Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

“You’re here to help select the cast now so it’ll be easier to communicate once we start filming,” Hua Tai whispered in Lin Ji’s ear.

Lin Ji nodded, looking down at the resumes in his hand.

The audition for the female lead, Wen Yiwan, was scheduled for the very end. Unlike the other roles, Qinglan TV had listed a full ten candidates for this part.

“Every company wanted to push their actresses to try out.”

Lin Ji only asked one question, “There aren’t any actors from Future Entertainment, right?”

Hua Tai: “…No, there aren’t.”

Future Entertainment, you’ve committed a grave taboo.

In the script, Wen Yiwan was not the type of character who showed her sharpness or malicious intent early on. In other words, her personal traits weren’t as immediately obvious as the characters Lou Zhi or Bai Mei. For those two, one had to find an actor whose image and temperament were an exact match.

Hua Tai didn’t reveal exactly who the actresses auditioning for Wen Yiwan were. Although he hadn’t dealt with Lin Ji for very long, he could tell that Lin Ji didn’t have a deep understanding of the current situation in the entertainment industry. Occasionally, when Hua Tai mentioned one or two actors, Lin Ji’s response was usually blank.

Hua Tai figured that Lin Ji was the type of screenwriter who only chose the most suitable actors regardless of their status or traffic. For the lead of Code 11, he had dared to use a dragon runner. For a role like Bai Mei, which seemed more suited for a serious Academy-trained actress, he had dared to use a traffic actress like Cheng Cheng.

Lin Ji didn’t care, but if it were any other screenwriter who prioritized billing order and status, they would probably wake up laughing from their dreams after seeing the candidate list for Wen Yiwan. In Hua Tai’s view, these actresses shared only one common trait: they were all A-list.

* * *

The actors first auditioned for the role of Consort He. Consort He, named Lu Jing’an, was described in the script as a gentle and quiet woman who was indifferent to the world.

The script Hua Tai had seen only covered ten episodes. He wasn’t sure what Consort He’s ultimate fate would be, but several minor bosses had already appeared in those first ten episodes, and Consort He was not among them.

The first actress to appear was named Yan Ling. Lin Ji had happened to watch a drama she was in not long ago, in which she played the second female lead, a young lady from a prestigious family.

Since no one was there to act opposite her, the casting director volunteered to step in, performing a scene where Consort He invited Wen Yiwan to her quarters as a guest.

Lin Ji could see that the “noble young lady” type was Yan Ling’s comfort zone. Once she entered the character, the grace of a well-bred lady came naturally to her.

After Yan Ling finished her audition, Producer Fan Yongfang and Director Sun Zhounan glanced at each other before looking at Lin Ji. “Screenwriter Lin, do you have any other thoughts?”

Lin Ji flipped through his stack of paper and pulled out a sheet. “Try this role.”

Hua Tai was sharp-eyed and saw that the role Lin Ji handed her was Consort Zheng.

Although the title “Zheng” implied chastity and virtue, in the script, she was arrogant, domineering, and malicious. Ultimately, she was framed by her rivals for the crime of infidelity and died a truly miserable death.

Yan Ling didn’t understand why Lin Ji wanted her to act out Consort Zheng’s part.

Consort He was the type of character she was skilled at portraying, whereas she had never attempted a role like Consort Zheng. However, since the screenwriter made the request, she could only bite the bullet and give it a try.

The confidence she had just built up vanished into thin air after she finished performing as Consort Zheng.

When she walked out of the audition room, Yan Ling’s face was written with dejection. Seeing her expression, the next actor waiting to audition couldn’t help but feel anxious.

For all four actresses, Lin Ji required them to perform a small segment of Consort Zheng’s scenes. Once the group finished their auditions, the others turned curious gazes toward Lin Ji.

Lin Ji explained, “Consort He has a lot of screen time in the later stages. I wanted to see if they had any other range.”

Sun Zhounan was the first to react. If nothing unexpected happened, Consort He was likely a “white-to-black” type of character—one with an innocent exterior but a dark core.

The group discussed for a long while and temporarily settled on one actress.

Afterward, the candidates for another role came in to audition. Fan Yongfang and Sun Zhounan habitually asked for Lin Ji’s opinion, but aside from Consort He, Lin Ji didn’t interfere with the auditions for the other roles.

* * *

The audition process for the new drama took much longer than Lin Ji had imagined. With dozens of female roles, selecting the right actress was a massive undertaking.

Especially for the key roles of Wen Yiwan, the empress, and the Noble Consort, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say the crew had tested every eligible actress in the industry.

