I have a persona specifically for acting.

The director and staff monitored the shooting situation from the control room.

Holographic filming, similar to the quick-transmission themes in web novels, requires main actors to stay at the film studio throughout the shoot to maintain continuity. Unlike traditional films, which can be shot out of sequence, holographic filming must follow the chronological order of the script, with very few retakes. This is to minimize the changes in the performance of the “original self” based on real-life experiences, as closed shooting is designed to reduce these fluctuations.

Before closed shooting became popular, there was an actor who performed the role of a playboy well in the first half of the month. By mid-month, after being cheated on by his girlfriend, he was deeply affected and turned to Buddhism, refusing to flirt with women during the shoot. This forced a recast and reshoot. The original actor became a monk and occasionally took on roles requiring handsome monks.

He was known as the “Buddhist Idol,” a rare example of a successful career transformation in the entertainment industry.

“Director, can she handle this? Last time, even Wen Zhuo couldn’t bring her into character,” the assistant director said with a worried expression.

Wen Zhuo, who played the male lead as Emperor Ming, was somewhat known for his acting skills. He was strong and well-suited for roles such as emperor and domineering CEO. Having debuted as a lead in idol dramas, he valued the opportunity to star in serious dramas. Although he had some reservations about the relationship with Tong Zhao, he still cooperated with the audition.

After the audition, his mood had somewhat deteriorated.

On the original timeline, due to Tong Zhao’s poor performance during her first audition, the “original self” had a negative opinion of her, leading to a superficial portrayal of the Emperor’s favor towards the concubine. It came across as a plastic relationship, resulting in a subpar effect.

After Wen Zhuo left the studio and watched the footage, he was deeply disheartened.

…

In the scene, the frail Empress was trying to promote her cousin to Emperor Ming during dinner.

In the story, this cousin was not close to the Empress.

She was selected from the Chen family by a family decision and promised to outshine the harem with her beauty.

“Legend of Emperor Ming” has a light-hearted tone, focusing on events not covered in official history, with interactions between the Emperor and two ministers, and the daily life in the harem as a subplot. The concubine, who is introduced later, represents a dark chapter during Emperor Ming’s reign—a notorious beauty disaster that became a topic of interest for future generations.

The Emperor and Empress had a distant and discordant relationship. Emperor Ming disliked the Empress’s power-grabbing ways and showed a frosty demeanor when she tried to promote the new Chen family girl. Only after the girl showcased her gentle charm did the Emperor’s demeanor slowly soften.

This was the script.

But on the monitoring screen, after hearing this, Emperor Ming, played by Wen Zhuo, darkened his expression and immediately stood up to leave!

“What’s going on?” the assistant director asked in surprise.

“It seems that Wen Zhuo dislikes Tong Zhao too much, which is affecting his ‘original self’ behavior,” another person whispered.

So, instinctive films are not easily salvaged by repeated takes.

An actor’s emotions can affect the behavior of their “original self.”

“Should we pause? If the Emperor Ming refuses to even meet the concubine, the entire shoot will be impossible,” the assistant director inquired.

“Let’s wait a bit…”

Just as the director was sinking into deep concern, a delicate hand pulled aside the curtain, and Tong Zhao stepped forward to perform a grand bow. She had her hair in an elegant bun, and as she bowed her head, it was lower than usual, deliberately exposing a section of her snowy-white neck. Under the dim candlelight, it created a delicate, silky visual effect.

Men are visual creatures.

While the chest, waist, and legs are often associated with sexiness, Tong Zhao believed that the real erogenous zone is the mind. Sexiness is based on imagination; it can be a glimpse of the back of the neck, an exposed ankle, or a delicate silver bell on a slender wrist.

By exposing vulnerable areas and attracting the gaze of the predator, it evokes affection.

This is the experience summed up by the long-reigning favorite concubine in the harem.

Returning to conquer the Emperor with the experience of a top-ranked favored concubine is like using a dragon-slaying sword to deal with the deer in a beginner’s village.

As everyone inside and outside the scene was nervously waiting, Emperor Ming stopped in his tracks and looked at the young woman kneeling before him.

“Raise your head,” he commanded.

The staff outside the scene breathed a sigh of relief, and the director zoomed in to give Tong Zhao a close-up.

Tong Zhao lifted her face, showing no sign of timidity before the emperor.

Her snow-white skin and pink dress made her face look like a peach blossom.

Her almond-shaped eyes were full of laughter, with a clean and sweet aura. Her bright, full lips were slightly curved, irresistibly alluring.

Every inch of her was beautiful, with no flaws to be found.

One couldn’t help but wonder, hidden beneath the fabric, was every part was equally flawless?

She was too beautiful.

The staff faced with this stunning beauty felt their hearts skip a beat. The young man in charge of monitoring equipment murmured, “Tong Zhao’s original self is more charming than the real person.” The assistant director nodded in surprise, “She was so lost in the first audition in front of the Emperor Ming, and now she performs so well in the second try. No wonder she’s the daughter of the legendary Tong actress.”

“Of course, I’ve always said Zhao Zhao has talent.” The director loved hearing praise for his star and became even more convinced that he hadn’t made a mistake in choosing her.

Let’s return to the scene.

Emperor Ming was so impressed that he helped Tong Zhao to her feet and allowed her to dine with him.

During the meal, Tong Zhao showed no signs of nervousness. She cast flirtatious glances at Emperor Ming, behaving like a perfect fox spirit. Emperor Ming, in turn, wore a gentle and amused expression, clearly captivated by this bold and beautiful young woman. “Just now, I was very fortunate…” He paused, feeling that this statement might be inappropriate.

