Chapter 32: Rising Popularity

Regardless of how much Mu Qian was struggling with his headache, the overwhelming buzz of Rising Sun surpassing ten thousand popularity score on its first day was undoubtedly a massive encouragement for both Grape Film and Lin Ge Entertainment.

The promotional effort Grape Film had invested in Rising Sun was far less than what had been allocated for The Watchers. Moreover, the lead actor, Gu Sinian, still carried the stigma of having dragged down The Watchers in the audience’s perception.

Under such circumstances, Rising Sun still achieved these numbers, which was enough to prove the quality of the series itself.

Gu Sinian secretly checked Rising Sun’s premiere data several times.

After all, this was his first lead role in a series, completely different from his experience as a supporting actor.

On the trending charts, Rising Sun was the only show to surpass ten thousand in popularity. The second place was Solo Stealth by Deyi Film, a spy drama with a relatively niche audience.

Gu Sinian scrolled further down the rankings and noticed that Son of Heaven was currently in fifth place with a popularity score of just over 6,000—a considerable gap compared to Rising Sun.

[Who was it that initially tried to compare Son of Heaven to Rising Sun? Son of Heaven’s launch doesn’t seem to be going too well, does it?]

[The numbers… are pretty average. It feels like Cloud Film is banking on Son of Heaven to survive, but historical dramas have been lukewarm for years. Let’s see if Son of Heaven can pick up. If it doesn’t, its potential seems limited.]

From any angle, a score of just over 6,000 was a rather precarious number.

What’s more, Son of Heaven wasn’t a late-night show, and Cloud Film wasn’t an obscure broadcasting platform either.

The corners of Gu Sinian’s lips couldn’t help but lift slightly.

His manager had reminded him not to post anything online that could be misunderstood, and not to celebrate prematurely—after all, the ridicule The Watchers had faced back then might not have been unrelated to someone popping the champagne too early.

So this time, Gu Sinian held back, staying cautious and measured, fearing that Rising Sun might suffer the same fate as The Watchers, which had been completely overturned.

However, Gu Sinian believed that Son of Heaven was no My Baby Prince.

While My Baby Prince was an over-the-top series that drew viewers seeking novelty, Son of Heaven belonged to the least popular genre in recent years: historical costume dramas. Its opening centered on a group of intelligent people engaged in cryptic wordplay.

Audiences simply didn’t have the patience to wait for the show to reveal its mysteries.

Just as Gu Sinian predicted, during the first few days, Son of Heaven’s ranking on the popularity chart didn’t budge, and its heat level remained at just over 6,000.

Although it showed slight growth, increasing by only 100 or 200 points per day, it merely highlighted the dire situation for historical dramas at the time.

Meanwhile, Rising Sun experienced a gradual drop in heat from over 10,000 to about 9,500—a normal decline. Compared to The Watchers, Rising Sun maintained its numbers remarkably well, consistently holding the top spot on the popularity charts.

By this point, both Lin Ge Entertainment and Gu Sinian, who had been holding their breath, finally began to relax.

With Son of Heaven crawling upward at a snail’s pace, it seemed unlikely to overtake Rising Sun anytime soon.

Then, overnight, a flood of articles suddenly appeared across major platforms:

“Rising Sun vs. Son of Heaven: A Victory for Young Actors!”

“The Cold Reception of Son of Heaven: The Struggles of Obscure Actors in a Competitive Industry.”

“Another Historical Drama Falls Flat: When Will This Genre See a Revival?”

“The February Duel Fails to Materialize: Cloud Film’s Bet on Son of Heaven Ends in Disappointment.”

In a deep-dive article analyzing the intersection of Rising Sun and Son of Heaven, a critic revealed that Rising Sun’s production team had initially invited Lu Xu to play the role of Wu Shen. However, Lu Xu turned down the offer to participate in Son of Heaven instead.

“A wrong decision can lead to entirely different results. I dare say that by passing on Wu Shen, Lu Xu has essentially lost the momentum he built with My Baby Prince,” said the article.

“Despite the setbacks with director and cast changes, Rising Sun has still managed to achieve its current level of popularity. The actors’ persistence and hard work have finally paid off.”

The comments section under this article was flooded, with the top comment coming from fellow critic Song Zhong.

In his opinion, Liu Chunfeng’s rigid adherence to tradition and lack of flexibility—insisting on filming a historical drama that others had abandoned and casting a group of unappealing actors—were the main reasons Son of Heaven had failed.

“Lu Xu still thinks Rising Sun isn’t good enough for him, expecting Son of Heaven to make him a star!”

“I told you, My Baby Prince’s success was all luck. Lu Xu can’t always count on that.”

“Mu Qian was once so adamant about having Lu Xu, but after Mu Qian and Lu Xu were both gone, Rising Sun still became a hit.”

“The Earth still turns without anyone—Mu Qian and Lu Xu really think too highly of themselves.”

On the set of Supreme:

The male lead, Zheng Xiao, was intently looking at his tablet, and the female lead, Wei Yi, leaned over to take a look. She saw that the screen displayed the Cloud Film logo.

