Notes on Longevity

Chapter 35 The Unsavory Scholar Lin Xiuran, and the Wealthy Young Master Zhang Ze'an

"Miss Shuang'er, hurry up and come with me! My young master has been waiting for you for a long time."

Below the stage, a effeminate man in white, with a slight upturn of his lips and narrowed eyes, stared at Xie Xiaoshuang, who was hiding behind several young men.

On the stage, Xie Xiaoshuang stood helplessly behind several people, tears streaming down her face. The young man facing the audience glared angrily at the man in white, "Insolence! How dare my young lady go with just anyone!"

"What a joke, an actress dares to call herself a young lady." The man in white covered his mouth and laughed unrestrainedly: "My young master has no problem getting the woman he sets his sights on. If Miss Shuang'er insists on not coming with us, don't blame us for using force."

As soon as the man in white finished speaking, the twenty or thirty people gathered below the stage turned fierce and began to approach the stage.

"How dare you!" Upon seeing this, the man took a few steps forward, angrily pointing at the man in white: "This place, named by the late emperor, is not to be allowed to be run amok by you!"

"It's just a temporary favor. Besides, the late emperor has long since passed away, and now Emperor Wenshang is on the throne. Don't you know the laws of Dayan? Unless you have a gold token bestowed by the late emperor, what do you think you can do by using the late emperor to pressure the current emperor? Today, you have no choice." Upon hearing this, the white-robed man's face darkened, and his originally effeminate features became somewhat eerie, like a mountain ghost.

The man clenched his fists. Although he was an actor, he knew the relevant provisions of the Dayan Law concerning emperors: after the death of the previous emperor, the successor emperor shall succeed to the throne. If the previous emperor has not issued any relevant documents, then everything shall be decided by the successor emperor.

Because of this law, the Great Yan Dynasty has been established for nearly a thousand years.

Seeing the man's attitude, the man in white didn't bother to waste words with him. With a wave of his hand, the crowd behind him walked towards the stage.

What he needs to do now is to take Xie Xiaoshuang back as soon as possible, otherwise he'll get scolded if he goes back any later.

"How dare you!"

Just as the massive crowd approached the stage, a roar erupted from the passageway beside it.

Hearing the sound, everyone looked over and saw an actor in theatrical costume hurrying out with the head of the opera troupe.

"If you dare to lay a finger on my daughter today, I will definitely go to court to see His Majesty. Even if I have to confront His Majesty with the late Emperor's inscription, I will still file a complaint with the Emperor."

The troupe leader walked onto the stage, glaring angrily at the man in white.

"Master, don't think that just because you have the late emperor's inscription, I won't dare to touch you."

The man in white spoke to the troupe leader with a sinister expression and an icy tone.

"You gloomy scholar, how imposing you are!" Zhang Ze'an and Yang You'an followed the troupe leader to the edge of the stage. When they saw the man in white, they burst out laughing.

Upon hearing this, the man in white looked over and saw Zhang Ze'an and Yang You'an standing beside the stage, holding folding fans and smiling at him.

Upon seeing Zhang Ze'an, he first frowned, feeling that Zhang Ze'an looked very familiar, but he couldn't quite place him. However, since Zhang Ze'an could recall his name in the martial arts world, he must know him but he didn't know Zhang Ze'an.

"Young master, you'd better not meddle in my young master's affairs, lest you bring trouble upon yourself." The gloomy-faced scholar said respectfully to Zhang Ze'an. After all, anyone who could call him by name must have some skill in the martial arts world. He had only come today at someone's request, and there was no need for him to offend people in the martial arts world for the sake of a young girl. However, the threatening tone in his words was still strong.

"Hmph," Zhang Ze'an snorted coldly upon hearing this, "I wonder who offended Li Wenren back then, crying and making a scene at my residence, begging me to plead for you. Come to think of it, that person seems to be you." "Wenren?" The gloomy-faced scholar stared intently at Zhang Ze'an, wondering how he knew about this.

He was asked to cause trouble for Li Chengru, but he had never met Li Chengru. It wasn't until he finished causing trouble and was being relentlessly pursued that he realized who he had offended.

Later, I heard from someone that Li Chengru had a good friend named Zhang Ze'an. If I could persuade him, I could save my life.

Fortunately, what I did wasn't too outrageous; it was just a slight provocation...

Thinking of this, the scholar with the gloomy face felt increasingly familiar with the person who had spoken to him. When he saw Zhang Ze'an put away his folding fan and stare at him, a name surfaced in his mind...

"Young Master Zhang...?" The gloomy-faced scholar trembled, his words faltering. "You are Young Master Zhang?"

"You really don't have a good memory. Don't you remember when you offended Wenren and were chased with nowhere to hide? Do you want me to do it again? I want to see who can save you this time." Zhang Ze'an stared at the gloomy-faced scholar with a cold face.

Upon hearing this, the scholar with the dark face looked terrified and immediately knelt down before Zhang Ze'an. The crowd on the stage looked at Zhang Ze'an in disbelief.

"Young Master Zhang, I was ungrateful and beg you to spare me."

As the scholar with the shady face spoke, he began to whip himself. Yang You'an looked at Zhang Ze'an with suspicion and asked, "Brother Zhang, this..."

“It’s nothing,” Zhang Ze’an interrupted Yang You’an, and immediately said to the gloomy-faced scholar, “If there’s nothing wrong, then hurry up and leave. I have an appointment with Wenren to watch a play here today. When he arrives, he won’t be as polite as I am.”

"Yes, yes, yes!" Upon hearing Li Chengru's name, the scholar with the dark face quickly stood up and replied, "Thank you, young master, thank you, young master."

As he spoke, the gloomy-faced scholar led twenty or thirty people and scrambled out of the opera house. Zhang Ze'an, who was standing by the stage, laughed loudly at Yang You'an: "You two are both scholars, how come there is such a big difference between you two?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Youan was about to speak when he heard the troupe leader respectfully say to the two gentlemen, "Thank you both for today."

"You're too kind. Your daughter saved our You'an last night, so this is just to repay your kindness."

Zhang Ze'an bowed to the troupe leader, and Yang You'an did the same.

"If I hadn't met Miss Jie last night, I don't know how those bandits would have treated me."

"Young master, you're too kind," the troupe leader said, pulling Xie Xiaoshuang, who had been hiding behind several men, to stand in front of them. "My daughter is lucky to have met Young Master Yang; otherwise, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to protect her today."

"By the way, does Young Master Zhang know that person from earlier? Do you know his background?" The troupe leader, seeing the gloomy-faced scholar's appearance, knew that the person behind him must be of high rank and power.

“I know him,” Zhang Ze’an nodded. “His real name is Lin Xiuran. He passed the imperial examination seven years ago, but a few years ago, his family suffered a tragedy when both his parents died in the turmoil. He was also affected and fled his small town, wandering all the way to the capital. Later, he encountered a gang in the capital run by a retainer of the Second Prince, and started doing things like robbery, murder, and arson. He offended Wenren and was chased by a group of guards around Wenren for several months. When I learned about his background, I felt sorry for him and asked Wenren to let him go. I also gave him a lot of money so he could find a good job. I just didn’t expect him to still be doing these things now.”

(End of this chapter)