Along the way, Yang Fan quickly swept his eyes over the situation in the hotel.
There was a table on the west, with seven or eight men wearing hats and gowns, drinking to their heart's content. On their table, there was a Hu man urging them to drink; it was a ceramic figure of a Hu man that looked like a tumbling doll, with red hair and blue eyes, a pointy nose, and one hand pointing forward. The porcelain figure turned until it stopped, and whoever it pointed at, that person would be punished with a cup of wine. The rest of the people were clapping their hands and enjoying the wine.
There was also a table on the east, with two merchants sitting opposite each other, surrounded on three sides by seating screens, leaving only one side of the stage open. There were a few dishes on the table, with two slender, enchanting Hu concubines diligently serving the dishes and urging them to drink. The two Hu merchants sitting opposite them were drinking in low voices, as if they were discussing business.
Yang Fan did not have time to look too much, he accompanied Tin Aino to a seat closest to the stage and sat down. He first asked the waiter to move the seating screens and surround three sides. Only then did Tin Aino take off his curtain hat and gracefully kneel down in front of the table.
Yang Fan sat on the side and said to Tin Aino in a low voice, "We have arrived a little early, the one surnamed Liu has not arrived yet."
Tin Aino said in a low voice, "As long as he is willing to come today, there will be a way to attract his attention. For a man like him, as long as we can attract his attention, won't it be just a little trick to make him obediently submit?"
Yang Fan said with a bitter laugh, "A little trick? The expenses these past few days are really not small. Just that leopard alone, in these two days he ate more meat than I ate in a year. "
Tin Aino stammered, "Those pearls and jades were originally my gift to you as thanks. Since you are so generous and insist on taking them out to help your friend in trouble, how can I not spend them all to help you fulfill your reputation of being supremely righteous?"
Yang Fan made a distressed expression and sighed, "If you can help me save some, I am sure it will not be too shabby."
Tin Aino raised his chin and snorted, "Normally I do not have many opportunities to put on airs, but today I can be generous with other people's money, I will definitely not be stingy."
Just as he said this, a Hu man with a sharp nose and dark green eyes walked in, bowed and smiled, "Honored guest, your presence brings light to my humble dwelling. I wonder what food young lady would like to order?"
There were no recipes in this era, those menus only appeared during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. In this era, if one wanted to order food, one had to look at the sign hanging above the wine cabinet, or let the wine expert show you the name of the dishes.
"Wine expert," Tin Aino said, "Wine expert, pick some good dishes from your restaurant, and bring some good wine.
Yang Fan's eyes looked at his nose, his nose looked at his heart, and sighed in his heart, "This prodigal woman …"
In the restaurant, when watching the song and dance, all the tables were very quiet, only the seven or eight people gathered in one place would occasionally burst into laughter, thinking that the 'Hu who persuaded the wine expert' was pointing at someone else. When that Hu Ji left, two actors came up to perform the 'joining the army play', and the atmosphere in the restaurant became relaxed and lively.
'Joining the army play' was a kind of opera invented by the Five Barbarians during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. At that time, there was an official who joined the army who embezzled public funds and accepted bribes. After the incident was discovered, an enemy ordered the actor to wear official robes and pretend to be a soldier to perform on stage, while another actor ridiculed him.
As a result, this form of performance was very popular. Some actors were inspired and continued to use other stories to perform similar short scenes. This form of performance was then established, and named after the main character of the first play, the soldier, it was called 'Joining the army play'.
This play was indeed the ancestor of the later generations of opera. Although the form of performance at that time was very simple, there were only two people from beginning to end, and the style was also comical, but later on, the number of people who participated in the performance increased, and the roles began to develop, such as' Sheng Dan Qing Mo ', and other professions, and the plot became more and more complicated.
At that time, opera had not yet become popular, and singing and dancing were still the main content of entertainment. Therefore, this' Joining the army play 'was just a formality, because it was almost time for dinner, and a large number of drinkers were about to take their seats.
The play being performed on stage was based on the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid. There were only two characters on stage, one was the Weaver Maid, and the other was not the Cowherd, but the Weaver Maid's lover.
The plot was very simple. It was about the Weaver Maid often descending to the mortal world to meet her lover. The lover asked her if she felt uneasy leaving the Cowherd alone on the other side of the Milky Way, and was worried that the Cowherd would find out about his affair with the Weaver Maid. The Weaver Maid did not care, "What does my business have to do with him?" Instead, she comforted the lover not to worry, saying that the Milky Way was far away, and the Cowherd would not find out.
This small play was humorous, and mixed with a lot of pornographic content, but it was said in a more reserved and elegant manner. After all, the people present were either rich or noble, and they would not like things that were too vulgar. However, not liking vulgarity did not mean that they did not like such topics. Every time the drinkers understood the hidden meaning between the two actors, they would laugh knowingly.
Yang Fan had never come into contact with such things, so he watched with great interest. Not long after, the dishes were served. Although Tin Aino had said that as long as it was his specialty, the restaurant did not fill the table with expensive dishes, but according to the number of people eating, a few delicious dishes were prepared appropriately.