The role of Wen Yiwan was particularly difficult to choose. Because there were so many suitable actresses, it seemed like anyone would work, and the acting skills of the candidates were all quite good.

Lin Ji didn’t worry about this. He only cared that the roles were filled. When there were many candidates, the question of whose hands the role fell into and what kind of power struggle occurred between management companies was a headache for the producer and director to bear.

Lin Ji continued to stay behind closed doors to write the script. Minor bosses constantly disappeared, reappeared, or evolved into major bosses of a certain stage. The characters’ schemes seemed chaotic, but Lin Ji had made a checklist for every scene he wrote, so he didn’t have to worry about the plot becoming a mess as he went on.

While he was busy writing, the speculation about his new drama never stopped.

“So curious about Little Lin’s new drama!”

“I saw gossip yesterday saying that Ji Hui and Yao Kerun both auditioned for his female lead but didn’t get picked.”

“Is it a beauty pageant drama? The kind that needs a bunch of pretty actresses?”

“I think the funniest part is that a huge crowd of actresses showed up, and literally not one of them is signed with Future Entertainment.”

“Little Lin is just sticking to his principles, I’m dying of laughter.”

“I’m really so curious, ah! Can someone reveal some inside info? I want to see pretty sisters being close together!”

“Upstairs, you’re thinking too much. According to actors who auditioned, this isn’t the kind of drama where pretty sisters are close. It’s the kind where they tear each other apart quite intensely.”

Qinglan TV was naturally well aware of the drama’s theme, but the station would absolutely not reveal any more details before the show aired.

“So, which actresses have been chosen? I’m more curious about that.”

“I only know that Cheng Cheng didn’t participate in the auditions this time.”

Netizens speculated wildly, but aside from the actresses who didn’t get cast leaking a few words, the ones who were selected remained tight-lipped.

Initially, Lin Ji had handed over ten episodes of the script to Qinglan TV. After the auditions ended, he handed over another ten. Two days after Lin Ji submitted the 30th episode, Hua Tai finally couldn’t resist knocking on his door. “Is there some kind of magic that allows you to write ten episodes in a single day?”

“There is,” Lin Ji answered bluntly. “You write it.”

Hua Tai: “…”

How can anyone be like this?

By the 30th episode, the lead Wen Yiwan was gradually darkening, and the monsters and demons in the palace finally revealed their true faces.

Hua Tai was reading the script with great excitement, but when he flipped the page, it suddenly ended.

He truly admired Lin Ji. In Code 11, the characterization of both the protagonists and antagonists was incredibly vivid. In this new drama, the grievances, hatreds, and schemes among the women were also depicted with profound depth.

Dajiang TV would release a historical drama every few years. The conflicts between the emperor and his ministers and the hidden daggers between different factions had left a deep impression on Hua Tai. Qinglan TV had tried to push similar themes before, but they couldn’t capture that profound flavor of Dajiang TV—they were merely poor imitations.

Hua Tai had never thought there could be so much conflict to write about within the harem.

Or rather, even if previous dramas involved palace intrigue, the female characters were merely foils for the male characters, tools for them to balance the court and the harem.

But in Lin Ji’s script, the emperor became the tool man.

Just like the consorts in the first thirty episodes, the empress, the Noble Consort, and the Virtuous Consort each had their own schemes—killing with a borrowed knife, firing cold arrows from the shadows, and using poisonous plots. Yet, such characters would still leave a mark in the audience’s hearts. They were the vivid protagonists of their own fates.

* * *

Once Lin Ji had written thirty episodes, the crew’s preparations were carried out one after another.

Aside from the main female characters, the actors for other roles were slowly finalized. As for who should play the emperor, Lin Ji, Fan Yongfang, and Sun Zhounan sat down and pondered for a long time.

Although the emperor’s presence wasn’t that strong, he was the master of the palace. The rise of the consorts depended on his favor. His simplest change in tone could dominate the fate of a woman in the harem. He seemed to have low visibility, but he was a dark cloud over the heads of the harem women that could never be fully ignored.

In the palace intrigue, no matter who the final winner was, they couldn’t escape the four words: “beyond one’s own control.” The palace was like a cage, binding them within.

Lin Ji and the others finally chose Mu Yuanting.

Mu Yuanting had fame, but he wasn’t considered an A-list actor. He had played emperor roles before, but not the kind with an imposing, natural majesty. Instead, he specialized in emperors who were moody, fickle, and full of suspicion.

