Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 301: Yu Xuezheng: Why donʼt you tell me before you make me furious?

”You deliberately moved up the broadcast schedule just to compete head-on with ʼImperial Decreeʼ?”

In an office at Xingchen Entertainment.

Yu Xuezheng removed the sunglasses from her face, her expression toward her agent cold and severe.

In front of outsiders, Yu Xuezheng was the warm, gentle Caring Big Sister. But only those close to her knew she was emotionally detached, exceptionally decisive in her approach to matters, and could even be somewhat harsh to work with.

”Why didnʼt you tell me about this in advance?”

Yu Xuezheng originally had no idea that her ʼThe Legend of Zhaohuaʼ was intentionally delayed until early August solely to target another smaller production in the same season. It wasnʼt until now, with the traffic backfiring and all the public opinion starting to press down, that she finally learned the whole story from her agent.

”Sigh, this matter wasnʼt something we could decide either.”

The agent gave a bitter smile. ”Sister Zheng, this decision was made by President Qin. If they wanted to suppress ʼImperial Decree,ʼ there was nothing we could do.”

”And the platform just agreed to it like that?”

”Competition between platforms, sister, you know how it is. The platform side might have been happy to do this.”
After all, it was a battle between two platforms. The state of a ”palace intrigue drama” showdown had already formed before the broadcasts even started. The platform side probably also wanted ʼThe Legend of Zhaohuaʼ to crush ʼImperial Decree.ʼ But they never expected that ʼImperial Decreeʼ would be a tough, scrappy underdog that came out swinging. Everyone miscalculated, ending up as the control group, being stepped on and climbed over by ʼImperial Decree.ʼ

Listening to her agentʼs words, Yu Xuezhengʼs chest heaved with anger. Finally, she could only grit her teeth, sit down on the sofa to the side, and light a ladyʼs cigarette to calm herself down.

But she truly couldnʼt calm down.

In many aspects, ʼThe Legend of Zhaohuaʼ wasnʼt as worthless as the marketing accounts on the internet were now claiming. Its style was inherently that of a tragic love story set in the deep palace, following the early tragic romance route. The original novel was one of the representative works of this type of tragic romance over a decade ago. Itʼs just that with the development of the times, such deep palace tragic romance works gradually lost their former glory. Todayʼs audience prefers feel-good stories where the protagonist overcomes and humiliates their adversaries.

If they hadnʼt encountered ʼImperial Decreeʼ in the same season, relying on the poignant, beautiful cinematography and the actorsʼ superb performances, the current direction of public opinion definitely wouldnʼt be like this. Instead, it would lean more toward marketing angles like ”the aesthetics of early tragic romance” or ”poignant tragic love in the deep palace.” Even if the audience had some criticisms, with proper control, they could still have earned a huge amount of heat.

But they just had to collide with ʼImperial Decree.ʼ

One a tragic romance, the other a feel-good story. When they collide, the audience arenʼt masochists. After being tortured by the plot a few more times, they all ran off to the show next door.

Yu Xuezheng found the current outcome hard to accept.

If... if their ʼThe Legend of Zhaohuaʼ had aired in the first half of the summer season, would it have turned out like this?

Maybe they could have even leveraged the popularity of ʼImperial Decreeʼsʼ broadcast for a boost in heat, bundling the marketing of the two female leads to create a win-win situation where the two queens donʼt meet.

But now itʼs all ruined!

”Even if they wanted to target Linghui Studio, they shouldnʼt have used me as their pawn.” Yu Xuezheng flicked the ash from her cigarette, her expression tinged with annoyance. ”Qin Yuezhang is narrow-minded, but is Qin Song also that petty? Recently, with the higher-ups fighting and internal scrutiny so tight, if this project of ours goes down, they canʼt possibly drag me out to take the fall, can they?”

ʼThe Legend of Zhaohuaʼ was immensely significant to Yu Xuezheng, and equally significant to Xingchen Entertainment. If this entire ʼThe Legend of Zhaohuaʼ project becomes a loss-making venture just because they wanted to suppress a small-budget web drama, they could truly become the laughingstock of the industry.

The kind that makes people laugh their heads off.

”Haha, that probably wonʼt happen...”

The agentʼs laugh was particularly strained.

Yu Xuezheng shot him a sidelong glance. ”What else have you been doing behind my back? Tell me everything clearly, otherwise—”

The woman slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, a smile seeping with coldness on her face. ”Xingchen Film Industry hasnʼt been very stable lately. Youʼd better hope youʼve chosen the right side. Otherwise, when the reckoning comes, donʼt blame yourself for taking things too far.”

