Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

The next morning, Master Liu led his troupe into a courtyard in a small alley in the south of the city.

The courtyard is not large; it's a traditional courtyard house with seven or eight rooms available for living, excluding the kitchen and storage room.

The opera troupe, including the troupe leader Liu, had a total of thirteen people, so at least two people could share a room.

Master Liu clapped his hands, called everyone over, and began assigning rooms.

"You two little girls will live in the main house on the east side."

"I'll stay in the room on the left, the cook will stay in the room on the right, and you two young men can squeeze into the west wing. The two leading ladies will each have their own room..."

……

Everyone, carrying large and small bags, rushed into their rooms in a swarm.

These actors in the opera troupe were all homeless and had been taken in by Master Liu. This was the first time they had their own rooms.

Although the room was a bit old, it was still much better than that leaky tarpaulin room.

At noon, everyone went to the street to buy meat and vegetables, and steamed a large pot of white rice.

Everyone gathered in the courtyard; there were no tables, so they squatted on the ground with their bowls to eat.

Large chunks of meat were piled in the bowl, and no one spoke as they shoveled their rice into their mouths.

Life wasn't easy for the opera troupe; they didn't even eat this well during the New Year.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Master Liu looked at them and asked, "Was the meat delicious?"

"tasty!"

The two little girls nodded repeatedly.

Liu, the troupe leader, looked at them, his expression suddenly turning serious. He said, "Don't forget who gave us all this. From now on, you must all perform diligently to repay Young Master Chen's kindness!"

Everyone, including the two little girls, nodded seriously.

After the meal, Master Liu locked the courtyard gate and led everyone to the Chang Le Opera House.

There was still some time before the opera started, and they had just arrived when Chen Chang'an also arrived.

Master Liu immediately stepped forward, handed a small cloth bag to Chen Chang'an, and said, "Young master, you still have more than ten taels of silver left from yesterday's payment..."

Chen Chang'an didn't take it, saying, "Keep it. Buy more meat and improve everyone's meals. Those two girls are growing, don't let them go hungry..."

Liu, the troupe leader, said embarrassedly, "This is too much..."

Chen Chang'an waved his hand, not continuing the topic. He took out a stack of papers from his sleeve, handed them to Liu, and said, "This is the new play I wrote last night. Take a look and see how long it will take to stage..."

For the first play performed by the opera troupe, Chen Chang'an chose "The Case of Chen Shimei".

This is a famous play that has been popular for generations. From eight-year-old children to eighty-year-old seniors, almost everyone knows it.

This play was a gift from Chen Chang'an to Chen Wenyuan.

Zhao spread rumors that he had molested a woman from an official family, and His Majesty granted him an official position. Chen Wenyuan openly tried to trip him up.

Chen Chang'an always felt uncomfortable if he didn't do something.

After Chen Shimei became the top scholar in the imperial examination, he was chosen as the emperor's son-in-law and abandoned his first wife. After Chen Wenyuan became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination), he curried favor with the Grand Tutor and neglected his first wife.

For the sake of power, Chen Shimei even killed his wife and children, and Chen Wenyuan drove his own son out of the house.

The fact that the two people even share the same surname is also a kind of destiny.

Chen Chang'an wouldn't be so bored as to spread rumors about him. He simply brought over a classic drama from his previous life. As for whether the people would make any connections, that was none of his concern.

Master Liu took the stack of papers and looked at them.

The case of Chen Shimei... it really seems like a play.

Unexpectedly, Young Master Chen can not only compose couplets and write poems, but also write plays...

As he read, his expression became very serious, turning page after page until he reached the end.

His face was filled with excitement, and he blurted out, "Young master, did you really write this play in one night?"

He sang operas all his life, and he also wrote operas all his life.

He can tell at a glance which shows will become hits and which will fail to retain viewers.

The play "The Case of Chen Shimei" has a tight plot, intense conflicts, and vivid characters. Every act is captivating, especially the final scene where Bao Gong executes Chen Shimei. If it were performed, the audience would definitely be in an uproar.

Chen Chang'an nodded and asked, "How long will it take you to rehearse this play?"

After thinking for a moment, Master Liu said, "The troupe has enough manpower. As long as we memorize the lines and get the movements in order, we can go on stage in three days. But if we want to refine it and make everything perfect, it may take at least half a month. However, we can't perform during this time..."

