Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 387: Suzhou Wei

The names of these little actors were very familiar to Jia Cong.

According to the original trajectory, about a few years later, Yuanchun was suddenly named the Virtuous Consort, and the Rongguo Jia family reached the peak of its prosperity.

In order to prepare for Yuanchun's visit, the Jia family asked Jia Qiang to go to Gusu to buy twelve little actors, and these were the names of the little actors he just heard.

In the current branch line, I have changed Jia Cong's fate of obscurity.

Just like the flapping of a butterfly's wings, many things have undergone new changes because of my appearance.

For example, the Ningguo Mansion was confiscated and the title was stripped ahead of schedule because of his own reasons. Jia Qiang, who was the legitimate great-grandson of the Ningguo Mansion, has become a collateral descendant of the Jia family and has completely withdrawn from the core circle of the Jia family.

Therefore, it is impossible for him to go to Gusu to buy actors again. Such a task will most likely be assigned to Jia Lian or a manager of Rong State.

As things stand now, the person who purchased these little actors has changed from Jia Qiang to Zou Min'er, and it is still unknown what changes will occur to the old events related to it.

……

Zou Min'er selected five people from these little actors. She saw Jia Cong sitting there without saying a word, wondering what he was thinking, and felt a little strange.

Chen Youcai had hoped that Zou Miner could buy a few more small plays to solve his urgent problem, but he was slightly disappointed to see that she only chose five.

Zou Miner said again: "Master Chen, I want to buy another person, the little girl who was washing clothes just now."

When Chen Youcai heard this, his face changed and he said, "Miss Zou, I'm sorry, I can't sell Xiaofu to you."

Zou Min'er had just listened to the singing of these small operas. Although their skills and qualifications were very good, none of them was as outstanding as Xiaofu.

Since she was purchasing actresses for the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Music Bureau, she naturally had to choose the best qualifications, and Xiaofu was her favorite.

Zou Min'er was surprised and said, "Master Chen, the little actors who just came in to sing all have their own stage names, except Xiaofu, who uses a nickname.

I understand the rules of the opera industry. If she doesn't have a stage name, it's not a formal opera. Besides, she is just doing odd jobs like washing clothes.

I just don't understand. You let me pick any of the official actors in the class, but you are unwilling to sell a servant girl who is not even an actor.

Could it be that the contract she signed with the troupe was a working contract, not a contract to sell her body?"

Chen Youcai looked a little embarrassed and said, "She did sign a contract to sell herself with the troupe, but she has been sold to someone else, and that person has already paid half of the deposit.

It’s just that it’s not convenient to take her away now. I’ll come to pick her up in half a month, so I can’t sell her to you.”

The female coach who led the little actors couldn't help but ask, "Boss, are you really going to sell Xiaofu to Commander Luo? His friends don't look like good people. They will harm Xiaofu."

Chen Youcai's face darkened and he shouted, "Just teach Xiaoxi well, and you have no right to take care of other things!"

After hearing this, the female coach looked unhappy but didn't dare to say anything else.

But when Jia Cong heard the female coach mention Commander Luo, his heart skipped a beat.

He asked, "Master Chen, is the Luo Commander you want to buy Xiaofu the same Luo Xiong, the commander of Suzhou Guards?"

When Chen Youcai saw Jia Cong call out Commander Luo's name, he was stunned and said, "That's the man. Apart from him, who else in Gusu can be called Commander Luo?"

Jia Cong's eyes flickered when he heard this. He really didn't expect that he would encounter something related to Luo Xiong in this opera troupe.

Zou Min'er once helped him collect records of military officers of rank four and above in various armies under the Jinling Commandery, including Luo Xiong, the commander of Suzhou Guard.

According to the information, Luo Xiong and Zhang Kangnian were close friends. Zhang Kangnian once served as the commander of Suzhou Guard, and Luo Xiong was his trusted subordinate.

Since the major case of the Water Supervision Bureau occurred, Zhang Kangnian has been highly suspected in many things, and there is not a good connection between these two people.

