Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 350 Xiaotian's Thoughts, Filming a Short Drama with Meng Ziyi

"Mr. Chen, have you considered selling the overseas rights to 'The Xuanwu Gate Incident'?"

After chatting with Chen Xiu about the short drama, Gong Yu also mentioned another purpose of her trip.

"The Song of Qin King Breaking the Enemy's Formation" reached the top ten in viewership ratings after it aired on Xiao Rizi last year, but the sales price was only a few million RMB, which was a huge loss.

As one of the producers of the TV series, and also working hard to build an overseas video streaming platform, Gong Yu has also started to think about overseas copyrights.

Chen Xiu remained remarkably calm in response.

"We'll discuss the overseas rights for 'The Xuanwu Gate Incident' after the TV series is finished and aired. With our previous success, we'll have more bargaining power this time."

"If, I mean if..."

Gong Yu laid the groundwork, his slightly furrowed brows indicating his lack of confidence in making suggestions.

"With iQiyi's overseas platforms participating in the bidding for the overseas rights to 'The Xuanwu Gate Incident,' do you think there's a possibility that a hit drama could boost the platform's popularity?"

How many users do you have? How wide is your reach? How many channels do you use to acquire traffic?

Chen Xiu's rhetorical question can be seen as an answer.

Gong Yu's sudden, sullen expression served as his answer.

The number of users on iQiyi's overseas platforms is negligible compared to that in China. Even if they were to acquire the overseas rights to "The Xuanwu Gate Incident," the show's reception would likely be minimal.

The overseas sales price of "Qin King's Battle Song" was indeed very low, but Netflix and NetEase really spent a lot of money on promotion because they could only make a profit if the ratings and on-demand rates were high.

To gain fame and recognition, one must inevitably relinquish some benefits in the early stages.

With the popularity of its predecessor, "The Xuanwu Gate Incident" will definitely outperform "Qin King's Battle Song" as long as its quality remains high. That's when it's time to talk about money.

Therefore, Chen Xiu didn't even need to consider Gong Yu's suggestion; Kiwi's overseas platform was too small...

When the suggestion was rejected, Gong Yu's smile became forced.

After exchanging a few polite words, he made an excuse and left the set.

Chen Xiu watched Gong Yu walk away, pondered for a moment, and then prepared to go to the Qin Prince's Mansion film set to find Meng Ziyi to film this week's short drama.

As soon as he turned around, he saw Tian Xinwei standing silently behind him.

Looking at the expressionless, big-eyed, cute girl, Chen Xiu asked, "Don't you need to continue filming your remaining scenes?"

"The film set is still being set up..."

Tian Xinwei's voice was muffled, and her expression gradually darkened.

Chen Xiu ignored him and said, "I'm going to another set to film a short drama. Good luck! Try to avoid making too many mistakes."

"Ok?"

Would you like to hear me say something else?

"..."

"It's fine in private, but this is on set. There are some things I really want to say, but I won't say them now. If this upsets you, well, I'm sorry."

"Huh??? You actually?"

Tian Xinwei, whose anger was at its peak, suddenly cleared her gloomy eyes upon hearing Chen Xiu's next words.

Meanwhile, she was thinking to herself: He just said that there are some things he really wants to say, but he won't say them now... Hmm... what were they? I really want to know...

Tian Xinwei bit her lower lip, looking hesitant and uncertain. Thoughts came from all corners of her mind, making her feel dizzy and intoxicated.

Seeing Xiaotian's face brighten and then clear up, Chen Xiu breathed a sigh of relief: "You continue filming! I have to go film my short drama now, goodbye."

"Oh, bye."

Tian Xinwei stood still and waved twice at Chen Xiu's back.

After the man disappeared around the corner, she clenched her raised hand again, thinking to herself: What a jerk! All he does is sweet-talk girls, and then he forgets about you once he's dressed! Humph!

Regarding the P-friendship between the two, Tian Xinwei selectively forgot what she said: "Once we're out the door, let's pretend nothing happened!"

After mentally labeling Chen Xiu as a scumbag, Xiao Tian hummed a song, turned around, and went back to the film set where she had just been shooting, preparing to go to the backyard to complete the scene between Princess Qi and Li Yuanji.

……

Meanwhile, on the set of the Prince of Qin's Mansion, Chen Xiu had the assistant director set up another set of equipment to film a short drama about the daily life of Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun.

The opening scene features a wooden floor that reflects light, stretching forward to capture a silhouette from behind.

Wearing a golden crown and a purple-gold robe, Chen Xiu sat with his back to the camera, facing the courtyard, with a scroll of documents on his lap containing unknown contents.

The camera shifts to Meng Ziyi, who is wearing a gold-pink ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) and has her hair tied up in a bun. She is smiling and carrying a wooden soup bowl as she walks in from one side of the aisle.

Logically speaking, as the Queen Consort of Qin, Lady Changsun shouldn't need to personally deliver meals. However, this is a short drama, so logic isn't strictly followed, and the dialogue can be more modern to make it easier for viewers to understand...

Meng Ziyi came to Chen Xiu's side without saying a word, but quietly squatted down and held the soup bowl in front of him.

Chen Xiu glanced at the contents of the bowl, her face showing embarrassment, and said, "Guanyinbi, you went to the kitchen again?"

"I saw that Erlang was busy with official duties, so I made you a soup."

