Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2479 Reconciliation 21.0

Shen Haolin looked at Shen Cha, and seeing that her expression was not very good, he knew that she did not quite believe what Mr. Ke said.

"What's wrong? Do you think there's a problem?"

"Brother, we have all met the Grand Empress Dowager. We all know what kind of person she is, and we have also experienced what kind of means she will use. She has a purpose for everything she does, and she uses any means to achieve multiple goals at once. However, in this matter, I can't see any plan, and I can't see what benefit she gets from doing such a thing."

"Well, your suspicion is reasonable, but don't forget that the Empress Dowager would rather keep things quiet and keep things cold." Shen Haolin smiled, "If this incident hadn't gotten out of hand, we wouldn't have known that there were still remnants of evil around the Empress Dowager who hadn't been punished, right? Who knows, what role the musician back then, now the troupe owner, actually played."

"Brother is right." Shen Cha thought for a moment and looked at Mr. Ke, "Do you remember what the Empress Dowager said when she summoned you?"

"The summons back then." Mr. Ke lowered his head and recalled it seriously for a long time, then raised his head and nodded, "I still remember it."

"Tell me more about it."

"Yes, that day, the palace held a banquet, and the opera troupe and I were summoned to the palace. Entering the palace with us were two other opera troupes that were famous in Xijing City at that time, the Xichun Troupe and the Sixi Troupe. Together with us, they were the three opera troupes that were hard to get tickets for in Xijing City at that time."

"What's the difference between your three troupes?"

"The Xichun and Sixi troupes are better at singing Jiangnan tunes, and we mostly sing songs from the capital. The Empress Dowager is from Jiangnan, so she values ​​the Xichun and Sixi troupes more, and gives them more and better rewards, and they were summoned before us. The Empress Dowager summoned us the day before the palace banquet. We sang a play that was specially choreographed for entering the palace. Because it was a bit hasty, the effect was not very good. It is natural that the Empress Dowager did not like it, and it was within our expectations."

"The Empress Dowager doesn't like it?"

"I can't say I like it, nor can I say I don't like it, I just feel a little indifferent, but I also appreciate some things."

"What happened next?" Bai Meng touched his chin. "You guys probably won't leave the palace. I remember that the opera troupes summoned to the palace would live in a special courtyard, and you guys should be the same."

"Yes!" Mr. Ke nodded. "After we left the Empress Dowager's palace and returned to our own residence, that night, the eunuch beside the Empress Dowager came to ask quietly, saying that the Empress Dowager wanted to see me alone. It was already very late at that time, and I was ready to rest. But the Empress Dowager summoned me, and I couldn't disobey her order, so I had to change my clothes and follow the eunuch to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager."

"The Empress Dowager really likes to summon people in the middle of the night." Xue Ruitian rolled his eyes and said, "She really likes this sneaky style, and she does it as always."

"That's right!" Bai Meng also rolled his eyes. "What happened next?" He looked at Mr. Ke and said, "What did I tell you?"

"This new play is actually very well choreographed, but the musicians around him are not very good at playing the piano, which affects the common people. In order to ensure that the performance at the palace banquet the next day can go on smoothly, the Empress Dowager lent me the musicians she was using."

"The musician you need?" Shen Cha looked at Xue Ruitian and Bai Meng, and said, "Is it the owner of your troupe now?" "My Lord, yes." Mr. Ke sighed, "But at that time I didn't know that we would have such a fate and such a deep bond. In fact, the Empress Dowager is a master of music and an expert. My musician at that time was not bad at playing the piano, but had injured his hand. So, the Empress Dowager rewarded me with a musician, which was a timely help for me."

"You are so grateful?"

"Yes, if it weren't for that musician, I wouldn't have been able to complete it smoothly the next day."

"So what? You want to repay the Queen Mother?"

"That's for sure." Mr. Ke nodded. "The Empress Dowager said that she didn't ask me to do anything, just show my true nature. She hoped that I would behave a little frivolously when summoned by the Empress Dowager. I didn't quite understand it at the time, but later the Empress Dowager explained that at that time, the daughters of wealthy families in Xijing City all liked to watch operas, and it seemed that several families had to elope with others." He looked at Xue Ruitian and Bai Meng, thinking that these two people should know something about their age. "Have you heard of it?"

Xue Ruitian and Bai Meng looked at each other. They both seemed to have some impression of this, but they didn't remember it very clearly.

The two of them looked at Shen Haolin at the same time. He was a little older than them and should know something.

"Yes." Shen Haolin nodded gently, "Not only did some people elope, but some also died after eloping."

"Died an untimely death?" Shen Cha frowned slightly, "Did it happen to steal someone's money?"

"Yes!" Shen Haolin sighed and said, "It's nothing more than murder for money. I think someone asked the Grand Empress Dowager for help, or someone on the Grand Empress Dowager's side encountered such a situation, so the Grand Empress Dowager took this action." He looked at Mr. Ke and said, "What about the incident at the palace banquet? You said before that it was also the Grand Empress Dowager's intention. Is it related to this?"

"I don't know if it's true or not, but since the Empress Dowager said so, I'll do it. After all, I'll get a hundred taels of gold!" Mr. Ke sighed, "If I can stop the daughters or young masters of the rich and powerful families from being obsessed with people like us, then I'll have some merit by doing this."

"All of this is understandable, but once you went to a general's house to celebrate his wife's birthday and caused a scene at the banquet. That was definitely not what the Empress Dowager meant, was it?"

"The general's mother was not his biological mother, and she treated him very badly. Although he was already a general, the old lady still beat and scolded him at will." Mr. Ke sighed, "He came to me and asked me to do him a favor. I could do whatever I wanted. He just wanted me to suffer some injustice afterwards, but he would pay me a lot. I didn't intend to accept it, but the reward from the general was too high. For the money, I gladly accepted it."

"Mr. Ke is willing to do anything for money. Aren't you afraid of ruining your reputation?"

"Reputation is the most useless thing in this business. Actors are ruthless. The world has already defined us as such. So, fame or not is not that important. Money is the most important thing. It can save lives." Mr. Ke looked at everyone. "I have said everything I know. My dear lords, do you have any other questions?"

"The last question is, how did your troupe leader escape from the Jiaofangsi? Do you know?"