A widower's entertainment

Chapter 431 [Director Teacher] (Please Subscribe)
Although I haven't finished reading it yet, Li Shaohong's first case alone is enough to show that Lin Youcheng's "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" is quite extraordinary.

Most importantly, "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" makes it clear from the very beginning that the most troublesome cases are not the most vicious bandits or criminals, nor are they the most intelligent crimes.

The first case to come to light involved County Magistrate Wu Miaoshui, who sentenced a wanted murderer.

The murderer, Cao Mo, lusting after Yu Niang's beauty, murdered her husband to steal her away. Yu Niang confessed to being a traitor. Cao Mo also admitted to the murder, and even his mother produced a blood-stained garment as incriminating evidence—the evidence seemed irrefutable. But this was also the strange part. What mother would send her son to the executioner's block? Sure enough, Yu Niang was tortured into confessing, and the scholar Cao Mo was crippled. Cao Mo's elderly mother, unable to bear seeing her son suffer further, was forced to forge the blood-stained garment. The so-called murder was merely a simple drowning, but Wu Miaoshui had overheard the truth the very night he imprisoned Yu Niang and Cao Mo together.

But the verdict has already been issued. Changing it would damage his official authority, while not changing it would mean executing the person and silencing them forever, thus ending the matter once and for all.

Fortunately, Cao Mo met Song Ci. Song Ci found the bloodstained clothes and discovered the flaw that Cao's mother had deliberately used an out-of-season autumn garment to make the bloodstained clothes. He helped Cao Mo clear his name and rescued him from the brink of death the day before his execution. He also took charge of the case against Magistrate Wu Miaoshui. In court, he identified Wu Miaoshui as the real culprit in the "Cao Mo wrongful conviction case" in front of everyone.

This seems like a successful first battle, and it appears that Taiping County is nothing special.

But in fact, the victory in the first case was all an illusion. Wu Miaoshui, who was dismissed, later met Song Ci again. As a result, he was not only not dismissed, but his position was even promoted instead of being demoted. This actually foreshadowed what Song Ci, the chief criminal officer of the Song Dynasty, was facing.

Li Shaohong and Lin Youcheng were discussing the novel "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" when Li Shaohong was deeply moved and couldn't help but ask, "Did Song Ci also make a wrong judgment later on?"

Lin Youcheng nodded and said, "Yes."

The story begins by recounting how Song Ci's father dedicated his life to criminal investigation and adjudication, never making a mistake, but a single misjudgment of a life ruined his career. He committed suicide to atone for his sins, leaving behind a will forbidding any future Song family members from getting involved in criminal investigation. However, Song Ci continued to investigate and solve a series of unsolved cases, including the wrongful conviction case in Taiping County, the Li family serial case, the headless case in Maozhuwu, the well corpse case in Chengnan, the case of the lost fan being used to frame someone, the Liang Yu murder case, and the disappearance of Li Yugu.

"Later, Song Ci met Diao Guangdou, who was well-versed in Song Ci's book 'The Washing Away of Wrongs.' Diao Guangdou used the principles in the book to immerse the corpse in the cold river water to delay the formation of lividity and confuse Song Ci's judgment. In the end, this caused Song Ci to make his first wrong judgment, resulting in a miscarriage of justice. The wronged person also committed suicide in prison in grief and indignation."

Listening to Lin Youcheng's narration, even though Li Shaohong had not yet seen the complete script of "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner", she already realized that this script was quite remarkable.

As Lin Youcheng just mentioned, in Li Shaohong's view, Diao Guangdou in the script doesn't want any practical benefits. What he wants is a pure soul. The purer the soul, the more its depravity and disillusionment prove the inescapable nature of reality. This aligns with his ultimate understanding. You, Song Ci, who prides yourself on being upright, are now tainted and just like those sinners whom Song Ci believes should be eradicated. What reason do you have to be proud?

Li Shaohong really thought that this kind of human nature was an absolutely brilliant design!
But that's not all. Lin Youcheng's character, Diao Guangdou, is also quite complex. As a county magistrate, he is a villain, but he is neither lewd nor extravagant. When he takes off his official robes, they are covered in patches. He even has profound insights and hits the nail on the head about the ills of the current dynasty.

Li Shaohong knew very well that some of the stories in Lin Youcheng's "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" could be made into a movie on their own, because the script structure presented a series of chapters, and many cases did not have deep conspiracies shrouded in mystery, but only the naked selfishness of human nature. These plots were really good, after all, who would have thought that Song Ci would also fight against his own father-in-law.

