Ever since the Peking Opera appeared in the palace, many people wanted to watch it, but there was no place to watch it.
Because it was only available in the palace, it could not be compared to a garden that appeared in the capital in April. Its name was Pear Garden.
The courtyard had three entrances, and the front was facing the street. The two-story building was a teahouse and a restaurant.
There was a hall on the first floor and a private room on the second floor.
After leaving the first floor and passing through the corridors and aisles, there was a small two-story building with a theater inside.
In the hall on the first floor, there was a square table with eight chairs. There was a small wooden plate carved very beautifully on it.
There was a piece of paper on the wooden plate with the prices of tea and dried fruits written on it.
Compared to the prices of other teahouses, Pear Garden's prices were 30% higher. However, there were many things that other places did not have.
After passing through the theater on the second floor, there was a set of small courtyards at the back. There were only a dozen of them, and they were all occupied.
In one word, it was expensive. The shopkeeper was not worried whether there were people living there or not. Anyway, the name of Pear Garden had spread in a short time. After all, it was the place where the Peking Opera was performed!
In the afternoon, many people arrived at Pear Garden. There were even many carriages, and there were many dignitaries among them.
In this group of people, there were two people who were very low-key. They came in the same carriage and were talking and laughing.
The person on the right was not tall, and he wore ordinary clothes. His movements were very steady. He smiled and said to the person on the left, "I didn't expect Pear Garden to be so lively. It's our first time here, and we can take a look today."
"Then let's take a good look!" The person on the left said, "It's my treat today!"
"Then we'll have to trouble Brother Zhang!" The person on the right said with a smile.
"Brother You, you're too polite!"
These two people were none other than You Chi, the housekeeper of the Cabinet Secretary Zhang Juzheng, and Admiral Dongchang Zhang Jing's nephew.
The two of them wanted to see what was going on in Pear Garden, and they also wanted to know who opened it.
As Zhang Jing's nephew, Zhang Xian could more or less figure it out. You Chi could also guess that this matter had something to do with the palace.
However, this Peking Opera was created by Wei Liangfu, the Taichang Temple official. Everyone said that Wei Liangfu was Zhang Jing's man, and Zhang Jing had never denied it. However, Zhang Xian could see that Wei Liangfu was probably not his uncle's man.
However, Zhang Xian didn't dare to speak nonsense about this kind of thing. He could only pretend that he didn't know anything.
It was not difficult for You Chi to guess that this matter had something to do with the palace. But what was the relationship? This was thought-provoking.
The Emperor was still young, so the Empress Dowager had no interest in him. It was said that she had recently become a Buddhist.
Could it be Wu Qingbo's doing?
However, Wu Qingbo had been busy making a lot of money recently. It was said that he was negotiating with Honours from all over the country. It seemed that he was setting up some kind of channel. The little duke of Duke Wei's Mansion in Nanjing had come to the capital.
Nominally, he came to visit relatives and friends, but he came to Wu Qingbo's Mansion more frequently than Duke Ding's Mansion.
As long as it involved the palace, it was no small matter. How could You Chi miss this kind of occasion?
Glancing at Zhang Xian, his new sworn brother, You Chi hoped to get some information from him.
For You Chi, or for You Chi and Zhang Xian, their sworn brothers had a purpose that was not simple.
It was no different from the last time when Feng Bao's confidant, Xu Jue. Therefore, the friendship between the two advanced very quickly.
The two of them came to the entrance of Pear Garden. There was a piece of red paper stuck on the door. On it was written the name of the opera to be performed tonight. It was called "Qilin Locking Pouch."
On the next line were two names. One was called Ming Mou, and the other was called Lian Hua. They were the two main characters.
"It really is" Qilin Locking Pouch "!"
Zhang Xian and You Chi looked at each other. In their hearts, they were even more certain that this place had something to do with the palace.
The two of them were very familiar with the name "Qilin Locking Pouch." After all, it was sung in the palace on New Year's Day.
The two of them did not stay for too long. They entered the restaurant together. They did not go to a private room. Instead, they found a seat in the lobby and sat down.
"Dear guests, what would you like to eat? This is the menu of our restaurant!" The waiter came over with a smile and extended his hand to hand over a booklet.
The two of them felt that it was new. In the past, it was not bad to hang a wooden sign on the wall with the name of the dish written on it.
Opening the menu, the two of them were stunned. Wasn't this a little too detailed?
On one side of the menu was a text introduction. On the other side was a drawing. They did not know what was used to draw it, but it was lifelike.
Others did not know, but You Chi and Zhang Xian knew that this drawing method was called pencil drawing. It was also passed down from the palace.
It was just that this drawing was colored. Such a drawing was used as a menu. The two of them did not know what to say.
However, the two of them were even more certain that this pear garden had something to do with the palace.
The two of them flipped through a few pages of the menu. The dishes here were so expensive!
There were some that they had never heard of. For example, this salad dish cost 200 copper coins. Other dishes cost 300 to 500 copper coins. There were even some dishes that cost a few taels of silver.
It was too expensive. A meal here would cost at least a dozen taels of silver!
Obviously, this wasn't a place for ordinary people to eat. Zhang Xian was not short of money. He smiled and ordered six dishes and a pot of good wine. Then, he smiled and handed the menu to the waiter. "Waiter, we want to go to the back to watch the show. Can we go there after eating?"
"It's like this. The theater behind us has private rooms and seats. A private room costs 500 copper coins. A private room costs 2 taels of silver. If you spend more than 10 taels of silver in the front, you will be given two tickets for free." The waiter smiled and said, "There are two complimentary tickets here."
"We have two performances in the afternoon. We will leave before the curfew. After eating, you can go to the back to watch the show!"
The waiter left. Zhang Xian smiled and said, "Let's go find a private room!"
Although there were complimentary tickets, Zhang Xian did not want to take advantage of them. The two of them were not short of money. In addition, he was treating today. It was not good to be too stingy.
Before Uncle came out, he had told him that the money spent with You Chi could be reimbursed.
"A private room is good!" The game smiled and did not care at all. He was a butler and did not care so much.
Moreover, there was only him and Zhang Xian in the private room. There was no need to ask for information. A private room was the most suitable.
After the two of them finished eating, they went to the theater at the back. They found the table number written on the ticket and sat down. Then, they ordered two dried fruits, two candied fruits, and a pot of good tea. They looked around and listened to the conversations around them.
"Hey, let me tell you. I have been waiting for Beijing opera for a long time."
"Of course. The operas we watched in the past were not authentic. We should not watch Beijing opera.
Moreover, this came from the palace. We must watch it. "
"Speaking of coming from the palace, I am a little curious. Who is the owner of Pear Garden?
This person is really capable.
Let's not talk about how much such a big garden costs. Just the fact that he can fool the people from the palace shows that he is really resourceful! "