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

The title of Act Twenty-Two—"The Sage is Unmerciful!"—was written with such a title, and it certainly caused a great stir.

By now, viewers in the live stream have gotten used to Chen Yu only using titles for famous scenes or climaxes.

Previously, Acts 20 and 21, according to the principles of scriptwriting, should have been major climaxes. Sure enough, Wang Yongji and Hai Rui delivered their stunning performances, and those acts were given corresponding titles. But now, Act 22, which should logically be a subdued reflection after the climax, also has a title? What's going on?

Is this scene also going to be full of climaxes and memorable lines?

Could Chen Yu be telling the truth? From now on, every scene will be a climax, a masterpiece?! The audience gasped. Fans of the Ming Dynasty cheered. "Whoosh!" "If that's really true, it's absolutely amazing!"

"I thought yesterday, with all those dramatic events starting from the breached dikes and flooded fields, was already incredibly exciting, but today seems to be even more exciting than yesterday!"

"If Chen Yu can really do what he says, every scene from now on will be a climax and a memorable moment. Even if it doesn't top the list of masterpiece dramas, as long as the Ming Dynasty is made, it should still be in the top ten without any problem."

"Are we witnessing the birth of a top-ten masterpiece?!" Meanwhile, the executives at the film and television companies behind the scenes clenched their fists, their teeth clenched with increasing rage. "Another climax?"

"impossible!"

"It's fake, it must be fake!" "This scene is definitely nothing special. Chen Yu was just afraid of losing viewers, so he deliberately used a title to make viewers think this scene was some kind of famous moment, but it's not like that at all!"

"Once this scene is over, Chen Yu definitely won't be able to come up with any memorable moments!" "I don't believe it. At most, he has the help of the veteran screenwriting team at Xiangyu Company. With that kind of ability, how can his inspiration be endless?"

They stared intently at the screen, their eyes gleaming with malice. If Chen Yu actually did that, these behind-the-scenes film company executives would absolutely go all out to create a dramatic situation and ruin Chen Yu's reputation!

At that moment, Chen Yu's fingers danced across the keyboard like phantoms, and lines of script poured out. Sorry, Chen Yu doesn't play any tricks. Want to see famous scenes and lines?

No need to wait until later, we'll satisfy you right away!

Act Twenty-Two is the scene where Zhao Zhenji makes his appearance, but how to introduce this character is quite intricate. In "The Ming Dynasty," Zhao Zhenji is introduced through a confrontation between the two cunning old foxes, Yan Song and Xu Jie.

The scene opens with a shift in perspective from the tense political landscape of Zhejiang to focus on the highest-ranking officials.

Inside the West Garden's duty room, Yan Song and Xu Jie were sharing a room, both writing "qingci" (a type of prayer offering) for the Jiajing Emperor. These "qingci" were texts the Jiajing Emperor used to burn as offerings to Heaven. This opening scene immediately revealed a sense of irony. While Zhejiang was in dire straits, in the court, both the leaders of Yan Song's faction and the Qingliu faction were currying favor with the Jiajing Emperor, writing "qingci" for him.

In a sense, the true nature of the "pure stream" and the "Yan faction" is revealed here once again. If the Yan faction is in this position, they are the Yan faction, and Xu Jie and his group are the "pure stream." But if the "pure stream" were in this position, then the "pure stream" would become the Xu faction, and the Yan faction would become the "pure stream"! There is absolutely no difference between the two!

Of course, this scene of writing Qingci (a type of Buddhist prayer) serves another purpose besides satire: it implies something.

Emperor Jiajing, Xu Jie, Yan Song, and others were able to convey certain messages through Qingci (a type of ceremonial petition). For example, in this particular Qingci theme, Jiajing instructed Yan Song and Xu Jie to emphasize the word "chastity." This was a subtle hint!

Hu Zongxian, courtesy name Ruzhen, was a disciple of Yan Song.

Xu Jie's disciple, Zhao Zhenji, also had the character "Zhen" in his name.

Emperor Jiajing instructed Yan Song and Xu Jie to highlight the character "Zhen" (贞, meaning integrity) in the Qingci (青词, meaning writings), implying that Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji should be tasked with producing a high-quality piece of writing!

What article?

It goes without saying that this article refers to the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields in the southeast!

In the previous life, due to the limited budget of the Ming Dynasty, many scenes were cut, and the deeper meaning of this scene was not well expressed.

Even many content creators who analyzed this scene didn't mention this detail. In this life, Chen Yu naturally wouldn't let anyone miss this brilliant design. After writing about this opening scene, Chen Yu quietly typed out an explanation.

