“His name is Liu’er,” Troupe Leader Huang said, “He’s an opera singer in our troupe.”

Lin Fei asked, “What opera was he performing?”

Troupe Leader Huang said, “The name of the opera is “Zhao’s Orphan”, and it’s about…”

Before he could finish his words, Lin Fei interrupted him. He stretched out his hand, pointed at the head that looked up at everyone, and said, “Why did he draw something like an evil ghost makeup?”

After hearing this sentence, Team Leader Huang couldn’t help but sneer: “Adults also watch the show!”

Isn’t this nonsense? Jìngguó gōng fūrén¹ was also a famous theater fan. As her grandson, Lin Shaoqing naturally spends a lot of time watching plays with Jìngguó gōng fūrén.

The play “The Orphan of Zhao” was not unfamiliar to theater fans. It was based on a record in “Zuo Zhuan” and “Historical Records”. It told the story of a clan leader who was assassinated during the Spring and Autumn Periods. His entire family was killed, leaving only a child. The child was alive because a loyal subordinate exchanged his own child with that child, so that his own child was killed instead of the son of the sect master, and he survived. When the child grew up, he got revenge with the help of everyone.

This was a revenge story, and the whole story did not involve monsters. In this case, how could the actors on the stage wear the makeup of evil spirits?

Troupe leader Huang explained with a sarcastic smile: “The Orphan of Zhao” had been sung too much and everyone was familiar with it. So what was wrong if I wanted to change it?”

Lin Fei glanced at him and pointed to the man on the stage who was wearing ghost makeup and asked, “Which character is he?”

Troupe leader Huang’s expression froze, and he knew that the spectators below had watched most of the play, so he had no choice but to say honestly: “That’s the orphan.”

“Is the protagonist an evil ghost?” Liu Yuan couldn’t help but interrupt after hearing this.

Troupe leader Huang sneered: “It’s changed!” As he said this, he explained to everyone, “I…have always wanted to revive the troupe! I have to find a new way and be original!”

Upon hearing this, even Bai Zhu, who was not one to speak much, couldn’t help but give him a sidelong glance and said, “So, it’s all made up just to create a spectacle and attract attention?”

Troupe leader Huang laughed sarcastically again and promised: “I won’t dare to do it next time. I won’t dare to do it anymore!”

“Where’s the revised script?” Lin Fei asked, ignoring Huang’s assurance.

Troupe leader Huang shook his head: “There is no script.”

How could there be no script? Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu looked at him, their eyes full of suspicion.

No matter how thick-skinned Leader Huang was, he couldn’t help but panic when he saw the suspicious looks from the Dali Temple officials. He said hurriedly: “It’s true! I didn’t write this script!”

“Who wrote it? “Liu Yuan said, “Just call that person and ask.”

Leader Huang shook his head with a bitter face: “I can’t call…I can’t call!” After saying that, before anyone could ask questions, he stretched out his finger and pointed at the table. He walked up to the actor who was cut into a wooden figure and said, “He…he made it up!”

This sentence immediately made Liu Yuan sneer: “What a coincidence! Could it be that you made it up yourself and deliberately framed a dead man!”

“No. Ah!” Leader Huang became anxious upon hearing this, and quickly explained, “I really didn’t make it up, I have witnesses!”

Leader Huang did have witnesses, and there were quite a few of them.

In addition to the testimony from the top to the bottom of the troupe, there were many people from the troupe in Chang’an City who had seen the actor on the stage.

“This man has been visiting major opera troupes in Chang’an City since last year, saying he wanted to sing in opera,” the officer who went out to inquire about the news came back and reported. “The troupe owners asked him if he had ever sung in opera. He said no, he never sang in opera. He didn’t know how to do theater at all. At the age of sixteen, it was too late to start learning, and the troupe leader naturally refused. The man said that he simply wanted someone to allow him to perform a play on his own…”

“Some people were too lazy to pay attention to him and thought he was talking crazy! After all, they specially prepared a stage to create momentum, just to let him sing a play, I don’t think anyone will agree.” The officer who spoke glanced at Leader Huang with a stern expression.

Leader Huang smiled and shrank his neck.

“Someone who was more patient asked him what kind of play he wanted to sing. He said it was called “The Orphan of Zhao” and that he had composed it himself.” The officer said, “Someone asked him to bring the playbook to see if it would be okay. He said there was no playbook, when the time comes, he can just go on stage and sing by himself.”

Which normal troupe leader would agree to such a thing? Naturally, he was blasted out.

“Troupe Leader Huang also kicked him out last year,” the officer said, glancing at Leader Huang and saying, “I don’t know why he let him sing again this time.”

Leader Huang put his hands in his hands and still laughed. After a pause, he explained in a low voice to everyone: “I am… I am trying to make a stunt!”

“It’s true, but why do you want to make a stunt for someone who doesn’t know how to sing and doesn’t even have a script? Bai Zhu shook his head and said, “Does Leader Huang think this explanation is justified?”

Leader Huang said: “That’s because he assured me that this play will definitely cause a sensation. I…I believed him this time… …”

Lin Fei looked him over and said nothing. He just pointed to the man hanging in the air and asked Leader Huang: “How did he die?”

Leader Huang said: “The limbs and head were cut off by the wire…”

“Lin Shaoqing was asking about the process at that time,” Liu Yuan said, “We can all see him being cut by the wire.”

Leader Huang said “Oh” and stammered: “We were all in the audience at that time…really!” Leader Huang raised his hand and assured, “He sang this during the play, I was in the audience watching the whole process, and the fans in the hall were all my witnesses!”

“Don’t talk nonsense, tell me what happened at that time!” Liu Yuan said.

Leader Huang then said, “He’s the one singing there…”

“Was he alone?” Liu Yuan asked.

Leader Huang nodded and said, “Yes! One person sings an opera.”

“When you sing until you raise your sword and want to pierce the chest of the villain who killed his entire clan…”

Before Leader Huang finished speaking, he was interrupted again: “He was alone on the stage, and stabbed in the air?”

Can such an outrageous play continue to be performed?

“On the stage, it’s indeed just him, but the villain he’s supposed to pierce isn’t empty,” the head of the Huang troupe explained as he led them to the side of the stage. He pointed to the iron mechanism covered by a curtain on the stage’s top, with a dummy hanging from it. He continued, “The villain is suspended there. When he performs this trick, I specifically asked him. He said during the final act, he’ll use the iron wires to suspend himself in mid-air, and then the dummy will be lowered. He’ll pierce the dummy’s chest while hanging in the air.”

Having said this, Leader Huang paused, pointed to the chest of the dummy, and said: “I also specially hid chicken blood in the chest of the dummy. When the time comes, he will pierce it with the sword and the blood will spatter. I think it will cause a lot of sensation…”

Hearing this, Liu Yuan rolled his eyes at him angrily: “The fake turned out to be real. The dummy was not pierced, but he was pierced?”

(End of this chapter)

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Footnote

1. Madam or Duchess of Jingguo i.e. grandmother of our ML