Shadow puppet stage

Following that burning gaze, downstairs, Shen Xuhuai would glance at her from time to time, and the moment her gaze came over, he would immediately lower his head guiltily. But Wen Yici was different. Regardless of whether she turned back or not, his sad eyes were fixed on her intently throughout the entire banquet.

Yuanli had no interest in the feast; she only wanted to return to the princess's palace quickly, away from that scorching gaze. The plum wine was still fragrant, and as it entered her heart, memories flooded her mind. There were still traces of love, but the wine still tasted of her lover's absence.

A familiar sound of piano was heard, and a song of mandarin ducks and butterflies dream was lingering and melodious. It was originally a hymn to mandarin ducks, but it expressed the feelings of separation and longing.

Yuanli didn't want to look up, but the sound of the piano really evoked melancholy. Following the sound of the piano, she found Wujiu sitting in the center of the hall, as if the surrounding hustle and bustle had nothing to do with him, with only the piano and his love in his eyes.

After the banquet, two young eunuchs came over carrying a wooden box, saying it was a wedding gift from an old friend. Yuanli opened the box and found it was full of oil-paper packages, very heavy.

She casually opened a package and a few candied fruits accidentally fell out. Yuanli immediately knew who the owner was.

It happened that Prince Wen was about to leave the palace when a eunuch called out to him from afar, saying that he had left something behind. Yuanli heard it with sharp ears and paused.

"Throw away this unsightly thing. It would be disgraceful to take it to Western Xinjiang. Tell this old friend that I don't like candied fruit, but as for handsome men, you can give them to a few more."

As she said that, Yuanli casually threw the oil-paper bag in her hand back into the box. During the collision, a few candied fruits splashed onto the ground. Yuanli kicked one away in disgust and took out an embroidered handkerchief to wipe her hands.

Yuanli turned her head inadvertently and saw Wen Yici bending down to pick up the candied fruit that she kicked away.

"Prince Wen's affection is truly profound. It's a pity he's tired of seeing you. However, if Prince Wen is willing, I can take you as my concubine. The King of Western Frontier doesn't mind me marrying twice, so I'm sure he won't mind you and Xiao Tong having two concubines."

"This king has no habit of wearing a green hat."

"I've already worn it for a year. If you wear it for a few more years, won't you get used to it? If this princess is in a good mood, perhaps I will really bear a child for you in the future."

Wen Yici's face turned ashen, and his expression became increasingly unsightly, but Yuanli smiled brightly and said, "Forget it, I'm tired of you too."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yuanli stumbled away. The plum wine made her head feel dizzy but extremely clear-headed. Even though she was walking unsteadily, she stepped out of the sedan chair and walked back to the palace along the palace road.

When they reached the corner of the palace road, Yuanli squatted in the corner and secretly watched Wen Yici leaving, while Lin Jian limped behind him. Although their status was still glorious, their backs looked lonely.

After Wen Yici left, Yuanli returned to the wooden box. There were still a few candied fruits scattered on the ground. Yuanli picked them up and carefully wrapped them with a handkerchief. As the two eunuchs were carrying the box away, Yuanli stared at it in a daze.

At this moment in Liangzhu, the whole country was discussing the absurdity of this princess. She had married three times and kept several concubines, regardless of their status, as long as they were good-looking. She even went so far as to disguise her concubines as personal maids and let them live and eat with her in the princess's palace.

Late at night, Tianshu cast a spell to drive Yuanli away from her drunkenness, and when she sobered up, the three of them used the Dust-Bidding Technique to sneak into Yuehua Palace again.

As soon as I stepped through the door, the sound of shadow play music started to sound lively, but my father was sleeping soundly in the main hall, as if he couldn't hear it.

Yuanli entered the side hall skillfully. There were three tables and chairs in front of the stage. The poured tea was steaming. The two men vigilantly protected Yuanli behind them.

