After Xuezheng read all the students, Mrs. Cui's birthday was just around the corner.
The Cui family was busy preparing birthday banquets and setting up a stage every day. They even set up a stove in a small courtyard, and invited a chef from a good hotel in Chengguan to make the meal. The servants called Jin Yiwei to go through the door once, and the master called them to the border again, and they all passed the year with their tails tucked. Now that the young master is promising, they are finally out of the shadows, they all worked hard like chicken blood, and prepared this birthday banquet with all their hearts, but in fact it was a wedding banquet to celebrate their eldest son's climb to the crown prince.
Cui Xie, Sister Yun, and Brother He each invited relatives and friends they knew well, and sent a few posts to their hometown without asking for a response. Since Senator Cui was not at home, and there was no official person in their family who could communicate with his former colleagues, they did not send posts to those people. On the contrary, he also invited his neighbors and invited them to come over for a drink if they were free.
Although those neighbors get along well with their family, most of the people in this row are low-level officials, and a few of them work in ministries. Counselor Cui was sent to Yunnan because he hated the two first assistants. No matter how successful his son was, he would also be in the Guozijian. Others only knew that he had such an old man, and they did not dare to be too close to them.
Taking care of the neighbors' affection for many years, they also sent family members, wives and children to the door to greet them and gave gifts, but the family members refused to come to celebrate.
Cui Xie had long known that this would happen. Anyone who came to give gifts would ask their family to register and wait for the New Years to return.
Although there were few guests, he still took a day off from the school so that he could host the birthday banquet at home. After all, the Cui family was up and down, and now he was the only man to support the scene. If he was not there, the yard full of old and weak women and scholars would not be able to entertain guests.
Since he had serious business to do when he asked for leave this time, and the rules in Chinese studies were no longer stricter than in the early years, Lin Jiancheng also opened his eyes and closed his eyes, allowing him to take leave.
On the ninth day of the first lunar month, everyone in the Cui family changed into new clothes, and the courtyard hung red shawls, dressed like a Chinese New Year. Early in the morning, shopkeeper Ji led the troupe to the house to prepare.
This team is one of their popular Three Kingdoms classes, the Fushou class that sings Diaochan. Their family can not only sing the full version of "Jin Yuntang Secretly Determined Serial Strategies", but also "Kuan Dawang Killing Diaochan under the Moon". In the class, there is a singer Guan Gong who sings very well. He looks tall and burly, and he is upright. Although it is not necessarily comparable to the teacher Lu Shuming in the old three kingdoms, he is also widely praised by the people of the capital.
Cui Xie only said that martial arts dramas are lively, and both young and old like to watch them. Those beauties are not easy for neighbors and children to watch, so he ordered them to sing "Kuan Dawang Going Alone to the Single Sword Club".
The Fushou class only saw the shopkeeper Ji, so they didn’t argue about what to sing or how much money they wanted. Babaer pushed the invitations of a few wealthy families and devoted themselves to singing for the Cui family, hoping that his family could get something new for them. Makeup, stage effects.
It's a pity that Cui Xie was always busy with exams and couldn't tell what special effects he wanted to design. He only threw the stage layout guide written for Gao Su to the shopkeeper Ji and asked him to teach the troupe to arrange a few human blowers and fans on the stage. Lighting board for effect.
Boss Xue, who opened the opera troupe, listened to Shopkeeper Ji's instructions, and practiced lighting and blowing on the open-air stage for several days, making everyone's clothes fluttering like a fairy. When he was auditioning at Cui's house, he asked Cui Xie with a smile: "These children are all practicing at home, and their skills are not good, so they are afraid that the guests will laugh at them. The son is a scholar, he has a lot of knowledge, and he must be able to See what our shortcomings are, and teach us to practice better?"
Cui Xie looked at the face at the very end of the stage, which was almost smeared by the light plate, and shook his head and smiled: "It's easy to look like the makeup is too light, so why make his eyebrows and eyes heavier? It looks good when it is slanted upward, and the eyes are drawn as slender and long phoenix eyes."
He looked back at the servant who was following him: "Go to Jinrong Hall and ask them to bring some rouge powder and eyeliner to help Boss Xue and the others put on makeup."
The danjiao in the troupe had already put on eye makeup, and they understood what he meant by hearing it. They stepped forward to help Zheng Mo to trim his eyebrows, drew long eyeliner, and filled the corners of his eyes with loose powder to make them look like flying eyebrows. The phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, very majestic.
