Reborn in the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1980s

The production team of "Mu Guiying" did a very thorough job of pre-production preparations, and the filming progressed very quickly after it started.

"Action!"

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Mu Guiying became a disciple of the Old Mother of Lishan and learned martial arts at Lishan.

One day, while she was practicing archery at the foot of Mount Li, she suddenly saw a group of Liao soldiers chasing and killing a young Song general.

Mu Guiying, a citizen of the Song Dynasty, abhorred the Liao soldiers' repeated incursions into the country and their massacre of Song people. She aimed her arrow at the pursuing Liao soldiers. Her archery skills were divine; with each arrow, she took down a Liao soldier, helping the young soldiers escape.

With her arrows exhausted, Mu Guiying was left with only her bow. She picked up her longbow and leaped into the midst of the Liao soldiers. The longbow, a formidable weapon, was unstoppable as it slammed down upon them.

Mu Guiying moved with impunity, and every Liao soldier she struck died under her bow.

Upon seeing this, the Liao general Han Chang, who was leading the troops, was greatly surprised. He leaped off his horse and slashed at Mu Guiying with his long sword.

Mu Guiying remained calm and swung her longbow at Han Chang. Seeing the fierce attack, Han Chang dared not block it head-on and quickly dodged. The stone behind him, about half a person's height, was hit by the longbow and shattered into pieces with a loud bang.

The two fought fiercely, one wielding a knife, the other a bow, their battle extremely intense. Everything they swept through, whether trees or rocks, was blasted into countless pieces.

Han Chang was no match for Mu Guiying. After Mu Guiying broke his arm, he fled in a sorry state under the protection of his subordinates.

Mu Guiying was concerned about the wounded young soldier. She walked up to him and was slightly taken aback when she saw his handsome features.

The young soldier was severely wounded, but he had held on until now. Seeing that he was about to be rescued, he relaxed and fainted. Before he collapsed, he saw a woman in red, standing tall and graceful with a bow in hand, her face as beautiful as a goddess.

Mu Guiying led the young soldier to a cave, treated his wounds, and was stunned by his striking good looks, even though he was unconscious. She had been learning martial arts from her master on Mount Li since childhood and had seen few men; this was the most handsome man she had ever seen.

As darkness fell, Mu Guiying returned to the mountain. The next day, she brought a lot of food and medicine to the cave, only to find that the handsome soldier had already left.

She hadn't asked his name yet, and he didn't know hers either.

When the Liao army invaded the border, the Yang family led their troops to resist, but unexpectedly, the Liao national advisor set up the insidious Heavenly Gate Formation, trapping the Yang family army and causing them to suffer repeated defeats.

To break the Heavenly Gate Formation, the Dragon-Subduing Wood must be found. Yang Yanzhao sent his son Yang Zongbao, who had recovered from his injuries, to find the Dragon-Subduing Wood to break the formation.

After making inquiries, Yang Zongbao learned that the Dragon-Subduing Wood was the treasure of Mu Ke Village, so he led his troops to borrow it. The village chief refused, and Yang Zongbao, left with no other option, injured the village chief.

At this time, Mu Guiying returned to the village after mastering her skills. Upon her return, she saw that her father had been injured by Yang Zongbao. Even though she recognized him as the young soldier she had once saved and had developed feelings for, she was still furious and fought with Yang Zongbao on the battlefield.

One wielded the Yang Family Overlord Spear, as immovable as a mountain, yet as swift as thunder, his thrusts, stabbings, entanglements, blocks, and pounces unstoppable, his power boundless. Coupled with his flowing white robes, his movements were exceptionally graceful and elegant.

A woman wielded a long sword, her movements—slashing, chopping, parrying, and sweeping—were ever-changing and incredibly sharp. Though a woman, she possessed a heroic and valiant air, her martial arts skills and demeanor in no way inferior to those of men.

The two fought fiercely, their battle creating a chaotic scene of flying sand and stones.

