MAIR – Chapter 78 – The Empress Yun Chuo Yi

Not only Fu Cheng, but also Meng Hong and the others were stunned because they didn’t expect that they would be singing for real on this stage. They were still some distance away from the stage, and there was no loudspeaker equipment onstage, but they could hear it clearly.

This is the highlight stage of the plot. Cao Cao humiliates Mi Heng and orders him to become a drummer. Mi Heng curses all the officials and Cao Cao by drumming.

The most wonderful part of this passage is that Mi Heng uses the changes of the drums to match the music and express his indignation.

Drumming may seem simple, but it’s very difficult to play the various changes. Arms and wrists should be used, especially here with the chorus. It’s even more difficult to play it live.

However, the Mi Heng on stage is adept at it, the drums are impassioned, and the lyrics are all sang in one breath, so that people can thoroughly immerse in it.

After that, Mi Heng went back and forth with Cao Cao and the others, having a fierce debate.

The cooperation between the two sides was excellent, the rhythm was perfect, and people’s hearts were completely immersed in the story.

Among the four guests, except for Yan Zhenxiong, who listens to Beijing opera on weekdays, the other three have hardly heard it. At first, they were forced to listen to it for the sake of filming, but they grew really fascinated by it.

When Mi Heng sang, “I would rather be a guest at death’s gate, than a servant of this traitor!” the sound was resonated.

The four of them felt their hot blood boiling, as they applauded with the other spectators.

By the end of the play, the four of them wiped their brows and found that there was a layer of sweat on them. It was winter now, and although Mujiang city was relatively warm, they could still feel a chill when sitting in the open air. Who would have known that this play would not only make them forget the cold, but also get sweaty.

Qiu Jie was almost dumbfounded the whole time. “Is this Beijing opera? Also… It’s so exciting!”

The man next to him answered again, “Is this your first time listening to the play, brother?”

Qiu Jie nodded and asked, “Is this Ms. Yun really a woman? I heard her sing, and her voice was so powerful that I couldn’t recognize it as a girl’s voice at all.”

Without waiting for the man to speak, Yan Zhenxiong said, “It’s said that Yun Chao Yi’s singing is very strict and heavy, without female features, and is the leading Kun Sheng in Dongjiang.”  

“This gentleman knows the drama play,” the man said. “Listening to Ms. Yun singing aria is like drinking cold water on a hot day. It’s a pleasure!”

When he said this, the four of them agreed with him.

Just then, a man in a long mandarinian jacket ran over. “Reporter Meng, what are you doing here? It was not easy for me to find you!”

Meng Hong and Yan Zhenxiong, who had been listening to Yan Zhenxiong’s conversation with the spectators, heard his words, and then suddenly returned to their minds.

“Yes, yes, I almost forgot my identity.”

They all have their own identities in the program to reasonably participate in history. In Li Yuan, Meng Honghe and the others played the role of newspaper reporters.

“Ms. Yun has been waiting backstage for a long time. Come with me quickly,” said the mandarinian jacket. “Come with me, quickly please.”

It was only then that Meng Honghe and the others straightened out their identities and followed the long mandarin jacket to the background.

When they went backstage, they saw a man wearing white chinese clothing with his back facing them, as if he was removing his makeup.

After taking off her broad costume, they found out that her back was exquisite and she was indeed a woman.

Hearing the news, she didn’t look back at them, just said slowly, “How many journalists are here for an interview? Please sit for a moment.”

Her voice was clear, without the slightest girl’s fawning, but still unaffected by the performance, even her light accent was very natural.

She took it for granted, that the four men would do so without any objection.

When the four men came back to their senses, they felt confused.

Thinking about it, among the four of them, one is a veteran host who was in charge for nearly 20 years, one is a talented professor from the History Department, one is a movie emperor with excellent acting skills, and the last one is a little king who was not afraid of the world. Each of them has seen the world, but in front of this little girl, they were as honest as quails.

Qiu Jie was arrogant and shameless, he immediately felt that the other side didn’t give him enough face. So he immediately stood up and deliberately made trouble for the other person. “Did you really sing on stage just now? Why don’t you sound anything like before?”

Meng Honghe did not stop Qiu Jie, thinking about the effect on the variety show.

The figure who had finished removing her makeup, slowly turned round.

Her natural face was facing the world, but it was exactly like the phrase “lotus bloom in clear water, becoming natural decoration”. There was this kind of beauty between her eyes and the eyebrows, which made her stunning.

Qiu Jie’s words stuck in his throat, and it took him a long time to recover and sit back in frustration.

The camera accurately captured this scene, and Director Yu, who had been in front of the monitor, punched the air. “Good! Steady.”

Once again, he felt that he hadn’t chosen the wrong person. This quiet arrogance was enough to make people believe that she was the legendary Yun Chu Yi of Li Yuan who was famous all over China.

The story of “Li Yuan” begins with Yun Chu Yi’s choice to give up her achievements in Dongjiang and go to the north to study opera.

It was Mr. Xue who played her teacher.

In the play, two people teach and learn, showing the relationship between teachers and students vividly.

However, no one knew that Mr. Xue was really teaching her attentively. There was no falsehood in this appreciation and love.

Even after a hundred years, support and inheritance have never changed.

After that, Yun Chu Yi made a comeback. At that time, her skills had been perfected and took over the stage. Once again, opera became popular in Zhongjing, which established her position as the empress of Li Yuan.

