I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

Chapter 126: Red Cliff - A Drastically Modified Plot

Wu Baige personally called her and sincerely invited her to play the lead role of Sun Shangxiang in "Red Cliff".

She believed it at first. After receiving the script, she found that Sun Shangxiang had the most scenes among all the female characters, which made her very satisfied and felt that Wu Baige really valued her.

This secretly delighted her.

But after filming began, she suddenly felt something was wrong.

It seems like her screen time has decreased significantly, and Xiao Qiao, who is the second female lead, has had more screen time, almost surpassing hers.

The female lead has become the second female lead?
Zhao angrily went to confront Wu Baige, but Wu Baige just brushed her off and told her it was necessary for the plot.

Damn it.

At this point, she realized that Wu Baige was clearly using her fame to elevate Lin Zhilin's status.

Zhao wanted nothing more than to walk away, but the contract had already been signed. If she left, she would have to pay a large sum of money in breach of contract fees, and she would also offend Wu Baige.

Therefore, Zhao had no choice but to stay in the film crew.

Seeing the two being so intimate, Zhao couldn't wait to take a picture and post it online.

But she knew it was impossible, since Wu Baige was the one who made the decisions in the entire production team.

"If only I hadn't said bad things about Cheng Sheng online, now it's too late," Zhao thought to himself with regret.

Cheng Sheng's "The Great Tang Dynasty - Origins" made so many stars famous!
Even Bai Baihe, the newcomer who played Princess Pingyang Zhao, has now become a second-tier actress in China, and her fame abroad is even greater than hers.

Zhao even thought that the role of Pingyang Zhao was more suitable for her, and that if she were to play it, she would definitely be more outstanding than Bai Baihe.

Unfortunately, Cheng Sheng wasn't very famous when he filmed "The Great Tang Dynasty - Origins," and he didn't even notice the movie himself.

"Yanzi, what are you thinking about? I've called you several times and you haven't responded."

Just as Zhao was pondering in his heart, someone suddenly patted his shoulder, and then he heard the voice of the Song family.

Zhao snapped out of his reverie and said calmly, "I was thinking about this movie."

Upon hearing this, Song Jia sighed softly and said, "I'm starting to regret taking on this role."

Upon hearing this, Zhao's eyes lit up and he said, "Why? I think this movie is alright."

"What do you mean 'good'? It's a complete rip-off, a total mess. If it weren't for the 'Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff' label, I would have thought it was a gangster movie!" Song Jia said irritably.

In her opinion, this movie is supposed to be an adaptation of the Battle of Red Cliffs from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," but what kind of adaptation is this? It's completely original.

It's just that the characters' names are the same as those in the Three Kingdoms period.

Especially the role she played—Li Ji.

This character doesn't exist in either official history or the Romance of the Three Kingdoms; Wu Baige added him herself.

The Song family also had some knowledge of history. The character of Li Ji actually existed in history, specifically in the Li Ji Rebellion during the Spring and Autumn Period.

In short, the Li Ji Rebellion was about the famous Duke Wen of Jin's father marrying a young and beautiful woman, then deposing the eldest son and wanting to make the son born to this new woman his heir.

Because of his father's choice, Duke Wen of Jin was forced to go into exile for nineteen years, which triggered a series of historical events.

The internal strife was not completely ended until Duke Wen of Jin returned to the State of Jin.

However, this farce of deposing the eldest son and establishing the younger one in favor of the eldest son ultimately affected more than just Duke Wen of Jin and his family.

In a sense, this farce not only determined the later historical trajectory of the Jin state, but also, to a large extent, determined the historical trajectory of the entire Spring and Autumn Period. The Song family has reason to suspect that the Li Ji that Wu Baige had her play was a drastically altered version of the Li Ji from the Spring and Autumn Period.

When the Song family received the script and saw the character of Li Ji in "Red Cliff," they were completely dumbfounded. If they hadn't signed a contract, they would have thrown the script in Wu Baige's face and left.

In the script of "Red Cliff", Li Ji is a woman by Cao Cao's side who admires Cao Cao but becomes a victim of the war.

Because of her resemblance to Xiao Qiao in temperament and figure, she was taken as a concubine by Cao Cao. However, Cao Cao did not truly love her. Instead, he had her imitate Xiao Qiao to console his longing for her.

Li Ji endured hardship and displacement during the war, and ultimately "died" in a group scene.

Li Ji is a completely fictional character. Her admiration and devotion to Cao Cao runs throughout the film, but she never wins Cao Cao's heart. Instead, she falls into a painful situation because she imitates Xiao Qiao.

The Song family had no idea what the significance of this character was in the movie.

Damn it, I shouldn't have been so superstitious about those international directors. I shouldn't have signed the contract without even reading the script.

It's too late for the Song family to regret it now. They don't believe that "Red Cliff" can beat Cheng Sheng's "The Yellow Turban Rebellion" based on such a fantastical script.

Cheng Sheng, when making historical films, completely respects historical facts, but Wu Baige? In the Song family's eyes, he knows absolutely nothing about history.

As Cheng Sheng said, there is no director in Hong Kong who can make historical films.

"Song family, keep your voice down, or someone will hear you, or Director Wu will give you a hard time," Zhao said with a slight smirk.

Song Jia glanced around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to her, breathed a sigh of relief.

The majority of the people on set were from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and even the people behind the scenes were from Hong Kong.

If these people heard this, they would definitely tell Wu Baige.

Given Wu Baige's vindictive nature, she really might make things difficult for her.

"Yanzi, aren't you angry?" Song Jia said in a low voice.

She had heard that Zhao was personally invited by Wu Baige, and that she was positioned as the leading lady. But now! Lin Zhilin is the center of this movie.

To put it nicely, Zhao is the female lead and Lin Chih-lin is the second female lead, but since filming began, Zhao's screen time has been less than Lin Chih-lin's.

Anyone with eyes can see that Wu Baige is trying to give Lin Chih-lin more screen time.

If more scenes are added for Lin Chih-lin, then Zhao's scenes will be reduced.

Although everyone knew about it, because Wu Baige controlled the entire crew, people would only discuss it in secret. No one dared to talk about it openly, and no one would stand up for Zhao.

A hint of malice flashed in Zhao's eyes. How could she not be angry? She secretly vowed that if Wu Baige ever fell on hard times, she would definitely kick her while she was down to repay the other party for this mockery.

"What are you two talking about? I could see you whispering from a long way off."

Hu Jun, dressed in a set of silver-white armor, walked over.

Hu Jun played Zhao Yun in "Red Cliff".

There were two small circles in the "Red Cliff" crew: one from Hong Kong and one from mainland China.

The Zhao family, the Song family, and Hu Jun are considered to be in a small circle.

Because of the exclusion from people in the Hong Kong entertainment circle, they banded together for mutual support.

(End of this chapter)