Meeting her gaze, the agentʼs heart trembled.

Yu Xuezheng was undoubtedly a figure filled with ambition.

She had used many methods and sacrificed many things to climb to her current position as the ”top sister” of Xingchen Entertainment.

So now, to protect her position, she could also resort to any means necessary to do more.

The current agent hadnʼt been with Yu Xuezheng from the very beginning, so he held a certain fear of her in his heart.

”Alright.”

The agent finally relented. ”Thereʼs not much else. However, the company recently subtly guided your fans to help you vent your anger. The female lead of ʼImperial Decreeʼ is still a student, right? And not signed to any company. So recently, sheʼs been getting cursed out pretty badly by your fans.”

”What?”

This time, Yu Xuezheng was truly angered to the point of laughter. ”They guided my fans to cyberbully someone else and called it helping me vent my anger? Why didnʼt you just wait until I was dead from anger to tell me?”

”Uh, it shouldnʼt be a big deal.” The agent didnʼt think much of it. ”Just a lucky newcomer. The company also wants to pressure her regarding her contract. Itʼs standard procedure.”

On one hand, guiding fans to cyberbully Pan Yuerou;on the other, having Xingchen Entertainment approach Pan Yuerou, using the weight of a big company to pressure her contract terms, making her choose their company... this was already a very common practice within the industry.

The agent felt Yu Xuezhengʼs reaction was too extreme.

Seeing the agentʼs nonchalant attitude, Yu Xuezheng let out a cold laugh. ”Idiot.”

Why did Xingchen Entertainment specifically want to sign Pan Yuerou at this time? Precisely because the ʼImperial Decreeʼ that Pan Yuerou starred in had defeated her.

And as the top sister of Xingchen Entertainment, her allegiance within the entire group had never been with the Qin father and son.

Now that the internal power struggle within the group had reached a white-hot stage, that old thing Qin Song wanting to find a ”replacement” for her wasnʼt going to be that easy—

Yu Xuezheng stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray and pulled out her phone.

When the call connected, her voice instantly softened.

”Hello, President Song, how have you been recently?”

”Sigh, a lot has indeed happened recently. Iʼve been feeling quite troubled in my heart too...”

”Alright, shall we meet then? Iʼll wait for you at the usual place.”

...

Xiao He had no idea that his existence, along with that of ʼImperial Decree,ʼ had caused Yu Xuezheng so much trouble.

After spending some time at home with his parents, he was also preparing to return to Shanghai.

Before leaving, despite Father Xiao and Mother Xiaoʼs repeated objections, Xiao He still arranged for a driver to stay with them.

This driver was similar to Lao Qi, both being ex-soldiers, capable of serving as both driver and bodyguard. His task was simple: appear on time every day to drive Father Xiao and Mother Xiao to and from work.

If Father Xiao and Mother Xiao felt uncomfortable, the driver could also park nearby and let them walk the last few steps themselves. He wouldnʼt normally appear in front of them proactively.

Xiao Heʼs main purpose in arranging this driver was actually to have someone help look after and protect his parents, serving as an invisible safeguard.

Although doing this was indeed somewhat extravagant, it allowed Xiao He to relax a bit more.

After all, no matter how strong he was, capable of protecting himself both in the internet and the real world, his family couldnʼt completely withstand the storms his presence might bring.

So all he could do was make some preventive preparations before the storms arrived—

Watching her sonʼs departing figure, Mother Xiao wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

Father Xiao raised his arm to embrace Mother Xiaoʼs shoulders, comforting her softly. ”Forget it. If he left someone, then he left someone. They donʼt live with us normally anyway, so it doesnʼt affect our lives.”

”I know. I just feel like our son seems to have grown up again.”

Mother Xiao put down the tissue and sighed softly. ”If he feels the need to send someone to protect even us, how dangerous must things be around him?”

Father Xiao couldnʼt help but chuckle. ”Hahaha, listen to what youʼre saying. Heʼs just going to act, not going to the battlefield. Where would all that danger come from!”

Mother Xiao immediately jabbed Father Xiao in the chest with her elbow, displeased, and rolled her eyes fiercely. ”The outside world is full of dangers! Forget it, thereʼs no point talking about this with a blockhead like you.”

”Ouch.” Father Xiao clutched his chest. ”I was just joking.”

”Hmph.”

Mother Xiao crossed her arms and turned to go back inside.

”Hey, wait for me—”