Chapter 87 Master Zhu, please respect yourself
It's October already.
In the past few days, Zhu Hao has negotiated terms with the opera troupe invited by Yu San to perform the plays written by Zhu Hao, and the first play is "The Peony Pavilion".
"The Peony Pavilion" is an outstanding work in the history of Chinese opera. It tells the story of Du Liniang, the daughter of an official, who fell deeply in love with the scholar Liu Mengmei in her dream, died of grief, and turned into a soul to find her lover in reality. The human and the ghost fell in love, and finally Du Liniang came back to life and finally tied the knot with Liu Mengmei.
The original script of "The Peony Pavilion" was created in the 45th year of the Wanli reign in the late Ming Dynasty. It was the peak of the development of Ming Dynasty legends and a milestone in the history of Chinese drama development. In his previous life, Zhu Hao had devoted himself to studying it for a period of time and even wrote several papers on it. He had a deep memory of it, and this time the "creation" was basically done effortlessly.
The troupe is not contracted, it can only be considered a collaboration, and a fixed amount of money is paid for each performance. Although this may lead to troupe switching, the script itself is easier to copy than the storytelling script, and it is not realistic to completely prevent other troupes from learning. However, not all storytellers have the ability to set up a troupe to perform.
So...
The storytelling hall run by Zhu Hao and Yu San usually tells stories, but they perform "The Peony Pavilion" twice a day, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The lively scene when the show starts is so lively that the storytellers in the same field almost have no chance to make a living.
In the first few days after the show started, as soon as the show started, no one from any other storytelling venue nearby had any interest in listening to the storytelling. Even though the newly erected fence blocked their view of what was going on on the stage, the sound of the "yi yi ya ya" accompanied by the sound of the sanxian, drums and melodious bamboo flute would captivate them and they would come in droves to the theater.
That night, Zhu Hao brought Jinghong to listen to the opera. At such a young age, Jinghong was instantly addicted to this novel form of stage performance.
Yu San came over excitedly, his face beaming with joy, "Brother Hao, the opera has only been going on for four days, and there are not many people in other theaters...Our theaters are full, and there are endless people reserving seats for future days. Now the seats in the front for listening to opera and storytelling are charged 30 cents a day, and it is still not enough to meet the market demand."
Zhu Hao nodded slightly and listened carefully. It was indeed very quiet around him. After asking around, he learned that whenever a play started here, the storytelling in the surrounding storytelling venues would instantly stop and all of them would temporarily close. That was because no one would listen even if they told stories, so why bother?
"Very good. The next step is to hire a troupe and support it ourselves. We should keep the wealth within the family." Zhu Hao glanced at the stage and frowned slightly. "Especially the female actors. They must be well-dressed and well-proportioned. This way, more people will come to watch the show. We must know how to grasp the audience's psychology."
Yu San asked in confusion: "What does it mean to have a bright and smooth plate?"
Zhu Hao said, "You have to have a sharp face and figure. The audience can't take their eyes off you. They don't want to eat or drink all day, just thinking about watching our play. If you don't grasp the audience's psychology, how can you make a lot of money?"
Yu San said in embarrassment: "You don't know, Anlu is just a small place. If you want to find a troupe, you have to go to the provincial capital, or to Jiangnan... As for the bright and graceful female actors you mentioned, they must be trained from childhood, otherwise who would be willing to sell such a cash cow to you? That price... we can't afford it."
When it comes to understanding the world, Yu San has a much deeper understanding than Zhu Hao.
People who are involved in the business world know all kinds of things. What Yu San said is realistic. If you want to find good actors and hire them to perform for your company, you have to sign a contract to sell them. Who would easily sell a profitable troupe?
"Let's take a look first. If there are any opera troupes passing by, you can introduce them to them and we can discuss the price then."
Zhu Hao did not say that he wanted to achieve success all at once.
Going to the opera is not about developing a large-scale entertainment industry. If you really want to support a big opera troupe and then end up with expenses exceeding income, it is hard to say how much money you will lose.
…
…
Zhu Hao took Jinghong back that night. Jinghong was a little dazed, apparently immersed in the moving and touching twists and turns of the opera again.