The boss of the troupe pushed others to sing for his family in order to get some benefits like this. He held him and said, "Young master is really a romantic figure who knows opera! No one else can do this again!"
Cui Xie shook his head slightly: "I haven't seen any dramas, but I have been to Guanwang Temple occasionally. The hanging and sculpted Guan Dawangs are all slender phoenix eyes, so I don't feel like you are acting like this. ."
Boss Xue hurriedly smiled and said, "It's the little one who made a blunder. In fact, the little ones should have thought of asking them to change their makeup, but now Beijing is seeing beauty dramas, fairy dramas, who would like to watch serious martial arts dramas? Besides, these people are all It's hard to beat, and it's self-reliant, and it doesn't like to pretend to be that fancy..."
I think that those who sang the Three Kingdoms had to listen to "Three Wars of Lu Bu", "Burning Bowang Tun", "Single Sword Club", "Flying Knife Against Arrow", but now they all listen to Ju'anzhai Wumei Opera or Journey to the West. It is the fairy spirit of love that is shrouded in clouds and mist, the bright colors when the real beauty and the painted beauty are exchanged. No one watched these fight scenes with years of hard work—
What about it? Only people like Cui Jiansheng who are out of fashion in order to honor the elderly will order martial arts.
Seeing the changes in the limelight of the theater, he couldn't help but feel a little hatred in the vicissitudes of life, and he coughed and sighed under the stage. Cui Xie turned around, but also sighed secretly: It's too troublesome to teach people how to set the scene and make up like this! When he is admitted to the jinshi, he will publish a set of "Theatrical Setting Tutorial", "Lighting Design Tutorial", "Theatrical Make-up" and "The Case of Zaju Excellent Works"...
It happened that these days, in order to give the prince a paper, he also got a good face in front of the sacrificial wine. In the future, if he really wants to write this set of stage layout teaching materials, he may even ask Jijiu to write a preface and mention his identity.
He handed over the stage to Shopkeeper Ji and Cui Qi to stare at them, while he himself entered the Er Lao Hall to see the arrangement of the banquet. Now that it is spring and the wind is a little cold, he asked people to wrap up the hall and build a paper corridor, with a paper pavilion protruding in the middle, with doors open on both sides, which is warm and windproof, so there is no need to worry about the old man at the banquet. Wind up.
Five Eight Immortals Tables have been set up in the hall, and the menu of the banquet is written on the brand of the tea room inside. The banquet specifications of twelve plates of six gui six dim sum are used: in addition to the mutton, sausage, chicken, and goose that are often eaten in Beijing The meat is also added with the dried ginseng and shark fins brought from Fujian by Mr. Fang. The wine is the steamed sorghum wine from the Xie family, which is more fragrant and sweeter than the ordinary shochu made from rice and wheat.
There are few male guests here, and the lunch is almost purely for their own family. Cui Xie personally served the old man to eat, and asked the stewards and shopkeepers to open a table below.
There were more people on the female guest's side, and there were three tables together, and they used fruit wine. Mr. Song helped the old lady entertain the neighbor's wife, while Sister Yun greeted the little sisters herself, invited the two daughters to tell stories, and sang a few sets of birthday songs.
Although there are fewer guests, it is still lively and lively, making it look like a birthday.
In the afternoon, the troupe began to sing, and the sound of the silk pipe passed through the paper pavilion and the closed windows into the hall, showing a different kind of lingering voiceless voice.
This was a lively event that the Cui family hadn't had in more than a year, and it should be even more lively after coming to Guozijian after school. Cui Xie looked at the modest stage in front of the court, smiled slightly, and walked to the door to wait for the guests.
The sound of silk bamboo bells and drums came from the courtyard. He was standing at the door wearing a bright red new clothes, with a smile on his brows, as if he was waiting to welcome the bride.
It's a pity that there will be no brides at this birthday banquet. The first ones to come are Zhang Zhaichang's family, and the whole family came by cart. Cui Xie led them to the backyard to get out of the car, and went to the main hall to meet the old man and the old lady. One girl and two boys in his family cuddled under the knees of their parents, and they all saluted obediently, and they were as well-mannered as when they met last time.
This time, he had prepared gifts for the Zhang family's children early, and each of them gave a purse with small silver thorns in the shape of peanuts and lotus pods, which were exactly for the younger generation. Mrs. Zhang didn't wear a hat this time, showing a gentle face, smilingly calling the three children Uncle Shi, thanking him for the gift.
