Chapter 59 borrow jokes
Chen Zhenhui's guess was right. When the banquet was about to begin, Zhang Dai finally returned to Taoyehe House with the troupe and all the outfits from Ruan Dacheng's family.While wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, he excitedly reported to Chen Zhenhui how he ate mooncakes, bone-in abalone and hawthorn candies at Ruan Dacheng's house, and how he talked about local specialties from various places, which made Ruan Dacheng startled. of.When he asked to borrow a play, Ruan Dacheng was surprised and couldn't believe it, and then he was so happy that he smiled and danced.
"Ah, Dingsheng, it would be great if you could see with your own eyes that old Ruan was so coquettish! He bowed and bowed, almost wagging his tail. He kept sending me out of the gate, holding hands, and repeatedly asked me to have I often go to play, so affectionate!"
Chen Zhenhui smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, eldest son, please sit down and have a cup of tea!"
While they were talking, the rest of the club members listened with surprise and confusion on their faces.Most of them didn't know about it beforehand, so they couldn't figure it out at this moment, how could Chen Zhenhui come up with such a weird idea?Why did you borrow Ruan Huzi's family troupe instead of inviting many theater troupes?Are they still worried that doing so will cause misunderstandings outside?Will Ruan Huzi take advantage of the opportunity to pick a bargain?and so on.But there were also people who said: "I've heard that Ruan's class has strict training and excellent acting skills, so it's okay to have a look!" Regarding these comments, Chen Zhenhui didn't answer at all, he just waved his hands, telling everyone to calm down and sit at the table.Afterwards, he sent down the end corner of the floral dress who was serving with the playlist, and the rehearsal began immediately.
The full moon of Mid-Autumn Festival has risen to the eastern sky.The few floating clouds slowly dissipated at some point.The clear moonlight poured down from the sky, illuminating the fragrant Qinhuai River; on the terraces of the river houses on both sides of the river, people sat drinking and admiring the moon, happy laughter, small conversation and melodious The sound of music reverberates in the night wind; on the river, cruise ships decorated with lights and festoons come and go, whenever the soft oars shake, the reflections of lights and moonlight are like snakes winding and jumping on the green water surface... …Although the war in the Jiangbei area is still in a stalemate, and the martial law in Nanjing City has not yet been lifted, people who indulge in leisure and pleasure are still unwilling to give up this good time of the year, let alone the Mid-Autumn Festival, which symbolizes reunion.People don't talk about it, but they can't help but think in their hearts: "Reunion, reunion, how many years of reunion are there? Let's live it once, let's count it once!"
As usual, to thank the gods, two paper horses have been offered at the top of the water pavilion - one is the statue of Emperor Wenchang, and the other is the statue of Emperor Guansheng.Everyone got up together, led by Wu Yingji, lined up a class, kowtowed in front of the statue, made sacrifices, and then each took their seats. As usual, they first ordered four short plays and performed them. After the soup was served, the formal ceremony began "Swallow Notes" was staged.
Now, the opening gongs and drums have already started.In the front row, Mao Xiang, who was sitting with Chen Liang and Lu Zhaolong, also stopped talking and was about to watch a play.Regarding Chen Zhenhui's arrangement tonight, although Mao Xiang is also puzzled, he has long heard that this "Swallow Notes" is a new drama that Ruan Dacheng painstakingly managed. People who have watched it are full of praise, so he wants to experience it .
The gongs and drums beat more and more vigorously, and the curtain on the door moved, and a deputy in a green coat and a small hat came out.He staggered to the front of the stage and sang a song "Xijiang Moon":
As usual, this little song is used by the screenwriter to explain the origin and intention of the play.After listening to it, Mao Xiang thought to himself: "Although the sentence 'Old Dismissing His Fame' is obviously a lie, and the other eight sentences are also embellished to flaunt himself. At last, he dare not be too presumptuous." It became [Han Gongchun]:
According to the practice of writing dramas, this second song belongs to "Family", which has the function of summarizing the content of the whole drama.After hearing this, Mao Xiang knew that the play was about two women who looked exactly the same, one was a prostitute in a brothel and the other was a lady from an official family. Because of Yanzi's marriage, they both fell in love with a scholar named Huo Duliang. .But he was destroyed by his friend - a villain. After several twists and turns, in the end, due to the scholar's dedication to the king and his high school champion, a man and two women were reunited and married, and everyone was happy.
