First Day Data

Next, the Goryeo delegation entered the city, only to be ambushed by a group of mysterious black-clad assassins halfway.

However, it ended without any real danger, and the Goryeo envoys checked into Laiyi Pavilion.

At the banquet prepared for the Goryeo envoys in Luzhou Prefecture, the Crown Prince of Goryeo showed utter disdain for the Great Song's culture and military might, sparking dissatisfaction among the people of Luzhou.

Bao Zheng stepped forward to refute the Crown Prince of Goryeo. The Crown Prince of Goryeo posed a challenge in public, saying he had an upper couplet, and if anyone present could provide the corresponding lower couplet within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he would retract his previous insolent remarks.

The upper couplet was:

"Ten mouths, hearts thinking, thinking of home, thinking of country, thinking of the state."

This was a character dissection puzzle. Ten characters plus the character for mouth plus the character for heart formed the character "思" (to think).

"It's difficult, but take your time to think. Guards, light the incense!" said the Crown Prince of Goryeo.

"No need!" Bao Zheng and Gongsun Ce said in unison.

Gongsun Ce immediately responded:

"Eight eyes, still appreciating, appreciating flowers, appreciating the moon, appreciating the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Bao Zheng then added:

Eight eyes plus 'to celebrate', celebrating the new year, celebrating the month, celebrating peace.

Gong Xiaoxue looked at Luo Xiaobo with a face full of confusion. "Honey, ten plus mouth plus heart is '思', but how is 'eight eyes plus appreciation' '赏' (to appreciate)? And how is 'eight eyes plus '贺'' '贺' (to celebrate)?"

Luo Xiaobo rubbed his girlfriend's head and said, "Silly girl, they're using traditional characters!"

As he spoke, Luo Xiaobo picked up a pen and first wrote an '8' on the paper, then added '目' (eye) above it, and then '尚' (still), which perfectly formed the traditional character '賞'. He then wrote another '8', followed by '目', and finally added '贺', which together formed the traditional character '賀'.

Gong Xiaoxue suddenly understood and smiled, "Honey, you're amazing!"

"What's amazing about me? They've already revealed the answers. The people who came up with these couplets and riddles are truly amazing! If I'm considered amazing, then wouldn't the people who came up with these couplets and riddles be geniuses?!"

Speaking of which, Luo Xiaobo suddenly became thoughtful.

He remembered the flattering words from his teacher, Chen Minghao, which had initially annoyed him.

"The script for Young Bao Qingtian is the most stunning script I've seen in twenty years. The screenwriter of Young Bao Qingtian is the most talented screenwriter I've seen in many years, bar none!"

The first episode ended unconsciously. His girlfriend, Gong Xiaoxue, who had been yawning incessantly while watching Mortuary earlier, was now completely engrossed.

Luo Xiaobo clicked on the second episode, and immediately a used car advertisement popped up.

"Damn it, these ads are so annoying! Honey, let's get a membership!"

His usually gentle girlfriend suddenly swore.

The plot continued.

The Crown Prince of Goryeo was too arrogant and overbearing. When Gong Xiaoxue saw the Crown Prince of Goryeo assaulting Xiao Ai, she instinctively clenched her fists. Luo Xiaobo felt his girlfriend's tension and anger and reached out to pull her into his arms.

"The actors playing the Crown Prince of Goryeo and Xiao Ai are completely unknown. Even I, who follow the entertainment industry closely, don't recognize these actors at all, but the way they acted in this scene was, to be honest, astonishing!"

When Xiao Ai was rescued and the Crown Prince of Goryeo had a face full of lime, Gong Xiaoxue felt a great sense of satisfaction and cursed, "Serves him right."

Then, the Crown Prince of Goryeo was murdered in Laiyi Pavilion.

The murder case of the Crown Prince of Goryeo in Laiyi Pavilion was full of strangeness. Before he died, the Crown Prince wrote a mysterious blood cross, and the doors and windows of the rooms in Laiyi Pavilion were all locked from the inside. Gongsun Ce and the others had to break down the door from the outside to discover that the Crown Prince was dead. So how did the murderer kill him, and how did they escape the scene?

When questioned, the other Goryeo envoys staying in Laiyi Pavilion all had alibis.

"So who was the murderer? How did they kill him? And how did they leave after the murder?"

"Also, when Xiao Ai appeared on the sand dunes, why were there no footprints around?"

"Could it really be a female ghost?"

"Impossible, this is a suspense drama, not a ghost story!"

