264. Fabricated anti-epidemic dramas
The day of the play's performance arrived quickly.
The stage in Qiuhe City was packed with people.
Lin Fuman and Xie Wenling stood in a private room on the second floor next to the stage, looking at the lively crowd below. Lin Fuman was still looking forward to it and no longer resisted the fact that she had to share a room with Xie Wenling because there weren't enough seats.
The sound of gongs and drums rang out, and the drama began.
The opening scene depicted the devastation of the plague outbreak, with people displaced and soldiers struggling to maintain order. Then, the actor playing Xie Wenling appeared in full armor, commanding the people to fight the plague with imposing presence.
Lin Fuman looked at the exaggeratedly dressed figure on the stage and couldn't help but smile.
But soon, she stopped laughing.
Because "she" has appeared.
But it's not "her".
On the stage, "Lin Fuman" was actually a man dressed in a scholar's robe, holding a prop that looked like a test tube, and singing: "I have been entrusted by Young Master Jin to bring divine medicine to save the people!"
"Young Master Jin?" Lin Fuman frowned. "How did Little Moon become a young master?"
Before she could figure it out, she saw a little girl appear on the stage. This little girl was the little boy who had pulled off her mask and deliberately infected her.
Her heart sank.
Immediately afterwards, the opera singing began, and the male actor sang: "We, the heroic sons and daughters, charge into battle to save the people from fire and water. It is a pity that the girls only know how to grieve for spring and autumn, and wallow in self-pity."
"Those on the front lines are all men!"
"Young lady, why do you shrink back and refuse to come forward? Come forward quickly!"
It means: Our anti-epidemic team is all men, shouldn't a woman also step forward?
However, the truth is that women make up a significant proportion of the protesters.
Some came from the capital, some were from Qiuhe City, and many more came voluntarily from all directions to provide support.
Of those who volunteered to help, women made up about two-thirds!
Lin Fuman's face looked very pale.
Seeing this, how could she not know what the magistrate was thinking?
She stood up abruptly: "Go and summon that county magistrate!"
The guard glanced at Xie Wenling subconsciously. Although Xie Wenling still had that cold and indifferent look, his eyes had darkened, and he nodded slightly to him.
Not long after, the county magistrate rushed in, flustered: "What's wrong? Did you perform poorly somewhere?"
"Where was the acting bad?" Lin Fu pointed angrily at the stage. "Why did I become a man? Why did the county princess also become a man? And how did that little boy who deliberately infected me become a little girl? Why aren't there any women among the frontline staff? Is this how you fabricated and slandered me?!"
The magistrate hadn't expected Lin Fuman to be so angry, and quickly explained, "Miss, please don't be angry! It was all for the sake of looking good!"
"Think about it, if the play were to depict two women saving the entire city, the people might feel it wouldn't be impressive enough. If it were to be a man, it would be more heroic!"
"And that child, if you change it to a little girl, it will seem more pitiful and better highlight your kindness, won't it?"
"Besides, people have always preferred reading about men's stories to women's stories, right?"
"Beautiful?" Lin Fuman could hardly believe her ears. "You think it would look better if we changed the meritorious, righteous women into men and the villainous men into women?"
Seeing that Lin Fu was truly angry, the magistrate felt a little uneasy, but still forced himself to say, "Miss, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but what kind of story on the stage has a woman as the protagonist? The people don't like watching that! Besides, the story of that little boy is so unlucky. Changing it to a little girl will make the play more complete..."
Generally speaking, Lin Fuman is a very cultured person.
She believes in the inherent goodness of human nature and advocates for kindness towards others.
But now, she really couldn't hold back anymore: "Fuck you! What the hell are you talking about?! I don't understand a word you're saying!"
"One minute they say no one reads women's stories, only men's stories are interesting; the next minute they say stories about little boys are unlucky and should be changed to stories about little girls to make it more complete..."
"Didn't your tongue and brain work together? Are you trying to pit your left brain against your right, or your cerebrum against your cerebellum?!"
The magistrate, on the contrary, acted as if he had suffered a great injustice: "How dare you speak to me like that?! I was only trying to be kind! A perfectly good young lady, and you speak so rudely! Be careful you don't end up never getting married!"
Lin Fuman wanted to hit someone.
She raised her fists, but comparing her thin arms and legs to the corpulent magistrate opposite her, she knew she couldn't win.
