When listening to operas, in teahouses, in churches, or in temple fairs, people in capital rarely think of going to a place to listen to operas.

The operas of this era were written by literati, and there were many allusions in the lyrics, and it required a certain cultural literacy to understand them. However, the opera lyrics played by Zhongjun Theater were all vernacular, but for the sake of slightly changing the rhyme, no matter whether you recognize words or not, as long as you understand the official language, you can understand them.

Mythical stories, talented men and beautiful women, are the main content of operas in this era. Although the people love to watch it, they are not touching, and are far less shocking than Dou E's injustice in the Yuan Dynasty. However, the Zhongjun Theater is a matter that everyone has heard of, but they do not know in detail.

Sitting in one place, there are tea and snacks, and the opera is performed on the stage. The people around them are watching the opera, not for drinking tea and talking. This is another fun.

It is true that restaurants and brothels have more variety, but they also cost more. In the theater, it doesn’t take too much money to live happily for hours or even a day.

In this era of the Ming Dynasty, there was already a considerable wealthy citizen class in metropolis like the capital, but they had no place to consume entertainment. The emergence of theaters just met their needs.

With these points, it is difficult for Zhongjun Theater to not be popular.

In fact, there are some common people who are willing to watch it and like it. After three days of free performance in Zhongjun Theater, the entire capital caused a sensation. Literary and officials and nobles all came to see how "The Prodigal Son" which has become famous in the capital is so beautiful and pleasant. Not to mention these people, even the eunuchs in the palace came in groups.

There are many people coming, but there are four shows every day, and each show is only sold for 300 signs and 100 stop signs. Someone comes here before dawn. The minority and small households come by themselves, the high-ranking families, and wealthy families ask the servants to come and buy signs. But even so, there are still many monks and few porridges, and there are still people who have to wait. There are many powerful figures in the capital, listening to operas and singing, and raising an opera troupe at home is a fashion, and some people are impatient and wonder if I have to queue up with the people with my status.

I was going to send someone to ask the opera troupe to come to the mansion to sing a party. If it really sang well, at worst I could buy the opera troupe and sing for my own sing.

When I sent someone to ask, the troupe of Zhongjun Theater did not come out of the hall, but just sang in the theater. The person who asked was furious and thought that this was not shameless. As soon as I cursed a few bad words, a soldier from the Jinyi Guard came over to ask with a cold face. When he went out to ask in a dusty manner, he found that the backer behind him was Wang Tong, so he didn't dare to say more and went back obediently.

After half a month of singing the play "The Prodigal Son" and more and more people came to listen to it. However, the opera troupes raised by wealthy families have also learned to stay away from each other. I don’t know who was performing the "The Prodigal Son" for the first time when they were having guests. The singing skills were naturally better than those of Zhongjun Theater.

When everyone thought that the limelight of Zhongjun Theater was about to pass, but unexpectedly, in early September, there were new dramas coming out at Zhongjun Theater. In addition to the two "The Prodigal Son's Return", a new drama was added, called "The Journey to the Holy Lord".

The theater has changed a lot when performing this drama than when it was just opened. For example, the second floor is equipped with a special elegant seat with a bead curtain hanging down. Even if the people below raised their heads and could not see who was sitting on the second floor, the audience also changed.

In the past, there were ordinary people, but now there are more children from wealthy families and eunuchs in the palace. Common people, wealthy children, eunuchs in the palace, and this group of people who have no interaction on weekdays sit on the first floor to watch the show, cheering and scolding at the same time.

In early September, this drama called "The Journey of the Holy Lord" tells the story of a dynasty emperor who went on a private visit, but saw a son of a Shangshu forcing a civilian daughter. The emperor acted bravely and fought with the Jinyiwei, the son of the Shangshu, who was in charge of his bodyguard, and found out that the son of the Shangshu colluded with the demon of the Sanyang Sect, and the Shangshu was greedy and evil, and in the end, the emperor revealed his identity and justice was fulfilled.

The play was performed in the afternoon, with dozens of eunuchs watching it on the scene. The jokes of such big shots in private, whether true or false, were all watching. When they arrived on stage, the emperor knew his identity and sang a cheer from the audience. The silver coins and silver were sprinkled forward like throwing sand and stones.

But the eunuch who was watching the show changed his expression. This kind of play was really a rebellious one. When he saw that a young eunuch was about to stand up and scold him, he stood up and was pulled down by an older eunuch beside him.

"Old Zhou, you are so arrogant. If you don't shout, you will really make trouble. We will not be able to get out of the relationship in the future!"

"Your eyes were eaten by a dog. When you came in, you didn't see Zhang Zhangsi of the Qianqing Palace standing downstairs. Everyone saw it. You were blind and you watched your show honestly!!"

