In mid-August, Jiang Yue was in Shancheng, matching acting chops with Ding Zhengxin, Shen Xi, and others in the crew of 《Prisoner's Game in the Mirror》 every day.
Off-screen, Chu Yan, the character he played, was ushering in the biggest climax of 《The Grand Game》 since its broadcast.
As the plot progressed, 《The Grand Game》 had already reached Episode 38.
In the drama, the situation in the capital was extremely tense. The prime minister and Lin Zheng had completely torn off their masks of friendliness, clashing fiercely in the imperial court without yielding an inch.
This kind of ensemble political drama was the ultimate test of a director's skill. Xu Pingqiu controlled the pacing exceptionally well, and the tension between the various factions naturally drew the audience in.
For Jiang Yue's fans, tonight was a mix of anticipation and anxiety.
Through various leaks and behind-the-scenes footage, they only knew that Jiang Yue had a sword-dance scene in this drama, but no one knew how the final cut would turn out.
As for the casual viewers who only watched the show, they knew nothing about it and were simply waiting to see how the prime minister and Lin Zheng would clash.
At eight o'clock in the evening, countless viewers gathered in front of their screens.
The plot showed Chu Yan drinking alone in the backyard of the hostage prince's residence. The bullet comments rolled past with the usual “My heart aches for my wife” and “The heir is so beautiful alone.”
But in the next second, the scene shifted.
A wild wind swept up withered yellow leaves flying across the sky. Chu Yan stumbled as he unsheathed his longsword, his purple robes billowing in the wind.
There were no lines, only camera cuts and a sonorous, rhythmic soundtrack that suddenly swelled.
“Clang!”
The sword chimed crisply, and the passionate drumbeats of the music struck heavily.
Chu Yan, whose eyes had been hazy with alcohol, underwent a sudden change in his gaze the moment he swung his first strike.
Intent to kill, ten years of endurance, and humiliation were all laid bare along the cold light of the blade.
The visuals were extremely beautiful, yet they exuded a chilling aura of slaughter.
It was a full minute and a half of sword dancing.
Xu Pingqiu used a Steadicam to circle and track Jiang Yue, shoving every single detail—Chu Yan's posture as he danced with his sword amid the howling wind and falling leaves, his gaze, and even the twists of his wrists—right into the eyes of the audience.
The climax of the music and the final form of the swordplay synchronized perfectly.
Chu Yan sheathed his sword, his chest heaving as the murderous intent in his eyes receded.
In front of their screens, countless viewers were stunned.
【Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!!!】
【What kind of divine sword dance is this?! I was literally paralyzed for a minute and a half. I didn't even dare to breathe!】
【Is this fucking Chu Yan? Who the hell said he was weak and unable to take care of himself?! Tell me, does this look weak to you?!】
【So handsome! That gaze, that posture—could anyone pull this off without actual training?】
【What's the name of this BGM? It's so hype! Director Xu is amazing! He actually gave the fourth male lead such epic music! It feels like watching a movie!】
Many casual viewers who didn't follow fandoms and only watched the drama were also deeply shaken by this scene.
In this era where period dramas commonly relied on slow motion, body doubles, and wide-angle cuts to fake action scenes, Chu Yan's smooth, powerful swordplay was a complete dimensional strike.
That night, clips of Chu Yan's sword dance spread like wildfire across major short video platforms like Douyin, Bilibili, and Kuaishou.
Without any fancy captions, many video editors simply clipped the full minute and a half and uploaded it raw, yet the view counts still skyrocketed.
Many netizens who didn't usually watch period dramas found their thumbs hovering unconsciously when they swiped onto this video, and before they knew it, they had watched the entire clip to the end.
The comment section was a wall of pure shock.
“Who is this actor? He must have real martial arts training, right?”
“You can still see such solid action scenes in TV dramas nowadays? No slow motion, no chaotic editing—this is so rare!”
“The way he spins that sword... I thought I was watching some blockbuster wuxia movie.”
The popularity exploded so quickly that it soon attracted a group of reaction bloggers.
