Chen Zheyuan Wants to Bring Wu Jinyan and Bai Lu to Great Escape, and His Reason Is Hilarious

LayarHijau – While promoting the costume drama Royal Betrothal (《御廷谣》), Chen Zheyuan opened up not only about his character Ying Gua, but also about his experience on the variety show Great Escape (《密室大逃脱》). During the interview, he revealed that he would love to have his Royal Betrothal co-star Wu Jinyan and actress Bai Lu join him in the escape room—and his reasons could not be more entertaining.

In Royal Betrothal, Chen Zheyuan plays Ying Gua (英寡), a young emperor who is still learning what it takes to become a mature and respected ruler. According to Chen, Ying Gua has not yet grown into the kind of emperor everyone can truly respect and is still finding his way toward becoming one.

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Wu Jinyan plays Meng Tinghui (孟廷辉), Chen Zheyuan’s co-star and the female lead in Royal Betrothal. Their relationship forms one of the central parts of the drama, which combines romance with court politics and intrigue.

During the interview with Sohu Entertainment, the conversation eventually turned to Great Escape. The MangoTV variety show puts celebrities inside elaborate escape rooms where they have to search for clues, solve puzzles, work together, and find their way out. The missions can also involve horror themes, NPCs, and unexpected scares designed to test the cast’s courage.

Chen Zheyuan appears in Season 6 alongside Xu Kai, Da Zhangwei, Zhou Bichang, Peng Yuchang, and Zhang Zhenyuan.

Chen Zheyuan and Xu Kai Become the “Weak Duo”

Chen Zheyuan’s appearance on Great Escape has revealed a very different side of him from Ying Gua. While he plays a young emperor learning how to rule in Royal Betrothal, he has repeatedly found himself panicking when faced with the show’s horror challenges.

That was especially noticeable during the early “Screaming Villa” (《绝叫山庄》) storyline on Season 8. Chen Zheyuan and Xu Kai both showed just how easily they could be frightened when confronted with the various scares inside the game.

The two were sent through parts of the challenge separately. Xu Kai was reportedly too scared to leave the shower area, while Chen Zheyuan was also too frightened to stand up and chose to stay crouched down.

When they finally encountered each other, things did not suddenly become calmer. Instead, the two startled each other and screamed.

Their hilarious interactions, coupled with the fact that both were easily frightened, led viewers to jokingly call them “双弱,” or the “weak duo.”

Chen Zheyuan took the nickname in stride when Sohu Entertainment brought it up during the interview.

“If it were just me being called weak, I might argue back. But if everyone says we’re both weak, I can accept that,” he joked.

Chen Zheyuan and Zhang Zhenyuan’s Hilarious Floor Incident

Xu Kai was not the only cast member involved in Chen Zheyuan’s memorable moments on Great Escape. He also recalled a particularly chaotic incident with Zhang Zhenyuan while they were trying to avoid an NPC.

Chen explained that whenever he gets scared, he tends to look for a safe place by hiding behind or underneath someone else. Unfortunately, the person in front of him at the time happened to be Zhang Zhenyuan.

The problem was that Zhang Zhenyuan was also trying to get away from the NPC.

“I tried to get underneath him, but he was pretty strong and he was also moving downward. We just kept moving like that until we ended up on the floor,” Chen recalled.

The two eventually found themselves lying flat on the floor. In the middle of the chaos, they also ended up tripping Da Zhangwei, who was behind them.

Chen also admitted that he had initially underestimated Zhang Zhenyuan, thinking he might struggle more with the challenges. After watching the episodes, however, he realized that Zhang actually performed quite well.

Zhang was able to keep moving forward and showed strong problem-solving skills throughout the various challenges.

“I don’t know whether I overestimated myself or underestimated him,” Chen said.

Going through those intense missions together also brought the cast closer. Chen described Peng Yuchang, Xu Kai, Zhang Zhenyuan, Da Zhangwei, and Zhou Bichang as being like comrades-in-arms after everything they went through together during filming.

He particularly remembered one moment when he fell to the ground and Peng Yuchang came over to help him back up. Chen said the moment had stayed with him even after filming.

Chen Zheyuan Wants Wu Jinyan and Bai Lu on Great Escape

Chen confirmed that he would return for the finale of Great Escape because he had already promised to take part.

When asked which two celebrities he would choose to join him in the escape room, Chen came up with two unexpected names: Wu Jinyan and Bai Lu.

As for Wu Jinyan, Chen pointed out that his Royal Betrothal co-star considers herself quite brave. He therefore hopes she could help keep things under control when the team faces the more frightening challenges.

However, Chen does not want Wu to be completely fearless.

He joked that she still needs to react when something scary happens. If she stays completely calm, Chen worries that he will end up looking even more timid by comparison.

“If you come, you have to give us some reactions. You can’t be completely unafraid, otherwise I’ll look too weak,” Chen joked.

His reason for choosing Bai Lu was even simpler—and much funnier.

Bai Lu is known for being easily frightened, and Chen recalled that she had watched one of his Great Escape episodes with Zhang Zhenyuan. After watching it, Bai Lu reportedly told him that it was terrifying and that she probably would not be able to handle actually taking part.

For Chen, that was precisely what made her a perfect candidate.

He believes having someone who is even more frightened than he is could actually make him braver.

“If there’s someone who’s even more scared than me, I might actually become braver,” Chen said.

When the interviewer imagined Chen, Wu Jinyan, and Bai Lu having to complete a side mission with only the three of them, Chen immediately knew who should take charge.

“Just leave it to Jinyan,” he replied.

When the interviewer jokingly brought up the idea of male responsibility and bravery, Chen once again turned it into a joke, saying that once you enter an escape room, fear does not care whether you are a man or a woman.

Chen’s choices therefore make perfect sense from his perspective. Wu Jinyan would be the relatively brave member who could help handle the challenges, while Bai Lu’s fearfulness could potentially give Chen the confidence boost he needs.

The Great Escape stories also offer an amusing contrast to Chen Zheyuan’s role in Royal Betrothal. On screen, he plays a young emperor who has to grow into a mature and respected ruler. In the escape room, meanwhile, he can end up panicking alongside Xu Kai, looking for shelter behind Zhang Zhenyuan, or lying flat on the floor while trying to escape an NPC.

And according to Chen, perhaps the best way to become braver on Great Escape is simply to bring along someone who is even more afraid than he is. For him, Bai Lu might be exactly the right person.