Miss Zhang was very beautiful, but she was more like her, and people were also upright and polite. It should also be a younger brother, how can he become a nephew?"
Zhang Zhaichang seemed to want to control them, but when he reached out his hand, he was reluctant to beat him, and said with a wry smile, "These two children have spoiled their mothers, and they have to be ruthless when they come back!"
When Zhang Zhaichang was teaching the child, he didn't want to show any color on his face. It's hard to say who this child spoiled.
Cui Xie asked his sister to take Mrs. Zhang and her daughter to the backyard, and let Zhang Zhaichang and his son come to the front of the hall, and ordered someone to make tea for him, also called milk tea and snacks for the two children. Afraid that they would be bored, they even asked someone to bring the color-book version of the Three Kingdoms and the Dress-Up Cards for them to play.
The two children were no longer bored. They gathered together and turned the pages of the book to watch Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang... but they sat honestly. Zhang Zhaichang clicked his tongue and scolded his son: "How can you be a guest at someone else's house and read the book yourself? Come and serve your father and talk to Uncle Shi!"
When he said that, he really let go of his hidden thoughts of recruiting Cui Xie as his son-in-law, and only treated him as a friend who could worship his mother.
Cui Xie held him down and said to the two children, "You can just play, don't be restrained, go to the yard when you are tired of reading."
Zhang Zhaichang shook his head and said, "Hezhong, you are really never married. How can you indulge a child like this? These two boys are like live monkeys. The parenting classic, and then jokingly asked: "Are you afraid that our group of people will not come, what will happen if the master is not at home, and you are in a hurry to arrest someone at the door?"
Cui Xie said with a smile: "The neighbors who came to pray for the birthday in the morning have all left, just waiting for the distinguished guests like Zhai Chang to come. I am so anxious, but I can't go out and stand. Fortunately, Brother Zhang is not an outsider, so I don't need to accompany me here to serve. , if you are bored, go to the courtyard to listen to the play, and I will go out to wait for the other distinguished guests?"
Zhang Zhaichang smiled and said: "What kind of honored guest, it's just a classmate we meet every day! I'm not a guest either, I don't need you to accompany me. Seeing that you can't sit still, I'll wait outside with you?"
Of course, the classmate is not the honored guest, and the one who is waiting at the door is not the classmate, but who...
He smiled, got up and said, "Where do you ask the guests to help you entertain them. Brother Zhang, sit down, I'll call Cui Qixian to accompany you, and come back when all the classmates come."
Zhang Zhaichang wanted to keep him, but just as he was about to speak, he came to report that there was a visitor. Cui Xie personally went out to greet him, but it was not the person he was waiting for, but a few classmates from Chengxintang, headed by Ning Zhai, who came in a big car.
Cui Xie cheered up to receive them, and called the Fushou class to start the show immediately.
With the sound on the field and the lights shining, Lu Su, who was wearing heavy makeup, came out to read a white speech. Several blowers blew on his sleeves, blowing his big sleeves fluttering, really like the Wei and Jin demeanor. Several supervisors in the audience suddenly cheered and said with a smile, "Every time I watch a play at Hezhong's house, it's different from other's houses, it's really like a fairy-tale theatre."
"Yes, every time I look at He Zhong copying notes and doing homework in school, I think he is a nerd who doesn't know how to do business. Who knows that everything at home is fresher than the outside world!"
"Not only is the show fresh, his milk tea is also better than outsiders. I have also drank it from an outside stall, and it is said that it is the authentic milk tea selected by Wumei. It is much weaker and does not have this fragrance."
"I have to call Hezhong when I look back... Where is Hezhong?"
Several classmates looked back and searched, but they couldn't find Cui Xie. Zhang Zhaichang stood up and persuaded: "His family has few staff, so he has gone to the door to welcome guests. Do we people still want him to entertain them? Let's all listen to the show in peace!"
The old lady and the old lady were also listening to the play in the paper pavilion under the corridor, and they felt honored to hear the scholars praise their grandchildren. Seeing that this group of people was looking for him, he called Cui Liangdong and ordered: "Go and welcome the guests outside for Brother Xie, and tell him to sit down and listen to the show with the students - the lively Guan Wangye show, do we have any? The boy didn't listen!"