Tong Zhao did not rush him and continued to gaze at him.

“I almost missed out on such a wonderful young lady.”

…

In the monitoring room, the staff had complex expressions.

The lead actor, Song Wanzhuo, was known for his upright character and had no rumors of scandal. Previously, as a leading man in idol dramas, he had always been portrayed as a seasoned professional, endearing himself to female fans. But now…

Who is this dog emperor completely entranced by beauty?

Although he performed his role excellently and the character of Emperor Ming was supposed to be like this, it seemed he had taken it too far!

“This,” the assistant director revealed the truth, “Wanzhuo has been drawn into the scene by Tong Zhao.”

……

The next part of the story shows that even though Emperor Ming knew everything was arranged by the Empress and the Chen family, he couldn’t resist favoring the Chen girl and officially designated her as Chen Mei. Since the scene needed to pass approval, no bed scenes were filmed. Instead, actors would have a brief memory of intimacy inserted by the equipment before switching scenes.

To enhance the likelihood of the Emperor Ming actor being captivated by the beauty, the scriptwriters cleverly set this vague memory to be extremely pleasurable.

After being designated as a beauty, Tong Zhao only had four scenes left.

These four scenes could be summarized in eight words:

Troublemaking and insatiable.

The assistant director smiled and said, “Brother Jian, you can finally rest easy.”

“There’s no such thing as resting easy when shooting a primal film. I’m quite worried that Tong Zhao won’t perform well. Although the problematic content has long been written into the character’s mind, based on what I know of Tong Zhao, she’s a sweet and easy-going girl, not at all troublesome, very considerate, and caring about others’ feelings…”

Just as the director finished speaking, the monitoring screen showed Tong Zhao, who had been excused from the next day’s audience with the Empress, comfortably refusing to see the Empress and instead lounging on the dragon bed. A nervous palace maid who had been assigned with her was anxiously discussing the implications, but Tong Zhao was nonchalantly relaxed, saying, “The Empress wants to use me to bear a child, but I won’t fulfill her wish. Once you enter the palace, you belong to the Emperor; let the Chen family face their own flood.”

The senior palace maid was even more worried after hearing this. However, after the secret guard reported back to the Emperor, Emperor Ming was very pleased.

Director: “What was the original range of the lines here?”

Screenwriter: “It was a complaint about how the Chen family treated her poorly and used her; it was meant to be quite tragic. I intended for the audience to sympathize with her, as even despicable people have their pitiable aspects.”

But Tong Zhao’s performance was not tragic at all.

She was extremely happy, living much better than she had in the Chen family.

When actors enter a holographic shoot, they are infused with character settings, memories, and certain behavioral directives. Since the role of the consort is a minor female character with limited detail, the setting is relatively thin, giving the actor a lot of leeway—she is a beauty who brings disaster but without a specific style, so she can be either a delicate green tea or a seductive red tea, as long as it aligns the main storyline in a general sense.

People noticed that Tong Zhao’s portrayal of the favored consort was, well, how to put it?

Too cute and naive.

Her interactions with Emperor Ming, full of coquettishness and cuteness, turned a historical drama into an idol drama with a pink bubble. Even the middle-aged assistant director was starting to believe in love again. It seemed she wasn’t constrained by her background setting at all, showing no fear of the Emperor. Every word and action hit the Emperor’s cute spots perfectly.

When interacting with the Emperor, Tong Zhao’s portrayal of Consort Chen includes a small gesture.

She likes to take the Emperor’s large hand in hers, nestling her small face into it with a sense of devotion, like a little dog entirely devoted to him. Her bright eyes also look up at him with a moist gaze, making the usually domineering Emperor Ming soften completely.

This small gesture is memorable and leaves an impression on the audience.

“It’s troubling; Tong Zhao’s portrayal doesn’t seem bad at all,” said the lighting technician.

She is very favored, but she lacks the edge of a wicked woman.

“However, their interactions are quite cute. After the show airs, there might be a new ship.”

“Ha ha, forget it. How many female viewers don’t have their own opinions on our show…”

The filming went smoothly, and the backstage atmosphere was good. At this moment, one person’s expression changed: “Zhang Meng, who plays the Empress, is planning to deal a deadly blow to Consort Chen. A colorless and tasteless poison has been mixed into today’s meal and has already been served to Tong Zhao!”

How could this happen?

In the storyline, the Empress’s dissatisfaction with her cousin develops gradually.

Zhang Meng is also a rather steady actor.

Screenwriter: “It might be because Tong Zhao’s performance was too arrogant. She didn’t even go to pay her respects and acted as if, having slept with the Emperor, she had no intention of doing anything for her family, which might have provoked the already anxious and ill Empress.”

Assistant Director: “And now she wants to take drastic measures?”

The screenwriter insisted, “Characters need to be exaggerated to have tension. If they’re ordinary and we don’t exaggerate the setting, the plot becomes bland!”

…

At this point, it was indeed quite exaggerated—Consort Chen hadn’t even become a favored consort yet and was about to be done away with.

The director made a quick decision: “Give the palace maid next to Tong Zhao a direct command to overturn that bowl of soup.”

A direct command involves controlling a character to perform a specific action. Afterward, the character will be puzzled by their own behavior, making it a tool for urgent situations and not suitable for repeated use as it can be obvious to the audience.

“There’s no time left!”

On-screen, Tong Zhao had already picked up the delicate porcelain soup bowl.

She sniffed the soup with her dainty nose.

Although she could only smell the rich aroma of chicken soup, her brows furrowed, and her soft lips curled into a mocking smile:

“Is this it?”