The Concubine's Daughter Travels Through Time and Space and Takes the Road of Confrontation

When Lu Yun and Dashou arrived, the theater was bustling with activity.

Compared to the three-story Xiyuan in Kyoto, the theater in Dali City is a two-story wooden octagonal building. On the main entrance hangs a red plaque with two golden characters "Liyuan" inscribed on it.

Simple and crude, clear at a glance.

But after entering, Lu Yun found that this was not the case at all.

There were seven or eight tables in the lobby, all already filled with people. Many guests were also perched on the second-floor railings, watching the fun unfold. Men, women, young and old were present, with more women than men. Their attire varied greatly: some wore tight, gold-trimmed tops and tube skirts, while others wore black aprons with white trousers, a red slanted-lapel vest over a white top, and brightly colored headscarves.

There were also many people wearing the Central Plains people's double-breasted, stand-collared long gowns and robes.

On the stage in front, someone was performing acrobatics such as breathing fire and swallowing swords, which occasionally aroused enthusiastic cheers from the audience. When the act was over, many sachets and flowers flew out of the crowd, and silver fell onto the stage, making a constant tinkling and clanging sound.

Lu Yun wore a large-sleeved, double-breasted blouse embroidered with golden camellia flowers. Her dark hair was tied in a bun on top of her head, and she wore a small pink crown adorned with lotus and pearls, with several pink and red gauze camellias pinned at the base. A long red ribbon draped down her back, each adorned with a thumb-sized pink pearl. Her rosy cheeks, clear eyes, and graceful gait attracted many people's attention as soon as she appeared, and the noise in the building was much quieter than before.

In the private room on the second floor, Jiao Ying, the second daughter of the Jiao family, looked at the figure downstairs with amazement and said to the maid Cai Die beside her:

"That young lady downstairs is so pretty. Is the style of her clothes from the Central Plains? And the pattern on them? Go and find out where she comes from. Invite her to come sit in our room."

Jiao Song, the young master of the Jiao family, has a high nose and deep eyes, with distinct black and white eyes and bronze skin. He wears a black slim-fitting robe, and his hair is braided into several small braids with colorful hair ropes and tied on top of his head. He has a turquoise silver earring hanging on his right ear.

He stood beside his sister, frowning and reminding her, "Sister, have you forgotten about the Princess of Zhongyuan who was making so much noise in our city a while ago?"

Jiao Ying suddenly realized, and hurriedly called to the maid, "Cai Die, come back quickly." Jin Jin had said that the daughters of the Central Plains were all arrogant, had many rules, and spoke in a roundabout way that was difficult to understand. If this woman was truly a princess from the Central Plains, her noble status alone would put her above them. They would have to accommodate her in their interactions, and the thought of it made her feel exhausted.

The boss came hurriedly, bowed and smiled, "My Lady, the private room is ready. Please come upstairs."

Lu Yun had already recognized that the person in front of her was not the owner of Xiyuan. Without saying anything, she nodded and followed him upstairs. Dashou looked at the scene of the building curiously, and was quite interested. "Sister, this place looks quite interesting."

As they passed a room, they heard a loud argument coming from inside. The accompanying guards looked alert. The owner looked embarrassed. Fights and arguments were common in the opera house, but they mostly happened on the first floor. It was really unlucky for him to have encountered such a situation today.

He glanced at the name on the room and immediately recognized the people inside as the young master and young lady of the Jiao family. He was worried that if something happened, he would not be able to bear the responsibility. Lu Yun slowed down his pace and listened carefully, but he could not make out the gibberish.

So I whispered to the boss on the side, "Boss, what are they talking about?"

The boss was ashamed and said, "My Lady Princess, these are just children quarreling over food and drink."

Lu Yun looked away in disappointment. It turned out to be this—she had thought that the hat knitter and the hat wearer were arguing.

"Bang" something flew out and landed right at Lu Yun's feet, followed by a cloud of snack crumbs.

Fortunately, the guard reacted in time and stood in front of Lu Yun.

Lu Yun looked at the celadon plate at her feet, motioned Dashou to stay put, and frowned at the guard, "Go knock on the door."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened and a teenage girl wearing all silver jewelry walked out. Her face was flushed with shame. Suddenly, A-di started yelling and throwing things like a madman, as if he had eaten the wrong mushrooms.

"Miss, I'm sorry. I apologize to you on behalf of my brother."

Lu Yun's expression eased slightly. When she saw that the person who caused the trouble was a man of about her age, she frowned and said, "Since the trouble wasn't yours, you don't need to apologize. Ask your brother to come out and make amends."

Jiao Ying was stunned. She obviously didn't expect her to say that. Although it sounded reasonable, she hesitated and glanced at the room behind her. "Girl, my brother—"

"Apologize if you want." Jiao Song strode out, his tone sarcastic. "No wonder they say women from the Central Plains are so arrogant and look down on us South Vietnamese. Today I finally saw it. Sister has already apologized to you. Do you think my sister and I should kneel down and kowtow to you just for a plate to be considered an apology?"

Jiaoying was almost scared to tears, and kept pulling her brother to tell him not to say anything more.

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding South Vietnamese people who were watching the excitement looked at Lu Yun and his group with unfriendly eyes. The boss stepped forward to persuade him, but he was rudely pushed aside. "Boss Bai, you have nothing to do here!"

Lu Yun looked at the foreign child in front of her who was a head shorter than her, bent down to pick up the plate on the ground, and took a step forward.

"What are you going to do?" Jiao Song looked at the plate in her hand nervously and asked loudly.

The crowd began to stir, and someone shouted, "We can't let a foreigner bully our people on our territory!"

The guards looked at each other and put their hands on the swords at their waists.

Lu Yun held the plate and looked around. Finally, she landed it on the boy's face and suddenly smiled. "Little brother, I didn't bully you. It was you who threw the plate first and almost hit me. Fortunately, this plate didn't fall downstairs, otherwise -"

Lu Yun stuck her head out and glanced downstairs, making sure that no one was there. She extended her hand holding the plate over the railing, then let go. With a muffled "bang", half of the plate sank into the thick, solid black lacquered wooden table.

Those who witnessed this scene were stunned.

Lu Yun looked at everyone and said, "In your opinion, which is harder, the table or my head, that can catch this plate?"

"Whose little boy is this? He's so naughty. I think what they said makes sense. There are so many people downstairs. It's not fun to hurt someone."

"Yes, yes, I was sitting right here just now. If it breaks, it will be enough for all of us to suffer."

Jiao Song's face turned grim. "The plate clearly didn't fall, you're talking nonsense!"

Lu Yun pressed on, "If you didn't do it this time, what about next time? Can you guarantee that you won't hurt anyone and that we'll be there to protect you every time?"

"You're making a fuss! Women from the Central Plains are truly cunning!" the boy shouted anxiously. "I just can't stand the way you look down on everyone."

Lu Yun pretended to be surprised. "So you did it on purpose. You couldn't stand it, so you threw the plates at us. Tsk tsk tsk!"

The people around tried to reconcile, "Kid, apologize quickly, girl, let's forget about it."