Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

As the melodious tune of the shamisen began, actors dressed in magnificent costumes slowly walked onto the stage and began to perform the story of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's construction of the castle.

The audience in the theater turned their attention to the stage, and the previous noise gradually subsided.

The actors on stage had their faces painted snow-white, with thick red and black lines drawn between their eyebrows and eyes. Their measured singing style was like an old gramophone, slowly drilling into the ears.

Lin Xiuyi leaned back in the soft velvet chair, feeling her eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

He simply couldn't appreciate this traditional Kabuki; the elaborate makeup and drawn-out dialogue were far less to his liking than street food stalls and lively festivals.

Before long, he leaned against the back of the chair and drifted off to sleep to the beat of the drums on the stage.

Reiko, standing beside him, was engrossed in the story, her little head bobbing up and down with the plot, while she clutched the unfinished cherry blossom candy in her hand, occasionally bringing it to her lips for a lick.

Eri Kisaki sat upright, her gaze fixed on the stage, her lips occasionally twitching slightly as the plot twisted.

Yukiko took out a small mirror and touched up her makeup while watching the performance, whispering to Ruri about the actors' costumes and makeup.

……

The two-hour performance flew by, and Lin Xiuyi was only awakened by the commotion when the last actor bowed and the audience erupted in thunderous applause.

He rubbed his eyes and looked around blankly. The curtain on the stage had slowly fallen, and the audience was getting up and leaving one after another.

"Hmm, is it over already?" Lin Xiuyi yawned, her voice still hoarse from just waking up.

Ikeba Shizuka turned her head and looked at his sleepy face, and couldn't help but laugh, "You really don't like traditional art that much? The performance hadn't even been going on for a quarter of an hour and you were already asleep in your chair, you didn't even see the most exciting part."

Lin Xiu stretched and loosened her stiff neck, then casually replied,
"It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I feel art should also keep up with the times. If we just imitate the old and stick to the old forms, fewer and fewer people will like it. Look at the audience, there are hardly any young people, most of them are older people."

"Lin Jun is right."

Hattori Heizo had also woken up sometime earlier. He rubbed his temples, his tone carrying a hint of agreement.

"Young people today are already attracted to new things like movies and TV series. Traditional performances like Kabuki and Noh really need to be reformed to keep up with social trends, otherwise they will be eliminated by the times sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, Kawada Yuko immediately gave her a disdainful look and complained, "You're just like Lin Jun. You only watched for a short while before you started dozing off in your chair. Your head was nodding so much that you almost bumped into the back of the seat in front of you. No wonder you two have similar thoughts."

Hattori Heizo's dark face flushed slightly, he coughed lightly, and quickly changed the subject.

"It's almost time, let's go to the museum. If we go any later, it will close, and we won't have a chance to get in."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Lin Xiuyi, his eyes filled with anticipation.

"Mr. Lin, would you like to come along? We can take a look around the museum; maybe we can find clues to the theft of the samurai sword."

Lin Xiuyi was about to nod in agreement when he suddenly noticed the girls around him.

He's not alone now. If he goes to the museum by himself and leaves them behind, the girls will definitely gang up on him. He doesn't want to sleep in a restaurant again.

Thinking of this, Lin Xiuyi quickly turned his head to look at the girls beside him. Fei Yingli had already seen through his thoughts and sighed helplessly, her tone carrying a hint of indulgence: "Go ahead, if we don't let you go, even if you accompany us to the festival, you will definitely be distracted and your mind will be full of things about the museum."

"There's a fireworks display here at 8 PM tonight." Chi Bojinghua glanced at her watch and added with a smile, "The museum isn't far from here. If we go early and come back early, we should still be able to catch the fireworks display."

"We've already seen most of the festival, and there's nothing new left to see."

Yukiko's eyes darted around, and she suddenly suggested,

"Why don't we all go to the museum together? I'd also like to see the artifacts at the Osaka Museum."

“I agree! I’ve never been to the Osaka Museum before!” Reiko immediately grabbed Hayashi Hideichi’s arm and was the first to agree.

The other girls had no objections, only Kogoro Mouri pursed his lips and muttered something.
"What's the point of a museum? It's just a bunch of junk. It's not even as good as..."

Before he could finish speaking, Liuli pinched his waist hard, making him wince in pain. He dared not say another word and could only reluctantly agree.

The group packed their things and walked out of the theater in a grand procession.

The afternoon at the Osaka Festival was still lively, with a constant stream of pedestrians on the streets, vendors shouting loudly, and the air filled with the aroma of takoyaki and okonomiyaki.

More than half an hour later, several cars stopped one after another in front of the Osaka Museum.

Lin Xiuyi got out of the car and looked up at the museum in front of her.

This is a retro-style building with lush green vines climbing its exterior walls. There is a stone monument at the entrance with the words "Osaka Museum" engraved on it. Several cherry trees are planted next to the monument, but it is not the season for them to bloom, so only bare branches remain.

"Why is there no one here?" Midori looked around and saw no security guards at the empty museum entrance, which puzzled her.

“There aren’t many people who like to come to museums to begin with.” Shizuka Ikenami walked up to her. “In addition, today is the Osaka Castle Founding Festival. Everyone is at the festival venue to join in the fun. Who would come to this deserted place?”

"It's better to have some peace and quiet!"

Kawada Yuko clenched her fist, confidently waved her arm, and her voice was full of enthusiasm.
"With no one to bother us, it'll be perfect for our investigation! We're sure to find the samurai sword that was stolen from the Tokugawa family ten years ago, and maybe we can even catch the thief from back then!"

Her shouts were quite loud and clearly alerted the people in the museum.

The next second, the glass door of the museum was pushed open, and an elderly man with white hair, leaning on a cane, slowly walked out.

The old man's brows were furrowed, his face was stern, and his eyes were full of displeasure.

"Who goes there! Shouting like that at the museum entrance!" the old man reprimanded sternly. "Didn't anyone tell you to keep quiet in public places and not disturb others?"

Kawada Yuko's face instantly turned bright red, and her previous confidence vanished without a trace.

She quickly lowered her head, bowed deeply to the old man, and sincerely apologized, "...I'm sorry, I was too excited and disturbed you. I will be more careful in the future." (End of Chapter)