Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 43: Milton's Visit
Before the Chinese New Year, Henan Island became lively because the Wu and Ye families were getting married.
Since the wedding was arranged in Henan, there was no need to worry about disturbing Wu Chengjun's recuperation, so the wedding was arranged in a big way. Wu Chengjian allocated a generous budget to Chuanlong Ciye, and with Ciye's ability to spend money, he naturally made the event as lively and exciting as possible: he was not just wasting money, but he could spend 10,000 taels of silver to produce the effect of 50,000 taels of silver - if not, he would not have been able to hold on to this lucrative position by Wu Chengjian's side for so many years.
Under the guidance of Master Ci, merchants of all sizes in the Thirteen Hongs, as well as the heroes of the Jianghu in the Guangdong and Hai regions, were happy to join in the fun. With two days left before the wedding, firecrackers had been hung all the way from Baietan to Wujiayuan, and from Wujiayuan to Yejiayuan. The Pan family was also very considerate and hung firecrackers from the entrance of Panjiayuan as well. Think about the wedding, the sound of firecrackers will surely resound across both sides of the Pearl River.
Beijiang boss Duan Xiantong mobilized hundreds of idle boats in Beijiang, half for show and half for transportation. As for Foshan Chen, he had already booked the most famous lion dance in Guangzhou, ready to have a hundred lion dances to celebrate the occasion.
Under Cai Qiaozhu's arrangement, the Wu family's staff also crossed the river and entered the Wu family garden in Henan several days in advance. Ritianju was decorated with great joy, and flowers and trees were transplanted in advance to fill the garden. Old Master Wu was also carried across the Pearl River two days in advance to adapt to the garden. Wu Chenggou ran around, inside and outside, to receive relatives and guests.
The wedding day hasn't even arrived yet, but the gifts sent in advance from all parties have already filled up the two side halls.
Fortunately, Cai Qiaozhu and Chuan Longci were both experienced in big occasions. One was in charge of internal affairs, and the other was in charge of external affairs. They arranged everything perfectly, and our groom did not have to trouble anyone at all.
The inventory of the autumn delivery of money and goods has been completed, and Yihe Bank is about to enter a period of repair - Wu Chengjian believes that there will be no major events during this period. As for the restart of major events in the bank, it will have to wait until the "dowry" from the Ye family is delivered - but this is what Wu Chengjian thinks is "nothing", but Liu Da, the shopkeeper, and Ou Jiafu and others do not think so, so they still look for him every day.
Wu Chengjian was so annoyed by what he saw as "trivial matters" that he left Yihehang and accompanied Wu Chengjun for a day in the Xiguan mansion. He was then driven to Henan by Wu Guoying. The old man had his own ideas. He felt that the youngest son's marriage should not be with the eldest son, who would be infected with disease. This was not partiality, but some old ideas. If Wu Chengjun and Wu Chengjian were in the same situation, the old man would do the same. Of course, he could only do this and could not say it out loud.
Wu Chengjian came to Ritianju, and within two days , he saw people coming and going in the whole Ritianju - he was getting married, so naturally he had to decorate the new house. He found that he had nowhere to stay wherever he went, and he was annoyed by all the chores, so he handed Ritianju over to Chunrui to take care of it, and took Xia Qing to Manqian Penglai to get some peace and quiet.
Who knew Zhou Yijin also disliked him: "You are about to get married, why do you come to me?"
Wu Chengjian smiled bitterly and said, "Where else can I go? I can't go to Huachai now."
Cai Qiaozhu had specifically warned him about this a few days ago, asking him not to go to the Huachao or Shenxianzhou before getting married. Cai Qiaozhu said, "The master said, even if you are pretending, you should act serious for a few days."
Besides, if he went to Huachahao now, Tan Sanniang might not be in a good mood when she saw him.
Zhou Yijin said, "It's not quiet here either. I've been busy rehearsing a play recently. It's also for your wedding."
Wu Chengjian asked: "What play are you going to stage?"
Zhou Yijin said: "Prepare to stage "The Celebration Banquet" and "The Dispelling of Doubts."
Wu Chengjian also liked this one. After thinking for a while, he said, "Li Yu's The Kite Mistake. With your talent and the foundation of this class, why did you choose a second-rate play? It's a bit boring. Why not stage a segment of The Peony Pavilion? Otherwise, a segment of Peach Blossom Fan or The Palace of Eternal Life would also be good."
In fact, Li Yu's "The Kite Mistake" is also a top-notch work among Qing Dynasty operas. However, when compared with the top works such as "The Peony Pavilion" and "Peach Blossom Fan" from a historical perspective, it is indeed inferior.
Zhou Yijin scolded: "In The Peony Pavilion, a female ghost became the wife, in Peach Blossom Fan, the country was destroyed and the family was ruined, and in The Palace of Eternal Life, it was even more about separation of life and death. This is your wedding , if you don't think it's unlucky, the old man will think it's unlucky for you!"
Wu Chengjian said: "But this "The Kite Mistake" is also a wrong choice, it's too appropriate for the situation. Aren't you afraid of irritating the Ye family?"
"The Kite Mistake" is a famous play by Li Yu. It tells the story of the talented Han Qi Zhong's kite with a poem written on it, which accidentally falls into the Zhan family's house and is first picked up by the beautiful and talented Zhan Shujuan (sister), who writes a poem in the same rhyme on the kite. Han Qi Zhong falls in love with the poem and tries to meet Zhan Aijuan (sister) who is ugly and lustful, and is scared away. Later, Han Qi Zhong becomes the top scholar in the imperial examination, and his boss Zhan Liehou (father-in-law) wants to betroth his daughter Shujuan (sister) to him. Han Qi Zhong thinks he is going to marry his sister, and goes from resistance to submission, until he finds out in the bridal chamber that he is marrying his sister, and everyone is happy.
