Coincidentally, after Liu E started the spring, she just returned to the Defu class to sing opera, and the good deeds in the city organized a ring competition between the opera troupes and the famous actors of each opera troupe. Locals are commonly known as "Spring Race", which has the meaning of a pun. One refers to the spring ring competition, and the other is to imply that the drama is like a prostitute, and singing on stage is a ******** spring opera.

Because of the generous prize money provided by the organizers, Liu E didn't care about the comments of others, and still signed up for the competition as a pillar of the Defu class.

Although Zhao Song has not seen it for a long time, because of the good policies of persuading farmers, and in addition, after years of war, people are at ease, so in the entire Song Dynasty, there are countless large and small troupes for entertainment. In the city alone, there are no less than twenty.

The spring competition is divided into two parts: individual and troupe, with Liu E's strength, Shun lì won the first place in the individual competition, regardless of reputation, there are two hundred taels of silver alone. It was also because of Liu E that Defu Ban also won the first place. Since then, Liu E's fame has spread all over the corners of Bingzhou City, and even spread to other prefectures and foreign prefectures. It is known as the Three Uniques, namely appearance, voice and figure.

With the fame of the Defu class, every time it took, the Defu class received an invitation from Qinchun Garden, the largest west garden in Beijing, to invite the Defu class to sing in Beijing. Qinchun Garden is the opera garden that the third prince Zhao Heng likes to patronize.

The class leader of the Defu class naturally knows that the main credit for the first place they won is still on Liu E. Therefore, as soon as they received the invitation, they prepared gifts and came to discuss with Liu E, wanting to invite Liu E to sing in Beijing with them. Liu E discussed with Wu Degui, and also felt that it was a good choice to enter Beijing, so he immediately sold the house and followed Defuban to Bianliang, the capital.

On the second day after coming to the capital, Liu E sang on stage and was met by the third prince Zhao Heng. No matter what Ren Liu'e thought, she would never have thought that it was this encounter that turned her life upside down.

Zhao Heng in the audience, while being surprised by Liu E's appearance, was also fascinated by Liu E's voice and figure, and the three souls went two souls, and the six souls lost three souls. As soon as Liu E appeared, it attracted countless applause, and after a break in the play, the applause was endless. The spectators in the audience shouted one after another:

"One more time, one more time."

On this day, almost all of them were Liu E singing. In order to be able to gain a foothold in the capital, Liu E also tried her best and spared no effort to sing all day. Zhao Heng is a fan of drama, the first time he saw a play with such strength as Liu E, Zhao Heng watched a whole day of drama for the first time. Even the lunch was bought by the servants from outside and used in the theater garden.

When sending Zhao Heng out of the theater, the shopkeeper whispered to Zhao Heng:

"Does Childe know that this actor is called the Three Uniques by the locals?"

"How do you do it?"

"Looks, singing, figure."

Zhao Heng nodded.

"Yes, worthy of the name. What is this woman's name? ”

"Liu E."

"Have you ever been married?"

"Married, only last year to a little silversmith. Now both husband and wife are in the capital. ”

Back in the palace, fourteen-year-old Zhao Heng, when he thought of Liu E on the stage, his heart was itchy and restless. After being seen by the little eunuch beside him, he asked carefully:

"Your Highness clicked on that actor?"

"Exactly, do you have a solution?"

"Your Highness, what's so hard about this? Send someone to say, who dares to disobey it? ”

"It's good to say that the drama garden is good, the key is that she is married."

"At the gate of the theater just now, the little one also heard it, saying that it was a little silversmith. Just send a few silver coins, he doesn't dare to say that His Royal Highness robbed the people's women. ”

Zhao Heng lowered his head and pondered for a while, then said to the little eunuch:

"In this way, you will go and ask the actor named Liu E to the teahouse tomorrow, and then talk about it after you have met."

Early the next morning, Zhao Heng went out of the palace again, and did not go to the theater, but just sent the little eunuch to make an appointment with Liu E, and he entered a teahouse and waited in a private room. It was almost an hour before the little eunuch returned.

"Why is it so long?"

Zhao Heng asked impatiently.

"Your Royal Highness, Liu E didn't go to the opera garden in the morning, and I heard the head of the Defu class say that I sang for a day yesterday, and I was a little tired, and I want to rest at home for a day today. So the little one let the shopkeeper of the theater lead the way, and ran to Liu E's house, which delayed the time. ”

"What about people?"

"Waiting outside."

"Let her in."

The little eunuch turned around and went out, and after a while, the curtain opened, and a slender figure appeared in the private room. Although Liu E doesn't know who made the appointment, the expression of the shopkeeper watching the drama garden is definitely not an ordinary person. Liu E lowered her head and walked into the room, standing timidly in front of Zhao Heng, although she didn't look up, she still recognized it as the young man who was sitting in front of the stage yesterday and watching the play. Liu E hurriedly curtsied.

"The slave has seen the son."

The delicate voice was like a yellow bird among the trees, and Zhao Heng suddenly felt numb when he heard it.

"Sit down and talk."

Liu E moved her steps slightly, and only sat half of her body in the seat opposite Zhao Heng. Still with his head down, he kneaded a brocade in his hand.

"Your name is Liu E? Where is home? ”

"If you go back to Gongzi, the slave maid is Liu E, a person from Bingzhou."

Generally speaking, most of the married women call themselves people's women, or little women, and if they are family members of official eunuchs, they call themselves life women. But Liu E called herself a slave, obviously after some thought.

"At what age do you learn to play? Sang for a few years? ”

"Back to the son, when the slave was in infancy, his father died in battle, and his mother died when he was more than a year old, and he has been living with his uncle. Because he was not treated well by his aunt, he was sold to the drama troupe by his aunt when he was six years old. It's been twelve years now. ”

When Liu E said this, she didn't deliberately exaggerate anything, but just narrated it very plainly. But when he heard Zhao Heng's ears, he was still deeply moved.

"You said that your father died in battle, then your father must have been an official of the court during his lifetime?"

"My father is the governor of the annexed state, and the annexation of the state garrison is under the jurisdiction. Eighteen years ago, in the fourth year of Jianlong, due to the invasion of Western Xia, my father led the army to defend the state, but he didn't want to die outside the city. ”

"What's your daddy's name?"

"Liu Xianren."

"Oh."

The two of them were chatting in the private room, most of them were Zhao Heng asking, and Liu E was answering. After a while, Liu E was no longer so restrained, and occasionally looked up at the young man opposite. Although he is young, he looks like he is only fourteen or fifteen years old, but he has a serene posture, clear eyebrows, elegant manners, and speaks slowly. Liu E couldn't help but feel a little flustered, and couldn't guess the young man's original intention of calling her for a while.

And Zhao Heng saw Liu E, who had taken off her heavy makeup, and she was even more pretty. The face without fat powder is white and red, and the skin is delicate. The eyebrows and eyes are curved, the cherry mouth is nosed, and the corners of the mouth are naturally upturned, always like a smile. The body is graceful, not fat or thin, not tall or short. Ten fingertips are pointed, like peeling spring onions. Especially Dan's lips are lightly opened, and his voice is tactful and pleasant. Even across a table, Zhao Heng seemed to be able to smell a faint body fragrance from Liu E's body between his nose.