Chapter Seven: The Empress Effect

... For decades, the imperial music scene had followed a warped path of development, and by now, its landscape had become rigid, stagnant—like a lifeless pool. Traditional-style songs dominated, tightly gripping ninety percent of China’s market. The leading music companies in this realm were Mars Entertainment, Imperial Sound Entertainment, and Rolling Poem Entertainment.

These three giants had reigned for ages, and since the eighties, had launched wave after wave of singers who swept across the nation in dazzling fame. In the nineties, the entire entertainment market in China was carved up and devoured by these titans.

Until ten years ago. Especially in recent years, smaller companies, driven by desperation, began to seek unconventional routes. Drawing inspiration from foreign folk tunes and styles, they crafted a crop of well-received second-tier stars, managing to snatch away a meager ten percent of the leftovers from the giants.

Yet, the unorthodox paths of these small companies were never recognized in mainstream music. They were often scorned by the big players, and dared not call themselves musicians, for they had defied the mainstream. It was not unlike the early days of online literature in China, which stood humbled before traditional literature—always looking up, never daring to challenge.

But not every major company was stagnant. For example, Emperor Entertainment was far more progressive than the other two behemoths. The singers it launched were more beloved by the public, their style light and lively, lyrics close to everyday life, with none of the pretentious literary flourishes. And Li Feifei, who had been unshaken for twenty years since her debut, was crowned queen, her status equal to that of Wang Fei in China! Her albums had even sold a staggering twenty million copies!

At this moment, the queen was in her luxurious mansion. Under the exquisite chandelier, golden light spilled across her refined profile, blending mature allure with youthful grace in perfect harmony.

She lay lazily on the table, listening. The speakers played “Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies.” At the first line in Cantonese, her delicate brows tightened, as if stirred by countless memories. A single clear tear traced down her cheek and splashed onto the table, strikingly vivid, like shattered blossoms.

“Cantonese song… Cantonese song…”

She thought of a person whose memory still brought a dull ache. That year, Imperial Sound, at the height of his fame, devoted itself to creating an album with exceptional quality for him. But he rejected it outright, arrogantly withdrawing into the bustling city, spending three years to write ten Cantonese songs, intending to release them as his own album.

When he finally delivered the songs to the company, Imperial Sound’s board erupted in fury. After three years, they had expected a sensational album, only to receive a handful of strange, unconventional songs.

Anger and disappointment led the executives to abandon him, handing the custom album to another singer, Hong Zhuo, who rose swiftly to fame on its success.

That man, deprived of the company’s promotional team, left without resources or funds, could only quietly release his ten Cantonese songs. Sadly, the album was overwhelmed by the prevailing tide of traditional-style music at the time.

Like a stone sinking to the bottom of the sea.

This setback caused him to fade during the peak of his stardom...

No one noticed, no one cared.

Only she grieved for him, heartbroken to the extreme. Yet her tenderness, her concern, all came to nothing. He never touched Cantonese songs again, refused to face anything, his ambition and pride gone, spending his days in drunken oblivion...

Thinking of this, Li Feifei gradually began to sob, tears blurring her vision as emotion overwhelmed her. Alone, with no one to see, she cried more freely.

After a long while, the queen slowly recovered.

“I must let him hear this. Doesn’t the quality of these Cantonese songs show that his path was never wrong? To him, they’re still the most beautiful songs—maybe this time, it will rekindle his fighting spirit?”

Just moments ago, her face was tear-stained, but now she smiled through her tears, listening to the song again and again.

‘Ah, this person really is something—he won’t bother to write out the lyrics, and the ones below have mistakes. I’ll translate them for him; the lyrics are wonderful.’

Twenty minutes later.

Weibo exploded. An unknown singer and an unorthodox song had, in just two days, stirred up a storm and even caught the attention of the queen herself. More astonishing—Li Feifei personally restored and published the lyrics for the song!

