Chapter 46
Ma Lu was called over at the last minute to hold the mirror.
The atmosphere inside the palace was oppressive. After entering, she obediently knelt by the hot spring, holding a mirror, her head bowed and eyes lowered, making no small movements. Naturally, she did not notice the emperor's glance.
This time, Ma Lu was just prepared and managed to get lucky.
The next day, the bathhouse staff immediately arranged for a replacement maid, and Ma Lu was once again relegated to the side. However, she did not show any dissatisfaction, nodded, and went to boil water with firewood.
Seeing this, the other palace maids were relieved.
They had initially worried that Malu would develop ambitions after just one visit to the main hall, but now it seemed she was indeed foolish, only thinking about being released from the palace when she reached the appropriate age.
However, it was precisely because she was foolish that the palace maids in the Mixed Hall trusted her so much.
From then on, whenever any of the other palace maids felt unwell, they would rather have Ma Lu take their place than give the opportunity to anyone else. After all, only Ma Lu had no ulterior motives, and having her take their place meant they wouldn't have to worry about being usurped.
So, during his daily bath, Emperor Kangxi suddenly noticed a familiar-looking palace maid seemingly performing different tasks haphazardly; sometimes she would hold a mirror for him, sometimes she would stand to the side holding bath soap...
It really has no pattern.
Emperor Kangxi had a good memory, and since the palace servants each had their own roles, he was fairly familiar with the people who served him during his daily baths. However, this girl seemed to do whatever she wanted without any set rules.
What kind of behavior is this?
Emperor Kangxi frowned. He privately summoned his personal eunuch, Liang Jiugong, and ordered him to investigate the palace maid's situation. Liang Jiugong was puzzled and shocked, but he could only obey.
......
That's why they say strategy games are addictive. Xu Ying is so engrossed in writing about Ma Lu's strategy for the emperor that she hasn't even had time to eat dinner.
When she finished writing a plot point and stopped typing, she realized it was already past nine o'clock at night. Too lazy to change clothes and go out, she simply ordered takeout.
*
As more updates were released, the plot of "Legend of the Qing Dynasty" gradually unfolded, and its popularity grew, at one point even surpassing the popularity of Er Yue Tian's first two books.
Inside the palace, a group of seemingly weak women actually harbor their own schemes.
The imperial court and the harem may seem to have no connection, but they are secretly intertwined and complex, where a single move can have far-reaching consequences.
Of course, what readers find most satisfying is the female lead's superb methods.
Her gradual rise to the emperor's favor, seemingly that of a passive prey, is actually the calculated hunter. This shift in the balance between the overt and covert tactics keeps readers hooked, with them clamoring for updates in the comments section every day.
Please update soon!
- I'm so sorry to those who said it wasn't good before. I was wrong. I shouldn't have questioned the author's skill.
-Not enough! Let's update by 10,000 chapters!
......
Xu Ying has been busy lately, staying in her hotel to write this book. She even had to decline invitations from Fuyou and Qingfeng to go hiking.
Mayfly and Gentle Breeze expressed their understanding of this.
After all, they had both seen the popularity of the book "February Sky" and knew they really needed to write it well; it might even become a classic when it was finished.
More importantly, Er Yue Tian doesn't just write novels; she also occasionally releases a bonus chapter in addition to her daily updates.
Readers were stunned when they first saw the bonus chapter.
After all, the novel's plot has only just begun, so how can there already be side stories?
Later, after everyone saw it, they realized that the leader was actually explaining some Qing Dynasty etiquette and customs to them, including some unique terms and expressions.
For example, the Eight Banners system mentioned in the introduction is explained in detail in the side stories.
Originally, the Eight Banners were divided into the Bordered Banner (Yellow, White, Blue, Red) and the Banner (Yellow, White, Blue, Red), and these Eight Banners were further divided into the Upper Three Banners and the Lower Five Banners, with strict hierarchical distinctions between each banner.
Of course, "February Sky" didn't just talk about the Eight Banners system; she even extended it to the establishment of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty was originally a people from the grasslands, so it's reasonable that its customs differed from those of the Central Plains.
All I can say is that the leader is very meticulous.
With the increasing number of extra chapters for "February Sky," readers are now saying that "February Sky" is playing a very big game. After all, she has set up the dynasty in such detail for a novel, so her intentions must be quite ambitious.
Xu Ying had also seen comments like that.
She has grand ambitions, but what are they after? She simply wants to promote culture.
While Xu Ying was writing, Zhou Xingyun was also busy contacting various video platforms, hoping to promote "Wu Zetian".
She didn't even dare to dream of a TV series airing on a major television network. She would be overjoyed if the series could be broadcast smoothly on an online platform. Unfortunately, even such a simple wish was not so easy to fulfill.
Currently, there are four major online video platforms in Yuguo: Coolcat, Brown Bear, Kaishan, and Xilaiduo Video. Among them, Coolcat, Brown Bear, and Kaishan are growing stronger and showing signs of becoming a three-way rivalry.
As for Xilaiduo, his family is quite magical. Whenever the audience thinks that he is about to decline, a hit TV series always appears to save his family's precarious financial statements, allowing him to survive to this day.
However, even though he is still among the top four companies, he is ranked last.
Zhou Xingyun didn't mind; she arranged to meet with all four companies separately for negotiations, but the results left her greatly disappointed.