Cui Xie stood outside the door and contacted people several times, and almost all of the posts that he had spilled over were followed, but there was never the figure he was eagerly looking forward to. When Cui Liangdong came to pick him up, he didn't want to leave, but it was getting late, and he had to host the banquet. He couldn't delay his classmates going back to stay at night, so he had to leave.
His enthusiasm and joy during the day had turned into worry, and he frowned and thought: Wouldn't Jin Yiwei have arranged some temporary work? Or is something wrong in the palace
Since Xie Ying promised him to come, it is impossible to let him dove at this time.
He went in and ordered people to have a banquet, held a wine bell to toast around, greeted his classmates on behalf of his grandfather, asked his grandmother what was missing from time to time, and asked Brother He to accompany the two children of the Zhang family to eat and drink on the small table.
Although it was such a festive banquet, the people who came to celebrate his birthday were all congratulating him openly and secretly for being in the eyes of the emperor and the prince. He had a promising future, but he still had no real joy, and his heart was tied outside the door—
Just when he glanced back to the south for an unknown number of times, someone finally came in outside the door, but it was his servant Xiao Songyan, with a white face, dragging his legs and swaying in, cupping his hands and whispering, "Young Master, Jin, Jin Yiwei... Sir Xie, I just copied us last time..."
Cui Xie gave an "ah" in surprise, tapped him on the head, and said in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense, that is the benefactor who saved my life in Tongzhou!"
Several classmates who were sitting close together came up and asked, "What's the matter, why are you so panicked?"
Cui Xie's smile finally penetrated from his face into his heart, his face glowing with brilliance, and he said, "It doesn't matter, there is a guest here. I will go out to greet him and see if it is my benefactor Xie Qianhu."
He almost walked out with Xiao Songyan, and his classmates watched him hurry up and joked: "He Zhong's family is full of friends, we'll be waiting for the adults this afternoon, right? It's strange that you, the master, are always guarding the door. "
Cui Xie pushed open the door and said with a smile, "What's the matter? I didn't bring in the brothers myself? The adults are all picked up by the door, so it can be seen that my master still asks you..."
Just as he was talking, he heard untidy footsteps outside the door, and several people in silk robes entered the yard together. A little step forward with his left hand was a young man dressed in white and straight, wearing a three-mountain hat, with a smile on his face, and warm and handsome eyebrows. He entered the courtyard and nodded to him: "Cui Jiansheng, Xie Mou is invited to celebrate the longevity of the ancestors. I don't want to meet Li Xueshi and Yang Sheren on the way, it's a step too late."
Is this the benefactor Xie Qianhu said by Choi Xie
The handsome and handsome Rong Yi originally thought that Jin Yiwei was forbidden and deceitful, not a good person, did you want to have such a person
The prison students in the room stood up, looked at him, and looked at the two people beside him—
Not a single one.
It can only be seen that they are wearing Taoist robes and square scarves, and they are all literati with sacred rituals. One is a bachelor from the fifth or sixth rank, and the other is from the seventh rank. They are both extremely noble civil servants who serve the emperor, but for some reason they came with this Jinyiwei.
Is it simply the same road, or do they also have friendship with this Jin Yiwei
What kind of character is this Xie Qianhu
Everyone was shocked by the appearance of these three people coming together for a while, and forgot to salute. On the other hand, Cui Xie first woke up from the joy that his expectations came true, and saw the two people beside him - he only recognized one of them, the future boss Li Dongyang.
He walked out of the hall quickly, and first greeted the three of them one by one, thanking them: "The students never greeted each other from afar, and it is rude, but I don't know how Li Xueshi and Master Yang came down to the poor house?"
Xie Ying explained: "When I came here, I met Li Xueshi and Yang Sheren on the way. They encountered some trivial matters, and I helped them deal with them, which took some time. After finishing the work, I wanted to come by myself, but I don’t want Li Xueshi and Yang Sheren to hear that I am coming to celebrate Lingzu’s birthday, so they will come too.”
Li Dongyang asked, "What? He Zhonggan only welcomes Xie Qianhu and doesn't want to see us?"
Cui Xie naturally denied it repeatedly, and hurriedly greeted the two of them to take their seats, and his eyes quietly fell on Xie Ying's face.
How did he save people and establish such a profound revolutionary friendship with Mr. Li and his friends in just one afternoon
Xie Ying glanced at him lightly, with an unpredictable expression.