One by one, the mysteries finally drew Luo Xiaobo completely into the plot.

The Crown Prince of Goryeo was murdered within the Great Song's territory. Goryeo could potentially align with Great Liao at any time. The reason Great Liao had been hesitant to lead its troops to attack Song was largely due to its fear of Goryeo behind it, worried about a pincer attack from Great Song and Goryeo on Great Liao.

The murder case of the Crown Prince of Goryeo concerned the fate of countless people in the three nations of Great Song, Great Liao, and Goryeo.

As the drama reached this point, Grand Tutor Pang, played by Zhang Binghua, the Eighth Prince, played by Chen Minghao, and the Emperor, played by Zhong Yuan, all made their appearances.

The plot had now entered the main storyline, and there were two main storylines: one was the case-solving line involving Bao Zheng and Gongsun Ce; the other was the court struggle line involving the Eighth Prince, Grand Tutor Pang, and the Emperor.

It was already 9 PM without realizing it. The two episodes of Young Bao Qingtian that had been released had all been broadcast.

An advertisement began to play.

However, Luo Xiaobo was still immersed in the plot.

"In the Laiyi Pavilion murder case, everyone has an alibi, but someone must be lying. Who could it be?"

"The Seventh Prince of Goryeo?"

"No, he was drinking at Spring Breeze Full Moon Tower and even got into a conflict. There were many witnesses."

"Minister Cui?"

"He was practicing swordplay in his room. The TV show even dedicated a shot to it."

"That Goryeo general?"

"Not exactly, he was stationed outside the city and only entered after the incident!"

"Then who could it be?"

He thought and thought but couldn't come up with any leads.

At this moment, Luo Xiaobo finally reacted.

"Why don't I write a review for this Young Bao Qingtian? Just like I did for The Coroner a few months ago?"

There were too many aspects of Young Bao Qingtian to write about, and just as many places to start.

Luo Xiaobo felt that he would definitely be inspired to write a review right now.

Just like two months ago.

Luo Xiaobo's hands began to tremble slightly.

He had experienced this surge of excitement two months ago, right after finishing The Coroner. Last time, this feeling brought him fame and fortune, and he even gained a beautiful girlfriend.

And today, this feeling had returned, and it was subtly even stronger than last time.

Also, before writing the review, he had typed those astonishing couplets and riddles into the search engine.

9 PM on the 25th, iQIYI Video Data Monitoring Center.

Xu Jun sat in his chair, staring at the data on the big screen, his face beaming with joy.

Xu Jun was the manager and chief producer of iQIYI Video's Qifeng Drama Studio.

Unlike Penguin Video, where the self-produced drama center was solely responsible for all self-produced drama projects, iQIYI Video's self-produced drama projects were handled by five major studios, each in competition with the others.

This year, the Qifeng Drama Studio, led by Xu Jun, produced the costume suspense drama The Coroner. The immense popularity of The Coroner had drastically elevated the status of the Qifeng Drama Studio, which had previously been at the bottom of iQIYI Video's five studios. Rumors were even circulating within the company that Xu Jun might be appointed as a vice president of iQIYI Video next year.

Watching the data for Mortuary climb steadily on the big screen, Xu Jun couldn't help but hum a little tune.

When producing The Coroner, due to his low status, he could only secure a production budget of 1.6 million per episode. However, when producing Mortuary, the production budget per episode had already soared directly to 3.2 million per episode!

S-class production, Xu Jun had never dared to dream of it. His Qifeng Studio was actually producing an S-class television series one day!

Real-time data, 25 million views!

Looking at this figure, Xu Jun's heart surged with emotion. He remembered that on the first day The Coroner was released, its daily viewership was only 10 million. By the finale of The Coroner, the daily viewership had already surpassed 50 million.

Mortuary's first-day performance far exceeded expectations. As soon as it was released, it firmly occupied the top spot on iQIYI Video's drama viewership chart.

The second-place show only had 10 million views. The 2.5-fold difference in data gave Xu Jun a feeling of standing at the summit and looking down upon all other mountains.

"It's lonely at the top!"

Xu Jun looked at his executive producer and said cheerfully, "By the way, Jian Xue, I Was a Detective in Ancient Times on Gua Video and Young Bao Qingtian on Penguin Video were released simultaneously with ours, right? The production budget per episode for I Was a Detective in Ancient Times also seems to have exceeded 3 million, the same as ours, both S-class productions. Check their data, focus on the data for I Was a Detective in Ancient Times!"

"Understood, Manager."