My Emperor Father Can Read Minds

Chapter 312: Clickbait Headlines

Wei Yu glanced at the ever-changing expressions on the faces of the few veteran scholars and smiled somewhat wistfully.

”Gentlemen, you are all erudite and talented. To have your assistance in jointly planning the Newspaper Agency is indeed a fortunate thing, but unfortunately…”

Wei Yu shook his head as he spoke.

With a look of hesitation, the veteran scholars quickly picked up on the cue and asked what the regret was about.

”The problem is that the common people can’t understand it!”

Wei Yu looked at them regretfully. ”Your writings are excellent, truly excellent! But most common folks can’t read a single big character. Even if we talk about the sages’ truths or discuss the hardships of daily life, even if they can understand, would they be willing to stop and listen?”

”Discussing popular gossip, everyday matters like firewood, rice, oil, and salt resonates more with the common folks than intellectuals chatting about mountains, rivers, the sun, and moon.”

Wei Yu turned to one of the old scholars, ”Sir, you have served in office for many years and have surely seen more people than the salt I have eaten. Looking back, can you say that the common people are eager to listen to these so-called sages’ true intentions?”

The selected Old Scholar neither confirmed nor denied. Although an intellectual, having lived many years he had seen through many things and understood exactly what Ninth Highness meant.

His Highness’s words may sound unfriendly, but they ring true.

Very few commoners are literate; those who are qualified to take the imperial examination generally do not come from common folk. What the scholars consider the supreme truths of the sages might be less interesting to the common people than the gossip and rumors from a wealthy household…

The Old Scholar pondered and vaguely understood Ninth Highness’s meaning. He respectfully asked, ”Does Ninth Highness mean for us to make the articles more accessible and straightforward?”

”Not just that.”

Wei Yu first gave him an approving look, then turned to his Fifth Brother, ”Fifth Brother, the newspaper? Bring a copy over.”

To demonstrate to the veteran scholars the problems with their newspapers, Wei Yu had asked Fifth Prince to bring all the newspapers over.

The servants brought a copy.

Wei Yu glanced at the newspaper—it was exactly the Story News, a newspaper most suitable for clickbait headlines.

Walking to the desk, Wei Yu spread the newspaper out and invited the veteran scholars closer.

”Gentlemen, come closer. Let me explain how this Story News should be written to maximize its appeal and attract more common people to eagerly buy it!”

One of the scholars looked somewhat uneasy when Story News was mentioned.

After all, Story News was written by him. It wasn’t one thing to have the product criticized, but being singled out by His Highness as a bad example in front of one’s colleagues was somewhat humiliating.

Wei Yu ignored all this. Once the future writers gathered around, he began pointing at the newspaper content and carefully explaining.

Wei Yu: ”Gentlemen, this is a Story News, a form of popular miscellaneous tales. How to write it well? Simple. First, look at the title; secondly, the content. This Story News I have here contains only one story. Gentlemen, look at the title. Is there any problem?”

The assembled old scholars lowered their heads to glance.

— .

Hmm, the story title is . Not bad. It sounds like a story about an honest official solving a case. So what is wrong here?

Knowing who produced the Story News, a few turned in tacit agreement to look at their colleague responsible for it.

Expressionless, the colleague said nothing.

Why look at him? He wouldn’t know either!

So the veteran scholars, along with the Fifth Prince, turned to Wei Yu.

Fifth Prince: ”What is wrong with this title?”

Wei Yu smiled at him: ”Fifth Brother, what was your first thought when you saw this title? Could you immediately guess what the story is about? Didn’t you find it quite boring?”

Fifth Prince frowned, thought for a moment, and slowly nodded, ”Yes, a bit. , just from the name, you know it is about judging a case.”

”Exactly. A title that allows readers to guess the story immediately is too dull and fails to pique their interest to keep reading. So we need a more intriguing title.”

Wei Yu said, then asked around which scholar was responsible for this Story News.

The expressionless scholar stood up.

”Your Highness, that would be me.”

Wei Yu: ”Oh, you have ideas and your writing is good, so can you share the story content with everyone here?”

The official: ”…Yes, Your Highness.”

The superior demands a story, and the subordinate can hardly refuse.

So the official began telling the story.

The story was short but quite dramatic, mixing crime, ethics, familial affection, and village laws all together, like a soap opera. The content was truly arresting!

What was it about?

A young widow whose husband died in war, after giving birth to a posthumous son, was forced by her eldest uncle to get involved with him. The uncle was a gambler who, when the widow’s daughter turned six, owed a huge gambling debt. To repay, he planned to sell the daughter to a brothel. To save her daughter, the widow colluded with the neighbor Old Wang and murdered the uncle. The uncle’s body was discovered by villagers and reported to the officials. After a series of clues, the local officials uncovered the truth and dealt with all parties accordingly…

”Wonderful.”

Wei Yu nodded. ”Is this story fabricated by you or adapted from actual files?”

The official glanced at him, ”From my hometown.”

Wei Yu silently nodded. ”Life is hard.”

Stories like these sound explosive but are actually quite common nowadays.

A well-stocked granary brings etiquette and morals, but when the people can barely get by, how can they care about ethics and rituals?

Closed towns and villages are full of shady backstories.

Today, Wei Yu wouldn’t talk about anything else, focusing only on the newspaper problem.

He thought about the story outline and then said: ”The content is good, taken from popular life and closely related to the people’s experiences. It’s a story everyone can empathize with, but the title isn’t attractive.”

”May I ask Your Highness what kind of title would attract people?” the writer asked, serious and puzzled.

Wei Yu glanced at him and then revealed a mysterious smile.

He didn’t speak; he just took up a brush and wrote a line next to the original title on the newspaper.

”Everyone, please take a look.”

He gestured for the gentlemen to read it themselves.

The old scholars standing opposite him hurriedly flipped the newspaper over.

The official leaned in and softly read aloud the new line:

”In broad daylight, a beautiful widow does this with two men…”

Everyone who read the headline: ?!