Chapter 529

The night on Queen Street is always noisier than the day, and tonight's Prince Prince Kelin Grand Theater is even more so, with people moving at the brightly lit entrance and cars coming and going.

Inside the Prince Prince Kelin Grand Theater, the red velvet curtain hung heavily to the ground, isolating the hustle and bustle under the stage.

Behind the stage.

Qiqi took deep breaths repeatedly, adjusting her emotions, then looked at the script again, deeply engraving the lines in her mind.

The characteristics of the succubus had been hidden through the magic of subspace, which was an innate ability of a Higher Succubus.

Although she was not a top student at the Demon King Academy and couldn't compare with Senior Luo Yan, she still had some level compared to those demons born with silver spoons in their mouths.

Unless she was facing the Inquisition, even if a priest stood in front of her, she wouldn't easily be exposed.

"Come on... Eloise, you can do it." She whispered the name of the role she was about to play in her heart, having already fully substituted herself into the plot.

At the same time, "Little Eagle," who was acting opposite her, also had a tense face, making final preparations.

Although her acting skills seemed average, she still perfectly expressed the honesty, dullness, and innocent straightforwardness of the male lead "Ma Xiu."

For now, let's trust her.

Qiqi was relieved, but 【Pian Yu Zhi Jiu】, who went by the alias "Little Eagle," couldn't relax her mood at all.

In reality, she was a man playing a female character, and the task was to play a handsome young man in the stage play "Bell" as a loli.

She was a bit dizzy.

So is she a man or a woman now?!

Under the stage.

Scented candles floated in the air, along with the sweet and greasy perfume of the ladies' cosmetics.

In the audience, Mignis leaned on the soft seat, crossed his fingers on his knees, and waited patiently for the good show to start.

As a cloth merchant from Fog Harbor, he knew that high-quality fabric takes time to weave, so he was not as noisy as other upstarts.

Usually, the plays performed in the theaters of Lei Ming City were all cheesy, even the theater invested by Mr. Punk and named after Prince Prince Kelin.

What was performed on the stage was either a knight swinging a sword to cut off the Demon King's head, or a distressed princess waiting for redemption in the Holy Light... accompanied by various demons appearing in turns.

But I heard that the Iris Theater Troupe is different.

This performance team came from the Shengcheng, and neither their artistic performance ability nor their script compilation ability could be compared to those screenwriters in Lei Ming City who were just killing time.

Well, saying that might be a bit biased.

The real reason was that Mignis had never been to the Shengcheng, so he held a filter of expectation for the art there.

Although the name "Bell" sounded like a holy sermon or the passion history of some saint, different plots were always better than the same ones.

The curtain slowly opened.

There was no golden palace, nor was there a gloomy and terrifying demon cave.

There were only a few bundles of hay, a few pieces of aged wooden boards, and a curtain wall used for scenery on the stage. Under the rendering of magic crystal lights, the crew used limited materials to build a shabby yet beautiful small village in a decent way.

Just like the pastoral song shared in the hearts of countless Campbell people and Laine people.

A young man walked out; he was a farmer's child named "Ma Xiu," and the actor was a newcomer named "Little Eagle."

Honestly, Mignis had never seen such an exquisite countryman; not only was he excessively handsome, his neck was smooth, and there was no protrusion at the Adam's apple.

However... so what?

Realistic stage plays are not good-looking, good-looking stage plays are not realistic; there will never be "sweet yet not sweet" pastries in this world.

He tasted a sip of champagne brought by the waiter and became interested in this cross-dressing actor, even more interested than in Miss Eloise next to him.

But speaking of Miss Eloise, she was also a beauty who was indescribably beautiful. As soon as she appeared, the originally noisy audience quieted down for a moment.

Some people can wear silk with the texture of a rag, but she wore a coarse cloth skirt like soft silk. The gentleness between her eyebrows was not the affectation of noble ladies, but freshly baked bread, exuding reassuring wheat fragrance and a mother's light.

