After Su Chen and Peng Qingqing sat down, they found themselves in the middle row of the third row. There were more than a dozen tables in the first row, which were reserved for governors, magistrates, county government officials, and people who had resigned from office and retired in Runzhou City.

Some marquises, great scholars, etc. prepared.

People like the governor, chief historian, and prefect maintain their own identities. Even if they send invitations, they will not come in person, but most of them will send one or two low-level officials to support them, or stewards of the marquis's mansion. Of course, they will

Some people made an exception and came in person, such as Han Xizai. He liked this kind of occasion. He also heard that it was Su Yixuan's opera script and it was his first stage play. He would not miss it no matter what.

Xu Qingwan also came to the scene in person. Behind her was the powerful Xu family. Her father and grandfather were all conferred marquisships by the imperial family. She herself was the most talented woman in Runzhou, so being able to come to Hualou to support her in person was already regarded as a gift to Xiangyun.

The restaurant is very impressive.

Even Mother Sang did not expect that the talented Xu Qingwan would come in person and warmly entertained her to sit down.

The second row is the position of the nine major families, and each has its own steward representative. Although "scholars, farmers, industry and merchants" are the four common classes in society, businessmen are ranked at the bottom. But in the real society, if you really think that farmers

To have a higher status than craftsmen than merchants would be to commit dogmatism, which is a big mistake.

In the society of the Southern Tang Dynasty, great emphasis was placed on economic development, and the status of merchants had been raised very high. Although there were many restrictions on the status of merchants in the law, they were not allowed to become officials or enter official careers, or they were not allowed to have any status in the household registration and other levels.

There are restrictions, you have to pay more taxes and other repressive regulations.

However, the merchants of the Southern Tang Dynasty already had a strong influence. They had abundant funds. They often colluded with officials and businessmen, bribed officials, hired a large number of domestic slaves, and became tenant owners of large amounts of land. They determined the survival of hundreds of households of tenant farmers. At the same time, they hired

Many craftsmen work in their own workshops and have a strong say in the city. Even the government rarely offends wealthy business families.

If a child of a merchant family commits adultery or commits bad deeds, he or she will often lose money and settle the matter. The old saying goes, "The people do not fight with the rich, and the rich do not fight with the officials." This is a true portrayal.

The poor "scholars, peasants and workers" of the third class generally cannot afford to offend businessmen, just because they are rich!

Su Chen and Peng Qingqing were sitting at the desk in the third row. Here were the powerful officials, the young masters of the wealthy families, the new ministers, as well as some young masters from the second-rate merchant families.

"Su Chen?" A cold voice called out his name.

Su Chen turned around and looked over, and found an acquaintance on the table on his right: Cao Dan, the third young man of the Cao family.

The Cao family once plotted against the Su family's ancestral medicine and the ancestral home, and Cao Dan was the one introduced by the Cao family and set up a trap for him to deliberately lose money and incur gambling debts.

It can be said that the death of "Su Chen" in the past was all related to Cao Dan, and he was able to survive. However, he would not be grateful to Cao Dan for this. The sense of justice in his heart made Su Chen and Cao Dan destined to be together.

The hostility continues.

"What's wrong with you?" Su Chen hummed back.

Cao Dan's face became angry. He stood up and walked forward with two servants, intending to teach him a lesson. However, as soon as he took a few steps forward, he saw Han Yunpeng, who was sitting with Su Chen. He was immediately startled. Although he was not a yameni, he was still in the government.

I followed some of the rich and powerful young men in the city through that circle, and recognized that this was the young man from Shilang Han's house, nicknamed: Young Master Dapeng!

Han Yunpeng glared over, and then asked Su Chen: "Do you have a grudge?"

Su Chen said with a righteous face: "This is the third young master of the Cao family. He usually cheats and kidnaps his neighbors, preys on the common people, molests women, defrauds people of their money, and beats orphans and children. It can be said that he does all kinds of evil. It's a pity that his family's pharmacy business is a bit stinky.

, so no one has treated him yet.”

When Cao Dan heard this, his expression changed and he said angrily: "You, you are slandering my reputation by slandering others!"

After hearing this, Han Yunpeng couldn't hold himself back anymore. There is such a bad young man in Runzhou City! He is just the son of a merchant, but he is even less important than the yamen of their powerful officials. It's a bit too arrogant!

"Pah!" Han Yunpeng rushed up and slapped Cao Dan on the face, then kicked him hard twice, and said angrily: "What a bastard, you are so arrogant. I feel that no one in Runzhou City can take care of you."

Yet?"

