After evening, the area around Rouxiangyuan has already become lively.
"Left, a little further to the left...yes, yes, that's it, don't move..."
Outside the front door of Rouxiangyuan, a woman in her thirties, dressed up with outstanding appearance, was instructing the waiters to hang lanterns. The lanterns were in three colors: red, yellow and orange, and each lantern had three characters for "Rou" printed on it.
You can see clearly from any angle.
This woman is the madam of Rouxiang Courtyard. She used to be called Mei Niang, and she was also a girl from Rouxiang Courtyard. Now she has changed her profession to be a madam because of her age. The girls and guests now call her Aunt Mei!
Just as Aunt Mei was instructing the workers to hang up the lanterns, two men walking towards Rouxiang Courtyard couldn't help but stopped outside the door and looked up.
A man with a beard asked strangely: "Huh? What kind of big day is today? There are lanterns hanging in Rouxiangyuan?"
Another thin-faced man asked: "What's so strange about hanging lanterns?"
The bearded man said: "You don't understand, Rouxiang Courtyard will only hang up colored lanterns during the New Year or major festivals. Today is not a holiday, so isn't it strange to hang up lanterns?"
The thin-faced man nodded with an "I see" look, then pointed to the side and said, "Well, isn't Aunt Mei right there? Just ask her and you will know."
So, the two of them walked to Aunt Mei and asked about the reason for the sudden hanging of lanterns.
Aunt Mei smiled and replied: "You two don't know, today is our boss's birthday, so we temporarily arranged a dance performance to celebrate our boss. It's a coincidence that you two came earlier than you did. You can do it tonight
It’s a feast for the eyes!”
"Yeah, that's such a coincidence! Hahaha..."
"It's rare, it's rare, such a good day happened to us, haha..."
The bearded man and the thin-faced man believed it, and then walked into Rouxiang Courtyard with happy faces.
After a while, under the command of Aunt Mei, all the red, yellow and orange lanterns were hung, and the front of Rouxiang Courtyard suddenly looked cheerful and became the most eye-catching place in the whole street.
At this time, Meng Ruhu walked out of Rouxiang Courtyard, stood at the door and looked anxiously towards both ends of the street.
Aunt Mei walked to Meng Ruhu and said: "Chief, it's still early, don't be too anxious..."
Meng Ruhu looked around and asked: "Mei Niang, do you think this Master Chai will come?"
Aunt Mei asked puzzledly: "Chief, why don't you send a carriage to pick up Mr. Chai? This way, we can have a certain certainty whether he is coming..."
"No, no, no..." Meng Ruhu waved his hand and said: "If I send a carriage to pick him up, Mr. Chai will definitely not be willing to come. It's better for those who are willing to come!"
Aunt Mei didn't quite understand Meng Ruhu's thoughts, but the chief had his own reasons for making such a decision, so she shouldn't question it too much.
Suddenly, Meng Lichang, who was looking at one end of the street, looked overjoyed. He took Aunt Mei's arm and said, "He's coming, he's coming! Let me tell you, Mei Niang, I knew he would come..."
Aunt Mei couldn't help but said, what did you ask just now?
Following the direction pointed by Chief Meng, Aunt Mei indeed spotted three eye-catching figures.
Aunt Mei recognized one of them at a glance and said, "Hey, isn't that the shopkeeper Wu from Huichun Hall?"
Meng Ruhu nodded and said: "Yes, the one next to Shopkeeper Wu, the one without the fan, is Mr. Chai from the Wude Department in the capital!"
"So young!" Aunt Mei said in surprise.
After saying that, Aunt Mei's eyes fell on Hang Baiqiu, who was disguised as a man: "Meng Lichang, why did Mr. Chai bring a woman here?"
Aunt Mei was a well-travelled person, and she saw through Hang Baiqiu's dress at a glance.
Meng Ruhu also saw it and whispered: "Why do you care about this? As long as Master Chai comes!"
Then, Meng Ruhu told Aunt Mei not to reveal anything about women disguising themselves as men, and just focus on Chai Yan.
While they were talking, Chai Yan and the others had already arrived at the gate of Rouxiang Courtyard.
