Bronze Horse Holding a Ring in Its Mouth
Amidst the commotion, Zilin, dressed as a peasant woman, staggered onto the stage, her hair disheveled and her clothes covered in mud.
She knelt before the platform, facing north, and wept.
"The fields of Daze Township have been barren for three years! Three thousand people from Daze Township have died! Qin Emperor, you are only concerned with building your Great Wall and constructing your Efang, have you ever looked down to see that these nine hundred people were also your subjects!"
The cheers suddenly stopped.
One of the miners lowered his head and rubbed his eyes.
The sound of crying rose from a corner of the crowd, as if something had been suppressed for too long and could no longer be contained.
Zilin's voice continued to rise amidst her sobs:
"Today we rise in rebellion not to overthrow your Qin Emperor's empire, but because this empire has rebelled against us first!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the drumbeats on the stage suddenly intensified like a torrential downpour.
Just then, Xuan Yan strode out from behind the curtain.
He was dressed as Wu Guang, carrying a lively, wriggling carp in his hand.
The fish shimmered in the firelight.
Xuan Yan raised the fish high above his head with his left hand, and suddenly drew his knife with his right hand to cut open the fish's belly:
"Heaven's will!" he shouted, pulling a crimson book from the fish's belly. "The book hidden in the fish's belly, Heaven's mandate is with me!"
The scroll slowly unfurled in the firelight, revealing only six characters, as glaring as blood.
Xuan Yan loudly proclaimed, "The Great Chu will rise, Chen Sheng king!"
The miners below the stage were stunned at first, then erupted in a commotion.
Some people took off their short tunics and waved them above their heads, some gripped their hoes and slammed them to the ground, and many more just opened their mouths and shouted along, tears mingling with the dust and dirt, streaming down their faces without them even realizing it.
Immediately afterwards, Yang Xiu, disguised as a diviner with disheveled hair and bare feet, slowly walked out from the side of the platform, holding yarrow stalks.
He walked to the front of the stage, bowed three times, and shouted loudly:
"The First Emperor is dead, and the land is divided! The Great Chu rises, Chen Sheng is king!"
Amidst the commotion, a mournful fox cry rang out from somewhere.
The sound was sharp and drawn-out, like a night wind blowing from the depths of a canyon, or like a ghost crawling out of a grave and weeping.
The miners were startled and turned around to look, but they couldn't see anything.
The fox's cry rose again, this time even closer.
The campfire crackled and flickered in the night wind, its light casting shifting shadows on everyone's faces.
Youning slowly emerged from behind the curtain, dressed in black robes, with half of her face covered by a bronze mask.
He carried a lantern that flickered on and off, its light swaying precariously in the night wind, yet never went out.
He stood still in front of the stage, then suddenly looked up and let out a piercingly mournful fox cry.
The sound didn't come from the throat, but rather seemed to seep from the depths of the earth, sending chills down one's spine.
"The Great Chu will rise, Chen Sheng be king!"
Youning's voice rang out after the fox's cry; it wasn't loud, but it clearly penetrated everyone's ears.
The audience was completely silent.
The miners stared wide-eyed at the masked man, as if they were truly seeing a fox speaking under the moonlight.
At this moment, Xuan Yan raised the book of cinnabar again, Su Yao drew the sword from his waist, and more than ten disciples emerged from behind the curtain, forming a line in front of the campfire, each holding a bamboo pole or wooden stick with a sharpened tip that gleamed with a cold white light in the firelight.
They shouted in unison:
"Condemn the wicked and punish the tyrannical Qin!"
More than 100,000 miners roared in the audience below the platform, creating a deafening roar that nearly overturned the entire canyon.
Chen Hai's fingers, which had been tapping his knees, had stopped at some point.
He gazed at the blank red flag on the stage, and at the jubilant crowd below:
"Good. A letter hidden in a fish's belly, a fox's cry by the campfire, and the uprising at Daze Township!" He raised his wine bowl, his voice booming, "This play deserves a toast!"
Then he stood up, took the wine bowl, circled it once, and drank it all in one gulp.
He sat down again, then paused, and said:
"The leader of a group who hides a book in the belly of a fish is meritorious; the fox's cry by the campfire is even more impressive when accompanied by a supporting actor. Without the assistance of playing the zither and lute, and the cheerleaders waving flags, even the most exquisite singing would not achieve this effect."
