Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 168 Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law

We got into the car outside.

Seeing that her brother and boyfriend hadn't broken the silence, Zhang Fang took the initiative to start a conversation: "Brother, I heard from your wife that you've recently written another script. What kind of subject matter is it?"

"It's just a modified version of 'The Dragon and the Phoenix'—you don't even know 'The Dragon and the Phoenix'?"

As Zhang Yan drove, he recounted the general plot.

Zhang Fang was quite interested in the plot where the female lead was pampered and caused all sorts of trouble, but she was not so satisfied when she heard that the female lead had a miscarriage and that the two of them faked their deaths to escape.

"Brother, couldn't you have written a happy ending?"

"Then history will be changed."

Before Zhang Yan could reply, Kang Hui explained from the side: "Usually, historical novels of this genre, which are fictionalized, can have many fictional details, but the general course of events still needs to conform to the historical trajectory."

Emperor Zhengde in history did indeed enjoy leaving the palace without permission, military adventures, and the abuse of eunuchs. He also liked to pursue new and exciting things, which drew a lot of criticism for this.

He was indeed pushing for a meeting with the Portuguese delegation, but he accidentally fell into the water during the meeting in Nanjing and died a few months after returning to Beijing.

The Portuguese mission waited in Nanjing for several months before finally receiving an imperial edict to expel them from the capital. They were later imprisoned in Guangzhou and almost all of them died in China.

This incident also caused the Ming Dynasty to miss the opportunity to open its eyes to the world.

Zhang… Although my brother's adapted story included a time-traveling girl, changed Zhu Houzhao's original intention in establishing the Leopard Chamber, and introduced some new elements, the general direction still conforms to the historical context.

"Well done, your history knowledge is pretty good."

Zhang Yan glanced at Kang Hui in the rearview mirror. He was quite familiar with this period of history because the middle-aged author in his dream had specially collected a lot of information on this subject.

While most people may know about Zhu Houzhao's life, they are unlikely to know about the Portuguese mission.

Zhang Yan then added, "However, the reason I have kept the general outline of the historical narrative is not to follow the unspoken rules of historical fiction left from the time of Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong, but to pass censorship."

When I first wrote fan fiction based on the novel *Dream of the Red Chamber*, I was almost labeled a proponent of historical nihilism, but the TV series had a far greater impact than the novel.

Although Zhang Fang was happy that her boyfriend had gained a little approval from her brother, she was still bothered by the ending: "Even so, you could have written... written that they went back to modern times! Why did they have to hide their identities and live as ordinary people in ancient times?!"

"That's something we could consider..."

Zhang Yan still values ​​his sister's opinion, because the biggest audience for this drama is definitely women.

To put it simply, the core of this drama is a Cinderella story, fulfilling a woman's fantasy of rising to a higher social status and becoming a phoenix, and no matter how capricious or willful she is, there will always be someone to tolerate and love her.

Adding the layer of time travel would make the story seem more reasonable and dramatic.

Her youth, naivety, and immaturity were also necessary conditions that led to the setbacks in reform and allowed history to naturally return to its starting point—which also proves that revolution is not a dinner party.

It's normal for men not to like this kind of drama, and it's even more normal for men in later generations not to like it, but the ratings are guaranteed—the plot is similar, but more melodramatic and abstract, "Love Through Time," which was a huge hit in 2002.

Moreover, because there were so few forms of entertainment at the time, male viewers were likely to enjoy watching it as well. After all, even a show like "Aspiration," with its suffocating plot, managed to draw massive audiences.

Taking his sister's opinion into consideration, Zhang Yan said, "Then let's change it to the female lead falling into the water and becoming heartbroken and falling ill. Zhu Houzhao, heartbroken, takes poison and dies for love."

On her deathbed, the female protagonist heard someone calling her name. She opened her eyes and found that it was her grandfather who had woken her up, and she had returned to the theater where she first started.

Just as she was at a loss, wondering whether she was having a dream before she died or whether her experiences in the Ming Dynasty were all a dream, the audience below the stage suddenly pointed at the stage and started cursing angrily.

The female lead looked up and saw Zhu Houzhao standing dumbfounded on the stage.

Seeing her brother stop there, Zhang Fang pressed him repeatedly, "And then what? And then what?!"

