Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2478 Reconciliation 20.0

Unexpectedly, they discovered traces of the remnants of the Qinglian Sect. Everyone was in a good mood. Although they didn't know what role this class leader played in the Qinglian Sect, it was still good to catch a remnant.

"Do you think he has any connection with that place?" Shen Cha approached Shen Haolin and asked quietly, "Looking at Mr. Ke's appearance, he doesn't seem to know about this, right?"

"It doesn't look like he has anything to do with that place. He might just be an ordinary follower." Shen Haolin thought for a while. "He used to be a musician in the palace. I don't know how long he stayed in the palace. The Empress Dowager liked to listen to operas and music when she was alive. She would often summon musicians. I wonder if it was at that time that he became a follower of the Qinglian Sect."

"It's possible." Shen Cha nodded, "Maybe he just missed the glory of the Qinglian Sect, or the kindness of the Empress Dowager to him?"

"Come to think of it," Shen Haolin exchanged glances with Bai Meng and Xue Ruitian who came over, "before the fall of Ningchang State, a group of people were dismissed from the palace, and many of them were sent to the Jiaofang Division according to the law, right?"

"Hmm!" Xue Ruitian nodded and looked at them. "So, they must be the followers or supporters of the Grand Empress Dowager. It's a great harvest to meet them again after so many years!"

"Don't worry, I will send a letter to His Majesty to see if there is something wrong with the people in the Jiaofang Bureau."

"Hmm!" Shen Cha sighed, waved to Captain Qu, and when he came up to her, she whispered a few words to him and said, "Go in person and tell Lao Wu what I said, and Lao Wu will understand."

"Yes, I obey your command!" Captain Qu saluted, turned around to look at Mr. Ke and the troupe, then strode away.

Ke Dajia had been kneeling the whole time. He felt as if his legs had lost all feeling and he could not feel any pain at all.

From the time he became famous at a young age to now, which has been almost thirty years, no one has ever dared to ignore him, even those wealthy and powerful families. Although they clearly don't care about actors like them, they still act very politely on the surface, especially for someone as famous as him. They treat him very attentively. It is impossible for them to let him kneel on the ground for such a long time without paying any attention to him.

Mr. Ke felt very humiliated, he never expected that he, who was over fifty years old, would be treated coldly. But he dared not say anything. The class owner might be able to confront these people in front of him, but he couldn't. He couldn't afford to offend the people of Shen's Army, not to mention that these people were not just people of Shen's Army.

He looked at the people who were talking to themselves and sighed silently. If he guessed correctly, the identities of these people were very important, a duke, a marquis, and a great general. Although he couldn't guess the identities of the remaining two, they were on par with these three and must not be ordinary people.

After Shen Cha finished giving orders to Captain Qu, she remembered that Mr. Ke was still kneeling. She raised her head and saw a flash of anger on his face. She raised her eyebrows slightly. This Mr. Ke was really interesting.

"Mr. Ke, please stand up and take your seats."

The soldier next to them brought over a wooden stool and asked Mr. Ke to sit down.

"Thank you, sir." "Mr. Ke, I have a few questions. I hope you can answer them truthfully."

"Please ask, sir. I will certainly tell you everything I know."

"How many years have you been working with your boss? What do you know about him?"

"My dear, it's been twenty years. As for understanding each other." Mr. Ke shook his head gently, "Not very well. We know nothing about each other's lives. Apart from the things happening on stage, we have no intersection at all. He is responsible for collecting money and arranging the theater, and I am responsible for rehearsing the plays. That's the only intersection between us."

"Twenty years?" Shen Cha looked at Shen Haolin, Xue Ruitian and Bai Meng, then looked at Mr. Ke, somewhat puzzled. "If I remember correctly, Mr. Ke became famous at a young age, so it has been more than twenty years, right?"

"Master Ke made a stunning debut when he first appeared on stage at the age of fifteen, and he is still a well-known opera star today, for more than thirty years." Bai Meng nodded, "But I heard that the opera troupe that made Master Ke famous was not the one he is now, right?"

"I've heard the rumors, too." Song Qiyun whispered, "The Ke family had a falling out with the previous troupe, the one he performed with when he entered the palace."

"Is that so?"

"My lord, that's exactly what happened." Mr. Ke looked at Bai Meng, then at the others, and nodded gently. "But we didn't have a falling out. The original owner ran the troupe poorly, and the troupe couldn't sustain itself, so it had to disband. I took a few people who I had a good relationship with and sang in various places. After many twists and turns, I finally met the current owner. He said he wouldn't interfere with anything I did in the play, and I didn't need to worry about how he managed the troupe. He said he had the ability to manage the troupe well, and it would never disband due to poor management. Moreover, he promised me that my compensation would only be more, not less, so we reached an agreement and continued to cooperate like this. This cooperation has lasted for twenty years."

"Mr. Ke, do you care more about the amount of compensation?"

"Yes, when I was young, my hometown was hit by famine, so my parents sold me to a theater troupe. Fortunately, God gave me food to eat, so I was able to gain a foothold in this world. I suffered a lot when I was young, so I naturally value money more. What I get in my hands is my own, right?" Mr. Ke sighed softly, "As long as the money is enough, I can be arrogant in front of His Majesty the Emperor."

"Is this why you got drunk at the palace banquet?" Seeing that Mr. Ke was stunned at first, and then nodded slowly, Bai Meng raised an eyebrow, "So, who is it?"

"That time it was the Empress Dowager who said that as long as I could get the Emperor and his beloved concubine's respect, my mission would be accomplished. That time, the Empress Dowager gave me a full 100 taels of gold. For this huge amount of gold, I would perform very hard."

"I see. This has solved my confusion for many years." Xue Ruitian nodded. "But I also have a question. Aren't you afraid that you will earn money but not live to spend it? If the late emperor really gets angry and drags you out for execution, your one hundred taels of gold will be gone, right? Or are you sure that someone will protect you and you won't die?"

"The Empress Dowager said that His Majesty is merciful and will not kill me for my misbehavior in front of the palace. So, as long as I don't make too much trouble, my gold will still be mine. Sure enough, the one hundred taels were brought to me by the eunuch beside the Empress Dowager after the palace banquet."