……

Zou Min'er was a very sharp-minded person. When she heard Jia Cong's question, she knew what he was thinking.

He said, "Boss Chen, the one I want to buy the most is Xiaofu. If we can't buy her, we have to reconsider the others.

We can stay in Gusu for two more days. Once you have thought it over, you can send someone to Rongxiang Inn to deliver a message to us."

After saying this, he and Jia Cong got up and left.

When Chen Youcai heard that his business was going to fail, his face changed drastically. Over the past year or so, the troupe had performed fewer and fewer plays, and he had long been unable to maintain it. He relied on selling the small plays in the troupe to get through the difficult times.

I quickly said, "Please think about it again. It's not that I don't want to sell Xiaofu to you. It's true that someone bought her before you. I can't afford to offend Commander Luo."

Jia Cong and Zou Min'er did not respond to what Master Chen said, and walked out of the main hall directly. They could hear Chen Youcai's dejected sigh behind them.

Jia Cong and Zou Miner came to buy the little actor just as an excuse to cover up their tracks, and it was not a very important matter.

Now that they knew that Xiao Fu was actually linked to Suzhou Guard Commander Luo Xiong, they had to be more cautious, although this matter might not be related to Zhou Zhengyang's affairs.

They planned to go back to the inn first, and while Zheng Xiaohai was still not back in Gusu for a few days, they would find out the situation between Xiaofu and Luo Xiong and then decide on a countermeasure.

……

Moreover, Jia Cong had a special fondness for Xiaofu, who looked very much like Daiyu, and he never wanted her to suffer an inhuman fate.

And he could more or less guess who she was, but there must be a reason he didn't know why her name was Xiaofu.

At this moment, they suddenly heard footsteps chasing after them from behind. Jia Cong and Zou Miner turned around and saw that it was a little girl of about eight or nine years old.

It was the child who had just delivered clothes to Xiaofu in the laundry room. Xiaofu called her Adou, and the female coach had also brought her in to sing a song for Zou Miner.

Adou is the youngest among these little actors. She plays the role of a clown and her stage name is Douguan.

She saw Jia Cong and Zou Min'er turning around, and she seemed to have something to say, but now she seemed to be too shy to say it.

Zou Miner remembered her name, and she was very sensitive and knew that the little girl must have something to ask since she was chasing him out.

He smiled and asked, "Douguan, why are you following me? Is there something wrong?"

Douguan said, "Miss, Sir, I beg you, you must buy Xiaofu. If she is bought by those people, she will be bullied to death."

Zou Miner smiled and said, "I heard from your master that the person who bought her was Commander Luo, but he is a high-ranking official, so how could he bully her? Tell me the reason and I will decide whether to buy her."

Although Douguan is young, he has been in the opera troupe since he was a child and is very smart. After listening to Zou Miner's words, he knew that there is some hope for this matter.

He said quickly, "Well, let me tell you everything. That day, Conductor Luo brought some friends to the garden to rent out the theater to watch an opera. The master asked Xiaofu to go on stage and sing A Dream in the Garden..."

Zou Miner asked, "Douguan, Xiaofu doesn't even have a stage name. She's not a proper little actor. How can she go on stage? This is against the rules of the industry."

Douguan said: “Miss Zou, you don’t know that Xiaofu’s family is very poor, and her family sold her very cheaply, and the gang leader didn’t buy her at the price of a small play.

When Xiaofu joined the opera troupe, she only did laundry and cooking, but she was smarter than any of us. When the master taught us to sing opera, she learned it after just listening twice, and she sang better than us.

We didn't know it at first. But one day when she was cooking, she hummed a little. The chef was very happy to hear it and started to teach her formally.

However, she had only been in the troupe for a little over a year, and had been formally learning from her master for even less time, so her master hadn't even given her a stage name yet.