"Then it depends on what you think—anyway, at this point, I'll cut to the narration and say that the ministers couldn't find any trace of Zhu Houzhao and Li Fengjie, and in the end, they could only announce to the public that Zhu Houzhao fell into the water and never recovered, and that the emperor had passed away."

…………

At the lunch table.

Zhang Yan and Kang Hui finally opened up and talked about everything from the history of the Ming Dynasty to the future development of the television station. They didn't necessarily hit it off, but they had gained a basic understanding and impression of each other.

In some ways, Kang Hui is quite similar to Zhou Tao. They are both the type who are quite proper in front of others and speak with an air of peace and prosperity.

The difference is that Kang Hui doesn't possess Zhou Tao's inherent urgency and ambition, which makes him appear more composed and gives him more staying power. Conversely, if they were starting from the same point, Zhou Tao would definitely be faster than Kang Hui at the start.

the other side.

Kang Hui is not yet the Director Kang of CCTV, so he still faces considerable pressure from Zhang Yan.

This brother-in-law talks about the history of the Ming Dynasty—especially those unofficial histories—as if he knows them by heart; when he talks about the future development direction of the television station, he is also very knowledgeable, as if he had personally witnessed it.

At school, Kang Hui was generally not at a disadvantage against his peers, if not completely outmatched. But in front of his brother-in-law, he felt that his experience and perspective were completely suppressed by the other man.

Especially in terms of insightful predictions about the future, he had to use all his skills to barely keep up with Zhang Yan's train of thought. He didn't show it on the surface, but he was secretly sweating profusely with anxiety.

When Zhang Yan left to use the restroom, Kang Hui quickly drank a cup of tea to calm his nerves.

Zhang Fang took the teapot and refilled his cup, then asked with a smile, "So, my brother is quite an interesting guy, isn't he?"

Kang Hui nodded seriously and said, "Yes, no wonder my brother was able to start from scratch and establish himself in Tianjin in such a short time."

"Hehe~"

Hearing her boyfriend's sincere words, Zhang Fang's eyes narrowed into slits.

If Kang Hui is overwhelmed by her brother, she definitely won't be happy; but if her boyfriend performs even better than her brother, she probably won't be happy either.

This is exactly what Zhang Fang finds most interesting.

Quietly handing her handkerchief to Kang Hui, Zhang Fang asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, are you going to play the female lead in this play?"

“I would like to, but your brother thinks this role is not suitable for me.” Chen Hong complained half-jokingly, “He said it would be best to find a quirky and clever young girl—listen to that, he clearly thinks I’m old and past my prime.”

"No way."

Zhang Fang hurriedly said, "Sister-in-law, you are a beauty of unparalleled grace and poise. If you were to travel back to the Ming Dynasty, you would be the perfect candidate to become an empress. Those ministers would surely praise you all the time."

"Our Fangfang knows how to talk."

Chen Hong laughed and said, "Speaking of which, you are quite suitable for this role, but your brother definitely doesn't want you to be distracted by acting."

"I'm not interested in that either."

As Zhang Fang spoke, she looked towards the door and asked, "Why hasn't my brother come back yet?"

"Perhaps I ran into someone I know."

Chen Hong stood up and said, "You guys keep eating, I'll go out and look for him."

Watching Chen Hong disappear outside the door, Zhang Fang immediately giggled and bumped into Kang Hui's arms.

"What?"

Kang Hui looked outside nervously.

Zhang Fang laughed breathlessly, "It's nothing, I just... I just thought you looked really funny. I never thought that our Broadcasting Academy's top student would be so flustered by questions!"

Kang Hui shook his head helplessly, then hesitated for a moment and said, "Should we tell your brother about our plans to be childless?"

"Don't!"

Zhang Fang sat up straight immediately and said seriously, "This is between the two of us. There's no need to tell my parents before we get married."

"Will this..."

"will not!"

Zhang Fang denied it decisively, secretly sneering to herself, "Once you're married, I'll pop all those balloons into sieves. Once you're pregnant, all that talk about being childless will be for nothing!"
As for whether Kang Hui will be angry about this...

He was actually a filial son, and according to Zhang Fang's investigation, her future in-laws were single-mindedly eager to have a grandson.

(End of this chapter)