Chapter 40 Two Hundred Kwan

Ge was the chief military general under Huang Chao before the Zhou dynasty. He was both intellectually and physically gifted, and was considered the leader of the Five Tiger Generals.Now, however, he...As soon as Ye Youxiao finished speaking, his mother, Ye Niwen, immediately replied: "You wouldn't go ask the outsider, but you come to ask me instead!"

When Ye Youxiao was at a loss, Li Jiuniang had already entered the quiet room gracefully and said calmly: "Your elder sister is so distressed because she didn't know where to go after her role in the play. She doesn't realize that Zheng Xiang's adaptation of this play is precisely to discipline and rectify morals. The Zhu Yingtai she played, harassed Liang Shanbo, causing the talented young man to die prematurely. It's a heinous crime, yet she still wants to know where to go"

Mother Ye argued, “Originally, this new play depicts the love between Liang and Zhu that is misunderstood by the world. They can only become butterflies…”

Li Jiuniang snorted: "After all that talk, you still don't understand What is worldly My father and Zheng Xiang both strongly oppose this transformation. Are they worldly Or are you the only refined one"

Ye Ma's warmth still wanted to argue, but she was gently pulled back by Ye Youxiao. She glared at Ye Youxiao, but Ye Youxiao just smiled at her and then said to Li Jiuniang:

"What Jiuniang said is exactly the same as what my father said."

Recalling last night's discussion at the Ye family, Ye Ma Wen also understood that she could only suffer grievances in this play. Although she was still angry, she had no choice but to remain silent. When Li Jiuniang heard that Ye Hou Sheng's viewpoint was the same as hers, she became interested and immediately asked: "I wonder what your father said"

Ye Youxiao glanced at his older sister. Seeing her with a sullen face turned towards the window, he thought to himself: "Father means that the new play decided by King Shou and Prime Minister Zheng must not be changed."

He spoke so vaguely, that Ye Niang Wen couldn't refute him. Even Li Jiuniang was very pleased and said to Ye Niang Wen: "How is it Even your father says so."

Even though Mother Ye acknowledges that Zhu Yingtai deserves to die, she still insists: "Even if Zhu Yingtai has committed a thousand sins, there should at least be an explanation for her end!"

Yet, Ye Youxiao seemed to want to change the subject: "Speaking of Aye, I suddenly remembered that Aye once made a bet with Jiuniang"

Li Jiuniang was taken aback, not knowing where this talk came from. She immediately turned to Si Niang and asked, "What bet Do you know"

Sìniang replied, "It was about that day when Yè Lǎozhang said he wanted to perform a duet with the county princess. The princess casually said that if she lost, she would give him two hundred taels of silver."

Li Jiuniang suddenly realized and smiled: "What's the matter, Ye Youxiao Do you really want to make a fortune Fourth Sister, look at Youxiao, he really looks like a lucky money child."

Si Nü also took a look at Yè Youxiào and, together with Lǐ Jiǔniáng, laughed.

Seeing them laughing at her younger brother, Ye Ma Wen was about to step forward to reason with them, but she was pulled back by Ye Youxiao. She understood that Youxiao had a plan, so she kept quiet and watched how he would handle the situation.

Ye Youxiao said to himself, "It's not about wanting to make money, it's about truly making money."

Li Jiuniang stopped laughing and looked at Ye Youxiao quietly, "What do you mean"

Ye Youxiao smiled and said, "Yesterday the Ye family had already performed. We were waiting to see the county princess's counter-performance, but who knew she would say she wanted to perform a new play! This is very obvious."

Li Jiuniang raised a brow: "What do you mean 'obviously'"

Ye Youxiao didn't go to see her but looked at his elder sister: "Sister, I think the princess knew she was no match, so she simply stopped playing against us and came over to our Ye family to sing a new play! In that case, shouldn't we win back those two hundred taels"

Ye Ma's heart leaped with both surprise and delight. She hadn't expected this filial piety from him to come at such an unexpected angle from Li Jiuniang! It was truly a win-win situation: Li Jiuniang lost the drama performance and had to pay two hundred guan! If not for her composure as a young lady, she would have really wanted to give her younger brother a hearty kiss! The gloom of the past two days vanished in an instant!

Li Jiuniang's first thought was to storm off: What a bunch of commoners, greedy for petty gains and forgetting the greater good! But thinking about it, if this new play could truly change people's minds, update social norms, her acting in it would be considered righteous. Yesterday she understood the political significance of the play from her father's lengthy lecture. Once successful, it would greatly benefit the stability of the court. Besides, she loved this kind of meaningful play to no end. Compared to the old frivolous performances, it was on a completely different level. With this new play, she would truly become the mistress of the stage, pointing out the country and commanding other roles. It was a hundred times more fun than playing polo!

