My older sister is a villainous rich girl

Seeing Wayne's bewildered expression, Pokran frowned and said, "Didn't you have someone bring this manuscript to me so I could take a look?"

Upon hearing this, Wayne immediately began to doubt himself.

When have I ever done something like that?

Wait, am I already having amnesia at such a young age?

Just as he was wondering how to respond, Chris's voice came from outside the door. "—I had someone deliver it."

Hearing the noise, Wayne and Pokran both looked toward the door.

Chris walked in with a sly smile, her hands behind her back, and light steps.

“Mr. Pokran, let Wayne see his work first.”

She revealed the answer: "This is actually the finished product that I created by slightly modifying his draft."

With Chris's explanation, Wayne suddenly remembered the ridiculous story he had thrown into the trash can that day.

“…No, really?” Wayne was dumbfounded.

Is there any point in trying to salvage that thing? And why even bother rummaging through the trash can?!

He didn't even know where to begin complaining.

Chris smiled and crossed her arms, nodding with great satisfaction at his reaction.

Yes, that's exactly what you think.

"Sometimes when I'm not satisfied with my drawings, I get really angry and throw them all into the trash can, then I start drawing something else." She spoke of this in a very relaxed tone.

"But sometimes, after redrawing it several times, I suddenly feel that a certain way of doing it was better, so I will go back to it... and that's how I accidentally discovered this surprise."

With that, she excitedly and mischievously patted Wayne on the shoulder. "Wayne, I never knew you had such creative talent!"

Chapter 502 Chris, the Money-Giving Boy

"Stop making fun of me."

Wayne felt rather helpless.

In order not to make Chris feel that all her efforts had been in vain, he still very cooperatively opened the manuscript that Mr. Pokland handed over.

Chris's rewritten handwriting was very neat, and the layout was also very pleasing to the eye.

The main body is indeed the story she wrote before, but Chris has added extra details in many aspects, which can be said to be a qualitative leap in terms of completeness.

Looking at the revised manuscript, Wayne felt a bit conflicted.

He closed the manuscript.

"It's more accurate to say that it's Chris's work than mine."

Wayne chuckled as he spoke. "So, Chris, are you planning to enter the entertainment industry?"

"Bingo!"

Chris snapped her fingers, confirming that his guess was correct.

“It is a huge waste of high-quality resources for a story to be presented only in paper form from its creation to its monetization! If we can leverage the original audience of the work, work with major theater companies to bring it to the stage, or even express it through more channels, it is easy to break down the barriers of the original consumer group and thus expand its influence tenfold or a hundredfold,” she said eagerly.

He truly is a qualified time traveler who has been bombarded by modern IPs.

"So, Chris, you want to achieve a complete synergy between novels, comics, plays, and merchandise?"

With the support of Leaf Publishing, Chris's toy production line driven by interest, and the Wincher family's vast funds and connections, among other strengths, failure seemed almost impossible.

Wayne quickly realized the real danger hidden behind these appearances.

If operated properly, and the behind-the-scenes forces controlling this entire set of public opinion tools are in control, they can completely promote whomever they want and dictate the direction of public opinion as they wish... This is a further supplementary offensive with the publishing house as the core position.

—What a terrifyingly grand plan!

“That’s right.” Chris nodded.

"This is a mature operating mechanism—as long as there is a continuous output of content that meets or exceeds the standard, this approach can continue indefinitely. Even if the hype dies down, a new alternative can be launched immediately to lead a new trend."

Inspired by Chris, Wayne's mind also became active.

If the selection criteria for the works being promoted are not so strict, then in the future, one may not need to personally bribe mouthpieces; one can simply guide the movement from the shadows and then blend in to fuel its momentum.

“Wayne, your work is the seed candidate for testing the feasibility of the plan,” Chris declared.

"Huh? Are you going to just advertise my name outright?"

Wayne suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Of course!” Chris said with certainty. “Good works will not be buried in my hands.”

"The core of this story is really good. I have a feeling it will be very popular after it is published... When humanity and fame and fortune stand on opposite sides, what choice will a young man who is eager to climb up make?" she murmured to herself.

"The plot is good because he chose fame and fortune, but in the end, his unscrupulous pursuit of fame and fortune made him lose everything."

"It's very ironic, but also very educational."

Chris offered her own perspective.

Upon hearing her high praise, Wayne's expression turned bitter.

—If this plot were just something I made up, it wouldn't matter. The problem is that it has a real-life counterpart, and the people involved are people we know!

Even if someone embellishes or modifies things artistically, those in the know can easily guess what they're alluding to and will readily identify with the person in question.

“Ahem…” Wayne refused, “How about we remain anonymous, or you can use Chris’s name?”

That way, even if someone comes knocking on your door, you'll have a plausible excuse to get away with it.

However, Mr. Pokran didn't care at all about whether they signed their names or not.

"The collaboration you're talking about, do you mean simultaneously launching promotions through other platforms?" He looked quite surprised after learning about Chris's development strategy.

"Did you have this idea before that leaf publishing house was founded?"

Although he didn't know if the Duke was behind this, the fact that they were able to move step by step toward such a goal... made Pokran realize for the first time how terrifying these two young men were.

Even in his most arrogant and ignorant days, he only dreamed of one day founding an internationally renowned theater company. Before today, he had never even considered the things Chris mentioned.

...It's true that people's perspectives are always different.

"Haha~ I only gradually came up with this idea myself." Chris vaguely glossed over these details.

“We don’t have much contact with other theater companies in the capital, and the most suitable partner we can think of is you, Mr. Pokran.”

"So, Mr. Pokran, would you like to consider joining?" she asked earnestly.

Pokran hesitated.