Because of his investigation, Song Ci was framed and imprisoned. A fabricated crime was suddenly proven to be irrefutable overnight, leaving him speechless and with no colleagues to speak up for him.

In prison, he overheard his father-in-law promise that as long as Song Ci stopped investigating another case, he would be released without charge, and even if he couldn't become a high-ranking official in the capital, he would find a way to give him a lucrative position as a fourth-rank prefect. This conversation finally allowed Song Ci to understand why Wu Miaoshui had managed to escape one calamity after another.

But if he agrees, he will be the next Wu Miaoshui.

Clearly, Song Ci did not follow that path. In the end, Song Ci still defeated his father-in-law. However, watching his father-in-law sail away, Song Ci lost his former righteousness and instead looked indescribably haggard and exhausted. And the last straw that broke Song Ci's back was still in Diao Guangdou's hands.

Li Shaohong said with a smile, "Youcheng, if I weren't someone who doesn't make TV dramas, I would want to film your script."

Lin Youcheng naturally knew that Li Shaohong was unlikely to film TV series now, but he did not think that Li Shaohong would never film TV series in the future. After all, if Li Shaohong could not find investment for her movies later, she might still be able to film TV series.

While winning the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival is quite remarkable, Li Shaohong, who also won the Silver Bear for Visual Effects at the Berlin Film Festival, later transitioned to acting in television dramas. Of course, she also acted in some films while filming television dramas.

"I'll talk to Lao Tian about your notebook later; maybe he'll like it too."

In Li Shaohong's opinion, Director Tian no longer has the opportunity to make movies, so making TV series is a good option. Moreover, this TV series is not an ordinary one; after all, it is based on a script written by Lin Youcheng.

Lin Youcheng's status in the film industry is absolutely number one. After all, his influence as a screenwriter is really strong internationally. He is a domestic screenwriter who has been nominated for the Oscars for three consecutive years and has won an Oscar once. He also has so many excellent and classic works. Even the most unruly director Tian could not ignore the existence of screenwriter Lin Youcheng.

Lin Youcheng didn't pay much attention to Li Shaohong's words, and simply said, "It would be great if he could give the director some guidance during the filming, but it's fine if he doesn't want to."

Li Shaohong nodded, naturally understanding what Lin Youcheng meant.

Undoubtedly, Li Shaohong would then discuss this matter with Director Tian. Clearly, Director Tian hadn't expected Lin Youcheng to want him to direct a TV series. Of course, this was also to accommodate his feelings, so he specifically suggested that Lin Youcheng be the producer or director. The meaning was quite clear: if Lin Youcheng was willing, he could direct the series, but if he wasn't, his name wouldn't be credited.

Tian Zhuangzhuang could not possibly ignore the writer and screenwriter Lin Youcheng. In fact, he greatly admired and respected Lin Youcheng. His works were not only very popular in China, but also achieved great success abroad, especially winning an Oscar, which was truly unimaginable.

The film scripts written by domestic screenwriters have won the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Picture. Films like "Atonement" and "The Reader" all speak to the brilliance of screenwriter Lin Youcheng.

Tian Zhuangzhuang is truly devastated by the filming ban. He can hardly believe he won't be able to act for ten years. Although he's trying to accept it, it's not a complete surrender. Now, Li Shaohong's mention of Lin Youcheng's drama has given him some ideas. "The script is indeed very good. Lin Youcheng is planning to have you mentor a director he found. If you want to film it, you can; if not, you can be a producer or supervisor."

Looking at Tian Zhuangzhuang, Li Shaohong couldn't help but say, "Old Tian, ​​to be honest, I don't think the TV series is that bad, especially considering it's based on Lin Youcheng's script."

Tian Zhuangzhuang understood what Li Shaohong meant and said, "I can take a break now and play some chess, which would be nice."

Li Shaohong knew that Tian Zhuangzhuang and Zhou Jing played chess every day, but the key was that both of them were terrible at chess. They would stop playing when they were red in the face and their necks were thick. So she said, "You are certainly good at chess. You can also give some pointers to this drama when you have time."

"You don't know Lin Youcheng? You've seen his previous works, so his scripts are naturally excellent. The reason he asked you to be the producer and consultant is to make this Song Dynasty drama a success. To be honest, there aren't any ancient costume detective dramas in China yet. If this is made, you'll be the first in the country."

"If you're interested, you can take a look at the script, see what you think, and give them some suggestions. That would be good."

