Chapter 1 The Plot Thickens

The plot only entered its proper course after His Majesty summoned Consort Xuan. Yang Yin summoned Consort Xuan, not to pardon her, but to ask why she had betrayed him and colluded with the rebels. Consort Xuan, now fearless, revealed a shocking truth. Her family was indeed connected to the rebels, partly to protect the clan and partly due to pressure. Unexpectedly, this leaked information was exploited to persecute Consort Xuan and the Lin family. When the empire was on the verge of collapse, Yang Yin didn't even bother to discern the truth. By the time he calmed down and started to reflect, all the Lin family members he could seize had already been executed, and Consort Xuan was tied to the stake.

In the play, Yang Yin had no time for remorse or apology, as Consort Xuan launched into a long series of accusations: questioning how the Great Tang Empire had fallen step by step, why absolute power had led to absolute corruption, why Yang Yin didn't have the courage to perish with the empire but was secretly planning an escape, why the generals still stationed in the capital didn't lead troops to resist the enemy, why even those last loyalists couldn't gather enough supplies, questioning what had turned the once glorious Great Tang into such a state, questioning what had turned the Great Tang Empire and the Yang imperial family, who had vowed never to repeat the mistakes of the previous dynasty, into such a cowardly and useless bunch…

This duet, lasting almost half an hour, mainly took place between these two characters, interspersed with various extras going on and off stage, reporting all sorts of bad news. After their duet ended, Consort Xuan asked to play a final zither piece for Yang Yin, requesting permission to go to the top floor of the Xuanfeng Tower to watch the rebels enter the capital and the empire fall that night. Yang Yin actually agreed.

The following two scenes showed the various national leaders gathering to discuss resisting the enemy, each with their own hidden agendas, their thoughts and wills clashing in a fascinating display. The other scene depicted the battlefield outside the city, the struggles of the lower-ranking soldiers and officers as the empire collapsed, then the rebels arriving and engulfing the desperate army resisting in vain.

After that, the various national leaders gathered their forces, preparing to resist desperately when Yang Yin arrived. Amidst the constant reports of bad news from the extras, everyone finally mustered their courage and unified their resolve. Yang Yin, as the last emperor, acknowledged the legitimacy of their future independent states and decided to use the palace and the entire capital as bait, setting the city ablaze to perish with the rebels, allowing everyone to break through separately. After sending everyone off to prepare, he entrusted his children, the princes, to Chen Jia. Then, as emperor, he began to exercise his final authority, lavishly bestowing titles upon the loyal ministers who remained faithful to the imperial family, creating a scene of utmost sorrow.

The final scene was extremely grand, using a large cast, group dances, and choruses to depict the actions of various parties amidst the great fire in the capital. Consort Xuan, on the top floor of the Xuanfeng Tower, watched the city ablaze, singing with pity and fanaticism, yet her song revealed a hint of joy, sending chills down the spine with her madness, while also lamenting the helplessness of women in the age of heroes and knights. Finally, the entire play ended with the future national leaders singing in unison, each actor singing the exact same lyrics but expressing completely different personalities, some with restraint, some with heroism, some with joy, some with sorrow. This was the most difficult and brilliant scene for the actors, but the constantly repeating and echoing song pushed the entire play to its climax.

Tan Weishi succeeded. Even in Ye Tao and Tan Weixin's timeline, such a grand drama would have caused a sensation, let alone in this timeline where people didn't have much resistance to such things. The entire performance lasted a full hour longer than the two rehearsals, removing a quarter of an hour for intermission and a combined sixth of an hour for intermissions, but during all other times, the audience was almost constantly applauding. Finally, after the entire troupe took a full eleven curtain calls, everyone gradually departed. By this time, it was already late at night.

Within the Grand Theater that day, the representatives of various forces were all shocked. Never before had a country or anyone dared to treat the affairs of the previous dynasty with such an attitude. In the entire play, the last emperor, Yang Yin, was a tragic yet complex figure. Consort Xuan, a character filled with surprises and drama in everyone's interpretation, became an important thread running through the entire play, leaving such a deep impression on everyone's minds due to Liu Xiangyuan's outstanding performance.

If the audience present were people who didn't know much about the secrets of the old empire, they might have simply seen the play as a novelty and appreciated it, but when the play was filled with so many plausible, yet artistically processed, real details, they couldn't help but overthink things. After the shock brought by the play, everyone couldn't help but wonder whether Tan Weishi's play had Tan Xiaopei's authorization, what it was trying to say, and who it was trying to say it to… And that was exactly what the play was able to achieve. After the entire troupe's excitement from the huge success faded, they were gradually overcome by fatigue, and one by one, they fell asleep, while Tan Xiaopei, Ye Tao, Zhuo Mang, and many others gathered in a specially arranged VIP banquet hall in the Grand Theater, eating a sumptuous late-night snack and chatting with laughter, as if moving the morning court meeting to here.

