Xiao Fang tried to design a play what was combining a few outstanding performances that she had seen and then, turned it into a simple play about a love story which quite popular for the ladies. Besides, the one who was celebrating the birthday here was the Empress Dowager which always loved gossiping -- this was a known fact in the noble circle.
When people were old, they tended to have no entertainment, so they usually gathered around with her friends and talked about interesting gossip in the capital. They had been bored with ordinary dancing and music performances, thus, they generally loved to call a storyteller once in a while --- but they only talked without doing any performances.
That was the reason why Xiao Fang tried to invent a new performance to attract the crowds' attention.