Suddenly, everything went up in flames!

“Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies” spread across Weibo at lightning speed, earning unanimous praise from all who listened.

Late Autumn: ‘Suddenly, I can’t listen to Mandarin songs anymore. They feel so hollow, just words being deliberately stacked. This song uses the simplest lyrics, yet evokes the most sincere emotion. My standards for music have risen so much! I want more Cantonese songs, but I can’t find them.’

Queen’s Fallen Fan: ‘Bringing flowers! This song is amazing, and the lyrics are perfect—the sincerity and emotion! Such a talented musician must be king-level.’

Pure Soul: ‘I love this feeling, I love this atmosphere.’

Searching and Seeking: ‘This is definitely the birth of a new genre!’

Arrogant: ‘This song has no merits. The lyrics are bad, the melody lacks classical charm. Is this just another entertainment company hype? Nowadays, few in the industry have real talent—it’s all hype. The songs are unpleasant, the lyrics are poorly written, and everyone loves sensation.’

Silent Smile: ‘Not so great, really. Better stick to old songs. This one will only be popular for a while—it won’t stand the test of time, nothing to be shocked by.’

Trying to Buy House and Car: ‘Upstairs probably still in elementary school, intelligence is impressive.’

Thermos Not Hot: ‘Good songs attract haters easily, and most are mindless.’

...

Ren Qian had just finished washing up and was about to have breakfast when his nurse sister called, her voice bursting with excitement and shrillness, bringing good news—the song had entered the top ten on the charts, and its momentum was still rising.

“Ren Qian, do you think it’ll reach number one? If you top the chart, you can die without regrets~”

“Isn’t reaching the top a trivial matter? Do I look like someone who can’t top the charts? Out of one hundred sixty-five days, it’d be strange if I wasn’t number one for even one day.”

Ren Qian, phone wedged between his forehead and shoulder, held soy milk in one hand and bread in the other, nonchalantly showing off.

“You... can’t you go one day without boasting? Never mind, I’m off to work. Bye.”

“Bye...”

Ren Qian wolfed down the bread, gulped the soy milk, then opened Weibo. A barrage of notifications nearly made him drop his phone.

Almost twenty-five thousand comments, Li Feifei’s repost and lyrics reveal, and likes and shares from Weibo celebrities.

“The earth can no longer hold me back! Truly a classic from the heavenly halls of China, its charm undiminished after twenty years! Even in a parallel world, it would still be wildly popular. Salute to you, Wong Ka Kui!”

Ren Qian snapped his fingers, feeling the road ahead wide open, the crown of the song god eagerly awaiting his grasp.

...

“Look, it’s Ren Qian! He’s so handsome, sings so well, and has such great charisma.”

On the campus path, an exclamation rang out, followed by dozens of eyes turning to Ren Qian, their intense gaze almost suffocating him.

No promotional team, no paid followers—just personal talent, pushing a single song into the top ten trending topics on Weibo!

In today’s world, where entertainment headlines are dominated by three major companies, this was nothing short of a miracle!

“Hello, everyone... hehe.”

Ren Qian felt mortified, awkwardly greeted them, then quickly fled.

“Look, he ran away shyly. Maybe Ren Qian is interested in my beauty? My heart’s racing, oh dear. If I’m too forward, will I seem unrefined? If I’m too reserved, will I seem aloof?”

A group of people: “...”

“No matter what you do, you always seem heavy.”

A mischievous friend cut in sharply.

Everyone laughed inwardly—refined? Don’t bump into anyone and break them. Sensing her friends’ teasing, the plump girl tilted her head at a forty-five-degree angle to the sky. Her gaze caught a banner being hung nearby, and her eyes lit up: “Ren Qian will definitely sing at the New Year’s Eve party this time. I’ve decided! Operation Dress Up and Chase Handsome Men begins at the New Year’s Eve party—I’m going to bring flowers~ I’m going to throw myself into his arms...”