These content creators made a living on real-time reactions, recording their facial expressions and commentary while watching films, listening to songs, or viewing variety shows, before publishing them as split-screen videos.
A comedy blogger with a million followers had originally wanted to piggyback on the popularity of 《The Grand Game》 to roast the political drama. But when he saw Chu Yan's sword dance, the playful smirk on his face froze into a blank stare. Eventually, his mouth stretched into an “O” shape, and after a long silence, he managed to squeeze out: “Bro, you call this a hostage prince? With this kind of combat power, he could probably slaughter the entire imperial palace!”
The title of this reaction video was directly changed to 《I Declare That Tonight, the Entire Internet Has Fallen to Chu Yan's Sword!》.
Of course, whenever popularity soared, voices of doubt would inevitably arise.
A blogger with over a hundred thousand followers, verified as a “senior post-production editor,” posted three consecutive Weibo entries to analyze it:
【Stop hyping it up. What can't modern editing technology do nowadays? I ran the footage through Premiere Pro. It looks like a few frames had their speed adjusted, otherwise it would be very difficult for an ordinary person to achieve this speed.】
【Look at the sword-spinning motion. The camera zoomed in for a close-up. This kind of cut is highly likely to hide a body double's slip-up.】
【I'm not saying Jiang Yue is bad, but it's meaningless for fans to praise him to high heaven. Actors rely on acting skills, not marketed ‘real kung fu.’】
As soon as these Weibo posts went live, they were immediately treated as gospel by anti-fans and trolls, who copy-pasted them everywhere in an attempt to douse the flames of excitement.
“See? A professional has weighed in. It was definitely done in post-production.”
“The fan filters are too thick. These days, what actor actually does their own high-difficulty action scenes?”
Seeing that a controversy was brewing, Xu Pingqiu, who had been monitoring public opinion from home, sneered and made a direct call to the drama's promotion and publicity team.
“What kind of nonsense are those half-baked hacks on the internet spewing? Do they think my camera is Meitu Xiu Xiu?”
Director Xu had a fiery temper and hated it when others questioned his professionalism, especially when it concerned one of his most prized scenes.
“Take the raw monitor footage from the set—the one without any special effects or filters—and make a split-screen comparison video with the broadcast version. Release it right now, immediately! Use the title: Real Sight, Real Sound, Real Feeling—No Acceleration, Only Real Kung Fu!”
Half an hour later, the official Weibo account of 《The Grand Game》 posted a new video.
On the top half of the video was the final cut with filters and falling leaf effects; on the bottom half was the raw audio and completely unedited monitor footage straight from the set.
As soon as the video was posted, the netizens who clicked in to watch the drama unfold were completely dumbfounded.
Because upon comparison, everyone was shocked to find that, aside from the lack of falling yellow leaves on the bottom, Jiang Yue's speed and fluid continuity were exactly the same as the final cut on top!
In fact, because there were no special effects blocking the view, the sword strikes in the monitor footage below looked even cleaner and sharper.
The intricate twists of his wrists, his stable stance, and the whooshing sound of the blade cutting through the air were all captured through live audio on set, making it terrifyingly authentic.
The comment section exploded instantly.
【I spoke too soon. I thought the final cut was handsome enough, but I didn't expect the raw footage to be even more savage! It has a raw, authentic beauty to it!】
【What the hell do you mean by speed acceleration and frame dropping?! That post-production blogger, get out here and take your beating! Does your face hurt?】
【The version without special effects looks so oppressive. With skills like that, it's a pity Jiang Yue doesn't act in wuxia films.】
【Director Xu: I heard someone was questioning my filming methods? Here, let me shove the truth down your throat! This face-slap is so satisfying!】
【No wonder a detail-oriented director like Director Xu spoils him so much. If I were the director, I'd spoil him too. Where the hell else are you going to find an actor who is so low-maintenance yet delivers such brilliant performances?】
The comment section of that “senior post-production editor” was quickly swamped, filled with people tagging him to apologize.
Unable to withstand the pressure, the blogger sheepishly deleted all his analysis posts and never dared to make a sound again.
...
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