Upon hearing Li Shaohong's words, Tian Zhuangzhuang naturally nodded. He was also quite curious about the script written by Lin Youcheng. You see, he had been a reader of Lin Youcheng's novels for a long time and had read all of Lin Youcheng's works, such as "The Devotion of Suspect X", "Human Tales", "The Message", "The Reader" and "Atonement", which he liked very much. Naturally, he had thought about collaborating with Lin Youcheng.

Now that he's collaborating with Lin Youcheng on a TV series, Tian Zhuangzhuang still feels somewhat uncomfortable. However, since Lin Youcheng, an Oscar-caliber screenwriter, writes TV scripts, it's impossible for him, a film director, to put on airs and say that he looks down on TV series.

Li Shaohong was only discussing this matter with Tian Zhuangzhuang; ultimately, it depended on Tian Zhuangzhuang's own decision.

Tian Zhuangzhuang also visited Lin Youcheng in Xinghua Hutong and read the manuscript of "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" written by Lin Youcheng, which he found to be quite wonderful.

Now, Tian Zhuangzhuang also knows Lin Youcheng's intention, which is to let him guide the new director Kong Sheng, and if he wants to film, he can naturally shoot a few scenes.

In Tian Zhuangzhuang's view, the cases written by Lin Youcheng were like movies. If he were to give the director some pointers, he might actually be tempted to act in a few scenes himself. For some reason, Tian Zhuangzhuang couldn't help but discuss his thoughts on some scenes in the drama with Lin Youcheng, saying, "Youcheng, I think there must be a scene in your drama that metaphorically represents Song Ci's predicament. It's late at night, inside the yamen gate, with no end in sight. The constables stand majestically on both sides with lanterns in hand, while Song Ci, dressed in white, walks through this unfathomable battlefield."

"The government office buildings must also be symmetrical, and the constables on both sides must also stand in symmetrical positions!"

Lin Youcheng nodded as he listened to Tian Zhuangzhuang’s words and said, “Yes, and in the end, all the officials were relieved and knelt on the ground to express their gratitude and thanks the emperor for his great favor. Song Ci, however, was heartbroken and completely disregarded the emperor’s reward. He walked against the officials and left the palace gates.”

Tian Zhuangzhuang nodded repeatedly.

Lin Youcheng and Tian Zhuangzhuang were discussing their ideas for filming "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner". Although Tian Zhuangzhuang had never filmed a Song Dynasty drama, he had filmed a period drama, namely "The Great Eunuch Li Lianying", and the eunuch actor was Jiang Wen.

Tian Zhuangzhuang also told Lin Youcheng directly that he did not intend to serve as the producer of this TV series, but he could provide guidance to the director later.

Clearly, Tian Zhuangzhuang meant that he didn't want to be credited for the show and could only offer friendly guidance.

Lin Youcheng naturally had no objections. He knew what Tian Zhuangzhuang was thinking, and it didn't matter if he wasn't credited. It was good enough that he could guide Kong Sheng, a director who came from a cinematographer background. He believed that with Tian Zhuangzhuang's guidance, Kong Sheng would have a chance to make a good film of "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner". And maybe later Teacher Tian would be unable to resist taking the lead in filming himself.

Just as Lin Youcheng and Tian Zhuangzhuang were chatting, Lin Zhaomei came over. Lin Youcheng then introduced his daughter to Tian Zhuangzhuang, hoping that this Teacher Tian could give his daughter some guidance.

It's worth noting that after the ten-year ban on filming ended, in 2002, Director Tian returned to his alma mater, Yenching Film Academy, to teach. He served as a graduate advisor and head of the directing department. At that time, hundreds of students applied to his graduate program every year, including actress Xiao Yanzi and many young directors. He was a true director teacher.

"This is my daughter, Lin Zhaomei. She plans to apply to the Directing Department of the Eye Film Academy."

These words naturally brought a smile to Tian Zhuangzhuang's face. He looked at Lin Zhaomei and asked, "Do you want to be a director in the future?"

Lin Zhaomei naturally knew Tian Zhuangzhuang's identity, and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, I plan to study directing!"

"Do your best on the exam!"

Tian Zhuangzhuang naturally smiled and offered some encouragement.

Clearly, Tian Zhuangzhuang hadn't expected that after being banned from making movies and having nothing to do, he would not only be mentoring new directors with Lin Youcheng, but also Lin Youcheng's daughter.

He is truly a director teacher in name and in fact.

(End of this chapter)