Yao Ling looked up and smiled, "Bai Yi Gu Niang, we are almost ready. How much time do we still have left?"

"Around an incense of stick of time. We still need to walk to the banquet's location and it will take quite a little while. That's why all of you should be in a hurry!" Bai Yi explained. Her supervisor had told her to give a reminder to her own trope --- they shouldn't be late or they would hinder the rest of the performances.

Yao Ling quickly pretended to be nervous and tell the others to finish up everything quickly --- everything became so hectic in a flash. Bai Yi looked at the equipment that they brought and gasped in surprise. "Why are there so many?!" She asked in a loud voice. Not only many, but it looked so random too in her eyes.

Yao Ling helplessly answered her, "Our master demanded us to present a spectacular performance, of course, we have to do the best. Thus, we must go all out. This equipment is also prepared with the help of the Prime Minister, otherwise, how could lowly performers like us afford it?"

Bai Yi squinted her eyes, somehow, she was still feeling suspicious."What kind of performance that all of you will do?" She asked softly.

"It's written on the schedule..." Yao Ling trailed off while pointing at the schedule at Bai Yi's hand.

Bai Yi frowned. "However, that performance doesn't seem to need so many equipment? What is it all for?"

Yao Ling helplessly explained to Bai Yi, fortunately, they already prepared a few answers beforehand and everything seemed to be reasonable. Bai Yi asked Yao Ling with a gentle smile, "Can I ask the guards to check on the equipment one by one? It's the protocol. We need to guard the Emperor's safety."

Yao Ling pretended to look uncomfortable. "This..." She glanced at Yao Ying and answered, "Can you ask him? He's our leader and I don't have the power to answer your question."

At first, Bai Yi thought that the woman looked guilty because she planned something bad but when she knew that it was because of that reason, she started to calm down. 'Maybe... I'm thinking too much,' Bai Yi thought to herself. The other tropes also prepared a few types of equipment beforehand, even though not as many as this trope.

Yao Ling had to admit that Bai Yi's intuition was very sharp.

Yao Ling explained to Yao Ying about what Bai Yi wanted to do and Yao Ying quickly replied to Bai Yi, "Bai Yi Gu Niang, you can check them, but can you please be careful? We only have one each and we can't afford to search for a new one if one of them is broken down. It will ruin our performance." He pretended to look worried.

Bai Yi sweated when she heard this because she knew that she couldn't afford to offend the Prime Minister's side. Even though it was only a request, it was also a disguised warn. Bai Yi almost forgot that this trope was representing an important figure in their kingdom. Besides, she didn't think that the Prime Minister would plan something to harm the Emperor because the Prime Minister was known to be the most loyal dog of the Han Emperor.

Bai Yi was a lowly palace maidservant, thus, she didn't get any news about the blood letter. Besides, even if she knew, the Han Emperor had refuted that it was only a rumor before this! Bai Yi pretended to be contemplating over it but she didn't have the gut to check on the equipment carelessly, thus, she said, "We won't touch it, but we will only skim over it. How about it?"

Yao Ying nodded his head happily when they reached a concession. "Of course. Thank you, Bai Yi Gu Niang."

Bai Yi called the guard and let them check the equipment one by one after warning them that they needed to be careful when inspecting. They didn't find that something was wrong from their equipment. Bai Yi sighed in relief, knowing that she might have been thinking too much. After finis.h.i.+ng the inspection, she asked the trope to follow her. They needed to stay at the waiting place near the banquet's location and wait there. They needed to standby at least two performances before their own performance.

Yao Ling and friends started to feel nervous when they walked to the banquet's location --- not because of the performance itself, but because of whether their plan would be successful or not. Although they were quite confident beforehand, when it was time, they could feel their hearts were beating faster and their stomachs were being twisted.

If they failed, they could be killed on the spot ah~! After all, they were trying to play the Emperor. This wasn't just an ordinary conspiration.

Bai Yi looked at them and could feel their nervousness, she mistakenly thought they were being nervous because they needed to perform in front of so many important figures. She would also feel the same if she had to serve those people ah~! One mistake and she could be beaten to death --- even worse, lose her head.

Bai Yi tried to calm them down by saying, "Don't worry! Everything will be fine! Good luck!"

Yao Ling smiled and thanked her for being kind. Bai Yi was different from other palace maidservants who were usually so sn.o.bbish and Yao Ling quite appreciated her kindness. She smiled and nodded, "Thank you."

Once they arrived at the waiting place, they saw that there were few more groups that would perform before them and they were already finished getting ready. There were probably around three of four groups. They sighed in relief because they could prepare themselves more --- mentally and physically.

Bai Yi left them once they reached the waiting place. Her job was finished for now, but she still needed to arrange them after their performance ended.

Yao Ling and friends could hear the sound of zither playing beautifully and they checked the schedule list --- three more groups and then, it was their turn.

Yao Ying held Yao Ling's hand and he could feel how cold her hand was. "We'll be fine," he said with a confident voice because he didn't want Yao Ling to feel his nervousness and become more worried.

He whispered softly, "After everything go well, we can also reunite with father. Remember! We do this to avenge our mothers!"

When Yao Ling heard that, she smiled happily. "En..." After that, she had become calmer and her eyes turned sharper. She would ruin that Emperor and find justice for her mothers! He had been treating Jiu Lan cruelly and also made her birth parents separated. That person had a lot of debt towards her families! The hatred made her feel her nervousness was gone and she became more confident.

Lin Jian also told Xiao Fang the same thing, because the main point of this performance was Xiao Fang --- the latter had been learning her part for so long and the result at practice time was really good, but still, her performance was the hardest of all. At this time, the power of revenge was quite useful.

It took a long time for Yao Ying and Lin Jian to think of this method ah~! Fortunately, it was successful.

They chatted until the trope that performed before them had gone out. It was almost their time and Bai Yi had already come to remind them. She gave them a little bit pointers, for example, where should they appear from or not offend any of the officials --- something like that.

They were thinking about their performances, so they didn't really pay attention to what Bai Yi said and just nodded so that the latter would feel satisfied. They heard a clapping sound from the outside, but it wasn't a cheery one. It seemed like it was a bad performance and it affected their mood.

If the previous performance was bad, it would affect the audience's mood and it would be quite troublesome ah~!

Everyone took a deep breath to calm their nerves and then, everyone was ready.

It was their turn.