She took a deep breath: "This play doesn't need to be performed! You think no one will watch a woman's story, but don't forget, it was me and the county princess, along with those female medical workers you think are not impressive, who saved Qiuhe City! If you deny us, then there's no need for your play to exist!"
The magistrate looked at her, puzzled: "Why are you so concerned about these details and getting angry over such a small matter? It's always been like this. If you don't believe me, look through the history books. Aren't they all about men's stories? How many of the women's stories are positive?"
Looking at his self-righteous demeanor, Lin Fuman suddenly felt very tired.
She felt the same exhaustion she had felt when she first arrived in Qiuhe City, wanting to save people but instead being maliciously infected.
She was somewhat reluctant to argue with the magistrate, because she knew she couldn't persuade him.
Perhaps she shouldn't have argued with him in the first place; it was a complete waste of energy.
She subconsciously looked down at the crowd of people who were still eagerly anticipating the performance.
She knew that the magistrate made this change because he looked down on women and thought they were incapable of achieving great things.
Perhaps she shouldn't care about these things.
She doesn't need male actors on stage to prove herself.
All she needed was for the people of Qiuhe City to remember that it was Xiaotuanzi who asked her to bring the medicine, that they had cured the plague, and that countless women had bravely sacrificed themselves to come and help them.
“Just because it has always been this way doesn’t mean it’s right,” Lin Fuman sighed. “Never mind, you can go.”
The magistrate looked indifferent and even thought she was a bit like a crazy woman.
He turned to leave, but was stopped by the guards.
The magistrate was taken aback, and Lin Fuman was also stunned. The two of them turned around to look at Xie Wenling, who had remained silent all along.
Xie Wenling's face was as cold as frost, and his eyes were icy.
The magistrate had a bad feeling.
Xie Wenling said bluntly, "Drag him out and behead him."
Not a single wasted word, not a single argument.
"Yes!" The guard responded and stepped forward, reaching out to lift the magistrate.
The magistrate was terrified and couldn't believe it: "Why...why?"
But Xie Wenling completely ignored him.
The magistrate knew he was serious and would not hesitate to kill him; he was not just trying to scare him.
He collapsed to the ground, his trousers soaked, and cried incoherently, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for sparing my life! I was wrong! I will never do it again! Please spare my life!"
Lin Fuman was also stunned; she hadn't expected Xie Wenling to order the killings directly because of this.
Although she was angry at the magistrate's actions and despised his character, she ultimately felt that it was not a capital offense and there was no need to escalate it to the point of taking someone's life.
She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Lord Xie, let it go... Although he did wrong, he didn't deserve to die. A lesson is enough; there's no need to kill him."
Xie Wenling originally didn't want to pay any attention to her either.
But he remembered that when the little dumpling wrote him a letter, she specifically asked him to take good care of Sister Fufu.
In addition, based on his observations, Lin Fuman was indeed a kind-hearted person, just like Qu Zijin.
He thought for a moment, then turned to look at her: "You think I wanted to kill him because he changed the script?"
Lin Fu was taken aback: "Isn't that right?"
Xie Wenling casually gave an example of his sins: "From the beginning of the plague outbreak, he outwardly complied but inwardly defied the law, refusing to open the granaries for disaster relief, and secretly sold the grain at high prices for profit."
"He made several attempts to escape the city with his family, spreading the idea that disaster relief was useless, which led to a popular uprising and the spread of the plague..."
"We didn't kill him before because the situation was unstable and we were afraid it would cause panic among officials and ruin the disaster relief efforts. Now that the plague has subsided, it's a good time to settle both old and new scores."
After all, at that time, he couldn't and wouldn't offend both officials and the people at once.
After he executed those patients who had escaped and maliciously spread the plague, he first had to appease the officials and send them a message that he was not going to take action against them—regardless of whether he really wasn't going to, that was the message he had to convey.
But now, things have calmed down, and the people love and trust him.
He can now target the officials.
Lin Fuman suddenly realized what was going on, but she was still a little worried: "But if we kill him, won't it scare the other officials? What if they become afraid to do their jobs in the future?"
“It’s better to be afraid to do something than to do something bad,” Xie Wenling waved his hand at the guards. “Drag them away and execute them immediately. Also, arrest those people who embezzled supplies and spread rumors with the magistrate and deal with them as well.”
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