Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 8: Green Smoke

On the way to his new residence, Yan Maoqing finally learned from Manager Liu the reason why he had gotten into this mess.

The problem ultimately lay with myself.

The only problem is that, in order to avoid the sunk costs of testing the waters too high, he only hastily translated a manuscript of about 10,000 words into Chinese and handed it over to Manager Liu.

While still trying to persuade Manager Liu, he suddenly had the idea to suggest that it be published in a serialized format, which was not yet available in this era, and that's how the rest of the story came about.

However, he can't be entirely blamed.

After all, there is a difference in the level of understanding between this era and later generations. People's ability to accept "cool" novels is still unknown. Who knows what the final result will be? We can't just start writing millions of words right away, can we?

Furthermore, while he was willing to immerse himself in translating millions of words into a semi-classical, semi-vernacular Chinese text, Manager Liu might not be willing to expend a great deal of manpower and resources to publish millions of words without knowing the financial prospects.

His sunk costs are costs, but aren't the sunk costs of Luming Pavilion also costs?
Under these circumstances, the first issue of "Xuan Po Cang Qiong" was published, with only fifty copies printed initially and put on the shelves of Lu Ming Ge for trial sale.

The opening naturally includes the familiar phrase "Mysterious Qi Cultivation, Three Stages," which is familiar to netizens in later generations.

The story abruptly ends after Xiao Yan utters the famous line, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate a young man's potential," and promptly divorces his wife, establishing a three-year agreement. This is the crucial moment when Yao Lao makes his grand entrance, introducing the promising profession of alchemist.

As it turns out, in addition to music, the universal language of humanity that transcends eras and time must also include "cool" novels, they just need to be translated.

Just like popular online novels in China, they did not fail to adapt to foreign markets and continued to thrive.

After the first issue of "Xuan Po Cang Qiong" was released, although it had nothing to do with the scene of paper being sold out in the capital, the fifty copies were still sold out within three days.

Seeing this momentum, Manager Liu immediately ordered an additional two hundred copies to be printed.

These two hundred copies were sold out seven days later.

So Manager Liu printed another 500 copies, which are still on sale and are expected to sell out in another ten days to half a month.

Although the sales figures may not seem like a lot, during Manager Liu's tenure at Luming Pavilion, it was one of the few popular books that could be considered bestsellers, aside from the Confucian classics required for the imperial examinations.

Most importantly, Yan Maoqing's approach of imitating the storytelling style of teahouse storytellers in serialized periodicals seems to be truly feasible.

Since the first issue of "Xuan Po Cang Qiong" was released, people have been coming to inquire about the printing status of the next issue. When they learned that there were no plans for the next issue, they even urged him to hurry up.

The reason why Manager Liu only came to see Yan Maoqing now was because he had some selfish motives.

The manuscript for the first issue of "Breaking Through the Heavens" was provided free of charge by Yan Maoqing. Otherwise, even if Yan Maoqing were a newly appointed scholar, he would never have been persuaded by him.

It was agreed beforehand that if the book sold well, the revenue sharing for the second issue would be discussed based on sales figures.

With the book gaining such momentum, Manager Liu felt that if he took the initiative to ask Yan Maoqing for the manuscript, he would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage when negotiating the price. Therefore, he deliberately delayed, selling the first issue while waiting for Yan Maoqing to come to Luming Pavilion to find him, so that he could better negotiate a lower fee.

To Liu's surprise, not only did people come to Luming Pavilion to urge him to update the book, but someone even went directly to his master, Duke Yiguo, to urge him.

However, after reading the first issue, the Duke of Yi was also amazed and exclaimed that if such a remarkable book were presented to the current emperor, it would surely be another great achievement.

After all, the book's descriptions resemble the celestial realm, featuring both mystical cultivation and alchemy, which perfectly aligns with the current emperor's concerns.

The only drawback is that the book is not complete and is interrupted at a crucial point.

If we present it like this, I'm afraid it will not satisfy the current emperor. Do you expect the emperor to urge us to update it?

That's why Manager Liu came to the Yuzhang Guild Hall in the evening to ask Yan Maoqing for a manuscript, only to be expelled from the guild hall by Yan Shifan...

Of course. Manager Liu did not tell Yan Maoqing about the Duke of Yi's intention to present "Xuanpo Cangqiong" to the current emperor.

It was only said that the Duke of Yi also liked this book, firstly because they were afraid that Yan Maoqing would use the book to enhance his own power, and secondly because they were afraid that Yan Maoqing would not keep his mouth shut and cause trouble for the Duke of Yi.

However, this did not prevent him from using small favors to establish a relationship with Yan Maoqing. After all, once the Duke of Yiguo presented the book, given the current emperor's obsession with metaphysics, he might soon summon the author of the book to the palace for an audience.

If Yan Maoqing were more astute, it wouldn't be impossible for him to become the next Tao Zhongwen by the Emperor's side.

Investing in advance, how could Manager Liu not understand that?

Understand the whole story.

Yan Maoqing felt that it would not negatively impact his career, so he simply stopped worrying about it and moved into the small house provided by Manager Liu.

As for the manuscript for the second issue of "Breaking Through the Heavens"...

Because it was already late after settling into his lodgings, and Yan Maoqing had not made any prior preparations, in addition, he had to get up early the next day before dawn to attend the imperial examination ceremony.

Manager Liu naturally didn't dare to urge him too much, so he asked him to finish it as soon as he had time, and then took his leave.

……

At the same time, in the Qianqing Palace.

"Yan Maoqing, 'Emitting blue smoke,' is quite a good name."

Emperor Jiajing, Zhu Houcong, already knew who had written that intriguing answer sheet, and he pondered Yan Maoqing's name with a playful expression.

"Huang Ban, have you found out anything about this person's background?"

Huang Jin bowed slightly and answered carefully:
"Your Majesty, I have investigated thoroughly. This man is from Fengcheng, Nanchang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province. No one in his three clans has served as an official in the court. His father passed the county-level examination during the Zhengde era, but failed the provincial-level examinations repeatedly. He then stopped participating in the imperial examinations and returned to his hometown to manage the family business."

"In that case, it must be incredibly lucky that Yan Maoqing was able to pass all the way to the palace examination."

Zhu Houcong smiled, his expression becoming increasingly amused.
"Since he was born in Jiangxi, did he register at the Jiangxi Guild Hall or the Yuzhang Guild Hall after arriving in Beijing?"

"It's the Yuzhang Guild Hall."

"That means he intends to become Yan Song's protégé."

Zhu Houcong nodded slightly.
"Since that's the case, I'll do Yan Song a favor."

"After the ceremony of announcing the imperial examinations tomorrow, you should privately pass on a message to Yan Song in your own name, saying that I recently had a dream in which I received a prophecy that read: 'White mist is an auspicious sign, and blue smoke is a lucky sign.' Ask him if he can decipher its meaning and answer my questions."

"The slaves obey the order."

Huang Jin bowed and agreed.

He had indeed guessed correctly; the Emperor intended for Yan Song to manipulate the selection process behind the scenes and choose Yan Maoqing as a probationary official.

But he refused to say it outright, insisting that Yan Song decipher it from this cryptic prophecy.

The Emperor is quite the riddle teller...

(End of this chapter)