Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 102 Ineffable Wonder (Last day of the month, please vote with a monthly pass)

Now that things have come to this, the ministers are all convinced that their ideas were correct.

Li Longji was using his position for personal gain, bringing up Zhang Jiuling's memorial, but in reality, he wanted to hear about "Dream of the Red Chamber."

Otherwise, how would you even know about Nagqu?

It's clear they did their research beforehand.

Indeed, ever since Li Longji watched the play "Catching and Releasing Cao Cao," he has been obsessed with it. He was usually diligent in his official duties, but whenever he went to the outhouse, he would start studying the play.

Just then, a huge wave of events swept through Chang'an with lightning speed.

Just those few words were enough to make Li Longji itchy and eager to find out more. Logically speaking, it was nothing unusual for an emperor to summon a few folk artists to perform in the palace.

However, at present, he is working with his ministers to solve the empire's financial problems, which is also the most troublesome issue for the empire. He does not want any mistakes to be made, and he must adhere to the rules he set before, which is to be frugal.

Furthermore, the ministers were currently harboring a desire for revenge. If he were to directly send someone to perform in the palace, one can imagine the storm that would rage against him. He would be torn to shreds by the ministers. As the emperor, he was also afraid and could only endure it.

Just then, Zhang Jiuling offered a perfect reason.

He quickly seized the opportunity to elaborate on the matter.

It was quite a feat to invite these people, so they were bound to want to see the whole thing.

Otherwise it would be a huge loss.

It should be noted that qufu (a type of classical Chinese prose) is actually more popular nowadays, while dramas like Canjunxi (a type of opera) are far less popular than qufu.

If you don't listen to the music while watching a play, it's as if you haven't watched it at all.

Zhang said they knew the situation perfectly well, and some of them even felt that it was acceptable for the emperor to go to such lengths to watch this show, as it wouldn't break the rules set by Yao and Song.

The worst thing is if the emperor forces his way in.

Of course, many people come here just to argue.

Look! Look!
How can you see the problem if you don't look at it?

At the emperor's command, Tao Mo allowed Linghu Baodi and Qin'er to enter the courtyard.

Enough talk, let the music start and the song begin.

Qin'er is a professional, while Linghu Baodi is an amateur. However, this headstrong young man, Linghu Baodi, is not afraid at all and has a strong desire to perform, while Qin'er seems very nervous.

This was her first time performing in front of the emperor.

At the beginning, Qin'er's voice was very tight, while Linghu Baodi was more relaxed and seemed to have the upper hand. But gradually, Qin'er was also infected by Linghu Baodi, and her voice slowly opened up. The two sang sweetly to each other again.

Most of the people in the room had heard this piece before, and they were now more focused on Li Longji.

Li Longji held his wine cup, sometimes shaking his head in deep contemplation, sometimes frowning, and sometimes showing joy.

He was the most engaged of all.

The song is over.

Li Longji put down his wine cup and asked with an extremely serious expression, "What do you all think of the singing?"

Yuan Qianyao said truthfully, "It's just so-so, but it's not unpleasant to listen to."

Linghu Baodi pursed her lips, thinking to herself, "Do you old man even know how to appreciate art? When I performed at Yixianjue, everyone applauded."

Han Xiu, the Vice Minister of Rites, went even further, saying, "Judging from this piece alone, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it decadent music."

They were all literary giants, accustomed to hearing elegant poems. So when they suddenly heard a poem about Lin Daiyu, it was indeed a bit out of place and wouldn't meet their standards.

Their assessment of the song was that it was just a folk song from the streets, and couldn't be any higher.

Bringing this piece to the palace to be heard is truly an exaggeration.

Jiang Jiao suddenly said, "That's not quite right. Although these two singers' singing skills are quite average, and their lyrics are even more so, their strength lies in their extremely novel singing style and melody, which is unique and has a different flavor to listen to."

This version of Lin Daiyu's song is based on the refined singing style of Hongxiu, and it is in line with the current opera style.

Li Longji nodded in agreement and said, "Doctor Jiang shares the same view as me. In fact, the two of them made many mistakes just now, but the key reason why people still wanted to listen to them was the special melody and singing style."

In my opinion, this is not about being unconventional or trying to attract attention, but rather about complementing the drama. Taken separately, it may seem somewhat unsatisfactory, but when listened to in conjunction with the drama, it undergoes a complete transformation. In the future, this style of music will surely become a genre of its own, and then you will not only stop saying this, but you will also sing it at home regularly.”

Yuan Qianyao was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Li Longji to give such high praise. He then said, "I don't know about others, but I would never hum this song at home."

Li Longji simply smiled and did not argue with him.

Wang Xi observed this and thought to himself, "As expected of the founder of Peking Opera, his vision is just like everyone else's."

Li Longji was also a man of artistic talent, accustomed to refined language. Logically, he should have been like Yuan Qianyao and the others, disdainful of it. However, in the field of opera, he had a vision far beyond that of others. This was talent, and there was no other explanation.

Although Jiang Jiao and he had gone through thick and thin together, there were many people who had gone through thick and thin with Li Longji. Many of them were driven out of the court or even killed. Only Jiang Jiao was always favored by Li Longji. The reason was that they shared common interests.

