“Why can’t you slap me for real? It’s our job anyway.” Yan Huan touched her face, “Your job is to slap, and mine is to offer my face. But, you’ve got to perform well. I don’t want to go through that a second time, so it’d better be a one-shot take. My face is in your hands.”
“Alright.” Xu Nuo bit his teeth and agreed.
Yan Huan nodded toward the director, and Yan Hua understood her. He had been preparing to shoot. There would not be a problem with the front part, as Yan Huan and Xu Nuo had practiced several times in private. Yan Huan often practiced with Xu Nuo, so they were already familiar with each other, and did not seem to be working together for the first time. Sometimes a glance or a movement was all they needed to read each other’s minds. They knew what to do, so when one of them had problems, the other one could improvise the performance immediately. Scenes with the presence of both of them were rarely cut, and the outcomes came out quite naturally.
However, during the last scene, when Xu Nuo as the emperor raised his hand and was about to slap the empress, his hand hung high, but eventually, he still could not slap her.
“Cut,” Yan Hua shouted for a pause again.
“What happened?” Yan Hua was left wondering. The shooting has been progressing well with lots of one-shot takes, but how come so many shots are taken for this scene? Did he not get the feeling?
“Try again.” Yan Huan tidied her clothes and touched her face again, smiling toward Xu Nuo. “It’s fine, just give my face a solid slap. Make it as real as it can be. I won’t blame you anyway. Well, if you slap me, then I’ll slap your homewrecker in return.”
With a puff, Xu Nuo laughed out loud and baffled everyone else. No one knew why he laughed so randomly. Is he going nuts because Yan Hua cut him off too many times?
The homewrecker! Oh, right, the homewrecker! Very well then, just slap the homewrecker in the face. He would not be sorry for them.
“Your Majesty, are you even worthy of the world, your people and your ancestors? Are you really going to abandon your ancestor ceremonies, abandon your land, abandon your people? How are you any different from a foolish ruler if you do so?”
Along with a snap, the emperor stretched out his hand to give the empress a hard slap on her face. It was so loud that it shocked everyone else. No one noticed that the emperor’s hand was slightly trembling, clenching into a fist then letting it go.
Holding her face, the empress suddenly turned her body around, her red lips twitched but her smile became stiff. The emperor flung his robes and left without looking back.
It was only then.
The empress laughed.
“Haha, ha…” Laughing, the light rays in her eyes shattered, but the tears welled up never rolled down.
“Your Majesty, my lady,” Granny Liu standing beside hurried to her, an aged hand carefully putting on the empress’ swollen face, “What has His Majesty done to you? You are the empress, the mother of the nation, of our Qing dynasty.”
“So what?” The emperor had still slapped her in the face. The empress was still smiling, but she could not hold back the thin, almost transparent mist in her eyes.
“Who am I in His Majesty’s heart? What am I to him?” Slowly, she shut her eyes, unable to bear the tears gathered in her eyes any longer. It dripped from her eyes, tracing down her cheek, and went across her swollen cheek.
No matter how noble a woman is, she will have times where she would grieve. She may be an empress, but she is still a woman.
Yan Hua nodded with satisfaction. This drama, this shot is totally perfect.
As Yan Hua shouted for a pause, Xu Nuo hurried toward her, “Hey, are you alright?” He asked if he hit Yan Huan too hard earlier out of concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine, I am really fine.” Yan Huan waved her hands, she grimaced in pain upon saying the words, “This is totally normal. Don’t worry about it.”
Right, she remembered that there were still some parts that were not shot yet.
“I think we should take the shots for the empress dowager, you see,” She pointed at her face, “The look is really good, I don’t even need to do makeup.”
Yan Hua chuckled, “That’s a great suggestion from you. Alright, let’s stay back and take the shots for the empress dowager, then there’ll be more time for the remaining shots, and everyone can go home earlier today. ”
Apparently no one objected to the decision of staying back for such a reason. In fact, they were more than willing to do so. It was also a coincidence that the empress dowager makeup was not removed. Yan Huan applied some makeup so that she would look fine. They could save time for the makeup artist and videographer, so why not?
After half an hour, the shots for the empress dowager were all taken. Everyone could pack their things up and return earlier to rest.
Yan Huan removed the makeup on her face and changed into her own clothes. There would not be any of her shots in the afternoon. Moreover, she could not do shooting anymore, given her swollen face. The remaining shots were Qing Jun’s who was played by Su Muran, about a sickeningly romantic storyline where the male and female lead shared stronger chemistry.
“Tsk…” Luo Lin stared at half of her face, “It’s badly swollen.”
“I’m devoting myself to art,” Yan Huan did not feel anything except when she was eating. It was an excruciating soreness that she thought her teeth were going to be knocked out.
“Right, you and your devotion.” Luo Lin did not know how to reprimand her. Nevertheless, this was why Yan Huan could reach her current status in acting. She took filming seriously; she was using her body, her everything to portray a character. Every character was a heartfelt character, and she performed each with her genuine effort.
After eating, Yan Huan was rather tired and leaned on the chair to sleep. Luo Lin went over and covered her with a coat. Yan Huan’s face was still swollen, and it seemed worse.
She shook her head and sat beside Yan Huan. Others had finished their food and were sitting together to discuss the storyline, except for the haughty Su Muran.
Yan Huan slept around one hour. By the time she woke up, the studio was already full of activities.
Whenever there were no shots involving her, she sat aside, either memorizing her lines or watching others acting. Truth to be told, be it a new rising star or an experienced actor, anyone would have a light within them that needed their effort to seek it themselves.
She sat on the chair and placed the book of lines on her lap. Luo Lin took an ointment, walked toward her and stooped down to gently apply it on her face.
“What do you think your man would do if he came and saw you like this?”
Yan Huan put her hand on the face, “He won’t talk to me, and will ignore me.”
She could not help from touching her face. Luo Lin promptly smacked her hand, “Don’t you move, I have just applied ointment. Why must you touch it?”