However, with the outbreak of the Anti Japanese War, she raised money for charity by performing in Zhongjing and ran back and forth in order to raise anti japanese funds. After hearing that her friend Gu Mei had died in Dongjiang, she also resolutely returned to Dongjiang.

Meng Hong and the others really seemed to become reporters who recorded her life. They were completely immersed in her story. Even when Yun Chu Yi decided to return to Dongjiang, Qiu Jie forgot that they were shooting and blurted out anxiously, “You can’t go back! You almost died, you know!”

Qiu Jie realized that he was out of the script and broke in a cold sweat.

However, Chu Mei Bo, who sat opposite him, did not panic at all. She said lightly, “Life and death is a matter decided by heaven. Even if I really die, this is my life.”

She raised her eyes and smiled at Qiu Jie. “Besides, since I almost died, this means I am still alive. I thank Mr. Qiu for his kind words.”

Her eyes had seen everything, but she didn’t care.

She seemed to have known for a long time that these reporters were not simple, but they still didn’t reach the bottom of the matter. Such a free and easy atmosphere was indeed Yun Chu Yi’s style. 

Chu Mei Bo’s performance was so natural, it was almost as if such an event had really appeared in history.

If Qiu Jie didn’t know that he had said the wrong thing, he would have thought that this was the plot of the script.

This paragraph was originally a mistake, but it became a famous scene in this episode.

After that, it was 30 years later when Yun Chu Yi returned to Zhongjing after being injured.

In those days, the busy and noisy stage was empty, the lacquered bright red tables and chairs were worn out, and the old Yun Chu Yi reappeared on stage in her regular clothes. Her singing was as vigorous and mellow as in the past, but inevitably carried the traces of her age.

She was born during the most prosperous age of Beijing opera. Her life was full of ups and downs, and she inevitably grew old with such an ancient art.

The lens slowly zoomed out, leaving only a blurred silhouette, like a faded old photo, which became a piece of history.

Meng Hong and the others stared blankly at the stage.

As the witnesses of this period of history, they followed Yun Chu Yi, as if they had really traveled from the modern times to the period of the Republic of China. Looking at the once high-spirited empress of the stage from that time, they couldn’t resist shedding tears for the erosion that took place over the years.

Just then, the headlights around the theater were suddenly turned on.

Director Yu shouted, “Cut!”

Only then did the staff say one after another, “Teachers, thank you for your hard work!”

The four of them were still in a daze, but it was Fu Cheng who was the first one to come back to his senses and greet them, “Director Yu.”

Director Yu shook hands with them one by one, but ignored the pleasantries and said to the backstage, “Where is our great heroine? Mei girl, take off your makeup and come out quickly. Let’s have a meal.”

After a while, Chu Mei Bo took off her makeup and came out refreshed, dressed in a down jacket.

Seeing her appearance, Fu Cheng was  surprised. “She is the actor playing Yun Chu Yi?”

Director Yu laughed and looked proud. “Isn’t she unexpectedly young? ——I will tell you, Mei girl is still a high school student!”

As soon as his words came out, the four guests opposite him were taken aback.

Qiu Jie couldn’t help saying, “How could it be! She should be at least thirty years old judging from her performance in the play!”

Meng Hong and the others didn’t speak, but their expressions also agreed with Qiu Jie’s words.

After all, Yun Chu Yi in the play didn’t have the slightest flaw. How could it be possible without decades of training!

Hearing their words, Shi Ren laughed and said, “Don’t be like that, when I first heard about it, I didn’t believe it either. But Junior Mei is really a high school student. Before the recording began, she was still writing her test papers backstage.”

Chu Mei Bo: “…”

Meng Honghe looked at Chu Mei Bo in amazement. But the other three had different expressions, especially Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng’s talent was very high, and he has always been conceited about it, but he has never expected to meet someone more talented than himself. She was only a teenager? If she already had this kind of acting skills, won’t it be even worse in the future?

Although Chu Mei Bo was an actress, Fu Cheng still felt a sense of deep crisis.

Just at this moment, Shen Huai came over and Director Yu hurriedly greeted him, “Junior Shen, let’s go to dinner later.”

Shen Huai handed the scarf to Chu Mei Bo and said apologetically, “Thank you very much, but we have to catch a plane back to Zhongjing later today. I’m afraid we don’t have time.”

Director Yu was a little disappointed, the more he cooperated with Chu Mei Bo, the more he realized that her acting skills were excellent. From his point of view, with Chu Mei Bo’s abilities, her future achievements would not be low.

He knows that Chu Mei Bo was discovered by Shen Huai, and Ye Cang, who got famous recently was also an artist under Shen Huai. It can be seen that Shen Huai has a good vision and they may have more opportunities to cooperate in the future.

Seeing Director Yu’s disappointed expression, Fu Cheng asked, “Director Yu, who is this?”

Director Yu said, “This is Junior Mei’s agent, who discovered her. Well, I don’t know where he found such a good actress… “

Hearing his words, Fu Cheng couldn’t help but look back at Shen Huai and remember his name secretly.


Edited by : Taalia

Proofreader: Mochi Rabbit

Support translation:

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This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Evra

    Director Yu.. let me tell you something… He found her body in the river…

    1. nanairohana

      Crap. That sounds so creepy.
      Huai: I found her body in the river and her soul in old theatre 🙂.

  2. Nui

    ? At first I thought am I at wrong site. Then I read it until the end then I realized this is chapter 78 then where is chapter 77?

  3. Sai

    Thank you for the translation! I finally caught up. I love the complexities of each character and their personal beliefs with their chosen careers.

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