Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 48 Sanjia City

Wang Heng recalled that in the early morning at the Haining Temple Tower, the old man prayed to the incense master. He set off after the morning drum at five o'clock in the morning, entered the Shibosi Yamen at nine o'clock, and left the city to meet up after he succeeded.It seems that they succeeded easily. According to the plan, they will definitely leave the city. How can there be clues when the official is arresting him in the city.

Fei Yue'er stopped the incense master and his gang from robbing the prison, but she didn't know why.I don’t know where she went now.

So he shook his head, said nothing, and went to Tangliyuan to look for Yueting.

The Dengyun class in Tangliyuan has lost its backbone and has lost many people over the past few days.

When Yueting saw Wang Heng coming, he invited him to the side hall where the opera was rehearsed. It was now deserted and deserted, so it was a good time to talk.

Wang Heng asked Yue Ting to go with him to investigate the case tomorrow, bring a lot of costumes and household items to put on the carrier, and pretend to be a Caotai Ban to do something cheap, Yue Ting agreed without saying a word.

Early the next morning, Wang Hengtui said that he wanted to go back to his old house in Liuhe to see the elders of the clan. He asked Uncle Gen, the housekeeper, for a carriage. An older model would be fine. He didn’t want a driver. He just said that he and Wang Cai could drive. Gen Uncle all let him go.

Wang Heng himself found a pair of very old shorts from under the box, and asked Wang Cai to pick out old shirts and trousers that were obviously too small and didn't fit well. Boss Wang Cai was not happy. Even if it was to investigate a case, he should wear fresh clothes. Horses and swords fighting in the arena, one is the one who shows off his talents, but when it's his turn, it's always the other way around.

Wang Hengzai got on Xiaocai and Yueting, and like a gust of wind, they left the city and flew north. Yueting asked, "Where are we going today?"

Wang Heng said: "In Sanjia City, go to the house of Sun Ju, the eldest son of my uncle Meng Shi, to inquire about their female relatives."

Yueting was surprised and said: "Why is Sun Juren involved again? Is this possible for a country gentleman?"

Wang Hengchou said: "Of course it's not easy. Besides, we can't reveal our whereabouts. I've thought of a way. When can the eldest girl and the young daughter-in-law in the village ask you to meet her?"

Wang Cai said: "That means attending temple fairs and listening to big plays."

Wang Heng said: "Yes, we just pretended to be a grass class and went to the village to ask for some money. The Sun family is a big family in the local area. Maybe there is an enthusiastic little wife who can tell some information."

Wang Cai said seriously: "Brother Yueting, don't sing those literate plays later. The most sultry spring scenery is this year, and our eldest sister in the countryside is not good at it."

Yueting said: "Then you have to give me a tune."

"Let me learn from you." Wang Cai raised his voice: "Ying Yingnong is a little girl, and she doesn't look good as a matchmaker. As long as she does it right, it doesn't matter whether she looks good or not. It doesn't matter if she comes and gives it a try."

Yueting shook his head and said, "No."

Wang Cai smiled and said: "Report to the December Flower Name Association. Whatever flowers bloom in the first month, the jasmine flowers will bloom in the first month. No matter how big the jasmine flowers are, girls should wear them on their heads."

Wang Cai's voice began to change recently, and his voice sounded strange.

Yueting said happily: "This won't trouble me."

The three of them talked and laughed, and spent more than an hour arriving at Sanjia City.

Sanjia City was built by the Chen family, Zhou family, and Wang family, ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty, who retired to Taicang at the end of the Song Dynasty. It lasted for hundreds of years. It was only a rural market, but it turned out to be very prosperous.

Entering the village, a covered bridge was built in front of them. There was a tea house under the bridge. Wang Heng took out three pennies, ordered three bowls of barley tea, and asked Yueting and Wang Cai to have a rest first.

After finishing the cup of tea, he was about to enter the village. After thinking for a moment, Wang Heng took out ten cents and said to the shopkeeper: "It's a good time to feed the horses. I will definitely come back to pick up the carriage before sunset."

The guy naturally nodded in agreement.

Wang Heng lifted the burden on his shoulders, and Yue Ting hurriedly said: "Of course it's my turn."

Wang Heng laughed softly and said: "Now we are a rural troupe going to make a living, how can we let the actors shoulder the burden?"

After crossing the covered bridge, there are rice shops, cloth shops, butcher shops, tailor shops, ironware shops, and even a bookstore along the street. It is indeed a secluded place for rural officials. It is lively and convenient. The wonderful thing is that it is not in the city. inside.The three of them walked all the way, not knowing where they were going to perform. They saw a huge ginkgo tree at the corner of the stone road. There was a large open space under the tree, and there was an endless stream of people coming and going.The three of them were overjoyed, but this was no longer the case.

