"What's the matter with you?" the old servant asked him.
"I'm going to see the prince soon. I have something I must give you." Cai Xianqing waved his hand, and a young actor walked up to Cai Xianqing holding a shiny red lacquer box. Cai Xianqing took the lacquer box and handed it to the old servant.
The old servant took off the lid of the box and saw a pair of crystal glasses with a brass frame inside, which were dazzling.
"Oops..." He was speechless for a moment and froze in place.
"I heard people said that your eyesight is dazzled, so I picked out some good Western glasses from the shop and gave them to you." Cai Xianqing said with a smile.
"Is it true that it was given to me?" The old servant still couldn't believe it.
"Can it still be false?"
"Ouch!" The old servant clapped his hands and was so surprised that he hugged the lacquer box tightly and almost cried looking at the glasses. "Xianqing, thank you very much! How much money did you spend on this?"
"This crystal is hard to find, so the price is naturally high. About... eighty-two taels of silver."
"Eighty-two taels! I have to kneel down for you!" He was about to kneel down immediately, but he saw Cai Xianqing taking the lead and kneeling to the ground: "Xianqing is just an actor, a member of a lowly family, An Neng can accept it Worship? I might as well kneel down to you!"
The old servant helped him up: "I am also a slave, why do you have to be so humble? Get up quickly, I'm sorry, can you please stop kneeling?"
Cai Xianqing just stood up.
"It's getting late, please go to Zixintang to find the prince...and I really don't know how to thank you!" After saying that, he bowed again, and then slowly left the garden and went elsewhere. .
"Master, if we sing the song well, can we also receive this kind of reward?" an actor asked with a flattering smile.
"Bah!" Cai Xianqing turned around and spit on his face. Fortunately, the little actor hid quickly and was not spit on his face.
"It's as if these eighty-two taels of silver are worthless! If he wasn't from the palace, how could I be so kind as to spend this money on him? Your master, I'm not that generous, and I'm still feeling terribly distressed. It's really like Cut off a piece of my flesh!"
He let out a long sigh and walked straight towards the 'Zi Xin Tang' in front.
After he entered the house, he came face to face with a screen wall, so he stopped the actors and said: "You guys wait here, I will go in to see the prince and come out in a while. Don't make any noise and disturb it. Remember, this is the prince's palace!"
"Disciples must obey their master's teachings!" a group of people replied in unison.
Cai Xianqing felt relieved. He walked around behind the screen wall and lifted the bamboo curtain in front of the door. He saw Wan Heshun sitting crookedly on a chair and letting his servant hold a child. He was playing with the kid. Turning around, he saw Cai Xianqing waiting outside the door, and said with a smile: "Come in."
Cai Xianqing walked over slowly, smiling all over his face. "This is the first time that Lord Wan has brought the young master out! It is also the first time for the villain to see him."
Wan Heshun laughed and said, "What do you think of me?"
Cai Xianqing looked at it carefully and exclaimed: "It looks so alive, it will definitely be able to continue the great cause of the prince!"
Wan Heshun shook his head gently: "What's the big deal? My throne is not hereditary, so it will be gone if I don't." As he spoke, he snorted, but no one heard it.
"My lord, you are really in a good mood today! Why don't you choose a play and let me arrange it?"
"Don't make arrangements," Wan Heshun pointed at him, "I need you to sing it yourself!"
"Your Majesty, I haven't sang in an opera for a long time. My body is old and I can't move very well. I'd better let the children perform." Cai Xianqing declined kindly.
While holding the child's hand, Wan Heshun said: "Don't be too modest... I really want to hear you sing! If you can't handle some of the scenes, it doesn't matter. It's up to you to choose me. Whatever you sing is what comes out."
"Then..." Cai Xianqing smiled sheepishly, but Wan Heshun still nodded to him.
"Then choose a villain..." Cai Xianqing thought hard for a long time, and then sighed: "These villains can't sing."
Wan Heshun was speechless.
"There is a way," Cai Xianqing said again: "I will write a piece of music that is easy to sing, so that the prince can listen to the villain's play?"
"Write it now? Is it too late?" Wan Heshun asked, feeling excited again.
"Then I can only ask the prince to arrange my play to the end, and when the previous ones are finished, the music will be completed. It just gives you something new to listen to, wouldn't it serve multiple purposes?"
Wan Heshun smiled and clapped his hands: "This is a great plan! Then I will arrange it!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty for the favor!" Cai Xianqing felt relieved when he saw that everything was as he expected.
"I'll call you later to write your music!" Wan Heshun smiled kindly, patted Cai Xianqing's back gently, and asked him to go out.
Wan Heshun watched Cai Xianqing walk around the screen wall, then immediately stopped smiling and said to the servant, "It seems that Actor Cai has ulterior motives..."
Cai Xianqing returned to the aisle in front of the screen wall, set up a chair, sat there and composed music, and asked the actors to wait aside, and when the time came, arrange for them to go in and sing.
But not long after, Cai Xianqing heard that the prince had another impromptu plan to set up a stage in the garden for his relatives and relatives to watch the show and enjoy the scenery. So he had to send the team outside the house while thinking about his music.
He heard that the song had just been sung for thirty or four times outside, and he had just finished writing the song here. He showed it to his disciples and picked a few people to play together quickly.
In the middle of the meeting, the old servant from before came into the room and said to Cai Xianqing: "The play outside is finished. The prince calls you to come out and get ready."
Cai Xianqing had no choice but to grit his teeth and said, "Go and tell the prince, I will come right away."
The old servant immediately closed the door and walked away.
"Is the play still right?" Several actors asked worriedly.
"That's right! After you finish reading this, just go out with me and sing!" Cai Xianqing hurriedly packed her things and ran out of the house quickly.
The wind outside the house is extremely warm, and the lake is as calm as a flat mirror. Wan Heshun, who is by the lake, is enjoying the breeze blowing on his face, listening to the music of the winding beam, and feels content.
There were seven or eight chairs lined up next to him, and sitting next to him was his official wife: the so-called princess. However, Wan Heshun thought that he was a king with a different surname and was different from the blood relatives of the clan, so he did not dare to act on his own. He strictly ordered his servants to call him "Madam". If any slave dared to call "Princess", he would be beaten to death with sticks and severely punished.
The 'Madam' was holding Lord Wan's son and was pointing at the actors to amuse the child. Beside them were several of Wan Heshun's concubines, all staring at the stage quietly without making a sound.
Wan Heshun was lying on the armchair, motionless, listening to the noisy gongs and drums, his eyelids were slightly drooped, as if he was drowsy.
When he was confused, he suddenly heard a slight cough, and then a euphemistic and clear voice came from the stage:
"My surname is Wei and my name is Jingshan..."
Looking closely, Cai Xianqing slowly walked to the stage, and his play had already begun.
