Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 614: The Turmoil Around Historical Drama ”Imperial Enterprise”

After hanging up the phone, Liu Rulan walked in.

”Youʼre starting a new company?”

She had overheard part of the conversation.

”Yeah, I just found out too. AI tech companies get some policy perks and support. If I keep going down the entertainment route, I wonʼt be able to enjoy those tax benefits, and thereʼll be a lot of other problems along the way.”

Xiao He explained.

”I know. Actually, I was thinking about having you set up a separate company too,” Liu Rulan said. ”Need me to help find people?”

”I asked Lin Cheng and my old teacher to each recommend a few candidates. My requirements arenʼt that high for now, so it should be fine.”

Xiao He waved his hand casually.

”Alright then.”

Liu Rulan wasnʼt too familiar with tech companies or the relevant procedures either. Since Xiao He had specialists handling it, she didnʼt press further. Instead, she brought up the historical drama project.
”The production teamʼs name has officially been revealed, but unfortunately, due to various reasons, the public audition for this one has been delayed.”

Liu Rulan crossed her arms and added, ”You might not have noticed when you posted on Weibo earlier, but a few old acquaintances of yours are also hanging around your related tags today.”

”Huh? They made it onto Hot Search too? I honestly had no idea.”

Xiao He immediately jumped back onto Weibo to check.

[”Imperial Enterprise” Production Team Prepares! Casting Sparks Alleged Fan Protests Over Roles!]

This Hot Search was sitting right below their Spring Festival Gala rehearsal entry, so Xiao He had completely missed it earlier.

But now that he clicked in, he realized just how many netizens were gathered under this tag, munching on melon seeds and voicing their opinions.

Once he got a clear picture of the situation, Xiao He could only describe it with a single word: ”Holy shit.”

This whole mess really owed thanks to those paparazzi Huang Mang had brought in. Theyʼd been tailing Jingyou Entertainmentʼs people day in and day out, snapping photos nonstop. Within just three days, theyʼd dug up the project team Jingyou Entertainment was planning to heavily invest in for ”Imperial Enterprise.” The paparazzi wasted no time selling the scoop, and major marketing accounts jumped on it, reposting and hyping it up.

Instantly, this attracted countless eyes.

And for good reason—the historical figure that ”Imperial Enterprise” was based on was none other than the famous founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty in Chinaʼs history: Emperor Chen.

”Imperial Enterprise” told the story of his glorious life: rising from a young general, pacifying wars, driving out foreign invaders, sweeping across the land, and forging a bloody ironclad empire.

(Fictional history! Fictional history! Fictional history!)

For the record, since this character started as a young general fighting his way up, even after unifying the realm and establishing a brand-new dynasty, and finally dying of illness, he was only thirty-two years old. Across all of Chinaʼs history, this founding emperor was uniquely short-lived—a textbook case of heaven being jealous of genius. He was the quintessential tragic figure, the white moonlight that countless later generations sighed over.

He achieved in his youth what others could only dream of accomplishing in half a lifetime or even their entire lives. And then he fell in his prime, successfully avoiding the stubbornness and senility that plagued many emperors in their later years. This added a layer of profound historical regret and sorrow to his character, making him a favorite subject for many historians.

In fact, countless historians had speculated about all sorts of scenarios where he didnʼt die young, trying to patch up the gaps left by history. But maybe thatʼs the beauty of history—countless later generations gaze at it through a veil of mist, so close, yet so far across the river of time, hazy and beautiful, blurred and cruel.

A character like this was almost impossible for anyone to replicate.

And he had far too many historical fans. Just a casual mention of him could trigger endless roasting and war of words.

To date, no actor had ever successfully portrayed this role.

Sure, there had been skilled actors who took part in early serious historical dramas, but they were unfortunately too old. It was hard to look at a forty-year-old face and imagine the twenty-year-old Emperor Chen. Even if those veteran actorsʼ performances were widely praised by the public, people only acknowledged their acting skills, not the character they portrayed.

Later, after much back and forth, countless versions popped up. Even when the national team stepped in, they ended up retreating in defeat from this role.

Maybe the characterʼs aura was just too strong.

It was really tough for any actor (note: young actor) to overpower the aura of this character.

But there was no denying that almost every actor who played this role, along with the production teams involved, ended up gaining considerable attention. Whether it was fame or infamy, they all expanded their acting range and public goodwill through it.

This time, with the revival of a historical drama, the authorities above were clearly ambitious and determined to get it right.

But as soon as the preliminary lineup was leaked, the fans who cared about this started fighting.

And at the center of their fight was Yun Ziqi.

Just a while ago, when Yun Ziqi withdrew from the ”Snow Ridge Red Journey” production team, rumors about his sensitive background had already hit the Hot Search.

Because of his self-proclaimed identity as a descendant of the Plain Yellow Banner, everyone had been fiercely arguing for quite a while. In the end, it took Yun Ziqi personally apologizing and claiming he was just an ignorant kid boasting nonsense to barely sweep the matter under the rug.

So why was he being dragged out again now?

It was because the previous incident hadnʼt been fully resolved.

Even though Yun Ziqi had apologized, netizens werenʼt fools. They could still deduce his true family background from the way his career resources had developed over the years. So, they still couldnʼt quite accept him.

And coincidentally, someone had discovered that Yun Ziqiʼs grandfather and great-grandfatherʼs generation had emigrated overseas early on to develop their lives abroad. It wasnʼt until his fatherʼs generation that they returned to China and had him with his mother.

Anyone who studied history knew that those who fled abroad back then were definitely running away to seek refuge.

Combine that with Yun Ziqiʼs self-proclaimed family identity, and it was hard not to suspect whether his ancestors who emigrated overseas had been targeted and had to escape amid the chaos.

That made things even more complicated. His family history was ”very unclean”!

Back then, those people who fled had taken countless important Chinese antiques and valuable items with them, then escaped abroad to continue their luxurious lives.

Now that the country was strong and prosperous, they came back, using the wealth they had taken to re-establish themselves in the Capital and continue thriving.

Whether this was just netizensʼ speculation or the truth, once this story came out, a lot of people got red-hot with anger.

And when they thought about Yun Ziqi shamelessly trying to play a hero, netizens were absolutely disgusted.

So now, seeing that Yun Ziqi wanted to audition for ”Imperial Enterprise,” everyone exploded. They started boycotting en masse. Along with Emperor Chenʼs historical fans, they launched a fierce protest, even calling for a boycott of the ”Imperial Enterprise” production teamʼs formation.

Maybe even Yun Ziqi himself hadnʼt expected that his relationship scandal, smoking scandal, moral scandal, and other damaging information hadnʼt affected his status or popularity, yet a single careless comment from his youth had caused his reputation to collapse like dominoes, unstoppable.

He probably didnʼt regret it.

Or maybe he did.

Just as he didnʼt understand why something that no one cared about back then had now become a sensitive topic that everyone attacked.