After hearing Ruo'e's complaint, Xie Qin said: "The words are your hard work, and the role is also your concern. If you were not there to play Cui Yingying, how would The West Chamber be as famous as it is now?"
After pausing for a moment, Xie Qin advised again: "So what if you are a good actor? In ancient times, there was the Chang Shilang Zhongfang Shuo, and there was also the sage Meng Jun of Chu and Jing Dynasties. They were all people who paid homage to the king, and their names went down in history."
"If I tell you, if Zhong Zhang is lucky enough to marry you, I don't know how many literati in Chang'an will hate him."
When Ruo'e heard this, her face became slightly better.
Listening to Xie Qin talking about actors whose names go down in history, Zhou Jun thought of one person.
The queen of Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng, Liu E.
The first regent of the Song Dynasty, the Empress Dowager had great achievements and was often called Empress Lu of the Han Dynasty and Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty. History books said that she "had Lu Wu's talents but not his evil deeds".
But this is all for the future, and it’s hard to talk about it here.
Zhou Jun sat down and asked the two girls about the current situation of Beili Zhongqu.
Xie Qin said with a smile: "Any woman who has appeared in The West Chamber, no matter how many roles she plays, has become a celebrity in Beili today."
"People come here every day to see the place, and the courtyard in Beili is completely blocked."
"There are those good people who can make thousands of dollars a day by reselling the lead cards."
"It's just the other two songs in Beili that have been neglected. I'm just envious of them."
Ruo'e snorted coldly: "Most of the characters in The West Chamber came from the Chinese opera, so the Northern and Southern operas were squeezed out of their business. There is no envy, it's just jealousy. I came here several times to talk about it."
After hearing this, Zhou Jun was curious and inquired carefully.
Xie Qin: "Liu Xiaoxian, who is known to everyone in Beiqu, came to the door with a gift and said that if The West Chamber were to be performed again, he hoped to arrange some roles for Beiqu."
When Ruo'e heard this, she said angrily: "Give Bei Quyun some roles? It sounds grand, but in fact she just wants the role."
"Fortunately, she came to see you. If she had told me, she would have been kicked out without even seeing her face to face!"
After hearing this, Xie Qin shook his head and said, "Beiqu's business is already poor. Liu Xiaoxian spends a lot of money on weekdays. It is reasonable to come here to ask for a role. Why humiliate her?"
Zhou Jun asked a little strangely: "I have seen Liu Xiaoxian, and the expenses in that house are all extravagant. How can you say that he is down and out?"
Ruo'e smiled contemptuously: "Liu Xiaoxian is just a maid from Xinluo. She doesn't have any real talent or knowledge. She only knows how to teach others through appearance, and only knows how to scrape and exfoliate with guests."
"Most of the guests who knew her character broke off all contact with her after meeting her a few times."
"Zhou Lingshi saw that the house was luxurious, but she put all the valuable things outside."
"She spends a lot of money on daily travel, food, clothing, perfume, etc."
"Privately, life is very tight. Even when eating fish, you not only have to divide the meal, but you also have to cut the head and tail into pieces."
Zhou Jun was amazed when he heard this, and then looked at Xie Qin.
The latter also nodded and said: "Liu Xiaoxian is very pompous and likes to be flamboyant, but his daily life is not easy."
Zhou Jun sighed, and Liu Xiaoxian really responded. He wanted to save face and suffer the consequences.
Ruo'e said angrily: "If Beiqu is just a beggar, then Nanqu has taken it away."
Zhou Jun heard this and asked, "How is Nanqu?"
Xie Qin stretched out his hand to stop Ruo'e, and said to Zhou Jun: "Don't listen to the layman's angry words on Tuesday. Everyone in Nanqu knows that She Hongzhi once came to visit me and Ruo'e."
"It's not easy for all the families in Beili to talk about it. We should support each other so that we can have a happy future."
Thinking of the master behind She Hongzhi, Zhou Jun frowned and asked, "What did you say?"
Xie Qin: "It happened that the new printed version of Romance of the West Chamber came out, and the Hongyan Poetry Society gave a lot of it, so I took a set from it and gave it to Hongzhi. She also said that if there is a teaching in Nanqu, Zhongqu should be accompanied by it.
.”
Zhou Jun nodded: "That's it."
