NFBE Chapter 857 Singing All Over Yanjing (1, 2)
Chapter 857 Singing All Over Yanjing (1, 2)
The three little ones thought they had done something earth-shattering, and ran back to the private room with the bail slip in hand, and continued to listen to the storytelling below.
Not long after, Wan Niang returned. Seeing the three little ones sitting obediently in the private room, a gentle smile blossomed on her face. She picked up her daughter and sat her down, saying to her, "Qing Jie'er, I just heard there's a small performance here today. It's an opera. We're in for a treat."
Xiaotanghui is a performance that combines various performance forms such as opera, storytelling, and acrobatics. In Yanjing, opera performances are usually the main feature.
Liu Zhenying's face was full of excitement. She introduced the place with familiarity, "Mrs. Lin, you may not know that this small party at Yuelai Teahouse is only held once every ten days! We came at the right time today. If we wanted to watch these good shows on other days, we would have to invite them into the mansion, which would cost a lot of money.
"If you ask me, it would be really uneconomical to just hold a small church meeting instead of a banquet."
Wan Niang nodded slightly and praised with a smile: "I didn't expect that Miss Liu is so good at managing the household at such a young age. Madam Liu must be pleased to have such a well-behaved daughter like you."
As she spoke, she saw her daughter staring at her with bright eyes.
Wan Niang's eyebrows curved, and she added, "Qing Jie'er is also my precious daughter."
Xiao Yining withdrew his gaze with satisfaction and continued to look at the storyteller below.
Chen Jiaoyi pursed her lips and sat quietly aside, seeming a little out of place. She recalled what her mother had written in the letter, which also praised her for being well-behaved and sensible.
At this time, Wan Niang spoke again, her voice soft and gentle: "Miss Chen is the same. Madam Chen once told me that having you in her life is enough. She only hopes that you can be safe and happy."
Chen Jiaoyi's originally rosy face faded a little.
Some unpleasant fragments flashed through her mind again - her mother wanted to give birth to a younger brother for her to compete with the concubine for favor, and let her prove to her father that she was not bad and could help share the burden of the family.
She nodded slightly dejectedly, her eyes concealing a melancholy far exceeding that of her peers. She forced a smile and replied softly, "I know, Madam Lin."
Wan Niang smiled faintly in response and turned her gaze towards the lobby below.
About half an hour later, the storyteller on the platform finally finished broadcasting the interesting events of the day and left the stage to rest.
Then the sound of gongs and drums rang out, the sound of stringed instruments and orchestras rose up, and the scenery on the platform also quietly changed.
Upon seeing this, Liu Zhenying hurriedly bought a few small flowers representing reward money from the girl selling flowers outside the house, distributed them to everyone in the private room, and asked them to put them in the bamboo basket outside the window.
She explained, "Mrs. Lin, this flower represents five coins. The waiter below will calculate the reward for this small party based on the number of flowers. Of course, you can also leave silver notes and small change. When the song is over, the actor will thank you on the spot."
Wan Niang thanked her and threw the small flower into the basket. Then she looked up at the other private rooms. The window frames that had been closed were opened one after another, revealing slender white hands that filled the bamboo baskets and slowly dropped them down.
Seeing this scene, Liu Zhenying continued, "It seems that today's small hall will be very good. Our private rooms for women are all full."
"That's true. Thanks to meeting Miss Liu and Miss Chen today, otherwise Sister Qing and I wouldn't be able to join in the fun!" Wan Niang thanked the little girl again.
Liu and Chen couldn't help but blush with shyness.
However, Xiao Yining's attention was always on the ground below, and she was not paying attention to the harmonious interaction between the three people.
The man's tip was not as elegant as the woman's. It was simple, rough and a bit stingy. He threw a few copper coins onto the platform and sat there drinking tea and chatting.
At some point, a lot of spectators who braved the wind and snow to come and watch the small party stood at the lobby door, and they were very polite and left a small path for people to pass through.
There was also a large steaming soup pot and a dozen rough bowls for the spectators at the door to use as they pleased.
Looking at this scene, Xiao Yining couldn't help but praise the thoughtfulness of the owner of Yuelai Teahouse.
The little kid silently observed the area below. The scenery on the platform had been completed, and the actors were singing in fancy costumes.
The tea drinkers at Yuelai Teahouse gradually stopped talking and focused on watching the show.