The reason these video platform's film and television acquisition department heads agreed to meet with her was only because of her wealthy and powerful father; they didn't actually have high hopes for her drama.
Therefore, during the negotiations, these people were unusually ruthless, trying to buy out the exclusive broadcasting rights of "Empress Wu Zetian" for just over ten million.
screw you!
This show alone cost more than this much money, it's like she's losing a lot of money doing business! Even though she was prepared to lose money, she can't afford to lose this much!
Zhou Xingyun quit.
But thinking of everyone in the crew, she patiently said, "How about this, I'll organize a screening event. You can send people over to see for yourselves what the show is like. I guarantee it will absolutely amaze you!"
Zhou Xingyun said a lot of nice things, but it was all in vain.
These managers were already used to such flattery; after all, who wouldn't praise their own show when promoting it? But they knew perfectly well what the actual quality was like.
An outsider like Zhou Xingyun, who hired a ragtag crew to produce a TV series, was destined to flop. They only came because of her connections; otherwise, they wouldn't want to waste their time putting on a brave face with her.
...
After being turned down by three companies in a row, Zhou Xingyun was filled with resentment and called Luo Ying to give them a thorough dressing-down.
After venting her emotions, she tidied herself up and went into the last private room. She had the latest appointment with the head of Xilaidu Film and Television's purchasing department, so this was just the right time to go in.
Speaking of Xilaiduo video platform, it's quite amazing.
Besides the occasional phenomenal dramas that turn the tide for his family, as mentioned earlier, the name of his video platform itself is very down-to-earth.
Xilato.
The name has been criticized by countless netizens as sounding more like a supermarket name than a video platform. Some viewers even said that watching dramas on their platform was like going shopping at Xilaiduo Supermarket.
All of this was originally just netizens making jokes, but unexpectedly, the founder of Xilaiduo later admitted it himself in an interview.
He revealed that he originally planned to open a supermarket, but the supermarket went bankrupt. He had no choice but to start an internet business, and unexpectedly, he succeeded on his first try.
So he used the name "Xilaiduo" for his internet company.
Netizens: "......"
Awesome.
Because of the interesting story behind the name, many people have a good impression of Xilaiduo, and Zhou Xingyun is no exception.
She pushed open the door to the private room, only to find that someone was already there, a young woman who looked no older than her.
"Hello, I am Jiang Manni, the head of the purchasing department of Xilaidu Film and Television."
Her surname is Jiang, and the founder of Xilaiduo also has the surname Jiang, so I guess this is his daughter or something like that.
Zhou Xingyun was surprised. She had just checked the news a while ago. How come she didn't know that the head of Xilaiduo Film and Television Procurement Department had been replaced? Could there be some problems within Xilaiduo?
......
Zhou Xingyun and Jiang Manni did not reach a cooperation agreement, but thankfully, Jiang Manni was not as arrogant as other platforms; at least she was willing to watch the show before making a decision.
When Xu Ying saw the movie viewing message in the group, she also joined the others in celebrating.
The main creators of the production team are quite confident in the show. They believe that as long as the audience is willing to watch it, they won't say that the plot is bad.
Zhou Xingyun has been pushing for the movie screening.
On the day of the official screening, Xu Ying also went along. She hadn't seen the finished film of "Wu Zetian" yet, so she took this opportunity to watch it together.
Although she said she was watching a movie, Jiang Manni only watched the first five episodes. She didn't have the time to watch the entire forty-plus episodes of the TV series from beginning to end. Watching only the first five episodes was enough for her to draw a conclusion.
She was interested in buying the show.
Zhou Xingyun was right; this drama really surprised her.
The forbidden romance between the male and female leads is quite bold and exciting, making her, who originally planned to only watch the first three episodes, end up watching the fifth. If she didn't have limited time, she would have loved to watch it all in one go.
This show has great potential. The old guys in the purchasing departments, Cool Cat, Brown Bear, and Kaishan, misjudged it, but that just happens to benefit her.
Jiang Manni wanted to buy out the copyright, but Xiduolai's current financial situation was not very optimistic, and she couldn't even come up with that much money all at once.
Having no other choice, she had to rack her brains and finally came up with a compromise: to sign a profit-sharing contract with Zhou Xingyun.
In this way, their platform neither has to bear the risk of the series flopping nor has to pay a large deposit in advance, which is entirely beneficial.
Of course, publicly she would only say that the future of the show was uncertain, and to avoid risks for the platform, she had no choice but to accept the revenue-sharing contract.
Upon hearing this, Xu Ying and Zhou Xingyun exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
The two had discussed the possibility of such a revenue-sharing arrangement privately, but large platforms would generally agree to such a practice, so they only brought it up once and then dropped it. They didn't expect that Xilaiduo would bring it up today.
To gamble or not to gamble?
Of course, I'll take the gamble.
Both parties pretended to be calm, agreed on a time to meet next, and then hurried back to draft the contract.
We'll meet again in two days.
The reason for setting such a tight timeframe was twofold: firstly, Zhou Xingyun was worried that things might get complicated and Jiang Manni might change her mind; secondly, Jiang Manni was worried that Zhou Xingyun might find a new buyer. Clearly, both sides were afraid that the other would run away.
So the two parties hit it off immediately, drafted a contract overnight, agreed on the profit-sharing ratio, and quickly signed to finalize the cooperation.
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