As the saying goes, gold is easy to come by, but a true friend is hard to find!

Moreover, both Wu Jieyu and later Yang Guifei were highly skilled in music. Their looks alone would not have been enough to attract Li Longji. At most, they could only engage in a brief skirmish, and it was impossible for them to maintain a stalemate in the long run.

Pan Haoli was puzzled. He saw that the other party's singing was quite mediocre, but Li Longji praised it highly. He felt that this was too obvious bias. After the performance, who would dare to criticize it? So he said, "Is Your Majesty here to judge a case or to critique a song?"

Li Longji laughed and said, "Of course I'm here to judge whether 'Dream of the Red Chamber' is decadent or not, but how can I judge it if I don't comment on it?"

This rebuttal left Pan Haoli speechless.

Li Longji was even happier, but he wasn't aggressive. He didn't want to pay any attention to them at the moment and said impatiently, "Let's begin, let's begin." Seeing his expression, everyone knew what the outcome would be.

Xue Jun and Cui Gu'er immediately went to the open space in the middle and obediently bowed to the emperor.

Li Longji was about to say a few more words when Cui Gu'er suddenly said, "Brother Xue, since His Majesty can't wait any longer, let's begin."

Xue Jun said, "Wait, wait, today we are performing in front of His Majesty, so we have to do something different."

Orphan Cui asked, "Are they different?"

"Yes!"

Xue Jun said, "Let's do a condensed version. Can you keep up?"

Cui Gu'er laughed and said, "What's so difficult about that?"

The two of them started talking directly, one after the other.

Li Longji was not annoyed at all; on the contrary, he found it novel and began to watch it intently.

Gradually, the room fell silent, everyone completely absorbed in their conversation.

It's called the abridged version, but it actually has some content added. In comparison, what they talked about before was the abridged version. Wang Xi's main purpose in creating this storytelling was to pave the way for future operas. He needed to let everyone know the story so that everyone could understand the operas. So he hid some content and put it in the operas. But today's performance is for the emperor and his ministers, so the content must be richer.

This is arguably the truly complete version.

Zhang Jiuling nodded slightly, but not because of the abridged version. Rather, after Tao Mona's explanation, he truly understood some aspects of the story that he had previously overlooked.

The more I listened, the more captivated I became, and the more I felt it was truly a masterpiece.

"oops!"

Suddenly, Cui Gu'er exclaimed, "On the left is Lin Daiyu, and on the right is Xue Baochai. It's really hard to choose! By the way, Brother Xue, if you were Jia Baoyu, who would you choose?"

"Of course I choose Wang Xifeng."

"Bullshit."

"Haha."

These two clowns, singing and laughing in unison, made Li Longji chuckle.

Immediately, Xue Jun said, "To find out what happens next, please listen to the next chapter."

After saying this, the two took a step back and bowed to Li Longji.

"????"

Li Longji was dumbfounded. "You haven't finished your story yet!"

The two of them looked at Tao Mo at the same time.

Tao Mo hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, this story is somewhat different from the current one. It is much longer and is expected to reach over a million words."

"So many?" Li Longji was shocked.

The Five Classics combined only have so many words; you're really padding this out.

"Yes."

Tao Mo said, "Therefore, I have not yet written the complete story. Although there is still some content at the end, it is not yet perfect, so I dare not present it to Your Majesty."

"That's it!"

Li Longji nodded, but was actually quite pleased. It was so long; there would be plenty to read later. Suddenly, he asked, "Sir, why not have Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu, and Baoyu?"

He was implying to Tao Mo, "Don't make it a tragedy, I want a happy ending," which shows how deeply he was immersed in the role.

Before Tao Mo could speak, Zhang Jiazhen asked first, "Your Majesty, if you want both, who will be the wife and who will be the concubine?"

"That's right."

Li Longji chuckled awkwardly, but inwardly he didn't care. If it were him, he'd want them all. He pondered the story, realizing it was far from over, and wondered how he would continue listening to *Dream of the Red Chamber*. So he asked his ministers, "What do you all think?"

Now everyone knows the truth, but they are unwilling to let the emperor succeed so easily.

Jiang Jiao suddenly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that what we see now is only the tip of the iceberg. We cannot tell whether this is decadent music or a story about decadent music. The evidence is insufficient. Why not wait until we have seen it all before we speak?"

Li Longji immediately gave Jiang Jiao an approving look, thinking, "You old man understand me best. What a great excuse of insufficient evidence!"

Pan Haoli could easily see what they were up to. "You're shameless!" he thought. He immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I initially thought that Dream of the Red Chamber was just decadent music, but after seeing it today, I have changed my mind. Just as Mr. Anonymous said, this story tells of the intrigue and backstabbing within a family, and contains a warning to the world. It can be considered a masterpiece."

Zhang Jiuling quickly stepped forward and said, "It was my shortsightedness that led me to this position. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

The other ministers also stepped forward to express their absolute support for Dream of the Red Chamber.

Li Longji remained silent.

You guys are really shameless.

How could you say such a thing against your conscience?

This is really unreasonable.

(End of this chapter)