Chapter 267

In late March, *The Qing Palace* premiered on four satellite channels, including the Shanghai Satellite Channel.

Although the online and media buzz wasn't very high, the ratings were quite good, especially the Anhui Satellite Channel, which performed the best, with a single-episode peak rating once hitting over 7%, and a market share approaching 13%.

The other satellite channels also performed well, winning the ratings championship for costume dramas, or even all dramas, in many regions for the first half of 2007.

The media dubbed this drama the mainland version of *War and Beauty* and the mainland version of *Jewel in the Palace*.

However, the drama's screenwriter and producer, Yu Zheng, did not accept this claim.

He firmly believed that *The Qing Palace* was just *The Qing Palace*, and he even got into arguments on Tieba, Tianya, and other forums with viewers and netizens who questioned the plagiarism and imitation.

While Yu Zheng was blustering, he was secretly relieved that he had listened to Yan Li and modified the script, weakening the imitated plot points; otherwise, he would have had a hard time shaking off the "plagiarism" label.

Of course, he himself might not have cared that much about this; as long as he could make money and become famous, many things were unimportant to him.

However, even if Yu Zheng didn't care, Yi'an still cared about its reputation in this regard, so they helped smooth things over and told him to keep a low profile.

Although this guy Yu Zheng was a bit jumpy, he had indeed made a contribution with *The Qing Palace*.

Even if many people didn't want to admit it, Qing dynasty dramas indeed had a large market and many viewers at this stage.

This kid Yu Zheng also had some tricks up his sleeve.

Even if the script was a bit of a patchwork, the level of patchwork was better than some other screenwriters, and he grasped the "G-spot" of many viewers, making *The Qing Palace* a minor hit.

Not only were the results good, but it also sold well. Although it wasn't a surprise level, it was better than what Yan Li and Yi'an had anticipated.

This also made Yu Zheng, this freshly minted hit-drama screenwriter and producer, a hot commodity at Yi'an Company.

Originally, there was still debate within the company regarding Fan Fan Xiaopang's next Republican-era drama, but with Yu Zheng's momentum, his work *Rouge Snow* was basically decided.

In fact, besides *Rouge Snow*, the company also promised Yu Zheng that he could organize another project as a screenwriter and producer.

Yan Li personally promised Yu Zheng that if *Rouge Snow* or the other project succeeded, the company would consider pushing him to establish a personal studio.

Currently, Yi'an only had two people with studios: one was Ning Hao, and the other was Ju Ju Jueliang, who officially joined Yi'an after the Spring Festival.

The former was Yi'an's current leading film director, and the latter was Yi'an's leading television director; Yi'an's most profitable Gu Long drama series were all directed or participated in by him.

Besides that, Yi'an had other directors and producers, some of whom could be in charge of projects, but their achievements, abilities, and resumes were not enough for Yan Li to support them in truly standing on their own.

Yu Zheng was actually not enough either, but Yan Li "thought highly" of him, so he was willing to give him a chance.

Yi'an's studio system was currently in an exploratory stage, and the specific cooperation methods were not fixed.

For example, Ju Ju Jueliang's studio was purely an affiliation; Yi'an did not hold shares in the studio, and the studio's employees were all Ju Ju Jueliang's people.

To put it bluntly, it was just putting a layer of skin over the original direct employment.

Nominally, Ju Ju Jueliang was a signed director of Yi'an, and compared to other companies, Yi'an had absolute priority in cooperating with him, and the price could also be discounted.

In return, Ju Ju Jueliang could get stable project cooperation and related resource support from Yi'an, having a fixed financier and backer.

This was also a relatively common cooperation method in the industry; many studios at Huayi played it this way too.

The advantage was that one side invested less, and the other side was relatively free, getting what they needed at a lower cost.

The disadvantage was that the binding was relatively shallow, the cooperation period and stability were low, and neither side necessarily viewed the other as truly "one of their own."

In comparison, Ning Hao's working model was much more loyal than Ju Ju Jueliang's.

His studio was wholly owned by Yi'an, and he himself did not hold shares; it was more like creating a team and project group with him as the core within Yi'an, with great autonomy.

Of course, although he didn't have shares, Ning Hao and his team had project dividends and performance bonuses.

Moreover, the support for his projects was immense, and the risks were all borne by the company.

Simply put, the Ning Hao studio belonged to the company's "biological son," while the Ju Ju Jueliang studio couldn't even be considered a "godson."

It was probably more like a godson's sworn brother...