She brought this role to life, looking exactly like the fictional girl in the hearts of Laine people and Campbell people—pure, kind, weak, yet resilient.

Amidst the whispers of everyone looking forward to it, the "Bell" rang out amidst the bows of the two on stage and the soothing and melodious music.

Act One—

The eve of the wedding.

The villagers sat together, and the warm and busy village was performed on the stage in an orderly manner amidst the chaos; several juggling actors attracted the audience's attention through funny jokes, a scene of ease and joy.

The music changed, and the soft light fell on the heroine.

Eloise's fingers shuttled between vines and wildflowers, weaving a flower crown symbolizing blessings. Butterflies danced around her, setting off the beauty.

"The day after tomorrow, I will be united with my lover... I hope it's a sunny day."

Eloise held the flower wreath in her hand, a faint flush on her cheeks, and her eyes were as bright as stars.

The village weaver held Eloise's hand and offered her sincere and beautiful blessings.

"It definitely will be, we will all pray for you!"

The atmosphere was happy and peaceful.

The light fell on Ma Xiu; he was a skilled dyer. Not only could he dye cloth, but he could also do repair work, and was a well-known craftsman in the village.

The villagers also offered him blessings, including blacksmiths, carpenters, the village groom, and farmers who asked him to repair hoes.

The entire stage seemed to be filled with the fragrance of wheat, and Mignis in the audience showed a surprised expression.

Looks, acting skills, especially the music, were all maxed out.

This ticket was worth it!

However, that sweet happiness didn't last long, and just when the audience was about to be sweetened, a hoarse voice sounded beside Eloise.

"Don't forget to go to the castle."

That was an elderly shoemaker, his face carved with the vicissitudes of life. He tapped his pipe on the sole of the shoe, his voice low and hoarse.

People didn't want to break that happy atmosphere.

But he had to make the young people prepared.

"You need to prepare the flower crown tax... oh no, it's the cost of the 'Bell of Purity.' Without the bell, there will be no wedding. Without a wedding, there will be no blessing. Your children will not be recognized by the lord, and they can only wander around and become adventurers."

Mignis under the stage laughed lightly.

Flower crown tax.

What a nice name.

Although his hometown, Fog Harbor, was a free city and didn't have as many feudal lords as the Campbell Duchy, there were quite a few similar things.

Feudalism didn't disappear just because it didn't call itself feudalism; every link from birth to marriage to death required money.

It's just that the one collecting money wasn't the lord, but the priest.

Although he was already very rich and had never worried about these few silver coins, he would occasionally sigh that it was too easy for these priests to make money.

Sure enough, the most brilliant business model in this world is religion. It doesn't provide services, yet it can collect money. It doesn't guarantee today, yet it dares to promise the future.

It can even make robbery not called robbery.

The atmosphere on the stage didn't cool down, and the magnificent organ music was still melodious, not immediately splashing cold water on the happy audience.

"It's okay."

Eloise's voice was crisp, revealing a naive stubbornness.

"We saved enough. He works day and night in the lord's cloth workshop, and I sell fresh flowers in the city, saving one copper coin by one copper coin..."

She stretched out five fingers.

That was all her pride.

"We already have five silver coins!"

The old shoemaker didn't speak, just puffed on his pipe, with intriguing light floating in his turbid pupils.

It was also at this time that the ticking sound appeared in the melodious organ music. That was the mechanical sound of a pocket watch walking, monotonous and repetitive, like a small chisel chiseling on people's heartstrings.

People who don't understand music appreciation might say the performer's piano is broken, but Mignis, who truly understands art, can taste the flavor in the champagne.

That is the precursor to "variation."

The castle's bell tower didn't ring; what rang was the stopwatch of the trial.

Mignis, who couldn't help but invest his feelings, shook his head gently, sighing for a second for the loving couple on the stage.

"What a silly child."

Rules were never made for those who follow them.

The lights on the stage began to change.

The warm yellow halo retreated like a tide, and the cold blue light hit from the side, lengthening the characters' shadows.