Suddenly, the candlelight went out, leaving only the light on the stage, and the drum beats suddenly sounded. It was seen that the people playing in front of the clappers, gongs, cymbals and other instruments were not living people, but shadow puppets. Although the shadow puppets were as thin as paper, they played extremely flexibly, as if they were alive.

Following a burst of rapid drumbeats, a male and female shadow puppet pair suddenly emerged from the stage. There was no sign of Imperial Concubine Yu in the room, and Yuanli couldn't tell whether the puppeteers behind the scenes were human or shadow puppeteers.

There is a joystick at the neck of the shadow puppet that supports the entire figure, which is called the neck stick. There is also a joystick on each of the shadow puppet's hands, which is called the hand stick.

When watching ordinary shadow puppet shows, you can vaguely see traces of manipulation, the most obvious of which are hand signatures. However, the shadow puppet of Concubine Yu is as flexible as a human, and there is no trace of the manipulation rod at all.

"I burn incense and worship Buddha, but the Bodhisattva has no pity. My old friends are gone, when will they return? I have been in despair for a thousand years in the wilderness..." A sad male voice sang with a melancholy tone.

When he sang the word "wilderness", Yuanli unconsciously listened to the lines carefully. As she listened, the shadow puppet stage seemed to have no frame, attracting her attention.

"Ari!"

Tianshu screamed, and the voice seemed to be far away. Yuanli moved slowly and looked around. There was only one table and chair left out of the three that were placed side by side just now, and she had sat down without knowing when.

Smoke continued to pour in from the side of the shadow puppet stage, and thick milky white smoke rose up under the feet, covering the toes tightly.

Yuanli couldn't remember why she came here just now. "What am I here for? Shadow puppetry, to watch shadow puppetry..."

Yuanli stared at the shadow puppet stage in a daze. The song that was just sung had changed. There were three shadow puppets, a pair of lovers hugging each other, and the extra female shadow puppet was very sad, and the lyrics were lonely.

She sat in the audience, stunned, watching the entire shadow play. The ending of the lonely woman made her feel the same. If the emperor's old love returned, she would probably be just a superfluous object like that woman.

Yuanli's panic grew as a male voice lingered in her ears, saying, "Kill him, take out his soul and send it into reincarnation. If he doesn't drink Mengpo soup, in the next life, he will just be Wen Yici."

"Kill him..."

"Yes, go kill him. I can help you turn him into Wen Yici forever. As long as you kill him, he will be yours forever. Don't you want that?"

That voice kept tempting her, and her mind couldn't process it, as if it was stuck. Yuanli's attention was all on the male voice, and even though the milky white smoke had buried her chest, she seemed to be unable to see it.

At this moment, outside the Huayang Hall of the Liangzhu Imperial Palace, the Western Xinjiang Emperor Xiao Yan'an, wearing a dragon robe and wedding dress, with his hair tied up with a golden dragon crown, led the wedding delegation and stood in the hall.

The auspicious time has passed and the wedding incense is almost burned out, but the fifth princess has not yet appeared.

Despite the fierce snow and strong wind, Imperial Noble Consort Yu and King Liangzhu remained calm in the face of the urging from the western border. The court ministers were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. They searched all 88 palaces in the harem, but could not find any trace of the fifth princess.

When the incense burned out, King Liangzhu suddenly died on the spot after drinking the tea in front of everyone. The ministers were in panic. The crown prince immediately took out the tiger talisman of the Eastern Palace and said, "Soldiers of Liangzhu, listen to my order! Seal the palace and lock the city. Anyone who disobeys will be executed immediately."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Imperial Guards remained motionless. The Crown Prince looked at all the traitors in anger, his eyes filled with disbelief. "At this time of internal and external troubles, are you all going to become traitors?"

Several eunuchs carried a new dragon throne to replace the Liangzhu throne. Xiao Yanan sat on the high seat and looked down at the ministers. He took out the Western Xinjiang Tiger Tally and held it high, saying, "All generals, listen to my orders!"

Beneath the great hall, the powerful voices of thirty thousand soldiers echoed: "All obey the Emperor's orders!"

