Chapter 75: Ambush from All Sides
However, Fengming Building was ranked behind Lanxiang Class, which made Liu Zheng a little unhappy.
It seems that many people are really optimistic about the palace dance of Lanxiang Troupe. After all, everyone thinks that the palace dance is the most popular program to welcome the Queen. It is luxurious and classy. It not only pleases the Queen, but also shows the prosperity of the times. Why not?
In comparison, the "Splendid Dragon Flame" from Fengming Tower had already appeared during the rehearsal, so it could not give people too many surprises. Moreover, although "Splendid Dragon Flame" was also very grand, it could not be compared with the real palace dance.
"Okay, let's play it. One thousand taels, bet on Fengming Tower!"
Liu Zheng laughed.
The man was overjoyed. Generally, people who open such events are backed by important figures in Liangzhou City, so they don't worry about being cheated. After receiving the 1,000 taels of silver, the man gave Liu Zheng a receipt, saying that he could "redeem the prize" after the courtesan meeting was over today!
Zheng Yueru was standing nearby, watching with a mixture of laughter and tears: "Brother Liu is such a refined person!"
Liu Zheng chuckled and said, "Just asking for some pocket money!"
Zheng Yueru smiled bitterly and said, "Why is Brother Liu still so confident?"
Zheng Yueru didn't participate in the preparation of the program at all. Because the courtesan had too many other things to do, and Liu Zheng had arranged all kinds of sales and promotions for her, which had already made Zheng Yueru very busy. So she had no idea about the program Liu Zheng had prepared. She only knew that the people in Liangzhou City were very optimistic about the Lanxiang class today.
Liu Zheng laughed and said, "Don't worry, Yueru, I will definitely catch him tonight!"
At this time, night had slowly fallen in Liangzhou.
Today, Liangzhou was truly overcrowded, with people thronging and rubbing shoulders with each other. The entire city was filled with people. Liu Zheng was shocked at the first sight. The streets were empty, and that was all. The locals of Liangzhou, as well as some outsiders who came here for the fame, all joined the carnival.
"Lanxiang Class!"
"Fengming Tower!"
"Shen Manqing!"
"Xiao Ruozhi!"
Today, no matter whether it is the common people, the young masters, or those scholars who are good at showing off their elegance, they all support their favorite courtesans. The whole Liangzhou city is brightly lit, with lanterns everywhere and fireworks. During the Lantern Festival, northerners like to build a row of big fires made of loess on the street. On this day, everyone will also take flower cakes and roast them on the fire to eat. The old people say that it can dispel cold and cure diseases. This has become a custom of the Lantern Festival.
On this day, officials, soldiers, civilians and children all shared the joy of the festival together.
The children ran around with the windmills distributed for free by Fengming Tower, and were yelled at and scolded by the adults. The young men brought their beautiful girls with them, and stopped in front of several businesses, looked at the riddles on the lanterns, guessed a few of them, and won the beauties' sweet smiles and favors.
However, the wealthy people came with silver and banknotes, and came for the products of the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce, which had become famous this year. Many middlemen had even bought a lot of them at the original price, intending to make a fortune when they returned.
Today, the red-light district looked even more magnificent. The 100,000 taels of silver spent on the display prepared for the queen was truly extraordinary. There were more than a dozen colorful lanterns taller than the buildings, showing the prosperity of the prosperous times.
"The Queen is here!"
"Your Majesty, may your holy body remain in good health! May you live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"
Just then, someone sang loudly.
Everyone knelt down, and the whole place was in an uproar. Looking up, I saw a woman in a gorgeous dress in the seven-story flower building, supported by palace maids and eunuchs, looking down at the people. It was the current Queen Zheng of the Longyan Dynasty. Senior officials such as Chen Ping were accompanying her.
"During the Lantern Festival, the lanterns are blooming! The queen is virtuous and enjoys the festival with the people..."
The eunuch said a lot of Lantern Festival greetings, and then said:
"Stand up!"
People in the whole city shouted "Long Live the Queen!" Queen Zheng Fu raised her hand slightly, indicating that the courtesan competition was officially about to begin.
The crowd was completely excited. At that moment, there were all kinds of string and woodwind sounds, loud gongs and drums, colorful lights, and luxurious ceremonial guards. The people were shouting for prosperity and eternity. As the music sounded, the first float drove out from the crowd.
In order to please the queen, a lot of effort was put into the decoration of the float. Under the illumination of the surrounding lights, the float was dazzling and luxurious.
The queen was also very satisfied and nodded with a smile.
The first float that came was actually from the Lanxiang Troupe. At a glance, there were more than a dozen courtesans, all dressed in gorgeous costumes and stunningly beautiful.
"ah!"
"So beautiful!"
"This is comparable to royal etiquette!"
The crowd cried out in surprise.
Zheng Yueru was also overwhelmed by the sight. The costumes worn by the courtesans of the Lanxiang class were something she had never seen before. It seemed that they were hiding their talents. The clothes they wore today were all golden, made of silk and satin. When they waved, the lights around them were reflected.
It makes people dizzy just by looking at it.
Ding Dong...