There were eight dishes, including soft beef intestines, golden millet hammering, sheepskin silk, eight immortals plate, snow baby, immortal meat, small heavenly crisps, and pig's head spring. There were also 24 wontons. The 24 wontons had different shapes and fillings, so there were 24 different flavors, and the dishes were very particular.
At this time, the more particular places still followed the Han tradition, and carried out the separate meal system. Therefore, in front of Yang Fan and Tin Aino, there was a table each. The same dish was served on two sets of plates, and was sent to the two's table.
The wine was Lanling wine, with sandalwood, broad wood, male clove, and honey. It was golden yellow in color, and the wine was fragrant. The fragrance could be felt from afar. Even if one drank it, one would not feel a headache, dry mouth, or diarrhea. This was Shandong's Lanling wine, with a very long history. It was said that the water there was used to weigh things, and was heavier than water from other places. The wine here was pure and delicious, probably because of the water quality.
The two ate the dishes, tasted the wine, and waited quietly.
The number of customers gradually increased, the two's position was very good, diagonally from the door, as long as a customer entered the door, they would certainly see them. Not long after, they saw Liu Junfan carefully escorting a well-dressed woman into the room. Yang Fan gave Tin Aino a look, and Tin Aino's eyelids slightly drooped down.
More than ninety percent of the guests had arrived. Amidst the clamor, Dong Ling, the manager of 'Drunken Golden Hairpin', suddenly walked onto the stage with a smile on her face. She bowed in all directions and loudly said, "Honored guests, please be quiet, please be quiet."
The inn was silent, and everyone looked at Dong Ling, not knowing what this bearded Persian wanted to do.
Dong Ling smiled wholeheartedly and said, "Honored guests, this morning, someone came to my inn to consign a cup of good wine. Logically speaking, my 'Drunken Golden Hairpin' already has the best wine from all over the world, why would I need to consign it on behalf of someone else? But this cup of wine, I first tasted it, heh heh, it really is good wine! "
'Drunken Golden Hairpin' was one of the best hotels in Luoyang, and Luoyang was the most prosperous place in the Tang dynasty, where high officials and nobles gathered. In other words, 'Drunken Golden Hairpin' was one of the best hotels in the entire Tang dynasty, and Dong Ling said that his inn had gathered the best wine from all over the world, and it was not a lie.
However, under such circumstances, the shopkeeper of Dongling Mountain had actually done the business of "consignment sale" that only small wine shops in the countryside would do. Furthermore, he had personally appeared and solemnly introduced the wine to the guests. It could be seen that this wine was extraordinary. Which guest present didn't like the wine? All of them perked up and listened to his detailed explanation.
Dong Ling said, "This cup of wine comes from the Western Regions, it's a cup of grape wine, and it's extremely delicious, far better than any of the fine wines sold in this inn …"
Before he finished speaking, he caused a commotion among the guests. At this time, the Central Plains also produced wine, but the best quality wine still came from the Western Regions. Even the wine brewed in the Central Plains was extremely expensive, and the wine from the Western Regions was even more expensive.
Wine, Jin Wuluo, Wu Ji Fifteen Fine Horse Pack …
This was a story about a married young girl who brought her dowry to her husband's house. The dowry she brought was wine and Jin Wuluo. Jin Wuluo was an utensil made of pure gold, which meant that the price of this high quality wine was comparable to utensils made of gold.
'Golden Hairpin Drunken' even sold the most famous wines of that time, such as Jiannan Roasted Spring and Fuping Stone Frozen Spring. The variety of wine was also quite complete. Now that the owner actually said that this cup of wine was better than all of the famous wines in the inn, it naturally shocked everyone. Among the seven or eight scholars, there was already someone who couldn't wait to ask, "What's so good about this wine, and how much is it worth?"
A woman's voice suddenly rang out, "Bring me the wine!" As soon as the voice came out, everyone was silent. He didn't even ask for the price and directly ordered someone to bring the wine to him. Not every guest had the guts to say such a thing in the "Golden Hairpin Drunk".
The one who spoke was Madam Yao. Madam Yao often came to 'Golden Hairpin Drunken', and this woman loved good wine, especially grape wine. Yang Fan had already inquired about this and was clear about it. Today, Madam Yao was coming to 'Golden Hairpin Drunken', and he had also asked Chu Kuangge and the City Fox Society's rats to find out in advance.
Dong Ling bowed and said with a smile, "Madam Yao is a regular customer of this inn, but if there's an order, there's no reason for this old man to refuse. However, there's one thing. This guest who consigned this fine wine is in urgent need of money, so he told this old man that this fine wine must be sold in public, to the highest bidder. This old man was entrusted by someone, so I don't dare to privately give it to you. "
At that time, no matter if it was doing business or dealing with people, they all paid particular attention to the word 'trustworthiness'. Although there were people who broke their promises, there were even more people who valued trustworthiness. Dong Ling's words made all the guests nod their heads, and Madam Yao didn't have anything else to say. She proudly said, "If that's the case, then don't keep us in suspense. Let's begin. I want to see who here can pay a higher price than me!"
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
