Legend of Concubine's Daughter Minglan-Part Two

C208. Before and After the Feast (6)

Since there was no stage being set up there, most of the women guests had chosen the singing and dancing pieces of the opera.

Old Madam Lu requested the episode 'Lecturing Son' in 'One Knife Meeting' (It was said that her fifty years old son hadn't been so obedient lately). Old Madam Qin requested the episode 'Bringing Justice' in 'Coming to Light' (That play told the story of a mother-in-law made peace with her daughter-in-law after they resolved the misunderstandings between them.) Wang shi requested the episode 'Returning Pearl' in 'The Qin Stage' (The story of a man finally recognizing his wife's goodness after he had been through so many love affairs. And at the end, the man thoroughly reformed himself and remained a devoted husband all through the rest of his life).

'The Story of Liu Yunqiao' was the most popular play. Lots of the guests there had requested the episodes in that play. At last, Minglan found the performers nearly played the whole play.

This play had been performed in many occasions for almost a hundred years from the former dynasty and was favored especially by the ladies.

Here was the outline of the story: In middle ages of X Dynasty, a famous prostitute got acquainted with a young Tan Hua (T/N: The man who got a third place in the Imperial Examination) by coincidence. Although they were in different status, they still fell in love at the first sight. After that, the Tan Hua boy bought back the prostitute's freedom and cleared her name. But his family still refused to take in a prostitute into their family. And the prostitute, as tough as she was, only left a letter to the Tan Hua, telling him to marry a noble lady.

Having failed to find her anywhere, he had to obey his parents' order and marry another woman. After many years, the Tan Hua whose wife had just deceased was appointed as the censor of the border. One day when he was going on patrol on the border, lots of Jie Nu (T/N: An ancient nationality of China) happened to intrude into the country. The Tan Hua summoned the troops and the citizens to resist. However, he was outnumbered by the enemy and the reinforcements never came. At the critical moment when the Jie Nu army was going to take down the city, the Tan Hua put a sword by his neck, trying to commit suicide. However, suddenly, there was a chaos in Jie Nu's military camp. The Tan Hua then seized the opportunity and ordered the solders to stage a surprise attack. At last, the attack went successful and the crisis was resolved.

After the war, the Tan Hua knew that a woman had spent a huge sum of money to purchase five hundred cattle, sheep and horses in the critical moment. She had also lit the tails of those livestock and let them rush to the back of the Jie Nu's army who were completely unprepared, following the example of the Fire Cattle Formation of Tian Shan. The Tan Hua was suspicious of the woman's identity. After thorough inquiry and investigation, he finally found that the woman was no other than that prostitute.

At last, they had a happy ending. The man and the woman remained a devoted couple through the rest of their lives and had lots of kids.

The story was quite a cliché but still touching. Because it was adapted from a true event.

The Tan Hua called Gao Qin, a man from a prestigious family in Eastern River Area who enjoyed success at a young age. He had taken the third place in the imperial exam at the young age of sixteen and assisted three emperors in his life. He had been through big rises and falls and brought benefits to countless people. At last, his story had been recorded in a history book called 'Famous Officials'.

His wife's story was even more legendary. She was a prostitute in the Qinhuai River area, called Madam Liu Li by the later generations. Actually, even if her contemporaries knew about her unpresentable identity, the records on the paper could still be modified to give her a more respectable origin for later generations. However, this Madam Gao was too famous and their story was well-known to all. Even if the history book didn't record her identity or some modifications had been made, the unofficial books would also cover all of their lives.