This director is vindictive.

Chapter 416 The Legend of the Tang Dynasty Dancers: Let the Skirts Spin

It must be said that An Lushan's claws are far more famous than the An Lushan Rebellion.

Sure enough, when Chen Mo woke up the next day, #HippocampusskirtsSalesSurge300%# had already climbed to third place on the trending topics, and Huayun Apparel's customer service system was overwhelmed with inquiries—more than half of the inquiries were from male users who placed orders for their girlfriends with the note "want the same pleated style as the Imperial Concubine".

Zhang Yuqi, wrapped in her morning robe, was scrolling through her phone when she suddenly burst out laughing and collapsed onto the bedside: "Hahaha, Chen Mo, quickly check the Shaanxi History Museum's official Weibo account!"

It turns out that this matter has caused quite a stir, and the Shaanxi History Museum's official Weibo account issued an urgent and serious statement in the early hours of the morning: "The original text of 'Shiwu Jiyuan' is 'The Imperial Concubine created the herbal hairpin to adorn her gorgeous clothes.' There is no historical record mentioning the An Lushan incident. Please do not over-interpret historical artifacts."

The accompanying image is a high-resolution scan of the painting "Ladies Wearing Flowers in Their Hair," with all the ladies' tightly fitted cross-collar skirts marked in red.

But netizens collectively rebelled in the comments section:
"Got it, I'll go buy the 'An Lushan co-branded claw mark embroidered myrobalan' right now!"

"I suggest that the Shaanxi History Museum and Huayun jointly put on a 'Scholarly Restoration Version vs. Unofficial Historical Interpretation Version' comparative exhibition. I'd buy it all!"

A popular Hanfu influencer posted a screenshot of her order with the caption: "Thanks to An Lushan, this flat-chested girl has experienced the joy of 'pleated design' for the first time #Tang Dynasty Technology is Amazing#".

However, the impact of this wave still exceeded everyone's expectations.

Live streaming platforms don't allow streamers to do anything suggestive, so many streamers have to cover their chests with their hands when they dance or do other things, for fear of being banned.

However, this wave of interest in Terminalia chebula led them to discover a key point.

Suddenly, many netizens who were looking for fun by watching live streams discovered that on the Douyin live streaming platform, girls were wearing Hanfu-style skirts, and the problem was perfectly solved. There was no need to hide anything at all.

Many netizens exclaimed, "Terminalia chebula is awesome!"

To be honest, Chen Mo never expected things to develop to this point.

But he could understand. After all, no one knew more about Terminalia chebula than him; he had personally experienced the sensation last night.

They even experimented with every angle to determine whether An Lushan's claw was on the left or right side, but still couldn't find the answer.

However, continuing to let things develop like this is not a solution.

Chen Mo decisively launched the second round of casting.

Unlike the first season's casting of the male lead, the second season skipped the casting of the deserter and went straight to the casting of the female lead, a female merchant from the Western Regions, who was tentatively slated to play the role.

When Chen Mo released the casting announcement for the second phase of "The Great Tang Dynasty in the Northern Desert" on the official Weibo account, she specifically emphasized the role of a female merchant from the Western Regions: "She needs to be a legendary woman who combines exotic charm with the wisdom of the common people and can navigate between the Tang army, the Tibetans and caravans on the Silk Road."

The announcement was accompanied by a yellowed mural of a Tang Dynasty merchant from the Central Asian region, but the facial details were deliberately omitted, leaving only the skirt adorned with Persian patterns and the jingling camel bells at the waist.

The list of candidates for this round was also released: Zhang Yuqi, Tong Liya, Dilraba Dilmurat, and Gulnazar.

As expected, this second wave of casting announcements on Weibo instantly attracted a lot of attention from netizens, successfully diverting the previous topic.

"This description is practically just stating Dilraba's ID number!"

"Tong Liya's Zhao Feiyan was a textbook example of an exotic dancer back then, I bet ten packs of spicy strips on her!"

"I remember Nazha had a Kucha-inspired makeup look on the red carpet last time, and it even trended at number one on Weibo, right?"

