I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

Ma Sanbao also made outstanding contributions in this battle. He led his troops to charge ahead, not only killing the famous king of Tuyuhun, but also capturing thousands of people. Therefore, after returning to the capital, Li Yuan appointed him as the baron of Xinxing County.

Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, also greatly appreciated Ma Sanbao. He once made a special trip to inspect the Sizhu Garden, where Ma Sanbao raised his army, and told Ma Sanbao, "Is this where you raised your army before? Do you know that this is also where Wei Qing used to live? It's very nice."

After Li Shimin ascended the throne, Ma Sanbao was appointed as the Left Valiant Guard General and promoted to the rank of Duke.

Unfortunately, Ma Sanbao never had another chance to prove himself. He passed away from illness in the third year of the Zhenguan era (629 AD), missing out on a series of battles for the Tang Empire.

Ma Sanbao was just a servant, but he eventually became a founding general of the Tang Dynasty, which is quite remarkable.

However, even Ma Sanbao himself probably didn't expect that, hundreds of years later, in a Qing Dynasty novel called "Shuo Tang," his fame would be even greater than in history.

In the novel "Tales of the Tang Dynasty", Ma Sanbao is no longer a servant. He is known in the martial arts world as the Flower Knife General. He appears as the garrison commander of Wagang Village. The first battle after the heroes of Jialiudian raised their army was to seize Wagang Village.

Ma Sanbao was also very unfortunate. His younger brother was killed by Cheng Yaojin in battle. Helpless, he had to abandon Wagangzhai and break through the encirclement. He went north and joined Li Yuan's army, becoming a very important general in the early Tang Dynasty. As Li Shimin's right-hand man, he participated in a series of wars to unify the country and was ranked first among the "Four Generals of Songshan".

It should be noted that the other three of the "Four Generals of Songshan" were Duan Zhixuan, Yin Kaishan, and Liu Hongji. All three were among the twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion, and their historical status was much higher than that of Ma Sanbao. However, in the blink of an eye, they were ranked below Ma Sanbao in the novel.

Unfortunately, Ma Sanbao did not have a good ending in the Sui and Tang Dynasty series of historical novels. Instead, he met a very tragic end. In "Xue Rengui's Expedition to the East", he also followed Li Shimin as a general to conquer Liaodong. However, when he went to Phoenix Mountain to investigate intelligence, he was unexpectedly caught in the trap set by the Liaodong general Gai Xianmo and became Gai Xianmo's prisoner.

Gai Xianmo had no policy of treating prisoners of war well. He cut off Ma Sanbao's hands and feet and then threw him on the main road as a warning.

Ma Sanbao could not bear such humiliation. When Yuchi Gong came to his rescue, he used all his strength to lift his body and crash into the tip of Yuchi Gong's spear, dying on the spot.

In the later storytelling and TV series that evolved from "The Story of Tang", Ma Sanbao had a very large role and was even more famous than many of the famous ministers in the Lingyan Pavilion. Other Tang generals of similar rank, however, did not have such roles and became figures who only appeared once or twice in historical records, and were not known to later generations. This makes people marvel at the promotional effect of the novel.

Therefore, Ma Sanbao is the second male lead in the TV series "Princess Pingyang Zhao", but his screen time is no less than that of the male lead, Chai Shao.

If he acts well, he can definitely become a breakout star.

Although Wu Yue had not read the script, based on Ma Sanbao's role by Princess Pingyang's side, he knew that Ma Sanbao's role would definitely be very large.

Moreover, as a general, Ma Sanbao has a lot of equestrian and action scenes, which is more in line with Wu Yue's own role, since he has a background in martial arts and can better leverage his strengths.

"Brother Yue, which role do you think I'm suitable for in 'Princess Pingyang Zhao'?" Huo Siyan asked.

Wu Yue was speechless; how could he possibly know such a thing?

Moreover, even if he knew, he couldn't say anything. If he didn't get selected, he would be blamed, and then he would be caught in the middle.

"Alright, Si Yan, don't make things difficult for Teacher Wu Yue."

At this moment, Chen Yongge stepped in to interrupt Wu Yue's awkward silence.

Wu Yue showed gratitude. He didn't want to offend Huo Siyan with just a few words, after all, he knew very well who was behind Huo Siyan.

Although Huo Siyan is younger than him, she debuted a year earlier, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a senior.

In 97, at the age of 17, Huo Siyan was selected to shoot an advertisement for "Crystal Love" because of her pure and beautiful appearance, thus entering the entertainment industry. At the age of 20, she starred in the TV series "The Happy Life of Zhang Damin" and met her benefactor Liu Heng.

Liu Heng was a top screenwriter at the time. He wrote "Ju Dou", "The Story of Qiu Ju" and "Pretty Mom", and worked with superstars such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Gong Li.

Liu Heng was the screenwriter for "The Happy Life of Zhang Damin". Although Huo Siyan only played a supporting role, she was beautiful, pure, and had a sweet tongue. Liu Heng had a good impression of her and often wrote some guidance on the script himself.

Three years later, filming began for "The Young Emperor," with Liu Heng serving as director and screenwriter. The cast was very strong, including Pan Hong, Hao Lei, Deng Chao, Yang Rong, and Huo Siyan as Wuyunzhu.

Later, Huo Siyan said in an interview that at first she was unwilling to play Wu Yunzhu because she felt that the character was too perfect and had no human flaws, so she was not real.

Huo Siyan didn't want to act, but Liu Heng told her that she just needed to imagine herself as a saint.

And so, this "white moonlight" type of character won unanimous praise from the audience.

From this, we can see that Huo Siyan may look innocent and petite, but she is actually very ambitious about her acting career. She wants to play roles that are human, authentic, and powerful.

In June 2004, Huo Siyan signed with Huayi Brothers and became an actress under Wang Zhonglei's management.

At that time, Huayi had two key figures under its wing, Li Shuangbing and Xu Fan, so Huo Siyan's influence was clearly insufficient.

However, Huo Siyan won Wang Zhonglei's favor by relying on her special skill—drinking.

During a photoshoot, Huo Siyan jokingly asked the photographer to make her look sexy and curvaceous. The photographer replied that it didn't suit her image.

Huo Siyan laughed heartily, "I think I'm especially sexy, don't you think?"

Huo Siyan's boldness and fiery personality are evident.

Moreover, Huo Siyan is also a heavy drinker.

In addition, she was known for her high EQ, eloquence, beauty, and approachability. Whenever she was present, the atmosphere at the drinking party was always great. As a result, she became Wang Zhonglei's favorite female star to take out for drinks, and gradually, she earned the nickname "Huayi Social Flower".

In a group photo at a Huayi Brothers party, Li Shuangbing, the "number one sister," was only standing in the second row, while Huo Siyan, dressed in a flamboyant and eye-catching outfit, stood in the very center.

It is evident how popular Huo Siyan is when high-ranking officials are present.

Wu Yue also understands the interpersonal relationships in the entertainment industry, so he doesn't want to offend Huo Siyan and risk being suppressed by Huayi.

Moreover, something others don't know is that Huayi Company has already contacted him and offered very good terms, which has tempted him. He plans to sign with Huayi Company this year.

Since I'll be working for the same company as Huo Siyan in the future, I can't afford to offend her.

...(End of this chapter)