Mountains and rivers pray for peace

Chapter 76 The person in the play
In just half a cup of tea, Bai Zhusheng was invited into the side room on the second floor by the servant boy.Liu Fang lay crookedly on the couch in the wing room, with a jug of sake in his hand, and there were wine stains on the corner of his mouth that hadn't been wiped off. He looked like a libertine.

Bai Zhusheng is very good at welcoming guests and seeing off guests. When he saw Liu Fang, he showed a warm smile, cupped his hands and said: "I am still wondering why the Qingyin Pavilion is so bright today. I never thought it was Mr. Liu who is here Come here. I don't know if the young master invites this old man to come over, what are your orders?"

"There is no need to say these deceptive polite words, Team Leader Bai. I often come here to praise Baixiao Ban, and I think I have some friendship with you. I invited you here today just to ask why Team Leader Bai Are you going to hide something secret behind my back?" After a while, Liu Fang finally spoke secretly.

"Hey, Mr. Liu's words are really old. Please tell me something straight. This little old man can't bear this trumped-up crime." Bai Zhusheng's back bent even deeper.

The dandy young man just now was one of his subordinates. He had met Liu Fang several times, and he knew that the other party was not a smart person, but he didn't expect Liu Fang to be so stupid that he would take the bait just by listening to a few words from others.

Huo Qi once mentioned in his secret letter that he would deliberately arrange for Qin Xiaolian to dress up beautifully today, and he must have taken advantage of Liu Fang's lustful weakness.Once a person is controlled by desire, it is difficult not to jump into the trap carefully arranged by others.

Liu Fang's dilemma at this moment was almost something he could have calculated.

Liu Fang propped himself up, stood up suddenly, paced and turned around and said, "I heard today that Mrs. Qin will invite a guest to the Yunyu Residence on the third floor to confess her heart to you after she finishes singing the opera she should sing." 'Ah, is this true?"

"This..." Bai Zhusheng's smile froze.

In Liu Fang's eyes, Bai Zhusheng's reaction was a solid acquiescence.

He is a regular customer of Qingyin Pavilion, and he once praised Qin Xiaolian's unparalleled beauty and art in front of the sound of white candles. He should have seen that he was interested in Qin Xiaolian a long time ago based on the skill of seeing people's eyes by the sound of white candles.But not only did Bai Zhusheng never take the initiative to ask Qin Xiaolian to make him happy, but he never even mentioned this opportunity to get close to Qin Xiaolian.

The more he thought about it, the more panicked he felt.

Bai Zhusheng coughed softly: "Young Master Liu must have misunderstood. The so-called 'confidence' is just taking the book and asking the guests to order another play. This rule has always been there, but it's just facing the guests on the third floor, asking Qin Madam, it’s just an extra song. If not, would it be more tiring than a donkey pulling a mill if a person like Madam Qin sings one by one?"

After hearing Bai Zhusheng's explanation, Liu Fang not only did not feel comfortable, but even more annoyed.As the son of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, although he can't be compared with the Tian family, he can be regarded as the first among the sons of the capital.Now that he was so neglected in Qingyin Pavilion, and he had always thought highly of himself, he naturally wanted to make trouble for Bai Zhusheng.

He snorted coldly: "Master Bai, what you mean is that I can't compare to the nobles on the third floor, so naturally I am not worthy of asking Madam Qin to sing another song alone? If Master Bai doesn't give me a satisfactory explanation today, I will I’m staying in Qingyin Pavilion and won’t leave!”

Bai Zhu expressed apology on the surface of his voice, but there was a chill in his heart.Every word he said was carefully designed by Huo Qi, leading Liu Fang into the trap step by step.It's just that the design of this speech technique is secondary after all. What made him really startled was Huo Qi's precise judgment on Liu Fang's reaction.

"I don't dare to think that way..." He put on a thoughtful look, and then continued after a pause, "It's just that no one is listening to Mrs. Qin's song today, why don't you ask Mr. Liu to listen to the play here with peace of mind , After an hour, the old man will send someone to tell you to go to the third floor to order a show alone, does this arrangement meet your wishes?"

