Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

The viewership ratings chart for this day was the center of everyone’s attention. The Harem did not just air-drop onto the chart—to be precise, it leaped directly to the number one spot for the day!

“Fuck, that is seriously impressive!!”

“How many years has it been since Qinglan TV air-dropped into first place?”

“Forget air-dropping into first. With a competitor like Dajiang TV around, Qinglan TV has mostly just been grabbing first place during the gaps when the other side’s new dramas are just starting.”

But this time, The Harem and Years Without Regret had premiered on the same day. They were clearly standing on the same starting line.

The result for the first two episodes of Years Without Regret was third place on the ratings chart.

Under normal circumstances, the performance of Years Without Regret would not be considered bad, but it unfortunately had The Harem to serve as a contrast.

On the very first day of broadcasting, a gap had already opened between the two dramas.

“The Harem is truly good! The whole draft process with the ‘discarding’ or ‘keeping’ of name plaques is a plot I have never seen before. Is this really how ancient emperors selected their concubines?”

“The female lead is so beautiful! The makeup and styling are all gorgeous! I originally thought it would be one of those romantic comedies where the female lead enters the palace to fall in love, but the first episode was already full of hidden daggers and shadows of swords, hiss…”

“I was lured in by the trailer, and then I fell completely into the pit. I am dying to see what happens next!”

“@Qinglan TV, since you finished filming, why not release ten episodes at once! It was my fault for mocking the crew before for only knowing how to film in a garden. I repent!!!”

“This servant was wrong. This servant should not have mocked Sister Qinglan.”

“Someone, come! Award @Qinglan TV three feet of white silk.”

Easily climbing to the top of the satellite ratings chart with just the first two episodes, the success of The Harem naturally attracted industry attention. However, when many drama critics logged onto Weibo, they discovered that the area under the The Harem keywords was actually filled with fans discussing the plot.

“Just how popular is this?” a drama critic mused. “Hasn’t it only just started airing?”

“How long has it been since a drama with this level of discussion appeared in the television circle?”

The critics did not know until they checked. Once they did, they discovered that the 3.5% rating was the best premiere performance for any drama on a major satellite station in the last three years. The last one to achieve this record was Dajiang TV’s Eternal Night.

The Harem had only aired for two short episodes, yet many fans had already written character reviews. They categorized characters into groups like ‘suspected cannon fodder,’ ‘latent bosses,’ and ‘main bosses.’ As for the clothing, styling, and room decorations of the characters, they were listed clearly by the fans.

When Records of the Bai’s Return was airing, fans were similarly enthusiastic about digging deep, but the era and background of The Harem were different. Furthermore, it was a pure “Big Female Lead” drama, so there were even more details to discuss than in Records of the Bai’s Return.

“Is no one paying attention to the dialogue?”

“My tongue is blunt and my EQ is low. I feel like if I entered The Harem, I definitely wouldn’t survive three episodes.”

“Upstairs, you are already quite impressive. If it were me, I probably wouldn’t survive thirty minutes. In the first episode, when someone stuffed a jade pendant into Qiao Ningfu’s hand, I didn’t think much of it. By the time Qiao Ningfu was dragged away, I was completely stunned.”

“Hahaha, it’s really exciting. Is this a harem draft? No, this is a harem battle royale!”

The Harem was, after all, Lin Ji’s new drama. With many characters and a high level of discussion since filming began, many fans went in with the mindset of “I want to see what you’ve filmed,” only to be immersed after just one episode.

In the first two episodes, the scent of blood in The Harem had already been detected by the fans.

“Asking out of curiosity, where exactly does Lin Ji come up with so many ways to harm people?”

“Little Lin is truly… Is there any genre he doesn’t know how to write?”

* * *

Nie Ou had already become a loyal fan of Lin Ji because of Code 11 and Records of the Bai’s Return. What she didn’t expect was that this The Harem would actually make her unable to stop watching.

When she was following Code 11 and Records of the Bai’s Return, her close friends felt those two dramas were too serious and weren’t the genres they liked, so they didn’t follow them with her. But The Harem was completely different. After only two episodes, the plot was being discussed constantly in their small group chat.

“It’s so good!!!”

“I’ve already prepared my duck wings and Coke. I’m going to watch the characters tear each other apart while I eat.”