* * *

Qinglan TV’s crank-up ceremony was prepared quite low-key, only inviting a few media outlets with good relationships. However, as soon as the group photo from the ceremony was released, netizens went into a frenzy.

“!!! Let me count, let me count first!”

“A screen full of pretty sisters! No, wait, what kind of drama does Qinglan TV want to film? How did they dig up so many actresses!”

“I can actually see Peng Fangfang and Qian Yuzhu acting together in my lifetime? Haven’t they been on non-speaking terms forever? I just want to know how much money Qinglan TV actually paid.”

“The problem isn’t how much money was paid, right? Sister Peng and Sister Qian aren’t short on money. When they were tearing into each other back then, they were throwing around real gold and silver. I guess it’s because Little Lin’s script is too good.”

“Script is good +1. The crew found so many young beauties!”

Shortly after the crank-up ceremony, Lin Ji also joined the crew. While keeping an eye on the script, he was also busy writing the subsequent content. The new drama was filmed on location and involved many actors, so every scene featured a massive crowd of people.

The first scene the crew filmed was the episode where the candidates were selected to enter the palace.

The struggle between Empress Zheng Su and Noble Consort Liu Qingmei had entered a white-hot stage. During another year of the draft, the empress took the opportunity to persuade Emperor Jing to expand the harem to spread the imperial lineage.

Peng Fangfang, playing the empress, and Qian Yuzhu, playing the Noble Consort, were recognized rivals in the industry. Neither said anything when they learned the other had landed a role, but as long as they had a scene together, one could definitely see sparks flying and daggers drawn within the crew. As long as they looked at each other, they immediately entered character, as if possessed by the empress or the Noble Consort. That sense of antagonistic intensity was handled perfectly.

Playing Wen Yiwan was the currently highly-promoted A-list Little Flower, Li Weiran. Hua Tai had revealed to Lin Ji that far too many actresses had fought for the role of Wen Yiwan. Li Weiran was younger, and her management company was more aggressive. To get this role, her company had made many concessions to Qinglan TV.

Of course, Li Weiran’s acting was also good, ranking near the top among the Little Flowers. However, relatively speaking, her traffic wasn’t as stable as that of her other competitors.

In the entertainment industry, there was always a saying: For a male actor to get famous, one drama was enough, but maintaining that status afterward was not easy. For female actors, it was very hard to rise to the top, but once they were there, it was hard to fall back down—but that required the accumulation of one hit drama after another. Just one or two hits weren’t enough.

Li Weiran was at a critical period of her rise, much like Yu Muzi before Currently in Love aired.

The entry of the candidates into the palace was a crucial scene in the script. The candidates all stood respectfully to one side, waiting for selection. Although they were dressed simply, their delicate and beautiful appearances were all noted by the high-ranking figures in the palace.

Among the candidates, although Wen Yiwan’s family background wasn’t the absolute top, it was still considered distinguished.

The Ministry of Revenue managed the empire’s money and grain. Wen Yiwan’s father was the left vice minister, second only to the minister within the department.

Thus, as soon as Wen Yiwan appeared, she drew the attention of the other candidates.

“Sister, this jasper hairpin of yours actually has better clarity than the Noble Consort’s hairpin.”

“Sister is so beautiful, I only hope you get your heart’s desire.”

The side where Wen Yiwan stood featured several characters with significant presence in the script. After the candidates entered, Wen Yiwan attracted attention and encountered her first crisis after entering the palace: both the empress and the Noble Consort extended olive branches to her.

Emperor Jing seemed not to hear the turbulent undercurrents among the women. Instead, he stared at Wen Yiwan’s face with interest, seemingly wanting to see how she would respond.

Lin Ji had been observing the actors on the field. The empress was dignified and steady, the Noble Consort was charming and innocent, and Wen Yiwan carried the naivety of someone just entering the palace gates. However, in terms of aura, the current Wen Yiwan was being completely suppressed by the other two.

Lin Ji stared a bit longer.

The empress and the Noble Consort had different statuses, so it was normal for her aura to be overwhelmed, but as the protagonist, Li Weiran’s own presence still needed to be felt.

In Lin Ji’s view, she wasn’t showing enough of that point yet.

Lin Ji didn’t say a word but kept staring at her. Li Weiran felt her mind go blank, not knowing where to put her hands.

Li Weiran was already a bit nervous performing this scene, and now she was even more anxious. Before joining the crew, her manager had specifically instructed her to never, ever offend Lin Ji, even citing the examples of Future Entertainment and Yu Muzi.

Li Weiran: “…”

Not sure if I’ve offended him, but let’s assume I have.

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