This story has many similarities with the story of Wu Chengjian and the Ye sisters, so Wu Chengjian said it was "too appropriate".
Zhou Yijin smiled and said, "I sent the play to the old man, but he didn't say anything."
Wu Chengjian laughed when he heard this and said, "I really didn't expect that the old man turned out to be a good person on the surface, but he was actually a bad guy in his heart."
After he smiled, his mood improved, and he decided to stay in Manqian Penglai to rehearse the play with Zhou Yijin.
Wu Qi thought: "Master will definitely refuse."
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yijin agreed. Wu Qi was very surprised. Seeing Wu Chengjian already on the stage, pointing fingers at the male and female roles, Wu Qi approached Zhou Yijin and said, "Master, Haoguan has been distracted from his work recently, hiding away everywhere. He came to you and did something stupid, but you didn't try to persuade him. If the news gets to the master and the eldest young lady, I'm afraid they will have some opinions about you."
Zhou Yijin glanced at him, and then said, "You don't understand. Haoguan has been upset recently, so he needs to find a place to relieve his stress. Huachahao can't go there, and if I don't take him in, it will only make him more agitated. If his mind is in a mess, it will not only be of no help to his work, but will hinder it."
Wu Qi said: "There is nothing going on with Sanniang. I wonder what has been bothering him lately."
Zhou Yijin said: "This time it's not for personal reasons, but for official business."
Wu Qi said: "Business? What business?"
Zhou Yijin said: "This is not what you need to know."
Nothing happened on the first day because no one knew he was there. But less than two days later, people came to his door. Wu Chengjian said, "I'm about to get married, and you won't let me have two days of peace." So he asked Wu Qi to turn away all those who came to see him.
It was quiet for three days. On this day, they were rehearsing "Dispelling Doubts". Wu Chengjian became so interested in watching it that he could not help but go on stage himself. He also forced Zhou Yijin to go on stage to play the role of Zhan Shujuan. The male and female actors laughed and tried to join in the fun, and urged Zhou Yijin to go on stage as well. Zhou Yijin reluctantly agreed.
The two were putting on makeup when Wu Qi suddenly rushed in and said someone wanted to see him.
Wu Chengjian was very dissatisfied: "Is it Jishan? Is it Qi Guan? Or is it Master Cai?"
Wu Qi said: "Neither."
Wu Chengjian said: "Then I won't see anyone."
Wu Qi said, "It was Mr. Milton. He also brought a box of things, saying it was a gift for Hao Guan's wedding."
Wu Chengjian was stunned, and his hands that were painting his face also stopped. Zhou Yijin had already finished his makeup and was changing his clothes, but he stopped changing when he heard her, and said, "Go and meet her." He was so immersed in the play that when he spoke, he accidentally used the gestures and even spoke in the voice of a Huadan.
Under normal circumstances, Wu Chengjian would have laughed at him immediately, but at this moment he lost his mood and said, "You can hide from Cai Jiqi, but you can't hide from Yingjili."
The young actress who was helping with makeup asked, "Officer Hao, do you want to remove your makeup?"
Wu Chengjian said, "It's not a formal meeting, just go. If we can finish talking, we can continue the opera when we come back. Yijin, let's go together."
Zhou Yijin said, "Okay." This yes had returned to a masculine voice.
The two of them did not remove their makeup and went to wait in the pavilion for watching the show. Wu Qi went to bring people over. When there was no third person in the pavilion, Zhou Yijin suddenly said, "You have been playing with me for the past two days. Are you feeling better?"
Wu Chengjian snorted twice, knowing that he still couldn't hide his thoughts from this confidant.
Zhou Yijin said: "We have tried our best to prevent the red goods. Anyway, there is no movement for the time being, so you don't have to worry about it for the time being. Just get married happily."
Wu Chengjian said, "The more there is no movement, the more annoyed I am. If it were out in the open, we would have fought back, but now we know that the other party is going to take action, but we can't see them making a move, which makes us even more annoyed. We can't wait until the knife is at our necks like last time before we try to fight back."
Zhou Yijin said: "But there is no point in being anxious now. Besides, the situation this time is different from the situation of 'beasts sharing food' a few months ago. At least we know where the crux lies in advance."
"It's no use knowing where the problem lies!" Wu Chengjian said, "If the enemy doesn't move, we can only wait. This is worse than knowing nothing. Although we know where the enemy is, we can't see what moves the enemy will make. How can we break their moves? I'm afraid that by the time the enemy makes a move, it will be too late."
"What can we do? The people should not fight against the government. No matter how rich the Wu family is, they are just businessmen after all. What's more, the person on the other side is the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi." Zhou Yijin sighed and said, "My master has been slow to act, which is indeed worrying. Now our only way is to hold more good cards in hand. This way, when we start to fight back, we will have a better chance of winning."
Wu Chengjian: "Good cards, good cards, hey!"
Zhou Yijin said: "We are actually in a good position now. The Pan family owes us a favor, the Ye family is about to form an alliance with us, and the relationship with friends in the martial arts world is very smooth. As long as we consolidate these relationships, as long as Beijing and Zhongtang are not defeated, we have nothing to fear. As for the foreigners...how is the matter you asked Charlie to do going?"
When the two of them talked to this point, Wu Qi led Milton over, and they all stopped talking. There was no trace of sadness on their faces anymore, and they all smiled.
