Chapter 418: The Ultimate Betrayal

Chapter 418: The Ultimate Betrayal

While the Earl of Qin'an's mansion was holding a grand Buddhist and Taoist memorial ceremony for the slain Earl of Qin'an, a traditional Chinese opera titled "The Ultimate Betrayal" swept through the entire capital.

This opera seemed to emerge suddenly, but once it was released, almost every street and alley was talking about it, discussing the actors who performed in it.

A previously unknown troupe named Mei Mu, because of performing this opera, had their theater packed to the brim every show.

The opera tells a common theme in such operas: a poor scholar on his way to the capital for the imperial examination is saved by the daughter of a wealthy household.

However, unlike the usual themes of such operas, this one does not dwell much on the romantic entanglement between the poor scholar and the high-born lady. Instead, it gallops forward like a runaway horse. Not long after the opera begins, the poor scholar tops the imperial examination and proposes to the lady.

When the lady, blushing and dressed in bridal attire, enters the bridal chamber, the audience is left in shock.

They are married already?

What happens next?

What the audience did not expect was that the following scenes depicted the harsh realities of life.

After achieving success, the poor scholar gradually becomes unfaithful and starts keeping a concubine outside.

On one side, he enjoys the warmth and fragrance of the delicate concubine, laughing softly and embracing tenderly, while on the other side, the lady, now the matron of the house, stands alone under the cold moonlight, leaning on the railing and shedding tears, her flute playing a hauntingly beautiful melody.

The contrast between the two scenes is stark and heart-wrenching.

The actors of the Mei Mu troupe delivered an exceptional performance, with the male and female leads portraying the scholar's fickleness and the lady's deep affection with remarkable depth.

Seeing the contrast here, the audience was seething with anger.

Although it is common for men to have multiple wives and concubines, this is a play! You just swore undying love to the lady, and now you're keeping a concubine behind your wife's back, making the beautiful, pitiful, and deeply devoted wife cry for you like this—utterly inhuman!

Then, the plot takes a sharp turn. Years later, the poor scholar is killed in a fight over a celebrated courtesan in the red-light district.

For a moment, the stage is filled with sounds of mourning and weeping, as the lady and the scholar's servant-concubines cry in grief.

The scholar's relatives jump out, trying to seize the wealth he accumulated over the years as an official.

The lady, having borne only a daughter and no son, is surrounded and insulted by the troublesome poor relatives, who even blame her for the scholar's death.

The once dignified lady, who had never suffered such humiliation, covers her face and weeps.

At this moment, the concubine arrives with her son. The son, who is now four years old, is robust and sweetly calls the lady "mother."

The ailing mother-in-law also makes an appearance, saying that this is the family's last hope, and someone must inherit the family fortune.

The lady adopts the concubine's son, registers him as her legitimate son, and personally oversees every aspect of his upbringing.

The concubine dies of illness in the mansion a few years later.

Many years pass, and the aging lady, who has worked tirelessly for the family, raises the adopted son to become a new top scholar in the imperial examination.

However, upon becoming the top scholar, the son personally presents the lady with a bowl of poisoned porridge.

The lady, now elderly and frail, collapses onto the bed and asks the son why he did this.

The son, in a drawn-out tone, sings and recites: "You usurped the position of the mistress and forcibly took me away, causing my mother to die of depression! Acknowledging you as my mother, though you are not, I endured humiliation and bore the burden all these years, just for today, to personally avenge my mother!"

The lady is left utterly speechless, shocked and disbelieving.

Before her death, the young lady sang in a hoarse and mournful voice, "After all these years, it was all in vain."

However, just before her death, the young lady struggled and knocked over an oil lamp, causing a fire that engulfed the entire mansion and also killed the venomous son of the concubine.

The audience, amidst the realistic fire effects, was stunned, feeling a profound and indescribable sadness.

They thought it was the end, but in the faint smoke, the young lady, who had retreated backstage, came back to life, dressed in the clothes of her youth.

The young lady looked at her hands and feet in disbelief, shedding tears as she sang, "It must be the gods taking pity on my foolishness, sending me back thirty years."

Then, the scene changed, and while the young lady was out with her maid, she encountered the poor scholar again, who was on his way to the capital and had been robbed by bandits, lying near death in a crumbling temple.

This time, the young lady walked past the poor scholar without a glance, without stopping, without looking back, walking away to the sound of cheerful music, symbolizing a fresh start.

After a moment of stunned silence, the audience erupted into thunderous applause, nearly clapping their hands off!

The Meimu Opera Troupe shot to fame overnight!

In every street and alley, nearly everyone who had seen "The Ultimate Betrayal" was buzzing about its plot.

Many men who kept mistresses were deeply moved and resolved to treat their wives better from then on.

Some ladies found it deeply satisfying that the young lady, after returning to thirty years ago, ignored the poor scholar and left him to perish in the temple.

Of course, some scholars turned red with anger: "This is slander!... Using such frivolous music to defame..."

Others laughed at them, saying, "When there were countless plays about poor scholars and young ladies eloping, why didn't you complain about frivolous music or slander then? How come when they change the plot, you can't handle it? Could it be that you're identifying with the heartless poor scholar in the play?"

After some teasing, those red-faced scholars dared not say anything more—indeed, as soon as they objected, others would say, "It's just a play—are you taking it personally?"

Who would dare to oppose that!

Some scholars and officials who caught wind of the play were so impressed that they wanted their daughters to watch it!

Don't be fooled by the fake romance in those old plays about scholars and ladies; see how authentic "The Ultimate Betrayal" by the Meimu Opera Troupe is!

The key is to steer clear of those smooth-talking poor scholars!

Amidst this wave, the impact of "The Ultimate Betrayal" continued to grow.

Even the Countess of Qin'an, occupied with conducting a water and land ceremony for the late Earl of Qin'an, caught wind of the play from her servants.

After her servants summarized the play, her eyebrows twitched, and she instantly thought of Master Hao, confined in the backyard.