Last time, Luo led his group to a private theater to watch an opera. The master thought Xiaofu had practiced very well, so he let her perform for the first time. If she sang well, he would give her a stage name, and she would be a serious little actress in the troupe from then on, and she would no longer have to do the rough work of washing clothes and cooking.

Xiaofu sang very well in that performance, and our hands were all red from clapping backstage. The master said that Xiaofu had a good appearance and beautiful singing voice, and that he was a worthy performer.

The boss was also very happy, thinking that he had gotten a great deal by buying Xiaofu at such a low price.

That day was Xiaofu’s most glorious day in the opera troupe.

But then things got worse...”

……

From Douguan's words, Jia Cong understood that Xiaofu was a child from a poor family and was sold to the opera troupe not to perform in small plays but to be a maid.

But she had a great talent for singing, and was discovered by the female coach of the troupe, so she began to learn singing formally. However, she only learned singing for a very short time and did not even have a stage name.

Douguan continued, "That day, Conductor Luo brought his friend to the opera. After Xiaofu finished singing one scene, Conductor Luo's friend seemed to like Xiaofu very much, so he asked Xiaofu to sing a song called Sprinkling Golden Fan."

Zou Min'er had been in the Jiaofangsi for several years and had some knowledge. When she heard this, her pretty face darkened and she said, "That person is really a piece of shit. He actually let Xiaofu sing this."

Jia Cong asked curiously, "Is Sprinkling Golden Fan a bad song?"

Zou Miner glanced at him and replied, "Sprinkling the Golden Fan is a popular tune in brothels. The words are vulgar and are sung by prostitutes for male customers!"

After hearing what Zou Min'er said, Douguan also said, "It was only later that I realized that this piece of music was not good. At that time, the troupe owner and the master were both unhappy, but the other party was an official, so they didn't dare to say anything.

Xiaofu said that it would break the rules of the troupe and refused to sing no matter what. Conductor Luo's men were very unhappy and forced Xiaofu to sing and even treated him violently.

Xiaofu got angry, took off the flower crown on his head, hit Luo's men, and then ran away. "

Jia Cong smiled and said, "This little girl is quite tough."

Douguan continued, "Xiaofu has gone into hiding somewhere and no one can find her. Commander Luo is very angry and his men are also making trouble. The class leader and the master are very scared and so are we.

Thanks to the friends brought by Commander Luo who didn't want the matter to get out of hand, nothing happened. The troupe owner spent another 100 taels of silver to treat the subordinate whose flower crown was smashed to tea, and the matter was finally resolved.

Because the costumes that Xiaofu smashed were very valuable items in the troupe, it would cost a lot of money to repair them, and the troupe owner was very angry.

After Xiaofu came back by herself, the troupe owner beat her severely and forbade her to sing again.

He also asked her to wash a lot of clothes all day long and didn't give her enough food, saying that she was a spendthrift woman.

Yesterday, Commander Luo sent someone to find the troupe owner, saying that he wanted to buy Xiaofu and give it to his friend, asking his friend to train him well…”

Jia Cong and Zou Min'er both heard how malicious Commander Luo's words were. If a delicate girl like Xiaofu were to fall into that situation, the consequences would be disastrous.

Douguan's mouth drooped when he said this, and he said in a crying voice: "Master said that if Xiaofu is bought by Luo Zhihui like this, he will be tortured to death.

Young Master and Young Lady, please be kind and buy Xiaofu so that he won't have to suffer. Even if you don't buy him, we can still do it."

……

Although Zou Min'er's heart had been hardened since she fell into the Jiaofang Bureau, she was a girl after all, and her compassion had not diminished much.

Besides, she already liked Xiaofu's appearance and singing voice, and this little girl was also very courageous and had strong character, which made her feel even more pity for her.

She said to Jia Cong, "That little girl is quite pitiful. She has talent and ambition. Now that she has come across this, we cannot ignore her. Don't you have many ideas? Do you have any ideas?"

Seeing that Douguan's eyes were wide open with an expression of hope and pleading, Jia Cong smiled and touched Douguan's head.

