The fifth month of the lunar calendar is commonly known as the poisonous month. Many people hear this and laugh it off, saying it is superstition.
However, on this day, every family pierces the five poisonous plants in front of their door, drinks realgar wine, and applies cinnabar.
When Hezhou City began to become lively from its slumber, a string of festive firecrackers awakened all the drowsy wills, and several Ford cars drove out of Yuan’s house and headed for Gu’s house.
There were happy characters pasted on the cars, and flower bouquets hung on them. The car at the front of the line even threw out money and candies from time to time. Children would chase after it, laughing and singing all the way.
The debris of firecrackers was like red petals spread all over the three streets from the Yuan family’s house to the Gu family’s house. It was rumored that all the firecrackers in the four surrounding cities were bought out.
The wedding ceremony of the daughter of the Pengyun Chamber of Commerce was naturally different from others, so more than a dozen merchant ships on the dock set off fireworks, creating a spectacular scene.
Even the old man leaning on a cane, hard of hearing and frail, was startled by the commotion. He shuffled to the door and asked whose wedding banquet was causing such a stir. When someone told him it was just a wedding ceremony, he couldn’t help but click his tongue in disbelief, frightened off by the extravagance.
The Cheng, Mei, and Shang opera troupes invited from the capital, the dragon and lion dance teams brought in at great expense from Guangdong and Guangxi, the Western magicians who arrived on the first train, renowned chefs from top restaurants, the wandering Sichuan opera face-changing masters—every artisan worth their weight in gold had been swept up by the Military Control Commissioner.
There are three courtyards in the Military Control Commissioner’s mansion, each with a stage, with different plays playing one after another, making it very lively.
Some people say that getting an invitation to the wedding party at the Military Control Commissioner’s mansion is a great achievement for most of their lives.
“The ice wheel on the island starts to turn, and the Jade Rabbit appears and rises in the east again. The ice wheel leaves the island, and the sky is exceptionally bright. The bright moon is in the sky, just like Chang’e leaving the Moon Palace~~”
As soon as the pillar of the Mei troupe opened his mouth, a passage from “The Drunken Concubine” won rounds of applause, and many opera fans even climbed on the wall and were satisfied just to hear a line.
In the past, no one would dare to do such a thing, but today the Military Control Commissioner was very happy, so the guards were also relaxed.
By the time Xu Hang arrived, Gu Fangfei and Yuan Ye had already completed a round of toasts.
Today, Gu Fangfei wore a crimson cheongsam and black high heels, with her hair tied up high. Around her neck, she wore a gold nine-turn plum blossom chain, which looked like a gift from the future mother-in-law to her daughter-in-law.
When she heard Xu Hang coming in, she came up with a glass of wine in her hand, smiling, her face still slightly flushed from the smell of alcohol: “Mr. Xu is late, you have to drink a glass as a punishment.”
As soon as Yuan Ye saw Xu Hang, he immediately greeted him: “You are finally here. Come, come and sit down.”
Xu Hang took the wine glass and downed it in one gulp. “You two are the stars today, so of course I wouldn’t turn down a drink. But there are still a few patients at the medical hall I can’t leave unattended, so I won’t be able to stay long. I’ve brought a small gift as an apology.”
Behind him, a servant had already carried in a mahogany box. When it was opened, a golden phoenix crown mixed with royal blue and purple caught everyone’s attention.
“Aiya, this is such a treasure ah!”
“Physician Xu is really generous…”
“That’s real gold… tsk tsk…”
No one at the banquet noticed Xu Hang’s arrival, but when the phoenix crown appeared, it immediately became the focus.
Although Gu Fangfei had seen a lot of things, she was still shocked by the phoenix crown, and her face was full of surprise: “This… this is really extremely valuable!”
“It’s not the best, and I dare not take it out.” Seeing that she liked it, Xu Hang smiled faintly.
At this time, Yuan Sen, who was drinking with his in-law in the main hall, also came out with his hands behind his back, but he did not walk out of the door. He just leaned against the door, squinted his eyes, and shook his head, chewing a few peanuts in his mouth.
This glance happened to meet Xu Hang’s head-on, and the two of them looked at each other with a slightly strange look in their eyes.
The guests in the room naturally had no idea that the fierce anti-bandit campaign from before was, in fact, a story shared between these two people.
Yuan Sen looked at Xu Hang with a fake smile, thinking that he was just a rabbit raised by Duan Yelin, but he also felt that Xu Hang was someone of great importance since he dared to come to his house without any fear.
For some reason, with just one glance, he felt as if he was pierced by Xu Hang’s clear eyes, and his back felt slightly numb.
“It’s really an eyesore…” Yuan Sen frowned, turned around and left, and went back to the hall to drink with others.
Xu Hang retracted his gaze and said to Yuan Ye, “The gift has been delivered, so I will go back first.”
“You’re leaving just like this?”
