Chapter 2929 Speech
It was already past the hour of You and the medical office was about to close. Zhou Man treated his injuries, prescribed some ointment, and then enthusiastically went back to the county office with Bai Shan.
A group of little ghosts and yellow ghosts carried the King of Hell and followed behind.
This group of people rented a house in the county town, but now is not the time to go back and rest. Bai Shan asked them to perform their actions except for the injured King of Hell.
Zhou Man and Bai Shan leaned on the railing with their arms folded and watched. They nodded slightly after seeing them perform profusely in sweat. Although the King of Hell was missing, their play was similar to the "Catching Yellow Ghosts" they had watched before. It just looked different because of some actors' movement habits and amplitude.
Bai Shan was very satisfied and said to them, "You can go back and rest. Come to the county government office at noon tomorrow. I will find a King of Hell for you."
The actors looked at each other and said, "Sir, since we have a candidate, why don't we call him over so we can perform it first?"
Bai Shan looked at the time and felt that he might not have enough time. He still had to prepare things for his meeting with Governor Guo tomorrow.
So he refused, "Don't worry, you can just act out your own scenes tomorrow. Just catch the yellow ghost and bring him before the King of Hell. He won't forget his main moves."
The actors didn't want to miss this opportunity to make money, so they agreed after a little thought.
It was their people who were injured. What if the county magistrate decided not to perform the Nuo opera?
They are counting on making some money this time.
As soon as Zhou Man and Bai Shan returned home, they started rummaging through the drawers.
Xibing was stunned for a moment and then asked immediately: "My dear, my dear, what are you looking for?"
Zhou Man pondered for a moment and said, "Let Wu Yue come. She was the one who packed a lot of things back then. She should know."
Bai Shan: "That mask was custom-made when we were in Yizhou. I don't know if it will still fit me now."
Zhou Man turned his head to look at his face and said reluctantly, "It's not much different. It should be able to fit."
May came quickly, and Bai Shan described it to her, "It's the box where we usually put our toys, the little bows and slingshots we used to play with, and there's a mask in it..."
Wu Yue: "There are so many masks, which one are you talking about?"
She dragged a stool over, took down a box from the top of the cabinet, opened it, and took out several masks from the cloth bag on the side. "These are all the masks that my husband bought and couldn't bear to throw away."
Bai Shan rummaged around and found a mask of the King of Hell.
This is made of poplar wood and is very light and thin. They asked the stall owner to make it for them when they were in Yizhou, and they played with it a lot in private.
Bai Shan has always played the role of the King of Hell, a role he got based on his own strength.
Zhou Man also took out his own mask, put it on and played with it for a while before saying, "I'm going to wear a mask and go out to play tomorrow too."
"Go ahead," Bai Shan said, "you must remember to watch my performance."
Zhou Man said it was no problem.
Although he was confident that he remembered all the moves and could perform them, he still put on a mask and danced twice in the yard. Zhou Man checked for any omissions and filled them in for him.
The two of them and Bai Erlang often performed Nuo opera in private, and they even performed it several times with their classmates when they were studying in Yizhou Prefecture.
But this was the first time it was performed publicly.
In the past, the Nuo opera was performed for classmates and at most a few teachers, but this time it was performed in front of the people of the entire city.
The thought made Bai Shan excited, so he woke up early in the morning.
Zhou Man noticed that the people around her had gotten up. She forced her eyes open and found that the sky outside was still dim. She turned over and continued to sleep, pulling the quilt over her head.
Even though it is May, it is still a bit chilly in the early morning.
Bai Shan got up, put on his clothes, and went to pull Zhou Man, "Get up and watch me perform the Nuo opera."
Zhou Man lay there motionless, mumbling, "No, I hate you so much, please go away."
Bai Shanjian couldn't get her to practice, so he could only go and practice on his own with regret.
After daybreak, the county town began to bustle with activity. Everyone knew that the county magistrate would preside over a Nuo opera performance at the gate of the county government office early this morning, and that rice dumplings would be distributed at that time, so everyone was ready and waiting outside the county government office early.
Bai Shan, wearing a green official robe, stood on a platform in the square in front of the county government office and spoke to the crowd, "This is our first Dragon Boat Festival in Beihai County. In the future, we will spend the second, third, and even the fourth, fifth, and sixth Dragon Boat Festivals with you all."
"Recently, the county has been in turmoil because of the interrogation and elimination of bandits. We've also heard that children in the city are crying more this year than in previous years, and we suspect it's the work of evil spirits."
He said, "No matter if they are evil-minded or if they are the work of evil spirits, anyone who dares to harm the people of this county will be executed."
When the people below heard this, they were deeply moved and praised the lord for his wisdom.
Bai Shan raised his hand to suppress the crowd, and waited until everyone quieted down before saying, "People's hearts are evil, so we will cut off their evil hearts. I only hope that in the future, you will be kind to your fathers and filial to your children, and be friendly and harmonious with your neighbors. If you can achieve these two things, and be loyal to the emperor and uphold justice, then our Beihai County will be well-known and promising not only in Qingzhou City, but also in the entire Dajin."
Bai Shan led everyone to look forward to the future and encouraged everyone, and then began to burn incense and open the altar.
Regardless of whether they understood or not, everyone followed Bai Shan and bowed.
After the worship was over, the small door on the side of the county government office opened, and the bailiffs brought out two baskets of steaming rice dumplings, which were obviously just fished out.
As soon as everyone saw it, they immediately crowded forward. This was the lucky rice dumpling distributed by the government. Except for the one time when County Magistrate Lu gave it to them two years ago, they had never received one before.
I heard that if you eat the lucky rice dumplings from the county government, you will have a sense of righteousness and will not be afraid of evil spirits.
County Magistrate Dong and County Magistrate Fang had been prepared for this. When they saw them crowding together, they immediately banged the gong and shouted, "Why are you pushing so hard? Why are you pushing so hard? Be honest and line up. Come forward to get your food. The county government has invited so many people for two days. There's more than enough food for you..."
"Behave yourself, everyone. If anyone doesn't behave, not only will I treat you to zongzi, I'll even ask you to stay in jail for two nights."
Everyone was pushing each other and gradually quieted down, no longer daring to make any more noise.
Bai Shan took a quick look and saw that they were relatively orderly, so he turned back to change his clothes.
Zhou Man circled around him curiously.
In the past, they only wore masks when performing Nuo opera and never changed their clothes. This was the first time she saw Bai Shan wearing a black robe and purple skirt.
The clothes of the King of Hell are mainly black with purple as a secondary color. However, the quality of this clothes is average. The black color is not thick enough, and the purple color is yellowish, making it look not majestic enough.
Wu Yue and Jiu Lan tightened the waist and shoulders overnight, and Bai Shan now looked like a perfect fit when he put it on. When he took a step, he didn't have the steadiness of a king of hell, but he looked a bit more lively.
Zhou Man laughed out loud as he looked at her, "You're not as good as me. I might be better than you if I dress up."
Bai Shan glanced at her, looked her up and down, and said, "You? You can't do it. You're too petite and short. How can you be as small as the King of Hell?"
The smile on Zhou Man's face fell, "Say it again."
Bai Shan pointed his finger and said, "I won't say good things a second time."
As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped back, dodging Zhou Man's sweeping kick, and was out of the door in two or three jumps, laughing and saying, "You can't hit me."
After a while, he poked his head in from the door and called out to Wu Yue, "Hurry up and give me my mask."
See you at 7pm
(End of this chapter)
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