Chapter 30: Singing and Dancing

She would rather be a lowly entertainer in the Ninth Prince's mansion than marry Lu Yunyang. Should he agree?

A sarcastic smile appeared on Lu Yunyang's lips, and his eyes turned cold, three parts sneer and three parts indifference.

"Okay, there is still one and a half months until the Dragon Boat Festival. I will see how you perform."

Hua Man Lou has a good foundation and the girls there are all professionally trained. As long as there are good tunes, they can perform them in a lingering and touching way.

The place is large and the scene is easy to arrange. The atmosphere can be set off just right by using special effects such as lighting and fireworks.

In this regard, Jiang Jiu has endless ideas, and Xiao Yimo's execution ability is also excellent.

The music style of Hua Man Lou is lingering, while the music style of Hong Xiu Zhao is unrestrained. Jiang Jiu held a competition with the street between Hua Man Lou and Hong Xiu Zhao as the stage.

I won’t go into details about what happened later, but we used stools and tables to block off the front for three days of competition, and every night all the guests who came had to pay a fee of ten taels of silver.

Ten taels of silver would provide tea, melon seeds, peanuts and other snacks, but if they wanted the girls to play music for them or drink with them, the price would be extra.

For ten taels of silver, one could watch the performances of the girls from Hua Man Lou and Hong Xiu Zhao, which was an unprecedented grand occasion.

For a whole month, Jiang Jiu hardly stayed at home. She chose the rehearsals of Hua Man Lou and the dance music of Hong Xiu Zhao over and over again and made them practice over and over again.

On the night before April 28th, Jiang Jiu asked Huamanlou and Hongxiuzhao to close their stores and all the girls to rehearse. On the 28th, the girls rested during the day.

The performance on the 28th starts at 7:00 p.m., which is dusk, the hour of Xu.

The performance officially starts at nine o'clock in the evening, which is the hour of Hai.

After the stage was built, a series of lanterns were hung up. The background of the stage was a bright moon, which echoed the crescent moon in the sky and also illuminated the stage.

Lu Yunyang stood in the room at the end of the corridor of Hua Man Lou. Because Ni Chang had a performance, only Lu Ming was with him.

"It's a nice show. I have to say, this girl Jiang Jiu is really something."

Lu Ming stood behind Lu Yunyang with his arms folded and holding a sword, looking dark, cold and unpredictable.

"Now the master's reputation as a lecherous and dissolute man has been confirmed. When the news reaches the capital, the people in the imperial city will finally feel relieved."

Lu Yunyang lay leisurely on the windowsill, with a half-smile on his face.

"That's exactly what he wants. He wants me to be good at nothing, to indulge in women, eating, drinking and having fun all day, and to be a good-for-nothing."

Lu Ming glanced at the street below and said, "There are quite a few people here. The prefect and the governor are all here in plain clothes. The magistrate and the county magistrate of Xiang County are also here. The yamen runners are also here. I'm afraid all the men from these places are here."

Lu Yunyang glanced downstairs and said, "The women are here too. My eighth concubine is also keen to watch the fun."

Looking up, Jiang Jiu and his concubines were on the second floor of Hong Xiu Zhao opposite, where the view was better.

Lu Ming: "I heard that all the good seats are reserved by Miss Jiang. It's one hundred taels of silver a night. It's really profitable."

Yes, he must have made a lot of money tonight. Lu Yunyang really underestimated Jiang Jiu.

Fortunately, Jiang Jiu’s condition this time was just to take him to the Ninth Prince’s Palace.

If the betrothal money really needs to be returned, then from today onwards, Jiang Jiu will be truly free.

"Young master, you must not let her leave easily." Lu Yunyang smiled and greeted Jiang Jiu who was on the second floor.

Jiang Jiu nodded slightly, but the eight concubines were happy and shy when they saw Lu Yunyang.