Xiao Ruozhi, who was sitting in the middle, was also extremely This palace dance, coupled with her excellent piano skills, directly brought the atmosphere to a peak. She played the piano alone, and the courtesan danced beside her, which was luxurious and grand.
There was constant music and cheers along the way.
The performance of the Lanxiang class is really suitable for such a grand occasion.
Zheng Fu was on the seventh floor and was very satisfied with what she saw. She nodded frequently and said, "This girl from the Xiao family is qualified to be a Shangguan even if she enters the palace."
Others echoed.
Although Du Biao was not on the seventh floor where the queen was today, he was also on the third floor of this flower building. Seeing the perfect performance of the Lanxiang class, he couldn't help laughing. He looked at Liu Zheng next to him and said, "Mr. Liu, how is it?"
Liu Zheng smiled but said nothing.
It was also the first time for him to witness this ancient palace dance live. To be honest, it was really grand and had a bit of royal majesty. It was even more grand than Fengming Tower's "Shengshi Longyan", mainly because the music was solemn, gentle, and lengthy, which was more in line with royal etiquette.
"good!"
"This Lanxiang class is really extraordinary!"
"It seems that the most popular courtesan tonight must be Xiao Ruozhi!"
The first float was so stunning that the people at the scene cheered. Xiao Ruozhi's fans were even more crazy about throwing flowers and banknotes. The process of the courtesan meeting was actually very simple, and it was originally an activity to burn money. So in previous years, it was up to these fans to spend money on flowers for these courtesans and the extent of money they threw. The one who received the most support would be the courtesan of the year. Although there was a queen this year, who would be the winner would definitely be decided by the queen, but these habits were still retained.
Some people were scattering flowers, banknotes and silver here, and staff immediately came up to collect them and then count them.
"It seems that today, the courtesan is from the Lanxiang class!"
Chen Ping was very happy.
This situation is of course the best for him. Although your Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce spent money to organize this courtesan meeting, as long as you can't reach the threshold of the queen, you can't stir up any waves. Therefore, he naturally doesn't want Fengming Tower to be in the limelight today.
The second float that came in was from Yihongyuan.
Guo Yu's brothel was not as good, but under the influence of Liu Zheng's several rehearsals that amazed everyone this year, the Yihong Courtyard spent a lot of money to hire a court dance master to train these courtesans. The floats were also decorated in a unique way, which was considered to be barely acceptable and received cheers and applause from many people.
Then, the second, third, fourth...
There were more than 30 brothels participating in the courtesan meeting, and they were all competing with each other, showing off their best skills. After several rehearsals and improvements, the programs they prepared became more and more gorgeous. However, perhaps influenced by Fengminglou's "The Prosperous Dragon Flame", most of the programs they prepared were to praise the prosperity of the times, the queen, and the Dragon Flame Dynasty.
This will naturally cause aesthetic fatigue.
"Your Majesty, you are kind and loving to the people. You are the model for the country and you deserve to be praised by the whole nation!"
The eunuch said happily.
Officials such as Chen Ping also echoed this.
Zheng Fu smiled slightly and said nothing. As the queen, she had become tired of hearing these flattering words every day. Seeing this kind of performance one after another, she began to feel annoyed.
at this time.
"The float from Fengming Tower is here!"
"Shen Manqing, Shen Manqing!"
"Miss Manqing!"
The crowd, which had been feeling bored, suddenly became excited again and cheered continuously.
Queen Zheng Fu asked curiously, "Who is Shen Manqing?"
Chen Ping said from the side: "The Queen is the top courtesan of Fengming Tower, and also the courtesan of the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce."
"oh?"
Zheng Fu nodded. Ever since she came back to Liangzhou, the words "Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce" have been everywhere, which made her very curious. What kind of program can this Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce come up with?
However, she was disappointed next.
"The Prosperity of Dragon Flame"!
It was the same show again. Although the float of Fengming Tower today was more luxurious than before and the clothes of the courtesan were more colorful, when people heard this familiar song, they all booed.
"Ah? This again!"
"What the hell! I thought Fengming Tower could give us a surprise today!"
"Hahahaha, are there no more shows to show?"
Everyone laughed.
Du Biao on the third floor also looked at Liu Zheng in disbelief, wondering if the young master of the Liu family had just given up like that?
Zheng Yueru also looked anxiously.
Guo Yu on the other side had already started laughing, thinking that Liu Zheng had run out of ideas.
Queen Zheng Fu also smiled faintly and said, "I thought there would be a lot of surprises, but it turns out to be so boring..."
But at this moment.
The float just reached the middle of this red-light district.
Suddenly Shen Manqing changed the style of the music.
The other courtesans took off their gorgeous clothes, and they were all wearing red tights. A long sword suddenly appeared in the hand of one of them.
The scene suddenly became chaotic.
"There's an assassin!"
"Protect the Queen!"
The guards, eunuchs, and maids were all in chaos.
However, who knows, the assassination did not happen.
A burst of rapid piano music sounded, and the atmosphere on the scene suddenly became tense.
This is the show!
The queen's face turned grim and she looked at him with gloomy eyes.
This sudden change made Zheng Yueru exclaim, and she looked at Liu Zheng in disbelief.
Liu Zheng chuckled.
"House of Flying Daggers" in the prosperous times, do you like it, Queen?
