Chapter 210

On the water opera stage, light and shadow intertwined, with high-pitched singing.

The massive commotion caused ripples in the great lake, and several eyes floated to the surface, staring intently.

Liang Qu held the armrest and sat up straight, looking left and then right.

The villagers were eating melons and beans, huddled on the bows of their boats, laughing foolishly, their attention entirely on the opera stage; no one cared about him.

That was true; Liang Qu had at least attended the academy for nearly a year, and he couldn't understand it; could ordinary people understand it?

They couldn't understand it either.

Especially the new play.

The logic was the same as many people listening to an idol's new song; without looking at the lyrics, most people couldn't tell what the lyrics were about for the first two times, and could only feel the emotions within.

So many people were mainly there to watch the excitement and novelty, and had no idea that the prototype on the opera stage was sitting right below the stage.

Moreover, it seemed that in order to give him a "surprise," Chen Zhaoan must have specifically had the opera troupe leader remove the opening scene that explained the story plot and background, making it even more confusing.

However, Master Tang and the others to the left and right would glance at Liang Qu from time to time, having seen through the trick, their mouths wearing a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

Fortunately, he had saved a bit of face.

Liang Qu covered his face with his hand and slumped back into the chair.

Too embarrassing.

Why could they restore everything he said at the time?

Where did this invisible historian come from?

"Village Elder Chen..."

Chen Zhaoan turned to the side.

Liang Qu sat up again and organized his wording.

"Why can this opera repertoire even perform what I said at the time? Where did Village Elder Chen hear it from?"

It wasn't that Liang Qu hadn't told others about the Whale Gang, but he had never told it in such detail, and it was even more impossible for him to have repeated everything he said at the time.

Where did Chen Zhaoan get his information channel?

"This has nothing to do with me; I didn't even arrange this play."

Chen Zhaoan rested his wrist on his cane and waved his hands repeatedly.

"Not you, sir?"

"No, the leader of this opera troupe is named Qian Tingzhi; he was originally from Fengbu County and led a small singing troupe, which was quite famous in the Fengbu County area. As a result, eight years ago, a County Magistrate Du, nicknamed 'Belly Full of Heaven', came to Fengbu County; Master Liang should be familiar with him."

Liang Qu nodded.

Du Wenzhang, right.

A drama queen, nicknamed "Belly Full of Heaven," and that was absolutely correct.

"That 'Belly Full of Heaven' was full of fat and grease, yet he loved to act elegant, especially loved listening to opera and writing plays. If it were just that, it would be fine, but the key was that 'Belly Full of Heaven' also liked to play with opera actors."

"Play with opera actors?"

Seeing Liang Qu's confusion, Chen Zhaoan lowered his voice to explain.

"Play with the actors! This Troupe Leader Qian led a small singing troupe, and the actresses were all women, so they were naturally coveted by 'Belly Full of Heaven'."

Liang Qu swept a glance at the girls on the stage and couldn't help but nod.

He knew about small singing troupes because his master's wife loved listening to them, so he had a little understanding of them.

This was considered the most common type of opera in the Jianghuai area.

It was said that at first, the small singing troupes were all male actors, but later, a master was inspired by the "Mao'er Troupe" of the Imperial City and wanted to cultivate a group of actresses in the troupe.

At that time, "male troupes" and "female troupes" coexisted and competed with each other, but because the actors in the "female troupes" were beautiful and had elegant stage presence, they were deeply loved by everyone.

Over time, the performance situation of the "male troupes" got worse and worse, gradually declining, and they were gradually eliminated, replaced by the "female troupes," which unified the world.

Since then, the small singing troupes were all female actors, which became a feature.

So now, the people playing Liang Qu and the Liu brothers on the water stage were all women.

Their skin was like soft jade infused with red, their brows were outlined with ink to deepen their contours, their waists were slender, and their postures were upright.

In every movement, their heroic spirit was thin and hair-like, like a blooming golden chrysanthemum, often drawing cheers from the crowd.

To be an actor, one first had to have a proper appearance; a group of beautiful girls, dressed in men's clothing, looked even more heroic; not to mention Du Wenzhang, normal men would like them, which was not strange at all.

"And then?"

"Once or twice would be fine, but that 'Belly Full of Heaven' was a starving ghost in lust; how could he ever have enough? As time went on, the troupe was about to be hollowed out.