Amidst the commotion, Chen Hai, seated high above, waved his hand and called out loudly, "Continue!"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone on stage retreated to the backstage area.
When they emerged from behind the scenes again, their costumes had changed.
Su Yao was not the lead actor in this performance—he changed into a plain-colored long robe and simply stood on the side of the stage, holding a flute.
On the stage, Yang Xiu, Ying Qi, and Mo Li stood side by side in the center, flanked by Su Yao, Youning, and Xuan Yan. Liu Yunhe and others, dressed as soldiers, stood on either side.
Su Yao's expression had become much more composed.
As soon as Chen Hai finished speaking, he secretly activated the Prism to look, and saw that the air currents that were previously imperceptible were surging towards everyone like a tide.
Using the power of that airflow, he felt that his understanding of the Dao had deepened, and he was secretly amazed: Proclaiming Earth True Lord had only been reincarnated for a few days, yet he was already able to use his destiny to give back to everyone.
He suppressed his thoughts and held the bamboo flute to his lips.
A clear, melodious flute note pierced the night, and the second act, "The Bronze Horse Holding a Ring in Its Mouth," began.
The campfire crackled in the mine.
Yang Xiu, disguised as a general of the Bronze Horse Army, with tattered armor, led Ying Qi, Mo Li, and more than ten soldiers out from the side of the platform.
The faces of the group were weathered, yet their steps remained steady.
Yang Xiu, his hand on his sword, looked around and solemnly recited, "Seven hundred li of the Bronze Horse Road, three thousand Han soldiers. Brothers, we're home!"
All the soldiers saluted in unison, patting their chests. "General!"
The drumbeats were slow and deep, like the footsteps of someone returning home. Yang Xiu unfastened the long sword from his waist, held it up with both hands, and placed it on a stone table in front of the platform.
Ying Qi, Mo Li, and the soldiers stepped forward one by one and piled up the knives, spears, axes, and halberds.
Weapons clashed and clanged.
Yang Xiu knelt on one knee, looking up at the sky:
"We were originally farmers in Longxi, but the harsh and tyrannical government forced us to take up our swords. Now we have killed enough and starved enough. Since the court is willing to grant us amnesty, we will lay down our swords and become ordinary people of Longxi, tilling the fields and herding horses until the end of our days. Heaven and Earth bear witness to our hearts!"
At this moment, Su Yao's flute music suddenly turned into a mournful lament.
The faint sound of horses' hooves could be heard in the distance, growing louder as they approached.
A moment later, the sound of hooves abruptly stopped.
Lu Yu, playing the role of an eunuch, carried a yellow imperial edict and strode onto the stage, followed by several armored soldiers.
The eunuch unfolded the imperial edict and said in a shrill voice:
"All generals of the Bronze Horse Army, receive the imperial decree!"
Yang Xiu led the crowd in bowing.
The eunuch cleared his throat and drawled out a string of indistinct words.
Mo Li, kneeling behind Yang Xiu, looked puzzled and asked in a low voice:
"Sir, what is this being recited? This old man doesn't understand a word..."
Yang Xiu's face was ashen, and he managed to squeeze out only two words through gritted teeth. "Accept amnesty."
The eunuch loudly continued, "The generals of the Bronze Horse Army are hereby granted land and residences in Longxi. They must return home immediately without delay. This is the imperial decree!"
Yang Xiu kowtowed upon hearing this.
Everyone followed suit and kowtowed.
The eunuch withdrew carrying the imperial edict, and the sound of the armored soldiers' boots gradually faded into the distance, finally disappearing from view of the side of the platform.
Ying Qi looked around blankly:
"Where are the fields? Where is the house? Why did they only give us this piece of paper?"
Yang Xiu did not answer.
He slowly rose, picked up the longsword that had been placed on the stone table, gripped it in his hand, and gazed in the direction the eunuch had left. Suddenly, he murmured:
"You've already sheathed your sword, what's there to be afraid of?"
Before he could finish speaking, a piercing gong suddenly rang out from the side of the stage.
It wasn't the gong used by the opera troupe; it was the gong used by the government to clear the way.
The gong buzzed in the air above the mine, and the eunuch who had left earlier returned, followed by several times more armored soldiers than before.
The eunuch held up another imperial edict high, his expression completely different from before, and shouted sternly:
"Bronze Horse Army, heed my command!"