Translator: Vanilla Muse

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'The Rise and Fall of the World' was an epic fantasy drama, set against the backdrop of the Spring and Autumn (770‐476 BC) and Warring States (475‐221 BC) Period. The story had two major plot lines, the first one was about the power struggle among the various countries, and the second one was war between humanity and¹.

After Qiu Jin returned home, he read through the source novel once. The story was large scale and exciting. Various twists and turns pop up one after another in an endless stream of action. There was conspiracy and thrills. The ultimate focus was on humanity and patriotic feelings towards one's country.

The story itself was already exciting enough. If the cast and crew were to be more invested in the filming aspect and acting performance, it was likely to become a phenomenal production.

Thinking of this, Qiu Jin could not help but be eager to give this production a try.

Three days later, Liu Wei drove over to pick him up for the audition at a film and television company. When Qiu Jin opened the door, he saw that even Yang Chi was there.

"Why did you come too?"

"It's such a significant role after all."

Yang Chi was also a little nervous, but he was even more embarrassed. He had to go to the scene to keep an eye on things just in case Qiu Jin suffer a psychological blow in the audition and throw a tantrum at the site.

"Don't be nervous, it's not a particularly difficult role," Qiu Jin said.

Yang Chi became even more nervous. He was worried that the disparity between Qiu Jin's expectations and reality was too big, and he could not help giving a forewarning.

"As you know, domestic TV dramas are now starting to look like American dramas. It is said that 'The Rise and Fall of the World' has invested a full four hundred million yuan. The TV drama also imitates the fast pace of American dramas, with many twists and high requirements for makeup and acting."

Qiu Jin nodded.

"It is true that the requirements should be higher, otherwise it will not be worthy of such a good story."

"Hey, that's not the main point..."

Yang Chi was about to die of worry. He already said so much, so why wasn't Qiu Jin taking in any of his words?

"Then what is it?"

Qiu Jin glanced over.

It was obviously a normal action, but the moment he met his gaze, Yang Chi's heartbeat still sped up.

He opened his mouth but, in the end, he could not get himself to say it, so he just said, "Good luck. Don't give yourself too much pressure."

'It would be expected if you don't get chosen.'

This drama was Huayi Media's annual flagship TV series. Alone, they invested one hundred and fifty million yuan. Most of the early work for the drama was carried out under Huayi Media's arrangements.

By now, most of the roles have already been decided, and all the best actors and actresses were participating. The first male lead was being played by Xiang Xi, and the role that Qiu Jin was auditioning for — Ji He — was brothers with the main male lead. They crossed blades yet carried mutual understanding for each other.

The plot began in a turbulent era, when the imperial family was in declined during the final years of the An Dynasty, and the ² were fragmented.

In order to find an excuse to attack the An Dynasty, the strong eastern vassal state of Dongwu proposed a marriage alliance, intending to obtain the fourth princess of the An Dynasty, who was known as the greatest beauty under the heavens.

On the flip side, once the emperor of the An Dynasty, Ji Yuan agreed to this proposal, the monarch of Dongwu sent an assassin after the fourth princess.

As the date of the marriage drew nearer and nearer, the An Dynasty could not present a princess for marriage. At the same time, Dongwu's army was already preparing for action.

That was when someone thought of Ji He, the fourth princess's younger twin brother. When Ji He was born, a warlock had predicted that the fourth prince would destroy his country. So, while he was still an infant, he was sent off to the neighboring state of Xiqi, and in the blink of an eye, he had lived for over a decade as a hostage prince.

But now that the army was being overwhelmed, Ji Yuan could not care about some prophecy about the destruction of the country. He immediately sent someone to bring Ji He back.

The first scene Qiu Jin was going to audition for was when Ji He returned to his home country and was told by his father that he was going to impersonate his twin sister for the marriage alliance.

As soon as Qiu Jin arrived at the door, he saw Wen Mojia coming out of the room with a calm face and low spirits. But when Wen Mojia saw Qiu Jin, he quickly hid his low spirits.

"You actually came?"

Wen Mojia glanced at Qiu Jin. His voice was a little cold but without the insufferable arrogance of the past.

Qiu Jin nodded, pushed open the door, and walked in.

The room was not very spacious and there were seven people sitting inside. Qiu Jin recognized two of them.

The one in the middle was Director Yi Congqing. The man was slim and had sharp eyes. The other person that he recognized was the man that had pushed him out of the swimming pool when he first transmigrated to this world. He remembered that Ji Shenxiao called him Lu Pingyin at the time. He must be here to represent the investor of the drama.

The director's alertness was not bad, but the others seemed to be a little absent‐minded.

Presiding over auditions was a long and exhausting job. They watched repetitive performances over and over again, with each actor bringing their own flair to it. They had to cast people every day. This audition started at one thirty in the afternoon, and most people were exhausted by now.

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[1] 僵尸 – Chinese vampire / zombie.

[2] 諸侯 zhu hou – the rulers (dukes or princes) of the vassal states of Zhou during the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods.