My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

"Chang Lang, look!"

As they walked, Gu Li pointed to a stage and said, "This is the stage where the actors from Prince Qi's mansion perform."

Chang An looked in the direction she pointed and saw a few actors on the stage, who seemed to be performing some kind of play.

"The actors from Prince Qi's mansion?" Chang An looked at Gu Li. "What are they singing?"

"This isn't really an opera," Gu Li said. "It's a song and dance show. I think it's called 'Tayao Niang'."

Chang An nodded and looked at the stage again. The actors on the stage were dancing and singing the lines. The actors were made up and looked beautiful and good at singing. They composed the lyrics and music with their sorrow and resentment. The melody was sad, as if they were telling the misfortune of the characters themselves.

After listening for a while, Chang An also roughly understood the meaning of the song: it was probably about a man who was extremely ugly, but after becoming an official, he became addicted to alcohol and beat and scolded his wife. The actor on the stage was probably the wife, using lyrics and music to express her misfortune.

"Mother Gu, can you understand the meaning of the song?" Chang An asked, pinching Gu Li's hand.

Gu Li shook his head and replied, "I haven't listened to this song much before, but I just think it has a sad and miserable meaning."

"This song talks about a husband abusing his wife and the wife complaining about it." Chang An explained briefly.

"Ah!" Gu Li said in surprise, "No wonder it's so sad."

Then she pulled Chang An's hand and said, "Chang Lang, we won't watch this anymore. Let's go."

Chang An raised his eyebrows and took her away from the stage, asking, "Such a good play, why do you say you won't watch it anymore?"

"Because... because Chang Lang wouldn't treat me like that," Gu Li shook Chang An's hand and said, "Looking at this thing will make people think too much, so just don't look at it and don't think about it, how good."

"Do you trust me so much?" Chang An reached out and scratched Gu Li's face, and asked jokingly, "What if I really become like that in the future?"

"No, my Chang Lang loves me very much." Gu Li said, and put his other hand in Chang An's arm.

While whispering, Chang An and Gu Li came to another stage area.

There are three men on the stage. One of them stands in the front of the dancers, wearing a gorgeous dance costume and with heavy makeup on his face. Among the other two men, one holds a pipa and the other holds a 羯鼓.

"This is Mr. Li's "Weichuan Qu". Chang Lang probably hasn't heard of it." Gu Li also said at this time.

Weichuan Qu? Mr. Li? Is it the music master of the Tang Dynasty?

Chang An thought so and asked, "Is this Mr. Li Guinian?"

"Yes." Gu Li nodded, and then looked at the stage -

The three Li Guinian brothers were dressed in gorgeous clothes and had makeup on their faces. Li Pengnian, who was in front of all the dancers, danced to the sound of Li Henian's pipa and Li Guinian's 羯鼓. They danced with graceful movements and coordinated well.

During the performance, the lanterns and music on the stage complemented each other, creating a sad atmosphere of "a song of the south city, a touch of old memories". In addition to the noisy music and dance on the stage, the audience was also very enthusiastic. They kept clapping and cheering for the actors, making the whole scene even more lively.

At this time, as Li Guinian struck the 羯鼓 hard, the sound of the stage in this area stopped abruptly. Li Pengnian retreated, and the dancers behind him also split into two groups and retreated to the sides. Li Henian and Li Guinian also stood up and walked forward, and finally the three brothers stood side by side.

Gu Li suddenly started to cough, covered her mouth and bent over to cough, and Chang An quickly rubbed her back to help her breathe. It was also because of this little episode that Chang An did not hear what Li Guinian said on the stage.

"Dear guests, it is the Lantern Festival now. You may be a little tired of just listening to dance and music." Li Guinian said to the audience.

"So today the three of us would like to invite a spectator to come up to the stage and play a game with us, okay?" Li Henian also said.

"Good!" The audiences in the audience also applauded. No matter if they would be picked or not, it was still more interesting than just watching the show.

Li Pengnian also took down the hydrangea hanging on his chest and said, "Then let me throw the hydrangea. You don't have to raise your hands to grab it. It all depends on how you throw the hydrangea. If it hits that young man, please come forward."

At this time, the audience began to applaud again, and then Li Pengnian turned around and threw the hydrangea in his hand back with force...

Chang An finally helped Gu Li calm down, but suddenly he felt something light hit his head. He and Gu Li were a little confused, so they looked up at the stage.

At this time, Chang An saw the three brothers Li Guinian looking at him with smiles. Among them, Li Guinian shouted, "Please invite the gentleman who was hit by the embroidered ball to come on stage."

Chang An was still confused at this time. Seeing that everyone around him was looking at him, he looked at Gu Li again. Finally, he turned back to look at the stage. Li Guinian had already pointed his finger at him and looked at him with a smile.

It seemed that the person Li Guinian was talking about was him, so he led Gu Li to the front of the stage. The audience on the side also left a path for them to pass.

Arriving at the stage, Chang An patted Gu Li's hand, then walked onto the stage.

Seeing Chang An approaching, Li Guinian raised his hand to salute and asked, "May I know this gentleman's name?"

Chang An also raised his hand to return the greeting and said, "I dare not. My name is Chang An, and my courtesy name is Yonghe."

"Mr. Chang, I have long heard of your name. I have also had the honor of reading your poems before." Li Guinian said with a smile, and then asked, "Mr. Chang, are you interested in playing a game with my three brothers tonight?"

"What game?" Chang An said, and looked in the direction of Gu Li below the stage.

At this moment, two maids came forward with bows and arrows. Li Guinian also pointed to a pole opposite the stage and said, "This game is both simple and difficult."

Chang An also looked in the direction Li Guinian pointed at this time - opposite the area where Li Guinian worked was a restaurant, and the pole was standing on the top of the restaurant. The pole itself was not very high, and there was a hydrangea hanging on the pole.

"What Chang Langjun has to do is to squat in the middle of the dancing actors and wait with a bow in hand. When I strike the 羯鼓 hard, the dancers will all squat or retreat to the sides."

"When the view in front of you is wide, there will be only one dancer left in front of Mr. Chang. When she raises her hand, Mr. Chang can start to draw his bow and shoot arrows."

"If you can shoot down the hydrangea within the specified time, my three brothers will give you gifts." Li Pengnian also said.

"If an arrow misses or if no arrow is shot for a long time, the dancers will stand up and continue dancing, repeating this process until the end of the dance. If the arrow has not hit the target by the end of the dance, it is considered a failure," said Li Henian.

Chang An listened to the three brothers Li Guinian explaining the rules to him one by one. Then Li Guinian finally asked, "Does Chang Langjun remember it?"

Chang An nodded, and then the maid came forward and handed him the bow and arrow. Then, after Chang An took a last look at Gu Li and smiled at her, Li Guinian pulled Chang An to the center of the dancers, and then the dancers on both sides surrounded him.

Li Guinian and Li Henian also returned to their original positions and continued to play music. The music started again, and the dancers raised their sleeves and continued to dance.

Chang An squatted in the middle of the dancers, his entire field of vision blocked by the sleeves and skirts. Even if he wanted to look up, he could only see the graceful figures of the dancers, and nothing beyond that.

Gu Li was standing under the stage at this time, nervously looking at where Chang An was. Sometimes he could see Chang An squatting between the skirts of the dancers.

Chang An squatted inside for a long time, and suddenly he heard a heavy drumbeat. As soon as the drumbeat stopped, the dancers closest to him squatted down, and the dancers on both sides stepped back and squatted down, leaving only one dancer still dancing on the stage.

At this time, Chang An stood up, and the dancer squatted down, then suddenly raised her sleeves and pointed directly at the hydrangea opposite.

Chang An looked at Gu Li standing in the audience and blinked his left eye at her. Although Gu Li didn't know what Chang An meant by this action, she felt inexplicably happy.

At this moment, a shout was suddenly heard from the crowd: "Hit it! Chang Langjun hit it!"

Only then did Gu Li come back to his senses and turned his head to look at the pole. The hydrangea hanging on it had been shot off and was rolling down from the roof.

She turned back to look at the stage, and saw Chang An standing there, holding the bow in his hand. Gu Li realized that in the short time when Chang An blinked at her, he had already drawn the bow and shot the hydrangea down.

At this moment, applause broke out both in the audience and on the stage.

"Mr. Chang is a great archer." Li Guinian also put down his drumstick and walked forward clapping his hands.

He saw everything Chang An did just now. After Chang An stood up, he did not draw the bow immediately, but looked down at the stage before drawing the bow and shooting the arrow.

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Li." Chang An returned the bow and arrow to the maid who walked up.

"It's one of the six arts. Since I'm a student of sage books, I naturally need to know how to shoot arrows."

Hearing Chang An's modesty, Li Guinian nodded with satisfaction, then pointed to the entrance of the restaurant opposite and said, "Mr. Chang, look over there—"

Chang An looked back and saw a white horse with red mane. Its fur was bright and its eyes were like copper bells.

"That white horse has just reached its prime and can be said to be a good colt. This is the reward for you, Mr. Chang, for shooting down the embroidered ball."

"Then I will be very grateful for your help." Chang An simply did not refuse and thanked him, "I will take my wife to visit the Bali Theater later. Bye."

"Remember to take the horse away!" Li Guinian reminded again.

"Thank you, Mr. Li."

After Chang An finished speaking, he left the stage.