LC chapter 19

 

“Sorry, but there’s a performance going on right now. You can’t go backstage.” The usher glanced at the two of them. They were both still wearing their student uniforms. Meng Zhen was carrying a bag; inside was the box.

“You two can take your seats first.” The usher repeated.

They didn’t have tickets, where would they sit? Meng Zhen felt a little guilty and glanced at Lin Ruan.

Lin Ruan straightened his back, gave the usher a faint glance, and said, “You’re not needed here. Go mind your own business.”

The usher paused, seemingly intimidated by Lin Ruan’s manner. He looked between the two of them for a moment, then bowed slightly and left.

Meng Zhen patted Lin Ruan’s shoulder and said, “Not bad, you!”

“Enough, enough,” Lin Ruan said, breaking character. “Let’s go quickly.”

Meng Zhen followed Lin Ruan downstairs and turned into the corridor. They accidentally bumped into someone. He hurriedly apologized, but the person stepped forward and blocked their way.

Lin Ruan looked over and saw a young man in a suit with a big red bow tie. Three attendants followed him. His whole demeanor radiated spoiled dandy.

“Isn’t this the young master of the Meng family?” The man looked at Meng Zhen.

Meng Zhen stepped back. “So it’s Young Master Qian.”

Lin Ruan asked in a low voice, “Who is this?”

Meng Zhen whispered back, “An enemy.”

Young Master Qian sized up Meng Zhen in his student getup and sneered, “Young Master Meng also came to listen to the opera? Dressed like this, were you brought by your teacher?”

The three attendants behind him laughed.

Young Master Qian’s father worked in the Secretariat of the Executive Yuan, and Young Master Qian himself had opened two shops selling imported fabrics. Not long ago, Zhan Xi had brought back foreign fabrics that were all sold to the Meng family, so Young Master Qian bore a grudge and had been causing them trouble.

Meng Zhen didn’t intend to say more; he just smiled and said, “I still have things to do, so I won’t disturb Young Master Qian from his opera.”

With that, Meng Zhen and Lin Ruan tried to leave. However, one of Qian’s attendants stepped forward and grabbed Meng Zhen. He flung his arm to shake the attendant off but didn’t expect the bag to fly off as well. The box inside fell to the ground with a muffled sound.

Meng Zhen gasped and quickly picked up the bag. He opened the box to check it. Fortunately, having learned from experience, he had carefully wrapped the jade bracelet in soft cloth, so it wasn’t broken.

A corner of the jewelry inside was exposed. Young Master Qian saw it and his brows furrowed.

“What are you carrying?”

Meng Zhen glanced at him. “What’s it to you?”

Lin Ruan stood beside Meng Zhen, watching the four men warily. They were in a dimly lit corner of the second-floor corridor, only the cheers of the audience below could be heard.

Young Master Qian waved, and his three attendants snatched Meng Zhen’s box directly.

“Do you have any sense of reason? In front of everyone, you just robbed me!”

Young Master Qian pulled out a yellow gemstone ring, looked at it, and sneered. “I robbed you? You stole my stuff! Why is the ring I gave Miss Bai with you?”

Meng Zhen froze. Lin Ruan hadn’t expected such a coincidence either. He leaned in and whispered, “Your cousin sure has a wide circle of friends.”

Meng Zhen nodded in agreement. While Young Master Qian wasn’t paying attention, Meng Zhen snatched the ring back and said, “This was given to me by someone else. We didn’t steal it. Don’t twist things!”

“Given to you?” Young Master Qian sized him up. “Could it be you’re Bai Zhenzhu’s kept pretty boy?”

“What nonsense!” Meng Zhen glared at him, eager to get rid of him.

The attendants blocked their way.
“Bai Zhenzhu uses my master’s things to keep a pretty boy? There’s no way it’s that easy!”

Meng Zhen and Lin Ruan were trapped, unable to move forward or back. Meng Zhen could only say, “I’m no pretty boy. Bai Zhenzhu is my cousin. What’s wrong with her giving me something?”

Young Master Qian was half convinced and half skeptical. He knew that Meng Zhen was unlikely to be a kept man. But why would Bai Zhenzhu give him things?

Downstairs, another act began—probably the highlight. The cheering nearly lifted the roof. Young Master Qian glanced down and suddenly thought of something: “I get it! The stuff wasn’t meant for you, it was Bai Zhenzhu’s reward for the opera singers.”

Meng Zhen was shocked, not expecting him to guess correctly.

What Meng Zhen and Lin Ruan didn’t know was that, in Qian’s circle, this wasn’t unusual. Bai Zhenzhu’s rumored ties with the leading opera actors of Zhexian Tower were well-known, so Qian guessed immediately.

Young Master Qian looked from the costumed actor on stage back to Meng Zhen and sneered, “A whore and an actor—what a perfect match.”

Before he finished laughing, Meng Zhen punched him straight in the face. The blow left an instant dark bruise.

Meng Zhen’s face was as cold as iron. “Say that again and see what happens.”

“So what if I said it?” Young Master Qian spat. Before he could finish, Meng Zhen hit him again.

Only then did the attendants react, rushing in. Lin Ruan joined in to help Meng Zhen, but the two of them couldn’t beat four people. Soon, they were losing ground.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Lin Ruan kicked Young Master Qian twice, then dragged Meng Zhen away.

They dashed down from the second floor, making a loud enough commotion for the hall to hear. Lin Ruan ran toward the crowd, grabbing cups from tables and throwing them back.

