Chapter 1213: Chapter 1141: Crisson and Eugenie
With the decree from the Pope, the Truth Court quickly took action.
Horn always valued the field of public opinion; due to the limitations of the era and technology, he could not achieve the level of control seen in later generations.
However, in terms of understanding journalism, he was undoubtedly at the forefront of his time.
When kingdoms like Flanlaya forced patriotism with all sorts of melodramatic oaths, Horn had long understood the principle of hiding political propaganda behind literary and entertainment works.
Back then, the "bread and circuses" were criticized by many old monks in Kasha County for bribing public approval, and even many within the Saint Father’s Association didn’t understand it.
But this initiative now truly had a place to be utilized.
From the Salvation Army’s era of traveling troupes, to newspapers, and then theaters in every town.
Directly telling them not to discriminate against different races had poor results.
But after seeing the drama, as long as someone was moved by the plot, they would naturally feel dissatisfaction towards discrimination against different races and the extraordinary.
Many monks and scholars saw it as the Saint’s Grandson always engaging in some nonsensical political show.
Now in this situation of the Holy Alliance, everything is at peace, with all sides admiring virtue; where is the discrimination and division?
Only Horn and some senior monks understood that it was precisely because of these so-called "political shows" that there was no discrimination and division.
Those scholars were reversing cause and effect.
The rights and wrongs can only be left for future generations to comment on.
Because of the "bread and circuses" project from back then, a strong atmosphere of sports and drama was cultivated in the Holy Alliance.
There were big and small theatrical troupes everywhere, and a number of mature playwrights.
In other words, Horn’s idea had a foundation and realistic soil.
However, the daily newspaper from Cold Spring Castle still published lukewarm comments like "Can writing a drama solve the Crab Roe Castle Monarch’s problem?"
The Holy Alliance actually tolerated these kinds of jarring voices.
If you close all channels, you wouldn’t be able to hear other effective and reliable criticisms either.
Horn didn’t care about these noises.
He personally wrote the outline, while Fuchev detailed it as the primary writer.
Finally, through the playwrights of the Truth Court and signed authors, the drama and novel "Crisson and Eugenie" was successfully written.
The novel portion was distributed to major newspapers, including publications like the "Art Forest" newspaper.
As for the drama portion, every major city of the Holy Alliance had theaters and troupes, with some small-town theaters and traveling troupes even receiving subsidies from the Truth Court and the Holy Council.
So very quickly, "Crisson and Eugenie" was performed all over the Holy Alliance and quickly became a hot topic.
Thanks to the presence of Brotherhoods and the Cheka, the play soon began scattered performances across the Empire as well.
As for the reception, after initial silence, it could be described as unprecedentedly enthusiastic recently.
First, the "Art Forest" gave it high praise; after nearly half a month of quietude, it entered an explosive spread over the next half month.
This story captured the essence of those sensational love dramas between a poor young man and a rich girl from previous lives.
First came the plot of a contentious first encounter.
The noblewoman Eugenie was terminally ill, got separated from her guard due to wartime chaos, fell from a carriage, and lost her memory.
Upon their first meeting, they argued because of their differing values; the dwarf Crisson was beaten for debts, and Eugenie heroically saved him.
Next, as they spent time together, their relationship warmed, and the young lady Eugenie experienced the ways of the Holy Alliance; Crisson worked part-time and borrowed money to treat Eugenie’s illness.
The two pretended to be a couple, supporting each other.
Under the superb medical skills of the Holy Alliance, the illness that the church had failed to cure in over ten years was finally treated.
This not only promoted the Holy Alliance but also conveniently criticized the church.
Throughout all this was the classic sweet-torment tension: first sweet with mutual affection being concealed, then a misunderstanding at the sweet’s end, leading to torment.
The torment involves jealousy, self-doubt during misunderstandings, until one person speaks authentically or realizes something, resolving the misunderstanding.
Then the cycle returned to sweetness.
Yes, the plot advanced entirely by coincidences and misunderstandings, and resolving those misunderstandings, creating misunderstandings for the sake of misunderstandings.
Such an old-fashioned trope would surely have been berated back in Horn’s time.