“Forgive my rudeness, but there is an emergency in the medical hall.” Xu Hang bowed as if to apologize and left the Military Control Commissioner’s mansion in front of everyone’s eyes.
When Yuan Ye saw him step out of the Military Control Commissioner’s mansion, for some reason, he suddenly felt relieved.
He was shocked by his own thoughts, but he had to admit that there was a little darkness in his heart. Since the murder of the governor, he has been skeptical about Xu Hang. As a friend, he was unwilling to regard him as a suspect; as the only son in the family, he also had to consider the safety of his family.
Therefore, before the truth came out, as long as Xu Hang stayed away from the Military Control Commissioner’s mansion, everything would be fine.
The guests started to make noises, and Yuan Ye was pushed by his friends back into the banquet.
This wedding banquet was an extremely extravagant carnival of wine and meat.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, everyone was already drunk and bleary-eyed. When they glanced around, they saw three shadows for every person and couldn’t even tell who they had their arms around. Still, they clinked their glasses and called each other brothers.
Everyone’s ears were filled with the sounds of frolicking, urging people to drink, opera songs, and laughter.
In the end, people only remembered a red figure singing a piece of “Suolin Nang” on the stage.
“Human affection is created out of thin air, who can change it even a little bit~I am inferior to her, she is suffering from hunger and cold, and I am delicate. Divide me into a coral treasure, and rest her half-life in the Phoenix Nest~”
At this moment on stage, even the jinghu accompanist had started cracking melon seeds and chatting idly. The performers didn’t bother announcing a scene change, simply humming a few lines at will.
After all, no matter how expensive the troupe is, even gods would get tired of listening to it all day.
As the last note fell, the performers from the three troupes retreated one after another, and the Western magic came on stage. Only then did everyone regain their spirits and compete in drinking again.
According to the rules, opera actors who sang well would receive rewards. Today, the Military Control Commissioner was in great joy, and the rewards were astonishingly large.
After the death of Housekeeper Yang, a servant named Lai Er was promoted to help with the affairs of the mansion. Although he was diligent, he had only one shortcoming: he liked to visit prostitutes, especially male ones.
Lai Er called all the opera actors into a small room and looked around at several actors in blue robes with his thieving eyes. Suddenly he saw an actor in a bright red costume. He looked like the one who had just sung “Suolin Nang”. His eyes were particularly sharp, and his stomach felt warm.
He pretended to be serious and hurriedly distributed the reward money to the others, then asked them to leave. He said to that actor, “Wait a moment. The Master just said that you sang well and will give you a special reward.”
The actor nodded and stayed.
Lai Er waited until everyone else had left, locked the door, smirked, and lewdly said, “Let me ask you, do you want a reward?”
The actor nodded: “I do.”
“Just thinking is useless, you have to express it!” Lai Er sat on the chair, opened his thighs slightly, and patted his legs. “Come on, there are only two of us here, let me love you, and naturally the reward money will come.”
“This, this is not appropriate…” The actor’s face showed a little panic. He took two steps back and seemed to want to run away.
Lai Er’s expression immediately changed, and he slammed the table: “What? You low-class nobody, don’t flatter yourself! I only pitied you money-grubbing folks and let you have a taste of the good life. If it were someone else, I wouldn’t have even spared them a glance!”
The actor lowered his eyes, and his eyeballs moved left and right, which made Lai Er’s lustful heart flutter.
He immediately softened his tone: “Don’t panic, don’t be afraid, I am now a popular figure in front of the Military Control Commissioner! If I am happy, I will ask the Military Control Commissioner to let you leave this miserable job and find a decent career. Isn’t it a good life?”
Of course, that was all nonsense. Lai Er simply wanted to swindle a night of affection—he didn’t have such ability. He was just taking advantage of the actor’s low status, knowing he wouldn’t dare to stir up trouble.
As he spoke, he lifted the hem of the actor’s clothes and put it under his nose to sniff. It smelled so good that he just wanted to hold the actor under him: “What are you shy about? Let’s make love. I guarantee you’ll like this ecstasy…”
The actor who had been silent all this time suddenly spoke up when he heard this: “But… there are so many people coming and going, what if others hear it?”
Lai Er was overjoyed to see that he had given in and hurriedly said, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I have already told the servants to go elsewhere. No one will disturb us for a while!”
“Is it true?” The actor twisted his body, and his face turned red.
Lai Er liked to see young men dressed up as women the most. When he saw his delicious appearance, he immediately became lustful, like a toad who had never eaten swan meat.
“It is true, my heart and liver! If I lie to you, you can take my life.”
Lai Er is not at all ashamed to say cheesy things.
Hearing this, the actor immediately put away all his shy expressions, and his whole face became cold, as if he had become a different person.
Even the voice and tone no longer have that soft feeling but become clear and straightforward, with a hint of coolness.
The corners of his mouth curled slightly: “Alright, this is what you said.”
