Yu Team Moments: Behind the Scenes of The Taiping
After reading the first draft of Yu Menglong's Reincarnation Story: The Taiping, Ariel couldn't help feeling saddened by everyone's fate in that lifetime. At the same time, she had a few questions. So she decided to invite Yu to the meeting room for a private discussion.
Ariel: Excuse me... whose previous life was Yue Hong in The Taiping?
(Every one of Yu's secondary souls quietly took a step backward—except Tianming, who remained standing exactly where he was.)
Tianming: Um... well... as you've probably guessed... it was me...
(The other secondary souls watched Tianming with sympathetic expressions as Ariel escorted him into the meeting room. Everyone knew that anyone invited into a private meeting with Ariel rarely came out unscathed.)
Ariel: You really have some nerve! A proposal? Seriously?
Last time, Yu Qian only added a little unrequited love story in The Legend of Princess Jieyou, and our Yu En Transmission team was already under tremendous pressure.
And now you've gone and given us a marriage promise in a past life?!
Tianming: No, no! You've misunderstood!
My point wasn't romance at all. I wanted to show how deeply loyal and devoted Yu was.
Do you know that Yue Hong never married for the rest of his life? He raised Qingman's adopted son, Xiao Mo, as his own.
How many people in this world possess that kind of loyalty and selflessness?
Besides, Yue Hong and Qingman regarded each other as sworn brother and sister. The marriage would only have existed on paper to satisfy society's expectations!
Ariel: You may have demonstrated loyalty, but you nearly got Yu En Transmission into trouble!
We know this involved your secondary souls, not your primary souls. But our new viewers don't know that!
I'm used to taking criticism, but Yu En has very thin skin!
(Outside the meeting room, Yu En silently wiped the sweat from her forehead.)
Tianming: But situations like this are only going to become more common.
Sooner or later, we'll finish writing all the reincarnation stories that don't involve marriage or romantic relationships.
Ariel: ...
Tianming: Besides, in reincarnation, Yu has also formed karmic bonds with some of our Lemons, members of the Yu Family Army, and even ordinary viewers as husbands, wives, or lovers.
If they ask about their reincarnation stories... are we supposed to lie?
Ariel: ...
Li Fu: Excuse me... may I say a few words?
Ariel & Tianming: ... (When did he get here?)
Li Fu: I'd like to share something important from the minutes of our previous meeting—specifically, from About Liu Ye:
"As historians, we should record history with sincerity, objectivity, and fidelity. No matter what people think or how much pressure they exert, the historical truth should be faithfully preserved."
Dragon King: May I add something as well?
Ariel, Tianming & Li Fu: ... (And when did he arrive?)
Dragon King: I'd also like to quote something I said during our last meeting.
To fulfill our missions, we form karmic bonds in many different ways throughout reincarnation—as parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers, siblings, friends, relatives, and countless other relationships.
We cannot erase a chapter of history simply because someone feels uncomfortable with the form that connection took.
I hope everyone will focus on the values revealed by each person's choices, rather than the relationships themselves.
The greatest playwright is, in fact, God.
The scripts of our lives across reincarnation were written by the divine beings who arranged our destinies—perhaps so that one day they could awaken the hearts of humanity.
Ariel: All right then.
Let's establish an editorial principle.
If a scene develops or foreshadows a character's values, it stays.
If it doesn't serve that purpose, we cut it.
(Tianming, Li Fu, the Dragon King, and Yu En—who had been eavesdropping outside the meeting room the entire time—all smiled and nodded in agreement.)
Dragon King: Since I actually left a battlefield halfway through a war just to come settle this discussion... how about we wrap up the meeting and go pick up our boxed lunches?
I've still got a battle to finish.
Yu En: Wait!
From now on, if there's ever a romantic storyline involving me, please skip over it!
I'm completely immune to romance. I only see all of Yu's secondary souls as my sworn younger brothers!
The Taiping story is absolutely a one-time exception!
Dragon King: Nice try.
You're not getting yourself written out of history.
If an important historical event involves you, then it involves you.
What's already happened has long since been recorded in another dimension, and no one can change it.
Tianming: If Qingman wasn’t Yue Hong’s fiancée, why would Xu Shida go out of his way to take care of her and even give her a free ticket of the Taiping? It just doesn’t make any sense logically…
Yu En (biting the corner of her handkerchief): You all do this every single time!
(Everyone burst into laughter. Yu En retreated to a corner to sulk and draw circles on the floor, while the Dragon King led the Dragon Clan back to the battlefield once again.)
P.S. If you don't know who Tianming, the Dragon King, or Li Fu are, be sure to read Yu Team Moments: Meet the Yus We Know.
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