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

He was the head of the screenwriting team at Xiangyu Pictures. If he were to bow down to Chen Yu like this, wouldn't his position be in jeopardy? He gritted his teeth and said.

"What's the rush?"

"I admit that Chen Yu's writing up to the seventeenth act is really impressive." "But did you notice? At the end of the seventeenth act, Chen Yu wrote a voice-over." His team members quickly looked over at his prompting, their brows furrowing as they asked with a hint of surprise and uncertainty.

"Boss, judging from Chen Yu's voiceover, it seems the plot will enter a new phase in the next scene." "There will be some new characters with significant roles appearing." Ma Kui nodded, a strange look in his eyes, and confirmed. "There are new characters appearing, and their roles will probably be substantial." "The upcoming plot will also shift more from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty's high-ranking officials to the local area of ​​Zhejiang."

"New characters and new plots, no matter what script they're in, will cause a lot of viewers to leave." "Not to mention what the tone of the previous Ming Dynasty was: political intrigue and wits, but this scene of the imperial audience has brought that aspect to its peak."

"This new character can only fight on the ground, so how do we create a more impactful scene than this one?" His team members gradually realized what was going on. "Boss, you mean..."

Ma Yingkui let out a long breath and said firmly.

"When new characters appear in the Ming Dynasty, they will mostly be overshadowed by the previous characters, and the plot will take a sharp turn for the worse."

"We still have a chance."

A hint of smugness appeared on his face.

"I admit Chen Yu has some talent, but he's still too inexperienced." "Once he realizes he can't break through the limitations no matter how he writes, and can no longer maintain the popularity of 'Ming Dynasty,' then we can step in and offer insightful script revisions. What will all the previous issues matter then?"

He still owes us a debt of gratitude.

"Isn't this much better than trying to fix things after the fact?" Coincidentally, this same judgment was also reached among the screenwriting teams of top-tier film and television companies. Even those with top-notch screenwriters couldn't figure out how to make a new character and a new plot shine with the brilliance of the Seventeenth Act, the Imperial Prelude.

This eased their anxiety considerably, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't worry, don't worry, just get through this period, and 'The Ming Dynasty' won't last." "Let's wait for the new characters to appear, then things will get better." "Phew, that scared me. If Chen Yu and the others continued to perform so perfectly, I don't know how I would have been able to defeat 'The Ming Dynasty.' I didn't expect Chen Yu to make such a fatal oversight."

"It seems that there's always a way out."

At this time, Director Zhao, who was in charge of selecting scripts, was also delighted to see that the script for "The Ming Dynasty" had broken the record for popularity.

As a fan of "Ming Dynasty" and having worked within the system to a certain extent, he deeply appreciated the depth of "Ming Dynasty".

If "The Ming Dynasty" could be made a required study material within the system, it would have a very good effect and be enough to deeply move many people.

He had previously reported this to his superiors, but they essentially rejected the possibility of choosing "Da Ming Dynasty" as the main candidate, arguing that Chen Yu was a newcomer who had not yet debuted and could not compare with the top screenwriters of Huaying.

But this time, the script for "The Ming Dynasty" broke popularity records. Isn't that enough to prove its excellence? Director Zhao gritted his teeth and reported the matter of "The Ming Dynasty" to his superiors again. His superiors pondered for a long time before giving their reply.

"It's truly remarkable that 'Da Ming Dynasty' has such popularity and influence, and it also has sufficient depth."

"But compared to scripts created by several top screenwriters from Huaying Film Studio, this is probably still a bit lacking." "However, this script has indeed attracted widespread attention in society and reflects the voice of the people. Director Zhao, you have recommended it so strongly, it would be unreasonable to put it at the bottom of the candidate list."

"Let's put it as one of the options for now." "When Huaying's script is finished, we'll show it to the higher-ups along with 'The Ming Dynasty' and let them make a decision."

Director Zhao's eyes lit up with delight upon hearing his superior's reply. Compared to before, this offered a significant margin of opportunity. The rest truly depended on whether "The Ming Dynasty" was good enough to catch the eye of the higher-ups. Soon, the news was naturally relayed to Huaying Film Studio.

When the executives of Huaying heard the news, their expressions were rather unpleasant, as if someone wanted to take a piece of the pie that rightfully belonged to them.

The top screenwriters responsible for crafting the scripts were summoned by higher-ups and asked if their scripts could surpass "Ming Dynasty"...

