Chapter 331: Lu Bu and Wang Yun

"Where is my son Fengxian? Where is my son Fengxian?"

Outside the Han palace, Lu Xiaohé, portraying Dong Zhuo, slashed at surrounding soldiers with a sword while screaming in terror.

At that moment, hooves thundered along the palace avenue, a horse neighed, and the magnificent Chi Tu galloped forth—Yan Li, as Lu Bu, rode in expressionless, spear in hand.

"Fengxian, save me, Fengxian!"

Seeing the arrival, Dong Zhuo was overjoyed, summoned all his strength, broke through the encirclement under the protection of his few remaining guards, and rushed toward Lu Bu.

Yet his joy quickly turned to horror—Lu Bu did not charge at the soldiers surrounding him, nor did he help Dong Zhuo onto his horse; instead, he raised his great spear and brought it down upon Dong Zhuo's head.

Plosch~

Blood splattered the ground; Dong Zhuo's fat body crashed down. Lu Bu reined in his horse, swung his spear hard, stood tall, and glared fiercely at Dong Zhuo's remaining followers, roaring:

"I act by the Son of Heaven's decree to punish the traitor—Dong Zhuo is executed. Lay down your weapons immediately and you shall be pardoned; otherwise, do not blame me for my spear's mercilessness!"

Overcome by Lu Bu's might and seeing Dong Zhuo dead, no one dared resist; all knelt and begged to surrender.

Lu Bu sneered with pride, exchanged a glance with Wang Yun—the matter was now fully in hand.

"Good, cut."

Director Zhang Yongxin called out; Yan Li dismounted, helped lift Lu Xiaohé up, and led the applause.

"Congratulations, Teacher Lu, wrapped your role."

Lu Xiaohé, the actor who played Company Commander Liang in "Flowers on the Mountain," had grown older and gained weight in recent years, but his rugged features suited perfectly the role of Dong Zhuo—a crude, martial general turned senior minister.

His scenes were few; today was his last, and after this, he was done.

By the way, there's still a scene of desecrating Dong Zhuo's corpse, but that uses props—no need for Lu to perform it himself.

Lu Xiaohé stood in the center, face covered in blood, smiling as he posed for a photo with Yan Li and Du Yulu, who played Wang Yun.

The latter was Zhang Tingyu from "Emperor Yongzheng"—perfectly suited to portray Wang Yun, a crafty old minister.

After taking a normal group photo, Yan Li called Du Yulu to stand before Lu Xiaohé and give a thumbs-up; Lu's face remained expressionless, while the two others beamed.

Since all three were still in costume, it resembled a victory declaration by Lu Bu and Wang Yun—darkly humorous.

This was Yan Li's deliberate creation for behind-the-scenes content and meme images.

"The New Three Kingdoms" had long promoted the production team on Weibo, even holding special casting events, so its official account had a substantial follower base.

After filming began, the production team never shut down the account.

In fact, Yi An's "The New Three Kingdoms" publicity team even assigned several people to the set specifically to film behind-the-scenes footage—documentary-style videos and interview memorabilia, later usable as promotional material; photos were frequently posted to update Weibo and maintain buzz.

Many large productions do this; previously, "My Regiment, My Regiment" even released a behind-the-scenes photo book.

Initially, "The New Three Kingdoms" behind-the-scenes content mostly featured costume fittings or daily set life—standard practice.

One day, someone filmed a break scene where Liu Bei and his two sworn brothers, along with Cao Cao and several of his strategists, squatted by the gate smoking.

That Weibo post went viral, hit trending, and sparked endless internet memes and jokes.

From then on, "The New Three Kingdoms" official account had found its traffic secret.

Like Xu You holding a camera to take group photos during the Eighteen Provinces Alliance, Cao Cao and his strategists using notebooks to view maps during meetings, Guan Yu riding a motorcycle through the Five Passes and Slashing Six Generals, the weapons used in the Three Heroes Battle Lu Bu being borrowed from a neighboring anti-Japanese drama set—Type 38 rifles, Mauser pistols, and Czech vz. 24s…

Some of these meme images were posted to maintain buzz; others were held back to promote alongside relevant plot episodes.

For example, today's photo of Lu Bu and Wang Yun posing with the dead Dong Zhuo could be released later via the actors' personal Weibos or the official account after the episode airs, boosting attention and discussion.

Similar gimmicks: after the Battle of Guandu, smiling Cao Cao poses with lifeless Yuan Shao; after the Battle of Chibi, Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu pose with Cao Cao; after the Battle of Hefei, Zhang Liao poses with Sun Quan; after the Battle of Yiling, Lu Xun poses with Liu Bei.