When he heard this, the eunuch who stood up immediately burst into cold sweat. The person who was working in the Qianqing Palace was similar to the person who served in the Sili Supervisor. He was a senior official. It was the place where the emperor lived and handled political affairs. The chief officer there did not watch the show, but instead stood downstairs. Could it be that there was a second floor?

Just as he was about to turn his head, the eunuch behind him grabbed him again and scolded viciously: "You don't want your head anymore. Why don't you throw the scattered things in your purse onto the stage and cheer up!"

The eunuch who was distracted then reacted and quickly took off the purse at his waist, brought out all the copper coins and scattered silver inside, and then spread it to the stage.

The second floor is opposite the stage. Now, the money for a show costs one tael of silver, and five taels a day. Although the exquisite snacks and good tea are served, the price is still shocking. But even so, everyone is competing for this position. Five taels of silver is a big sum for small households, and it is nothing to be considered by the wealthy families.

However, today, there were only one private room on the second floor with guests, and only one of the guests was sitting, and the rest were standing there. Among the people standing, the legendary backstage of this theatre, the commander of the Jinyiwei Tongzhi, Tongzhi.

The following play is almost over. Everyone is singing on the stage to praise the emperor's wiseness and make decisions for the people. Because the plot is attracted, the lyrics and tunes are all peaceful and easy to understand, and everyone sings together.

Although Emperor Wanli was focused on looking at the stage, Zhang Cheng and Wang Tong, who were standing next to him, could see Emperor Wanli's expressions dancing.

Of course, this Saint King's move was based on the story of a group of people clashing with the prince of Wang Shangshu during the Tiger Powerful Martial Arts Hall to save Zhang Hongying. If it weren't for the people from the Dongchang, Emperor Wanli, Wang Tong and others would have suffered a great loss, but the stage was the emperor's wise and magical martial arts. The plot was familiar and he praised himself for his lack of trouble. Why was Emperor Wanli unhappy? The curtain on the stage slowly fell down, which was also one of the Ming dynasties in the theater.

The audience cheered constantly. Emperor Wanli hummed a few times in the box, then slapped his palms and said with a smile: "Xiaoliang, give one hundred taels of silver to those who sing opera."

Such fresh and exciting plays are very attractive to adults, not to mention that he was also obsessed with Zhao Jinliang. It was Wang Tong who secretly kicked him and woke him up. He quickly agreed and hurried downstairs.

"Good, good-looking, Wang Tong, why didn't you take out such a good thing for me to show earlier? Then, the prodigal son turned around, I haven't seen it before, and I have to watch it once. If there is a new show in the future, I must inform the palace and I'm going to come here to watch it."

When the emperor left the palace to listen to the opera, this reached other people's ears. Whether it was the empress dowager or the civil servant, it would probably cause trouble. Zhang Cheng shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said, "Long live, if you want to listen, let this team go to Xiyuan to sing, why bother to leave the palace?"

Emperor Wanli waved his hand and said, "That would be boring. The food in the delicacy restaurant is tasteless and tight, but eating it in the delicacy restaurant is sweet. This is not the case here. I heard the applause from below, and I was happy to see the loss of money. If I called it back, what would it mean? Besides, this name will cost a lot of money. If it is brought to the palace, God knows how to make trouble in the Imperial Supervision."

This is true, so it is natural that Zhang Cheng can't say anything else. Emperor Wanli stared at the stage where the screen was pulled up and said with unsatisfactory: "It was one thing to read the book presented by Wang Tong at that time, and it was another thing to watch this play. By the way, Wang Tong, how about Zhang Hongying now?"

"Report to Your Majesty, Zhang Hongying is in charge of Ma's school.

The king and his ministers just asked questions and answers at will, but because the content in the remains evokes the past. Emperor Wanli could not have stayed outside for too long. He had already prepared a carriage outside. After the guests in the theater dispersed, Wang Tong and Zhang Cheng sent Emperor Wanli to the carriage, but Zhang Cheng did not accompany him. Instead, he walked a few steps slowly and said to Wang Tong with a smile: "When will you set off?"

"Four days later, you will probably know what happened to Zonglu according to the documents of the various yamen in the capital. If you go, you will have less energy to use it."

Wang Tong answered respectfully, and Zhang Cheng nodded disregardlessly. For some reason, Wang Tong felt that Zhang Cheng's smile was a bit strange. He was not as powerful as before, but he looked like an old lady. Zhang Cheng paused and said with a smile: "Wang Tong, you are twenty-one years old this year!"

"Twenty years old."

"I'm not young anymore. Many people have run away from their children when they are as old as you. You are still here to marry, but what kind of girl do you like?"

When Wang Tong heard Zhang Cheng’s question, he couldn’t help but stumbling. He kept the matter behind his head when he got married. He was busy with his business and sometimes he didn’t care about this, but he didn’t expect that Zhang Cheng would mention it today.

"……not yet"……
Chapter completed!