tallest building

Chapter 20 Hard to fool

"Madam, we're innocent! We're just actors, how could we dare to have any malicious intentions?" The troupe leader and deputy leader both looked aggrieved. "It was indeed our fault for taking the wrong costume. How about we halve the pay for today's performance as an apology?"

"You two must have been opera singers in your younger days, no wonder your acting was so realistic." Wen Mingqian looked at them with amusement. "I'm not trying to withhold your wages, I just want to know who instructed you to trip me up?"

"Madam, what makes you say that? This is absolutely not true!" The troupe leader and deputy leader continued to protest, "We don't even know where we are. Your esteemed household sent us to perform, so we came. No one instructed us!"

"I still have guests to entertain, so let's keep it short." Wen Mingqian's smile vanished, and his eyes turned frosty. "This is a newly arranged play, which I suppose was specially prepared for today. They probably figured I've been away from the capital for a long time and have been out of touch, so they thought I could get away with it."

Fortunately, I read the script and realized there was more to it than met the eye. On the surface, it was a play, but in reality, it was a veiled satire of Lady Jiangxiahou. If you honestly admitted it, I would spare your lives.

"But if you continue to deny it, then I'll hand this manuscript over to Lady Jiangxia Marquis right now and see if she'll let you off the hook!"

The play tells the story of a wealthy girl named Jin Qichun who falls in love with a poor scholar named Liu Xianqing. Despite the opposition of her elders, Miss Jin uses her own savings to help the scholar travel to the capital to prepare roasted meat.

Of course, the scholar eventually passed the imperial examination, returned home in glory, and married Jin Qichun.

At first glance, this doesn't seem particularly outrageous, and plays like "The Story of the Meeting of the Immortals" and "The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate" are all very similar in content.

It's just a story of a talented man and a beautiful woman falling in love at first sight and ending up happily together.

But if you knew some inside information, you wouldn't see it that way.

Lady Qian, the wife of the Marquis of Jiangxia, had a niece named Qian Suqiu, who accompanied her father to his post in Yingzhou until she was fifteen years old.

A few years ago, when she returned to the capital, her aunt, Madam Qian, often invited her to her home and treated her like her own daughter.

Unexpectedly, when Miss Qian reached the age of first love, she had an affair with Yang Mubai, the tutor in her family.

Yang Mubai knew, of course, that the Qian family would not agree, so he made a pact with the young lady to elope.

Unexpectedly, Miss Qian's maid informed on her, and the family then locked her up.

Madam Qian even took it upon herself to expel Yang Mubai, forbidding him from residing in the capital.

Unexpectedly, Miss Qian couldn't bear it and committed suicide.

Therefore, Madam Qian felt very guilty, which became a source of great distress for her.

In the play, Jin Qichun corresponds to Qian Suqiu, and Liu Xianqing corresponds to Yang Mubai.

It was clearly done on purpose.

Moreover, Liu Xianqing is also a teacher. If someone can't see the allusion in the scene, they must be a fool.

Even more sinister is that the play mentions in a few words that the two have already consummated their marriage, clearly implying that Miss Qian is no longer a virgin.

Although the play gave it a happy ending, in reality Miss Qian had already died, so there was no "what happened afterward".
If this play were performed, it would be tantamount to stripping Madam Qian naked in public, and even with the best self-control, she would not be able to tolerate it.

When the two men heard Wen Mingqian point out the key, they were immediately terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.

They had sensed something was wrong before, but they were unaware of the details and, tempted by the benefits offered, did not investigate further.

"Now that things have come to this, why don't you just confess?!" Zhang Ma roared. "Are you waiting to see your coffins?" Wen Mingqian reprimanded them. "You should be glad that I discovered your scheme before it even started. Otherwise, would you have gotten away with it?" "I know that whoever ordered you to do this must have paid them beforehand, but that money probably couldn't buy your lives, could it?"

Upon hearing this, the two men turned deathly pale and broke out in a cold sweat.

"Madam, a few days ago, right after you finalized the play, someone approached us and asked us to change the performance to this one. They did indeed give us two hundred taels of silver," the troupe leader honestly confessed. "At first, I hesitated and dared not accept, but he said it was no problem. It's just a play, and even if something happens, we can just say it's a fictional play. Why take it so seriously? Who can do anything to us?"

"Yes, yes, and besides, we've seen the play, and there's nothing really wrong with it," the deputy troupe leader said. "So we agreed. We know nothing about the Qian family's affairs, so naturally we wouldn't have thought of that. Otherwise, we wouldn't have dared to do it even if we had a hundred lives."

"You've really been blinded by that vixen's seductive ass!" Zhang Ma cursed. "What can two hundred taels of silver do? You've offended some powerful figures in the capital. It might not cost you your lives, but they can easily fabricate a charge against you, exiling or sending you to the army—it's easier than crushing a bedbug!"

“That person must have told you that if anything went wrong, just blame it on me, since I invited you here, right?”

By this point, Wen Mingqian had a clear understanding of the Song family's entire scheme.

She first bribed someone to get the opera troupe to change their play at the last minute.

They wanted to catch themselves off guard, since a play can't be skipped, and it's not uncommon for the play to be changed at the last minute.

Wen Mingqian was busy greeting guests and probably didn't have time to investigate in detail. Besides, she had only been back for a short time and probably didn't know anything about the Qian family.

If this play is performed, it will definitely offend Lady Jiang Xiahou.

At that time, it would be extremely difficult for Wen Mingqian to win her back, since the members of the opera troupe would try their best to push her onto the spot in order to protect themselves.

They just said that the master required them to sing it this way, and they just obeyed. Who would bother to argue about it?
"Madam, we know we were wrong, we'll never do it again, we'll change the script right away." Seeing that they couldn't fool Wen Mingqian at all, the two men pleaded, "Please, have mercy and let us go!"

"Zhang Ma, I'll leave the rest to you. I need to go back and greet the guests," Wen Mingqian said.

"Go ahead, girl! I'll take care of everything," said Zhang Ma. "I guarantee there won't be any more mistakes."

The play had already reached its fifth act when Wen Mingqian smiled and said to everyone, "It's getting late, let's begin the feast!"

Before he could finish speaking, the maid who had been following Feng Tianzhu rushed over, panting, and said, "We can't find the young master."

Upon hearing this, Wu became anxious and hurriedly said, "Didn't I tell you to keep a close eye on it? How come it's gone?"

"What about Chang'an?" Wen Mingqian asked as well.

"They're all gone." The maid said, gesturing with her hands. "The young master and the fourth young master were painting masks under the shade of a tree. I just went to relieve myself, and when I came back, they were gone. Let's get more people to look for them!"

Liu Cuiyi quickly said, "I suppose the two children have gone off to play somewhere. There's nothing dangerous in this mansion, so don't be afraid."

But Madam Wu knew her child's health condition well; if he were frightened, it would be no laughing matter. So she said to Wen Mingqian, "Second Madam, quickly send some people to look for him. The child is naughty; it would be bad if he bumped or hurt himself."

Wen Mingqian quickly said, "Don't worry, I'll personally lead people to find it."

Wu was worried, so she naturally followed. Liu Cuiyi also came out, wanting to help Wen Mingqian find someone.

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(End of this chapter)