"Well, as far as the eyes are closed——" Mao Xiang thought again, "It's fine. It's just that Ruan Yuanhai has extremely bad intentions, and every time in the play, he hides slander and criticism to vent his personal anger. The plays "Spring Lantern Riddles" and "Muni He" are proofs. But they must be guarded against!" Because he finally expressed his attitude towards Dong Xiaowan's incident, for more than a year, all kinds of troubles that troubled Mao Xiang were disturbed. Personal and private matters have all been sorted out so far.So he had a little thought to pay attention to the affairs of the society.He reckoned that the reason why Chen Zhenhui specially borrowed this "Swallow Notes" to perform tonight was because she wanted to see if Ruan Dacheng was up to no good in the play.In order not to wait for others to find out the mistakes, and still be confused and ignorant, Mao Xiang put aside distracting thoughts and concentrated on watching the play.
Chen Zhenhui, who was sitting at another table, naturally didn't understand Mao Xiang's thoughts.If he knew, he would tell Mao Xiang that he had a deeper intention in doing this tonight.Ever since Qian Qianyi tried to excuse Ruan Dacheng, Chen Zhenhui's heart was shaken a lot.On the one hand, he realized more clearly that due to the resolute struggle of Donglin and Fushe, although the remnants of the eunuchs like Ruan Dacheng seem to have become much more honest in recent years and dare not act arrogantly anymore, the facts have proved that they He has never given up, and is still active in secret, trying to revive.On the other hand, Donglin leaders like Qian Qianyi did not hesitate to destroy their reputation, colluded with the powerful and powerful in the court, and committed such shameless acts of betraying Donglin and restoring society. A deep worry, a sense of crisis.Because it is very clear that Qian Qianyi would never have dared to engage in such an act of blasphemy if he had not received the acquiescence and support of a considerable number of people in the society.Now, although this conspiracy has been exposed and stopped, the bad influence it has caused, and the impact and disintegration it has had on the hearts of the people in the society cannot be underestimated.If you don't try to shake it out urgently, the consequences will be disastrous.It is precisely because of this kind of worry that Chen Zhenhui has set out separately with Wu Yingji, Zhang Zilie, Hou Fangyu, Mei Langzhong and others in the past few months to visit community members in various places and do a lot of work to strengthen people's hearts and inspire fighting spirit.Last month, Chen Zhenhui also made a special trip to Songjiang, and found the leaders of several societies, Chen Zilong, Zhou Lixun, Xu Fuyuan, Li Wen, Peng Bin, etc., and had heart-to-heart talks several times, eliminating many barriers and difficulties between them. Misunderstand.Tonight, he specially sent Zhang Dai to borrow Ruan Dacheng's home troupe to perform "Swallows' Notes" at Taoyehe House, out of the same consideration.Just now, he had secretly planned with Wu Yingji, Hou Fangyu, Mei Langzhong, Gu Gao and others, and planned to take this opportunity to expose Ruan Dacheng severely, to sound the alarm for the colleagues in the society, and to inspire everyone's fighting spirit.Chen Zhenhui originally wanted to tell Maoxiang about this plan, but seeing that Maoxiang was entangled by Dong Xiaowan, making her dizzy and confused, she had to give up.
Now, because it's not yet time to attack, Chen Zhenhui is not in a hurry, and concentrates on watching the show first.He found that although this "Swallows Notes" is nothing more than a set of gifted scholars and beauties, villains fiddled with them, and after several twists and turns, they finally got a reunion, but the arrangement and layout are more complicated than ordinary legends, and the words and sentences are also beautiful and gorgeous. Novel and unique props such as "Flying Swallows" were used, and Ruan Dacheng's home class was indeed well-trained and his acting skills were extraordinary, so it still attracted the audience quite well.Dong Xiaowan, Gu Mei and Li Shiniang could not take their eyes off their eyes, fascinated.The rest of the people also forgot to drink and eat, and stopped their glasses quietly to watch.