For a moment, the only sound in the teahouse was the melodious sound of opera. Everyone was immersed in it, and even the little kids were watching the opera performance intently.
I don’t know how long it took, but Xiao Yining frowned slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
The reason was simple. Although she had only a vague understanding of opera, she could tell that the opera was about the story of the true and false daughter, and its content was very similar to the experiences of her father and grandmother, and some of the plots could be said to be exactly the same.
Moreover, the following plot interpretation is quite heartbreaking, making the audience sympathize with the unfortunate real daughter.
She blinked her big eyes and turned her gaze quietly to her mother. Seeing her looking down with a smile on her face, she looked away calmly.
Xiao Yining: ⊙_⊙, this wasn’t done by her mother, right?
It hasn't been long since she left, but she has already come up with such a wonderful play. Her brain is so amazing that she can even participate in "The Brain".
While she was thinking, there was a sudden sound of slamming the table beside her.
Liu Zhenying was so engrossed in the drama that she slammed the table in indignation. "This real daughter's maternal family is really too much. Her mother was left behind, her whereabouts unknown, and yet they adopted a daughter for her mother and claimed she was born by a man. The real daughter came to her and asked her uncle to explain the fake daughter's background and clear her mother's name, but her uncle's family is not happy about it."
As soon as these words fell, an equally indignant voice rang out from the private room next door: "To gain the protection of my maternal grandparents, I have to sacrifice my biological mother's reputation. How can a child tolerate this? This is simply too much!"
Liu Zhenying continued angrily, "They even predicted that the real daughter would be looked down upon by her husband's family because her parents were both dead. They would rush to recognize them and say they would give her some face and send a carriage to pick her up, telling the world that they don't despise her background. This maternal family is too vicious!"
“就是，这样欺负自家人，我看他们分明不想认真千金，连遗落在外的女儿都不想要了。可怜那女子，从劫匪那里拼了命保住清白逃脱，失忆与心爱的男子成了亲后，从未放弃寻找家人却落得身死下场，如今女儿还要被所谓的家人欺凌。”陈娇仪愤慨地红了眼，怒气腾腾地模样，就似要把这外祖家给揍一顿。
Xiao Yining: (ー_ー)!!, didn’t these two little sisters realize that the lines were very similar to what they just said to their mother?
At this moment, the little girl was finally sure that this play was choreographed by her mother.
Listening to the complaints flying above Yuelai Teahouse, she quietly gave her mother a thumbs up and continued to shift her gaze to the platform.
The impromptu play was nearing its end, and her mother arranged a particularly good ending for the real daughter.
The real daughter did not compromise, and her husband's family never despised her status as an orphan. When the real daughter attended a palace banquet with her husband's family, she saved the empress dowager, was adopted as her daughter and was named a princess, completely suppressing her vicious maternal grandfather's family.
The typical twist ending of a great novel drew applause from the audience and won the hearts of many people.
The bamboo baskets in the private rooms on the second floor fell down one after another, and there was a lot of silver and banknotes inside. It was obvious that this play had left a deep impression on the women in the private rooms.
Wan Niang finished watching this wonderful show and withdrew her gaze with satisfaction. She took out a few banknotes from her sleeve and stuffed them into her daughter's hand, whispering, "Come on, Qingjie, give some tips too!"
Little Yining lowered her eyes and took a look, secretly shocked. It was actually three hundred taels. Did her mother treat the silver as if it were blown by the wind?
The little kid complained wildly and obediently put the banknotes into the basket, but he was reluctant to part with the money. He stuck his head out and stared at the descending bamboo basket.
When the two little sisters saw the amount of the banknotes, they opened their mouths in shock and stuck their heads out of the window to watch the three banknotes being taken away by the waiter, who then ran to the podium at a very fast speed and handed them to the actress who played the real daughter.
After the real daughter received the banknote, she and the other actors knelt down in an instant and shouted excitedly towards the private room where the three little ones were, "Thank you, Princess Le'an, Miss Liu, and Miss Chen for the reward!"
These words drew all the attention in the hall to the three little ones.
At this moment, another high-pitched voice rang out from the platform: "Molan Yajian rewards you with three hundred taels of silver!"
The three little ones: (?_?), this is too much of a show!
The dealer in the other box: (wДw), Princess Le'an has so much money, yet she even uses IOUs to place bets!