Besides the two modes above, the company also provided joint ventures, meaning the company and the relevant responsible person split shares according to a ratio.

The responsible person handled the project, and Yi'an provided funding, resources, and channel support. After other distributions, the studio split the profits earned from the project between the responsible person and Yi'an according to their shares.

This mode belonged to Yi'an yielding benefits to bind and strategically cooperate with high-level and top-tier talent in the long term.

This was also likely to be the mainstream of Yi'an studios in the future, with a status second only to the "biological son."

Yu Zheng was said to be preparing to use this mode, and the Ning Hao studio would also make appropriate adjustments if needed in the future.

Still the same saying, Yan Li was not the type to eat alone.

If they made money for him, he would get rich, and he wouldn't begrudge sharing some benefits with his own people so everyone could live a good life.

Yu Zheng, having been promised a bright future by Yan Li, was full of energy; it was said he already had a draft and script outline for a new project.

Because of the success of *The Qing Palace*, he already intended to start from the Qing dynasty, but perhaps because he had written *Rouge Snow*, he had mixed in Republican-era elements.

In the end, the story background was set in the late Qing and early Republican period, and even the drama title had a full late-Qing flavor: *The Last Princess*.

As soon as Yan Li heard this name, he suspected that Yu Zheng had plagiarized the drama *The Last Imperial Grandson*.

No way around it, this guy was an old repeat offender.

*The Qing Palace* made him change the script; for *Rouge Snow*, he had people oversee it, and similarly, many controversial plot points were selected out and were currently being optimized and modified.

Yan Li now had a conditioned reflex: as soon as he heard about Yu Zheng's script, his first reaction was "who did he plagiarize this time," and his second reaction was "change the script."

Yu Zheng was a bit wronged this time; he had indeed borrowed some settings from *The Last Imperial Grandson*, but the plot wasn't plagiarized, as the script was still just an outline.

The trope of late-Qing noble descendants falling into the civilian world and suffering various setbacks and hardships had already been written by novelists or screenwriters during the Republican era.

Just based on this setting alone, it couldn't count as plagiarism.

Yan Li was then relieved and urged Yu Zheng to borrow less; even if he had to adapt, he should be more clever about it.

Still the same saying, Yi'an was a company aiming to be the leader in the film and television industry, and film and television belonged to the content and cultural industry, where one of the biggest taboos was plagiarism.

Boss Yan could be shameless, but Yi'an had to have a face!

Besides Yu Zheng benefiting greatly and being happy, the main cast of *The Qing Palace* also got some exposure.

The one who benefited the most was, of course, the lead actress Wang Ou; she had the most screen time, so there was no way around her.

Over the past two years, Wang Ou had participated in a series of hit and popular dramas such as *Survival of the Migrant Workers*, *Strange Tales of Liaozhai*, *Investiture of the Gods*, *The Legend of Lu Lu Xiaofeng*, *Amazing Detective Di Di Renjie 2*, and *The Qing Palace*.

The roles varied in size; some were brilliant, others were relatively plain, but with so many roles, even just by showing her face, she made it familiar and boosted her fame.

Not to mention that Wang Ou was backed by Yi'an, a company with a mature artist packaging team.

Yi'an was able to push Fan Fan Xiaopang to the upper-middle tier of the "Four Dan and Two Bing" in just a year or two; their energy was evident.

Even though Wang Ou's company resources and support were far from comparable to Fan Fan Xiaopang's, they were still quite considerable compared to other young actresses.

With film and television achievements as a foundation, and other exposure and promotion spread out, Wang Ou's career could almost move up a step with the airing of each drama.

A drama like *The Qing Palace* where she was the lead actress was even more likely to help her career rise to a major new level.

The goal of Yi'an's management team was to have Wang Ou coordinate with other resources to secure her position as a popular young actress this year, or even rank in the upper tier of second-line actresses.

This goal was not low; there weren't many first-line actresses, and being in the second line already meant being famous and well-known in the industry.

The upper tier of the second line belonged to the reserves aiming to break into the first-line actress status; at this level, in many companies, one would already be considered the "first sister."

Both Wang Ou and Yi'an were quite confident.

Especially the latter; Huayi alone could support two of the "Four Dan and Two Bing" and several popular young actresses.

Yi'an's resource strength wasn't bad; even if they had "leaked" quite a few, it was enough to push the second sister Wang Ou to the top. If they couldn't even manage the upper tier of the second line, let alone first-line, Yi'an's artist management department might as well quit.

Besides Wang Ou, many other main cast members also received some benefits to varying degrees.

