Royal Gold Magistrate

After the group ate and drank their fill, they set off for the Taoyuan Grand Theater under Fang Zheng’s lead.

By this time, the sky had already darkened. Quite a few officials were muttering about what opera they could watch so late.

Only upon entering the grand theater did they realize. The interior space of the theater was extremely large, similar to a modern theater, but with only one floor.

Several huge lamp stands were placed on the stage with oil lamps lit on them. The surrounding walls were also full of oil lamps.

Moreover, mirror panels were placed on the walls behind the oil lamps to reflect the light onto the stage.

The seats in the theater were even more extraordinary. They were all deep-colored sofas covered with cloth slipcovers. Sitting on them was exceedingly soft and comfortable.

The Emperor naturally sat in the middle, with Li Miaohan and Li Yuanzhao on either side. Fang Zheng, of course, arranged for himself to sit next to the princess.

As soon as Emperor Jing sat on the sofa, his entire body sank in.

At first, he felt slightly alarmed, but quickly discovered the wonders of the sofa. Soft and comfortable, it was like floating in midair.

Then he narrowed his eyes and said, “Minister Fang… in terms of enjoyment, I am far inferior to you. What is this chair called?”

Fang Zheng smiled and said, “This is called a sofa. It was specially prepared by this minister for Your Majesty. If Your Majesty likes it, this minister will have people make a few more and send them to the palace after returning to the capital.”

Saying it was specially prepared, it was actually just new sofa covers.

Back then, in order to improve the living standards of the commoners and incidentally solve the boredom in his personal life, Fang Zheng spent a huge sum to build this theater.

The total construction cost of the Taoyuan Theater was second only to the Taoyuan County yamen. However, after it was built, Fang Zheng regretted it.

He didn’t like watching the things performed by the Taoyuan commoners. Wearing opera costumes and singing in a drawn-out manner was extremely boring. After watching a few shows, he didn’t come anymore. On the contrary, the Taoyuan commoners watched with great relish.

Later, seeing that the theater tickets sold well, he even personally wrote many stories, simplified versions of Journey to the West, Legend of the White Snake, and so on.

The box office was also quite good. However, those were all things from a long time ago. Now, he wasn’t clear about what was popular in the theater. Before coming, he only instructed Ao Chen in a letter to arrange a few good programs.

The hundred officials were also amazed when they sat on the sofas, touching them left and right.

Some wanted to ask Fang Zheng but felt too embarrassed to speak up.

Li Yansong leaned back in the chair and let out a long sigh. “Ah… really not bad. This place is really not bad. I also want to get a couple of these chairs for my home.”

“It would be even better if they could be in the public offices. This old man’s lower back has been hurting all these years. Sitting on this chair actually made it much more comfortable.”

Zhang Dongxiang said softly, “Lord Li, why don’t you go ask Fang Zheng where these chairs are sold? I also want to buy a couple.”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

“I am incompatible with that scoundrel!”

……………………

After everyone was seated, the maidservants began serving tea. The Emperor and his family naturally drank the tea Fang Zheng usually drank, while the others drank Celestial Immortal Tea.

Fang Zheng specially prepared another portion of little desserts to send to the princess. Li Yuanzhao, with Emperor Jing between them, revealed a pair of red eyes, tightly locked onto Fang Zheng.

Fang Zheng directly ignored him and said to Li Miaohan, “Your Highness, today’s opera is very wonderful. Especially the last show, Legend of the White Snake, which tells of the beautiful love between man and god… I guarantee Your Highness will not have come in vain.”

Li Miaohan nodded with a smile. She was already very happy to be able to leave the palace today. Although the journey was a bit uncomfortable, everything felt very fresh after arriving in Taoyuan County.

After speaking, Fang Zheng leaned over to Emperor Jing’s side and whispered, “Your Majesty, the program will begin in a moment. This minister will go out to make arrangements first.”

Emperor Jing nodded in approval.

Then he walked straight out of the theater and directly found Ao Chen, who was on guard outside the door.

He immediately asked, “How is the situation with the sweet potatoes in the field?”

“Rest assured, my lord. After receiving the letter, I ordered people to guard day and night. There won’t be any problems. I reserved the best plot of land for you. I guarantee there will be a good harvest!”

Fang Zheng patted his shoulder. “Well done! Add a ginseng root to the dinner of the guards watching the field!”

“How are the preparations for the program? What have you prepared?”

Because he didn’t know what programs were popular in the county, he only gave Ao Chen a general directive in the letter and then specifically selected Legend of the White Snake.

Sitting together with a beautiful young princess, wouldn’t it make sense to watch a tragic love story?

Ao Chen suddenly slapped his thigh upon hearing this, looking regretful. “Oh no! I forgot to inform the opera troupe that today’s performance is for His Majesty. I only told the theater to clear out today…”

“But don’t worry, my lord. We looked at the program list and the shows inside all conformed to your requirements, so we forgot to specifically instruct them!”

Fang Zheng furrowed his brows. “No matter. Just perform as usual. But what programs are being performed today?”

Ao Chen thought for a moment. “Hmm… the first show is a children’s performance, singing and dancing about youth. The second show is Fang Qingtian Angrily Executing Chen Shimei. The third show is Legend of the White Snake. Just these three.”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng’s brows relaxed.

Fortunately, these programs were indeed quite suitable. Moreover, His Majesty and the hundred officials definitely couldn’t see these shows usually, so they would certainly find them refreshingly novel.

“Not bad! Then let’s do it like this. Just perform normally.”

“There’s one more thing. Have people from King Wu’s manor come to the county recently?”

“They came. As usual, they brought in a batch of alcohol, not more not less. There was nothing particularly special, same as always. Is there a problem, my lord?”

Fang Zheng thought for a bit. “Pick two skilled people from the county to enter the capital. Don’t let anyone know. After arriving in the capital, investigate King Wu.”

Ao Chen’s expression turned serious. “Don’t worry, my lord. I’ll arrange it when I go back.”

Ever since entering the capital, Fang Zheng had two interactions with King Wu’s subordinates. Once was when he took the initiative to visit.

The other time was when the other party actively sought him out.

But when he went to the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion, Luo Ningxin’s attitude towards him was excessively enthusiastic.

Although King Wu didn’t have any ill intent, this feeling of being hidden behind the scenes made Fang Zheng deeply displeased.

When he was in Taoyuan County, he sought an audience with King Wu but was denied. Now that he was in the capital, King Wu took the initiative to find him… just what scheme was this?

Most crucially, King Wu was clearly a notoriously idle prince in the capital.

His private abilities were perhaps far beyond ordinary people’s imagination… The problems within definitely weren’t small.

Afterwards, Fang Zheng inquired about the county’s many issues one by one.

In the middle, he even returned to the theater entrance and peeked through the door crack at the performance on stage. A group of children, dressed like flowers, were hopping and skipping around.

It looked like they were performing for the Spring Festival Gala, exceedingly stupid. Who knows why the Taoyuan commoners were willing to watch such a lousy show? Seeing how boring it was, he retreated and continued chatting with Ao Chen about the county’s situation.

Time passed bit by bit. Most of the time had already gone by.

When Fang Zheng hastily rushed into the hall, he discovered that Legend of the White Snake had already reached its later stages.

Fang Zheng froze in shock right at the entrance at the back of the theater.

He saw the Emperor and ministers slowly turn their heads to look at him, their expressions filled with complex emotions.

Then they slowly turned their heads back, in perfect unison…