Start with the humble bridegroom

Chapter 125

Inside the Zhang Family Courtyard in Taolin County.

Meng Xiaowan is reading a letter, she has read this letter three times, and now she is reading it for the fourth time.It seems that he wants to read between the lines of the letter to see something that Meng Chuansheng did not write.

In the end, she put down the letter, and finally let go of her worries about her parents, brother and sister-in-law who are separated by mountains and rivers.

Zhang Zhe walked into the main room, saw her contemplating, so he deliberately found a topic to reassure her.

"Shicai, I have rewarded the man in the caravan and sent him away. I asked him several times, and I only said that my uncle came to deliver the letter, and he looked good, and he was accompanied by servants. I don’t know in the letter, my uncle said how the situation is, how is the father-in-law and mother-in-law?”

Meng Xiaowan came to her senses when she heard the words, she took a blue and white tea bowl, and poured Zhang Zhe the chrysanthemum tea she had brewed in the morning.

"I don't want the weather to be so hot this year. Tomorrow will be the Double Ninth Festival. Look at your sweat, wipe it off."

Zhang Zhe took the tea bowl and drank it in one gulp, letting Meng Xiaowan wipe his forehead for him.

"My brother said in detail in the letter that everyone is well on this journey, only my mother has a small cold, but now she is fine. The family is now located in Shanghe Town, Lanchuan County, Xijiang. My father and brother bought a semi-old two-in-one The house is enough to live in. I spent some money and found a middleman to take over 80 acres of land. My brother told me in the letter to thank you very much. Now he is afraid that he just came out of the Xijiang examination room. The whole letter , all just to reassure us."

Meng Xiaowan and Zhang Zhe said a few more worried words, then picked up a pen to write a reply, wrote seven or eight pieces of paper in one go, and suddenly thought of something again.

"Husband, when will the caravan return to Xijiang?"

Zhang Zhe shook his head: "They didn't go to Xijiang, they were caravans from out of town, they just passed by Xijiang and Wuling. Hearing that Shangyin and Lanke entered Dazheng, they are planning to prepare their goods and go west. The lady wants to send a letter, just give it to me."

"Husband, is there a proper way to send a letter?"

"The eunuch got up in the middle of the month and went to Beijing to face the saint, but most of the servants at home went directly to Xijiang. Yesterday, the eunuch's servant sent someone to ask me if I had anything to bring with my father-in-law and mother-in-law. He also said, if you are not in a hurry, after the list is released, I will have the fame of a scholar, and I can also go to Xijiang to visit relatives."

When Meng Xiaowan heard it, her heart was quite moved.

But after turning around the room twice, she sighed.

"Seeing the thick autumn, coming and going, it is winter time when I come back. In the first year of autumn harvest, the master is not there, and the tenants below are afraid that they will neglect the fields in the future. I am afraid that the concubine will not be able to bear the pain of returning in winter. And Over there, the family business is well established, everything is waiting to be done, and the house is probably tight, so we will have to spend another sum of money with my father and brother when we go, why don't we look at it next spring?"

Zhang Zhe grabbed one of her catkins: "The lady keeps one thing hidden and doesn't say anything. Are you worried that you will go to Xijiang with the prefect, and you are afraid that you will cause some trouble for me?"

"My husband just said that because of Xilu's incident, everyone in Xijiang has been wiped clean, and I don't know how much filth is hidden waiting for people to uncover. Some people hope that the prefect will go, and naturally some people hope that he will not go. Those who are waiting to die Once people become crazy and involve both sides of our family, we can't stand the turmoil. It's not too late for us to go alone after Yan Taishou stabilizes the situation in Xijiang."

"The lady is so sensible that it makes people feel distressed."

"Bah!" Seeing that he was out of shape again, Meng Xiaowan gave him a light sip.

The next day was Chongyang Festival, the couple had lunch together and went out separately.She and Miss Luo Si were the only ones left in Luo Chen's family, and they posted three or four posts in succession asking Meng Xiaowan to live there, while Zhang Zhe sent Meng Xiaowan to the Luo Mansion, and then took Sanqi to Changyin Pavilion.

Liu Dongzhu of Changyin Pavilion asked Huo Bingcheng to meet him today.

A table of good dishes and a pot of good wine, on the second floor opposite the Changyinge stage, where Zhang Zhe always sits, besides Liu Dongzhu, Xu Niangzi is also there.

Liu Dongzhu is over 50 years old, with a loud voice and a terrifying energy.After Zhang Zhe heard Xu Niangzi's introduction, he realized that Liu Dongzhu is also an idiot in the play, with a wealth of money, but he has been on stage for many years.

These days, Changyin Pavilion has performed "Pairing of Immortals" twice in a row. Dongzhu Liu came on stage to play a guest role as the old locust tree who is the matchmaker between Seven Fairies and Dong Yong.

There was a fifty-count silver ticket on the table, but Dongzhu Liu wanted to monopolize the scene of "Pairing the Immortals".

"Afterwards, Changyin Pavilion will offer fifty inks every month. It's only because Liu loves this book so much, and I hope that the trustworthy gentleman will agree."

Zhang Zhe became curious: "I heard that there are good books and copies, and all the printing houses directly print without notifying the author. Is the proprietor afraid of losing money by doing this?"

Dongzhu Liu laughed: "Your Majesty is talking about books. As long as the government can't help the scholars, anyone can print them. It's Liu who will give fifty copies a month, and others want to print this "Pairing of Immortals" , Liu can't control him. However, there are rules in the industry, it doesn't matter if you print books, read books, or even sing a few songs for living in the streets, but if you start a class and rehearse a play, you have to ask someone Liu .”

Zhang Zhe was even more surprised, and asked again: "It's easy to talk about in the local area, but how do you manage him in other places?"

Lady Xu and Zhang Zhe had more wine and took over the conversation.

"Your Majesty, I don't know that in this business of asking for a living, there are leaders in the industry, and they also offer sacrifices to the ancestors of each industry. After hundreds of years of rules, few dare to really provoke the public's anger. Even if there are people in Nanyang who are rehearsing plays, they must be informed in advance. The head of the meeting over there can only perform on stage if it is confirmed that it is a new script or has a license. Liu Dongzhu's fifty guan, but he has bought the authenticity of his own way, and anyone in the province who wants to start a play is not out of the question. According to the rules, if you want to sing "The Match of the Immortals" on stage to earn money, you have to come to Wuling, and you don't need money, you only need to perform on the stage of Changyin Pavilion and get Liu Dongzhu's approval before you can start the stage."

"Interesting!" Zhang Zhe smiled, and put away the banknote.Then a few people talked about the recent business of Changyin Pavilion. Whenever Liu Dongzhu mentioned this matter, his smile couldn't be suppressed.

"Liu made an appointment with Mrs. Xu, and there will be three discounts every month. One discount is three days, and I just performed one discount a few days ago. Hehehehe, but I also feel that Changyin Pavilion is too small. This theater building Up and down 220 six seats, and now it has increased to 270 six seats. Every day, as long as the sign of Xu Niangzi's "Heavenly Match" is put up, the sign of this show will not be kept. I don't know how many old customers can't get the sign. Being noisy outside, tired Liu does not know how much care he has to pay every day."

Zhang Zhe knew in his heart that Liu Dongzhu made a lot of money by relying on "Pairing of Immortals".In the past, Changyinge's play sign was twenty cents a piece, but when he came here just now, he saw that the price on the water sign in front of the building had changed to fifty cents, and four days later, the play sign that Xu Niangzi appeared on stage again was marked with a price of [-] cents. Up to two hundred words!

(End of this chapter)