"Besiege the palace."

Concubine Xiao knelt down and presented the Liangzhu jade seal with her own hands. Her eyes were fixed on one of the eunuchs who had just lifted the dragon throne. Xiao Yan'an grabbed the jade seal and casually threw it down the hundred steps. The seal rolled and broke into pieces. When the old minister of the court picked it up, it was already broken into several pieces.

The imperial seal was broken, the king died, and the country was destroyed.

"A new emperor appoints new ministers. Now the Liangzhu Kingdom has been destroyed and renamed the Western Frontier. Those who submit will live."

"You traitor from the Western Frontier, I will never surrender!" Before the Prime Minister finished speaking, the Imperial Guards chopped off his head, and blood splattered on the faces of the court officials beside him.

The timid ones behind him fainted on the spot, and those who were greedy for life hurriedly dropped their tablets and took off their court robes, kowtowed repeatedly and surrendered.

"You are foolish and have listened to slander, rejecting Prince Wen's entry. If he were here, how could the country be destroyed? You villain from Western Frontier, I, Prince Wen, will lead the Black Armor Guards to take your head!"

General Yun Dai, the Protector of the Nation, was satirizing the court officials with such dignity, while in his hand he held the sword that had long been unsheathed to end his own life.

As soon as he finished speaking, before he raised his sword, two feather arrows pierced his chest. The Protector of the Nation General used his sword to support himself and covered his chest. He raised his head with difficulty to look at the Hundred Steps. Xiao Yan'an was just about to drop the bow and arrow in his hand.

"In my Western Frontier Dynasty, there is no Prince Wen."

Yun Zhaowan screamed heartbreakingly, "Daddy!" The prince quickly took her into his arms. He was so angry that black blood flowed from the corners of his mouth and he fainted.

"Drag the remaining criminals from the previous dynasty out and kill them. Clean them up and don't let the Emperor and Empress' skirts get dirty." Xiao Yan'an looked at Concubine Xiao who was kneeling beside the dragon throne and said, "Where are my Emperor and Empress?"

Concubine Xiao lowered her head in panic, not daring to look directly at him. She pinched the back of her hand nervously with her fingertips, not daring to speak.

"Chai Zixi, kill her."

Hearing this, the eunuch behind him knelt down nervously and kowtowed, begging for mercy. Concubine Xiao sat limply on the ground and said, "I don't know. She disappeared from the bedroom before dawn. Ask the monster beside you!"

"Yu Sheng, where is she? We made a deal and agreed not to touch her."

Imperial Noble Consort Yu leaned lazily on the table and spoke in a very magnetic male voice, "I have given you the dynasty you wanted. What about the one I want? She is in this inner palace. She won't live for more than three hours. Emperor Xijiang, you need to hurry."

Faced with Yu Sheng's coercion, Xiao Yan'an had no choice but to order a city-wide search, and anyone who met the requirements would be immediately dissected.

For a moment, the thin ice on the water surface of Kyoto was covered with corpses, and the wheels of the car rolled over the potholes, leaving red marks all over the city, and the wailing and crying lingered for a long time.

The remaining civilians desperately ran towards Prince Wen's mansion to seek shelter. Wen Yici led the remaining 10,000 black-armored guards to fight the rebels for people, trying his best to save as many civilians as possible.

It was not until the palace's spy carrier pigeon reported back the current situation of the palace that Wen Yici left 5,000 black-armored guards to evacuate the people, and immediately took Lin Jian and 3,000 lone black-armored guards into the palace through the tunnel.

At this moment, Yuanli was completely unaware of the turmoil in the palace. She was trapped and sat stiffly in front of the shadow puppet stage, with the milky white smoke already reaching her neck.

The thin line condensed behind her until it extended to the top of the wall. The male voice in her ear said again: "Come on, kill him, kill him and you will get what you want."

Yuanli used her legs to stand up, but it was no use even though she tried to refuse in her mind.