"No need to look anymore, my sister Yuqi is here, everyone else can step aside, they're just there to make up the numbers!"

Of course, Chen Mo must have notified the other three in advance. As for Zhang Yuqi, she was just there to make up the numbers.

But these tiger women wouldn't have it!
Therefore, she took action just two hours after the announcement was released.

Zhang Yuqi suddenly started a live stream on Douyin.

In the video, she wears the new "Silk Road Illusionary Hemp Skirt" from Huayun, with restored Sasanian gold coin patterns adorning the pleats at the chest. Holding an archaeological report, she solemnly explains: "Sogdian documents unearthed from the Anxi Protectorate record that Western Region female merchants often exchanged jewelry for military rations..."

Suddenly the background music switched to "Desert Camel," and she threw aside the report and started dancing the Hu Xuan dance.

As Chen Mo's woman, she naturally had a significant advantage over others. For example, she wore the latest "Silk Road Illusionary Hemp Skirt" specially tailored for her by Huayun. The skirt was made of real silk and would shimmer with golden light when she twirled. It was also specially designed at his request so that the skirt would fly up when she danced.

Zhang Yuqi has been dancing since elementary school, so she is equally adept at the Hu Xuan dance.

In addition, her costume was specially designed; when she danced, the silk skirt spun out golden arcs, creating a truly stunning effect.

This is Zhang Yuqi's situation; after all, being in a good position gives her an advantage, and she had been preparing for this for a long time.

That's why they were able to start live streaming so quickly.

Women's live streaming and men's live streaming are often two completely different things.

Especially since it was Zhang Yuqi, Chen Mo's confidante, doing a live stream, hundreds of thousands of people flooded into the live stream room in a short time. The fact that so many netizens watched the live stream so quickly after it was a surprise was enough to show her popularity.

Zhang Yuqi's silk skirt spun faster and faster to the beat of the drums, the Sassanid gold coin pattern shimmering dazzlingly under the lights. As she gracefully spun and paused, the pleats on her chest opened like flower petals, instantly flooding the screen with "Holy crap!" The screen went wild with comments.

"This isn't a female merchant from the Western Regions! She's a flying apsara from the Dunhuang murals brought to life! @ChenMo, your wife is cheating by using skin effects!"

"Hua Yun designers deserve a bonus! What kind of cutting-edge technology makes a pleated herbal amulet bloom when you spin it? #DatangTechnologyIsAmazing#"

An Lushan: If I had seen this scene back then, I wouldn't have captured Yang Guifei (doge emoji)

"Director Chen has found his casting criteria: the actor must be able to spin around and make the herb bloom! Dilraba and Gulnazar, come quickly!"

However, although Zhang Yuqi got off to a good start, the others were not to be outdone.

Compared to the competition between male actors, the competition between female actors is clearly more anticipated by netizens.

Of the four candidates, although Dilraba is not Chen Mo's woman, she is an artist under Yang Mi's management, who is Chen Mo's woman.

With Yang Mi giving her special help, and unlike Zhang Yuqi who was mainly involved because she had to avoid suspicion with Chen Mo, Yang Mi genuinely wanted to help Dilraba get this role.

She whispered sweet nothings in Chen Mo's ear for this, but because the casting plan was finalized, even Zhang Yuqi couldn't get in through connections, let alone Dilraba Dilmurat, who was a step behind.

However, Yang Mi gave Dilraba Dilmurat extra tutoring.

Actually, when it comes to acting skills, Dilraba and Gulnazar are arguably on par with each other among the four candidates.

Therefore, the main strategy is to play to one's strengths and avoid one's weaknesses.

If it were an audition, he would probably be rejected in no time, but if it were a vote by netizens, then there would be room for manipulation.

For this "show," Dilraba was thoroughly trained by Yang Mi.

Sure enough, the first batch of audition photos were released.

She appeared in the style of "Nine-Surname Hu Merchant" as recorded in the "Great Dictionary of Turkic Languages". Her deep features of Kyrgyz ancestry, coupled with her deliberately tanned wheat skin, made her image more in line with that of a female merchant from the Western Regions of the Northern Desert during the Tang Dynasty.

