You were asked to write a political intrigue drama, but you wrote "Da Ming 1566".

Chapter 36 Did the dike really break and flood the fields? Chen Yu is serious!

Furthermore, another reason they chose Ma Ningyuan was that he was a confidant of Hu Zongxian. Sending Ma Ningyuan to carry out the task of destroying dikes and flooding fields would implicate Hu Zongxian as well.

In their view, even if Hu Zongxian didn't want to change rice paddies to mulberry fields, he would have no choice but to do it since he had already been implicated in the matter of destroying dikes and flooding fields!

In this way, we can ensure that nothing goes wrong.

However, Ma Ningyuan became the key to everything. When Ma Ningyuan walked in, the audience guessed Zheng, He, and Yang's purpose. But at this moment, the members of Ma Ningyuan's fan forum sneered.

"Laughable! Trying to scheme against our Prefect Ma, trying to make him our pawn? How many heads do you have?" "Prefect Ma is a master strategist. He'll likely play a major role in thwarting this plot to destroy the dikes and flood the fields." "You guys should just give up." The rest of the audience, even those who weren't members of the Ma Ningyuan forum, thought the same way. Logically speaking, in the end, Ma Ningyuan would definitely have a change of heart, or come up with a very clever plan to thwart the plot to destroy the dikes and flood the fields, thus climbing to a higher position himself.

That should be the case.

In this scene, Ma Ningyuan certainly wouldn't suffer any loss. But the ensuing conversation gradually made the audience suspicious. Zheng, He, and Yang, those three old foxes, kept talking back and forth, and somehow it seemed like they had Ma Ningyuan in cahoots? Especially Yang Jinshui's words.

[You listen to Minister Hu, but who does Minister Hu listen to?] [You acknowledge Minister Hu, but Minister Hu acknowledges the Grand Secretary. Would it be wrong for you to act according to the Grand Secretary's wishes?] This line filled some veteran office workers with apprehension. "Damn it, Yang Jinshui truly lives up to his reputation as a eunuch; he's so cunning."

"For guys who haven't yet made it in the workplace, remember this: if anyone tries to get you to do something behind your boss's back, that person is definitely a jerk, and that's a huge trap."

"Always remember one thing: in the workplace, never do anything on your own initiative without informing your superiors." "Even if it's something passed down from your superior's superior, you should always confirm it with your superior first, otherwise the consequences will be dire."

The audience members, unfamiliar with the workplace, nodded repeatedly, quickly pulling out their notebooks to jot things down. "But Ma Ningyuan is the prefect of Hangzhou, a seasoned official; surely he wouldn't fall for such a trick?"

The next moment, Zheng Bichang seized upon Ma Ningyuan's loyalty and gratitude to Hu Zongxian, and then made another move behind Yang Jinshui.

[Keeping this from Minister Hu was also to protect him.]

[To avoid Tan Lun and his ilk finding out and reporting it to Prince Yu, in which case Minister Hu would be the first to be punished.] Zheng Bichang's move alone shows that he was quite shrewd.

Moreover, this person knew Ma Ningyuan very well, and by analyzing Ma Ningyuan's personality, he was absolutely ruthless. A moment later, Ma Ningyuan replied.

I'll do it.

[With so many counties flooded, we can't let people starve. I can't let the Minister be embarrassed then.]

Then, he asked Shen Yishi for two century-old ginseng roots to nourish Hu Zongxian. After he said this, the script describes it as follows: [Yang Jinshui smiled, relieved, and walked away from Ma Ningyuan.]

Zheng Bichang and He Maocai also laughed. The audience, however, couldn't laugh anymore. "Huh?"

"Prefect Ma Ningyuan has agreed to help them destroy the dikes and flood the fields?" "No way! According to the bigwigs, isn't this a trap?" "What happened to Prefect Ma being the key figure in thwarting the plot to destroy the dikes and flood the fields? What happened to his character arc, from being a bureaucratic machine to having a change of heart and showing growth?"

Meanwhile, the members of the Ma Ningyuan forum remained calm and even somewhat amused, thinking, "What do you know?" and "Prefect Ma wouldn't fall for such a small trick?"

"Hiding your true abilities, that's called hiding your true abilities, it's called playing dumb to outsmart others, do you understand?"

"Prefect Ma is definitely just playing along, pretending to agree, but actually trying to extract more details and evidence from them to lower their guard, and then turn against them when they think the plan is about to succeed."

"Just you wait and see, the best is yet to come!"

After hearing the explanations from the Ma Ningyuan forum members, the other viewers also felt that they made a lot of sense.

The experts are right. Plots like destroying dikes and flooding fields will definitely continue until the very end of the "Ming Dynasty" storyline. If Ma Ningyuan agrees to do this behind Hu Zongxian's back now, wouldn't it actually be done?