Now, the play has reached the end of "Writing Notes".I saw Li Feiyun, the lady of the Shangshu on the stage, after she sent the maid away with an excuse, she secretly looked at the painting of a pair of intimate couples secretly, guessed again, guessed again and looked again. Back, and finally couldn't help but sang, fascinated:
These pieces of music are not only gorgeous in words, but also lingering in emotion.In addition, the female character who plays Li Feiyun also has a natural good voice. She sings so lightly and slowly in the fluent and distant Kunshan accent, which is really charming and enchanting, and the audience is fascinated.After she sang the last word for quite a while, everyone still listened quietly, chasing and savoring the lingering sound that seemed to be swaying in the beams beside their ears...
"Okay!" Gu Gao first came back to his senses and cheered loudly.Then, he turned his long nose to Chen Zhenhui, exchanged a wink, and continued to praise in a weird voice: "What a 'when will the people in the painting meet? Wait until we see each other, and then we can talk about it'!" Such a wonderful sentence, what a shame He can figure it out!"
"That's right," Mei Langzhong, who was obviously prepared, said, "I sang until this line, and the ruthless feeling can only be fully expressed. Unexpectedly, Ruan Huzi, who is disgusting and disgusting, is a charming expert!"
"Lang San's reputation is too low." Hou Fangyu blinked his eyes solemnly, "It seems that his literary skills and talents are not just 'experts'!"
"Oh, I want to ask for advice." Mei Lanzhong pretended to be surprised and innocent.
"Look at this play, my brother. Not only is the structure wonderful, the words are colorful, the layout is well-ordered, but also the lyrics and jokes are all vivid and natural. High self-proclaimed. Regardless of the Wujiang faction, if the Linchuan faction can really see the essence of the Yumingtang and pass it on, in my brother's opinion, I am afraid that there is no other person except this Ruan Yuanhai!"
"Chaozong's words are reasonable." Chen Zhenhui added with a smile, "As far as I know, Ruan Yuanhai is not only exquisite in lyrics and music, but also excellent in writing and poetry."
"I've seen those pieces of art that he would test in the forty-fourth year of Wanli," Wu Yingji said in a low voice, "it can be regarded as a real pharaoh, and every word is painful."
"Hey, hello!" Gu Gao became excited, and said loudly, "My brother has an eight-character commentary, and he only talks about Ruan Yuanhai's talent—"The master of articles, the leader of the art garden". What do you think?"
Chen Zhenhui nodded: "It's quite appropriate. However, if you add another eight characters to form four sentences, it will be more appropriate."
"Oh?"
"My horoscope is: 'If you are the leader of the show, you can be the leader'."
"Ah, 'Article master, the leader of the art garden; if you are the leader of the show, you can be the leader'-not high?"
"not tall!"
"Worth it?"
"Worth it!"
"Ah, ah, ah! Hahaha!" They laughed in unison, startling Huo Duliang, the scholar on the stage, and almost broke his throat when he sang.The other club members were even more baffled, and they all turned their heads and stared at them blankly.
"Well, if Ruan Yuanhai is really asked to come out to lead the show and be the leader, how dare you brothers catch him? Don't you?" When everyone was almost laughing, Chen Zhenhui stroked her beard and asked thoughtfully.
Gu Gao's gaze flashed, and he immediately suppressed his smile: "I don't think he dares!"
"how?"
"Hmph, he betrayed Donglin, took refuge in Wei Wei, recognized a thief as his father, and killed Zhongliang. No one knows about the stinky and dirty things that are worse than pigs and dogs! What kind of 'senior' or 'veteran' is found in shit, who will buy him!" Gu Gao's voice became louder and louder.
"Yes, yes!" Mei Langzhong also jumped up, "He will be a turtle with a shrunken head obediently, just hide in the turtle's nest and live his life honestly. If he dares to show his face without knowing what is good or bad, look at my old Mei It's no wonder that his doggy beard has been shaved off!" He put on a ferocious look, and made a gesture of plucking his beard.
"Brother Lang is really courageous." Hou Fangyu slowly turned a cup, "It's just that you think Ruan Yuanhai won't dare to come out, so you're underestimating him. Didn't you see that he just spent 10,000 taels of silver last year?" , want to get through old Zhou Ge's joints, and let Qian Muzhai excuse him and overturn the case? I don't see last month, did he still move Ma Yaocao up? Slowly put it 'leading the show, holding the leader', I'm afraid he still I want to enter the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister!"
