Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 214 An eye for an eye (Happy New Year's Eve)

Judging a person by their drinking habits.

It must be said that this approach was very suitable for Li Bai, and he himself appreciated this principle.

After Li Bai left, Wang Xi and Huangfu Sengnian went to the back hall.

Li Jieman and Wang Shuang were lying on the couch, surrounded by a group of young Taoist nuns who were laughing and chatting. To an outsider, it would seem like a Taoist temple.

Despite their young age, Li Jieman and Wang Shuang are seasoned patrons of brothels and adept at making things difficult for others. If these female Taoist nuns can handle the two of them, they will have passed the test.

Wang Xi walked over and asked, "How are you two feeling, brothers?"

Li Jieman chuckled and said, "Good, good, very good, brother, I'm extremely satisfied."

As he spoke, he secretly squeezed the hand of a young Taoist nun, making her blush shyly.

Wang Shuang chuckled and said, "Such a nice girl should be assigned to the medical school of our Wuming Academy, then we can enjoy her every day."

Li Jieman immediately said, "Brother Shuang, we really are kindred spirits!"

Wang Xi sighed, "Give up your dream of going to medical school."

At this moment, a Taoist nun of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old walked over. She was fair-skinned and beautiful, with a face like a silver basin and eyes like water apricots. Even her loose Taoist robe could not hide her plump figure. "Young Master Wang, the backyard is almost ready."

Wang Xi immediately stood up and said, "Alright, I'll trouble Sister Jingsi to take me to see."

Jing Si said, "Young Master, this way please."

Li Jie chuckled and said, "Sister Jingsi, my brother here really likes you."

"Screw you."

Wang Xi kicked the fat man, causing the little Taoist nun next to him to lower her head and chuckle.

Jing Si didn't seem to mind, she just smiled slightly and gestured, "Young Master, this way please."

Wang Xi glanced at Jing Si's figure and thought to himself, "This Uncle Gao is really something, giving me such a seductive Taoist nun. Isn't that tempting me to commit a crime? But with my status, what harm is there in committing one? Hehe."

Upon entering the corridor, one sees a group of servants using screens to partition off private rooms, each furnished with a couch, tea table, sandalwood incense, and so on.

"Sister Jingsi is truly amazing. She has arranged everything perfectly in just one day," Wang Xi said with great satisfaction.

The nun Jingsi said, "If the young master is satisfied, then so be it."

"Absolutely satisfied."

Wang Xi laughed and said, "Soon many noble ladies will come here to seek the Dao. Then we'll see how Sister Jingsi handles it. If she can get along well with those noble ladies, she can walk sideways in Chang'an without anyone daring to say anything."

The nun Jingsi said, "I am honored that you think so highly of me, young master. I will certainly not disappoint you."

Wang Xi chuckled and said, "I have no doubt about it."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "Sister Jingsi is beautiful and capable, why would she come to this Taoist temple?"

Jing Si smiled and said, "Women like us, if we don't come to the Taoist temple, we'll just stay in Pingkang Lane."

Wang Xi hurriedly said, "Then it's better to come to the Taoist temple."

Jing Si smiled quietly.

As they were talking, they came to a courtyard next door, where they saw several beautiful Taoist nuns sitting and reading. When they saw Wang Xi arrive, they quickly stood up and bowed.

"Sisters, there's no need for such formalities."

Wang Xi said, "If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask me."

A Taoist nun asked, "Young man, may I ask if your face mask truly has the effect of beautifying the skin?"

"Of course you can, otherwise it would be a lie." Wang Xi chuckled. "But with your skin so good, you don't need it."

The nun laughed and said, "Young man, you certainly know how to talk."

Wang Xi said, “Every word comes from the bottom of my heart. And I assure you all that this is just the beginning. As long as you do as I say, next year, each of you will have your own Taoist temple, and the incense will burn continuously.”

Upon hearing this, the Taoist nuns were overjoyed and repeatedly thanked Wang Xi.

After chatting with several Taoist nuns, Wang Xi went outside the courtyard.

Wang Facai walked over and bowed to Wang Xi.

Wang Xi laughed and said, "You've made a fortune, well done."

Wang Facai said, "Actually, I didn't do much; it was all arranged properly by the young master."

Wang Xi said, "There were no mistakes, so it's a great achievement. However..."

He whispered, "These Taoist nuns and priests can't be trusted for now. Those secret recipes must not be revealed to them."

Wang Facai said, "I understand."