“Qian Yuzhu and Peng Fangfang are both so good at acting. The crew also seems to have found a lot of newcomers, and the casting is very fitting.”

“I’ve had enough of those dramas that find ugly people to play great beauties, especially the kind where all the handsome guys love her. What, does this audience member not have eyes or something? Do they really think I can’t tell?”

“It’s about to start, it’s starting!”

The remote control in Nie Ou’s house was usually controlled by her mother. Yesterday, her mother had gone out of town for training, and her father was also out on field duty, leaving her home alone to watch The Harem.

Nie Ou originally intended to watch with the lights off, but after thinking about it, she turned them on.

The lighting in The Harem was actually quite bright, unlike some dramas that liked to use extremely dim backgrounds. However, once the theme song played, that female vocal line was so desolate that it made Nie Ou feel uncomfortable, giving her a vaguely eerie feeling.

In the third episode, Wen Yiwan and Xu Huanchun, who had not been in the palace for long, encountered difficulties from Noble Consort Liu.

Although Noble Consort Liu was still favored, her appearance was no longer as brilliant as in her youth. Seeing that Wen Yiwan was pretty, she couldn’t help but make a few disparaging remarks. However, Wen Yiwan was the daughter of the vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel and held some influence in the capital, so Liu Qingmei did not dare to go too far.

Xu Huanchun was different. Upon seeing her face, Liu Qingmei couldn’t resist mocking her. “Back in my younger days, if a maid with such looks were sent before me, I wouldn’t even want her.”

“That is because His Majesty cherishes Your Ladyship. Even when picking servants, he must give Your Ladyship the best.”

After being praised by the maids and eunuchs around her, Liu Qingmei felt quite satisfied, and her jealousy dissipated somewhat. She looked at Xu Huanchun. “Since you have come to the palace, you should understand your identity. What you can do and what you cannot do, I shouldn’t need to teach you, right?”

Xu Huanchun lowered her head and complied. At this moment, no one could see her eyes clearly, but under the dim candlelight, her profile seemed to be shrouded in a layer of shadow.

Among the several candidates who entered the palace together, Wen Yiwan and Ji Surang had higher family backgrounds, while Xu Huanchun and Zhao Yulan were merely average. Xu Huanchun’s appearance was not outstanding, but Zhao Yulan had been selected by Emperor Jing at a single glance based solely on her face. There were rumors in the palace that her beauty was comparable to that of the late Consort Zheng.

Zhao Yulan was also the first among this batch of candidates to receive the emperor’s favor.

Emperor Jing had been on the throne for many years and was not as keen on beauty as he was in his youth, so Zhao Yulan’s receiving favor caused a stir in the palace.

The empress was magnanimous, hoping the new ladies would soon branch out the royal family tree.

Noble Consort Liu Qingmei, however, said, “The emperor always needs some novelty. It’s like raising cats or dogs. When they first enter the house, one always wants to take a few extra looks.”

The Virtuous Consort and Consort Ru remained as steady as mountains. Even if other concubines came to say a few jealous words, the two only said that after being bored in the palace for so long, having a few newcomers added a bit of liveliness. If the emperor and the empress were satisfied, they would naturally be satisfied as well.

Seeing the servants attending to Zhao Yulan change for the better and her rank rise from attendant to lady, there were even more rumors in the palace. Everyone said that with Zhao Yulan’s level of favor, becoming a consort like Consort Zheng was just around the corner.

Some people even went to find Wen Yiwan and the other candidates, saying that their family backgrounds and appearances were all extraordinary, yet they were being suppressed by the daughter of a petty official.

“You and I entered the palace as sisters for nothing more than to earn a future for ourselves and our families. If one truly had the nature of a Buddha, why bother wading into this muddy water?”

“Just look at the high-ranking ladies in the palace. They may eat vegetarian meals and pray to Buddha now, avoiding people, but it wasn’t like that in the past.”

Wen Yiwan had a good temperament and was unwilling to speak ill of others. Ji Surang was proud and arrogant, disdaining to compete with others, merely saying that serving others with beauty alone could not last. Meanwhile, Xu Huanchun said her family background was lowly and her appearance was ordinary, and she only wished to live a quiet life.