The costumes for the Dengyun class were all custom-made by Jixiangchun, a famous store in Gusu City. They were well made and worth a lot of money. The bright red and green colors were very strong. The costumes Yueting brought were too eye-catching, so Wang Heng helped him pick out a white one. Wearing a silk blouse embroidered with plum blossoms and a square scarf, he pretends to be a young scholar, which is called Jinsheng in Nanqu.

Wang Heng took out the gongs and drums from the theater and beat them three times, "Dang Dang Dang", and shouted loudly: "Brother, I am from Gongjiaban in Lugong City. I was invited to perform at the July Festival of Huanggu Temple in Zhoucheng. Today I am here to talk to the three families. The city’s fellow villagers ask for some money.”

Yueting took out his bamboo flute and played a Chao Yuan song, and gradually some people gathered.

Women in small rural households have very little control over them. Jiangnan has a traditional farming and weaving tradition. Women in the market can earn some money from weaving and embroidery. Even if they buy three melons and two dates, they can be considered flexible.

Wang Cai said: "I fell asleep when I hit the pillow. We didn't want to find some aunts and sisters to talk to, but there are so many here, all women."

He looked forward and saw a nunnery in front of him, "The strange ones are all women. They all come from the nunnery. It seems that we will make a big profit today."

Yueting heard what he said was interesting and said: "Then I will do a piece of "Qin Tiao" and hook a few more people."

"The moon is bright and the clouds are light and the dew is thick. I lean on my pillow and listen to the cicadas on the four walls. The jade of the Autumn and Song dynasties is indebted to the west wind. The fallen leaves are frightening and the dream is broken. I walk leisurely in the fragrant dust and count the falling red."

This song "Lazy Thrush", with Yueting's singing skills, shocked the village women who were watching. They were silent for a while, and then they burst into cheers after a while.

Wang Heng struck the gong and drum three more times and said loudly: "Sisters and sisters-in-law in Sanjia City, which rich man is the richest? We brothers and sisters want to recommend themselves to sing in the hall and ask for some money."

The women were very enthusiastic and said noisily: "The richest man in Sanjia City lives in the house of Gong Caizhu."

"The rich man Gong is the stingiest. He can't even bear to eat his wontons, but he still spends money to attend the opera."

A fat sister-in-law vividly told a story about Rich Man Gong. Rich Man Gong went to Zhoucheng to do business early in the morning. Mrs. Gong and her daughter-in-law worked hard for a long time to wrap up fresh meat wontons. They shared the meat wontons with the long-term workers and everyone was about to start eating. The long-term workers at home were on the ground. While working in the house, she saw the rich man Gong coming back from a distance and ran back to report the news to his mistress. Lady Gong took out a small bucket of soybeans and scattered them on the path in front of the house.Sure enough, Mr. Gong walked to the path and saw soybeans scattered on the ground. He shouted repeatedly: "Yao Shou, who is so prodigal?" When he picked up a bucket of soybeans, his family had eaten all the wontons and even cleaned the big wok. .

"The rich man Wang has a wealthy family."

"Mr. Wang's family has countless concubines, and their descendants have spent a lot of money on it. I heard someone say that their big house has been pawned, and they want to rent a shop and ask their concubine to make soup and open a restaurant. What kind of food is this?"

The women laughed again.

Wang Heng heard that the women were running wild horses and ran away with the topic, so he said: "Sun Juren, do Mr. Sun's family still live in Xishishao? We used to go to his house with Master to sing operas."

A young daughter-in-law with a silver hairpin looked at the three of them suspiciously and said, "Master Sun is a scholar, and his family cannot be more strict."

She stretched out her hand to pull the little girl beside her and said, "Nanny, let's go home quickly. I heard that there is a kind of bandit that sends people out to find out the truth before committing a crime, which is called looking at the feet."

She spoke in a loud voice, and the women who were watching also murmured, and most of them left in a short time.

Unexpectedly, the country woman also had some knowledge, and the three of them immediately did not dare to say anything more.

Yueting sang a few more songs leisurely. Passers-by came and left, and people gathered again after leaving.Seeing the new face, Wang Cai once again mentioned the old saying that he wanted to go to a wealthy family's house to sing and ask for rewards. When it came to Sun Juren, Mr. Sun's house was said to be a very strict family by the women. It couldn't be more old-fashioned. Can't get any useful clues.

When I looked up, I saw that it was past noon. It would take more than an hour to get into the city, so I had no choice but to close down.

Wang Heng bowed his hands to the audience and said, "Fellow folks, today's performance is over. Please come early next time."

So the passers-by dispersed one after another, and the three of them put away the gongs and drums belongings listlessly, only to return empty-handed.But they saw a [-]-year-old eldest lady wearing green silk clothes waving to them. Wang Heng remembered that she seemed to be the first audience to be there early in the morning, and she has been listening to the play until now.

(End of this chapter)