Night had come.

Ma Xiu walked out of the shadows.

The handsome young man's back looked a bit hunched, as if several big mountains were pressing on his spine. He didn't dare to look at his fiancée, his eyes fixed on the dust on the ground, like an incompetent husband.

The scenery behind the two looked like a stable and an animal shed, hinting that the two newcomers who received everyone's blessings didn't have their own home.

"What's wrong?"

Eloise put the flower crown on the straw stack and greeted him, with concern and moonlight on her face.

That was suffocating silence.

Only that damn "ticking" sound echoed on the empty stage, and it was getting louder and louder.

Just when the audience held their breath, thinking and waiting for what Ma Xiu would say, the handsome young man finally opened his mouth.

"The bell tower is cracked."

His voice was dry and hoarse, not like him at all.

"The butler said, in order to repair the dwelling of the divine sound, in order to ensure the purity of the bell sound... we must pay more silver coins, otherwise the bell will not ring."

"... How much?" Eloise asked with a trembling voice.

Ma Xiu said with his head down.

"Ten..."

Mignis under the stage heard a low exclamation from the back row, and two low curses occasionally.

'This lord is really not a thing!'

'Silver coins... where would the countryside have that stuff?'

Where is this repair?

It's clearly exploitation!

Their sense of substitution was still too strong.

Perhaps it was because they all had beautiful fantasies about love, and the lovable Eloise looked exactly like the lover in their hearts.

Not just the gentlemen in the audience, but also the ladies.

They had seen too many fierce knights, and it was indeed the first time they had seen such a cute gentleman, although it didn't arouse their fantasies about love, it completely stimulated the motherly light in their hearts.

Emotion is like water in a cup; if the water in one cup is poured too much, it will overflow into other cups.

It's a pity that not everyone can afford the front-row seats; Mignis can see that Ma Xiu has no Adam's apple, and they stretched their necks and couldn't see it, really treating her as a little handsome guy.

Except for those audiences sitting in the public area in the back row, a roar full of substitution also sounded in the VIP box above the theater.

It's just that Baron Gus didn't substitute himself as the newlywed couple, but as the lord who was still a shadow until now.

This is slander!

"Which noble is this? I absolutely do not admit that Campbell has such a noble!"

"By Saint Xisi... I am also a lord, I also have tens of thousands of people in my hands, how come I haven't heard of any farmer in the countryside who can save silver coins?!"

The servant standing beside him didn't dare to breathe, but he was crying and laughing in his heart.

My lord...

That's a stage play.

If you really pulled a farmer from your territory to perform, would you sit here and watch?

And your people are so poor that they can't even save silver coins, running away from home to work in Lei Ming City... is this something to be proud of?

People's joys and sorrows are not connected, and the clues of resonance are clearly not the same.

Baron Gus only felt that he had been offended, while the citizens in the audience not only felt the offense in reality, but a fire was ignited in their hearts.

Marriage is just an entry point.

And the core of resonance is that the desire for power can never be satisfied.

As long as they have five, the price will become ten. And if they have ten, the price will become twenty... things on the shelf can be bought with money, while things in the hands of lords are like carrots that donkeys can never bite.

The light focused on Eloise's pale face.

Like all gentle and considerate Campbell girls, she hugged her husband and held that drooping head in her arms.

They became each other's roof beams.

"... I'll think of another way, I will definitely make that bell ring." Ma Xiu seemed to regain his courage, raising his firm and hopeful gaze.

Just like those strong and brave Campbell people.

However, the ticking bell was still ringing.

The countdown to the trial did not end, and Mignis in the audience felt his heart was about to be pulled out of his chest.

The champagne by the armrest had been forgotten by him.

The sound of the pocket watch became the only soundtrack in his ears, and on this cold night, it pulled the eyes of everyone in the theater to the stage.

Including Baron Gus sitting in the VIP box.

He crossed his arms angrily, looked at the stage with a cold face, shook his legs under the table, and wanted to see how these guys performed.

