Sing a Play
Watching Li Hanxiang confidently take the Stage, Kong Baosheng's face turned red with anger.
"This Old Fella, he really flaunts his seniority, huh?"
"Mister, he just saw that you stole his spotlight and came over to suppress you with his seniority!"
"His own singing wasn't good when he was young, he turned things around by relying on those kinds of methods. Now that he's old and his looks are fading and no one hypes up scandals with him, he's starting to look for a sense of existence everywhere!"
Kong Baosheng respected Chen Ling from the bottom of his heart. Although he had never heard Chen Ling open his mouth to sing opera, and didn't know how well he sang, just the fact that Chen Ling was willing to spend two hundred thousand to buy the Theater House and continue insisting on carrying forward opera culture made him ten thousand times better than this Old Fella Li Hanxiang who took crooked paths and forgot his roots.
Not only Kong Baosheng, but in the crowd not far away, Huang Suyue, who had been constantly observing this side, also furrowed her brows tightly.
She coldly looked at Li Hanxiang taking the Stage and murmured in a deep voice:
"This Li Hanxiang really doesn't know what's good for him..."
"Special Envoy Lord has a grand vision and presumably won't take this Old Fella to heart, but since we saw it, we can't sit back and ignore it." Huang Suyue said indifferently, "Dig deep into this Li Hanxiang's dark history. Contact all the media cooperating with us, and once the birthday banquet is over, expose it all to him...
He's already at this age, if he just honestly enjoyed his old age in peace, it would be fine... Since he dares to provoke the Special Envoy, I want his reputation completely ruined."
"Yes, Miss."
At this time, Li Hanxiang was completely unaware of how much trouble he had stirred up for himself.
After standing firmly on the Stage, the melodious opera accompaniment sounded from the side. He looked down at the numerous guests in the venue, as well as the Audience still listening from afar outside the manor, and sang loudly:
"I advise the thousand-year-old not to say the word 'kill', this old minister will tell the lord from the beginning;
Liu Bei is originally a descendant of Prince Jing, flowing from the same lineage as Emperor Xuan of Han..."
As soon as Li Hanxiang opened his mouth, Chen Ling knew he was singing "Ganlu Temple." This was also a classic solo segment for the older Male Lead in Peking Opera. When Chen Ling was in the theater in his previous life, he often heard this segment too.
But Li Hanxiang's Singing skills were clearly lacking. Not to mention comparing him with the four senior brothers and Senior Sisters in the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path, even those senior artists who performed in the theater in his previous life could almost all crush him just by opening their mouths. It was only at this moment that Chen Ling realized that Kong Baosheng's words "lukewarm back then" were already quite polite.
This older generation Famous Actor Li Hanxiang had way too much water in his reputation.
Of course, the guests present didn't understand opera very well either. They usually didn't listen to it, and plus there were no other capable Famous Actors to compare with, they didn't think Li Hanxiang sang poorly, just thinking that maybe this was how opera was supposed to be sung. In this day and age where opera was already declining, the fraud Li Hanxiang had already become one of the industry benchmarks.
The guests symbolically listened to a few lines before completely losing interest. Some began to continue chatting and conversing Off Stage, while others took the opportunity to go to the bathroom. The crowd outside the manor who had been enthusiastically cheering originally also sat down on the spot with waning interest, beginning their intermission.
"If troops are raised to fight, who in Eastern Wu dares to step forward?
I will turn back and report to the Empress Dowager, using their trick against them to form a marriage alliance..."
Seeing this scene Off Stage, Li Hanxiang seemed to have long been accustomed to it. When a few drops of rain drifted down from the sky from time to time, his brows furrowed. The assistant who had been waiting on the side immediately held an umbrella and quickly stepped onto the Stage to shield him from the gradually falling drizzle.
Seeing this scene, the disdain in Chen Ling's eyes grew even thicker.
After Li Hanxiang finished singing the last segment on his own, he flicked his sleeves and walked off the Stage, sparse applause sounding from Off Stage.