But in this era, these tropes were not only novel and reverse clichés, but were also the height of mature storytelling.
Hero saving, pretending as a couple, sweet-torment cycles...
For many playwrights and Imperial literary figures, they were discovering for the first time that drama could be so captivating.
Many audience members were so captivated after watching that they became obsessed; this culmination of old-fashioned tropes was overwhelmingly shocking to them.
It was both painful and joyful, with opportunities for critique and commentary; an experience that children could fully understand, truly unforgettable.
"Crisson and Eugenie" was barely out for a month, sweeping the entire Empire by the end of August.
Theater troupes across the Empire rushed to rehearse and adapt it, quickly bringing it to the stage.
Even Charles VIII, far off in Falan, sneaked out to watch a performance.
After watching, he quickly became a fan of the play, overflowing with the desire to share, he couldn’t find anyone, and surprisingly invited the actress playing Eugenie to share dinner.
Lorenzo was teary-eyed; Charles was involved in a scandal with a woman!
Though Charles sent the actress back to her residence that evening, it was still a milestone of progress.
As for the real-life inspirations for the story, Harbin and Theodora also went to see it.
However, they couldn’t even finish watching before they had to leave.
The reason was simple: this simply wasn’t them at all.
When they encountered each other, Harbin was not some poor nobody; he was already the director of the Holy Alliance’s Commerce Department.
As for Theodora, she was far from being driven solely by romance; she was famous for being shrewd and capable.
Their relationship was purely due to mutual admiration and shared interests.
There was sweetness, yes, but it was never as exaggerated as in the play.
After watching, both of them awkwardly felt like breaking up.
And a voice gradually echoed across the Holy Alliance and the entire Empire: "What about the rest? There won’t be nothing more, right?"
"Crisson and Eugenie" was divided into two parts, upper and lower.
In the story, just as Eugenie is discharged after being cured, her guard finally finds her.
In a rain-soaked chase scene, Eugenie chooses her true heart, deceives her father, and stays in the Holy Alliance for Crisson, starting a printing business.
The two then solidify their relationship, supporting each other, Crisson’s career rising alongside Eugenie’s increasing wealth.
It seemed a happy ending was on the horizon, but the truth couldn’t be hidden forever.
The Crab Roe Castle Monarch, Eugenie’s father, rushes over after hearing the news, intending to forcefully leverage power to break them apart.
And then it ends. As for the rest of the plot, it will be explored later.
Thus, people started asking, why is there only the first half, what about the second half? A teasing cut-off!
They then realized that the play was based on a real-life story, adapted from reality!
The reason for not continuing was merely because real-life events hadn’t caught up in the storyline.
Which means, the plot of this drama could actually be changed and manipulated?
Mind you, the play’s fans, though cheerful, held a pessimistic view toward the ending.
How could a dwarf and a noblewoman, especially a noblewoman from Norn, possibly be united?
Yet now they glimpsed a glimmer of hope--slim, but not non-existent.
Thus, an avalanche of public opinion pressure, accompanied by letters as numerous as snowflakes, descended fully on the Crab Roe Castle Monarch.
A slew of people pleaded for the couple, hoping the Monarch would be lenient.
Among them were even some senior nobles, and local power figures from Norn.
His reputation, built over decades, nearly vanished in an instant.
Even his hometown of Norn, where support for him once resounded overwhelmingly, had substantially diminished.
Suddenly, the Crab Roe Castle Monarch was caught in an untenable position.
If he chose to reject the Holy Alliance’s invitation and forcibly take Theodora away, his son might cut off his living expenses, and his decades of positive reputation would be ruined.
If he chose to accept the Holy Alliance’s invitation, and not oppose Theodora’s relationship, he couldn’t bear it personally, nor could he retain his dignity as a member of the nobility.
No option was viable, plus the daily influx of letters, and soon the Crab Roe Castle Monarch’s lips developed ulcers.
But fortunately, a turning point finally arrived.
"Are you saying Her Highness Jeanne has come?" Sibangqi looked uncertainly at the messenger in front of him. "Seriously?"
Comments