In the third year of the Great Ming Dynasty, Beijing City, Chang'an Avenue.
After a few autumn rains, the weather seemed to suddenly become cooler. Pedestrians on the street began to wear long gowns at some point, and the cicadas that had been noisy all summer seemed to have disappeared overnight.
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The capital has five cities in the southeast, northwest and middle. Chang'an Avenue in the southeast corner of the imperial city can be said to be the most prosperous place in the capital, and the only prince's palace in the capital - the Tenth Prince's Palace is located on Chang'an Avenue.
There are many shops near the Shiwang Mansion, and there are many teahouses and restaurants that have been established for many years, and Fushunzhai is definitely one of the most time-honored restaurants.
Fu Shunzhai started out as a neighborhood businessman, but the prices of his tea and snacks are definitely not neighborhood prices. If he spends time here every day, eating tea and listening to books, he really can't cope here without a little bit of wealth.
Over time, not only the wealthy people near Chang'an Avenue came here to sit and sit, but also people from the nearby Ten Princes' Mansion came here from time to time to have tea, listen to books and relax.
Unknowingly, Fushunzhai has become the most famous teahouse on Chang'an Avenue.
The most attractive thing in Fushun Zhai, apart from the expensive tea, is naturally the wonderful stories told by different storytellers every day.
Other teahouses have to pay people to come to their teahouses to tell stories, but the storytellers in Fushunzhai have to pay money to the teahouse in order to tell stories. So much so that there is a saying among the storytellers in the capital: "You haven't arrived in Chang'an yet."
If you talk about books on the street, it means you haven’t talked about books!
"Storytellers and operas persuade people that the three avenues should be in the middle. Good and evil will be rewarded in the end. The right path in the world is...
"It's the vicissitudes of life!"
At this time, the storytelling had just begun in the afternoon session, and the tea patrons in the tea shop were eagerly waiting for the storyteller they were waiting for.
The storyteller came on stage leisurely, and before he could finish a few lines of the opening poem, he was picked up by someone else. Seeing the storyteller's look of astonishment, all the tea guests in the audience burst into laughter, as if they were snatching away the storyteller.
People's words are particularly proud.
"I know it all, then I'll change it!"
The storyteller sighed pretending to be discouraged, refreshed himself, and slapped the tree in his hand on the table.
"Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of morality, fame of Xiahou, Shangzhou and Zhou Dynasties, five hegemons and seven heroes in the Spring and Autumn Period, rise and fall in an instant; several lines of names in Qing Dynasty, countless barren hills in Beimang, the predecessors sow and the next will reap, it is said..."
"Enter the Dragon!"
Before he finished speaking, the tea patrons below all added this sentence together, and then burst into laughter again, and the tea shop was filled with a happy atmosphere.
It seemed like the only unhappy person was the depressed storyteller on stage.
He was stunned for a while, then seemed to react, and said to the tea guests in the audience, clasping his fists and cupping his hands, "Farewell!"
Then he turned around and left very resolutely.
Everyone laughed again, and some even shouted: "One more, don't leave, one more!"
There was no need for the storyteller to come down to collect the money. A handful of copper coins seemed to be raining and flew towards the big dustpan in front of the stage. As if for the sake of the money, the storyteller was very confused and walked back.
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"You're not here to listen to books, you're here to pay money to read books, right!?"
"My uncle is happy!"
"I don't want to say that I am happy. These words were passed down from my grandfather, and now you have learned them. I am happy now, but my sons and grandsons will starve to death in the future!"
The storyteller immediately said, "Let's get back to the topic. I'm taking people's money to tell stories for them. What do you guys want to hear now?"
"Of course you, Jiang Wan, are talking about "The Condor Heroes"!"
The people below shouted: "We just like to hear about the Tatars, let's continue what we said last time!"
"Okay!" The storyteller nodded fiercely, "Since everyone wants to listen to "The Condor Heroes", I will tell you a passage from "Three Kingdoms" today."
There was another burst of laughter below, but no one was making noise anymore. The tea shop slowly became quiet, and the storyteller's voice was heard echoing in the tea shop: "...Today we will talk about an empty city strategy!"
At a table in the corner of the tea shop, a young man in green curled his lips slightly and stood up.
"Master, won't you sit down for a while?"
A young man who had been standing behind him with a gentle smile on his face bent down slightly: "This Mr. Jiang is talking about the Three Kingdoms, which is more interesting than others. People who often listen to books have never heard of the Three Kingdoms."
, what they like to hear is Mr. Jiang’s idle talk!”
"Not even talking about The Condor Heroes, what else is there to listen to!"
The young man in Tsing Yi said with some dull meaning: "This story is indeed good, but some ideas come up as soon as they come up, which made me run again in vain!"
"How about I ask the younger one, what will he say next and when will he say it? Will he invite you over then?"
"No need, last time I wanted to order some books for Yinzi. Isn't this tea house against the rules?" Speaking of this, the young man in green shook his head: "Since it is other people's rules, we can't break them at will, and I don't want to be beaten by them.
The people at the door are pointing and pointing! Come back another day when you have time, I’ve been busy lately anyway!”
The young man in green clothes stood up and left. Several people in the corner immediately stood up and followed him. However, the young man who was always smiling looked at the storyteller on the stage fiercely, and then hurriedly followed him out.
.
What he didn't notice was that the moment he turned around, the storyteller seemed to glance at this corner inadvertently, and then there was an imperceptible smile in his eyes.
An hour later, Jiang Wan came back from the tea shop and saw a small green cloth sedan parked at the door of the small courtyard where he lived. He frowned slightly and walked towards the people beside the sedan with a smile.
"Mr. Jiang!"
Jiang Wan looked up at the people in front of him and shook his head slightly: "How many of them know me?"
"My surname is Wang, and I have admired Mr. Jiang for a long time!" The young man leading the sedan chair had a smile on his face: "My master appreciates Mr. Jiang's storytelling very much, and would like to invite Mr. Jiang to come and talk to me!"
"Your master appreciates me?" Jiang Wan laughed: "Jiang is honored. Dare you ask your master's name?"
"It's not convenient for us as servants to talk about this. Mr. Jiang will know it when he sees my master!" The young man named Wang said with a smile.
"This is a bit hidden!" Jiang Wan shook his head: "I am a timid person, and I don't want to follow someone I don't know to an unknown place. Please come back, your master really wants to make friends with me.
Wouldn't it be more sincere to let him come and visit by himself?"
"Mr. Jiang, my master has a good temper, but I am not very good-tempered!" The smile on the young man named Wang's face softened a little: "Mr. Jiang is from the capital, so he naturally knows that those people in the capital can be offended, and those people
Can't be offended, I'm just a slave under my master, but I just belong to the kind of person who can't be offended!"
"It sounds like you are threatening me!" Jiang Wan frowned: "I'm sorry, although I, Jiang Wan, am a poor scholar, I still have bones. I don't want the wealth that comes out of nowhere, but the threats that come out of nowhere are not.
Don’t be afraid either!”
"Hey!" The young man surnamed Wang seemed to have guessed this result a long time ago. He sighed and silently took a step back: "Let's do it!"
Jiang Wan was slightly startled. Before he could react, his vision went dark and a cloth bag came over from behind, covering him tightly from head to toe.
"Kidnapped, kidnapped!" he shouted loudly.
"Mr. Jiang, if you continue to scream like this, I will have to knock you out!" The voice from outside came into the bag: "Isn't it just asking you to tell my master a book? Do you really want to suffer this physical pain?