Zhu Hao washed his face with water while reminding him, "Those matters between men and women are for adults. Why do you, a little kid, think so much about them?"
Jing Hong came back to his senses, looked at Zhu Hao and asked, "Did you write the script too?"
"Do you think I know about those things between men and women? I copied them all... Anyway, I can make money from them, so why do you care whether I wrote them or not?"
After Zhu Hao wiped his face clean, he threw the towel onto the rack and said, "It's time to go to bed. I have classes tomorrow."
Jinghong went to bed early, but couldn't fall asleep.
Every time Jinghong went out to listen to storytelling, he would be excited and think for a long time after coming back. This time, watching the play had a greater impact on him, and he was afraid that he would have a sleepless night.
When he arrived at the classroom the next day, Jinghong was yawning continuously, staring with his panda eyes, and looked listless.
Zhu San asked in confusion: "Xiao Jingzi, why are you like an eggplant hit by frost? Did Zhu Hao bully you again?"
The relationship between Zhu Hao and Zhu San has not completely eased recently. Zhu San has the burden of being a princess and does not want to take the initiative to negotiate peace with Zhu Hao. Zhu Hao, on the other hand, hopes that this unruly and willful girl will not cause trouble for him, so the two of them have been in a stalemate, and their relationship is neither good nor bad.
Jing Hong didn't answer.
He didn't know how to answer.
Zhu Si, who was standing by, was not interested at all: "Mr. Yuan has not allowed us to play Cuju recently. I don't know what else is fun to play. It's boring."
Zhu San said, "It's boring if we don't play Cuju? Why don't we play something else? There's a smart guy over there who can come up with all kinds of ideas for you. Can't you ask him what fun things he has? Or you can ask him to talk to Mr. Yuan, maybe Mr. Yuan will change his mind and let you play Cuju?"
Zhu Si's eyes lit up, and he turned around and said, "Zhu Hao, quickly think of a way, how can we play Cuju?"
Zhu Si had no interest in playing other games. He only wanted to play Cuju. He would only play one kind of football he wanted to play, and he never got enough.
It's not just stubbornness, it's just a little stubborn donkey.
Zhu Hao naturally knew why Yuan Zonggao did not allow Zhu Si to play Cuju. It was obvious that Cuju might involve physical contact. If Zhu Hao took the opportunity to injure Zhu Si, it would go against the original intention of allowing him to study in the palace. Therefore, the palace tried its best to avoid letting Zhu Si participate in dangerous sports.
"I can't help it. I don't see Yuan Changshi usually." Zhu Hao's mind was not on the children at the moment.
Zhu Si said: "Then what else is there to do?"
Since he couldn't play Cuju, he considered whether there were any alternative games.
Zhu Hao continued to shake his head: "If we can leave the palace, maybe I can help you find some fun, but here... the limitations are too great. You don't think playing chess, playing with stones, kicking shuttlecocks, etc. is much fun, right?"
Zhu San said: "Actually, the rubber band skipping game before was quite interesting."
Zhu Si looked at Zhu San and said, "Only you... like such low-level stuff. We don't like to play..."
He almost wanted to say that those were things girls liked and that our hobbies were different from yours, but he knew that this sister was pretending to be him, so he didn't say anything.
Zhu San stuck out his tongue and said no more.
Zhu Si said thoughtfully: "There must be a lot of fun outside the palace, so I will go talk to my father and see if he can let us go out!"
"It's broad daylight, are you dreaming?" Zhu San disagreed.
Even if I leave the palace, I will not let you go out. You are the prince, and I am afraid that something will happen to you. How come you, a naughty child, have no awareness at all?
…
…
Things often happen unexpectedly.
When Zhu Si came to the school the next day, he excitedly said to Zhu Hao, "My father has agreed to let me leave the palace with you."
"real?"
Jinghong was very surprised.
Zhu San followed behind, looking unhappy.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Then your third brother can't come with us?"
Zhu Si nodded with a smile: "Yes, she can't go out."