The gongs and drums sounded and the performance began. There was an endless stream of people wanting to enter. Those who came early had seats, but those who came late didn't even have seats and had to stand at the back, with some even stepping on the tables.

"Love... is just an ordinary thing, nothing special at all..."

As the music started, the first song to come out was Hong Xiu Zhao's famous song. Four girls were dressed lightly, with their faces covered with red veils, and were looming. There were bells on their wrists and ankles.

The singing and dancing are swaying and vivid.

Lu Yunyang hissed softly: "This song really brings

"Jin'er..."

It gives people a feeling that I am the most beautiful in the world, which is in line with Jiang Jiu's personality.

Looking at Jiang Jiu again, she didn't stop for a moment. The subordinates around her came to her one after another, and no one knew what they said to her, but she responded calmly.

The music styles vary, including sword dance, sleeve dance, pure music, pipa playing, etc.

Tonight is destined to be a feast of entertainment for Xiang County. For at least twenty years, everyone will be amazed when they talk about it.

It starts with Carmen and ends with a sword dance and laughter in the world of red dust, which perfectly expresses the role of a mature woman.

Time soon came to midnight. Because the prefect was visiting incognito, the other officials kept themselves clean and no girls wanted to accompany them.

Only Nichang from Hua Man Lou went to drink with the prefect.

After the song ended, everyone dispersed. Xiao Yimo and Jiang Jiu came to Lu Yunyang's room as promised.

"Here's tonight's earnings."

Xiao Yimo had someone carry a box and placed it in front of Lu Yunyang.

"There are quite a lot of people here tonight. Apart from the hard work fees for the girls and others, the rest is all here. I roughly calculated it and it's about 8,000 taels of silver..."

Lu Yunyang's eyebrows twitched. He made eight thousand taels in one night. He was really good at making money.

After the silver was raised, Jiang Jiu waved his hand and said to Xiao Yimo, "You go back first and follow the original plan."

Xiao Yimo nodded, then left in a leisurely manner.

In the room, Lu Yunyang nodded to Lu Ming, and Lu Ming also went out to guard.

Jiang Jiu kicked the box and said, "The money is yours. Take me to Prince Qi's Palace."

After saying this, she looked at Lu Yunyang steadily, waiting for his reply.

"Okay, I'll keep my word." Lu Yunyang glanced at the box. There were silver ingots and silver bills in it, indeed a lot of silver.

But after Jiang Jiu finished speaking, he did not leave immediately.

Lu Yunyang's raised eyes twitched: "Do you have anything else to do?"

Jiang Jiu: "After visiting Prince Qi's Palace, I may not return to Xiang County..."

Lu Yunyang raised his lips and laughed contemptuously: "You don't think that you can become a musician in Prince Qi's palace just by playing these songs."

Jiang Jiu smiled faintly, with a hint of elusiveness on his lips.

"Maybe I can, maybe I can't, it doesn't matter. If it works, I may go to Beijing. If it doesn't work, I can only stay in Suzhou and find another opportunity to act..."

Suddenly, Lu Yunyang's heart trembled, and he felt a bad sense of alarm.

"Done? What do you want to do by going to Prince Qi's mansion..."

Jiang Jiu shook his head gently: "I'm going to do something very important."

Lu Yunyang frowned: "What important thing can't even I tell you."

Jiang Jiu blinked and said, "You definitely can't tell me who you are to me. Once I enter Prince Qi's mansion, we will get divorced. I have written and signed the divorce agreement. You can take it to the government office to get it done."

"If I can't come back, and the government finds you, just say you don't know me."

Lu Yunyang's heart trembled again: "What on earth are you going to do in Prince Qi's mansion? You are not going to assassinate him..."

Jiang Jiu speechlessly widened his eyes, opened his cherry-like mouth, and looked at him in shock.

"What are you thinking? Why would I want to assassinate the King of Qi? I'm just looking for something..."

An item taken away by the Ninth Prince.