How can the rest of the story unfold then?

Therefore, it is impossible for Ma Ningyuan to actually destroy the dikes and flood the fields.

Just as the members of the Ma Ningyuan forum said, this is all pretense, a way to lull Zheng, He, and Yang into a false sense of security. Then, in the script, Ma Ningyuan says he's going to find Hu Zongxian with ginseng. This terrifies those old foxes, who are afraid Ma Ningyuan will leak the news to Hu Zongxian. But Ma Ningyuan's reaction is quite firm.

"If you don't believe me, how about we give this job to someone else?" Yang Jinshui then tried to smooth things over.

Ma Ningyuan's performance convinced them that he had fallen for the trap. Seeing this, the audience couldn't help but exclaim, "Ma Ningyuan's skills are truly impressive!" "Not only are his skills impressive, but his acting is superb!" "Haha, even we viewers outside the script were almost fooled by his performance. It's no wonder the old foxes in the script were also fooled!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, look how happy they are. They seem to really believe that Prefect Ma is going to listen to them and secretly destroy the dikes and flood the fields behind Hu Zongxian's back. But if they knew that Prefect Ma was just playing them for a fool, I wonder what their expressions would be."

"I bet Ma Ningyuan will definitely tell Hu Zongxian about the breaching of the dikes and flooding of the fields. Even if he doesn't say it outright, he will definitely give hints and leave a backup plan, which will play a key role in preventing the breaching of the dikes and flooding of the fields later."

So the audience watched with anticipation. Soon, without a single wasted word, Ma Ningyuan from the script arrived at the Governor's Mansion and met Hu Zongxian. "Have you sent anyone to open the dam and release the water?" Hu Zongxian, who was handling official business, asked, bowing his head. Ma Ningyuan did not answer.

This silence was met with enthusiastic praise from the members of the Ma Ningyuan forum. "See? That's what you call 'everything is understood without words.'" "This is Prefect Ma giving Minister Hu a hint, you understand? It means there's a problem with the weir. I bet a hundred bucks it's definitely what he means!"

Immediately, seeing that Ma Ningyuan did not respond, Hu Zongxian looked up at him, and Ma Ningyuan snapped out of his reverie. [It's done, they've all taken care of it.] In the comments, another expert, following the analysis of Ma Ningyuan's previous posts, offered the "subtext" of this sentence: "The previous silence was an indication that there was a problem with the dam."

"The fact that they've all been taken care of now is definitely an implication to Hu Zongxian that, apart from him and Ma Ningyuan, all the high-ranking officials in Zhejiang are involved in the Yankou issue."

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" "Prefect Ma's ability to hint at information is unparalleled; he's a riddle master among riddle masters, it's definitely encrypted intelligence!" Hu Zongxian's next reply further impressed the audience. 【What are you holding behind your back?】 This time, even the bigwigs didn't need to interpret it; the audience themselves "deciphered" the subtext. "Hu Zongxian must have sensed Ma Ningyuan's subtext, asking who's behind this." "Minister Hu truly lives up to his reputation as a peerless strategist; he caught Ma Ningyuan's riddle perfectly." "It's a sure thing, a sure thing now! With Minister Hu and Prefect Ma working together, they'll definitely thwart the plot to destroy the dikes and flood the fields!"

What followed was naturally interpreted in meaningful ways by the audience through every line spoken by Hu Zongxian and Ma Ningyuan.

For example, the ginseng that Ma Ningyuan sent to Hu Zongxian has been interpreted in various ways by viewers. Some say that Ma Ningyuan put a note inside the box of ginseng, hinting at the flooding of the fields due to the breached dikes. Other viewers analyze that the act of Ma Ningyuan sending the ginseng is significant enough within the relationship between Hu Zongxian and Ma Ningyuan to remind Hu Zongxian of something.

Some viewers even argued, based on the pharmacological properties of ginseng, that this clue should lead to the destruction of dikes and flooding of fields.

These speculations are even more outrageous than the intelligence-transmitting scenes in spy movies!

If Chen Yu knew that the audience had already imagined Ma Ningyuan as some kind of highly skilled master, and even started to interpret Ma Ningyuan and Hu Zongxian's conversation in this way, he would probably burst out laughing.

It can only be said that the audience is really prone to overthinking.

This conversation really had no subtext. Ma Ningyuan was truly manipulated by those old foxes, becoming a pawn and scapegoat in the destruction of the dike and flooding of the fields.

But the audience insists that Ma Ningyuan will survive to the end, and the number of members in the Ma Ningyuan forum is even increasing. If they knew that their role model, Prefect Ma Ningyuan, was about to be beheaded, what kind of expression would they have?

