It took Xue Tao a while to calm down.
"Sir, now you understand why brothel girls would make up stories about their origins. It's not just to make money, but also because the real story would ruin the character of the customers. After all, the customers who can come to brothels don't play such glorious roles in our stories."
"So what happened next?" Lin Hai turned around and spotted Shi Zhen'er, her eyes red. Although Shi Zhen'er had endured much hardship, she always had Master Shi's protection. Even with limited food and clothing, she hadn't fallen into Xue Tao's position. Lin Hai could tell from Shi Zhen'er's eyes that, at least from now on, she wouldn't embarrass this unfortunate former courtesan.
"Then there were the usual stories in brothels. Some of them were too obscene, and I'm afraid of polluting the ears of the adults and Miss Zhen'er, so I'll leave them unsaid."
Xue Tao smiled bitterly. She knew very well that playing the victim was fine, but there were some things she couldn't say, especially since Zhen'er was still a grown-up girl and her relationship with Lin Hai was unclear. She had to know when to stop.
"Well, okay, let's go with this version." Lin Hai clapped his hands: "Miss Xue, you have quite a quick wit, not bad."
Shi Zhen'er, who was twitching with sadness, couldn't help but be stunned. A tear pressed on her lower eyelid. She didn't know whether to let it fall or not. She was at a loss for a moment and could only pinch Lin Hai to hide her embarrassment.
Lin Hai: Hey...
Xue Tao, who was crying with red eyes, immediately stopped crying when she heard this. She bowed with a smile and said, "I understand what Master Lin means. Master Lin wants to compose a song about the suffering of these people and then sing it."
"We need to make the people understand where their suffering comes from. No one is born to starve, no one is born to be a prostitute, and no one is born to be killed. You must know this. I don't know what the incident is that you don't want to talk about, but you weren't born to train yourself to be an otaku. We need not only music, but also choreography, and we need to turn it into a storybook and sing it everywhere. We need to let the people know that their past suffering came from the exploitation of local tyrants and evil gentry. The local tyrants and evil gentry occupied almost all the land, so the people had nothing, and precisely because they had nothing, they were bullied. And who was behind these local tyrants and evil gentry? It was the government, the greedy Chen Dynasty government, the government of the Khmer Kingdom that wantonly launched wars to encroach on our southwest, and even... even the government of the Daliang Empire."
Hearing this, Xue Tao was shocked, but was interrupted by Lin Hai.
"This is the first step. Use the story you just made up as an introduction. Go collect more folk stories and listen to others' stories. Don't worry, the stories you hear are basically true, and true stories are even more touching. You need to speed up the process. It would be best if you can finish your story by next month. Then I will arrange a performance for you."
"As for the second step, you can start with the idea of using a more cheerful song to express the good life we have now. People can eat and wear warm clothes, and their families have enough food. Qinghe County is peaceful and prosperous, and the government will protect everyone, build the country, and suppress bandits, so that every citizen of Qinghe County can live a good life. It is also important to emphasize that Qinghe County is a place that embraces all. No matter who you were before, as long as you come to Qinghe County, you are a Qinghe County person."
Lin Hai paused, then continued speaking in the surprised eyes of Shi Zhen'er and Xue Tao.
"In the third step, we'll show how those officials and local tyrants in the first step, unable to bear the thought of our good life, decided to seize Qinghe County again, take away all our property, occupy our houses, sell our children, and do whatever they can to us."
"Well, you should complete these three parts first. There are still a dozen girls in the county who were once brothels. You should organize them all and form a Qinghe County Art Troupe. It will be affiliated with the county government, and you will be the general manager. The county government will allocate funds and food. Tell those girls that from now on, they are members of the Qinghe County Government. They have a clean background and a decent livelihood. They are not allowed to engage in brothel activities anymore. If they want to get married, they can do so only if they are in love with each other."
Xue Tao didn't expect this to be the result of his visit tonight.
She thought that although she was unwilling to receive customers anymore, and of course Qinghe County did not have the objective conditions to open a brothel, it was really difficult to make a living by relying solely on mending and laundry. What's more, everyone here knew her background, and there were often people who came to ridicule and even tease her. But now she had become a clean family recognized by the county government. No, all the girls who had fallen into prostitution could become innocent people and have a new beginning.
"Xue Tao, you take care of the ideological work for the others. In a word, there are no prostitutes in Qinghe County, nor is there any soil for prostitution to survive. I can give this opportunity, but if someone doesn't cherish it..."
"Don't worry, Lord Lin. If anyone doesn't cherish me, I will let her know the consequences." Xue Tao bowed again.
Xue Tao left with a head full of instructions that sounded impressive but were difficult to carry out.
Lin Hai was about to speak when he heard Shi Zhen'er ask, "Master Lin, how did you know that the story she told was also false?"
"Hmm..." Lin Hai was stunned. He had been pinched before, so why hadn't he gotten over this yet?
"I heard that Lord Lin joined the army at the age of eight. I never thought that even with such a busy military schedule, he could still find time to visit brothels to enrich his life experience. He is truly capable of doing things. Lord Lin, could you please tell me how old you were when you started going to brothels? You can't have been there at the age of eight, right? I really think you can achieve great things. You are truly an extraordinary person."
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