Perhaps for some, the benefits weren't that obvious, but in the acting profession, it was often about accumulating small gains and climbing step by step.

Filming one more drama and playing one more role could potentially increase one's fame a bit more, making them known and familiar to more people—not to mention viewers and fans, if seen by industry insiders, it might just be a new opportunity.

For example, Yan Li knew that because Qin Lan performed well in *The Qing Palace*, she received two invitations for Qing dynasty drama roles.

Huo Hu Siyan even gained Yu Zheng's favor, listing her as one of the candidates for the lead actress in *The Last Princess*.

Harem, inner hall.

After all, Yu Zheng and Qin Lan were quite close, and they had also dealt with that "Teddy Sisterhood" group to some extent. Whether there were some interpersonal dealings behind this, those who knew, understood.

Qin Lan didn't become the big sister of this sisterhood for nothing; if she didn't fight for some benefits and perks for her sisters, how could they be firmly united around her?

As for using Huo Hu Siyan in *The Last Princess*, Yan Li didn't care.

Fan Fan Xiaopang definitely wouldn't act in it, Wang Ou wasn't short of resources, and since company artists couldn't be used, they had to "leak" out anyway. Huo Hu Siyan was still sensible, so giving it to her was fine.

However, Yan Li didn't care, but it was hard to say if others would fight for it.

Qin Lan wanted to support her own people, Dong Xuan also had people under her, and Fan Fan Xiaopang might not be willing to let her have her way, plus others who were more or less likely to have their own ideas.

The previous competition between Yang Rong and Huo Hu Siyan for *The Difficult Love of a Diamond Bachelor* was an example.

If nothing unexpected happened, there would be many similar situations in the future. In the absence of pre-determined roles, everyone would rely on their own abilities.

No matter who grabbed it, for Yan Li, it was all meat rotting in the pot, and, invisibly, it gave him the opportunity to act as a referee and allocate profits.

Arranging it directly—how could that be as satisfying as "grabbing" it!

In late March, before Yan Li wrapped up *Investiture of the Gods 2* and returned to Jingcheng, he went to visit the neighboring Xiangshan Film and Television Base—

The cast of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*.

Accompanied by Karen Tsoi, Yan Li watched the filming on site and felt a bit emotional.

"Ms. Tsoi has courage."

Jin Yong dramas, although the name was big enough, were not easy to film, especially with Zhang Zhang Jizhong's version as a benchmark. However, this *Legend of the Condor Heroes* was chosen well, because among Zhang Zhang Jizhong's Jin Yong dramas, this one had the most controversy, and there had been an interval of about 5 years.

The time interval was still long enough, and the previous work's reputation was poor, so viewers and the market would have certain expectations for the new version.

Yan Li pondered this and even considered whether to follow the trend and film a Jin Yong drama too.

Zhang Zhang Jizhong's *Laughing in the Wind* also had strong controversy + a long interval.

However, Yan Li gave up in an instant; Yi'an hadn't finished filming the Gu Long dramas yet.

Moreover, he wasn't optimistic about the current martial arts market, believing it would go downhill. Gu Long dramas were at least Yi'an's signature and had enough appeal; Jin Yong dramas were different, and the risks were not small.

Therefore, even if Yi'an were to remake a Jin Yong drama, it wouldn't be now; at the very least, he would wait until the martial arts market was relatively clear.

Karen Tsoi, who was beside him, didn't know what Yan Li was thinking, and sighed upon hearing this: "We invested quite a bit in this drama, and the pressure is also high. We hope Boss Yan will take care of us regarding distribution."

Yan Li actually knew what Tsoi meant. It was said that for this drama, in order to wait for Hu Ge, who had been in a car accident, Tangren bore the pressure to protect Hu Ge, which delayed the crew for quite some time.

As a result, the costs and risks went up, and Tangren's pressure was not small.

"We're all old friends; Yi'an will definitely do our best."

Yan Li and Tangren hadn't cooperated just once or twice, and overall it was quite pleasant.

Tangren's dramas had good market acceptance, and the results were also presentable. Yi'an could earn quite a bit of money and fame, making them a high-quality client among Yi'an's many distribution clients.

Otherwise, Yan Li wouldn't have come to visit the set in person; the purpose was to maintain the relationship with Tangren.

"Many thanks, Boss Yan. I'm relieved with your words."

Karen Tsoi was full of gratitude. In the cooperation between Tangren and Yi'an, the latter earned quite a bit of money and fame, and the former earned as well.