When the audience under the stage and the actors on the stage stood on the stage, and regardless of status, found their position on the stage.

Good show—

Finally officially started.

The cold light of the night turned into the spring sun, and as the scenery of the curtain wall changed constantly, the young man named Ma Xiu ran on the stage.

His trial began.

Fine sweat covered his forehead, and his chest heaved like a bellows beside the forge.

The first stop was the lord's accounting room.

On the high stool, the butler turned the account book slowly, without even lifting his eyelids.

"Borrow money? No lord has ever lent money to mud-legged people, you should go to those merchants who lend usury, you came to the wrong place."

This is the truth.

Gus nodded with satisfaction, although his butler was not so rude and would not point the way to merchants who lend usury, and mud-legged people had no chance to enter his accounting room.

Changing the butler to an ordinary servant would be closer to reality, and at least those who could see his butler would have to be at the level of Councilor Horace.

"How can you be like this? They are all jackals who eat people!" Ma Xiu's voice was angry, with a trace of suppressed crying.

The ladies and noblewomen in the theater all showed expressions of heartache, even taking out handkerchiefs to cover their mouths, not letting tears bring the rouge to the corners of their mouths.

The butler's voice was still heartless, as cold as the castle's wine cellar.

"Rules are rules. However, our Baron is currently fighting, he wants to fight against the evil Duke and citizens, your body is still strong."

He took out a piece of parchment and pressed it against Ma Xiu's chest.

"Sign it, sell your time to our lord, pick up a gun and fight those greedy citizens, these five silver coins are yours."

"How long will this war last?" Ma Xiu took it with a trembling hand.

The butler said heartlessly.

"Maybe it will end next month, but that has nothing to do with you, your term of service is five years."

Five years.

That was the most precious time in his life, and also the most precious time in her life as a newlywed.

Ma Xiu's hand was trembling, his eyes were struggling, but finally he took the quill and signed his name on the parchment.

For Eloise's happiness, he was willing to sell his time. He believed that after the war, Saint Xisi would let him go home.

"Report to the barracks in three days, you still have three days."

The butler threw the silver coins to him with a gesture of alms, and then stuffed the deed of sale into the drawer at will.

Ma Xiu continued to run, the happy music used heavy bass, indicating that the trial had not ended, and bad luck had not let him go.

The background changed to the bell tower.

Ma Xiu grabbed the money bag, stretched out his trembling hand, and handed it to the bell tower manager.

However, the bell tower manager just glanced at the silver coins with body temperature with contempt.

"Unlucky."

The manager pointed to the silent giant bell above his head.

"Just now when testing the bell, the hemp rope pulling the bell broke. To change to a new one, you have to add five."

There was an uproar in the audience.

Including Mignis, they all felt indignant at that arrogant posture.

However, everything was just the beginning.

The lights switched again, this time to the cloth workshop full of dye smell.

Ma Xiu knelt on the ground, opposite was the fat cloth workshop owner, who was the only person he could still beg.

"I beg you to lend me the money, I can pay 5 years after 5 years!"

"Your time is worthless to me."

The cloth workshop owner spat out a smoke ring, his eyes greedy, but he had to pretend to be generous.

"However, I like your animal shed very much, and the land around it. I can lend you 5 silver coins, and when your funds are abundant, you pay back my money, and those mortgages are still yours."

Ma Xiu bit his teeth.

For Eloise, for the girl who smiled shyly under the flower crown, he finally sold his only home.

No freedom, no land.

This hardworking, brave, and loyal Campbell boy stripped himself clean, just to exchange for a bell ring.

He held the heavy silver coins and stood in front of the bell tower manager again.

This time, the manager couldn't find an excuse.

However, all the audience knew that this greedy vampire would definitely not let go of the young man named Ma Xiu so easily.

Including Mignis, everyone's heart was thinking about how the manager in charge of ringing the bell would make things difficult for him next.

Only saw the hunched old man shaving his nails casually.