After Qinglan announced the casting news in the academy, the girls were all very excited and scrambled to sign up.
In the Dacheng Dynasty, the social atmosphere was open, and people didn't look down upon female and male performers who made a living by singing, dancing or acting.
On the contrary, if one could achieve great success in this field, they would be highly respected and well - known throughout the world.
During the reign of the former emperor, there was a famous female performer in the imperial music academy named Gong Niangzi. She was good at sword - dancing and became well - known for her self - created dance named Sword Dance in the Western River.
Whenever she performed, the audience would be as numerous as mountains, and the applause would be thunderous.
Many great scholars and poets at that time were proud to watch her dance. Zhang Jianzhi, the painting master, even created a famous painting named Soul of the Sword based on her dancing posture. With its passionate and unrestrained brushstrokes, this painting became a rare treasure and was extremely valuable.
So, when the girls heard that they could perform in the inn, they signed up actively without any psychological burden.
If they could really become famous overnight, it would be like a sparrow turning into a phoenix!
They came to the academy to study in order to work and earn money. They didn't have the psychological burdens of the daughters from noble families. Facing such a good opportunity, who wouldn't want it?
Qinglan spent a long time selecting the candidates. She also repeatedly promised that when there were other theme - based plays in the future, she would choose a different group of people to perform, and everyone would take turns so that each girl could have a chance to perform on stage. Only then did she manage to calm down the excited girls.
When Qinglan reported the list to Li Wanming, Li Wanming was still feeling pained about the thirty thousand taels of silver Xiao Jingnan had spent.
"The characters in the storybook are of different ages. Fortunately, the girls in our academy also vary in age, which is just suitable..."
"He spent thirty thousand taels on a paper - making shop. I really don't know what he was thinking!"
"The problem is that they've had too few classes. Many of them can only recognize some simple characters. I'm not sure if they can understand the lines..."
"He also told me that the rich only buy expensive things, not the right ones. What? Are the rich all stupid spendthrifts?"
"Fortunately, when we divide the roles, the supporting characters don't have many lines. I'll find someone to read them out for the girls. They just need to memorize them..."
"I don't know what he's going to do with so much South Sea agarwood! And so much gold and silver foil, pearls and jadeware. It'll take forever to use them up!"
...
Qinglan paused and said, "Cousin - in - law, if you're busy, I'll come back and talk to you tonight."
Li Wanming said, "No, no, no. I'm just angry. I'm just complaining to you. Anyway, he's already bought everything. It's no use for me to be angry. There's no problem with this list. You've considered everything very carefully. But..."
She pointed at a name on the list and asked, "Su Xiaozhu. You want her to play Du Liniang? Did she agree?"
In the Dacheng Dynasty, although the status of female and male performers was not low, they did show themselves in public and made a living by their appearance. So, the daughters of ordinary families could do this, but it didn't mean that the noble families were willing to let their daughters engage in this profession.
After all, Su Xiaozhu was the daughter of the governor of Yongzhou. It would really be beneath her dignity to perform on stage rashly.
Qinglan smiled and said, "I was just about to tell you, cousin - in - law. It was Su Xiaozhu herself who proposed to perform."
"She said that she had been a well - behaved daughter and a well - educated young lady from a noble family all her life. But what was the result? Her own father wanted to marry her off as a concubine to a sixty - year - old marquis. The servants in the family could scold and beat her at will. Finally, in order to suppress you, cousin - in - law, they didn't even care and used her as a weapon."
This might sound cold - blooded, but it was true.
When the officials from the capital's prefecture came to ask about Su Xiaozhu hiding in Zhaoyu Academy, they didn't pursue the matter further.
At first, Su Xiaozhu was very scared. She was afraid that her father would take her back, and she was afraid that her father would really sue Zhaoyu Academy for this matter and drag those who had helped her during the difficult times into trouble.
But there was also a glimmer of comfort and joy in her fear.
She was happy that her father still thought of her and was willing to travel a long distance to the capital's prefecture to file a lawsuit just to take her home. This at least proved that she was important.
Unfortunately, Su Xiaozhu underestimated the evil in human nature once again.
The reaction of the capital's prefecture was very cold. They just sent someone to ask about it and then never mentioned it again. It seemed that they were forced by some powerful force to come but didn't dare to make a big deal out of it, so they just came to go through the motions.
This attitude of the capital's prefecture left no room for this matter to escalate, and thus she lost her value.
So, later when Chen Jinde changed his attack strategy and started to compete with Li Wanming, this matter disappeared completely without a trace.
No one came to question how Su Xiaozhu had come to the capital, and no one cared if she had been abducted.
No one cared.
After two days of suffering, Su Xiaozhu gradually realized that she was just a thing for her father to curry favor with some powerful force in the capital. If she was gone, she was gone. If she was sacrificed, she was sacrificed. She didn't matter.
He had never cared about her.
Since there was no possibility for her matter to become a big deal, she had lost her value.
Qinglan's voice became low, filled with infinite sadness:
"I also advised her that once she performed on stage, she would lose her identity as a young lady from a noble family."
"She said she didn't care. She just wanted her name, Su Xiaozhu, to spread back to Yongzhou and let that person see that without them and without the identity of the daughter of an official family, she could still live a good life."
"She can read, understand music, play the zither well and dance. If she plays Du Liniang, it will be just perfect. Seeing her so determined, I didn't try to persuade her anymore and just agreed."
"Ruier was originally her maid. It will be easier for her to play the role of the maid again this time."
Li Wanming put down the list, feeling a bit heavy - hearted.
It wasn't that she didn't want Su Xiaozhu to perform. It was just that what Su Xiaozhu said made her feel as if there was a stone in her heart.
Su Xiaozhu spoke bravely, but it was obvious that she hadn't let it go. This was just an act of venting her anger because she was extremely disappointed with her father.
There was hatred in her heart.
If a person carried so much hatred, the rest of their life would probably be very difficult.
"If she wants to perform, let her. I have no objections."
Li Wanming thought for a while and returned the list to Qinglan without any changes.
The two of them were talking when suddenly a girl rushed into the yard in a hurry: "Li Wanming, why didn't you choose me to play the Fairy Queen?"
The girl who rushed in was, of course, Fang Zhi.
Sister Liu, who was following behind her, gasped for breath and said anxiously, "You're running too fast, girl. While I was opening the door for you, you've already run into our young lady's yard. I couldn't even stop you..."
Li Wanming waved her hand to let Sister Liu go first. She looked at Fang Zhi and couldn't help but frown:
"Who said I'm looking for someone to play the Fairy Queen?"
Du Liniang's Soul Leaving the Body - that was a ghost story. What did it have to do with fairies!
Fang Zhi said angrily, "Didn't they say that a statue of the Huanghuang Goddess was dug out from the backyard of your inn? Isn't that a fairy? And you're going to hold a religious ceremony for her in the inn and look for someone to play her..."
What religious ceremony? What statue?
What on earth was she talking about!
Li Wanming had a headache whenever she saw Fang Zhi. Now, hearing her talk in such a confused way, her head was about to explode.
"There's no religious ceremony, and there's no statue. We just want to hold a few theme - based activities..."
Fang Zhi raised her delicate eyebrows and said, "I don't care. Anyway, I want to play the fairy. None of you should stop me!"