Thus, "The New Three Kingdoms" gains buzz, Weibo gains entertainment, and actors gain exposure—all benefits at once.

There's no need to worry about viewers being pulled out of the story; many productions now openly post behind-the-scenes clips at the end credits without issue.

Drama is drama, reality is reality—the plot within the story and the entertainment outside are two separate things. Yan Li also specifically instructed: keep the memes moderate, avoid excessive mockery or vilification.

So there's no risk of photos or images appearing like Zhao Yun spearing A Dou, Guan Yu gazing lovingly at Lady Gan, or Zhuge Liang begging Sima Yi for mercy.

…

In the morning, Yan Li filmed the killing of Dong Zhuo; in the afternoon, he killed Ding Yuan—two "fathers" slain in one day, the little assassin of fathers.

The actor portraying Ding Yuan was none other than Zhang Guangbei, who played Lu Bu in the CCTV version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

He was currently filming in Hengdian, so he readily agreed to make a cameo.

He had previously come to film the scenes where Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan turned against each other; now he came specifically to complete the remaining scenes where Lu Bu kills him.

To accommodate Zhang Guangbei's cameo—or rather, as a tribute—the scenes of Lu Bu killing Ding Yuan were nearly identical in plot and dialogue to the CCTV version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," with only added close-ups of Ding Yuan.

"My son, what is it?"

"I am a true man—how could I be your adopted son?"

"Fengxian, why have you changed your heart?"

"Hmph."

"Ahh~"

In other words, Zhang Guangbei killed Ding Yuan as Lu Bu once—he is now killed by Yan Li in exactly the same way.

After filming this scene, Zhang Guangbei was deeply moved.

"When I played Lu Bu and killed my adoptive father, I felt nothing. But playing Ding Yuan, killed by my adoptive son—it's truly frustrating."

The production arranged an interview; Zhang Guangbei graciously praised "The New Three Kingdoms" and Yan Li.

He said the production had greater investment, many aspects superior to their time, and that Yan Li's portrayal of Lu Bu was especially outstanding—he was glad Yan Li was born later, otherwise the CCTV version's Lu Bu might have needed recasting.

Yan Li lowered his posture further, humbly stating he had watched Zhang's Lu Bu since childhood, and had studied and learned from some of Zhang's performances in this role; Zhang's approval meant the world to him, and so on.

In short, mutual commercial flattery—the sedan chair everyone lifts.

Speaking of which, this was also their second collaboration; both had significant presence in the hit "Bright Sword," and this reunion of old and new Lü Bus was truly a celebrated moment.

But in reality, their characters had no scenes together in "Bright Sword," and they'd barely met in private.

Netizens and audiences always like to project drama plots onto actors—but it's entirely different in truth.

Yan Li's character, Sun Desheng—let alone being unfamiliar with Chu Yunfei, he wasn't even close to Li Yunlong.

He didn't film for long in the Liang Jian cast; audiences forcibly applied the bond between two characters in the drama, which was extremely forced.

What annoyed him most was that people also misapplied it across two entirely different dramas.

Some netizens dug up a clip from Sui Tang Heroes where Yuwen Chengdu lined up beside Li Rongrong, then applied it to Sun Desheng and Tian Yu from Liang Jian, shouting that Sun Desheng was uncouth, bullying his sister-in-law, and whether he could face Li Yunlong.

Yan Li was speechless—in the Liang Jian plot, the two characters never even met; when Tian Yu appeared, Sun Desheng had been dead for years.

It would be better to apply real life: at least Tong Lei is Zhou Yi's girlfriend, so Yan Li could say "I'm sorry" to his good brother.

…

He killed two "fathers" in one day; Yan Li felt refreshed and went to the Suo Qingqiu set to visit Yang Rong as Fan Xiaopang wrapped filming and left the crew.

Said to be a visit, but Yan Li never went to the set; instead, Yang Rong found ways to take leave to see him.

Yan Li waited in the chauffeur-driven car for a while, then saw Yang Rong, bundled up like a ball, "roll" into the vehicle.

…

Yan Li was speechless—even for an affair, there was no need to dress so thoroughly.

Well, she showed only her eyes; anyone would believe she'd turned off the lights.

"Didn't you see Weibo trending? Huang Weide and Yi Nengjing were photographed holding hands—it blew up big time. Yi Nengjing is now in Hengdian, staying at the same hotel as our crew, and a swarm of paparazzi are watching. I don't want to get dragged in."