The top screenwriters responsible for crafting the scripts were summoned by higher-ups and asked if their scripts could surpass "Ming Dynasty"...

The faces of those top screenwriters all showed a hint of disdain and sneer.

"What's so difficult about surpassing 'Ming Dynasty'?" "Don't be fooled by the current success of 'Ming Dynasty'. In my opinion, the seventeenth act is its final moment of glory, like flowers in full bloom and oil being poured on a raging fire."

"According to Chen Yu's voice-over, the next scene will definitely introduce new characters, and the plot will enter a new phase." "What kind of character can compare to the previous ones? What kind of plot can rival this imperial audience in the Golden Palace and the destruction of the dike to flood Tian Mei?"

"Impossible. It's already reached its limit. The further it goes, the more mediocre it will become."

"What the leaders want isn't a short drama with only a dozen or so scenes, but a profound epic like 'The Ming Dynasty,' which can resonate with everyone from the bottom up. So what if it's on the shortlist? In the end, it's just us running alongside them!"

At this moment, having just finished writing the seventeenth act, which was hailed as the pinnacle of all and even broke records for popularity, Chen Yu's eagerness and anticipation became even more pronounced.

The seventeenth act is indeed brilliant in its political intrigue, enough to make one applaud.

But in Chen Yu's view, compared with the character who will appear in the next scene and the plot he has triggered, even the seventeenth scene, the audience in the Golden Palace, is still lackluster!

Because the next character to appear is Hai Rui!

During the audience at the Golden Palace, Hu Zongxian, as the only one kneeling, managed to secure the best possible outcome for himself. This was certainly impressive, but it remained within the realm of political maneuvering; he hadn't exceeded the duties of a subject. Hu Zongxian was still submitting to the supreme authority of the Jiajing Emperor. However, when Hai Rui arrived in the capital, he submitted a memorial that was considered the most outspoken and direct in the land.

"I have heard the common people say that during the Jiajing reign, every household was impoverished and had no money." Jiajing, Jiajing, every household is impoverished! When Hai Rui uttered such words, that was the true peak moment, the true climax of "The Ming Dynasty"! The seventeenth act already caused such a sensation and buzz; what would happen when Hai Rui's memorial was submitted? Therefore, as Hai Rui was about to appear, how could Chen Yu be satisfied with the brief glory of the seventeenth act? If he knew the predictions of many top screenwriters that the plot of "The Ming Dynasty" would take a sharp turn for the worse, he would probably laugh out loud.

New characters can't rival the old ones? Local dramas can never match the breathtaking grandeur of the imperial palace? Sorry, such assertions don't apply to Hai Rui! The sharpness of this great sword of the Ming Dynasty, once unsheathed, is unstoppable! At the same time, a hint of mockery appeared on Chen Yu's face. Along with Hai Rui's sword being drawn, what was torn away was the ugly mask that the upright officials had been trying to wear, finally revealing itself to be no different from the Yan faction!

The next scene, following a series of iconic moments from the Yan Party, will feature an iconic moment from the Qingliu faction! The next moment, Chen Yu took a breath, his eyes brightened, and typed a line of text.

【The Ming Dynasty, Act 18 - The Sword of the Great Ming Dynasty is Drawn】After the intrigue and deceit of Act 17, Hai Rui, the sword of the Great Ming Dynasty, is finally drawn in this Act 18!

When Chen Yu typed out this line, everyone—from Feng Kuiying's team at Xiangyu Pictures, to the screenwriting teams of several top-tier film and television companies, and even the top screenwriters at Huaying Film Studio—revealed a hint of surprise.

"They're here."

"Chen Yu is in such a hurry." "Hehe, I thought he would take advantage of the high level of hype he just created to keep the audience in suspense and let things build up a bit, but I didn't expect him to be so eager to move on to the next scene."

As they spoke, these people showed no fear, but rather anticipation. It was as if they could already foresee Chen Yu's rapid fall from grace. The transition between two major plot lines requires utmost care.

No matter how careful or meticulously crafted the plot, such transitions will inevitably lead to a loss of viewers. This is an inherent law of scriptwriting and all artistic creation.

At this time, Chen Yu is so eager to introduce new plots and new characters. In the eyes of these experienced screenwriters, this will undoubtedly make the loss of audience even worse.

They all had smiles on their faces, waiting to see Chen Yu make a fool of himself.

