"You moved up the release date earlier, just to compete with 'Royal Decree'?"

Xingchen Entertainment, an office.

Yu Xuezheng took off her sunglasses and looked at her manager with a very cold expression.

To outsiders, Yu Xuezheng is a kind and caring older sister, but only her own people know that she is a person with detached emotions, a particularly decisive way of doing things, and even a bit harsh when working with others.

Why didn't you tell me about this beforehand?

Yu Xuezheng was unaware that her drama "The Legend of Zhaohua" was deliberately delayed until early August, just to counter another smaller work released in the same period. It wasn't until now, with the backlash from viewership and all the public opinion coming on, that Yu Xuezheng finally learned the whole story from her agent.

"Sigh, this is not something we can decide."

The agent smiled wryly, "Sister Zheng, this decision was made by President Qin. They want to suppress 'The Imperial Decree,' so there's nothing we can do about it."

"The platform just agreed like that?"

"You know how platforms sometimes compete with each other, sister. Maybe the platforms would be happy to do that."

After all, it was a battle between two platforms. Even before the show aired, it had already become a major showdown between "palace dramas". The platform probably wanted to crush "The Legend of Zhaohua" with "The Imperial Doctress". However, they never expected that "The Imperial Doctress" would be so badly made. Everyone messed up and ended up as the control group, being overpowered and overtaken by "The Imperial Doctress".

As Yu Xuezheng listened to her agent's words, her chest heaved with anger. In the end, she could only grit her teeth, sit down on the sofa, and light a cigarette to calm herself down.

But she just couldn't calm down.

Contrary to popular online claims, "The Legend of Zhaohua" is not entirely without merit. Its style is inherently palace intrigue and tragic romance, following the early trend of tragic fiction. The original novel was considered a representative work of this genre over a decade ago. However, with the passage of time, this type of palace intrigue story has gradually lost its former glory, as audiences now prefer satisfying stories of revenge and triumph.

However, if it hadn't encountered "The Imperial Decree" airing at the same time, the public opinion would definitely not be in the current direction, thanks to its poignant visuals and the actors' superb acting skills. Instead, it would have been more in line with the marketing direction of "early tragic novel aesthetics" and "tragic and tragic love in the deep palace." Even if the audience had some criticisms, as long as it was managed properly, they would definitely have been able to gain a lot of popularity in the end.

But of all things, they just had to run into "Royal Decree".

One is a tragic story, and the other is a satisfying one. When they collide, the audience isn't a masochist. After being tortured by the plot a few more times, they all run off to the other story.

Yu Xuezheng found it hard to accept the current outcome.

If... if their "The Legend of Zhaohua" could have aired in the first half of the summer season, would it have turned out differently?

Perhaps they can even capitalize on the popularity of "The Imperial Decree" to generate more buzz, and use the two leading ladies for marketing purposes, creating a win-win situation where the two leads don't clash.

But now it's all ruined!

"Even if they want to target Linghui Studio, they shouldn't use me as a scapegoat." Yu Xuezheng flicked the cigarette in her hand, her expression showing a hint of annoyance. "Qin Lezhang is petty, but is Qin Song also petty? With the fighting at the top and the internal monitoring so tight lately, if our project falls through, they can't possibly drag me out to take the blame, can they?"

"The Legend of Zhaohua" is of great significance to Yu Xuezheng, and equally so to Xingchen Entertainment. If this attempt to cut costs for a low-budget web series results in "The Legend of Zhaohua" becoming a loss-making project, they will truly become a laughing stock in the industry.

It's the kind of thing that can make you laugh your head off.

"Haha, probably not..."

The agent's smile looked extremely forced.

Yu Xuezheng gave him a sidelong glance: "What else have you done behind my back? Tell me everything, or else—"

The woman slowly exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke, her smile tinged with coldness: "Xingchen Pictures has been in turmoil lately. You'd better hope you're in the right position, otherwise, when the reckoning comes, don't blame yourself for being too ruthless."

The agent met her gaze and his heart skipped a beat.

Yu Xuezheng is undoubtedly an ambitious person.

She has used many methods and sold many things to climb to the position of "number one female star" in Xingchen Entertainment.

Therefore, in order to maintain her position, she is willing to do more things by any means necessary.

The current agent didn't follow Yu Xuezheng from the beginning, so he harbors some fear of her.

"All right."