[Many important military and national affairs, and the intentions of the emperor and the hearts of his subjects, are foreshadowed in these seemingly absurd poems.] [The theme of "Zhen" corresponds to Hu Zongxian (Hu Ruzhen), a disciple of Yan Song and the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Zhili, and also to Zhao Zhenji, a disciple of Xu Jie and the Governor of Yingtian.]

[Jiajing was reminding Yan Song and Xu Jie to make good use of their two disciples and to prepare this "Qingci" (a type of memorial) well!] When Chen Yu typed out these few lines of annotation, the audience gasped. They were stunned, completely stunned.

Before this, they were wondering why the twenty-second act began with a scene description of Yan Song and Xu Jie writing so-called "qingci" (a type of lyric poetry).

Some viewers also keenly noticed the satirical undertones. While Zhejiang was in turmoil, here they were currying favor with the Jiajing Emperor. And despite the fierce infighting between the Qingliu faction and the Yan faction, with the Qingliu constantly criticizing Yan Song for pandering to the emperor, weren't they all doing the same thing?

This interpretation alone was enough to make those viewers who didn't understand it exclaim how amazing it was.

But now, after reading Chen Yu's own annotations, they realized that the Qingci itself was actually a kind of hint? "Holy crap, awesome, absolutely awesome!"

"I thought that after all those trials and tribulations, I would be able to understand the various power struggles and hidden meanings in the Ming Dynasty. But now it seems I know nothing at all."

"The design of this riddle is impeccable; Emperor Jiajing was the Ming Dynasty's top riddle master." "But since Emperor Jiajing entrusted Yan Song and Xu Jie with such a riddle, it means he was certain that Yan Song and Xu Jie could decipher it. Yan Song and Xu Jie were truly remarkable."

"Is this what it means to be at the pinnacle of political maneuvering? Wow, that's incredible, truly incredible." At this moment, all doubts and worries about this scene vanished. Such a meaningful scene description right from the start, with three layers of implication—how could this be anything but ordinary? I don't believe it!

While the audience was still reeling from the shock, Chen Yu glanced at the live chat out of the corner of his eye, a slight smile playing on his lips. Shocked already?

This is just a small opening scene; compared to the truly famous scenes and lines, it's insignificant. If a scene is described like this, what will you think of the dialogue that follows?

So how should we react? Chen Yu's fingers tapped rapidly, and the explosive dialogue between Yan Song and Xu Jie that followed appeared on the screen.

In the opening scene of Act Twenty-Two, after a description of Yan Song and Xu Jie writing a memorial for the Jiajing Emperor, their actions and dialogue gradually unfold.

Yan Song spent a full hour writing the 169-character poem, lamenting that he couldn't deny his age. Xu Jie, who was a couple of lines behind Yan Song, comforted him, saying that if Yan Song was like this, then he, who hadn't even finished writing, should really retire.

Yan Song chuckled. "You were waiting for me, weren't you?"

Otherwise, with your talent and energy, you could have written 1,690 characters in an hour, let alone 1,690.

As he spoke, Yan Song gave Xu Jie a meaningful look.

This scene was barely shown in the original Ming Dynasty series, and most of the dialogue was cut. Viewers who haven't read the original novel generally didn't grasp its deeper meaning.

However, if we understand that in the preceding passage, Jiajing used the metaphor of "qingci" (a type of official document) to represent national policies and "zhen" (chastity) as the theme, it was to instruct Yan Song and Xu Jie to make good use of Zhao Zhenji and Hu Zongxian.

So here, Yan Song is saying that Xu Jie was waiting for him to write the poem, otherwise he would have written it long ago, let alone 169 characters, or even 1690 characters.

This also carries a symbolic meaning. It means that Xu Jie was biding his time, waiting for Yan Song to "finish his work" and for Yan Song to step down from his position as Grand Secretary.

By then, Xu Jie's actions will not be the same as they are now.

What's being written now is an article of 169 characters; what will be written later is an article of 1690 characters! Yan Song is subtly implying Xu Jie's single-minded desire to outlive him before unleashing his full potential.

Thanks to Chen Yu's previous foreshadowing, viewers quickly deciphered this layer of meaning. Other viewers, upon seeing this interpretation, gasped and felt a chill run down their spines. Just moments before, when they saw Yan Song's words, they thought Yan Song was expressing appreciation and gratitude to Xu Jie, and that this eighty-one-year-old man was still quite gentle.

Now it seems they were too naive! Beneath those kind words lay a bottomless torrent, with profound implications! At this moment, Xu Jie's expression changed slightly, and he wanted to explain, but Yan Song interrupted him with a sigh.