“Watching Son of Heaven?” Wei Yi asked.

Zheng Xiao nodded.

“Objectively speaking, is it any good? There’s been a lack of serious dramas lately.”

Wei Yi knew that Son of Heaven wasn’t performing well, not exactly a hit, but she still followed the series because Lu Xu was part of the cast.

Lu Xu had already finished filming his scenes for Supreme, but she and Zheng Xiao were still staying behind in the production to wrap up the remaining work. Thinking about it made Wei Yi feel a twinge of sadness.

But she and Zheng Xiao had stayed behind voluntarily, to reshoot certain scenes—though the truth was, Lu Xu’s portrayal of Ji Xiuya had been so impressive that the more they acted opposite him, the more they felt like amateurs.

Naturally, they weren’t satisfied with the scenes they had filmed earlier. Given enough funding, they were both willing to reshoot certain scenes.

Otherwise, with their looks and acting skills being overshadowed, their self-esteem as actors would shatter.

“It’s good,” Zheng Xiao said, pointing to the episode number on the screen. “I only started watching this morning.”

He had unknowingly reached the latest episode.

Son of Heaven had a fast pace. On the surface, it appeared to be the kind of heavy, dull historical drama, but if one was willing to pay attention and follow it, they would find themselves unexpectedly drawn into the plot.

The steady increase in ratings since its premiere proved this point.

Among the dramas on the popularity chart, Son of Heaven was the only one whose ratings had consistently risen with each episode. Typically, if a show lacked appeal, its ratings would drop with each new episode.

Zheng Xiao could only say that Son of Heaven was the kind of show that wouldn’t attract many viewers initially, but once someone started watching, they couldn’t stop.

“Did Lu Xu appear?” Wei Yi asked.

“He appears in this episode, it’s coming up soon,” Zheng Xiao replied, pointing to the tablet. As soon as Lu Xu’s character, Qin Zhao, appeared on screen, he made sure to warn Wei Yi.

This was a scene inside the palace.

The Crown Prince, Qin Zhao, wanted to feed medicine to Emperor Cheng, but he was stopped by the Emperor’s suspicious gaze. Despite having no ill intentions toward his father, the doubt still made the atmosphere chilling.

But this was the palace.

The Dragon Throne was the loneliest seat in the world.

The Crown Prince arrived filled with concern, but now only anxiety and fear remained. The feeling of being suspected was painful, and being tested in wisdom was equally hard. There was no warmth between the father and son, only the coldness of the stone floor in the great hall.

Although Cheng Yun and Lu Xu performed with great restraint, it felt as if, in that moment, the air in the hall had frozen.

Zheng Xiao and Wei Yi exchanged a glance.

“Can you tell it’s Lu Xu?” Zheng Xiao asked.

Wei Yi honestly shook her head.

Ji Xiuya was a wildly arrogant villain, powerful and flamboyant—describing his presence as two meters and eight of pure aura wasn’t an exaggeration. But Qin Zhao? The weak, timid Crown Prince, the two characters had almost no connection.

Yet, in just this one scene, the Crown Prince’s predicament was unmistakably clear.

“I watched a bit of Rising Sun too,” Zheng Xiao said. “I only watched the first four episodes, then stopped.”

“The difference in level is too great.”

For some reason, when watching Rising Sun, Zheng Xiao just felt embarrassed.

When he watched dramas, he tended to think from an actor’s perspective, analyzing other actors’ performances. He always felt that the plot and characters in Rising Sun felt detached.

The plot was the plot, the characters were the characters, and there wasn’t much connection between them.

He thought maybe it was a problem with his own taste. After all, Rising Sun was incredibly popular. But after forcing himself to watch until episode four, his mind kept drifting elsewhere. He had no choice but to stop watching.

However, seeing the trending topics praising Gu Sinian’s acting and discussing why Rising Sun was successful, Zheng Xiao just felt confused.

Wei Yi, too, remained silent.

Since she and Zheng Xiao were college classmates, she was blunt in expressing her thoughts: “Whenever Gu Sinian has a show, there’s nothing else on the trending list—just that mess from Lin Ge Entertainment.”

But she only dared to say this in front of familiar faces. If Gu Sinian’s fans found out, she would be hounded.

Wei Yi’s secondary account had indeed criticized Gu Sinian. During the time when The Watchers flopped, she had made a remark about character design issues, and for that, Gu Sinian’s fans had relentlessly attacked her for three days and nights.

Now that Rising Sun was doing well in terms of popularity, Gu Sinian’s fans were back at it again, rewriting history, refusing to admit that The Watchers’ failure was partly Gu Sinian’s responsibility, or simply claiming that The Watchers had actually been a success.

There were claims like:

[XX ad sponsorship number one,]

[Only Chinese drama recognized by the overseas XX award,]

[Ranked first on the Asian male star appreciation list,] and so on…

Wei Yi: “…”

What nonsense.

