Dragon's Origin

Chapter 411: Living in a Beauty's Nest (Part 1)

Beer's popularity sweeping the world, starting from the capital, made the owner of Yu Bao Shop and the City Lord of Worry-Free City the happiest, but there was also the Emperor.

Wasn't this a perfect example of how trends in the capital influenced the entire world? Hadn't Wang Sheng already told the Emperor that he wanted to make the capital a cultural and economic center? The booming sales of beer were the perfect embodiment of an economic center!

The Emperor was so happy he almost jumped for joy. This was just beer, and supposedly the simplest and cheapest kind of wine in Wang Sheng's collaboration with Yu Bao Shop. There were several other exquisite wines waiting to be brewed and released one by one. When that time came, as long as Wang Sheng was in the capital, would Yu Bao Shop promote these things anywhere else?

Although the Emperor felt a little heartache that Yu Bao Shop was profiting from the wine business, wouldn't it be great if Wang Sheng cooperated with the royal family? However, the Emperor's vision had now expanded, and he was looking at higher goals.

Wang Sheng had long promised to cooperate with Yu Bao Shop on a business venture. Even if it wasn't wine, it could be something else, a business that would still be incredibly profitable. Now, the Emperor was no longer satisfied with the gains and losses of one or two businesses; he cared more about the overall strategy.

While others were focused on when Yu Bao Shop's exquisite wines would be released, the Emperor was eagerly anticipating the completion of the Royal Grand Theater. He had already learned from his informants how wonderful the music played by Master Yu and his orchestra was, and he couldn't wait to have all the feudal lords focus their attention on the capital's artistic atmosphere.

To speed up construction, the Emperor even specially dispatched royal artisans to help. In less than two months, the overall structure and appearance of the Royal Grand Theater had been completed, leaving only the interior decoration.

The magnificent, simple, and elegant Royal Grand Theater attracted the attention of countless people. Since the completion of the overall structure, many people in the capital had come in groups to visit, even though they couldn't enter the theater or even the construction site. But this didn't stop everyone from making all sorts of guesses.

This was designed and built by Marquis Chang Sheng. It was said to be a grand theater. But how big could a theater be to be this large? It could probably seat hundreds or thousands of people to watch a play together, right? How spectacular!

Wang Sheng was also taken aback when he received the news. The overall structure and appearance were completed in less than two months? Even on Earth, with modern large-scale machinery and modern cement, steel, and concrete, it would probably take that long, right?

But after taking a look, Wang Sheng had to admit defeat. Grandmasters were grandmasters. In addition to ordinary construction methods, the application of formations was simply astonishing to Wang Sheng. At this rate, the interior decoration would probably be completed in at most two and a half months. Standing on the site, Wang Sheng had no choice but to give a thumbs up.

Master Liu and a group of grandmasters were extremely proud. Even the Emperor's awards seemed less important than Marquis Chang Sheng's thumbs-up. That was recognition from a professional perspective, which was more comforting than ten thousand praises from ten thousand people who didn't understand.

With the theater progressing so quickly, Wang Sheng began to worry about Master Yu's side, whether the orchestra was prepared perfectly enough. This was, after all, the first time in this world that a concert was being held in the form of a traditional instrumental symphony orchestra. Could the musicians quickly adapt and rehearse the pieces? Could Master Yu control the overall situation? These were all unknowns.

Of course, the bigger unknown was whether the audience in this world could accept this format and this kind of music. Wang Sheng wasn't sure about this, and Master Yu wasn't sure either.

"These pieces don't feel like enough," Master Yu said to Wang Sheng, expressing his concerns for the first time.

Master Yu had never taken the people of the world seriously before, because he felt that there were few people in the world worth his attention. In fact, that's exactly what he did, living alone at the foot of the mountain in the suburbs of the capital, with only a few close friends.

Until he met Wang Sheng, he suddenly discovered that there were so many good things in the world of music. In addition to those novel instruments and tunes, Wang Sheng gave Master Yu a goal he had never had before, which was to make music no longer an awkward, highbrow art, but an entertainment that could be appreciated by everyone, both refined and popular.

This was not only because of Wang Sheng, but also because of the Emperor's participation. The Emperor had even specially sent Chief Steward Li from the palace again, promising Master Yu that if the performance was successful, all members of the orchestra would no longer be just musicians and actors, but would have a unified title in the future: artists.

Wang Sheng could treat the title of marquis with contempt, and so could Master Yu, but could the others in the orchestra be so calm? Under their influence, Master Yu also became more serious than ever before. He didn't care about the Emperor, didn't care about status, but he cared about whether good instruments and good music could be recognized and appreciated.

Although Wang Sheng had given him many pieces before, such as "Liang Zhu", "Qing Xin Pu Shan Zhou", "Horse Racing", "Pipa Language", "Ambush from Ten Sides", "Spring River Flower Moon Night", and "Butterfly Lovers", as well as five pieces that Master Yu had adapted himself, Master Yu had to admit that he still felt it was a bit thin. There were many lingering pieces, and there were also exciting pieces like "Horse Racing", but there was a lack of an inspiring and impassioned piece.

"Alright!" Wang Sheng could only agree to Master Yu's request: "I'll compose another piece. But, Master Yu, do you mind performing for the first group of women who aren't the Emperor and royal nobles?"

"I don't mind performing for anyone," Master Yu gave Wang Sheng an extremely contemptuous answer: "As long as they can listen to me quietly from beginning to end, without interrupting in the middle, and without making wild remarks. If they can understand the meaning contained in the music I play, like you, then anyone's identity is fine."

Holding the score of the Wong Fei Hung version of "The General's Command" that Wang Sheng had composed, Master Yu didn't use an instrument to play it. He directly looked at the musical staff and tapped his hand rhythmically as if by instinct. It seemed that he had imprinted the function of conducting into his bones. After closing his eyes and going through the score from beginning to end, Master Yu nodded in satisfaction again and again: "Good! Good! This is the piece I want! This is the piece I want!"

Then there was nothing for Wang Sheng to do. Master Yu turned around and threw himself into practicing the new piece, ignoring Wang Sheng.

Wang Sheng understood Master Yu's state of obsession and didn't take it to heart. Thinking that he hadn't been to the Wang residence for more than a month, maybe it was time to see what state Sister Tantai and the others were in now.

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