The Nobilities of Peking Opera 名媛名票

Description:

In the autumn of the fifth year of the Republic of China, Miss Tao Yu-Shan, a descendant of a late first-rank governor of the Qing Dynasty, outbid the famous Peking Opera amateur star Fu Shu-Dong at an auction held by the Taixing Auction House on behalf of the Republican government to relieve the Tianjin flood. She acquired a table and chair drape used by Cheng Chang-Geng and Mei Qiao-Ling in their collaboration on 'The Fourth Son Visits His Mother.' Thus began a tale that went from 'fighting before knowing each other' to a celebrated partnership of a socialite and an opera fan, like twin lotuses blooming together.
As a descendant of a high-ranking Qing official, Tao Yu-Shan's passion for opera was unparalleled. During the Qing Dynasty, even princes had to study opera in secret, but now Tao Yu-Shan hired Manager Li from the theater as her teacher and spent her days immersed in opera, never far from it. However, there was a problem: born into a prestigious family and naturally beautiful, Tao Yu-Shan had a habit of smoking opium, and her addiction grew day by day, leaving even her mother helpless.
On her mother's fiftieth birthday, Tao Yu-Shan condescended to visit Fu Shu-Dong's residence to ask him to collaborate with her on 'Farewell My Concubine.' Fu Shu-Dong, a descendant of the Duke of Fuguo and a performer who had sung at palace gatherings, was a renowned amateur opera star in the capital, known for both virtue and artistry. For anyone else, Fu Shu-Dong would have refused outright, but with the mediation of Bank Manager Lin, he agreed.