She couldn’t help but curse a little—after all, when she had been attacked earlier, she had picked up a whole new vocabulary from Gu Sinian’s fans, which greatly expanded her knowledge of certain… physiological terms.

Wei Yi also added Son of Heaven to her watch list.

In the afternoon, Wei Yi had just discussed Son of Heaven with Zheng Xiao. That evening, when she opened the forum, she saw a post recommending dramas that had risen to the “hot” section.

The original poster, like her, was in a drama drought, and clearly the type who dared to speak their mind. They directly asked if anyone had any good drama recommendations.

[Rising Sun should just be skipped, I’ve watched it.]

Naturally, the original poster was bombarded with insults from Gu Sinian’s fans. But to her credit, the original poster was quite bold, and half of the replies on the post were back-and-forth arguments between her and Gu Sinian’s fans. She handled dozens of them single-handedly and didn’t lose ground.

[Like a female eagle! A battle god!]

[The original poster has big guts, haha, but seriously, it’s fun to watch! I also think Rising Sun is just okay, but I wouldn’t dare say it—can’t win against those fans.]

[Are we recommending old or new dramas, OP?]

[For new dramas, I’d recommend Son of Heaven. Although its popularity is just average, it’s really good.]

[Recommend Son of Heaven +1. It’s one of my favorites among the recent new shows. Personally, I think it’s better than Rising Sun.]

[Son of Heaven +10086, the battle between the old uncles is amazing, especially the case of selling official positions. The big boss behind it will definitely leave you shocked!]

[Didn’t Guo Yining play the dad in Where the Souls Return? That role made me cry. This time, he’s playing the treacherous official, and he’s incredible!]

[Son of Heaven really doesn’t have a weak character. Lu Xu’s portrayal of Qin Zhao is also impressive—he’s able to match Cheng Yun’s acting!]

[Wait… the Crown Prince is played by Lu Xu???]

[I didn’t realize!!!]

[What??!!!]

In the post, there was one recommendation after another for Son of Heaven. Some highlighted the show’s fast pace, others praised the actors’ strong chemistry on screen. Photos of Cheng Yun, Guo Yining, and other young actors were shared.

Someone also posted stills of the characters Qin Zhao and Yu Wei. Though both characters were reserved, their differences were still striking.

This contrast was fully brought to life by Lu Xu.

[Son of Heaven is amazing. Although the trending news is full of reports reflecting on the show’s failure, I trust my own judgment.]

In the episode where Qin Zhao first appeared, Son of Heaven reached a small climax. The Prime Minister had won a major victory in his struggle against the Minister of Personnel, who was dismissed from office and sent home.

The new Minister was loyal to the Prime Minister, and their battles were filled with intrigue. The Prime Minister found a breakthrough in a small character, and through this minor role, a huge character was revealed. The connections between the characters were unknown at first, and when the truth was exposed, the audience was left in awe—truly a grand spectacle.

It was on this day that Son of Heaven’s popularity broke 7000 for the first time, and its ranking reached fourth place.

The popularity of Rising Sun dropped to 8900+.

[Do you think Son of Heaven will follow the same path as My Baby Prince?]

[It shouldn’t. By this point, My Baby Prince had already reached 9000 in popularity.]

Lin Ge Entertainment and Grape Film were optimistic, believing that the growth trajectory of Son of Heaven was completely different from that of My Baby Prince.

However, the day after crossing the 7000 mark, Son of Heaven’s latest popularity suddenly shot up to 7500+.

A clip from the show went viral online.

It was a segment where the Prime Minister and the Minister of Personnel were having a fierce confrontation.

The two had clashed viciously in the drama, but in their youth, they had been imprisoned together while supporting the current Emperor’s rise to power. In prison, the Minister gave the Prime Minister the good food while he himself ate a bowl of spoiled rice.

The Prime Minister was then exiled to Lingnan, and no one in the court dared to speak out. It was the Minister of Personnel who sent him off in the snow.

In their youth, both of them had aspirations to contribute to the country and the people, studying day and night and supporting each other along the way.

None of them had imagined that the thirst for power would twist them to such an extent.

The pure young men of the past had now become corrupt officials, scorned by the people.

And yet, this video was titled “True Friends.”

[Who would have thought that I’d be emotionally wrecked by the old uncles’ storyline!!]

[They killed the young versions of themselves and also killed their best friend!]

[I cried like a dog. The Minister of Personnel was demoted, and the Prime Minister came to send him off. In the past, it was always the Minister of Personnel who turned back, but this time, it was the Prime Minister.]

[Two people twisted by power, sobbing. I can’t handle this kind of ‘dragon-slayer turns into the dragon’ plot.]

The view count for this clip quickly surpassed 100,000, even outpacing the popularity of Son of Heaven’s latest episode.

Though the CP (couple pairing) edits could be seen as misleading, it was enough to draw a new wave of viewers to watch Son of Heaven.

And like Zheng Xiao, once they started watching, they couldn’t stop.

By this point, Son of Heaven had finally experienced its first surge in popularity.

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