Gucheng Zhao: Jingbian (孤城照：惊变)

Gucheng Zhao: Jingbian is a 41-episode horizontal-screen AI live-action short drama (AI仿真人剧, 短剧) from Hangzhou studio Jiuziyuan AI (九紫源AI), directed by its founder and chief director Ding Kuan (丁宽). A Hangzhou news article of 14 February 2026 calls it China's first AI-made period thriller and says it can be found on Youku, iQIYI, Tencent Video, Douyin, Bilibili and Hongguo. The Paper's interview says it was issued by Hunan Fengmang AI Theatre (湖南风芒AI剧场) and carried more than 36 million in heat on Hongguo, which marked it a "hit drama".

Ding says it took eight months from script planning to release. The articles give the core team as 10 people in one place and 15 in another. The company says it combines dozens of domestic and foreign AI tools and large models into its own AIGC workflow; no tool or model is named for this series. Ding says the team had to explain to the AI feelings such as restrained anger and the despair of a city falling.

21st Century Business Herald reported in March 2026 that the series once topped Hongguo's chart, in a piece on AI live-action dramas where per-series minimum guarantees from platforms have reached 3.6 million yuan. Ding, whose earlier work includes Xing'anling Ghost Stories and Mecha Bureau: Zhong Kui, said Jiuziyuan plans a Gucheng Zhao series as an IP, and the interview mentions fans waiting for a second season.