After Ying Shi posted that Weibo, internal strife broke out within the production team of “Whipping the Wind with a Bold Blade.”
The fans of the actress playing Princess Bai Rong, the female lead, had already been frustrated because Ning Tang’s character was more popular in the original work. For the sake of the drama, they had been swallowing their discontent. But then news leaked that Ning Tang’s scenes had been heavily cut and rewritten, causing many fans of the original novel to direct their anger at the female lead.
Now Zhuo Yixun had made those comments in her interview. Although netizens were saying she was taking a jab at “A True Hero Does Not Break the Law,” was it possible she was also taking a jab at Princess Bai Rong?
Even if she didn’t intend it that way, her words and actions had still caused negative repercussions for the production team. As fans of an actress who was being dragged into this, wasn’t it reasonable to ask a few questions?
With this mindset, Zhuo Yixun came under fire from the fans of the male and female leads. The intensity of the attack was far more terrifying than the ridicule from ordinary netizens.
In the end, Zhuo Yixun recorded an apology video, saying that her words had been unclear, which had led to misunderstandings, and that she was sorry for causing an unpleasant atmosphere of discussion.
Not long after the apology, the matter gradually faded from public view. At most, it would draw a few mocking remarks from netizens when mentioned.
Mu Yao, who had been following the whole affair, was left utterly dumbfounded. When the interview video first came out, the bots had descended with overwhelming force, seemingly determined to trample the female lead of “A True Hero Does Not Break the Law” into the mud.
Yet within just twenty-four hours, the situation had completely reversed—all because Guanjun had posted posted two book reviews in Weibo.
Although Zhuo Yixun had come forward to apologize, and many netizens felt she was just bad with words, with the underlying issue still being that “Whipping the Wind with a Bold Blade” was trying to step on others to rise, Mu Yao didn’t think she was innocent at all. If it was really just misspeaking, why had she stayed completely silent while she was benefiting from it, only offering a belated apology after the backlash hit?
Of course, Mu Yao wasn’t trying to defend “Whipping the Wind with a Bold Blade” either. In her eyes, the two sides were just colluding with each other.
Fortunately, the female lead of “A True Hero Does Not Break the Law” was Xia Wenxin. Mu Yao truly wanted to say, “Thank you, Zhuo Yixun, for not taking the role.”
It seemed that everything was fated.
As she casually scrolled through Weibo, she came across a post from the official account of “A True Hero Does Not Break the Law” releasing character stills.
Mu Yao nearly screamed. From the moment this production’s Weibo account had been created, aside from the photos taken when filming began, they had never released any other promotional material.
Given the recent turmoil, it wasn’t hard to guess that the production team had finally decided to respond to netizens because of the impact of the Zhuo Yixun incident.
For viewers like her who had been following the progress of the new drama, it could be called a blessing in disguise.
The first batch released featured the male and female leads.
The first photo showed the female lead flipping skewers at her food stall. The second showed the male lead sitting on a flower bed in the distance, eating skewers. The third showed the male lead standing at the female lead’s stall, buying skewers.
Through this set of stills, Mu Yao finally learned that the female lead of this drama was called Ye Wei and the male lead was called Shen Rui.
She decisively clicked save and stored these images. The storytelling vibe of the two lead actors was just too strong!
The topic “A True Hero Does Not Break the Law Stills” also surged onto the trending list, and netizens began discussing enthusiastically.
[Is this really urban martial arts? Which one of them is the martial arts expert?]
[I don’t see any martial arts world vibe at all. It just feels like I’m watching a romance at a barbecue stall (facepalm).]
[The person above is a genius, hahaha.]
[Setting everything else aside, in this day and age, there’s still a female lead who sells barbecue skewers?]
[Don’t look down on selling skewers. Street food vendors make more money than I do clocking in at work (crying bitterly).]
[Not looking down on it, but running a food stall really is hard work.]
[I feel like the official account is being sarcastic here. You are innocent and sincere because you were born as the eldest daughter of the Divine Weapon Manor, raised in luxury and protected your whole life. Yet in the end, you look down from your high horse and mock those struggling at the bottom for being too calculating.]
[Oh my gosh, the person above nailed it!]
[Looking closely at this set of stills, the male lead is sitting there, looking toward the camera with a very oppressive sense of pressure, as if he’s scrutinizing something. The female lead lowers her head, flipping skewers, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned, but her downcast eyes show no emotion at all.]
[??? You can see all that from just two pictures? Don’t mess with me!]
[Whoa, after reading your interpretation, I scrolled back up to look at the pictures again, and I really do get that feeling…]
Mu Yao saw this comment and couldn’t resist going back to the stills. When she opened them again, the atmosphere in the two individual photos really did feel more tense than the last group photo.
[Now that you mention it, I feel like in the third photo—the group shot—the two of them are putting on an act, both pretending to be very polite…]
[So what exactly is their relationship!!!]
[Could they be a sworn enemy CP? The kind with a history of grudges in the martial arts world, mutual enemies?]
[Xia Wenxin’s contrast is so striking. When I first saw this still, I immediately felt like Ye Wei was the kind of character who is good at reading people and keeps others at a distance. She’s so different from Sanxiu…]
[Sanxiu is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. This female lead feels like she’s warm on the outside but cold on the inside.]
[To put it this way: if you ran into danger outside, Sanxiu would definitely step forward to help you. But Ye Wei seems like the type who would turn around and run away (covering face).]
[The way ZYX spoke before must have been based on something. Otherwise, given Guanjun’s temperament, she would have directly tagged her.]