Feng Kuiying's team at Xiangyu Pictures was waiting for Chen Yu's "Ming Dynasty" to lose popularity before stepping in to save the day. Meanwhile, teams from several top-tier film studios were waiting for this moment to exert their influence, stealing the spotlight from "Ming Dynasty," and hindering Xiangyu Pictures' attempt to break into the top tier.

As for Huaying's top screenwriters, they could only sneer, waiting to see the leaders shake their heads at the subsequent plot of "Da Ming Dynasty" and decisively choose their own scripts.

Meanwhile, the audience, still immersed in the pinnacle of political intrigue in the seventeenth act, began to discuss the opening of the eighteenth act.

"This scene even has a title? It seems this is a very important plot point in Chen Yu's mind." "But the title is a bit strange. What does 'The Divine Sword Is Drawn' mean? Has it gone from an ancient political drama to some kind of fantasy/martial arts story?"

"How could that be? Just think about it, it can't have turned into a fantasy martial arts story. The divine sword must refer to a person, right? The divine sword being drawn means that person has come out of seclusion?"

This further fueled the audience's curiosity.

What kind of person could be called a "divine sword" by Chen Yu in the title? This is a treatment never before given to any of the previous characters. Even figures like Yan Song, Hu Zongxian, and Jiajing Emperor didn't receive such a title. What makes this new character so special?

Some speculate that this might be the top scholar of a certain year, possessing extraordinary talent, who has finally been given an important position and is now showing his brilliance.

Some speculated that perhaps it was a cunning old fox who had been plotting for a long time, now stepping into the fray. In short, all the viewers were convinced that this person was definitely extraordinary and unusual. Otherwise, why would they participate in such a battle of wits between gods?

However, the opening of this eighteenth act does not mention who this new character is, but instead shifts the perspective to the Prince Yu's Mansion and to the side of the Qingliu faction.

Upon returning from the cabinet meeting, Zhang Juzheng relayed the resolutions of Prince Yu's cabinet meeting. These resolutions were not significantly different from those raised in the imperial audience.

In order to solve the problems of disaster relief and converting rice paddies to mulberry fields at the same time, Yan's party came up with a strategy called "combining disaster relief with conversion, thus resolving the dilemma."

The idea was to have major silk merchants in Zhejiang provide money and grain to disaster victims and buy their land to convert rice paddies to mulberry fields. This way, they could both convert rice paddies to mulberry fields and prevent people in Zhejiang from starving. It sounds fancy, but it's actually the same old scheme, just giving the silk merchants' land acquisition a grand veneer of "disaster relief."

Prince Yu was quite displeased that Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng had failed to prevent such a resolution at the cabinet meeting, and asked why they did not speak up at the cabinet meeting.

At this moment, Chen Yu's fingers moved swiftly, typing out Zhang Juzheng's reaction. [Zhang Juzheng's eyes flashed with a strange light, but he remained silent.] Prince Yu then pressed for more information.

"With Xu Jie and Gao Gong in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, can they allocate grain to Hu Zongxian?" From the question posed by Prince Yu, it's clear that he still cared to some extent for the people. His thoughts were quite simple.

If the Ministry of Revenue could allocate grain to Hu Zongxian, then the common people would not need to accept the purchase of their land by those wealthy silk merchants, and could retain their own land without starving to death.

The audience nodded in agreement.

"Although Prince Yu's level was indeed not high, far inferior to his father Jiajing, Jiajing had the whole country in his heart and didn't care about ordinary people at all."

"Prince Yu, at least he still cares about the people and doesn't want them to be forced to choose between selling their land and starving to death." However, at the same time, they also felt doubtful.

"No, haven't the Qingliu faction always been shouting about serving the country and its people?"

"Gao Gong, that argumentative king, has always loved to show off, so why didn't he say anything at the cabinet meeting this time?" "Zhang Juzheng had many schemes before, so why is he just keeping his mouth shut now?" "Isn't Prince Yu right? If the upright officials take charge of the Ministry of Revenue and allocate grain to the disaster victims in Zhejiang, wouldn't the crisis be resolved?" At this moment, Chen Yu couldn't help but show a mocking expression.

It was from this moment that the "pure stream" faction tore off their hypocritical masks of patriotism and service to the people. What patriotism, what people's service? All they cared about was factional infighting, their aim to overthrow the Yen faction! Why?