Chapter 190: Selling Jia Yingchun
Seeing the two men acting suspiciously in front of the palace gate, Sun Shaozong hurriedly grabbed his adopted elder brother, walked over with a frown, and was about to ask what was going on when Feng Ziying and Liu Xianglian rushed forward to greet them.
“Second brother!”
Feng Ziying asked with a smile on his face, "Are you and Brother Shaozu going in to pay a visit to the prince?"
Liu Xianglian next to him also had a hopeful look on his face.
"Yes, yes."
Sun Shaozong asked suspiciously, "But what are you two planning to do here?"
"Looking for someone!"
"Find an expert!"
The two of them talked back and forth, and roughly explained what happened.
It turned out that during the Wanshou Festival, the largest theater in Shuntian Prefecture also joined in the fun and invited famous actors from Beijing and Hebei to perform for three days.
How could these two drama fans miss such a lively event?
It was during those three days that both of them fell in love with an actor named Qi Guan.
"Second brother, you didn't see it. His figure, his posture, and his voice were really amazing! Especially in the play "Silang Visits His Mother", he sang that high-pitched voice like this..."
Liu Xianglian was so excited when he heard this that he was ready to sing in the street.
“Stop, stop, stop!”
Sun Shaozong hurriedly stopped him and said speechlessly: "After saying so much, you still haven't told me what you are doing here?"
"Looking for Officer Qi!"
Feng Ziying said crisply, "He is the mainstay of the palace opera troupe. If we don't go here to find him, where else can we go?"
Just for an actor, sneaking around the palace gate...
It was a good thing that Xue Pan was not seen, otherwise Sun Shaozong would have thought that these two had come out together with Xue Pan!
At this time, the cheap eldest brother suddenly stepped forward and interrupted: "Are you talking about Jiang Yuhan?"
"Brother Sun."
The two of them greeted each other quickly, then nodded like an old hen and said, "It's him. I heard that Qi Guan's full name is Jiang Yuhan!"
"Then disperse quickly!"
Sun Shaozu glared at him, swung his sleeves and said, "Jiang Yuhan is the beloved daughter of Prince Zhongshun. How many of you dare to have any ideas about him? Don't bring disaster to your family because of this matter of Lord Rabbit!"
Feng Ziying and Liu Xianglian were both a little indignant when they heard this, especially Liu Xianglian, whose almond-shaped eyes narrowed, and he was about to retort.
"Brother."
Sun Shaozong tried to smooth things over by saying, "Neither of you two brothers is that kind of person. You just like to listen to opera."
When the two men's expressions eased a little, he also put on a serious face and lowered his voice and said, "But I heard that the prince is a person who doesn't care about meat or vegetables . I think you should disperse first - wait for me to go in and take a look. If there is a chance, I will invite Jiang Yuhan to my home..."
The cheap brother frowned and shouted, "Erlang!"
"Don't worry, big brother."
Sun Shaozong smiled and said, "On the sixth day of the first lunar month, I happened to meet Jia Qiang, who manages the opera troupe in Ningguo Mansion, and wanted to ask him about setting up the troupe. Since the prince can let him sing in the theater, what's the big deal about him coming to our house to talk about this?"
The cheap brother was now at a loss for words.
Feng Ziying and Liu Xianglian originally wanted to ask their brothers for help in getting in touch with Jiang Yuhan, so they were overjoyed to hear this.
Liu Xianglian, in particular, was eager to puff out his chest and boast, "Second brother, when it comes to organizing a troupe, I'm the best at it. Count me in on the sixth day!"
"And me, and me!"
Feng Ziying also started shouting, not wanting to be left behind.
Sun Shaozong sighed helplessly, then waved his hand like he was shooing away a fly, saying, "Then hurry up and get out! If I can still see you two when I come out, don't even think about entering my house on the sixth day of the New Year!"
"Yes, sir!"
The two men bowed in a mischievous manner, then rode away happily.
The two brothers of the Sun family then entered the palace.
Since we were invited, we had a smooth journey.
When we arrived at the front hall, we saw a large soft couch placed between two rows of armchairs, on which a middle-aged man in bright yellow clothes was reclining.
Needless to say, this must be King Zhongshun himself.
The two brothers hurried a few steps forward, and bowed deeply: "Your subordinate Sun Shaozu [Sun Shaozong], greets the prince!"
Then Sun Shaozu said in fear and trepidation: "I am a step late, but I don't want His Majesty to be tired and wait here. It is really a sin."
In fact, it is still very early before noon, so how can it be considered late?
"Um."
Prince Zhongshun responded indifferently, his lazy eyes moved back and forth between the two brothers, and finally stopped at Sun Shaozong. He said to his cheap elder brother, "Sun Shaozu, when you were fighting for the commander-in-chief a few months ago, I was wrong."
Sun Shaozu hurriedly bowed even lower, and said anxiously: "I dare not, it's my incompetence."
"Don't you dare? I can't waste your money in vain."
As Prince Zhongshun spoke, he tapped lightly on the armrest with his fingers, and immediately a eunuch brought up an official document.
Sun Shaozu hurriedly took it in his hand and carefully unfolded it to have a look. It turned out to be a bill jointly signed by the Cabinet and the Ministry of War, promoting him to the position of "Trial Commander" to fill the vacancy.
This is equivalent to enjoying the treatment of a third-rank commander in advance, but one has to wait until a vacancy occurs before being able to take up the actual position.
"Thank you very much, Your Majesty!"
Sun Shaozong fell to the ground with a thud, tears streaming down his face, "The title left by my late father, I finally deserve today. It's really... really..."
As he spoke, he kowtowed three times as if he couldn't control his emotions, and choked up and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness!"
What a great acting!
Sun Shaozong couldn't help but give his elder brother thirty-two thumbs up in his heart. Apart from being a little exaggerated, this level was definitely not inferior to that of Jia Yucun - and the slightly exaggerated level was more in line with his character as a reckless warrior.
As expected, King Zhongshun was very satisfied with his cheap brother's performance.
He even condescended to personally help him up, patted him on the shoulder, and encouraged him: "What's the big deal? As long as you do your job well and live up to the expectations of His Majesty and this king, you will definitely be able to sit in the position of commander of the city defense camp like your father in the future!"
Sun Shaozu pretended to be grateful and tricked King Zhongshun into saying a few words of comfort. Then the three of them sat down as host and guest.
"Your Majesty, to be honest, I came here to ask for a favor."
After they were seated, Sun Shaozu found that the atmosphere was just right, so he hurriedly told everyone the story of how Jia She had accepted the betrothal money but intended to break off the engagement.
"Is this true?"
King Zhongshun was indeed interested. He leaned forward and asked with a burning gaze, "Do you have any proof?"
"Here is the written document, please have a look at it, Your Majesty."
Brother Bianyi took out the document and a eunuch immediately delivered it to Prince Zhongshun.
Prince Zhongshun glanced at it hastily, then suddenly looked up and said, "How about I give you 20,000 taels of silver and you transfer Jia She's daughter to me as a maid?"
The two Sun brothers were stunned!
