There’s no way to burn it, in the end Shi Yuhuai was forced to become the story basket.
At least this time it’s not Li Yang telling the story, it’s the succinct An Zhou instead.
"This time we focused on my character. By 2222, programmers can already design small holographic game worlds. Shu Ran and Li Yang are game characters under my coded settings, but confusion arose between the real world and the game world, and I was thrown into the game world where I met these two characters.
Since I’m the designer, I’m clear about their plot direction, so to have a place to stay, I used some tricks to make Shu Ran fall in love with me, then openly moved into the General Mansion, and then schemed to make the young general Li Yang suffer his first defeat and successfully become the enemy’s strategist. Then it’s the love, hate, family, and country feud between the three of us."
Truly a veteran actor, a person who made a comeback relying on villain roles and was favored by directors of serious dramas, able to forcibly elevate the theme.
Ambitious vision.
"But I think this won’t be easy to act," Mu Qiu said earnestly, "This setup is too big and broad, with many characters involved, like the enemy leader, the owner of the General Mansion, and perhaps even scenes of two armies clashing."
"Unless... you only portray one conflict, or act it out through a heart-to-heart after the dust settles, then it might work."
"A heart-to-heart after the dust settles? What do you mean?" An Zhou showed some interest.
Mu Qiu pulled Cheng Zhirang, standing beside Shi Yuhuai, demonstrating to him.
"For example, the three of us can be set to gather only at the end of the story, reflecting on past wrongs and animosities through memories or verbally insulting Brother Huai.
You could also bring the ending forward, using facial expressions, actions, and dialogue to deliver your set scenario, although it feels challenging."
An Zhou: "Interesting, not afraid of difficulty..."
"No, no, no," Li Yang immediately stopped his "suicidal" performance idea, looking distressed, "An Zhou, I can’t act yet. Consider us, being out of character would deduct votes."
"...Then let’s reconsider."
The three of them backed away, and Shi Yuhuai’s vision filled with Guan Yu’s magnified face.
"Hey, Brother Huai, it’s our turn to tell the story."
Shi Yuhuai: "......"
So desperate to escape, yet unable to.
Guan Yu cleared his throat, earnestly embellishing the story they newly thought up again.
"Firstly, this is still a story of a female protagonist’s time travel, but it’s not limited to love affairs; we’ve also added themes of family and nation’s importance!
I am a poor orphan, having nothing to wear since childhood, only able to make do by wearing other’s old shirts. Likely poverty was offensive to the heavens, a bolt of lightning struck me to ancient times, and I crashed into a deep mountainous area and was saved by an injured eunuch.
This eunuch is Xu Jihua, who unintentionally offended the Prince, Song Weili, and was ordered by the Emperor to have his family confiscated and exiled. His whole family perished, leaving him castrated and abandoned in the woods to fend for himself.
Sounds familiar, right? Generally, those who survive great calamities will surely stir up storms. Xu Jihua and I barely survived for several years and encountered Song Weili in disguise as a rich man, pretending not to recognize him, while Song Weili fell for me, and naturally, I fell for Xu Jihua who shared my struggles.
So, Xu Jihua wants to kill Song Weili, Song Weili wants to kill Xu Jihua, and I wanted to help Xu Jihua to kill Song Weili. However, as a tender woman, I couldn’t do it, eventually thinking Song Weili wasn’t too bad and to prevent more deaths, I embraced Xu Jihua and committed suicide. Song Weili lived on in agony, worse than death, and became the Emperor."
Mu Qiu lowered his hand, pretending to wipe tears: "Sob, sob, sob, it’s actually a tragedy, such a touching plot."
Shu Ran couldn’t stand it: "Be normal, you’re giving me goosebumps."
Mu Qiu restrained: "Okay, I’ll be normal. This story unexpectedly isn’t bad, but a lot of plot to act out."
"I think so too, conflicts aren’t centralized. You can use the previous story as a prelude and act directly from the middle or later part."
Cheng Zhirang rarely offered some critique.
Xu Jihua nodded: "Indeed, quite a lot, but at least the overall direction is set, just need to finalize details and decide which part to enact."
"I have a query."
Shu Ran raised a hand: "Everyone’s costumes are just this set, right? Doesn’t this mean once shown, the act must match the outfit? Guan Yu in the later parts, still being a poorly dressed person?"
Guan Yu made two sounds: "What do you mean by poorly dressed? Can you clarify, it’s called unique styling; exposing a lot isn’t the same as streaking!"
Shu Ran naturally rolled his eyes: "Pretty much the same. Your level of exposure equals streaking in ancient times."
"We didn’t consider this, need to rethink." Xu Jihua said.
Each shared their own story, and the three groups had no reason to stay in the broken temple teasing Shi Yuhuai any longer. Before Shi Yuhuai could explode, they slipped away.
Mu Qiu frowned as he walked out of the broken temple, thoughtfully gazing at the surrounding buildings.
Cheng Zhirang bowed his head, gently asked: "What’s wrong? Any new ideas?"
"I think our story still won’t work. Theirs, though hard at arranging roles, is actually full of drama. Ours is one of those stories where people can see the end at a glance, still not stimulating enough."
Cheng Zhirang’s eyelid jumped: "Not stimulating enough yet?"
Mu Qiu glanced at him: "Where are we going with this."
"...I think it’s already okay."
"Not enough," Mu Qiu handed the sword over and, looking at the sunlit sparkling water in the nearby canal, suddenly asked: "Brother Cheng, have you played the Crown Prince before?"
"I have."
"What about a villainous Crown Prince?"
"Played that too."
"Then, one who does all evil as a villainous Crown Prince?"
Cheng Zhirang didn’t know if she wanted to cast him in such a thoroughly evil role again, but answered honestly: "That, not really. Usually concealed major villains aren’t completely evil, they act on a particular matter."
"Then, no need for a master villain, just do one bad thing thoroughly, everything else in good person mode."
Mu Qiu spoke slowly, turning to look at Cheng Zhirang, as if evaluating a finely carved jade worth showing off.
"Let’s add some excitement."