Lu Huai paused for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "The Flower in the Rear Garden".
Shu Zhan didn't understand. "What?"
“I said,” Lu Huai said, “this piece of music is called ‘The Flowers of the Rear Courtyard’.”
"How...how did you know?" Shu Zhan was dumbfounded. How could he not know?
Lu Huai looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Very famous."
The courtesan, oblivious to the sorrow of a fallen nation, still sings "The Flowers of the Rear Courtyard" across the river.
oh……
Shu Zhan nodded, indicating that he understood. But he was still a little puzzled, "Since they're so famous, why have I never heard of them? We often go to the theater, so why have we never heard any opera troupes perform?"
Lu Huai raised an eyebrow slightly. This was the music of a fallen kingdom! Which opera troupe was so audacious as to sing this right under the emperor's nose? They must be tired of living.
However, he didn't say anything, only explaining that this place was thousands of miles away from the capital, and the accents were different, so it was normal that he couldn't understand. Shu Zhan nodded, agreeing with his explanation.
“The show’s over, time to get back to work.” Lu Huai stood up and looked down at the people still sitting at the table.
Shu Zhan put the peanuts in his mouth and mumbled "Okay," then walked to the counter with Lu Huai.
...
...
The Prefectural Governor's Residence of Dongcheng.
The steward was busy cleaning the mansion when he turned around and saw that Prefect Qu had returned. He quickly went up to him and said, "My lord, you're back."
"Hmm." Prefect Qu nodded, noticing the servants bustling about. "What are they doing?"
Butler: "Oh, sir. I noticed that the manor hasn't been thoroughly cleaned in a long time. I thought the sun was shining brightly today, and the water would dry quickly, so I thought I'd give it a good cleaning to make it tidier."
"Hmm." Prefect Qu nodded approvingly. "You did a good job."
"Hehe." The steward scratched his head and chuckled, then suddenly remembered something. "Sir, the manager of Shuji Theater just sent someone over. He said there's a new play at the theater today, it was just arranged today, and he'd like you to come and watch it."
Prefect Qu raised an eyebrow slightly. "Hmm? A new play?"
Butler: "That's what he said."
"Well..." He seemed interested, but before he could speak, he frowned. "Never mind, I have some business to attend to today. Send someone to inform them that I won't be going today."
"Huh? Oh, okay." The butler seemed surprised by his response, paused for a moment, and then agreed.
Magistrate Qu was a true opera enthusiast, his greatest passion being listening to opera. He had listened to every opera troupe in the town, but in the end, he still thought Shu's troupe was the best, always putting on plays he had never heard of before, which was very refreshing.
Unlike other opera troupes, which charge several taels of silver for a short listen, and where you can't even watch from the outside if you don't pay, this troupe is different.
This place, Shu Ji, is different. If you want to look from the outside, that's fine, as long as it doesn't bother other customers. But if you go inside and pay, you'll be treated to good food and drinks.
In other places, a plate of peanuts would be too kind of you.
Because of its people-friendly policies, Shuji Opera House was the most popular opera house in the entire Dongcheng. It is said that other cities treated it the same way; everyone who came was a guest, and if you paid, you were treated like royalty.
But why isn't Your Excellency going today? Could it be that you're too busy and tired?
The butler scratched his head, finding it rather strange.
As he walked out, he muttered to himself, "The manager of Shuji Restaurant said the new play was particularly good and came to invite him specially. He probably didn't expect that you would be so tired today, sir."
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