"Chaozong, are you exaggerating?" Mao Xiang, who hadn't spoken for a long time, suddenly interrupted.Ever since Hou Fangyu and others praised "Swallow Notes" one after another, Mao Xiang has been trying to figure out their intentions in doing so.He knew the characters of these friends very well, and knew that they were just playing tricks, and the real story was yet to come.When they suddenly turned around and scolded Ruan Dacheng, Mao Xiang understood: "Hum, you are using Ruan's beard to make wine and have fun!" But they kept this matter from themselves, which made Mao Xiang a little bit. Annoyed.At this time, the performance of "Picking up Notes" has been completed again.Mao Xiang took advantage of the sound of gongs and drums to stop, and said: "Ma Yaocao is not a person involved in the case, so he will recover naturally, but it may not be possible for Ruan Yuanhai to recover, brother, why bother to make alarmist and unfounded worries!"
"That's right!" Feng Shu's slow voice came from the corner on the left, "Even Qian Mulao's excuse for Ruan Yuanhai is just a rumor, and there may not be any real evidence."
"Hey," Hou Fangyu smiled contemptuously, without turning his face away, "Brother Ji Cang, you are the disciple of Elder Qian Mu, you can ask him if there is anything wrong with him. Talk." After finishing speaking, he squinted at Maoxiang again, "Brother Pijiang thinks that my younger brother is scaremongering? But my younger brother is worried that my brother has become a person in Taoyuan recently, so he has forgotten the world!"
Mao Xiang was teased face to face, and his face turned red immediately.Chen Zhenhui saw that his eyes were wide open, as if he was going to have a fit, she quickly stood up and said, "Everyone, don't bicker—Pijiang, Jicang, you two don't misunderstand the meaning of my younger brother. Ruan Yuanhai is really counting on him to lift Ma Yaocao this time. Rima Yaocao is successful and can lead him. Naturally, this may not be possible, but this bearded man is not dead, which can be seen. This matter is not terrible, but in recent years, I am a gentleman, seeing the urgent affairs of the country, and worrying, I had no time to look inside, so I gradually developed a sympathetic attitude toward Ruan Yuanhai, which is a shocking and frightening change. Because of Zhenhui, I have no choice but to pour out my heart and cry out!"
Having said that, he paused for a while, and scanned the audience with burning eyes, as if he wanted to use this method to send the words into everyone's heart.Seeing that everyone was listening with bated breath, and all of them had serious expressions on their faces, he continued:
"Tonight, my younger brother specially troubled Zongzi to borrow this "Swallow Notes" to perform, so that everyone can see for themselves that Ruan Yuanhai is really a talented villain. If such a cunning and wise traitor is allowed to resurface, it will definitely be dangerous. Destroy the family and country, and spread the disaster to the social situation. All my colleagues must share the same hatred, strike and ban him, and we must not allow him to have a bright future! You may not know that this cunning person is still mobilizing until recently. I want to try to get my way. Although this matter is not worth talking about, but its intentions are extremely dangerous and poisonous—Brother Chao Zong, please tell about that matter to the members of the society!"
Hou Fangyu shook his head with a sullen face, obviously still angry at Mao Xiangshi who said he was "alarmist".Mei Langzhong saw it from the side, so he volunteered to stand up: "Let my younger brother make a deal for Chaozong. The thing is like this - a few days before the start of the test, Chaozong was drinking with Xiangjun in Meixiang Building, and a general Wang was also present. He and Chaozong were family friends, and because he was dismissed from office and lived here idle, he often came and walked. Chaozong knew that his family was not rich, but seeing that he was very generous, he was already a little suspicious, but it was hard to ask. But Xiangjun That girl was obedient, but she reminded Chaozong of this matter. Chaozong became serious and forced Wang to get to the bottom of it. The Wang was unable to ask questions, so he turned away from others and told the truth. It turned out that he was Entrusted by Ruan Yuanhai, he came to ask Chaozong to intercede with the society and excuse him. The daily silver taels were old Ruan's expenses. Only then did Chaozong suddenly realize that he would ignore him at that time. Wang had no choice but to He ran away in despair. Look, everyone, is this dog thief beard hateful or not, hateful or not?"
As soon as Mei Langzhong finished speaking, Yu Huai jumped up: "Stupid, stupid! Stupid!" He yelled.
"Brother Danxin, who are you calling stupid?" Gu Gao asked.
"Of course it's Ruan Huzi! He thought he could buy us for a few taels of money. He's really the number one idiot in the world!"
