money he'd gotten that day into three shares, and prepared to give his share to Zhou Miaotong.

At the same time, Zhao Jingzhong found Ding Xiu, wanting to hire him to kill Jin Yichuan.

Because this person had discovered his connection with Wei Zhongxian, so to keep the secret, he had to kill this person.

And he knew Ding Xiu and Jin Yichuan were fellow disciples under the same master, and that there was still a grudge between them — so he found him.

On the big screen, Zhao Jingzhong was seen in official robes, riding on a white horse, looking at Ding Xiu standing ahead with a blade: "Your martial skill is excellent — kill someone for me."

"Who does the gonggong want me to kill?" Ding Xiu was still in his usual cynical, devil-may-care manner.

"Beizhen Fusi Junior Banner Officer, Jin Yichuan!" Zhao Jingzhong said.

"Who?!"

Ding Xiu was instantly shocked, then said: "Doesn't gonggong know — he's my junior brother?"

"Someone like you, still caring about that?" Zhao Jingzhong mocked.

"Gonggong, you've misunderstood. This person is my beloved kin, my own flesh-and-blood brother — that'll cost extra."

"."

(End of chapter)