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

Yan Ning pondered for a moment, straightened her expression, and spoke solemnly.

"Professor Shuping, you said that this drama should be called 'Scarlet Heart' instead of 'Ming Dynasty' because you think the core is the power struggle of Chen Hong's rise to power and fall—I dare to refute this view."

"It's quite common for ordinary screenwriters to find that the title they start with doesn't match the final plot."

"But I noticed something strange."

Her fingertips struck the keys with emphasis, her brows furrowing slightly, revealing a hint of seriousness.

"To this day, Chen Yu has never touched the manuscript even once."

"In other words, the script in his mind was complete and perfect from the very beginning, requiring absolutely no revisions!"

"If he really thought this drama was just about the rise and fall of the great eunuch Chen Hong, he should have realized that the title 'Da Ming Dynasty' was inappropriate and would have changed it."

"But he didn't change."

"Therefore, the scope of 'The Ming Dynasty' is far more complex than just the story of Chen Hong's rise to power!"

……

Yan Ning's words in the live broadcast were like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating ripples. The viewers in front of the screen widened their eyes in astonishment.

"What?"

"Yan Ning actually said that 'The Ming Dynasty' is not just about the rise and fall of Chen Hong?"

"My God, is this for real?"

In an instant, the audience at the scene, in front of the television, and at their computers erupted in cheers.

It's worth noting that "The Creators Competition" has already aired for three seasons. As an industry veteran, Professor Shuping's comments are always incisive and never wrong, earning the admiration of the audience.

This is the first time in three seasons that a professional has publicly questioned Teacher Shuping, and it just so happens to be Yan Ning, the champion of the previous season.

The audience was abuzz with discussion, unsure of whom to believe.

When Teacher Shuping saw Yan Ning's comment, he was not offended at all. Instead, his eyes lit up and his face lit up with joy.

He realized that Yan Ning had hit the nail on the head regarding a crucial point he had overlooked—whether a screenwriter writes a script in one go or revises it repeatedly reflects their control over the script.

If the structure is as clear as the lines on your palm, then your writing will flow naturally, requiring no revisions. The fact that Chen Yu wrote so fluently only shows that he already had a complete picture in his mind, and he could simply write it down without making any changes.

Yan Ning's conclusion was thus established.

If Chen Yu truly felt the script's direction didn't match the title "The Ming Dynasty," he should have already made changes. His inaction precisely demonstrates that the script's scope is far greater than he had initially anticipated!

Without a moment's hesitation, Teacher Shuping praised, "Yan Ning is right, it was my oversight!"

"The younger generation is truly formidable! Chen Yu is a newcomer who only emerged this season, yet his writing skills are so profound."

"Yan Ning, it feels like just yesterday that you won the championship last season, and now you've improved so much again."

"I am truly gratified to see such a wealth of talent emerging in the screenwriting world!"

Professor Shuping's words instantly quelled the debate among the audience regarding the two viewpoints.

Far from underestimating Professor Shuping's abilities, people respected his magnanimity even more—for a master like him, time is more precious than gold.

Participating in the "Creator Competition" brought him little benefit; his appearance fee was merely symbolic. His original intention was to mentor younger generations.

The fact that he now openly admits that Yan Ning is more right shows his noble character.

Respect also appeared in Yan Ning's eyes, and she hurriedly said, "Teacher Shuping, you flatter me. I still need to learn more from you."

"I only paid too much attention to some details outside the script. When it comes to script insight, who in the entire country dares to say they are better than you, Professor Shuping?"

Upon hearing this, Teacher Shuping chuckled softly and said slowly, "Yan Ning, you just mentioned that Chen Yu's script is definitely more than that..."

"Knowing you as I do, I'm sure you already have a plan in mind as soon as this topic comes up." He picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Why don't you tell me, what are your guesses about the future developments of 'The Ming Dynasty'?"