[A person can endure one day's hardship without feeling tired, but ten days will exhaust them; being careful for a year isn't difficult, but being careful for a lifetime is.] [Like me, serving the Emperor for twenty years, now at eighty, I still can't retire.] [You've been my deputy for many years, and I appreciate your constant deference to me.]

After Yan Song said this, the audience took a deep breath, pondering its deeper meaning. One day of hard work isn't tiring, but ten days is. Being careful for a year isn't difficult, but being careful for a lifetime is.

Combined with Yan Song's lament that he still couldn't retire, a deep sense of weariness emanated from him. But then, the audience noticed something else. Yan Song had served the emperor, acting as his right-hand man in many ways.

Xu Jie, as the second-in-command of the cabinet, had served as Yan Song's deputy for many years. Their situations, in some ways, seemed quite similar. This reminded them of the character analysis Chen Yu had written at the very beginning.

This mentions the principle of pairing characters in the court discussions at the Golden Palace. Gao Gong and Yan Shifan clashed fiercely, but their physical constitutions revealed them to be of the same type.

Xu Jie and Yan Song were the same kind of people.

At the time, many viewers were still blinded by the patriotic and concerned appearance of Grand Secretary Yan and didn't think about it carefully. Now, seeing this, they feel even more that Chen Yu's analysis is indeed very accurate.

Aside from subtle differences in their status, Yan Song and Xu Jie are remarkably similar in the script. Yan Song's lament, "It's hard to be careful all my life," seems to be a reflection on his own lifelong dedication to serving the emperor, but it actually applies equally well to Xu Jie!

Immediately following Yan Song's lament, Xu Jie responded with the following: "Second only to the emperor, above ten thousand others. With a wise ruler in power, tyrannical ministers abound; the Grand Secretary faces the greatest hardship." This, too, lamented Yan Song's predicament.

However, based on the principle of the correspondence between Yan Song and Xu Jie in the script, this statement is also a reflection of Xu Jie himself. Among the cabinet and court officials, wasn't he second only to Yan Song, holding a position of immense power?

Within the cabinet, isn't it a case of the Grand Secretary in power, while ruthless ministers fill the court?

Being a Grand Secretary is the most difficult job, and being the Second Grand Secretary is equally challenging!

Watching the conversation between the two old foxes, the audience suddenly felt as if they were looking in each other's mirrors, and also suddenly had a premonition.

Their cunning is unfathomable! The dialogue is so meticulously crafted, so incredibly sophisticated. Upon closer examination, there are so many layers of meaning to ponder! One viewer couldn't help but exclaim, "This dialogue has already blown away all other dramas!"

"On the surface, it's just a single sentence, but the information hidden within it is ten times more than the dialogue." "After watching too many of these dialogues, I feel like my head is itching, like it's about to grow a brain!" At this moment, after some pleasantries, Yan Song finally decided to get down to business with Xu Jie, which was the "Zhen" mentioned in this poem.

Yan Song then asked quietly, "Who do you think is the closest person in the world?" Xu Jie thought for a moment before answering, "Of course, it's father and son." Yan Song, however, looked bitter and shook his head. "Not necessarily."

Logically speaking, the greatest debt of gratitude one can never repay in this life is that of one's parents. But how many sons truly think this way? Nine out of ten sons believe it's their duty to be good to their parents, thus taking their care of them for granted. You and I both have many children and grandchildren; you should also understand that the bond between father and son is only strong from the father to the son. How often do you see a son showing affection towards his father?

These words, though known to be merely a prelude to the main topic, still struck like a thunderbolt, resounding loudly in the minds of all the viewers.

Many audience members' faces changed instantly. One moment they flushed red, the next they turned pale, and their heads gradually drooped. These words were like a knife to the heart, piercing their souls and leaving them feeling bitter and ashamed!

Although it's a line from a script, isn't it true in reality?! For a moment, the comments section sparsed out.

Even the paid trolls who came to the live stream to stir up trouble felt a pang of sadness upon seeing this conversation. In a messy room, a young man stared blankly at the screen, his pupils reflecting the lines of dialogue. His phone was buzzing with group messages; the troll leader was anxiously urging him on.

"Hurry up and send comments! Keep the momentum going! We have a lot of work to do today, stop dawdling!" "What's wrong with you guys? Why are the number of comments dropping?" "Send them! Keep sending them! The sponsor has spoken! Whatever lines Chen Yu writes in 'Ming Dynasty,' you can criticize them all you want! Copied and pasted comments are worth 10 cents each, but original ones are worth 50 cents each!"

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