Chapter 61 Nobody Understands Traffic Better Than Me

Subsequently, Bai Yu followed Lu Baiyi to West Courtyard Alley, entering a three-compound courtyard that even came with an attached side yard.

Lu Baiyi looked at the sky and said, "We shouldn't starve our soldiers. Let's first make sure you are well-fed and have your fill of wine, and then we will begin creating the lyrics."

Then she asked Bai Yu, "What would you like to eat?"

Ever since his transdimensional journey, Bai Yu had not eaten many good meals. At this, he subconsciously replied, "Mutton roasted on skewers, with plenty of seasonings! The one at the eastern entrance of the alley!"

After Lu Baiyi waved her hand, someone naturally went off to make the arrangements. She then instructed her attendant:

"Tell Mother Zou! Invite my fragrant-red little mistress out! Also, summon the musicians and have them stand by!"

Bai Yu hesitated and said, "My identity needs to be kept confidential, so perhaps I don't need to meet them?"

Lu Baiyi was in a good mood and joked, "Don't we need to see the actual effect when songs are performed? How can we not meet the performers in person? Or are you feeling shy?

Besides, we won't reveal your true identity; we'll just say your name is Bai Yujing."

While waiting, the two chatted casually, and Bai Yu could not help asking, "Who is the supporter of our rival?"

Even if he was going to offend someone, he needed to know clearly who he was offending.

Lu Baiyi replied, "Feng Bangning, the nephew of Feng Bao, the Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonies."

Having studied the politics of the coming years every night, Bai Yu now knew who Feng Bao was even without opening his AI assistant.

This was the supreme grand eunuch twelve years from now. During the first decade of the Wanli Emperor's reign, he formed an iron triangle that dominated the imperial court both inside and outside, alongside Empress Dowager Li and Zhang Juzheng.

Of course, Feng Bao's ultimate fate still could not escape exile and the confiscation of his property.

Anyway, among the political powerhouses of the next decade or two, very few met with a good end; roughly the only exceptions were the current Directorate of Ceremonies Eunuch Huang Jin and Empress Dowager Li, whom he had once flirted with.

By now, Bai Yu had somewhat hardened himself, and upon hearing historical figures mentioned, his mood remained much calmer.

He was no longer like when he had first transmigrated, making a great fuss over every historical celebrity.

Then Bai Yu asked, "How do you plan to hold the competition?"

Lu Baiyi replied, "On both sides of the thoroughfare along the banks of the Gaoliang River outside Xizhi Gate, we will each set up a stage, and then compete to see who comes out on top."

Bai Yu emphasized, "What I want to ask is, how is this superiority determined? Who judges it?"

Lu Baiyi said, "We will give passing tourists a copper coin and then ask them to cast it as a tip. By the afternoon, whichever side has received the greater number of copper coins wins!"

Hearing this method of directly distributing copper coins to act as "votes," Bai Yu genuinely wanted to curse about the stench of wine and meat behind vermilion gates, reflecting how the wealthy really knew how to play.

"Fine, I understand. We're guaranteed to win!" Bai Yu patted his chest and said.

It turned out the scoring adopted a "traffic" mechanism; knowing this made it easy to target.

Before long, the beauty Xianghong, whom Lu Baiyi heavily promoted, walked in, bowed to Bai Yu, and then obediently sat down beside Lu Baiyi.

Bai Yu glanced at the little mistress Xianghong a few times; she was indeed worthy of being called delicate and lovely, but he then refocused his attention entirely on the mutton.

After sizing up Bai Yu, who was dressed like someone from the lower-middle strata of society, Xianghong wore a puzzled look and whispered a few words into Lu Baiyi's ear.

Lu Baiyi patted her hand and reassured her, "Don't worry, my beauty. This person is definitely a top-tier expert—the kind of hidden talent who lives quietly among the common folk."

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, they sat down in the study, and Bai Yu directed Lu Baiyi, "I already have the lyrics and tune. You will take up the brush and write them down."