Yan Ning pondered for a moment, then raised the corner of her eye slightly: "Then I'll throw out a brick to attract jade." Before she finished speaking, her fingertips had already swiftly typed out her analysis in the live stream's chat area—

"Since the Ming Dynasty is named a 'dynasty,' how could its scope be limited to the common people? The undercurrents of succession to the throne must be hidden within it."

"Do you all remember Zhou Yunyi's death in the first act? That was a crucial opening scene, not a trivial detail!"

"The most intriguing line is Feng Bao's question, 'Who taught you to be so presumptuous in front of the Emperor?' Combined with the foreshadowing Chen Yu planted during the opening scene, Zhou Yunyi must have a powerful backer—and this backer's target is the very lifeline of the imperial court!"

"What are you trying to achieve by using the pretext of divine retribution to attack the court?" Yan Ning's tone suddenly shifted, and as everyone held their breath, her voice rang out firmly: "Imperial power!"

"Force Emperor Jiajing to abdicate!"

"Looking across the land, who has both the motive and the benefit? Only the current Crown Prince!" Her gaze was piercing. "Jiajing has reigned for forty years, and the Crown Prince has been lying low for too long. This divine retribution is the perfect opportunity—if we can use this to force him to abdicate, his ascension to the throne will be just around the corner!"

"Looking at the second act, Lü Fang is not only the head of the inner court, but also has a past relationship with Jiajing. However, he also faces the danger of being secretly coveted by Chen Hong, the second-in-command—this is no coincidence, it must be a deliberate scheme by Chen Yu!"

At this point, Yan Ning's fingertips slammed down the last four characters on the keyboard, her voice booming with power: "Treason to usurp the throne!"

The moment the comments exploded, she let out a long sigh, her eyebrows slightly raised, a hint of smugness mixed with arrogance. She had to admit, Chen Yu's screenwriting skills were truly phenomenal; he could foreshadow events from afar with subtle foreshadowing.

But she saw through it all in the end!

"I knew it! I, Yan Ning, am the reigning champion, how could I possibly be outdone?" Her fighting spirit rekindled, her shattered screenwriter dream piecing itself back together. "Chen Yu might be better than me at historical drama and political intrigue, but he's not beyond my reach!"

At this moment, Yan Ning's analysis exploded in everyone's ears like a thunderclap—

"That's right! Zhou Yunyi's death had powerful backers, and we all overlooked that!"

"The Crown Prince? Yan Ning is saying the Crown Prince is behind the attacks on the court?"

"The Crown Prince, in alliance with Chen Hong, overthrew Lü Fang and forced Jiajing to abdicate? That makes sense!"

"Holy crap, that makes perfect sense!"

Professor Shuping, seated on the judging panel, finally couldn't contain himself and abruptly stood up, applauding and cheering: "This speculation is well-reasoned and supported by evidence; it's both bold and brilliant!"

He looked intently at Yan Ning, "As expected of the previous champion, I hadn't thought of this before, but upon reflection, it makes perfect sense—if she hadn't pointed it out, we would probably still be in the dark!" He then proceeded to list several possible plot developments, engaging in a heated discussion with Yan Ning from afar.

The live stream chat was instantly flooded with "666" comments, with viewers excitedly discussing, "The top screenwriter's imagination is absolutely amazing!"

"Following the direction predicted by Yan Ning and Professor Shu Ping, each one is so wonderful it'll make you want to slap your thigh!"

Many people looked at Chen Yu, who was still deep in thought on the screen, with sympathetic expressions: "Chen Yu's foreshadowing was so well done, how could an ordinary person have noticed it? Even Teacher Shuping didn't notice it at first!"

"When he finally pulls back the foreshadowing, we'll all be in awe!" "But now that everything's been spoiled, whatever plot he writes won't surprise us anymore—is this what it feels like to have God's-eye view?"