As he ran, he shouted, “Help! Murder! They’ve got guns!”

At the mention of guns, the hall erupted instantly. The finely dressed crowd looked around in panic. Once one person moved, the rest surged up.

People upstairs poured out, too. They didn’t know the truth, but hearing the word “guns” made them uneasy. Where there were guns, chaos followed. Worried about their own safety, no one bothered to check, they just rushed out. Moments later, both floors were a mess.

Amidst the chaos, the opera continued. The string player remained steady and didn’t miss a note.

The actor on stage continued singing, too. The play was ‘Wu Jiapo'[mfn]《武家坡》 (Wǔ Jiā Pō) – Wu Family Slope, a classic play in traditional Chinese opera (often Peking Opera). It tells the story of Wang Baochuan (王宝钏), a woman from a wealthy family who married the poor scholar Xue Pinggui (薛平贵) despite opposition. This is a well-known opera story about loyalty, hardship, and reunion.[/mfn]. Wang Baochuan was scolding the disguised Xue Pinggui on stage:

“I don’t want this silver. Take it to set up a home for your mother. Buy silks, make clothes, buy white paper to paste mourning banners, make jewelry and bead curtains so that you’ll have the reputation of a filial son spread across the land.”

Even during their escape, Lin Ruan was stunned by that clear voice. He stole a glance at the stage. Aside from the musician, Wang Baochuan was the only one who remained calm, no matter how chaotic it was below.

Once the play starts, it must be sung to the end.

The turmoil downstairs finally subsided after a long while. The guests were all gone, and the troupe had restored order. Lin Ruan and Meng Zhen hadn’t escaped, they were caught standing in the wrecked hall.

Young Master Qian, disheveled, stood on the other side, looking ready to strike again, but he was held back by troupe members. Still, he threatened, “I definitely won’t let you off.”

Lin Ruan brushed melon seed shells off a chair, sat down leisurely with his legs crossed, and glanced at Young Master Qian indifferently. “You won’t let us off? I won’t let you off.”

Meng Zhen looked at him in surprise as he changed his whole bearing in a few casual moves, resembling Zhan Xi a little.

Lin Ruan secretly pinched Meng Zhen, who instantly composed himself.

“Do you know who I am?” Lin Ruan tilted his chin slightly, his palm on his knee.

Seeing his posture, Young Master Qian hesitated. After all, this was Beijing City—out of ten people, nine had backgrounds.

“Who… who are you? I’ve never seen you at any banquets.”

Lin Ruan sneered. “As if you’d be worthy.”

Young Master Qian became more uncertain but then thought—Lin Ruan was with Meng Zhen, how important could he be?

Straightening his bow tie, he said uncertainly, “My father is in the Secretariat of the Executive Yuan.”

“Secretary of the Executive Yuan?” Lin Ruan glanced at him. “How high is that? Then why haven’t I seen you at the Gu family ball?”

“The Gu family’s ball?” Young Master Qian asked, startled. “Which Gu family?”

Lin Ruan looked at him and slowly raised his brows. “Which Gu family do you think?”

By now, Young Master Qian was sweating. The Gu family had indeed held a ball recently, inviting only close acquaintances. An ordinary person wouldn’t have known about it.

He looked from Lin Ruan to Meng Zhen. Though not fully convinced, he believed most of it. Still, he issued a threat: “Just wait. I won’t let you off.”

With that, he left with his men, his trouser legs still marked by two footprints.

Meng Zhen brightened at his departure and looked at Lin Ruan, who still held that manner. Just as Meng Zhen was about to ask something, a middle-aged man in a black robe approached them.

He was the head of Zhexian Tower.

He looked at Lin Ruan, cupped his hands, and said, “Young master, there’s no need to pretend here. As for acting, any child here has been doing it longer than you.”

Lin Ruan froze and looked from the head to Meng Zhen. His aura collapsed in an instant.

He stood up and nodded to the head. “We didn’t mean it.”

“Whether or not you meant it, you ruined our performance at Zhexian Tower.”

Lin Ruan and Meng Zhen exchanged a hard glance, “We’ll compensate.”

“Compensate?” The head snorted. “Do you know how hard it was to invite the best musician in Beijing just to perform with Boss Song for Wu Jiapo? Do you know how hard it is to invite him?”

He continued, “This master is a bannerman of noble status. According to the old rules, it’s fine to play at home for fun, but never on stage—that would be degrading.”

The more he spoke, the lower Lin Ruan and Meng Zhen hung their heads. The head sighed. “This time it’s ruined. Who knows when the Third Master will be in the mood to grace us again?”

Lin Ruan suddenly looked up and asked, “Third Master? Which Third Master?”

“What other third master is there in Beijing?” The head glared.

Lin Ruan looked toward the stage in disbelief. Shi Ning walked out from the side of the stage and smiled helplessly. “Mr. Lin, you’ve stirred up quite the trouble in just a short while.”

Lin Ruan didn’t dare speak. Zhan Xi stood hidden behind the red curtain at the side of the stage. He slowly put away his instrument and stood up.

The head hurried forward. “Third Master, you’ve worked hard.”

Zhan Xi, dressed in light robes, glanced at Lin Ruan faintly.

Lin Ruan was so terrified that he nearly lost his breath.

Zhan Xi: Meeting me at this moment—are you touched?

Lin Ruan: I don’t dare move, don’t dare move.