Said: "I just saw you two getting along well in the laundry room. You are a loyal person."

Then he smiled at Zou Min'er and said, "I was a little worried at first, but now I have listened to Douguan's words. Xiaofu's matter has nothing to do with our big event.

This is easier to do. I have a ready-made solution.

Luo Xiong was the commander of Suzhou Guard and a local emperor in Gusu. However, no matter how powerful he was, he was not as powerful as the Jinling Commandery.

I sent someone back to Nanjing today to deliver a letter to Du Hengxin, the commander of the Nanjing Military Region, saying that the Jiaofangsi, under the order of the Ministry of Rites, went to the south of the Yangtze River to purchase actresses and musicians, and now they value Xiaofu's talent.

Please ask Du Hengxin to tell Luo Xiong to let Xiaofu go.

Du Hengxin is the commander-in-chief of Jinling, and the five major fortresses along the river are under his command. He is Luo Xiong's immediate superior, so unless he doesn't want to continue his job, he has to agree to it!
However, Luo Xiong is the commander of Suzhou Guards, and these three hundred miles of Gusu are his territory. To be on the safe side, we will take Xiaofu away today to avoid any complications."

When Zou Miner thought about it, she felt that it made sense. She had just seen clearly in the main hall that the troupe owner Chen Youcai was very afraid of Luo Xiong.

If this drags on for a few days, and he ends up informing Luo Xiong in order to clear himself of the issue, things will become complicated.

Only Jia Cong's quick and decisive approach to resolve the issue cleanly and efficiently is the simplest and most effective way.

Jia Cong asked Douguan to explain the matter to Xiaofu, and he and Zou Min'er returned to the main hall of the back garden.

Chen Youcai was surprised and happy to see the two men come back.

Hearing Jia Cong bringing up the old matter again and saying that he wanted to buy Xiaofu away, he immediately looked worried.

Jia Cong said: "I am Jia Cong, the Director of Firearms of the Ministry of Works in Jinling, and I am the Earl of Weiyuan, who was personally conferred the title by the emperor. Now the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Academy have taken a liking to Xiaofu.

I will let Luo Xiong's boss speak out and make him never dare to ask you to buy Xiaofu again. We will sign the contract today and I will take Xiaofu away today.

I will come and pick up the other small plays when I leave Gusu."

As he spoke, he showed Chen Youcai the seal of the Director of the Firearms Bureau.

Although Chen Youcai was only the boss of a theatre troupe, he was not completely uninformed. When he saw Jia Cong carrying the seal of the steward with him, his face turned pale and he could not help but gasp.

He said with surprise, "So Master Jia is the Weiyuan Earl who wiped out the Jurchens!"

Jia Cong smiled slightly: "Why, don't you think it's similar?"

Chen Youcai quickly apologized with a smile, "I dare not. Your demeanor and bearing are extraordinary. It is my honor to meet Earl Weiyuan today."

In fact, to Chen Youcai, Xiaofu is now a hot potato. It doesn't matter who wants to buy her, as long as there is a reasonable excuse to get rid of her as soon as possible.

Now, the famous Weiyuan Earl wants to buy people, and he has also added the name of the Jiaofangsi, and also has a relationship with the Jinling Duzhisi.

Even though he was very cautious, his fear of Commander Luo was mostly gone.

Besides, the arrow is on the string now, and Jia Cong has made it clear. If he still hesitates, this Earl of Weiyuan will deal with him before Commander Luo can cause trouble for him.

As the head of a Suzhou opera troupe, he could never compete with the dignified Earl of Weiyuan.

Chen Youcai took out the indentures of the five young actors and Xiaofu. Both parties signed the document and asked the actors to put their fingerprints on it. Then they filed the document with the government and the transaction procedures were complete.

At this time, the sound of footsteps was heard outside the main hall. Jia Cong saw Douguan pulling Xiaofu in, and the latter's little face was full of surprise and confusion.

(End of this chapter)