At this moment, Chen Yu, just as the audience had predicted, was lost in thought. If he knew about the "crown prince plotting to usurp the throne" scene that Professor Shuping and Yan Ning were discussing, he probably would have burst out laughing—perhaps in an ordinary drama, but "Da Ming Dynasty" was universally recognized as the best domestic drama in his previous life; how could it be of such a level? The core of the entire drama was to expose the various ecosystems of the Ming Dynasty, from the royal family to the local governments, through the implementation of the "converting rice paddies to mulberry fields" national policy, making it a veritable textbook on officialdom. The complexity of its plot and the subtle and profound foreshadowing far exceeded ordinary people's imagination—Yan Ning and Professor Shuping's speculations were utterly insignificant in comparison.

"Sweating profusely?" Chen Yu smiled and shook his head inwardly.

He pondered not for anything else, but only to figure out how to make the audience understand the subsequent plot more clearly—after finishing the second act, he researched and found that although the overall history of this parallel world was similar to that of the previous life, the specific dynasty names and details were quite different.

In this era, there is neither the "Ming Dynasty" nor figures like Jiajing, Yan Song, and Zhang Juzheng. For the audience, the story of "The Ming Dynasty" is actually a fictional dynasty.

This has both advantages and disadvantages: viewers have no real historical reference and cannot set their own stance—they don't know whether Yan Song was a renowned minister or a villain who will be remembered for his infamy, or whether Zhang Juzheng was a wise minister who helped restore the dynasty or an ambitious politician. This adds another layer of mystery to the already confusing and ambiguous plot.

He recalled the court discussion in the Golden Palace, where the young Grand Secretary Yan Shifan argued vehemently: "For the Emperor, we can endure any hardship! But I just don't understand—why are those who do the actual work always the ones who suffer the most?"

Yan Song declared loudly at the beginning: "As long as everyone works diligently, our Ming Dynasty will surely rise to its zenith!" — Wouldn't the audience think that this father and son were loyal ministers who would be remembered in history?

The proposal to convert rice paddies to mulberry fields is indeed very tempting at first glance. Wouldn't the audience be even more convinced that Yan's faction is a loyal minister acting on behalf of Heaven?

Not to mention that from the prefectures and counties to the imperial court, there was scheming and intrigue everywhere, and everyone was a hypocrite.

Who is the loyal minister and who is the treacherous official? Who is saving the country and who is misleading the people?

The audience is probably going to have to rack their brains to figure this out!

As Chen Yu observed this scene, the smile on his lips became even more intriguing.

Wasn't the first round's theme "brain-training"?

This power struggle and intrigue is so perfectly suited to the word "intellectual stimulation"!

However, there is also a problem—the already deeply entrenched officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is now even more perplexing.

Chen Yu figured he should offer the audience a way out, so they wouldn't actually burn out all their brain cells.

A moment later, he tapped his finger, and a line of text appeared on the screen:

[Detailed Explanation of the Official System and Cabinet Members in the Jiajing Reign of the Ming Dynasty]

The live chat exploded with comments, and viewers' eyes gleamed with "I knew it!"

"Here it comes! Just as Teacher Yan Ningshuping said, how can a political drama be confined to the eunuchs? The imperial court is the main battlefield!"

"Alright, Chen Yu's starting to lay out the background now—I hate these tedious setup parts in scripts, a good story is much better!"

"Don't be so hasty, brother upstairs. How can you write a script without considering the background? Besides, what can you really make of the feudal bureaucracy? It's just the old almanac about the emperor, the prime minister, and the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers."

"Exactly, what new tricks can Chen Yu come up with? He'll just change the name and the shell; it's the same old story in a new guise."

Viewers who had just complained about the boring premise now found this explanation reasonable and patiently continued watching.

Chen Yu's fingers flew across the screen, and the text spread out like ink:

Emperor Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang) abolished the thousand-year-old system of the prime minister, placing the Six Ministries directly under the emperor's jurisdiction.

The six ministries are: Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Works. Each ministry is headed by its Minister, with the Left and Right Vice Ministers assisting him.

The Ministry of Personnel, being the head of the Six Ministries, was in charge of the selection, evaluation, and awarding of ranks and honors to civil officials throughout the empire.

The Ministry of Works was in charge of construction, urban development, and other engineering projects.

