Around 11:40 a.m., Wang Hai finally finished reading the first six episodes of the script. He looked up at Li Xun for a while, his expression deeply conflicted, then turned back and reread the scene that had impressed him most:
Interior Scene, the residence where the murdered Crown Prince of Goryeo had been staying, daytime.
Bao Zheng, the Goryeo Princess, Minister Cui, Grand Tutor Pang, Shen Liang the Blade Head, Prefect of Luzhou, and the others gathered at the crime scene as Bao Zheng slowly unraveled every mystery.
Prefect of Luzhou, Gongsun Zhen: So how did the murderer kill them? We heard a sound and rushed in right away. The murderer couldn't have killed the Crown Prince and the Seventh Prince so brutally in such a short time!
Bao Zheng: It was actually very simple.
A woman's voice shouted from outside the room: Ah!
Everyone: Who was that? What happened? What's going on?
Everyone went outside the room and saw Madam Bao.
Constable Lu Yun: Madam Bao, why did you scream?
Madam Bao: I didn't scream! I really didn't!
Prefect Gongsun Zhen: We clearly heard you scream just now.
Madam Bao: I really didn't.
Prefect Gongsun Zhen: Then what was that?
Ling Chuchu entered the frame: It was me!
Prefect Gongsun Zhen: What was that?
Bao Zheng: Does everyone understand now?
Prefect Gongsun Zhen: Understand what?
Gongsun Ce entered the frame: Everyone heard a scream, then turned around and saw Madam Bao outside the room, so they naturally assumed she had screamed. But a single scream isn't enough to tell who made it. When the constables heard a scream from inside the room, they naturally wondered which room it had come from. Once they rushed in, they saw only the victims, and no one else, so they assumed the scream had come from them. But the one who really screamed was the murderer.
Bao Zheng: Exactly! The murderer rushed in and dealt the victims a heavy blow, then stuffed their mouths with cloth or something similar to stop them from screaming. After killing them and arranging everything, the murderer screamed. So when everyone saw that the victims had been killed in such a short time and the murderer was nowhere to be seen, they thought a female ghost had done it and blamed Chuchu.
Goryeo Princess: Then why did the murderer make the two princes look so terrifying?
Minister Cui: According to you, the murderer was still in the room when the constables rushed in. How did he escape?
Bao Zheng: That was the most brilliant part of the whole setup. The two princes' bodies had been clawed until they were bloody and mangled, and the room was covered in blood. The murderer wasn't trying to kill them that way—the point was to distract everyone and escape.
Madam Bao: How did he escape?
Bao Zheng: Has anyone noticed that there's one more person among us now? That person wasn't here when you first came in.
Prefect Gongsun Zhen: That's impossible! We all came in together!
Gongsun Ce: No, it was me! I only came in just now, while I was explaining the scream to everyone.
Prefect Gongsun Zhen: Is that so? Weren't you with us when we came in?
Bao Zheng: My lord, he's your son. Did even you not notice whether he came in with you?
Prefect Gongsun Zhen: When we entered the hall, everyone was crowded together. There were so many people, and he had already been involved in the case, so it was only natural for him to be here. How was I supposed to know he hadn't been here from the start?
Bao Zheng: Exactly. The murderer was playing the same trick!
Ling Chuchu: What's going on? Hurry up and explain!
Gongsun Ce: The murderer was a constable in uniform. After the crime, he blended in with the other constables. Everyone was panicking, and since he was a constable himself, no one thought twice about seeing him there.
Bao Zheng: After killing them, the murderer hid behind the door and screamed. Then the constables rushed in and were horrified by the Crown Prince's death. No one noticed the murderer slipping away unnoticed. That's how he killed someone in a completely sealed room: because he was a constable—and now he's standing among us!
Wang Hai had a vague feeling that Young Bao Qingtian might be even better than The Coroner, which had taken the whole internet by storm. But could that really be possible? It was probably just his imagination, wasn't it?
Wang Hai didn't quite trust his instincts.
That's right, it must be my imagination! he thought.
Just then, producer Tang Jiahe hurried through the editorial department, making a beeline for Vice President Dai Ying's office.
Tang Jiahe was one of President Dai's star executive producers. He already had two A-Class productions under his belt, both of which had received very positive ratings and industry reviews. Was the company about to launch another major project? He had rushed straight into President Dai's office.
The office stirred with excitement.
Only productions with a budget of more than two million per episode qualified as A-Class productions, and the screenwriter's bonus for one was 200,000 yuan per episode. Every screenwriter in the office dreamed of writing an A-Class production. It wasn't just about earning millions in bonuses; it was about gaining enormous prestige in the industry. A screenwriter who could create an A-Class production on their own needed only one or two classic works in a lifetime to earn enough to live comfortably.
"Did one of our department's scripts get approved as an A-Class production?"
The mood in the office grew restless, envy and jealousy circulating among dozens of screenwriters.
Tang Jiahe had been riding high for the past two years. There was a very good chance that his project would be an A-Class production.
"No way. Penguin Video may be a huge company, but it only puts out one or two A-Class productions a year. And hasn't it been years since the company made an original A-Class script? As far as the company's concerned, famous IPs with big fan bases are its darlings. An original script? You're lucky if it gets a B-Class production."
"Then did someone here get their IP adaptation project approved?"
No one in the editorial department answered.
There was no telling about the IP adaptations, but the family drama the department was working on might have a shot at A-Class production. Still, that project had only just gotten started. How could they have decided so quickly?
The truth was, plenty of screenwriters complained that management didn't value original scripts, but how much did they value them themselves?
The bonus for an original script was certainly higher, but no matter how much it paid, the money meant nothing until it was in your hands. How many people in the screenwriting department hadn't had an original script revised dozens of times over several months, only to be suddenly told the project had been canceled?
Original scripts were just too difficult.
Most adaptations of major IPs, on the other hand, made it to the screen without a hitch. Screenwriters only got their full bonuses once a production aired. Sure, most of the fee for adapting a major IP went to the original novelist, but the adaptation screenwriters still got a little something.
"Maybe they just bought some popular novel with a trending IP. The company's so focused on this costume suspense trend that they must've paid a fortune for a popular IP."
"Definitely. If that's the case, the adaptation assignments should come out this afternoon. I've just finished my current work, so I'll sign up as soon as the IP adaptation project is announced. Adaptation projects don't pay much, but I don't have what it takes to write an original, so I won't be picky."
Listening to his colleagues' discussion, Wang Hai watched Li Xun rub his wrist and suddenly had a thought:
"Could producer Tang Jiahe have been brought in by President Dai specifically to look over his script?"
But he immediately dismissed the idea.
"No way. The script was only just sent to President Dai. No matter how good it is, she'd have to go through ten or eight rounds of revisions before it could possibly win her approval. There's no way they'd launch it this fast, even if the script is excellent. It makes no sense at all!"
Before you continue