As soon as Zhu Hao heard it, he knew that this was the second trick used by the palace. At this turbulent time when the eunuch Zhang Zhong from the Imperial Stables was about to arrive in Anlu, letting Zhu Si go out for a walk was tantamount to telling outsiders that this Zhu Si was not the prince.
In the palace, Zhu San and Zhu Si call each other brothers, but the court and the Embroidered Uniform Guard are not stupid. You, Prince Xing, do not have two sons. One of them must be a fake that you found to replace him.
Since Zhu Si was able to follow Zhu Hao out of the palace, and Zhu San was under strict protection, then the information that was leaked before was true...
Zhu San is the prince!
Are you trying to find a fake product to show off in the market and trick us into doing something to it?
no way!
"When are you going out?" Jing Hong asked.
Zhu Si said: "It can only be done during the day. Any time is fine, but you can't go too far. When you go out, you must have Lu Dianzhang and others to protect you closely."
Lu Bing clapped his hands: "That's great, we can go out and play again."
Zhu San pulled Lu Bing back and said, "You little brat, you still want to go out and play? You are not allowed to go. Stay and accompany me!"
"ah?"
Lu Bing looked at Zhu Hao with an aggrieved look on his face, as if asking Zhu Hao to speak for him.
"Lu Bing, just listen to the prince and stay with her. We can go out and play by ourselves later."
Zhu Hao said this and looked at Zhu Si. "I will leave the palace at noon today and take you to see a play. We will also take you for a walk around the crowded areas around the palace. However, we must notify Lu Dianzhang first and ask him to do a good job of protection."
…
…
It was only in the morning that Lu Song learned that the palace had allowed Zhu Si to leave the palace.
He is very worried.
The palace thought that the deception was very good and believed that Zhu Hao and Jing Hong did not see through the identity of the Fourth Prince Zhu, but Lu Song knew everything about it.
Zhu Hao tried every possible means to take Zhu Si out of the palace. How could there not be a conspiracy? He also said that he wanted to go to a crowded place. If something happened, he would be the sinner of Xingwang Mansion.
Before leaving at noon, Zhu Hao said to Lu Song, "Don't worry, I'm just taking him to listen to an opera and see the lively market scene around him. Isn't it good to get in touch with the lives of ordinary people outside? It's difficult for thieves to start in crowded places."
Lu Song thought about it and it made sense. If they were just wandering around the palace, the Jinyiwei should not be so arrogant and dare to take action under the nose of the palace, right?
But to be on the safe side, he still selected more than sixty people, twenty of whom were to protect Zhu Si closely, and the other forty were to hide in the dark and keep an eye on him at all times to prevent any accidents.
Zhu Si was very excited. He was in a good mood to be able to leave the palace with Zhu Hao and Jing Hong, just like a dove that had been set free.
After leaving the palace, he felt that everything outside was new and wanted to run around, but was stopped by Lu Song again and again.
"Fourth Prince, you must be careful. You are no longer safe once you leave the palace. Bad guys may attack you at any time." Lu Song reminded.
Zhu Hao laughed and said, "Lu Dianzhang, the man next to you is the son of the county magistrate. You sound like you are questioning the ability of the local officials, right? It's broad daylight, and in the city, how could there be bad guys? Are these guards around you just eating for free?"
Lu Song said gloomily, "Master Zhu, please respect yourself. You are just out for fun with the Fourth Prince, and you are not responsible for instructing us on what to do."
Zhu Size spoke for Zhu Hao: "Lu Dianzhang, you are too cautious. We are less than 20 steps outside the palace gate, and it seems that there are bad guys everywhere... How about this, I won't run around, and let Zhu Hao take us away. Is that okay?"
The prince spoke up to defend him again. Lu Song felt that Zhu Hao was becoming more and more difficult to deal with. Not only did he have the prince's support, but even Yuan Zonggao and Prince Xing were bewitched by this kid. He was very puzzled by the fact that the prince went out of the palace to play this time.
But he could not influence the decision-making of the upper echelons of the palace, so he could only focus his attention and continue to carefully observe the "bad guys" passing by who might threaten the safety of the prince.