Chen Chang'an said, "Let's not start the show for the next three days. Let's focus on rehearsing the new play and try to perform it as soon as possible. We can familiarize ourselves with it while we perform..."

Master Liu put away the script, straightened his back, and said earnestly, "Don't worry, young master, this play will definitely be performed in three days!"

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The theater reopened today, and before the actors even took the stage, almost half the audience was already seated.

The troupe leader said last time that he would also add the role of the great scholar Chen Chang'an, which attracted some regular customers who had seen "The Battle of the Golden Palace".

However, when the audience saw that the wooden plaque read "The Battle of the Golden Palace" instead of "The Case of Chen Shimei," a murmur of discussion immediately arose.

"The Case of Chen Shimei? Never heard of it!"

"Is it a new movie?"

"Who wants to watch a new play? Let's stick with 'The Battle of the Golden Palace,' that's much better!"

"Yes, that's what we all came for!"

……

In the crowd, an elderly woman carrying a vegetable basket had already sat down, but upon seeing this, she stood up again, shaking her head and saying, "I don't even know if the new play will be good or not, let's not waste our money..."

After saying that, she turned and walked out.

"I'm not watching anymore!"

"go home!"

"When will the Golden Palace Battle be performed again?"

With someone taking the lead, several of the seated guests immediately stood up, and in a short while, most of the guests had left, leaving only a few figures sitting.

Most of these people were elderly people and idlers. Since they had nothing else to do, they simply stayed to watch the excitement.

Looking at the sparse audience below, Master Liu sighed helplessly.

However, he quickly cheered up, knowing that the play was bound to be a hit.

After a crisp gong sound, the grand opera officially began.

The story of Chen Shimei's execution tells of how Bao Zheng, a famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, defied imperial power and acted impartially to execute Chen Shimei, an ungrateful son-in-law who had murdered his wife and children.

Chen Chang'an adapted the story to suit local tastes, replacing the Northern Song Dynasty with a dynasty that preceded the Daning era.

Chen Shimei, a scholar from a poor family in the previous dynasty, and his wife Qin Xianglian were loving and harmonious. Qin Xianglian worked hard to manage the household and supported Chen Shimei's journey to the capital to take the imperial examination.

After Chen Shimei achieved the highest rank in the imperial examination, he concealed his marital status and was chosen by the emperor to be his son-in-law.

Qin Xianglian took care of her parents-in-law alone in her hometown. Due to a famine, her parents-in-law starved to death one after another. After burying her parents-in-law, she took her two children and traveled thousands of miles to Beijing to find her husband.

Unexpectedly, Chen Shimei, greedy for wealth and status, refused to acknowledge her and even drove the mother and her two children out of the mansion. To eliminate any future trouble, he even sent his men to hunt down and kill Qin Xianglian and her children.

His subordinates, ordered to pursue and kill her, overheard Qin Xianglian crying and telling the truth in a deserted temple. Unable to bear killing the innocent, yet unable to return to report, he ultimately committed suicide.

Bao Zheng, upholding justice, summoned Chen Shimei and Qin Xianglian for a confrontation. Chen Shimei, relying on his status as a member of the imperial family, offered blatant lies and sophistry.

Even when the Empress Dowager and the princess came to pressure and obstruct him, Bao Zheng did not back down.

He ultimately withstood the pressure from the royal family, resigned from his post, vowed to uphold the dignity of the judiciary, and brought out the guillotine to execute Chen Shimei.

The core of the story is to praise the spirit of not succumbing to power and upholding justice, perfectly satisfying the common people's desire for fairness and justice.

After the play began, the remaining audience members, who had been sitting lazily chatting amongst themselves, were not paying any attention to the play.

Upon hearing the second act, where Chen Shimei goes to the capital to take the imperial examination and becomes the top scholar, they assumed it would be the old trope of a scholar who succeeds in the exam and then brings his wife, with whom he has shared hardship, to the capital to enjoy a life of luxury. They began to yawn.

When everyone saw that Chen Shimei had concealed his marriage and married a princess to become her consort in order to curry favor with the royal family, they fell silent and their brows furrowed.

When Chen Shimei saw Qin Xianglian bringing her child to the capital to find her husband, and not only could he not bear to part with his wife and child, but he also wanted to send someone to kill them to silence them, the audience fell completely silent. Several onlookers were also completely aroused and showed expressions of extreme anger...