"Cooking isn't your forte, so... can you not drink this soup?"

Chen Xiu's complaints were completely genuine, without a trace of acting.

Meng's pursed lips and furrowed brows perfectly expressed his dissatisfaction.

This scene actually depicts the couple's daily interactions at home.

As an egg expert, Meng Ziyi always used Chen Xiu as a taster when trying to cook other dishes, resulting in the two of them wasting a lot of ingredients... Seeing her like this, Chen Xiu quickly begged for forgiveness, "Okay, okay, I'll try this soup!"

"Hehe, Erlang, you'd better drink it all!"

Meng Ziyi's worried expression vanished instantly, and while laughing, she even winked at Chen Xiu!

Using the guise of filming a short drama to show off their affection was the idea Meng Ziyi came up with a few days ago when the two were working overtime all night.

Chen Xiu took the soup bowl and felt that it was still warm to the touch. Then he saw Meng Ziyi blowing on his two red palms and scratching his earlobes.

"laugh!"

Chen Xiu's sneer and Meng Ziyi's coquettish reproach were all captured on camera.

The taste of this soup was naturally unbelievable, and Chen Xiu's exaggerated expression of complete disbelief while drinking the soup was also recorded as a highlight of this short drama.

After the usual heartwarming little theater performance ended, Chen Xiu picked up the scroll on her lap and began making plot previews.

He stared intently at the contents of the document and said with a serious expression, "Yang Wengan, the governor of Qingzhou, is a former member of the Crown Prince's faction. He has been secretly reported to be plotting a rebellion..."

Yang Wengan's rebellion is another major plot point in "The Xuanwu Gate Incident".

According to historical records, the whole incident involved Li Jiancheng secretly contacting Yang Wengan, who was serving as the governor of Qingzhou, and asking him to recruit assassins for future use. At the same time, Li Jiancheng sent his trusted confidants Erzhu Huan and Qiao Gongshan to deliver armor and weapons to Yang Wengan.

The Crown Prince's secret meeting with a foreign official was already an act of treason, especially since this official was a former member of the Eastern Palace and had even sent him weapons and armor; it was practically a rebellion.

Rebellion is not child's play; once discovered, it's a matter of exterminating nine generations of one's family, although Li Jiancheng's nine generations of family couldn't be traced...

However, Yang Wengan, who received the secret letter, and the two men who delivered it must have been Li Jiancheng's own trusted confidants; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to discuss the rebellion with them.

However, the absurd thing is that the two deliverymen suddenly turned around halfway and went to complain to Li Yuan! At the same time, an unknown person named Du Fengju also came to report.

These two incidents of tattling on each other made Li Jiancheng and Yang Wengan's rebellion cause quite dramatic.

Normally, if a crown prince rebels, even if he doesn't die, he should be deposed!

The irony is that Li Yuan pretended to be blind and didn't depose the crown prince, thus wasting the best opportunity to hold the Xuanwu Gate gathering.

According to the Old Book of Tang, things were quite unpredictable. Then, an unknown man named Du Fengju rose to the position of Prefect of Shanzhou, a high-ranking official, after Li Shimin ascended the throne.

These elements couldn't be presented in much of the main storyline, so Chen Xiu incorporated them into the daily life segments of the short drama.

Meng Ziyi, holding Chen Xiu's hand, responded: "Your Highness can make your own decisions regarding matters of the court, but please be careful..."

"Okay, next time you make soup, use less salt."

"Does Erlang think my cooking is bad?"

"No, no, I just don't want you to overwork."

The short drama, lasting about two minutes, ended with Chen Xiu and Meng Ziyi flirting and teasing each other.

As the assistant director, lighting assistant, and sound recording assistant began packing up, Chen Xiu instructed them, "Hurry up and finish the content; it needs to be uploaded to Douyin tomorrow."

"Okay, Mr. Chen."

After explaining the situation, Chen Xiu turned to look at Meng Ziyi, who was pouting in dissatisfaction.

Seeing the silly-looking beauty staring at him with her hands on her hips, Chen Xiu asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"You think my cooking is bad!"

"It was clearly Li Shimin who thought Empress Zhangsun's cooking was too salty, what does that have to do with me?"

"Hmph! You're just using the filming of this short drama to say that my cooking is bad."

Meng Ziyi pouted, her eyes wide open, staring angrily at Chen Xiu.

Although it looked more like she was being coquettish and didn't actually have much of an intimidating effect, it was the most intimidating look she could muster.

Seeing this, Chen Xiu wanted to laugh but had to hold it in, and then smoothly changed the subject: "Xiao Yi, there's something I want to discuss with you."

"what?"

"Dilraba will come to visit the set..."

"Um?!"

Sure enough, this incident made Meng Ziyi stop paying attention to cooking.

She pursed her lips, stared at Chen Xiu, and said with a reddened nose, "What's she doing here?!"

"Visiting the set."

"What happened after visiting the set?"

"I might stay for two days."

Where do you want to stay?

"I'll still live with you!"

This answer greatly relieved Meng Ziyi, causing him to overlook the cunning look in Chen Xiu's eyes.

"At least you still have a conscience..."

"Hehe, she just came to visit the set and film the next episode of the short drama to promote the TV series. It's not like she's asking you two to sleep together."

Chen Xiu gave advance notice, thinking to herself: Take it one step at a time. At least once you two meet, don't get angry!

(End of this chapter)