The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of household registration and finances; all major financial matters, including land, population, taxes, and salaries, were under its control.

The Ministry of War was responsible for the selection and appointment of military officers, the training of military equipment, the deployment of troops, and key border defense matters.

The Ministry of Justice was in charge of criminal law and decrees, and together with the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review, it was responsible for reviewing and recording major criminal cases.

The Ministry of Rites was responsible for matters concerning education, etiquette, and sacrificial rites.

【…】

When the detailed framework of this six-part system appeared on the screen, the audience erupted in a cacophony of voices.

"Wow! They even have such detailed job classifications?"

"My goodness, this setting is so solid! It's like it was pulled straight from history books!"

"Chen Yu has thoroughly studied the official systems of all dynasties; his research into the ancient bureaucratic system is incredibly deep!"

"Hey, this is just part of the show's format. Who's really going to scrutinize every detail with a magnifying glass...?"

Before he could finish speaking, a commotion suddenly broke out in the front row of the judges' seats.

It should be noted that the judging panel of the "Creators Competition" not only includes editors and literary giants, but also specially invited experts from various fields to serve as consultants—historians and criminal investigation experts are frequent guests, and in the past two years, they even invited the CEO of a listed company to serve as a consultant for urban entrepreneurship themes.

The person who caused the commotion at this moment was none other than history expert Fan Haiyang.

He jumped to his feet, his chest heaving, his face flushed crimson, and he wrung his hands excitedly: "Director! Freeze the shot! This is the right shot!"

The judges, including Teacher Shuping, looked at each other, their faces full of confusion.

Although they weren't formally trained in history, they found the six systems to be quite comprehensive, assuming they were just official frameworks copied from some dynasty by Chen Yu, and didn't take them seriously. So why was Fan Haiyang, this history expert, suddenly so agitated?

"Teacher Fan, what's wrong?"

"Could it be that there's some fatal flaw in the official system that Chen Yu wrote?"

After a moment, Fan Haiyang finally caught his breath, stared wide-eyed at the six ministries' official system on the screen, and said decisively, "It's more than just a glaring flaw! It's wrong in every single place!"

"This six-part structure has never appeared in our official history!"

"So this isn't the official system from real history at all; it's something Chen Yu came up with himself!"

These words caused an uproar among the audience. Immediately, everyone's attention turned to Fan Haiyang—initially, they thought this historical authority was going to criticize Chen Yu for fabricating stories, but the next second, Fan Haiyang's eyes lit up, and he pulled out his phone to snap a picture of the six official illustrations, muttering, "Treasure! This is a treasure!"

"Ingenious! This official system is brilliantly designed!"

"I've got the material for my next paper in a top-tier journal!"

The entire audience was instantly stunned. What was going on? Fan Haiyang's demeanor wasn't criticism at all; he was clearly shocked by Chen Yu's fabricated official system, and even wanted to write a paper on it?

"Isn't this... a bit too outrageous?" a viewer muttered quietly, and the live stream chat was flooded with question marks.

Fan Haiyang replied seriously, "Outrageous? Not at all! Every official system throughout history is the culmination of the hard work of countless capable officials and bureaucrats. It's a compilation of the experiences and lessons learned from our predecessors!"

"But Chen Yu's fictional Six Ministries system, in my opinion, is more reasonable than, and even more advanced than, the official system of any real dynasty!" He stared at Chen Yu on the screen, his eyes filled with amazement: "Such historical knowledge is nothing short of genius! Otherwise, how could he have created such an ingenious official system!"

Upon hearing this, judges including Teacher Shuping and Yan Ning gasped in shock. Yan Ning's newly rekindled confidence shattered instantly, and she couldn't help but cover her face and lament:

"Waaaah..."

"Is the screenwriting industry in such a mess now?"

"To write an ancient political drama, one not only needs to create an original official system, but also needs to impress history experts?"

"Chen Yu, Chen Yu, at least leave us a way out! How are we supposed to survive after this?"