Meng Ruhu and Aunt Mei saw the opportunity and rushed forward, greeting Chai Yan and the others diligently.
After the two sides exchanged pleasantries, Chai Yan looked up and said with a smile: "Meng Lichang, there is no need to be so grand. It makes me feel a little embarrassed, haha..."
Wu Sansheng had always been aware of the customs of Rouxiangyuan. When he came over, he saw the three-color lantern hanging high and immediately explained it to Chai Yan, which is why Chai Yan said this.
"No, no, no, Master Chai can come, Rouxiang Courtyard will be full of glory, it is an honor!" Meng Lizhang said flatteringly.
Aunt Mei was also smiling and nodding beside her, echoing Meng Ruhu's statement.
Chai Yan deliberately made a face and warned: "Meng Li, please let me know first. I'm just here to watch the dance performance. If you tell others in a big way that I'm here, I'll do it right away."
Let’s go, you won’t give me any face!”
Meng Lichang immediately smiled happily, leaned closer and whispered: "Don't worry, Mr. Chai, to the outside world, the villain is publicizing that today is the birthday of the proprietor of Rouxiang Yuan, so he held a dance and music performance. Wugan and others don't know
When you come here, there will be no idlers waiting to harass you!"
Chai Yan looked at Meng Ruhu in surprise, and then smiled and said: "Meng Lichang, if only Master Ling was half as smart as you! Hahaha..."
"Master Chai is saying that Quan Zi is too stupid, too stupid!" Meng Ruhu nodded in agreement.
While Chai Yan and Meng Ruhu were talking, Wu Sansheng was also talking to Aunt Mei.
Aunt Mei said with a charming smile: "Shopkeeper Wu, I haven't seen you come to Rouxiang Courtyard for a drink in a long time. It turns out that you are going to make friends with dignitaries!"
Wu Sansheng waved his hand quickly: "Oh my, Aunt Mei thinks too highly of Wu..."
Then, Wu Sansheng asked in a low voice: "By the way, Aunt Mei, will Miss Diewu be here tonight?"
"How could you not be here?" Aunt Mei said hurriedly: "Knowing that Mr. Chai and Shopkeeper Wu will come, the girls in Rouxiang Court are all eagerly waiting for them!"
Because no one was talking to Hang Baiqiu, she felt bored after standing for a long time, so she said to Chai Yan: "Hey, how long do you want to chat?"
Chai Yan smiled slightly and said to Meng Ruhu: "Chang Meng, why don't we go in and let's talk..."
"Master Chai, please come inside!"
Meng Ruhu quickly moved out of the way and earnestly invited Chai Yan and the others to enter Rouxiang Courtyard.
When he came to the lobby and took a look, Chai Yan felt that the decoration in Rouxiang Courtyard was much inferior to that of brothels in big cities, but the place was quite big, and the stage on the first floor was not much better than some brothels in the capital.
"Master Chai, take a seat upstairs!" Meng Ruhu invited warmly.
Chai Yan nodded slightly and led Hang Baiqiu and Wu Sansheng up the stairs.
Under Meng Ruhu's guidance, Chai Yan and the others sat at a table facing the stage on the first floor.
Right in front of and below this seat is the large stage of Rouxiangyuan, which gives you the feeling of being in command of everything.
Seeing that there were only some refreshments on the table, Chai Yan said: "By the way, Meng Lichang, we haven't had dinner yet..."
Meng Ruhu was startled and immediately said: "Master Chai, wait a moment, I will go down and make arrangements immediately!"
After saying that, Meng Ruhu left quickly and disappeared downstairs.
At this time, Wu Sansheng, who was sitting on the right side of Chai Yan, started joking: "Thanks to you, I can finally sit in such a good seat for free, haha..."
Chai Yan also laughed after hearing this.
But Hang Baiqiu on the left was playing with the folding fan and looking at the stage and said: "Is this seat good? It's high and far away, and you can't see the faces clearly!"
After hearing this, Chai Yan and Wu Sansheng couldn't help but look at each other and laugh.
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PS: Add one more chapter, break through the two million word mark as soon as possible, and suddenly feel the urge to level up! Ahaha...