I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

Cheng Sheng sat next to Han Sanye. Not long after they sat down, the theater lights dimmed and the screen on stage lit up, and "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" officially began.

The plot of "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" continues from "The Great Tang Dynasty 1" and mainly tells the history after the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Under the leadership of Li Shimin and the ministers of the Zhenguan era, the Tang Dynasty gradually grew stronger.

Emperor Taizong of Tang appointed virtuous and capable officials, knew how to appoint the right people to their positions, encouraged open communication, respected life, exercised self-restraint, and humbly accepted advice. He also adopted policies such as prioritizing agriculture, practicing frugality, allowing the people to recuperate, revitalizing education and culture, and improving the imperial examination system, which led to a stable society.

He also vigorously quelled external threats, respected the customs of border ethnic groups, stabilized the frontier, and ultimately achieved the ideal situation of great peace and order throughout the land.

The reign of Zhenguan laid an important foundation for the later prosperous Kaiyuan era, propelling traditional Chinese agricultural society to its zenith.

Although Li Shimin is the absolute protagonist in "The Great Tang Dynasty 2", the other supporting characters are also very noteworthy. For example, Zhang Hanyu, who plays Wei Zheng, portrays Wei Zheng as Zhang Liqiang, which is very close to historical fact.

Plus, Cheng Sheng gave us a cheat code—an immersive experience.

The audience immediately assumed that Zhang Hanyu was Wei Zheng.

Especially when Zhang Hanyu was criticizing his opponent in the imperial court, his eyes and acting skills were simply divine.

There's also Sun Xing, who played Changsun Wuji. He portrayed Changsun Wuji as witty, humorous, steady, and wise, overlapping with the historical Changsun Wuji.

There's also Su Chang playing Empress Zhangsun.

In "The Great Tang Dynasty 1", Su Chang played the young Empress Zhangsun, portraying her as lively, cute, and gentle.

In "The Great Tang Dynasty 2", Su Chang portrayed another side of Empress Zhangsun as the mother of the nation. She was dutiful, virtuous, and a model of virtue for the country, bringing the historical Empress Zhangsun to life.

Although Cheng Sheng provided her with some advantages, Su Chang's acting skills have clearly improved significantly.

Of course, the most eye-catching character in "The Great Tang Dynasty 2" is Li Shimin, played by Zheng Guolin.

Since playing Li Shimin in "The Great Tang Dynasty 1", he has been hailed as the "ceiling" by many history enthusiasts.

With his upright stature and resolute face, he accurately recreated the description of "dragon and phoenix appearance" in historical records, and his acting skills were clearly layered.

In fact, given Zheng Guolin's acting skills, it would be difficult for him to truly portray Li Shimin, but Cheng Sheng has an advantage.

In "The Great Tang Dynasty 2", Li Shimin is portrayed from his youth to old age. If it weren't for Cheng Sheng's "cheat code", Zheng Guolin definitely wouldn't have been able to play the elderly version of Li Shimin.

If that's the case, Cheng Sheng will probably have to find another actor to play the elderly Li Shimin.

However, with the cheat code, Zheng Guolin doesn't need to be replaced. He directly shows the complete mental journey from youth to emperor, displaying a great imperial demeanor.

Of course, this is not only due to Cheng Sheng's cheat code, but also to the makeup artist.

To make Zheng Guolin look as old as possible, the makeup artist racked his brains, using his magical skills to transform a young man into an old man.

In terms of acting skills, Zheng Guolin, with his exceptional talent, delivers a textbook-level performance.

From "The Great Tang Dynasty 1" to "The Great Tang Dynasty 2", he accurately captured the changes in Li Shimin's state of mind at different stages.

In his youth, as the King of Qin, he displayed heroic spirit and sharp wit on the battlefield; in the early years of his reign, facing a court in dire need of rebuilding, he showed determination and composure in his efforts to govern well.

In his later years, he portrayed a blend of wisdom and weariness born from life's vicissitudes with remarkable nuance.

In particular, his delivery of lines during court discussions was powerful yet understated, naturally conveying the emperor's majesty and restraint in every word.

In addition, Zheng Guolin's handsome appearance and refined temperament, lacking the sternness of traditional emperors but possessing a more approachable quality, perfectly match Li Shimin's wise ruler characteristics of "benevolence and acceptance of advice." The entire film "The Great Tang 2" revolves around how to govern the world. Although the film lacks intense conflict and has no major villains, the audience is still immersed in the plot, as if experiencing a real historical baptism.

Although the sense of conflict is not strong, the audience's emotions will still be stirred by the plot.

For example, when Empress Zhangsun passed away, sad music played, and the whole scene was rendered extremely desolate. The audience, immersed in the scene, couldn't help but shed tears, as if they could feel the sadness of the characters in the movie.

The sound of crying echoed once more.

Moreover, this wasn't the first time the audience had cried.

The early death of Li Shimin's youngest daughter, Li Mingda, also brought tears to the eyes of the audience.

The young actress who played Li Mingda was so adorable, and her untimely death saddened many viewers.

"Cheng Sheng is truly remarkable in his ability to convey emotions; I doubt any other director in China can match him."

Feng Dapao, who was invited to the premiere, whispered to Xu Fan.

"You can't compare to me either?" Xu Fan said with amusement.

Feng Dapao's eyes were unreadable. He was arrogant and proud, but that didn't mean he lacked self-awareness.

Moreover, his strength lies not in making historical films, but in comedy.

He could proudly pat his chest that no one could compare to him in comedy films, not even Cheng Sheng.

However, in historical films, he must admit that Cheng Sheng is still a cut above him.

"By the way, I saw Chen Hong come alone just now. Why didn't Chen Kai come with her?" Feng Dapao asked curiously.

“Chen Kai is filming in Hong Kong, he doesn’t have time to come back for the premiere,” Xu Fan said.

"Isn't he on good terms with Cheng Sheng? Why isn't he attending the premiere of Cheng Sheng's company's movie? Isn't that disrespecting Cheng Sheng?" Feng Dapao said strangely.

"What do you mean you have a good relationship with Cheng Sheng? That's just rumors spread by people who don't know the situation," Xu Fan said with a smile.

"Wait a minute, this isn't right! Cheng Sheng has already written a script for Chen Kaige, how could the two of them not get along?" Feng Dapao asked, puzzled.

Xu Fan glanced at Chen Hong in the second row and said, "I received inside information that Chen Hong is the one who is really close to Cheng Sheng. I heard that Cheng Sheng knew Chen Hong during college, and they are even from the same hometown."

"Hehe, a man and a woman get along well, do you think they're having an affair?" Feng Dapao said with a laugh.

Xu Fan rolled her eyes, but did not refute it; she also had her doubts.

After all, no matter how good Chen Hong and Cheng Sheng's relationship is, she wouldn't write a script for Chen Kaige for free!
Unless Chen Hong and Cheng Sheng have some ulterior motive.

Moreover, when she met Chen Hong a couple of days ago, she found that Chen Hong was more radiant than before, her skin was more moisturized, and she seemed to have undergone a complete transformation, as if she had become ten years younger.

Such a dramatic change makes it impossible not to have doubts.

Xu Fan also secretly probed, asking Chen Hong if she had any secret formula that made her look younger.

Chen Hong answered naturally at the time, but Xu Fan still noticed something from her nervous expression.

Although Xu Fan didn't know what Chen Hong was hiding, it aroused his suspicion. (End of Chapter)