Lu Baiyi indignantly said, "What? Are you trying to emulate Li Taibai? Do you want me to find someone else to take off your shoes and grind your ink as well?"

Bai Yu replied, "I'm too lazy to write!"

Writing characters himself was out of the question anyway, as he feared ruining his expert persona.

Having no other choice since she needed his help, and for the sake of confidentiality, Lu Baiyi had no option but to pick up the brush herself, listening as Bai Yu recited the lines while writing them down on manuscript paper.

Having a single person perform an entire piece from start to finish was obviously impossible, so the format would consist of selecting a few key segments and repeating them cyclically during the competition.

However, after recording just over a dozen lines, Lu Baiyi felt something was deeply wrong!

She dropped her brush and questioned, "Are you pulling my leg? How can these be such devoid-of-romance, vulgar-sounding segments?"

Bai Yu asked a knowing question, "What's wrong with these segments?"

Lu Baiyi took a deep breath. "Do you know what the rival side has prepared?

They are adapting several lyrical segments personally revised by Wang Bogu, based on the latest popular Southern drama, *The Story of Red拂*!

It tells the romantic tale of the red-dusted maiden fleeing by night to be with Li Jing!

No matter what, when performing songs publicly, highlighting talented scholars and beautiful ladies, along with romance, is always the safest approach."

Bai Yu felt dazed, as if he were once again standing five hundred years in the future, watching a financial backer wave his hands and state unequivocally, "Regardless of the subject matter we shoot, we must include a romance plot!"

His blood pressure felt a bit unstable again, but he temporarily suppressed it out of respect for the financial backer.

"Are you going to say something? Am I not making sense?" Lu Baiyi retorted.

Bai Yu calmed his emotions and responded, "Let me ask you, among those leaving Xizhi Gate to go on spring outings, are there more men or more women?"

Lu Baiyi replied without hesitation, "Of course there are more men. Even if women go out, most of them are accompanying men."

Bai Yu continued, "Therefore, there is no doubt that when people hold copper coins to tip, the majority will also be male!

So for this public musical performance, we only need to target men; we don't need to consider women at all!

Now, do you understand what men actually love to watch most on a platform?"

Lu Baiyi answered, "Isn't it romance... that's the most popular trend; novels and plays are all about this theme."

Bai Yu dismissively said, "You don't understand at all! Pure romance might be liked by some men, but it is definitely not what they love most!

As for what men love watching most, first is boundary-pushing content! You don't know what boundary-pushing means? It's that kind of vulgar, lewd content!

However, such content cannot be performed publicly, so we won't consider it this time.

The second is politics, especially political satire! Especially since the capital sits right at the feet of the imperial throne, the men here prefer political content even more!

So for my lyrics this time, I chose the political satire track. Is there any problem with that?"

Although Lu Baiyi could not understand words like "track," she still stubbornly argued:

"But looking at the lyrics you provided, the literary standard is very average, and they are far too vulgar!"

Bai Yu rebuked her without any politeness: "What do you know! Do you even know what you really want?

I'll just ask you this one thing: do you want to win, or do you want high art?"

Bai Yu bombarded Lu Baiyi with "you don't understand at all" and "what do you know," leaving her dizzy and spinning until she could only instinctively answer, "Of course I want to win! Why else would I invite you to help?"

Bai Yu said with absolute confidence, "High art finds few followers, while vulgar popular tunes pack the audience wall-to-wall!

Most common folk are not elite literati, and very few genuinely appreciate refinement.

Since you chose to rely on a traffic scoring mechanism for this public roadside performance, it has to be vulgar to attract people and allow you to win this competition!"

Having suffered a dimensional reduction strike, Lu Baiyi was left dumbfounded by his words, feeling as though her entire worldview had been reshaped. "Is that really so?"

Bai Yu patted his chest and said, "Rest assured, in the Jiajing era, no one understands traffic better than I do!"