At this moment, the scene where Ma Ningyuan gives Hu Zongxian ginseng comes to a close. Hu Zongxian says to Ma Ningyuan, "Doing your job well is better than giving me anything. Leave it there and take it to the various weirs to check on things."

Ma Ningyuan responded, then gave Hu Zongxian a long look before turning around and walking out.

After watching their final reaction, the audience breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with satisfaction. "Hu Zongxian's statement that 'Ma Ningyuan should do his job well' was better than giving him anything. He definitely meant that Ma Ningyuan should perform well in front of those old foxes and not have to come and pass on messages to him anymore."

Sending Ma Ningyuan to inspect various weirs and dams demonstrates that Hu Zongxian was already fully aware of the situation.

"Before leaving, Ma Ningyuan gave Hu Zongxian a deep look. This look clearly showed that he had entrusted all his affairs to Hu Zongxian and placed his complete trust in him without reservation."

"It's safe now, completely safe!"

"Minister Hu and Prefect Ma, joining forces like two swords combined, isn't that an absolute sure thing?!"

But the very next second, when Chen Yu typed out the last few lines of the eleventh scene, the audience who had just been laughing loudly were instantly stunned. [The annual Dragon Boat Festival flood season has finally arrived... : )]

The sky was completely dark, and the heavy rain continued to pour down. From the glow of the lanterns under the eaves of the Governor's Office and the dim light of the scattered lanterns in the open space, one could vaguely see that the area was already filled with personal guards, each with a ready-to-go warhorse at their side.

A sudden clap of lightning ripped across the sky, illuminating the deathly pale faces of Hu Zongxian and his personal guards!

[Hu Zongxian angrily demanded, "Where is the river supervisor? What exactly is the situation? How did he report it?"]

The captain of the personal guards hurriedly replied that every sluice gate in all nine counties had burst open and couldn't be plugged at all!

Hu Zongxian's body trembled violently as another bolt of lightning struck, turning his entire body deathly pale.

How cruel and heartless Heaven and Earth are...

[Hu Zongxian's long, sorrowful sigh was instantly swallowed up by the incessant rumbling thunder.]

[The eleventh act of the Ming Dynasty—the breaching of the dikes—has come to an end!]

The moment Chen Yu typed those words, the viewers in the live stream, who had been beaming with joy, suddenly seemed to be put on pause. Immediately afterward, a dense barrage of question marks flashed across the public screen of the live stream.

"???""ah?"

"No, didn't we just confidently say that this breaching of the dikes and flooding of the fields was a grand conspiracy that would definitely be stopped?"

"Didn't they already crack the encrypted conversation between Hu Zongxian and Ma Ningyuan? Didn't everyone say that Ma Ningyuan was just playing dumb to fool everyone? This round is already a sure thing, isn't it?"

"What exactly is going on?"

"Who the hell could have predicted this?"

"Chen Yu isn't just using clickbait titles; he's incredibly honest! He said the dikes would breach, and they really did! He said he'd destroy the dams and flood the fields, and they actually did!"

"He's actually serious?!"

When everyone saw the ending of the eleventh scene, they were all stunned.

Whether it was the audience, judges, film industry representatives, or other contestants, everyone had already concluded that the later storyline of "Da Ming Dynasty" would definitely revolve around the destruction of dikes and flooding of fields. Even some top screenwriters voiced their agreement with this conjecture in a group chat filled with industry leaders.

During the two-week flood season around the Dragon Boat Festival, Yan's faction needed to complete the arrangements for breaching the dikes and flooding the fields. Hu Zongxian and others, on the other hand, were tasked with uncovering the plot to breach the dikes and flood the fields and turning the tide. In the final, critical moment, all the previous foreshadowing was revealed, turning the tide and preventing the collapse of the entire empire.

Just thinking about it is enough to create a thrilling and suspenseful script! Once this script is written, combined with Chen Yu's previous character development, it's more than enough to make him a legend!

But to their utter dismay, their assumptions were completely wrong. Chen Yu didn't even wait that long to detonate the plot to destroy the dikes and flood the fields. He didn't even describe the details of how the dikes were destroyed. Just one line, and this shocking plot to destroy the dikes and flood the fields succeeded?!

At that moment, everyone in the screenwriting industry was perplexed. On the judging panel, Professor Shu Ping sometimes frowned, sometimes relaxed, as if he had some guess but wasn't sure. He had an idea in his mind.

"Destroying dikes and flooding fields—such a shocking conspiracy is certainly enough to serve as a main storyline that runs directly through the entire script." "When faced with such a plot, almost every screenwriter would meticulously craft it."