Thinking of this, she suppressed her displeasure and said to Si Niang, "Give me the money."

Si-niang was exasperated: "The county princess hasn't even acted on stage with him, let alone had anyone witness their performance. Saying the county princess lost solely based on this servant's word and giving him 200 taels"

Li Jiuniang smiled: "Don't be shy, just give it to him."

Seeing that Li Jiuniang was unwilling to argue, Si Niang could only look at Ye Youxiao and say: “Tomorrow you hire a carriage and come to Qiushui Pavilion to collect the money.”

Li Jiuniang looked at Ye Youxiao and said, "I don't want to argue with you about money or worldly matters. Just tell me, what should be the ending for Zhu Yingtai"

This is clear: someone spent 200 guan to buy a wish for Zhu Yingtai to die an untimely death.

I hope Zhu Yingtai doesn't live a good life, and Ye Maowen, who plays Zhu Yingtai, will be very depressed and angry.

When Ye Ma's mother is sad and angry, Li Jiuniang will be happy and cheerful.

So, spend money to buy happiness.

Although it's two hundred ounces, the county princess doesn't mind.

Ye Youxiao hadn't thought of how to answer, but Ye Niangwen spoke first: "How about letting Zhu Yingtai fall off a cliff to her death"

Everyone was looking at Ye Niwen, not because of Zhu Yingtai's death but because Ye Niwen had taken the initiative to say — hadn't she always been pretending to be Zhu Yingtai How could she bear to let Zhu Yingtai fall off a cliff

Ye Ma Wen smiled warmly at Li Jiu Niao. Two hundred guan in hand, this was a great achievement for Ye Ma Wen, contributing to the family's well-being. The county princess might not care about two hundred guan, but Ye Ma Wen fully understood what it meant for their family. Every day's performance earned over a hundred wen, at most three or four hundred wen, and Mother would be beaming with happiness; even Father would hum incessantly.

Now it's two hundred!

Mother has thought it through. In the face of economic benefits, let's forget about Zhu Yingtai and her pride! With this money, we can make Father and Mother happy. They will know that their daughter is always thinking of the bigger picture, which is most important!

Ye Youxiao, of course, knew what 200 guan meant to a family. He just hadn't expected that 200 guan would have such a powerful effect on his sister. When he brought up the topic of acting as a distraction, he only wanted to shift the focus and embarrass Li Jiuniang, thinking that after the focus shifted, the argument about where Zhu Yingtai should go would end. Unexpectedly, Li Jiuniang readily agreed to give the money, and the conflict never even arose; more unexpectedly, Li Jiuniang still clung to the old conflict! Of course, what he never expected was that his sister actually agreed to let Zhu Yingtai die.

Ye Youxiao deeply felt the magic of money.

He also understood what "a woman's heart is like the sea floor needle" meant. You can't possibly fathom a woman's thoughts!

Whether it's bowing to Liang Baiguan or Li Jiuniang, anyway, my elder sister has bowed now. Ye Youxiao felt that this was also an unexpected gain. If the new play is successfully performed, then it can touch the top of the pyramid of imperial power.

The discussion that followed went smoothly, surprising even Ye Youxiao. With the addition of 200 guan, Li Jiuniang's intentions were unimpeded. The character of Li Yingniang finally appeared, and her brilliance completely overshadowed Zhu Yingtai.

It seems like the opponent had surrendered, so there was no need to pursue relentlessly. Li Jiuniang's final scheme was simply to drive Zhu Yingtai into a nunnery. This was a common punishment method used by Tang Dynasty elites against women.

Yé Niáng's warm smile accepted this suggestion. Right now, she was just eager to return to the hut and announce her success in avenging herself to Ah Yé and Niáng!

Character assignment is just a game, real money is life!

The work was done, and Ye's siblings wanted to return to the shed. But Li Jiuniang insisted on staying behind to copy the lyrics. Ye Youxiao suggested letting the monks do it, but Li Jiuniang felt that she should do it herself so she could become more familiar with the lyrics and make some adjustments. More importantly, she didn't say: how could a young woman's lyrics be copied by a group of monks

Seeing the Ye siblings happily leave, Si-niang couldn't help but say to the County Princess: "Before I desperately searched for a way to survive for the role, two hundred taels each, hehe."

