In the ninth year of the First Emperor, the year of Jiazi, at the beginning of late autumn, they gathered at the Star-Plucking Tower in Chaoge to celebrate the nation. All the immortals arrived, young and old alike.
The immortals had all taken their seats. The moon shone bright, and the stars were few.
Lü Yue occupied a table alone. Another who sat alone was a Daoist named Wang Chan, who called himself Xuanweizi. He belonged to neither the Chan Sect nor the Interception Sect.
He was an unaffiliated cultivator Shen Gongbao had happened to befriend in a deep mountain valley during his arduous cultivation.
Anyone who came was a guest. Their cultivation level did not matter; eyes, ears, and a mouth were enough. In this age, nothing spread news faster than the mouths of immortals.
Zi Shou first trotted out his usual remarks, offering a few perfunctory pleasantries, then invited the immortals to watch an opera.
The opera, starring Zi Yan, was none other than Meng Jiangnü Weeps at the Great Wall.
Zi Shou had written this play himself. Glorifying others and vilifying himself had always been his style. He had left the remaining plays to Shi Yan, since one man's energy was limited.
Meng Jiangnü represented the hundred women who had traveled north. Although those women were now living better lives than ever, even enjoying themselves so much that they forgot all about Chaoge and stayed at the Northern Border, a dramatized tale could take liberties. A few theatrical alterations were perfectly normal and reasonable.
Like Mai Yun Stabs King Zhou, Meng Jiangnü Weeps at the Great Wall was divided into three acts.
The first act followed Meng Jiangnü's search for her husband, emphasizing her virtue and goodness and the king's tyranny. Her husband had been diligently studying