Inside the Fengtian Grand Theater, gongs and drums thundered as the lilting opera melodies rang out without end.
### Tonight's performance belonged to Mei Laoban. Every seat was taken, and applause thundered from the audience.
### In the finest Private Room on the second floor, Zhang Xueliang sat with one leg crossed over the other, a lidded teacup in hand. He swayed his head along with the music onstage, his face rapt with delight.
### Beside him sat a fashionable young woman in a Qipao. Every now and then, she leaned close to his ear and whispered something, her breath fragrant as an orchid. It made him grin from ear to ear.
### Just then, the door to the Private Room was flung open.
### "Commander!"
### Adjutant Tan Hai rushed in, his face full of panic and sweat pouring from his forehead.
### "Can't you see I'm listening to the opera? Is the sky falling or something?"
### Zhang Xueliang knitted his brows, his face clearly displeased.
### Could anything under heaven matter more than Mei Laoban's performance?
### "Commander! Colonel Liu Duoquan from Ershilibao called with an urgent message. He said, he said..."
### Tan Hai panted so hard he could barely get the words out.
### "What did he say? Stop hemming and hawing like a woman."
### Zhang Xueliang set down his teacup and impatiently waved a hand.
### "Tell him to spit it out. I'll deal with it after the opera's over."
### "He said the Japanese... the Japanese have attacked!"
### Tan Hai's voice had gone shrill.
### "What the hell?"
### Zhang Xueliang froze, the easygoing look on his face vanishing in an instant.
### He shoved the woman beside him away and stood up.
### "Move! Take me to the phone!"
###