Ruo'e gritted her teeth and said bitterly: "That old fox She pretends to be a tiger and goes around grabbing food. He is really shameless!"
Zhou Jun asked the two girls: "She Hongzhi is confident, do you know who she is relying on?"
Xie Qin and Ruo'e looked at each other, and the former said: "I only heard that she has some connections with the imperial city."
Zhou Jun said in a low voice: "Listen to a certain statement, don't take it personally, just follow her."
Ruo'e was stunned for a moment and wanted to ask something.
Jie Qin held her back and shook her head gently.
Zhou Jun asked Jie Qin again: "By the way, so-and-so has given permission to others for the newly printed version of The Romance of the West Chamber. Jie Dou knows there are some left. Can I borrow a certain set?"
Xie Qin nodded, entered the room, and took out a set.
Zhou Jun took it and put it away, thanked Xie Qin, and promised to pay it back in the future.
Seeing that nothing else happened, Zhou Jun stood up and said to the two girls: "That's it for today. If anything happens in the Jiaofang, you can come and look for me."
The two girls nodded, and together they sent Zhou Jun to the entrance of the courtyard of his former residence.
Zhou Jun left Zhongqu, picked up his horse, and walked out of Pingkangfang. Then he returned home without saying anything more.
In the next few days, Zhou Jun still went to the lawsuit every day.
The middle of June has passed, and apart from some daily routines, there is no busy official business.
In a blink of an eye, the day of rest has arrived again.
On this day off, Zhou Jun packed his bags, greeted Chief Cheng and all the subordinate officials, and walked out quickly.
After getting on his horse, Zhou Jun rushed all the way to Bachuan Villa.
It's mid-July now, and the heat is unbearable.
Zhou Jun was riding a horse, and his whole body was so hot from the sun that he had to take off his official robe and choose the shady place to move forward.
After leaving the official road and entering the Bachuan Trail, Zhou Jun walked to the road paved with fire clay and saw a man in official robes from a distance, squatting on the road and looking at something.
Zhou Jun rode his horse and got closer, only to find that the man was none other than the supervisory censor Liu Zai.
Liu Zai heard the sound of horse hoofbeats and looked towards the source of the sound. When he saw Zhou Jun, he cupped his hands and said loudly: "Zhou Lingshi."
Zhou Jun got off his horse, walked to Liu Zai's side, returned the salute, and said with a smile: "Liu Yushi, I didn't expect to meet you here."
Liu Zai just said: "I once promised to visit you, so I should keep my promise."
Zhou Jun knew Liu Zai's temper, so he pointed in the direction of Bachuan Villa and said: "This is not far from Bieyuan. Just walk a few steps and you'll be there in a short time."
Liu Zai nodded, brought a mule from the roadside, and walked beside Zhou Jun. The two of them walked along the trail.
When he arrived at the gate of Bieyuan, Liu Zai left the mule in the gatehouse, took out a door thorn from the bag and gave it to Zhou Jun.
Zhou Jun took the door thorn, opened it and looked at it. He saw that this thorn was presented to Pang Gong by Liu Zai.
In it, Liu Zai's name and post were written, as well as the reason for the visit, and finally a few words of blessing were added.
Zhou Jun secretly thought that Liu Zai was a person who behaved according to etiquette and rules, although his heart was set on the mountains and plains.
After taking out the door thorn, Zhou Jun confessed his crime to Liu Zai, and then entered Bachuan Villa, first going to Pang Gong's courtyard in Zhongyuan.
After the announcement, Zhou Jun entered the study and met Pang Gong.
The first thing the latter said when he saw him was: "Erlang, you have found a good helper."
When Zhou Jun heard this, he was stunned. Seeing that Pang Gong's expression was as usual, he asked tentatively: "I wonder who the helper Pang Gong mentioned... is?"
Pang Gong smiled and just said to Zhou Jun: "If you have time, go and have a look in the inner garden."
Inner garden?
Zhou Jun was suspicious, so he agreed, and at the same time handed Liu Zai's door thorn to Pang Gong, and told him the purpose of his visit.
Pang Gong opened the door and looked at it, then closed it and said, "Since you are Erlang's guest and the supervising censor, please treat him carefully. Don't neglect him."
"Remember, come here again when you have time. Our family has something to tell you."
Zhou Jun nodded in agreement and then exited the study.