In the few years since Yi'an's distribution started to gain momentum, many partners and industry insiders had also made a rough calculation.

For dramas distributed through Yi'an, the overall revenue was 10%~30% higher than other distributions; if the project and market were good, it might be even more.

Don't underestimate this percentage; many drama producers only earned a hard-earned living, so even a few percentage points of increase was money.

Besides revenue, dramas distributed through Yi'an had a significantly higher probability and speed of airing on satellite channels, and the security and speed of payment recovery were also much stronger than other distributions.

These two points made those film and television companies and producers even more tempted than the revenue.

The former enhanced the project's influence, which could bring all kinds of benefits.

The latter goes without saying; for those in the film and television business, the most painful thing was payment recovery. The numbers on the contract and the actual money earned were often not the same; there were endless issues with delayed payments, defaulting, and bad debts.

Yi'an could recover as much payment as possible and as quickly as possible; this alone was enough to make many film and television companies and producers beg for cooperation.

And the reason Yi'an could achieve this was not complicated.

One was through various intelligence and extensive cooperation, slowly sorting out and selecting some stable and high-quality cooperative television stations, reducing the bad debt rate from the source as much as possible.

The other was that when Yi'an had enough film and television projects and cooperative television stations in its hands, it possessed the confidence to negotiate with the stations.

Many television stations, wary of the resources in Yi'an's hands and the threat of competitors, would not make things difficult for or offend Yi'an's projects; after all, one must pick the soft persimmons to squeeze.

Therefore, every business must be made big; once it's big, there are more chips, and with more chips, there is more capital to advance or retreat.

Tangren had previously considered insisting on clearing its own distribution channels, not wanting to hand over such an important matter as distribution to other companies and be at the mercy of others.

They even took action for this, but stopped after operating one project.

Yi'an was too good!

The many advantages like high returns, low risk, and fast payback were simply not something Tangren could make up for on its own.

So after struggling for a while, Tangren chose to hug the big thigh, and even to hug it tighter, they would yield benefits to Yi'an in some aspects.

If this *Legend of the Condor Heroes* hadn't been postponed and moved, Yi'an could definitely have squeezed in one or two roles.

It's hard to say about Guo Jing and Huang Rong, but Yang Kang, Mu Nianci, Ouyang Ke, and Hua Zheng had great hope.

Speaking of this, Yan Li glanced at a girl in the waiting area over there and turned to ask Karen Tsoi.

"Is that your company's little Liu Liu Tianxian?"

Karen Tsoi grinned; this could be used in press releases to hype up popularity, but on the surface, the parties involved and the company would definitely not admit it.

"Liu Shishi, come over here."

Karen Tsoi called out. She actually didn't want her own artists to get too close to Yan Li, this playboy. If he were to make any excessive demands, Tangren, which relied on him to make money, would find it hard to refuse.

However, since Yan Li had already asked, she couldn't play dumb and ignore him.

At worst, she could help mediate, and as far as she knew, although Yan Li was lecherous, his reputation in that regard wasn't bad—he didn't engage in crooked ways, and it was all consensual.

Romantic but not lewd, lecherous but not desperate!

Liu Liu Shishi walked over in a daze, feeling a bit cautious and nervous when she saw Yan Li.

It wasn't because she was wary of Yan Li's reputation, but because she was a newcomer and inevitably panicked when facing such a big shot.

"Hello, Boss Yan, I am Liu Liu Shishi."

Liu Liu Shishi greeted him obediently, and Yan Li looked her over a few times.

She was indeed somewhat similar to that person, but her appearance was slightly more plain, her temperament was more cool and gentle, and her eyes were a bit dull, but her physique felt good; she must have a dance background.

Yan Li had dealt with many dance students and was very experienced in this regard; one look at her temperament and physique, and he could guess the general idea.

Speaking of this, Yan Li glanced at Liu Liu Shishi again, feeling that she was also somewhat similar to Wu Wu Jiani.

Perhaps it was because of the temperament and physique of both being dance students, and their contours and features were also of the same type, belonging to the classical, light-colored style, so at a glance, the two had two or three points of similarity in their brows and eyes.

However, it was only two or three points; at least she wasn't as "gold-content" as the little Liu Liu Tianxian.

She didn't even look as much like her as the former Tangren first sister, Sun Li.

Yan Li couldn't help but complain: does Boss Tsoi have an obsession? Tangren just sticks to one style when looking for female artists. After Sun Li, they didn't sign Liu Liu Tianxian, so they signed a little Liu Liu Tianxian.