Troupe Leader Qian couldn't bear it; the good actors he had cultivated with such difficulty became the playthings of the nobles, so he took the troupe and started traveling to counties, hanging around in the surrounding counties.

It wasn't until a few months ago, when he heard that you had wiped out the Whale Gang and 'Belly Full of Heaven' was imprisoned and tried, that he searched everywhere for your deeds, personally went to the prison to ask those Whale Gang members, and after going through all kinds of hardships, compiled this good play.

When I went to invite him, Troupe Leader Qian heard that Yixing Town was your hometown, so he didn't even take the money, and personally spent twenty taels of silver to help us build the water stage, saying that if he didn't take the money, he would sing for three days."

Three days?

Liang Qu's whole person felt numb from listening.

He didn't expect that his act of taking down the Whale Gang would trigger follow-up events.

Didn't that mean that many people had heard this play, and the number would continue to increase in the future?

Light and shadow moved across him; on the opera stage, swords and shadows flashed, somersaults were turned in unison, and accompanied by the villain's powerless struggle, he fell completely onto the opera stage, spat out a mouthful of bright red blood, and the second act ended.

"Good!"

"Bravo!"

"Looks good!"

The loud whistling resounded across the great lake, and the sound of hundreds of people shouting in unison was deafening; what a passionate scene.

Outside the audience circle, water splashed and surged.

Round Head happily slapped its belly, signaling the Jiang Xiao Tun beside it to look at the fancy tricks on the stage.

Cannot Move lifted its claws to scratch its scales, kicked the fat catfish that was rolling excitedly and rolled onto it, but kicked itself out.

The Mirage Insect lying on the big crocodile's head fell into the water unsteadily and was caught by Fist with its pincers.

The splashing sound attracted the attention of a fisherman in the back row, and seeing those terrifying giant beasts, his legs went soft and he fell into the river.

He shouted in a hurry, and his companions turned to look.

The great lake was quiet, with waves overlapping; where were there any catfish monsters?

"You have a good show to watch, but you're drunk, aren't you?"

"No, I really saw it!"

"Eh, fine, fine, fine, you saw it if you saw it; today the River God has manifested, and there are more than a dozen martial artists present, what are you afraid of?"

"That's true..."

Below the water stage, Liang Qu scratched his temples, his ten toes gripping and releasing inside his boots.

Human joys and sorrows are not connected; he only felt that everyone was noisy.

"Village Elder Chen, was it Troupe Leader Qian's idea not to have an opening scene?"

"It was Troupe Leader Qian's idea, saying he wanted to make the point at the end."

Liang Qu pinched the bridge of his nose, his temples jumping slightly.

"Forget about the opening scene."

"Why... fine, I'll go tell him."

At midnight, a light rain fell.

The performance ended.

The fishermen were drenched in the light rain, still unsatisfied as they poled their boats away.

The opening scene was not performed; Liang Qu successfully controlled the scale of his social death, and also met Qian Tingzhi, the troupe leader Chen Zhaoan spoke of.

Qian Tingzhi was a little old man nearly sixty years old, with graying hair and a height of only 1.6 meters; he brought out the girls in their teens and twenties to welcome him, extremely enthusiastic.

"That 'Belly Full of Heaven' was truly worse than a pig or dog! The scum of the scum! If he has a son, he definitely won't have an anus!"

"Master Liang is a hero, having eliminated a great scourge for Fengbu County! From now on, whenever Master Liang brings people to watch the opera, it will always be the best seats! Absolutely no charge!"

"Troupe Leader Qian is too polite, but I have one request; how about we change the repertoire for the next three days? 'Jade Hall Spring', 'On the Wall', and 'Legend of the Dragon Lady' are all quite good."

"Uh, why is that? Is Master Liang not satisfied with today's play?"

Liang Qu saw the disappointed gazes of several girls, and swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"It's not that I'm not satisfied, it's just that it's not easy for the villagers to watch a play, so try to have more repertoires..."

"Well, alright, since Master Liang has spoken, I naturally have to agree."

After the pleasantries, Liang Qu didn't go home.

He sat alone in the boat for a long time, blowing the river wind for several quarters of an hour.

The fat catfish and other beasts poked their heads out of the water, not daring to disturb him.

After all, he had done a good deed.

Let it be awkward.

Sighing faintly, Liang Qu gathered his thoughts, and after thinking for a while, he finally remembered what he had come out to do.