Yang Rong pulled down her mask, still shaken as she spoke.

For some reason this year, the entertainment circle has had one scandal after another—it's been incredibly lively.

Hengdian is a hotspot for paparazzi, Yan Li is a public figure, and she didn't want to end up trending too, suffering the same humiliating fate as Qin Lan in the blog scandal.

"Xiangjiang was an accident; on the mainland, I can still hold my own. Besides, we've had rumors before."

Yan Li pulled Yang Rong over, wrapped her in his arms, helped her take off her coat, and warmed his hands in the process.

Yang Rong glared at him, glanced at the driver's seat—Wu Maowen wore headphones, focused intently on driving.

She didn't grab his mischievous hand, quietly covered her clothes, then said:

"Rumors are rumors; many people have rumors, but being photographed is a different matter entirely."

Seeing Yan Li still unconcerned, she leaned in and kissed him, softening her voice: "I don't mean anything else—I just want a quiet, stable life, don't want people gossiping, don't want to get tangled up in the affairs around you. Can't we just be quiet together?"

Yang Rong isn't like Qin Lan; after the blog scandal, Qin Lan was troubled but also secretly pleased—at least she was finally out in the open.

But some want to be out in the open, others don't.

Like Jiang Xin—she resented her position, couldn't compete, so she kept a backdoor open: not going public, so she'd have a face-saving cover later.

Yang Rong used to think the same way; now she has far fewer such thoughts.

More importantly, it's her nature—she's shy, fears controversy, has relatively low ambition and material desires, doesn't want to clash with Fan Qin Dong and others, and also worries about her family's opinion, afraid of explaining.

So she continues her ostrich mentality, quietly staying with Yan Li for now, day by day, and worrying about the future later.

Yan Li had no objection—Yang Rong thinking this way benefited him more than harmed him, but he still feigned reluctance.

"This hiding and concealing is so uncomfortable. Don't worry about me getting scolded—I'm not afraid."

"I am."

Yang Rong clasped her hands together: "Please, I really don't want to be tabloid headline news. Just act in dramas, travel a bit, you spend time with me—I'm perfectly happy."

"... Fine."

Yan Li teased her a bit, then agreed—but immediately proposed a compensation condition.

Yang Rong realized: Yan Li was taking the chance to get something extra. But if she refused, he'd find another way. After a moment's hesitation, she went along with it.

"But if you do this, what about Wang Ou?"

Wang Ou gathered a group, not to compete with Fan Qin Dong, but at least to protect herself; Yang Rong clearly wants to hide—doesn't that mean selling Wang Ou out?

"I'm selling her out."

Yang Rong gritted her teeth: "She dragged me into this herself, and keeps scheming to trap me. I'm being generous just for not setting a trap for her."

Though she spoke harshly, she immediately grew timid: "Don't you tell Wang Ou what I just said."

"We'll see how you behave."

Yan Li didn't comment—though others were hard to judge, Yang Rong was clearly under Wang Ou's complete control.

She wanted a peaceful life; Wang Ou might not pressure her, but given their friendship, if Wang Ou truly got into trouble, Yang Rong couldn't possibly stand by.

All this talk of "selling out" was just daily bluster.

…

Hengdian was too crowded and watched; Yan Li took Yang Rong to his house in Dongyang instead.

Whether it was telepathy or just constant phone calls, barely had they entered the house when Wang Ou called Yang Rong's phone.

Yang Rong didn't want to answer—it would turn into another live phone call. She sent a text saying she was filming, planning to brush it off.

But Wang Ou called even more insistently—back-to-back calls. Yan Li's mind raced, saw the pattern, and declared firmly:

"We're exposed. If you don't answer, he'll call me next."

Yang Rong sighed, picked up the call, and was immediately bombarded by Wang Ou's outburst.

She'd assumed Yang Rong was filming, so first called Yang Rong's assistant, asking if filming was done or how much time remained. But she sensed something off, then called Yang Rong directly. Yang Rong, unaware of the context, gave herself away with a classic "I didn't do it!"

"Big Naiwa, hoarding the good stuff is bad enough, but now you're sneaking around—what about sisterly loyalty?"

Caught red-handed, Yang Rong threw caution to the wind: "So what if I ate it? It'll drive you crazy if you can't have it."

They'd done this phone livestream so many times—even though they'd never met face-to-face, Wang Ou had privately imagined and teased about it countless times.