If Wu Wu Jiani's contract with the company expires later and Yi'an doesn't sign her, she can be introduced to Tangren.

Based on her face, Karen Tsoi probably wouldn't treat her badly.

After chatting for a few sentences, Yan Li dismissed Liu Liu Shishi. Feeling Karen Tsoi's relaxed mood, Yan Li couldn't help but say:

"Is Boss Tsoi treating me like a monster?"

What's the meaning of this? I didn't do anything; you were the one who called her over, making it seem like I was going to do something to her.

Karen Tsoi also realized she had overreacted and hurriedly made a joke to smooth things over.

"Boss Yan's charm is too great, and this is my only good seedling; I'm afraid you'll hook her away with a beauty trap?"

Although the meaning was still the same, Yan Li felt much more comfortable after she said it like that.

After all, they were partners, so Yan Li said a few words and then lightly brushed it off.

As for that little Liu Liu Tianxian, Yan Li really had no interest.

Just a little girl who had just entered the industry, with no name or reputation, and no halo whatsoever.

Although she looked good, Yan Li already had Wu Wu Jiani, and the only highlight was that she overlapped with Wu, but he was too lazy to spend the effort; he really wasn't lacking in this regard.

Karen Tsoi was worried he was eyeing her, but actually, he was the one afraid that Tangren would use some scandal to latch onto him and mooch his popularity.

In the entire *Legend of the Condor Heroes* crew, the only one Yan Li was interested in was Hu Ge.

This person had good popularity and was also Tangren's current treasure. If Yi'an wasn't already full of people, he would really have the heart to swing his hoe.

Yan Li visited the set this time specifically to chat with Hu Ge, and he also cared about his recovery, indicating that he knew a few friends in the medical field and could introduce them to him later.

Besides Hu Ge, Yan Li just politely greeted the other actors and then left.

He could understand Tangren using newcomers like Yuan Hong and Liu Liu Shishi; after all, they were their own artists, so they had to throw resources at them.

But for Ariel Lin, who played Huang Rong, Yan Li thought about it and could only attribute it to the production team having funds from the Taiwan side.

However, this sister had a round face—how did she look like Huang Rong?!

All the way from Xiangshan back to Jingcheng, Yan Li carried this doubt in his heart and couldn't help but complain to Fan Fan Xiaopang about it.

The latter was used to it; on one hand, there were too many such things in the industry, and on the other hand, she felt that the role of Huang Rong was hard to cast.

"Ariel Lin is also okay; she barely manages to be lively. If you don't find her to act, there aren't many others suitable to find."

Yan Li thought it was true. The influence of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* was so great; there were a thousand Huang Rongs in a thousand people's hearts, not to mention the Idy Chan version was already a pearl ahead.

Yan Li, who personally handled the casting for two Gu Long dramas, understood the difficulty all too well.

It wasn't just Ariel Lin; Hu Ge's original roles were all on the clever and intelligent side, and this time playing the simple and honest Guo Jing also had a sense of incongruity.

"This drama won't be easy to distribute."

Because of the casting of the male and female leads, Yan Li put a question mark on Tangren's *Legend of the Condor Heroes*.

The audience for Jin Yong dramas was there, and the martial arts craze hadn't dissipated; the cast of this drama was also good, so it would likely sell without worry.

But if they wanted to sell it to become an industry ceiling like *The Return of the Condor Heroes* or *The Legend of Lu Lu Xiaofeng*, Karen Tsoi would probably be disappointed.

Compared to this drama, Yan Li was more interested in *Chinese Paladin 3*, which Karen Tsoi had mentioned to him before leaving.

When *Chinese Paladin* was filmed, Yi'an and Tangren jointly held the copyright. Now that Tangren wanted to film *Chinese Paladin 3*, it naturally couldn't bypass Yi'an.

Actually, if they really wanted to bypass it, it wasn't impossible—they could play the edge, and then go to court. At worst, if they lost, they would pay some money.

This situation wasn't a new thing in the film and television industry; there were many loopholes to exploit, the law was hard to define, and there were wins and losses in lawsuits.

But Tangren couldn't afford to offend Yan Li, so they could only share a piece of the pie with Yi'an.

Fortunately, Yan Li trusted Tangren's production ability and didn't interfere with the production, but he couldn't avoid being allocated some roles and related decision-making power.

The first *Chinese Paladin* had a good effect on promoting people; Yan Li planned to study it later and could promote his own people...

(End of chapter)