Chapter Thirteen: Banyan Flower Dream
Although Huaiyu Pavilion is a good place to listen to operas, there were not many visitors even in the afternoon. After finding a place to sit, the servant took the initiative to serve tea and pastries.
"Hey, why are there so few visitors here?" I glanced at the somewhat empty seat and couldn't help but ask the servant who was pouring tea.
"Oh, the girl is not a local from the capital at first sight. The business in Huaiyu Pavilion has been bleak for a long time. If there are no visitors, our boss doesn't care about the number of visitors. We who work as a hall will naturally be happy to have some leisure time." The servant smiled, as if the few guests were no longer surprised.
"Is the show bad or the service insufficient?" I looked at the exquisite refreshments and looked at the empty stage, a little confused.
"Not that, our Huaiyu Pavilion is not only good at the show, but also has a good story, let alone service. But if you are a guest, would you only watch one show every day?" He looked at the stage and asked with a chuckling.
"A scene? Is the banyan flower scene?" I was a little surprised. With such a decorative pattern, the boss must be not a fool. After spending so much money, how could he not want to make money?
"You can't say it, just one show, and it's just a story. At the beginning, there were still many visitors, but after a long time, there were not many. We also mentioned acting something else, but our boss wouldn't accept it! How could such a smart person do such a stupid thing?" The servant scratched his head and looked puzzled.
"Is that true..." I was a little absent-minded. Thinking of the person who looked under the moonlight last night, my heart seemed to float far away.
"But fortunately there is a mute who often watches the show, and I don't know what it will be like for a show... Oh! It's about to start, so I won't bother the girl to listen to the show." After the servant said that, he smiled shyly and turned around and left with the plate.
The two-hour banyan flower drama seems to be back when I was a child. At that time, I always liked to go to the teahouse to listen to books with my mother.
The storyteller there is best at the story of General Zhennan and Lan Niang.
It tells the story of a general and a brothel girl’s love. It’s a very vulgar clip, but my mother likes it very much and almost never gets tired of listening to it.
My mother likes to listen to books, but she doesn't like me.
When I was a child, my father would teach me a lesson and tell me that good and evil are wrong. My mother would only watch quietly, not favoritism or scold me, just like I am an outsider.
I thought I would write a book that my mother likes in the future, but I didn't expect it to become a play and I became a guest off the stage.
The Banyan Flower Opera tells the story of a prime minister and an actor.
When an actor who performs joys and sorrows falls in love with the Prime Minister, it is a kind of distance that cannot be reached but is deterred.
So the actor could only tell himself that what he liked was power and silver.
But she still fell in love with the Prime Minister, and she realized what love was. But she was just a concubine, and soon the Prime Minister's wife turned her anger on her.
Soon she was expelled from the Prime Minister's Mansion for stealing. She did not return to the opera troupe to continue singing because she seemed to suddenly find a sense of peace of mind during her time in the Prime Minister's Mansion.
The feeling of no longer having to be displaced made her feel dependent for the first time. But she knew that she was not worthy of having that kind of peace of mind. She was not an ordinary girl, nor was she a person willing to be humble for love.
What she longed for was the feeling of equality and stability on the stage, but the noble Prime Minister was determined to protect her, which made her uneasy. If one day he didn't love her, what would she do?
The day finally came. She could only remain silent for the wife's slander. She knew that if she refuted and resisted, then this slander was just the beginning. Instead of hurting each other, she would rather leave. Even if it was not glorious, she knew that when she smiled at him, she was no longer cowardly or humble.
She finally realized that the love she longed for was a moment of hazy and could not become eternal.
She left the capital and came to a small village where there were no dignitaries or nobles, no delicacies, and only ordinary things, but she felt that it was precious.
She gradually grew old, from a girl to a woman, and then an old woman. Until she heard the death of the prime minister who assisted two generations of emperors. That night, she seemed to dream of her youth again. She performed the sad separation of others on the stage, but her heart was inclined to the young master in the audience.
The banyan flower opera is more appropriate than talking about the actor’s dreams... and Jianghuai.
It is better to grow up if you always pursue and appreciate it blindly.
Luo Yuran's timidity could only look up at Jianghuai as the eldest lady of the Luo family, and Luo Xiansheng prefers to look at him side by side.
"boss……"
The servant's voice woke me up from my consciousness. I turned to find that Jiang Huai was standing not far away, wearing a green dress and embroidered with auspicious clouds in her sleeves. She was very delicate and restrained, but she still couldn't take my eyes away.
"Master Jiang." I looked at him and nodded slightly, and greeted him a little distantly.
"I don't know the girl's name yet, do I know if I can tell me?" He smiled and nodded, and asked softly.
"Sanshuiluo, Luo Xiansheng." I lowered my eyes and said lightly.
"It's a good name, but I haven't heard of the surname Luo for a long time." He smiled in his eyes and said softly.
"It's not a rare surname." I smiled faintly and didn't go into it.
"Is that true? But Sanshui Luo is the surname of the royal family of the previous dynasty. Even the Luo family was highly valued by the emperor of the previous dynasty and gave the surname Luo." He seemed to mention the surname on purpose, and then said that, he looked at me meaningfully.
"That's a coincidence, but the ancestors are not a royal family." I shook and denied. But I couldn't help but think of You Chen. Did he know my identity long ago?
Jiang Huai didn't care and smiled faintly: "I'm in Jiang Huai, whose courtesy name is Nan Yao. Since I met Miss Luo, I will be friends in the future."
“…”
I was stunned. This passage was very familiar. This was what he said to Luo Yuran when they first met officially.
"In Xiajianghuai, whose courtesy name is Nanyao, has known Miss Luo, and will be friends in the future."
"Have you said this to other girls?"
"No, there are many people who know Jianghuai, but few people who know Nan Yao. If you know Miss Luo, you will not tell the second girl in the future."
That conversation in my memory echoed in my ears at this moment, and I was stunned. Did he recognize me...?
Chapter completed!