Chapter 12: Full Moon on the Xiangjiang River

Chapter 12: Full Moon on the Xiangjiang River

Er Yuehong was walking in the opera house, which had been built by a patron from the northwest and given to him. He didnt know when this patron had heard him perform, but they had given the stage without any prior notice. Unfortunately, they didnt seem to know the rules and had built the stage facing west, which was called a White Tiger Stage. The show must not be performed until "open stage" (1) had been done properly, but at the same time, it had been a gift from someone. Moreover, the signed deed had been delivered three days ago and it would be inauspicious not to open tonight.

He was a little worried. After checking out a few dirty spots with one of the assistants, he decided to go backstage. The manager also looked concerned as he moved the costume box for that evenings performance. After setting up the weapons rack on the wall, he eagerly went to light some incense and saw Er Yuehong approaching.

"Master, it's too late for open stage. Do you think Ba Ye could help us?" The manager asked as he wiped his sweat.

Er Yuehong took the incense, walked up to the shrine, inserted it respectfully into the burner, and then bowed three times before saying quietly, "He deals in yin and yang, do you think he can take care of a stage?"

"Everyone else said there was nothing they could do about it."

"Give more money, and everyone has a way." Er Yuehong sighed and looked out of the window. There was a courtyard behind the stage, behind which was the back door that led to the Xiangjiang riverbank. At this time, the moon had just risen and the pale light fell onto the rivers surface, illuminating the fishing boats resting on the shore.

There was another wharf across the river that was still brightly lit and crowded. It belonged to the common people who had left their homes to go southwest

The area used to be bustling before. Everyone had thought that the Japanese couldnt reach this far, but in the blink of an eye, even the sound of gunfire was heard. Er Yuehong was one who thrived on stability, so any kind of change was torture for him.

He sat down in a chair by the window, lost in thought as he listened to the sound of the river. When he came to his senses, the gong set up on the stage had already sounded, indicating that guests had started to arrive. As a Changsha performer, he was familiar with many of the patrons, and they were also familiar with each other, so he cleared his mind and stopped thinking about the matter.

Er Yuehong had started putting on makeup and asked quietly, "What were you and Chen Pi whispering about outside?" The manager said it was nothing, but was secretly thinking that Er Ye was going to be hard-pressed performing on this White Tiger Stage. He had always felt that something was off about it, and now he had a clue. He was afraid that things would be tough later, so he hurriedly lit more incense.

When Er Yuehong went up to the stage to sing, even the corridor was full. Zhang Qishan arrived and found that there werent any empty seats left, so he was stuck standing far in the back row. He could smell alcohol from a distance and saw a few other patrons in the back row cheering and getting rowdy. Once the performance was over, he listened as the guests said goodbye to each other and then watched the manager send them off one by one. Zhang Qishan approached the front of the stage and said to the manager, "Tell Er Ye Im here."

When the manager saw Zhang Qishan, he was surprised and couldnt help but think that something really was going to happen. Before he could respond, however, a whip suddenly came up from behind Zhang Qishan, heading straight towards his face. Zhang Qishan stepped to the side a little, but the whip still managed to leave a painful mark.

"Idiot, dont you understand who was here first?" The golden leopard was standing there with a long whip in his hand. "Get out of my way" With that said, he raised the whip again. Zhang Qishan turned around and looked at him coldly. The golden leopard became even more riled up and swung his whip as his men surrounded Zhang Qishan.

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TN Notes:

(1) Tiffany says: "open stage" refers to old customs of theatrical troupes. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, they would perform some sort of ritual whenever the new theater was completed or there was a new leader of the theater troupe. The ritual included lighting incense in front of idols, placing banners and curtains, dancing, beheading a chicken on stage and spreading its blood all over the stage, lighting firecrackers on the stage and so on. Basically, there were lots of things that needed to be done. They thought it was unlucky if those things werent done first.

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Tiffany's extra:

Wu Xies Private Notes: Chapter 33 Notes and List of Xisha Archaeological Members