Chapter 22 The 22nd Chapter of Li Garden

According to the custom in the palace, although it is not a clear legal system, it is customary to sing an opera on the second day of the new moon every month.Many of the scripts of these dramas were compiled by the Queen Mother herself; it turns out that the Queen Mother also has a deep understanding of ancient Chinese dramas, and Kayi's literature has a considerable foundation, so it is not difficult to write some scripts!Singing opera in the palace was originally a kind of family entertainment, so except for big days such as New Year's Day, Lantern Festival, and Longevity Festival, it is rare to invite actors from outside the troupe to sing in the palace. They have all put in a lot of hard work, and there are a few outstanding talents in capable plays, which are better than outside actors. This is what the Empress Dowager has long cited as a joy.

Luckily!The Empress Dowager was saddened by the memory of Tongzhi, so that the entire ancient palace was shrouded in gloom and mist. The next day happened to be half a month, and it was the turn to sing opera.In the past, on the day before Lunar New Year, the queen mother would order and order the plays to be sung tomorrow in advance, and the plays that Yi ordered were always so few, and these were of course the ones that Elder Yi had sung. What I love to listen to most, even if I listen to it once, five times, or ten times in a row, I won't feel bored; among them, it is natural that Yi himself's new dramas account for the majority.Therefore, although outsiders—including all princes and ministers—have never had the opportunity to hear the dramas made up by the Queen Mother, we all listen to them very well, and can even recite the words, and we are even tired of listening to them. I wish the Queen Mother would stop pointing it out; because our favorite operas are still the old ones after all.These old operas not only have a long history, but no matter where the opera troupes are, they all have similar scripts, only the dialects used by the actors are different; the reason why they can be spread for a long time and widely, of course, has its own fascinating !

Didn't I already say above that whenever the Queen Mother feels unhappy, the people in the palace will worry about it; so we always try our best to make her happy, especially in these gloomy days. In the Jingu Palace, if we don't find some proper spiritual adjustments, we will really lose our interest in life!Therefore, when I thought that today is the middle of the month and I should perform opera as usual, I really felt very happy in my heart. "Lafayette!" This morning, although I saw that Yi's face was not very gentle, but in order to remove the heavy mist, I said to her very boldly: "Today is another half-month." That’s it! Shouldn’t we sing an opera? According to the meaning of the slave, if the ancestors here can also see our lively things, let them know that today’s world is still the same as before, it’s not the same Is it a good kind of filial piety? Besides, since we don’t have any good places to go out and play here, it’s too boring to just sit around! Singing is the best pastime.”

After listening to my words, the queen mother actually showed a smile and nodded her head slightly. "That's right! Your idea is really good! I'll do it for you!" Yi approved my suggestion without hesitation. "Then, please tell me, Lafayette, which plays should I sing today?" Now that my risky attempt was successful, I became more courageous, and I quickly urged Yi to order plays. "I don't have any prejudices, just point out one or two plays you like to hear!" Yi's smile gradually revealed. This is really a special grace. It turns out that every time an opera is sung, all the nineteen programs are designated by the Queen Mother herself. Not only we female officials have never enjoyed this privilege, but Guangxu, Longyu, and ordinary princesses, Fujin and the like , it is also very rare to have the opportunity to act according to the order of the Queen Mother; because this also means to show favor, and it is definitely not something that just anyone can expect!If it's someone's turn to play, it's like putting gold on his face. Although the honor of this errand is very honorable, the responsibility on the shoulders is not light!The first is that the play you order must not have any taboos, or it is not suitable for the situation at the time, and the second is that you must win the Queen Mother's love.The first point is relatively easy, as long as you think a little more thoughtfully, there will be no problems!The second point is not easy!However, if the play you ordered fails to arouse Yi's interest, it will be a bad thing, and your humiliation and embarrassment will be ten times that of your vanity.Thinking about it is really worrying!Especially in the past few days, the empress dowager's temperament is very bad, which has already made it difficult for everyone in the palace to live. If she is annoyed again, what can everyone say?Besides, we are going back to Beijing soon, and everyone hopes that before leaving Fengtian, there will be no bad impression left; so I feel particularly difficult.