Cao Dan was blinded by the beating. Knowing the identity of Mr. Han, he held his head and did not dare to fight back. However, the two servants behind Cao Dan did not know. When they saw the young master being beaten, they rolled up their sleeves and shouted and rushed forward.

Han Yunpeng was sixteen years old. When he was a child, he had learned basic martial arts from the boxer at his family's nursing home. He just had enough fighting skills to use them. One elbow hit the servant's abdomen, and the other kicked him hard on the chest of the second servant, and then he was in chaos.

After a heavy beating, both Cao Dan and the servant were beaten.

At this time, the deacon in charge of security in the Xiangyun Pavilion came over with someone to maintain order. When he saw Han Yunpeng beating someone, he did not dare to be violent to him, but just started a fight. After asking the reason, he learned that Han Yunpeng was acting rationally.

He didn't say anything about accountability, and just asked people to carry the three Cao family members out.

Su Chen did not make a move from beginning to end. He smiled slightly at Han Yunpeng who sat down again and extended his thumb: "Yes, you can help the people by visiting a brothel. You are worthy of being Master Dapeng!"

Han Yunpeng grinned and said: "If he dares to offend Brother Su, he offends me. If we meet again in the future, I will beat him up."

Su Chen nodded: "Well, good brothers, we share blessings and share our enemies!"

Peng Qingqing was not interested in this and slapped the table: "You two, be quiet, the show is about to begin."

Su Chen and Han Yunpeng looked at each other and didn't dare to speak. Among the three of them, the real Tyrannosaurus Rex was here!

At this moment, the bell rings and the opera is about to begin.

There were hundreds of people in the lobby, all of them fell silent and were full of curiosity about the stage drama.

Many people in the audience had a cold-shouldered attitude towards this, hoping to see Liu Monong's joke in Xiangyun Pavilion.

Even inside the Xiangyun Pavilion, there is a group of actors and sisters headed by Cui Qiaoer, who are prejudiced against Liu Monong and his group of close actors, and hope that they will make a big joke this time if the show fails and the show fails. They all want to do that in private.

Well, as long as the performance is mediocre, they will be chased off the stage immediately.

At this time, silk and bamboo music sounded, and the stage curtain slowly opened.

The lights began to turn off in the lobby, the light became dim, and everyone's eyes were forced to look at the stage. The atmosphere was well created.

On the stage, the props are very conspicuous, and the gardens, rockeries, and houses and courtyards are all very realistic.

Many large lanterns were lit up to brighten the lights, and an old woman walked out on the stage, playing the role of Mrs. Cui. She began to perform the key part of the script, saying that there was a daughter in the family named Yingying.

Later, Zhang Sheng, played by Shen Jiaru, appeared. He was about to go to Beijing to take the exam. When he came to the gate of a mountain temple, he happened to meet Cui Yingying and the matchmaker...

The plot is compact, the characters are full, and the lyrics and music are coordinated. During the performance, a song will be sung to suit the occasion. This kind of mixed song and dance plot really surprised the audience, and it is more vivid than storytelling.

The content is richer than listening to music, and it immediately attracted everyone's attention.

The audience in the audience heard cheers and cheers from time to time, especially Cui Yingying's beauty, Zhang Sheng's scholarly heroic spirit, and matchmaker's cuteness, all of which were performed very vividly on the stage.

In about half an hour, both parts of the play were completed, and the audience was still satisfied with it. Knowing that the play would have to be performed ten times in a row before the story could be completed, everyone was immediately interested and more excited about the direction of the story that was going to happen next.

curious.

"Su Yixuan, you are biased!" Han Xizai was filled with emotion. After watching this kind of opera, he suddenly felt that he had dozens of singers and servants in his house, and they were just dancing and singing. It was really not that interesting.

.

The representatives sent by Tongque Tower, Hongxiufang, and Cuiwei Pavilion were ashen-faced. They felt that something serious was going on. They had to go back quickly to send news so that the head queen and the madam could find a way to deal with it.

Cui Qiaoer and other girls in the Xiangyun Pavilion expressed jealousy and envy, but also unwillingness and disappointment. Liu Monong's performance was a success, and they felt that they would probably be purged in the Xiangyun Pavilion.

After watching the show, the talented Xu Qingwan liked the story, dialogue, lyrics and music of the drama very much. She felt that it was very Su Yixuan's style. She couldn't help but stand up leisurely and look around, thinking in her heart: The West Chamber is being performed for the first time in Xiangyun Pavilion.

Wouldn’t Mr. Su come over to watch?

At this moment, she suddenly saw a figure among the crowd, which looked very similar to Su Yixuan's body shape and profile. Her eyes lit up, and she looked delighted, and she walked over quickly. The target she was approaching was none other than——
Chapter completed!