Chapter 30: Naza's God-Tier Understanding

"The Legend of Jiang Yuyan?" Nazha furrowed her delicate brows.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it; the name Jiang Yuyan felt vaguely familiar, yet she couldn't place it no matter how hard she tried. After struggling to recall for a full half-minute, she gave up. "Brother Yang, which show is that from? It rings a bell, but I can't remember."

Zhang Yang had been waiting for this. "The leads are Nicholas Tse and Dicky Cheung."

"Impossible!" Nazha instinctively retorted. "I'm a die-hard fan of Nicholas Tse. He has never been in a show called *The Legend of Jiang Yuyan*, let alone one co-starring Dicky Cheung."

Like many others, Nazha had been a fan of Nicholas Tse since long before her debut. If he hadn't become so obsessed with his culinary career, combined with the setbacks of 2008 and the decline of the Hong Kong film industry, his achievements might have been even greater—though they were already impressive enough.

"Then tell me, what show did Nicholas Tse and Dicky Cheung star in together?" Zhang Yang countered.

"I know that, of course: *The Handsome Siblings*," Nazha replied fluently.

"And what is the name of the main female villain in that show?" Zhang Yang continued.

Nazha’s mind flashed to Liu Xi, but she quickly dismissed it—that was a eunuch. If she had to name a female villain, it would be the ruthless Yaoyue, but even she had her martial arts drained by Jiang Yuyan in the end.

"Jiang Yuyan!?" Nazha finally realized.

"Took you six seconds to answer." Zhang Yang glanced at his watch and chuckled. "Your reaction time is a bit slow."

Nazha suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "That show is clearly *The Handsome Siblings*. Why would you call it *The Legend of Jiang Yuyan*? She isn't even the second female lead, is she?"

Zhang Yang felt he might have to retract his previous statement. Nazha’s reaction wasn't just a bit slow; it was considerably slow.

However, completely oblivious to this, she continued to answer her own question: "If we go by the official pairings, the female leads are Su Ying, played by Yuan Quan, and Tie Xinlan, played by Fan Xiaopang. My favorite character, the 'Little Fairy,' has to be the second lead, and I think Yaoyue and Liansheng had plenty of screen time too..."

The implication was clear: did Jiang Yuyan even deserve to be ranked?

Zhang Yang crossed his arms, staring at her face with interest. "Of the people you just mentioned, who was still alive by the finale?"

Nazha’s voice cut off abruptly.

She suddenly remembered the trauma Jiang Yuyan had caused her back when she was binge-watching the show. Driven by her love for and desire to possess Hua Wuque, Jiang Yuyan had become a cold-blooded killer. She had schemed, seduced, backstabbed, and slaughtered her way through the plot.

She didn't get what she wanted in the end, but she had managed to drag every other female character to their graves.

"Hiss." Nazha suddenly gasped. "She killed everyone until only the show's title remained."

"That is a very apt summary," Zhang Yang said, snapping his fingers with a smile. "A woman who slaughtered her way through the entire cast and even controlled the Emperor—if it weren't for her obsession with Hua Wuque, she wouldn't have died in the end."

"From a tortured illegitimate daughter to someone with the power to rule the world—don't you think this show should be called *The Legend of Jiang Yuyan*?"

As a fan of Nicholas Tse, Nazha had been watching from a subjective perspective, so it was natural she hadn't noticed this. Now that Zhang Yang had pointed it out, she had to admit his logic was sound, but her confusion only grew. "And what does this have to do with you doing so much for a minor role like Zhao Kuangyin?"

"I said you were slow, and you really stopped thinking," Zhang Yang joked, amused by her.

Nazha wanted to ask how she had stopped thinking. *The Handsome Siblings* being slaughtered down to its title, to the point it could be renamed *The Legend of Jiang Yuyan*, really had nothing to do with Zhang Yang's role as Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao Kuangyin wasn't Jiang Yuyan.

Wait!

Nazha suddenly understood. She scanned her surroundings and whispered, "Are you trying to create a *Legend of Zhao Kuangyin*?"

"You're overthinking it," Zhang Yang shook his head. "I'm not a big star, and I'm not an investor. Zhao Kuangyin is a minor subplot in this drama; it's impossible to expand the role to that extent."

He remembered that *The Imperial Doctress* was set to wrap up in twenty days. Many actors had already finished their parts and left the set, and the leads were nearly done; there was no way they would reshoot anything for his character.

"You can't go that far... so you still want to add more scenes?" Nazha was quick on the uptake this time.

"Yes," Zhang Yang nodded.

"Can you really pull that off?" Nazha felt it would be difficult, for the very reasons Zhang Yang had just stated.

"Human effort can change things," Zhang Yang said with a distant look in his eyes. "Do your best and leave the rest to fate. If you don't try, you definitely won't succeed."

If he succeeded, even if his role wasn't huge, he could become a winner on par with the leads, and in the long run, the benefits would be even greater. He had some faith in the marketing prowess of Tangren, an old-school company when it came to industry hype.

Keeping his plans hidden, Zhang Yang approached Yan Yikuan after he wrapped up his scenes to build a rapport. There were no night shoots scheduled, and even if there were, it wouldn't involve Zhang Yang. After having a boxed meal with Nazha on set, he returned to the hotel and started drafting the plot he had conceived.

As it approached eight o'clock, his phone suddenly rang.

"Is it time?" A smile appeared on Zhang Yang's lips.

He changed into generic clothes, grabbed his phone and room key, and opened the door.

"Holy—!"

Zhang Yang was startled by Nazha standing at his door. "What the hell are you doing?"

Nazha hadn't expected Zhang Yang to open the door so suddenly, and she was startled as well. But seeing Zhang Yang lose his usual composure made her want to laugh. She scanned his outfit and asked suspiciously, "Brother Yang, are you going out?"

"Yes, meeting some friends. It's not convenient to bring you along." Zhang Yang directly nipped the possibility of her tagging along in the bud.

"It's late at night; even if you invited me, I wouldn't go," Nazha thought to herself, though she felt a bit annoyed. Meeting Zhang Yang's questioning gaze, she spoke frankly, "I saw you doing so much on set today—I'm just curious, do you have to learn all of that?"

Perhaps because she was new to the world, she found those things troublesome. Couldn't he just be simple? Couldn't he just be a beautiful vase or a simple actor?

Nazha’s question made Zhang Yang think of Reba. By 2024, Reba had been a top star for so long, yet while her peers had established their own studios, she remained a signed artist at Jaywalk, unable to even command her own makeup artist on set.

"The gentle are ridden; the kind are bullied. You don't have to bully others, but you must have the ability to ensure you aren't bullied yourself." Zhang Yang said earnestly, "If you only want to be an actor or a star, then you only need to understand these things, not necessarily master them, just enough to avoid being sold while still counting the money for the person who sold you. If you plan to be a manager, or even train your own artists in the future, then learn it if you have the chance. If you don't have the talent to learn, just be a content star."

Nazha nodded. "I get it. You don't just want to be an actor or a star. No wonder Sister K doesn't like you."

Zhang Yang: "..."

"Any other questions?"

"No. Have a good night," Nazha said, tossing her hair and turning to leave.

Zhang Yang didn't pay it much mind. He put on a mask, headed toward the nearby XX Queen Bar, and went to a private room.

Pushing the door open, he saw Wallace Huo, who had been as cold and reserved as a senior official during the day, drinking and singing, with a few women with stunning figures pouring him drinks and serving fruit.

Zhang Yang took off his mask and smiled. "Brother Hua, long time no see."

It had been a long time since they’d had a proper night out.