Next, the family of five walked together, planning to go outside to see the flower field.
During this time, Shen Jia'an stayed close to Madam Shen and was always by her side. Shen Yuzhe, who already had a fiancée, was particularly perceptive and said, "Father, Mother, I want to take my younger brother and sister to see other places. Is that alright?"
Shen Jia'an glanced at his son, feeling extremely satisfied. Then he looked at Madam Shen, who, under the gaze of the whole family, calmly said, "Alright, be careful. Take a few more people with you, don't go too far, and take good care of your younger siblings."
"I understand, Mother."
After Shen Yuzhe led his younger siblings away, Shen Yuzhen said, "Brother, why are you walking so fast?"
Shen Yuzhe glanced at his sister and sighed, "You don't understand."
She doesn't understand?
What doesn't she understand?
"Brother, explain yourself clearly. What do you mean I don't understand?"
"You'll know in a few years. Come on, where do you want to go? I'll take you."
The flower field is quite large and has been meticulously planned, with different flowers planted in different areas.
On the other side, Shen Jia'an and his wife walked side by side without saying much, but the atmosphere between them was incredibly romantic.
When they returned from the flower field, the manager of the Wutong Garden asked, "There will be a theatrical troupe performing at Changyin Pavilion in half an hour. If you are interested, sir, madam, young master, and young lady, you may wish to go and listen. These are all plays that have not appeared before. Our master has put a lot of effort into having the theatrical troupe choreograph them."
The idea of a theatrical troupe was also recently proposed by Youqing. In ancient times, there were few forms of entertainment, and most men and women enjoyed listening to operas. However, they mostly listened to only a few different operas.
Youqing found it uninteresting, so she gave him a few story outlines and had them revised a few times. The opera troupe has been performing the new plays for a few days now, and judging from the customers' reactions, they all seem to like them.
Shen Jia'an wasn't averse to opera, but he didn't have a particular fondness for it either. However, Madam Shen liked it, so upon hearing this, she immediately said, "Arrange a few seats for us!"
Madam Shen smiled as she stood to the side.
The group then returned to the small courtyard, where they would be staying for the night.
The small courtyard was a stand-alone house in the Wutong Garden, just enough for the Shen family to live in. Not long after they returned, they heard someone knocking on the door.
Shen Yuzhe came out.
"Young Master Shen, the opera troupe will be performing in a little while. Do you think you can go over now? If so, I'll show you the way."
Shen Yuzhe: "Wait a moment, I'll go and call my parents out."
Before long, Shen Yuzhe called out Shen Jia'an, Madam Shen, Shen Yuzhen, and Shen Yujing. The whole family followed the servants to the theater.
The opera was quite far from where they lived. Some people liked to listen to opera, while others did not. The area where they stayed and the stage were almost the furthest apart in the village.
Nowadays, most opera stages are open-air, but because the sound from being outdoors is too loud, the opera stage in Wutong Garden is indoors. Moreover, when the place was first built, Youqing used some methods to do some simple physical soundproofing.
The effect is pretty good. While it's not that you can't hear any noise outside, it definitely doesn't disturb the guests resting in the diagonal overnight area.
It can be considered as a way to have both entertainment and rest without any conflict.
The play on stage today is quite interesting; the story is based on a long-buried secret from an underground chamber in Yunnan Prefecture.
However, due to the current state of affairs, Youqing altered some of the true facts.
The female protagonist is still a wealthy heiress, while the male protagonist is still a poor scholar. Two years after their marriage, the heiress's father is falsely accused and falls into hardship. The scholar betrays the heiress, takes a concubine, and plots to steal his wife's dowry. In the end, the scholar's life force is drained by a spirit (the concubine in disguise).
In the end, the rich heiress emerged from her grief. Thanks to the arrival of an honest official, her father was exonerated. In the end, the heiress met a man who was devoted to her and did not mind her past, and the two lived happily ever after.
The traditional saying goes, "evil begets evil," and the male protagonist's performance on stage was exceptionally hypocritical and cunning. Coupled with his short-lived triumph and swift retribution, the audience below found it particularly satisfying.
It was a pretty good play.
Compared to traditional plays, the content has some innovations and is very attractive.
After listening to the play, Madam Shen sat in the private room and couldn't help but sigh, "A passionate woman and a fickle man, it has always been so."
Shen Jia'an and Shen Yuzhe, who were standing nearby, felt a dull ache in their knees. As for Shen Yujing, she looked completely bewildered, but occasionally felt a chill down her back.
Shen Yujing asked, "Mother, why do I feel a little cold?"
Madam Shen said, "It's getting late, we should head back."
Shen Jia'an breathed a sigh of relief: "I will listen to you, Madam."
After leaving the theater, Madam Shen said to her daughter, "Marriage should be between equals. Although Miss Guo (the heroine in the play) comes from a merchant family, her family is very wealthy and she is an only child. What kind of person would she be unsuitable for? Fortunately, evil deeds will be punished by heaven, and she has gotten her just desserts."
After saying this, Madam Shen couldn't help but sigh, because saying it was one thing and reality was another. Miss Guo had no brothers, and her father was getting old and had a lot of money. In this day and age, even if she didn't marry a heartless scholar, but married into a wealthy merchant family of equal social standing, the outcome might not be very good.
I sighed. What a world!
Shen Yuzhen, who was listening to this, seemed to understand but didn't quite get it. Fortunately, Madam Shen didn't expect her daughter to understand too much.
They hadn't eaten before watching the opera, and after the performance, they were a bit hungry, so they ate a meal and then went back to rest.
Actually, there were still some activities planned for the evening, but they had gotten up early today and played for almost the entire day, so they were quite tired and decided to rest early, since they still had a whole day ahead of them tomorrow.
The next day, Shen Jia'an began to observe the facilities of Wutong Garden with a purpose.
The entire Wutong Garden covers an area of nearly 100 acres, which is quite large. You should know that Youqing initially only bought 500 acres of farmland.
Later, more were bought, which is why the estate didn't seem so big anymore.
In the Wutong Garden, there is a dedicated dining area, a three-story building. Shen Jia'an inquired about the number of private rooms, and with the seating in the main hall, it could easily accommodate 500 people dining at the same time.
There is a place specifically for lodging, with nine independent courtyards, just like the one where the Shen family lives, which can accommodate several family members together.
In addition to these nine independent courtyards, there are also two three-story guesthouse buildings. They are quite spacious and have rooms of varying sizes and prices, but all are nicely decorated. No matter which room you stay in, you can feel that you are being treated with care.
The food and lodging were of the highest quality, far more thoughtful and meticulous than the restaurants and inns in the capital that Shen Jia'an had seen when he went to the capital to take the imperial examination. It was truly amazing.
In addition, there are places for cultivating one's mind and character, such as: pottery studios, flower arranging studios, calligraphy and painting studios, tea rooms, chess rooms, and music rooms...
There are also some places for entertainment, such as: opera troupes, shooting ranges, card rooms...
There are also special treatment rooms, like foot baths and massage parlors...
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