At this moment, although I want to resign from the job of ordering operas, I can't do it anymore; because Fang suggested that the person who sings operas is if I don't order operas, who else should I teach?This can be said to be self-defeating!But I knew that it was too late to repent, so I had to use my brain as much as possible, and thought about it for about seven or eight minutes. Fortunately, the Queen Mother also felt sorry for me, knowing that I was desperately searching, so I couldn't bear to urge; , I actually thought of a very lively "Shiro visits his mother".

The scene is established, so naturally someone will go down to prepare. As for all the equipment for singing, the palace has purchased it very comprehensively, and it is carefully managed by someone, so it is not difficult to find it when it is needed.All the sets, costumes, etc. are all exquisite, and in spring, there are outfits suitable for spring, and in summer, autumn, and winter, they are also different.After hearing these words, the reader may not be convinced that this is actually very impossible; but it is true!In the palace in Beijing, there are twelve master seamstresses supporting them. They don’t do anything. They are always tailoring costumes all day long, all year round, or sending the finished designs to places like Suzhou or Guangdong. Customization is always something that spares no expense.This time, although none of them came east with the car, we had already loaded all the things used in opera from the car.Just to take care of this recreational product, there is also an old eunuch who is in charge of it, and there are ten or twenty young eunuchs under him as assistants.So no matter what kind of drama we sing, we can sort it out as long as we click on it. A small part of the reason is that the outfits are complete, but the biggest reason is that the eunuchs who sing operas, no matter how young or ugly they are, there are many of them. He can sing a lot of plays, which can be assembled at any time without missing a role.

An opera cannot be without a stage. Fortunately, although the buildings in these palaces in Shengjing are very dilapidated, there is also a stage built in the open space in front of a certain hall.Of course, its age is also very old!The format is the same as the stage we usually see in temples, only as high as one floor, but the position is wider.When it comes to the stage, the one in the Beijing palace is still normal, and the most special one is the one in the Summer Palace!It has three floors in total. It is said that when it was first built, those floors were all flexible and could move up and down, making it almost as dexterous as the current elevators.When the uppermost stage is performing a play, preparations are being made secretly on the lower two stages, which are invisible to the audience; when the performance on the upper stage is over, it will be hoisted to the top immediately. After it was hidden, the second floor was hoisted up at the same time, all the arrangements had already been placed, and even the actor who appeared first was already standing on the stage.As a result of hanging the stage up and down in this way, it saves a lot of time to inspect the stage, and the two plays can be performed as closely as possible.At that time, such an ingenious structure was truly a unique and fresh trick, which really shocked many people, and among the designers who presided over this project, the Queen Mother herself was the first.It's a pity that Laiwei stopped using it because it was not very safe; but the spacious scale and exquisite structure are still very good, far from other stages.

Now in Fengtian, everything is very old, and it is impossible to have such a beautiful stage; but in order not to make the queen mother feel too ugly, temporary decoration is inevitable, fortunately, we have enough Eunuchs, they have a large number of people and are capable of doing things. Entrusting them to do these sporadic and mixed things is really impossible.Sure enough, not long after, someone came to report: "Everything is ready, and the play is finished. Just wait for the Queen Mother's order, and the gong will start immediately." At this time, I have to tell the Queen Mother about the play I ordered. . ——Just now I just sent someone to inform the eunuchs who were singing operas, and I didn't play the empress dowager first. ——It was very good luck; Yi immediately expressed his approval after hearing this, which made me feel more at ease, and when Yi was still walking all the way to the place where the opera was performed, she was very happy to play the play of Shiro visiting his mother. Tell me the exact plot of the play; in fact, since I know something about this play, how can I not know the plot?But the queen mother absolutely doesn't care about it. Mr. Yi likes to rely on the old and sell the old. He solemnly treats everything as a piece of new knowledge or new invention and tells others; I really didn't want to listen, but I couldn't help but pretend to be very happy and serious, and listened silently.If it is not like this, or if you can't help but laugh, it will be considered a great courtesy!So we are all used to this kind of forced listening, and it will never annoy her again.