"This wheat-colored skin tone suits her perfectly! After all, it would be a bit absurd for someone who spends all their time in the desert to have fair skin and beauty like Zhang Yuqi!"

"No problem, Dilraba's features are more in line with the character!"

But this is just the beginning.

The second installment arrived quickly, and Yang Mi specially commissioned a team to create a dance for Dilraba.

A few minutes after the Weibo post, a second Weibo post was made featuring a short dance video titled "Kucha Night Banquet".

The camera cuts in at dusk from the ruins of the ancient city of Kuqa. She is wearing a specially made "flame-patterned herringbone skirt" with a gradient gold and red silk hem, imitating the flame colors of flying apsaras in Western Region murals. As the sound of the Jie drum begins, she walks barefoot on the antique-style floor tiles, the golden bells on her wrists and ankles jingling with her dance steps, each step precisely on the beat of the drum.

At the climax, she suddenly pulled out a piece of Sogdian brocade that had been restored through archaeology, and with a flick of her wrist, the beaded hunting pattern on the brocade shimmered in the setting sun.

It can be said that she is going head-to-head with Zhang Yuqi!
The effect was absolutely amazing.

You can tell by looking at the comments from netizens.

"Dilraba is really going all out this time! The beaded brocade dress and flame skirt confirm that she's the Sogdian princess who escaped from the museum!"

"Holy crap, is that flame skirt effect real? When Dilraba jumped up, the skirt really looked like it was on fire! Did the designers at Huayun Studio steal some magic from the Dunhuang murals?! #TangDynastyTechnologyCrushesModernFashionWeek#"

"Speaking of which, isn't this a virtual showdown between Yang Mi and Zhang Yuqi? I feel sorry for the other two candidates. Huayun specially designed costumes for them, what about Yaya and Nazha? What happened to fairness? What happened to impartiality?" (Image: Kung Fu Hustle: Is there no law? Is there no justice?)

Zhang Yuqi: I spun around to make the Terminalia chebula bloom. Dilraba: I burned down the entire Silk Road and that's trending! Is Director Chen's casting session going to turn into a Western Regions special of "Dancing with the Stars"?

"The close-up shot of the golden bell on Fat Di's ankle is amazing! The 'Turkic Dictionary' says that caravans used bells to ward off sand bandits, and this detail perfectly captures the 'female merchant' character! I suggest giving the props team ten bonuses!"

It's clear that both Zhang Yuqi and Dilraba are using "dance" as their weapon of choice.

Tong Liya and Gulnazar are both from ethnic minorities and are known for their singing and dancing skills.

However, the two of them teamed up to pull off a big move!
The video, "Silk Road Fantasy Music Record," released jointly by the two, begins with an open scroll of a fragment of the "Tongdian·Music Dictionary," accompanied by a serious voice explaining: "Kucha music and dance require the combined playing of the pipa, jiegu, and konghou."

Before she could finish speaking, the screen was suddenly ripped open by Tong Liya's toe.

She held a restored pipa from Dunhuang upside down, her toes swirling on the gold-flecked ground to create the pattern of the "Hu Teng Dance." Nazha, on the other hand, burst out from a replica mural in the Kizil Caves of Kuqa, her fingertips holding two Sasanian silver coins as she tapped out the rhythm of the "Zhezhi Dance."

As the two passed each other back to back, Tong Liya's grape-patterned hem skirt and Nazha's beaded half-sleeve were suddenly linked by special effects, creating a "musical and dance barrier" in the air, as described in the "Great Tang Records on the Western Regions".

Suddenly the camera cuts, and the two simultaneously pull out a replica of the "Anxi Protectorate Currency Account" provided by the Shaanxi History Museum.

Tong Liya danced the Hu Xuan dance while stepping on the account books, while Gulnazar read out the account text in Persian—it turns out that they used dance steps to recreate the scene of "silk tax payment" recorded in historical records!
When the final frame freezes, it is divided into two halves: the left side shows the original murals of the Kizil Caves, and the right side shows a breakdown of their movements, which look almost identical!
(End of this chapter)