He had thought that this visit was just to discuss the adaptation of an excellent work, but he did not expect that the other party's intention was to explore the path for long-term cooperation.

"This matter... cannot be decided yet. I need to go back and discuss it with my old buddies in the troupe," he said.

"Give me some more time to think it over."

After all, they were wealthy and powerful, and Pokran was a little worried that if they cooperated, his own theater troupe would become their vassal.

“Of course, no problem!” Chris readily agreed.

“However, it’s okay to decide on the other matters later. We can use this pilot project, Wayne, to practice first. Many potential problems can only be discovered during the negotiations, and we can learn from that experience,” she suggested.

Having already refused once, Pokran simply couldn't bring himself to refuse a second time.

Considering that this was also the result he wanted, Pokran had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

After Pokran left with a worried expression, Chris suddenly smiled: "He clearly achieved his goal, but he doesn't seem happy at all."

Wayne shook his head.

"Isn't it because you presented them with a huge problem?"

Since I agreed to the first collaboration under the guise of practicing, it would be difficult to refuse the next one if it succeeded.

However, this outcome was exactly what he wanted, so Wayne didn't offer any advice.

“How can this be called a problem? I’m just giving them money, okay?” Chris emphasized seriously.

"Alright, alright, you're the beautiful and kind-hearted money-bringing fairy~"

Wayne gathered up the manuscript that Pokran had forgotten to take with him. "I still need to revise this script. I'll show it to you when it's ready."

Chapter 503 Wayne's Investment

Leaving aside the obvious fact that Chris spent her wonderful vacation leisurely preparing to build a media empire, while Wayne spent his time painfully trying to make up for his mistakes.

Once the situation in the capital had stabilized somewhat, the king dealt with a large number of prisoners held in jail.

The bard named Herbert, who was staying at the inn, was so frightened after Wayne made him watch the execution of the criminals involved in the pig-man case that he packed his things and fled back to Stuart overnight.

While Wien chuckled, he didn't try to persuade him to stay any longer.

Due to the incident caused by Simon, all members of the Stuart delegation have now been detained in order to seek compensation from the Kingdom of Stuart.

But Stuart insisted that it was all Simon's personal intention, and even generously stated that he would not hold Crown Prince Lornes responsible for killing the foreign envoy, which escalated the dispute and brought bilateral relations to a standstill.

As tensions suddenly rose between the kingdoms of Lornes and Stuart, Herbert, a bard from Stuart, became particularly conspicuous, especially given his less-than-perfect reputation.

It's worth mentioning that Herbert had actually crossed paths with Simon when he was in his home country.

"That Lord Simon is a minister whom the First Prince of Stuart greatly trusts."

Herbert's expression turned somewhat wistful as he spoke of these events. "I never imagined he would die so hastily, and not a single one of his old acquaintances was willing to stand up for him."

Upon hearing this, Wayne couldn't help but glance at him sideways.

Considering that Simon had previously admitted that he was instructed by his own prince to assassinate Richard and Raphael... he must have already cut off his own escape route at that time.

However, as a nobleman of Lornes, Wayne was not concerned with the internal struggles within Stuart.

After seeing Herbert off, Wayne turned to Raphael, who was also a victim of the incident, and privately offered him advice.

Raphael, in a position of absolute weakness, had his voice ignored in every country. Yet, there were some things that only he could accomplish with such ease.

"You mean, I should go and negotiate with my uncle... His Majesty the King?"

Raphael's injuries have almost healed, and he has basically regained his normal mobility.

However, since the Queen, who had previously been very kind to him, was now in an unprecedentedly bad situation, he, as a hostage prince from a foreign land who was not favored, was more likely to be used as a punching bag if he jumped out.

Therefore, Raphael hesitated when he first heard Wien's proposed solution.

“Many things may not be said openly, but everyone knows them.” Wayne took a sip of his black tea. “His Majesty the King is naturally well aware of your current predicament.”

In the reception room, Raphael dismissed all his servants.

With only the two of them present, he no longer intended to hide the truth from this junior who had helped him so much.

"What if a minister were to threaten my life to force Stuart to concede?" Raphael murmured his concerns.

He never expected that relations between the two countries would deteriorate so rapidly. His original plan to use the power of the Lornes nobles as a backing to echo each other's actions seemed to have failed due to this unexpected turn of events.

In recent days, the entire Stuart mission has been detained, and he has been hearing some ominous rumors from time to time, which makes him very uneasy.

If he had known this day would come, he would never have been so foolish as to ask to study at Qingxi Academy.

“As long as the king feels there’s something to gain from you, what the other ministers say is secondary,” Wayne offered him advice. “Back then, wasn’t the king’s decision to appoint Simon based on just one meeting, ignoring the objections of the other ministers?”

In retrospect, all the speculations about Simon reaching some kind of agreement with the king, or Simon handing over some secret as a pledge of loyalty, are wrong.

It was simply a scheme by the king to take advantage of the situation and set a trap for the queen.

"...Profitable?" Raphael was uneasy upon hearing this.

“Your family never intended for you to return alive.” Wayne bluntly tore away this veil of pretense.

"Whether it was ordering Simon to carry out the assassination or deciding to antagonize Lornes, did you consider your safety even slightly?"

Under Wayne's barrage of words, Raphael couldn't help but purse his lips, his expression quite unpleasant.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Wayne softened his tone slightly: "Although the situation is extremely bad, it's not entirely hopeless."

Raphael looked at him with a hint of doubt.

“What else can we do? My father’s health has been deteriorating lately, and he has entrusted many affairs to my two elder brothers… especially my eldest brother, Simon, who is his trusted confidant.”

Raphael had considered that his brothers might not like him, but he never expected that they would not even grant him a way out.