Yun Ziqi was the first to strike.
It's clear that the "Imperial Enterprise" project is extremely important to him.
With Xiao He already in the picture, and now this unfamiliar guy popping up, this is undoubtedly a major headache for Yun Ziqi.
He also prefers to keep all unstable factors under his own control.
So, under everyone's gaze, Yun Ziqi went straight to the young man's side, and then put on the faint smile that Xiao He was familiar with. It looked neither deliberately flattering nor malicious. He was truly a gentle and friendly person.
However, everyone knows that whoever makes the first move is the most impatient person here.
"Hello, my name is Yun Ziqi. Are you also here to audition for the Emperor Chen position?"
Yun Ziqi extended his hand, wanting to shake hands with the other person.
The others immediately perked up their ears, intently listening to what was happening on this side.
The man, who had been looking down at the script, looked up at Yun Ziqi with some confusion upon hearing her words. He then nodded slightly and said, "Hello," with a hint of coldness and aloofness on his face.
He sounds like someone who is not easy to approach and has a rather aloof personality.
Yun Ziqi didn't mind the other party's distant attitude, and continued to sit down and ask, "What's your name? I don't think I've seen you before."
"Yang Heng".
The other party replied indifferently.
Surname Yang?
Xiao He immediately matched it with Director Yang Li's surname.
So it really is related to Director Yang.
Yun Ziqi's thoughts were clearly the same as Xiao He's. Upon hearing that the other party's surname was Yang, his smile deepened: "Ah, your surname is Yang? Is Director Yang Li your elder? I have worked with Director Yang Li many times before, and I feel that I have never encountered this surname before."
These were clearly just empty words to build rapport; their main purpose was to probe the relationship between Yang Heng and Director Yang Li. Yang Heng, however, seemed completely unconcerned, simply nodding indifferently and casually saying, "He is my fourth uncle."
Immediately, the people around him showed expressions of sudden realization.
Wow, that's a really strong connection.
Xiao He inwardly grumbled.
However, the fact that they were able to stay until the last round and unsurprisingly expose their "nepotism" is enough to show that they are very confident.
This must be a formidable character.
"Ah, I never imagined that Director Yang was actually your fourth uncle..."
Yun Ziqi wanted to continue the conversation, but Yang Heng frowned impatiently at him, as if he wanted to say something.
Fortunately, before he could speak, the senior who recognized Yang Heng first stood up, walked over, and greeted him: "Little Yang, it's been a long time. Do you still remember me? We met backstage at the National Theatre last time."
That short sentence temporarily stopped Yang Heng from saying what he was about to say to Yun Ziqi.
The remaining actor also stood up and walked over, clearly intending to take this opportunity to socialize.
So the candidates have all gathered together.
Xiao He felt embarrassed to continue standing alone by the window in the wind, so he simply stepped over to greet him.
It was at this moment that the senior actor introduced Xiao Yang to everyone with a slightly more solemn tone: "Xiao Yang is the youngest principal representative of the National Theatre of China. Don't let his young age of twenty-one fool you; he has already starred in many national-level plays and performed on important stages of CCTV. At such a young age, he has already won numerous international awards and is a key figure in the troupe's cultivation of a new generation of leading figures..."
As the senior spoke, the people present caught their breath imperceptibly.
Without a doubt, a ruthless genius has arrived.
No wonder he's so arrogant; he really has the ability and background to back it up.
Although he has been deeply involved in the field of stage plays, the genre of period dramas often involves many national-level stage actors to enhance the acting and performances, so crossing between the two fields is not too difficult. Moreover, now that a well-educated and highly capable stage actor has come up to compete for the role of Emperor Chen, it is hard to imagine what Qiu Zhenlong's plans are.
If we were to rank them by favorability, Qiu Zhenlong would definitely give this young man a standing ovation the moment he appeared!
Yun Ziqi still had a smile on his face, but the coldness in his eyes could no longer be concealed.
Yang Heng, who was being solemnly introduced, seemed oblivious to the subtle wary glances from the others. His gaze fell on Xiao He, and the coldness on his face finally softened a bit. In the end, he even reached out his hand to Xiao He in front of everyone: "Teacher Xiao, your performance in 'The Twelve Mirrors' was truly impressive. I never expected to meet you here today."
Xiao /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ He was somewhat surprised, then extended his hand as well, smiling and nodding: "The 'Twelve Mirrors' was last year, I didn't expect Teacher Yang to still remember this stage, I'm really a little embarrassed."
"Don't be shy. I've watched the stage design for 'The Twelve Mirrors' many times, and I still think it's incredibly clever, especially the lighting and sound effects during the personality transformations. These are all important factors in its great success. Your method of capturing and amplifying a particular characteristic of the character is also excellent, perfectly masking your inability to handle all roles..."
Yang Heng began to talk at length about the stage play "Twelve Mirrors" that Xiao He performed at his birthday party, and Xiao He's smile almost froze on his face.
If Yang Heng hadn't become visibly agitated, Xiao He would have almost suspected that the other party was deliberately picking a fight.
While the stage design was indeed intended to be clever and cover up the flaws of a few mismatched characters, his blunt analysis is no different from directly exposing someone's weaknesses!
"hehe."
Yun Ziqi, standing to the side, let out a cold laugh that sounded like mockery.
Xiao He simply ignored him.
Coincidentally, Yang Heng also didn't intend to pay attention to Yun Ziqi. After chatting casually with Xiao He for a while, he returned to his indifferent demeanor.
And so the atmosphere turned cold.
About twenty minutes later, a staff member finally came in.
She was the first to hand out a name tag to Xiao He and then handed him the script for his upcoming audition: "Mr. Xiao, please."
Unexpectedly, the first person to call out was Xiao He.
Xiao He sighed inwardly.
Based on this ranking, he should be the least anticipated.
Okay, thank you.
However, Xiao He quickly composed himself and began to look through the script in his hand.
At first glance, Xiao He raised an eyebrow slightly.
This is a truly dramatic drama.
The story recounts the first serious political conflict between Emperor Chen and Chancellor Zhang, who assisted him in becoming emperor, in the second year of his reign.
At this time, Emperor Chen had shed some of the fierceness of a military general and learned the art of imperial balance. However, he still favored military rule, believing that military preparedness could not be abandoned, laws could not be broken, and that the world would not be at peace if the borders were not secure.
Zhang Xiang was also a remarkable man. He had followed Emperor Chen from the beginning and was a trusted confidant who helped Emperor Chen establish his career. He made great contributions, but he believed that since the world was now settled, civil affairs should be valued more than military affairs, and that the number of soldiers and taxes should be reduced, and that the government should govern by doing nothing.
The two sides have fundamentally disagreed on their approaches to governing the country.
The two met in the study many times, but neither could convince the other. In the end, they even took the matter to the political arena, but it still ended in a bad breakup.
These dialogue scenes are quite important parts of the entire "Imperial Ambition". The main point is that "both sides have their own reasons", which not only highlights the state of the parties involved, but also makes the audience feel that both sides have their own reasons, and makes them unable to help but jump back and forth with the speakers' perspectives.
This fundamental clash of ideas has become a topic of discussion among many historians. Leaving that aside, Xiao He realized from this scene that director Qiu was testing him.
The core of this dramatic scene lies not in whether he agrees with either side's position, but in his performance.