Regarding the makeup items for these women, Wang Xi had actually been having Wang Shuang prepare them for a long time. Although he was just a screenwriter, he had done in-depth research on these time-travel gadgets.

Makeup items are a given.

For example, the face mask that the nun mentioned earlier.

It involves using Angelica dahurica, Atractylodes macrocephala, Aconitum carmichaelii, Bombyx batryticatus, and mung beans, mixed with honey and a special wine, to make a paste. This is already a very mature recipe.

To prevent the secret from being leaked, Wang Xi later put Wang Facai in charge. However, the original plan was to open a workshop, but Li Longji would ask him to tell Taoist stories, so now the workshop could only be moved to this Taoist temple.

After giving some more instructions, Wang Xi went to the front yard and found Huangfu Sengnian. Before the two could exchange more than a few words, Li Bai arrived.

"How about it?"

Wang Xi asked hurriedly.

Li Bai shook his head: "A bunch of scoundrels, not a single one of them is of any use. To drink with them would be to tarnish the young master's fine wine."

He went there full of enthusiasm, but returned disappointed.

Uncle Gao really understands me. Wang Xi's eyes lit up.

Upon seeing this, Li Bai asked curiously, "Why do you seem quite happy?"

"what?"

Wang Xi was taken aback and quickly said, "I'm happy because I didn't choose the wrong person. If it weren't for Brother Li Bai, wouldn't I have chosen a bunch of good-for-nothings?"

Li Bai shook his head and said, "They're not exactly good-for-nothings, but they all seem respectable, yet they're just a bunch of cunning and deceitful scoundrels."

Wang Xi's eyes darted around, "But I still need to choose a few people!"

Li Bai asked in surprise, "You still chose this?"

Wang Xi said, "I don't want to either, but... I can only choose from among them! I hope Brother Li Bai can help me out, just consider it as choosing the best among the short ones."

Li Bai pondered for a while, then said, "Bring me brush and ink."

"Yes!"

Wang Xi personally fetched brush and ink for Li Bai and then spread his own handkerchief on his back.

Huangfu Sengnian was completely baffled. How could a dignified dog-headed vulture be helping out a drunkard like this?

Li Bai asked, "How many do you want to choose?"

Wang Xi said, "Ten!"

Li Bai pondered for a while, then wrote the Taoist names of ten Taoist priests on a handkerchief.

As soon as he wrote it down, Huangfu Sengnian picked up the handkerchief and said, "I'll make these people get out of here right now."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xi glared angrily at Huangfu Sengnian. "Aren't you undermining me? When did we brothers lose this tacit understanding?"

Little did he know, Huangfu Sengnian had been waiting for this moment, and he was now increasingly enjoying provoking Li Bai. Li Bai was also bewildered, "What do you mean?"

Huangfu Sengnian laughed and said, "The person you chose is naturally no good."

Having said that, he went out the door.

Li Bai glared angrily at Wang Xi.

Wang Xi quickly coaxed, "Brother Li Bai, please calm down. Actually, it's like this: the master specifically instructed me to only recruit petty scoundrels. I was too embarrassed to say it out loud, so I said it the other way around."

Li Bai asked, "Why is that?"

Wang Xi said, "Because the master is afraid that we might influence those kind people, he recruits some scoundrels. We can improve together, and at worst, we'll all be birds of a feather."

Upon hearing this, Li Bai burst into laughter.

Wang Xi asked, "Why is Brother Li Bai laughing?"

Li Bai waved his hand repeatedly and said, "Quickly call your brother back."

Wang Xi asked, "Why?"

Li Bai said, "Your husband and I have the same idea. Those few are actually the most cunning and hypocritical."

"what?"

This guy, who had been playing with eagles his whole life, had his eye pecked by one.

Just now, Wang Xi really didn't suspect Li Bai.

Little did anyone know, this guy, despite his seemingly immature and childish appearance, was full of wicked ideas, making him impossible to guard against.

He thought to himself that he would have to be very careful when getting Li Bai to do things in the future, because this guy was not one to play by the rules!

He rushed to find Huangfu Sengnian and told him the truth, which infuriated Huangfu Sengnian, who had been played by Li Bai.

The only option is to change those ten to leaders.

However, their every move was under the surveillance of Madam Zixia.

"Performing opera inside a Taoist temple?"

Lady Zixia looked at Guang Sheng with a puzzled expression.

Guang Sheng nodded and said, "According to the information we've gathered, that's the case."

However, his tone was not so firm, indicating that he also had doubts about the news.