But in all fairness, although Yi seems to be too interested in storytelling, she often forces people to listen to the lectures; but Yi's eloquence is really good, and a very ordinary story, once told by Yi, is better than others. It turned out to be much more beautiful.Whether it is the first, second, fifth or sixth repeated narration, it is always not without the slightest bit of excitement, so we are indeed very happy to listen to it sometimes. After a while, I arrived in front of the stage, and the Empress Dowager sat down on the throne in the middle. The people we were with were divided into two sides as usual, and stood behind her. I looked up at the stage, and I couldn't help but Secretly admire the ability of those eunuchs.They managed to tidy up this dilapidated stage in such a short period of time, and tried their best to imitate the layout of the one in the Summer Palace, almost to three or four parts.I also like that the people who came to clean up the stage before we came to the future also noticed this stage, so the pillars on the stage have been repainted long ago, and the flying dragons carved on the pillars have also been painted with a heavy gold color. The bright yellow is so dazzling; at this moment, when I hang a few embroidered brocade curtains, I feel completely new, just like an old country man who has put on a new set of robes and gowns, his original shabby and stupid appearance. Although it can't be completely concealed, at least it won't be conspicuous any more!The Empress Dowager also nodded and smiled, indicating that the stage is still available, so shouldn't our play begin?But still can't!To start the gong must be ordered by the queen mother herself, and no one dares to do it; and at this moment, the queen mother is still happily telling us how Yang Silang was lost in Fanbang, how he married Princess Tiejing, and how he thought about it later. Dear, how did the princess give him the order to steal, how did he enter the customs... and all the detailed programs, Yi never let us stop after half listening, so the play was put on hold.The story didn't end until Yi told about how Yang Silang went back too late, so that Queen Mother Xiao knew that he was almost beheaded, but fortunately the princess rescued him.

As soon as Yi's chatter stopped, everyone knew that the play was about to begin; Yi didn't need to say anything, she just waved her hand, and the eunuch next to her rushed to the stage like flying, and shouted loudly: "Lafayette is here!" Order to let the gongs go!" The golden drums were played in an instant on the stage, and the performances were performed scene by scene.When she was acting, the Empress Dowager still refused to be quiet; she kept telling us all kinds of habits and anecdotes in drama.In fact, Yi is also because she has watched too many plays, and she no longer has the heart to sit quietly and watch.However, most of what Yi told us was the old saying that Yi had told us before, and we had to pretend to be unheard of to listen to her.

"It can be said that all the singers believe in gods and Buddhas very much!" Today, Yi actually told a relatively new story. "Especially for Guan Gong, who is known as Fumo Great Emperor, he is extremely respectful and pious. No matter how happy a person is to tell jokes, as long as it is his turn to worship Guan Gong today, he will immediately become dignified. And you have to buy a statue of Guan Gong first." The Buddha statue came, made a high offering on the table, lit the joss sticks, kowtowed sincerely, then took it out, put it on the table, kowtowed again, and finally put it on the paper ingot Incineration. Only after such a pretense can they feel at ease, otherwise they will feel that a catastrophe is coming." "The people who sing opera are the most conservative!" The Queen Mother continued to describe the life of an actress to us. "Regardless of every move, as well as the libretto in the opera, the words spoken, the patterns on the clothes, and the decorations, they are all regarded as the golden rule, and they will never change; not only they themselves are like this throughout their lives, but they are also passed down to their children and grandchildren. Or disciples, and still!" These two passages can be said to be extremely pertinent, and I later heard others say the same thing. I thought that the literary field of old Chinese operas could still be regarded as a very beautiful opera; as for the martial arts field, it would be too lively!Whenever there is a battle between the two armies, the gongs and drums are so loud that people's ears are almost deafened; there is also that kind of desperate savage fighting, which is too wild, and I don't like to watch it the least. After the performance of Shiro visiting his mother that day, the queen mother told me that the very small eunuch who played the role of Taijun She had the best grades and should be rewarded; : Later, it is not known whether the eunuch won the Yite reward.