"Tonight, I wonder how many people won't be able to sleep," Tan Xiaopei said with emotion, after drinking a full glass of Ballantine's. With him and many important ministers of the kingdom appearing in the audience at the same time, no matter how pure everyone's attitude towards watching the play was, someone would always have fantasies. And purely in terms of this play, it was enough to excite some enthusiasts to the point of sleeplessness. Even he himself was deeply moved by the songs in the play. The entire play seemed to bring the desolation of the empire's final days before their eyes, and although everyone knew that the play wasn't reality, it expressed emotions even stronger than reality.

"That's natural," Ye Tao replied with a smile, "I suppose not many people dare to believe that this is just a plain ordinary play created by Weishi."

"After all, the empire of that time is the empire of that time. So many years have passed, and fewer and fewer people still know about the events of that time. However, from today onwards, I'm afraid what everyone remembers will be the story written by Shi'er... Ye Tao, the poems and sentences in the booklet that you and Xin'er gave to Shi'er back then, it seems that quite a few of them were actually used in this play... There's no need to shy away from what caused the empire to decline back then. The more we dare not say it, the easier it will be to make the same mistakes again when the world is unified in the future. I still know this principle. There will definitely be people who think Shi'er is presumptuous, disrespectful to elders, and disrespectful to ancestors, hehe. Who knows. Saying that my Tan family was actually loyal to the imperial family in the end is already being euphemistic. You must know that the old man of the Tan family back then wasn't such a good person. If it weren't for the documents, scrolls, gold, and silver treasures that he and his subordinates snatched from the capital, how could my Dongping have been established so easily? Is it something that anyone can do, fighting wars and governing politics?" Tan Xiaopei said excitedly, but Ye Tao didn't respond.

Seeing that Ye Tao didn't quite know what to do, Tan Xiaopei said lightly, "You don't need to mind. That old bandit mountain thief of the Tan family's ancestor actually snatched more documents and scrolls than gold and silver treasures at that time. When my father told us brothers about it back then, I was puzzled for a long time. It's a pity that Father can't see Dongping's prosperity today. If Dongping had today's strength back then, why would my brothers have died on the battlefield? I, this national leader, don't even understand how to govern the country as well as Xin'er does. This prosperity over the past ten years has really been thanks to Xin'er, and you."

Ye Tao quickly said, "Your Majesty, Xin'er really knows how to manage things, whether it's a city, a region, or a country. I'm the kind of person who spends money lavishly. Look, once Gandor City starts construction, Yun Province will have to suffer poverty for several years."

Huang Xuping interjected, "Can Yun Province support it independently? Although we're about to start a war with Northern Liao, the Ministry of Revenue still has quite a bit of savings."

Zhuo Mang smiled and said, "Lao Huang, you can't believe Ye Tao when he complains about being poor. Look at how Xin'er has been messing with the Inner Treasury for only a few years, and the Inner Treasury is almost comparable to the Ministry of Revenue's financial resources. It's true that Yun Province is a place where money is being spent everywhere now, but with Xin'er's abilities, even if it's not abundant, it's at least more than enough to cope. Lao Huang, you're not an expert in financial matters, so don't worry about this. If Yun Province's financial resources were really tight, His Majesty would have transferred money from the Inner Treasury to build Gandor long ago, and wouldn't still be hoarding so much money in his hands to prepare for building the new capital."

As soon as Zhuo Mang mentioned the new capital, everyone's interest was piqued. After comprehensively considering various factors, the new capital would still be located in the current position of Danyang, incorporating the current Danyang into it as an important area. To the west, the capital would be protected by Sufu City and Iron City, forming an unbreakable triangle. The canal project would undergo a second phase of expansion, passing directly through the middle of the new capital to ensure that the new capital could fully enjoy the benefits of water transport. After the new capital was built, the various government offices of the current Danyang would be moved there, the palace would be moved there, and all the residents would be moved there. Then, the area of the current Danyang would be completely renovated, adding infrastructure such as sewers, and demolishing old houses. The new capital would naturally have a palace that was befitting of the future country's dignity, but not overly extravagant. The original palace in Danyang would be converted into a scenic garden complex. The current Hall of Political Affairs would be renamed Lingyan Pavilion to enshrine the outstanding talents from all walks of life who had made outstanding contributions to the country. In the future, Danyang would mainly serve as a specialized area for culture, education, and entertainment, with larger-scale libraries, imperial academies, national academies, music workshops, and so on. The Grand Theater would still be one of the most important buildings, and would even be more important than it is now, becoming the core of the entire new Danyang area.

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It's the double monthly ticket period for May 1st. Seeing everyone snatching monthly tickets, I'm so tempted... But unfortunately, my writing speed is too slow, and it's already hard enough to keep updating without stopping, so I'm embarrassed to ask for them. Those who are willing to support, please support me.