Madam Zixia asked in confusion, "Didn't they say they wanted to focus on education? If they want to continue performing charity shows, then there's no need to terminate their cooperation with restaurants like Baihualou."

She paused for a moment, then asked, "Have you found out whether they are continuing to talk about Dream of the Red Chamber or performing a traditional opera based on it?"

Guang Sheng shook his head and said, "It hasn't been found out yet, but Wuming Academy recently took in a group of children as students."

"Little Tong?"

Suddenly, Zhang Huai exclaimed, "Could it be!"

Lady Zixia asked, "Could it be something else?"

Zhang Huai hurriedly said, "Madam, you may not know this, but when the play 'Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai' was performed, many women came to our shop to watch it, which caused a lot of inconvenience. So I suggested to Young Master Wang that we arrange a special performance for women."

I remember Wang Shaolang saying that their academy was preparing to produce operas specifically for children, so that mothers could bring their children to watch, thus avoiding some controversy.

Perhaps Wang Shaolang intended to perform this opera in a Taoist temple.

"The opera the child was watching?"

Lady Zixia was even more confused after hearing this. "This has nothing to do with the Taoist temple. Besides, how can it help them in their current situation?"

Zhang Huai said, "Could it be that they hope to use this incident to win over women?"

Madam Zixia shook her head and said, "This is not a difficult thing. Once we have learned opera, we can arrange special venues for women to watch operas. They cannot do that."

Furthermore, even if they did have this intention, they certainly wouldn't specifically arrange it in a Taoist temple, as that is a quiet place.

Zhang Huai nodded and said, "That's true."

"Clearly, there's more to this than meets the eye!"

After saying that, Madam Zixia looked at Guang Sheng and said, "Keep a close eye on him."

"Yes."

Guang Sheng immediately arranged for people to keep a close watch on the Nameless Academy.

The nameless academy didn't seem to be hiding anything; it openly and honestly transformed the front courtyard of Qingyun Temple into a stage for opera.

They also announced that Wuming Academy will be launching a type of opera specifically for children.

At the same time, they secretly spread the word among the wealthy women that it could be mothers bringing their children to see the show.

Although Linghu Changge and Xue Bao'er are gradually integrating into Wuming Academy, they will not easily obey Wang Xi's orders. The main reason is that they definitely support this matter.

They immediately gathered all their sisters and spread the news.

These announcements immediately caused quite a stir.

On the one hand, there were operas specifically for children, which was quite special because traditionally, opera and dance were for adults, and children were not even allowed to enter the theater, except for playboys like Wang Xi.

On the other hand, Wang Xicai had previously declared that the nameless academy would focus on education, which is why it severed its cooperation with major restaurants.

Not long after, another opera was to be performed, and this time it was arranged in a Taoist temple.

This is really intriguing.

However, the opera for the children has been in preparation. The opera itself is not complicated; the key is the Taoist temple. We will wait until Wang Xi and the others have arranged things at the Taoist temple.

They immediately posted a notice and began selling tickets to the public, specifically for mothers and children.

It's not that it has to be a mother and child, but it's a strict requirement that an adult be accompanied by a child.

One hundred and fifty tickets, with three hundred seats, were snapped up immediately upon release.

This is truly the first time in history that a mother and child have ever received such a ticket!

Historically, there has never been a theatrical performance that sold tickets only to women or specifically for children.

The combined influence of these two factors is considerable.

Today, the weather is fine and the spring sunshine is bright.

One carriage after another stopped in front of the gate of Qingyun Temple. Noble ladies led six- or seven-year-old children down from the carriages. Looking up, they saw wisps of smoke rising from the temple gate.

The little boy skipped and hopped, pulling his mother up the steps. The ladies, equally enthusiastic, chatted happily in twos and threes.

For them, such a family outing is a very rare opportunity, and it could even be said that they are more excited than the children.

As for what the opera was about, they didn't care much.

A moment later, a luxurious carriage arrived at the gate, and a stunningly beautiful young woman stepped down from it.

It was none other than Lady Zixia.

Standing on the hillside to the left were two people, Huangfu Sengnian and Wang Xi.

"I can't believe your aunt actually came?" Huangfu Sengnian said in disbelief.

Wang Xi laughed and said, "She likes to use open schemes, trying to force us to submit with her strength. I will respond to her with open schemes, clearly telling her that I will do this, and gradually plunging her into despair."

Huangfu Sengnian nodded and said, "I completely agree."

(End of this chapter)