Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 69 Fanlou (First Order)

Fanlou is located at the north end of the Imperial Street in the inner city of Bianjing. It consists of five buildings: east, west, south, north and center. The overall building is undulating, with staggered eaves and corners, and is magnificent. There are corridors and flying bridges inside, connecting the light and the dark.

In the inner city, there are strict restrictions on the height of buildings. Generally speaking, buildings close to the imperial palace cannot exceed three floors.

Although Fanlou is still some distance away from the imperial city, the tallest buildings around it are only three stories high.

The middle building of Fanlou is four stories high, which makes it stand out from the crowd in the vicinity.

The middle building of Fanlou has four floors, and there is a wide protruding part on the south side, which is called the eaves, or in the words of later generations, it is a balcony.

Standing here, you can see the Bian River in the distance because there is no obstruction.

At this time, the sun was setting in the west, and a red sun was hanging in the sky, illuminating the Bian River. The pleasure boats in the river and the pedestrians coming and going on the river bank formed a beautiful picture.

Zhao Xing lay comfortably in the rocking chair, sitting on the eaves, looking out, feeling extremely relaxed and at ease.

After being scolded by his father last time and having someone send him the previous tattoos to look at, Zhao Xing has been well behaved for a few days.

After enduring for a few days, Zhao Xing could no longer bear it, so after school, he went out to play incognito again.

On the table next to it, there were some exquisite snacks, and a pot of hot water boiling on a small red clay stove.

After the water boiled, the palace maid Caidie knelt in front of the table and began to make tea skillfully.

In the Song Dynasty, tea was made by grinding tea into powder, adding soup, and beating it with a whisk, which was also called "making tea with a powder".

Simply put, first put the tea powder in the tea cup, add a small amount of boiling water to make a paste. Then add boiling water while stirring until the foam gradually forms a porridge surface, and the tea is ready.

The taste was a bit strange. Zhao Xing was not used to it at first, but he gradually got used to it.

"Sir, the tea is ready."

Caidie brought the prepared tea to Zhao Xing.

When making tea, you need to stir it constantly, and by the time it is done, it is only warm, not hot.

Zhao Xing took it, took a sip, and put it down.

The taste of the tea was slightly different from the previous tea made from amber, which made Zhao Xing a little uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, Amber was already twenty years old, and Zhao Xing had let her leave the palace and go home to get married.

According to the palace rules, palace maids would be allowed to go home and get married only when they were 25 years old.

Zhao Xing felt that this was too harsh. It was rare for a man to marry at the age of 25. If a palace maid was allowed to leave the palace at the age of 25, it basically meant that she would be married as a successor.

Amber had served him for many years. Zhao Xing asked Cao Qin to find an unmarried low-level military officer from the Eastern Palace guards and promised Amber to him.

For that military officer, although he married only a palace maid, she was by the side of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so he naturally could not treat her as an ordinary palace maid.

For Amber, marrying a military officer, even if his rank is not high, is still an official.

The salary of ordinary soldiers is not high, but as long as they are military officers of a certain rank, their salary is higher than that of civil officials of the same rank, which is considered a good destination.

In addition, since she had served Zhao Xing before, the military officer did not dare to treat her badly.

Zhao Xing smacked his lips and decided to ask someone to prepare the fried tea.

It’s a pity that there are not many fruits now, otherwise I could squeeze some juice to drink.

At his age, it’s better for him to drink less tea.

"Your Highness, the dancer is here." Liu Sanshi walked over and said.

"Oh."

Zhao Xing looked at the sunset glow that was about to disappear in the sky, stood up, stretched his waist, and said, "Then let's watch the dance."

Fanlou is not just a restaurant, but a large entertainment venue, and can also be considered a brothel.

Many people have a misunderstanding about brothels, thinking that brothels are just that kind of place. In fact, the entertainment venues in the Song Dynasty were divided into four levels, namely brothels, teahouses, brothels and private houses.

Brothels and private dens are the real places of entertainment, where the flesh trade is carried out.

Private nests are for the common people, while lower places are slightly higher-end.

Teahouses and brothels were high-quality places. Teahouses mainly served scholars and provided artistic performances and were regarded as places for culture and art.

Brothels mainly served the sons of wealthy businessmen and officials and were seen as pure entertainment venues, but they had higher standards and certain entry barriers, requiring a certain level of literary skills and even requiring guests to write a poem to liven up the atmosphere.

Throughout history, many talented men and women liked to go to brothels, and many romantic stories were left behind.

In simple terms, the girls in brothels and teahouses sell their skills but not their bodies.

Of course, the fees charged by those who sell their art are much higher than those who sell their bodies.

However, this line of work relies on youth after all. Once your face ages, no matter how talented you are, it will be of no use.

Therefore, the women here are looking for rich husbands while performing their arts, looking for people who are willing to redeem them.

Although it is impossible to be the principal wife, it is not a problem to be a concubine.

Fanlou is relatively elegant, only providing dancers and singers, but no courtesans or anything like that.

Zhao Xing had come here twice before, and his father knew about it but didn't say anything.

It's not doting, but in his eyes, it's nothing.

If Zhao Xing went to a place like Guangyuntai, his father would probably break his legs if he found out.

When Zhao Xing entered the house, he saw two graceful women and several musicians standing inside.

People who work in such places are the best at observing people's words and expressions. When they saw Zhao Xing come in, the two dancers bowed to him.

Zhao Xing waved his hand, came to sit in the main seat, and said, "Let's start."

"Yes!"

Several musicians came to the side, put down the various small drums they brought, and sat in front of the drums.

Two of them came to the chimes and started striking them, and the drummers also started striking and clapping.

The combination of chimes and drums produces music with a fast and vigorous rhythm.

The two dancers began to dance to the music, spinning and tapping their feet.

"Your Highness, this is the Huxuan dance, which was very popular in the Tang Dynasty and was introduced from the Western Regions. Bai Juyi's "New Yuefu·Huxuannu" says: The Huxuannu came from Kangju. At the sound of string music, she raised her sleeves and danced with the fluttering snow. She turned left and right without getting tired, and performed thousands of turns without end. This is the Huxuan dance that is being praised." Liu Sanshi approached Zhao Xing and smiled.

"good."

Zhao Xing nodded slightly, with an expression of appreciation on his face.

Don't get me wrong, he just enjoys the dance.

Although these two dancers are good-looking, the costumes they wear when dancing are very conservative. I don’t know if this is required by the dance or if Liu Sanshi specifically instructed otherwise.

Anyway, when Zhao Xing came to Fanlou for the first time, he told Liu Sanshi that he didn't need the kind of charming and enchanting dance he wanted to watch, and the dancers' clothes couldn't be revealing.

After all, at his age now, watching those things would just be asking for trouble.

While Zhao Xing was enjoying the dance, a young man in brocade clothes, about 10 to 20 years old, came to Fanlou with several strong men holding sticks.

There was a high platform in the center of the hall on the first floor, on which a group of dancers were dancing.

There were elegant seats all around the platform, and many diners were enjoying the dance while eating.

Seeing such a scene, the diners were not afraid. Instead, they pointed and whispered. Even the dancers on the platform did not stop and continued to dance.

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(End of this chapter)