"He is not a fool to be able to write this "Swallow Notes." Chen Liang said sarcastically.
"Yes, he's in a daze!" "Daydreaming!" "This beard is so vicious, I really can't spare him!" Several voices shouted at the same time.
"Yes, yes, he must not be spared!" More people echoed.
However, those few people who had a deep relationship with Qian Qianyi, such as the Feng brothers, Sun Yongzuo, Gu Ling and others, remained silent.
At this time, Hou Fangyu stood up slowly. He completely put away his usual arrogant expression, lowered his head, was silent for a while, and then said: "What Lang San said just now, there is still something to add— ——At that time, when Xiangjun saw General Wang tell the truth, he once privately said to his younger brother: Since she was young, she knew her brother because of her aunt, and deeply respected his high righteousness. Ruan Yuanhai was responsible for these two best friends. He also said: "With the son's reputation in the world, how can he do things for his eunuch son? You have read thousands of volumes, and your opinions are not as good as those of our mere women!"" Hou Fangyu expressed his deep and moving The voice said, raised his head, and looked at everyone, "The little brother is repeating this sentence here, not only because the words have made the little brother deeply admired, but also because I want to teach all the brothers to know that there are such people in the brothel! "
Different from the situation when Mei Langzhong spoke just now, this time Hou Fangyu finished speaking for a long time, everyone still sat quietly without making a sound, with pensive and even ashamed expressions on their faces.
"Xiangjun's words can make you immortal!" Someone suddenly exclaimed in admiration.
"I heard this tonight, and from then on, I dare not look down on the people in the old courtyard again!" Another said.
"I'm afraid it will be inconvenient for some people to hear Xiangjun's words!"
"Oh, what?"
"They read poems and books in vain, boasting of sages and high brothers, but they have no backbone. If they hear this, wouldn't they be ashamed to die?"
"Let's not talk about others!" Feng Ban suddenly stood up angrily, and said in a quarrel, "Aren't we also happily watching Ruan Dacheng's "Swallow Notes" now? Don't look any more, it's gone!" Saying that, he was about to go out.
After such a reminder from him, everyone realized that the play had stopped at some point.
"Hey, brother Dingyuan, why do you have to leave!" Chen Zhenhui hurriedly stood up to persuade her to stay.Seeing that tonight's arrangement has fully achieved the expected purpose, and everyone was deeply moved by Hou Fangyu's impromptu statement at the end, Chen Zhenhui was particularly satisfied.
"It's rare for friends from the society to get together, why not use Ruan Yuanhai's play as a drink, praise what you want, scold what you want, and have fun all night long!" He tried his best to persuade, then turned back and asked the stage loudly: "Hey, why did you stop? Come on, act!"
"Brother Dingyuan, don't go!" "What's the hurry?" "I'll sing with you later!" Many people also helped to keep Feng Ban.
However, Feng Ban has not yet persuaded him to stay, but even Feng Shu, Sun Yongzuo, Gu Ling and others got up and wanted to leave together.Everyone knew that they were all disciples of the Qian family, and the boss was naturally uncomfortable with using Qian Qianyi as an excuse tonight. Even if he tried to persuade them to stay, it would be a waste of effort, so he stopped forcing them and let them go.
While everyone was chaotically sending Feng Ban and others out, Mao Xiang sat still.Just now Hou Fangyu relayed what Li Xiangjun said, which surprised and surprised him.Not only has he met Li Xiangjun, but he is also quite familiar with it—a short, fair-skinned little girl nicknamed "Xiang Fan Pendant".Usually, I just think that she is still clever, with a small mouth that is chattering, and she is good at teasing people, but I never thought that she could say such profound and righteous words. "It's strange that Chaozong is so obsessed with her, it turns out she is a strange woman!" Mao Xiang thought in awe.He suddenly felt that his ideal woman should either be like Chen Yuanyuan, or at least like Li Xiangjun, but he happened to meet Dong Xiaowan, who was not at all similar to the above two types... Thinking of this, Mao Xiang couldn't help looking at Dong Xiaowan, but unexpectedly found that Dong Xiaowan was also looking at him affectionately. "Hmph, she knows this! It seems like she has nothing else to do besides this!" Mao Xiang thought angrily, then turned her face away, and never looked at her again for the whole night...