Yang Zongbao unleashed the most powerful move of the Overlord Spear, the Returning Spear, which was impossible to defend against and nearly caused Mu Guiying to be hit.

Mu Guiying simply threw down her sword, formed hand seals, and used a formation to suppress Yang Zongbao. Then she took out her signature broadsword. With the broadsword in hand, Mu Guiying completely overwhelmed Yang Zongbao, finally capturing him alive and taking him back to the stronghold for her father to deal with.

When Chief Mu saw that Yang Zongbao was handsome and of good birth, and that his daughter was of marriageable age, he wanted Yang Zongbao to marry his daughter Mu Guiying.

At this moment, Yang Zongbao also recognized Mu Guiying as the woman in red who had saved his life. He was moved, but thinking of the Yang family generals, he refused the marriage proposal.

After experiencing many twists and turns, and the complexities of love, Mu Guiying and Yang Zongbao fell in love and eventually married.

After Mu Guiying married into the Yang family, her uninhibited nature led to a series of hilarious yet heartwarming events. Interspersed throughout were conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the bond between grandparents and grandchildren, and a crisis at the Tianbo Mansion. Through these shared hardships, Mu Guiying was finally accepted by the Yang family and became a member of their household.

With the help of the Grand Preceptor, the Liao army advanced with overwhelming force, and the generals of the Yang family died on the battlefield.

To break the Heavenly Gate Formation and save the Song Dynasty from peril, the women of the Yang family all went into battle, with Mu Guiying disregarding her pregnancy to fight the enemy.

During the fierce battle, Mu Guiying went into labor and gave birth to her son within the Heavenly Gate Formation, her blood rushing to her head. Taking advantage of the situation, Mu Guiying inserted the Dragon-Subduing Wood into the formation's core, shattering the Heavenly Gate Formation.

Although the battle was won, the sight of the Yang family women supporting each other in silence, seeing the sons who died for the Song Dynasty, was extremely tragic.

"Cut!"

After the director called a stop, he reviewed today's performance with Hu Xiaoxiao.

Hu Xiaoxiao also tried to fix the scenes that weren't filmed well and asked the director to film them again to achieve the best effect.

"In the scene 'Saving Her Husband at the Gate,' Yang Yanzhao, believing Yang Zongbao had neglected military duties and violated military law by secretly going to marry his wife, intends to execute his son according to military law. Mu Guiying rushes into the camp to save her husband; this scene is filmed again. At the critical moment when Yang Zongbao is about to be beheaded, Mu Guiying leaps out, draws her bow, and shoots an arrow that deflects the executioner's blade, offering a piece of wood to save Yang Zongbao..."

Director Shao asked Hu Xiaoxiao to reshoot this scene several times, carefully selecting each shot and keeping only the best ones.

"There's also the scene where the Liao general utters foul language in front of the battle, and Mu Guiying shoots the Liao general to death with an arrow. Xiaoxiao, let's do it again. I'll use several angles to film Mu Guiying shooting the arrow, to make that arrow look powerful and majestic."

This part was particularly difficult to film. It didn't rely on special effects; it depended solely on the actors' performances and the director's camera control, which was very challenging.

If the actress playing Mu Guiying had been someone else, not Hu Xiaoxiao, Director Shao felt that would have been fine. But he really loved Hu Xiaoxiao's action scenes. Hu Xiaoxiao herself was very skilled at archery, and with her strength and accuracy, every time she shot an arrow, she gave him the wonderful feeling of a master archer. He really wanted to capture that feeling and express it on screen.

When faced with perfect actors, directors become more demanding and pursue greater perfection in their work.

They spent two whole days filming just this short segment.

Hu Xiaoxiao kept searching for the right feeling, honing the momentum of her archery, the murderous intent in her eyes, and so on, bit by bit. Fortunately, hard work pays off—

"Cut!" Director Shao shouted, then stood up, clapped, and said, "That was perfect! That's a wrap!"