However, as they continued without receiving favor, a bit of anxiety inevitably crept into their hearts.

And right at this moment, Zhao Yulan, who was rumored to be constantly favored, sent her personal maid to their doors to beg for help.

“Don’t panic, speak slowly. What happened to Sister Yulan?”

When the plot reached this point, Nie Ou looked up at the clock and realized it was almost 9:30 PM. Prime time was just about over.

As expected, she still didn’t get to find out what exactly had happened to Zhao Yulan.

“I hate this!! How do they dare to stop right here?!”

“Ahhh, I’m going to pluck Little Lin bald! I must know what happened to Zhao Yulan right now!!!”

“I have to say, the actress for Zhao Yulan is a true beauty. They say she’s a newcomer. I feel like she could completely take over Cheng Cheng’s mantle.”

“I am just a donkey being dangled by a carrot by Lin Ji. I want to see the next episode so badly!”

The discussion for episodes three and four of The Harem reached even greater heights. The fans originally didn’t know what a palace intrigue drama was, but once The Harem aired, it was as if a door to a new world had been opened for them.

The rival show Years Without Regret was also about political struggle, but in terms of satisfaction, it wasn’t as visceral as The Harem. In terms of bloodiness, it also lacked the hidden blades of The Harem. Struggles in the imperial court were indeed struggles, but the court had powerful nobles, civil officials, and public opinion. Even an emperor could not easily manipulate the fate of an official.

But in the harem, the rise and fall of a woman depended entirely on a single thought from the emperor. The world of the harem was simply too small. If one did not wish to compete, there was no option to retire to the countryside. Once inside, one had to fight. Even if the world turned upside down, one had to fight to carve out a path for themselves.

“The Harem is really too well-filmed! Has anyone noticed? With so many female characters appearing, not a single one has a repeating personality. Lin Ji must have created rich character profiles for every single one!”

“The best part is the dialogue. It’s incredible. This is what you call killing without shedding blood. The ability to use objects as metaphors and point at the mulberry to curse the locust tree is simply a model for our generation.”

“By the way, is anyone following The Harem‘s official Weibo? Didn’t Qiao Ningfu exit the show in the first two episodes? The official Weibo actually wrote a ‘judgment poem’ for her.”

“!! I’m going to go look!”

While The Harem was airing, the official Weibo was continuously updating. Sure enough, the latest post was the judgment poem for Qiao Ningfu.

“I suspect Lin Ji wrote this.”

“Screenwriter Lin is the GOAT!”

“Lol, I suddenly thought, would the judgment poem for Future Entertainment just be ‘No’?”

Although not seeing Zhao Yulan’s fate made the fans very disappointed, there were far too many discussions about The Harem on Weibo. Some fans even turned their Weibo accounts into character bots for The Harem, analyzing which characters would undergo a white-to-black transformation and which ones might be future big bosses.

In addition, terms related to the drama, such as “palace intrigue” and “harem style,” hit the hot search one after another. The actors were the same. The acting duel between Qian Yuzhu and Peng Fangfang was noticed by fans, and several newcomers gained many followers after appearing in The Harem.

And when the ratings for episodes three and four came out, the entire television circle was left speechless—

On the satellite ratings chart, The Harem was still ranked first. Compared to the 3.5% rating on the first day, the rating on the second day had actually increased by 0.8%!

“4.3%???? For any other drama, that’s a rating you’d only see for the grand finale, right?”

“Wait, did the finale of Qinglan TV’s last drama even hit 4.3%? In my memory, it didn’t.”

“I thought Code 11 gaining one Snow in Early May per episode was already fierce enough. This The Harem actually gained four Snow in Early May in one go. I thought I’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“The problem isn’t a 3.5% premiere and a 4.3% second day, right? Have you all considered that The Harem has just started airing and already has these ratings? When the plot really kicks in, how high will the ratings climb?”

“In short, pray for Dajiang TV & Xingzhou TV.”

NOTES

“Pointing at the mulberry to curse the locust tree” (指桑罵槐 – zhǐ sāng mà huái): A proverb that doubles as the 26th strategy from the famous ancient military text Thirty-Six Stratagems (三十六計). It means to deliver a heavily veiled, indirect insult or viciously attack or scold someone through metaphors while pretending to talk about someone else entirely. 

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