Seeing that Bai Zhusheng relaxed so quickly, Liu Fang's face immediately softened a bit, and he didn't let him get angry for no reason. gone."

"It's good that Mr. Liu is satisfied. This old man has to keep an eye on the next scene, to prevent the people below from being careless..." Bai Zhusheng narrowed his shrewd eyes.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Liu Fang stopped leaving anyone behind and just waved his hand: "Team Leader Bai, please step aside first."

Bai Zhusheng cupped his hands and bowed, and stepped back a few steps out of the wing.

He looked at the main hall on the first floor, and saw that Qin Xiaolian on the stage had been replaced by someone else, and he could vaguely hear the complaint of "Ms. Qin's singing is too little" from the banquet. Already off the field to rest.

Little did they know that Qin Xiaolian was kneeling and sitting on Feng Qingju's cushion at the moment.

She finished singing "The Story of the Green Bottle" a quarter of an hour ago. She wanted to go back to her bedroom to wash her face and wait for Li Yikang to come to her for a private meeting, but she didn't want to be stopped by her distant cousin Zhang who had just arrived at Qingyin Pavilion as soon as she stepped off the stage.

She and Mrs. Zhang have always been close, and she remembered that Mrs. Nie had threatened her with Li Yikang's life to assassinate Mrs. Zhang. She thought carefully about it, and was about to talk to Mrs. Zhang, but she didn't want to say anything before she could say anything. Zhang was dragged to Feng Qingju on the third floor.

Although she has sung in Baixiao Class for nearly ten years, and there are many nobles who reward her with large sums of money on the third floor of Qingyin Pavilion, she rarely sets foot in this place, and she has never seen the true faces of the guests on the third floor. seen.

It's just because Qingyin Pavilion has a rule - without summons, no one can enter the third floor without permission and disturb the peace of the nobles.

She was suddenly pulled into Feng Qing's residence by Mrs. Zhang, and the servants on both sides did not stop her. They must have let her go on purpose under the orders of their master.A series of anomalies left her with no joy at all, only endless panic.

Feng Qing was led by the woman sitting opposite her, followed by two maids and a man dressed as a guard. They were all dressed appropriately. It was obvious that this woman was from a noble family.Besides, those who can listen to operas in Fengqingju must have extraordinary status.

She looked at the calm young girl in front of her, as if she wanted to make her expression more natural, she quickly pursed her lips, and asked Aunt Zhang cautiously: "Cousin, you bring me to this young lady, so the so-called What's the matter?"

The scene was very embarrassing for a while, but Aunt Zhang next to her moved a seat and sat down between Huo Qi and Qin Xiaolian, and said with a smile: "This is Miss Huo from the Duke of Ning's mansion. Your voice, let me introduce it for you. Your singing is so good, and people appreciate it, and I am very happy in my heart."

Qin Xiaolian looked at Aunt Zhang who was defenseless, and recalled the threat from the Nie family before, feeling half guilty and half annoyed in her heart, but she couldn't think of any way to have the best of both worlds, to keep her two most valued things in the world at the same time. personal.Seeing that Zhang's demeanor and words are quite respectful to this Miss Huo, she is even more energetic in her heart to deal with it.

In a daze, the woman in front of her spoke first: "Miss Qin has such a good voice, she deserves to be the No. .”

Huo Qi made such rude remarks when he opened his mouth. It didn't sound like he was "appreciating her" as Zhang said. Instead, he seemed to be looking for trouble.

Qin Xiaolian was alert in her heart, but timidly apologized on her face: "My family's skills are not good, and it ruined the girl's elegance today, so I have to apologize to the girl."

Huo Qi spoke unhurriedly, with a gentle smile on his face, and he didn't seem to be embarrassing at all: "Every sound is born from the heart. The heart moves, and the things make it so." Also. Mrs. Qin is superbly skilled, and there is nothing wrong with it. It is just that her mood is unstable, which messes up the composition of the opera. Could it be that Mrs. Qin empathizes with Xu Yinger's experience, which is why she has changed from a performer to a performer? "

(End of this chapter)