[Actually, Guanjun bringing up Princess Bai Rong was also an indirect way of saying that a character’s personality is shaped by their upbringing. You can’t judge a character as good or bad just based on whether they are cheerful or not.]
[The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Zhuo Yixun’s own breakout role was a female assassin—someone who grew up in an abnormal environment, spent her brief life yearning for an ordinary existence, and in the end, her final memory was of a family of three she had once seen on the road. And now she’s implying that other characters are insincere???]
[The pain of being backstabbed. Already, fans of the character are calling for separating the character from the actress…]
[What do I do? Now whenever I see the drama version of Ning Tang, I can’t help but imagine her accusing others of being insincere…]
[Weren’t we talking about “A True Hero Does Not Break the Law”? How did the conversation veer back to Ning Tang?]
Mu Yao clicked her tongue in amazement. Not long ago, the book fans of “Whipping the Wind with a Bold Blade” had been so looking forward to the drama version of Ning Tang. After all, among all the actors, Zhuo Yixun had the best combination of acting skills, reputation, and action scenes. Yet she had ended up making such a huge mess.
…
With nothing much to do, Ying Shi went back to the set of “A True Hero Does Not Break the Law” to watch the commotion. She pulled up a small stool, sat down next to director Yu Zhiyu, and observed the various roles on set.
As she watched, her attention was drawn to the young martial arts director who was instructing the supporting actors on their fight scenes.
He was tall, with a straight posture, wearing a cap. He was very patiently correcting the actors’ movements.
The more Ying Shi looked at him, the more familiar he seemed, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen him before.
She patted Yu Zhiyu beside her. “Who is that?”
Yu Zhiyu looked up. “Him? That’s Yi He. He was Wen Shangzhi from two years ago. I saw that you promoted that drama.”
As soon as she heard that, Ying Shi immediately remembered.
Wen Shangzhi was the second male lead in a xianxia drama from two years ago. He played a heavenly prodigy of the immortal sects and the older brother of the female lead, who depended on him.
At the time, that drama didn’t have a big budget. But it broke out thanks to the actors’ looks, a thoughtful plot, and impressive action scenes. Although the special effects were lacking, and it had no money for marketing, it still managed to stand out through strong word-of-mouth, becoming a hit dark horse drama that year.
And the most standout character in it was Wen Shangzhi.
Wen Shangzhi was a tragic figure. As an older brother, he had to protect his sister. As a sect leader, he had to hold his sect together. As a heavenly prodigy of the immortal sects, he had to resist the invasion of evil.
But he could never live simply as Wen Shangzhi.
In the end, he used heaven and earth as paper, his flesh and blood as ink, to draw a sealing talisman, locking away the Abyss of Demons, and perishing along with his black iron spiritual sword within the killing intent of that talisman.
That character alone had wrung so many tears from the audience back then. Even though the actor was buried in scandals, it never diminished the character’s charm as a “pure moonlight” figure in the hearts of drama fans.
To this day, fans of the character still say the same thing: What do Yi He’s issues have to do with Wen Shangzhi?
But the scandals surrounding Yi He had emerged very strangely.
After the drama ended, its post-broadcast momentum was very strong. Most of the lead actors benefited from it and landed new jobs. Only Yi He had no movement at all.
And yet, he was the one with the most popularity and had gained the most fans.
Back then, rumors broke out from somewhere that the role of Wen Shangzhi was originally meant for another young traffic star, but for unknown reasons, the actor ultimately cast was Yi He.
Then the rumors spread, and it became that Yi He had connections and had stolen the role from someone else.
Hot on the heels of that came scandals about Yi He being involved in casting couch culture, along with a slew of unsupported “insider leaks” made up out of thin air, claiming he had messy relationships, a violent temper, no manners, and that he bossed his assistants around. There was even an assistant who actually came forward to accuse him.
Of course, in Ying Shi’s view, even the assistant’s allegations were vague and misleading.
Later, the producer of that dark horse xianxia drama came forward to clarify, saying that Wen Shangzhi had been set as Yi He from the very beginning. In the middle of production, an investor wanted to replace him, but the producer insisted on keeping Yi He. There was no “stealing the role” to speak of.
However, this clarification was quickly buried not long after. Subsequently, it even became “solid evidence” that Yi He had been involved in casting couch culture. After all, what producer would give up a traffic star who came with their own buzz, risk offending an investor, and insist on using a complete newcomer with no fame and no prior work?
Ying Shi remembered that there had indeed been rumors of an investor pulling out of that drama at the time, which was also why the production ended up being so underfunded.
As it so happened, the traffic star whose role was supposedly “stolen” was none other than Zhou Jingqian, the male lead of “Whipping the Wind with a Bold Blade.”
Zhou Jingqian had signed with Enyao Entertainment right from his debut. Two years ago, there were already rumors that he had been replaced by the director in a Baiying production.
If he lost that opportunity with Baiying, Enyao, wanting to offset that loss, planned to have him appear in a drama they themselves invested in, and chose the second male lead role—the one most likely to break out.
But the producer was very satisfied with Yi He’s performance and refused to replace him. Then Enyao threatened the production and pulled their investment.
Who would have guessed that the drama would become a hit, and the character would blow up even more?
Feeling embarrassed, Enyao started to smear Yi He.
As for why they waited until after the drama finished airing to start the smear campaign—it was probably because they couldn’t afford to offend the streaming platform. Fruit TV had made a lot of money from that dark horse drama…
Ying Shi: “System, is my speculation correct?”
【Do you want to exchange points for the truth behind the “Wen Shangzhi casting”?】
Ying Shi decisively refused: “No exchange. I’ll just have the Special Investigation Office look into it.”
【……】