Even though Yang Rong was shy, Wang Ou had raised her threshold for this kind of thing so high she no longer easily blushed or felt embarrassed.

"Tsk tsk, don't get cocky—I'm calling to tell you, I'm coming to Hengdian to visit in a couple days. This time you're the female lead, the crew won't grant you long leave—how are you going to run now?"

Yan Li, who'd been listening to their banter on speakerphone, perked up.

My little Ouo really knows how to do it!

Yang Rong rolled her eyes, then said helplessly into the phone: "You're determined to drag me down with you, aren't you?"

Wang Ou said with righteous indignation: "Good sisters share fortune and hardship together."

"If you're not afraid of death, then come on."

Yang Rong tried to intimidate, but utterly failed to scare Wang Ou; in fact, Wang Ou had already begun shouting that she'd crush Yang Rong with her Dragon Claw Hand.

Helpless, Yang Rong pleaded to Yan Li: "She's bullying me—will you do anything about it?"

Yan Li spoke with moral authority: "Of course I will. When she comes, I'll properly deal with her right in front of you."

Yang Rong: "..."

These two dog lovers absolutely intend to drag me into this mess!

Furious, Yang Rong hung up the phone, still hoping to make progress through Yan Li.

Wang Ou, that little slut, will do anything to please Yan Li; Yan Li is at least a bit stronger than her—maybe a little coquetry will soften him a little.

"Do you really want it that badly?"

Yan Li nodded firmly: "I do."

"What's the point of that? I could just..."

Yang Rong offered terms, but Yan Li shook his head; though the offer was tempting, it couldn't compete with the allure of the Ou-Rong duo.

"Ou-Rong" sounded a bit awkward—better to use a nickname, like "Chicken Girls"... no, stick with "Ou-Rong."

As he refused, Yan Li still spoke with moral authority: "I'm doing this for your own good—so you won't be exhausted alone. Let her help share the burden."

Yang Rong wanted to refute this fallacy, but had to admit Yan Li's reasoning was indeed solid.

This was also why many women half-heartedly accepted Yan Li's occasional intrusions—no one could truly withstand him alone.

In truth, after struggling so long, she'd already been dragged under if not for luck; Yang Rong had long prepared herself mentally for this, though she still felt embarrassed.

She couldn't argue her way out, couldn't run away—fine, let it go wherever it goes...

Wang Ou arrived quickly; she'd actually squeezed out the time.

Her lead role in the movie "Ip Man" was about to premiere, and she'd come during a break in the promotional tour.

There was no choice: though Yang Rong was tied up by "Suo Qingqiu," Yan Li's role in "New Three Kingdoms" was shrinking. By the time Wang Ou finished her "Ip Man" tour, Yan Li might have already wrapped and left the set—then Yang Rong would escape again.

Arriving at Hengdian, Wang Ou first went to visit Yan Li on the "New Three Kingdoms" set.

She actually had a role in the drama too, involving plotlines of Sima Yi's rivalry with the Cao Wei court, roughly equal in screen time to Fan Xiaopang's Diaochan.

"New Three Kingdoms" was thoroughly a man's drama—female roles were few and had little screen time.

The same was true for the later "New Water Margin," where even Pan Jinlian, with more screen time, could compete for the female lead.

"New Three Kingdoms" was planned to shoot for over eight months; Wang Ou's scenes were scheduled late. Filming would likely occur around Spring Festival, still over a month away from her actual start date.

Still, this was her second visit to the "New Three Kingdoms" set—when the production first started, she'd come to Hengdian just to visit.

Wang Ou had planned to surprise Yan Li, but he only had half a day's shoot today and had already left for Yi'an Garden to work—so she changed course.

Just entering Yi'an Garden, before Wang Ou could find Yan Li, she saw Yang Mi and a Miss walking arm-in-arm, laughing and chattering as they came from the rehearsal hall.

Seeing Wang Ou, Yang Mi stopped, pulled at her lips, and greeted: "Sister Ou is here."

She elbowed the girl beside her, who also spoke: "Sister Ou."

"Hmm."

Wang Ou replied indifferently; whether due to innate incompatibility or concern that Yang Mi, backed by Dong Qin, might threaten her own status, she simply disliked Yang Mi.

Yang Mi was still young and fiery, and had her own backing—she couldn't challenge Fan Xiaopang, but she wasn't overly afraid of Wang Ou either.

She'd initially tried to maintain friendliness, but seeing Wang Ou held ill will toward her, she stopped trying to warm a cold heart, settling for mere surface politeness.

This only made Wang Ou dislike Yang Mi even more.