Li Jiuniang stopped her pen and looked at her with a smile: “Then how about we give him gold, silver, and open yuan”

Huang Si Niang let out a delighted chuckle: "That's a good idea, Your Highness! Let them see and be unable to use it!"

The Ye family, of course, had no idea that Li Jiuniang would tamper with the payment method. At this moment, they were all immersed in the happiness of winning a major prize from the afterlife. Only Ye Youxiao didn't quite understand, and he innocently asked:

"Father, two hundred coins isn't worth two thousand wen. Is there really a need to be so excited"

Ye Hou Sheng laughed and gently patted him on the head: "Silly son! What two thousand wen It's 200,000 wen! You can buy over 300 bushels of rice! Father will calculate for you, our family eats about one bushel of coarse grain and vegetables every day. 300 bushels of rice is 3,000 bushels, enough for us to eat for 3,000 days, at least eight years' worth of food! Think about it, even if we sit and eat until there is nothing left, it's enough for our family to eat for eight years!"

His slightly trembling hand gestured in the shape of an "eight," his mouth stretched wide to his earlobes.

"Even Mother Ye sighed, 'That's what a county princess is like. Our family has a huge sum of money, and she just gives it to us when she says so! Not even batting an eyelid!' "

"Mother sighed, 'Daughter, I understand. Acting isn't real life. She gave two hundred taels, let her take the role as she pleases. All that matters is our family has money.'"

Ye Dalian hugged her tightly and said with a smile, “Wen'er is really sensible!” Suddenly remembering something, she asked, “My husband, will the county princess really pay Look at Youxiao, he didn't even ask her for a receipt.”

Ye Youxiao had no experience with such large sums of money transactions. Hearing his mother's words, he was stunned: "So I need a receipt"

Ye Hou Sheng smiled: "My lady, I am a county princess, naturally honest and trustworthy! You Xiao doesn't understand the importance of following proper etiquette, so it's fine. If I had reached out for the scroll back then, I might have offended her instead."

Now he considers Li Jiuniang to be a money god and wouldn't dare offend her in the slightest.

"Mother Ye warmly embraced Ye Youxiao and smiled: “Yesterday you said you would help your elder sister avenge herself, I didn't believe it. I just thought that with her noble status, how could this revenge be taken I really didn't expect that you came up with such a good idea. Mother,”

"Saying that, he ran over and hugged his mother's back, saying: 'Yu Xia on this crucial moment wants her to pay compensation, she really is hard to get away with.'"

"Let's just forget about it. That Li Jiuniang hurt you, and now she paid compensation. This is a good opportunity for your mother to make two new clothes for you."

Ye Ma was overjoyed and ran over to give Ye Hou Sheng a kiss.

Ye Hou Sheng smiled: "Wen'er is truly crazy. Well, things have already passed, you all just practice diligently! The future of the Ye family depends on your performance. This play has been approved by the officials, if it truly goes as His Highness said and reaches the ears of heaven, we in the capital will be the top dogs!"

Ye Mama hurriedly said, “Rehearsals will naturally be done with my utmost effort, but those two hundred taels of silver are not yet in hand. You-Xiao, that Fourth Madam, didn't you hire a cart to bring them”

Ye Dajiao sighed: "It's a pity we sold our mule cart, otherwise we wouldn't have to spend extra money hiring a car."

Ye Hou Sheng said: “When we reach the capital, we won't be wandering around anymore. What use is keeping the mule cart And think about how much hay that mule eats every day! Besides, tomorrow we're going to bring back money – two hundred guan with a little change, and that's enough for hiring a carriage!”

He stood up and said, "Let's return to the residence first. After dinner, Youxiao will go and hire a carriage to bring back the money." Looking at Ye Da's mother again, he said, "Youxiao will go and fetch the money, I'll wait at the shop in the countryside, and you two just stay at the residence."

Ye Dalian agreed, Ye Niang gently hugged her mother, the whole family happily left the shed and went to the store. Only Ye Youxiao lowered his head thinking, isn't it just two hundred taels of silver Also have to hire a bullock cart donkey cart But from when Si Niang said to hire a carriage, to now Aye Ama speaking, no one raised any questions.

Ye Youxiao could only wonder in his heart: Is it really necessary to hire a car to pull money That's too exaggerated, isn't ithat Ge Congzhou's words were not very pleasant, so he coughed and looked at Zhang Quan yi: "It's just this sentence, but by allowing scholars and farmers to each get what they deserve, even if Zhu has...