He walked while putting on the posture of an unappreciated talent, pretending to sigh heavily:
"The Theater Dao, has truly declined."
Off Stage, Kong Baosheng couldn't help rolling his eyes.
Li Hanxiang walked off the Stage and went straight to Chen Ling, stroking his beard while saying leisurely:
"Young man, if you really want to walk this path, you always have to have a master. I see that you're quite pitiful, why don't you switch and join my tutelage... I'll pass all my skills onto you, it will be enough for you to gain a foothold in the Main City in the future."
Hearing these words, many people around turned to look, astonishment surfacing in their eyes.
Chen Ling didn't even bother to look at him, answering indifferently,
"No need, I have a master."
Li Hanxiang's smile instantly froze on his face. In terms of seniority and status, he was in the first tier in the Main City. Who knew how many juniors wanted to enter his tutelage but had no chance, yet a nameless little Thespian who had just entered the city actually rejected his invitation in public?
Hearing the faint laughter coming from around him, Li Hanxiang's face instantly became extremely ugly, fiercely glaring at Chen Ling.
"You don't know what's good for you... Hmph."
After Li Hanxiang, the final female star performing the finale also stepped onto the Stage. The originally extinguished enthusiasm of the scene was ignited again. As the melodious singing sounded, the outside of the manor instantly exploded like a frying pan, cheers and support rising one after another!
Chen Ling didn't know that female star. To be honest, in his eyes, whether in appearance or singing and dancing, this person was inferior to Liu Qingyan. However, looking at the reaction of the scene, she should be the undisputed top tier in the entire Red Dust Domain.
Not having seen her for half a year, he wondered where that girl Liu Qingyan had gone and what she was doing?
After three consecutive songs were finished, the warm-up performance of the birthday banquet had entered its final stage. As the enthusiastic atmosphere of the crowd gradually faded, a drizzle began to fall again in the sky. The dim clouds pressed low, giving people a somewhat inexplicable sense of oppression.
The guests looked at the empty and quiet Stage, feeling somewhat confused for a moment.
"The performances are all over, why hasn't the Chairman arrived yet?"
"Yeah... It's his birthday, he should have arrived long ago."
"What about now? Are we just going to have this awkward silence?"
"We should probably wait for Chairman Mu to arrive... Still don't know what the situation is."
"..."
Amidst the whispers of the crowd, the host's forehead began to nervously seep with sweat. According to the original plan, Mu Chunsheng should have come on Stage to greet everyone before the performance. Now that the performance was over, there was still no sign of him.
Mu Chunsheng was the main character today. Without him present, the remaining segments simply couldn't proceed... Could they just let the guests wait below so awkwardly?
Under the doubtful gazes of the crowd, the host's brain worked rapidly, smiling as she said,
"Today is Chairman Mu's birthday banquet. If any of you present would like to go on Stage to offer birthday wishes to the Chairman, say a few words of blessing, or perform a little something, you are welcome on Stage at any time~~"
The guests looked at each other in dismay.
Everyone present simply hadn't expected this segment. After a brief silence, several directors of second-tier consortia who had close business dealings with the Beidou Consortium went on Stage one after another to deliver some congratulatory remarks, also hoping to get closer to Chairman Mu.
But very quickly, the venue cooled down again, leaving only the host standing alone on the Stage, at a loss for what to do.
Tick tock—Tick tock—
Ink-like clouds gathered over the manor, extremely oppressive while also carrying a trace of inexplicable, unsettling pressure, as if a storm was about to sweep through.
Dense raindrops began to fall from the sky, and the numerous transparent umbrellas in the venue were opened once again. The raindrops hit the umbrella brims, producing muffled sounds. The guests stood in this silent rain, always feeling as if something was about to happen.
Right at this moment, Li Hanxiang's voice suddenly rang out from the crowd:
"Lin Yan, was it? Since you came to offer birthday wishes to Chairman Mu today... why don't you go up and Sing a Play for everyone?"