Lively puppet show
[Complete the side quest and reward the owner with a character unlock card.]
"Can I use it right away?"
[No, the system will automatically use it in certain situations.]
What's the point of me asking for a reward? Xu Ning was speechless.
"Beep" "Beep"
The sound of suona sounded and the second act entered its climax. The audience in the audience became nervous without making a sound and stared at the puppet on the stage.
One of the puppets raised a long knife and "whoosh!" it slashed the other puppet's neck. The scarlet blood did not gush out, but seeped out bit by bit and smeared on the sword. The puppet's head drooped powerlessly.
"good!"
"good!"
Then there was thunderous applause from the audience.
"This is so realistic, they are worthy of being a Linyao opera troupe. You can't find such a vivid performance in the capital." This man is a merchant from the capital.
The dark red curtain slowly descended. "Bang!" Something heavy suddenly fell from behind the curtain, slamming heavily onto the wooden floor. Amidst the clamor from the audience, no one paid attention to the sound from the stage. However, Xu Ning caught a glimpse of it, her brow furrowed. "Did you hear that sound just now?"
"What sound? No sound." Qu Yi listened carefully again.
Others also said no.
"Where is Tang Xixu? How come he disappeared in the blink of an eye?" Xu Ning looked around but could not find the young man.
It was already Youshi, but Linyao City was still bustling with bright lights, and the Ruyan Tower seemed as bright as day.
Tonight, a few of us planned to play all night and found a large square table to play mahjong. The curtain of the puppet show was still there, and soon someone took down the stage.
"Brother Xu, stop pretending. You are definitely the banker this time." After Qu Yi bet on Xu Lian, he drew another card.
"I think it's you. Whenever you see someone playing a card, you bet against them if you can." Xu Ning washed the cards on his hands.
Qu Yi seemed to have been hit on the heart, and stammered: "I, I didn't. I just didn't know who the banker was, so I bet on it."
"Hmph." Zhao Mingshang saw the two of them bickering again, and he half covered his mouth with his sleeves and laughed.
The backyard of Ruyan Building was pitch black, without a single light. The hustle and bustle inside seemed to be cut off from the silent night.
"Are you all ready?" A man stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the crescent moon in the sky.
Fang Niang lowered her brows and whispered, "Everything is ready, just waiting for your order."
"Linyao isn't far from the capital, right?" the young man said in a playful tone.
"It's not far. It will only take three days if we ride fast." Fang Niang kept her head down and didn't dare to look up.
"The water in Linyao is already muddy enough, let's make it muddier still. Don't those mice who drink nectar like to watch puppet shows? Then let them see what the puppets in the puppet show are made of." The young man said in a cold voice, vaguely expecting something.
"City Lord, there is one more thing."
"explain."
"Someone from the imperial court has come to investigate the missing body case."
"Hmph. Then let them investigate. We can give them this great gift and save us some effort." The young man smiled disdainfully.
There was a lot of noise in the building. Officials were drinking and having fun, and the overlapping figures made Tang Xixu feel sick.
On the first floor, singing and dancing performances continued, the dancers' enchanting figures captivating both men and women. Some celebrities from the capital had a peculiar habit: upon seeing a handsome actor, especially a man, they would rush up to the stage and drag him back to his room. The men were not shy about doing this, as long as the official offered them a generous reward.
Fangniang rarely cares about such matters. After all, a musician has a low status and it is not easy for him to survive. If someone is willing to redeem him and treat him wholeheartedly, it would be a good thing.
Lu Shiren had drunk quite a bit tonight, and was surrounded by women. "Prefect Lu, I'm going back to my room to rest." The bearded old man embraced the beauty on his left and the actor on his right, and kissed each.
Seeing this, Lu Shiren couldn't help but feel his passion burning. He rushed onto the stage and rubbed the dancer's shoulders. The smooth feeling made him unable to let go. He smirked slyly, "Beauty, let's go."
The woman was very resistant, her eyes were wet and she looked very pitiful.
Fang Niang on the second floor gave her a look, and the woman's expression changed instantly: "Oh, sir, I'm so embarrassed when you say that."
"Tap" something dripped from the ceiling and landed on Lu Shiren's eyelids.
"What the hell?" Lu Shiren wiped his eyes impatiently. They were wet and a little sticky. He also looked up at the top of his head.
Then a few more drops of blood seeped through the wooden floor and dripped down. Lu Shiren smelled a fishy smell.
"Blood! Blood!" Lu Shiren was sobered up by the shock. "Master, you must have seen it wrong. There is no blood at all." The dancer smiled.
The people in the audience were still drinking and having fun, and only a few people noticed.
"What's wrong?" Qu Yi heard strange noises coming from the first floor.
Zhao Mingchang put down the cards, leaned against the fence and looked down. On the bright first floor, Lu Shiren was standing in the center with his face covered in blood.
She frowned and looked at them seriously.
A few people understood and ran downstairs quickly. As soon as they got down, there was a "clang" sound of the wooden board breaking, and a pile of bloody and mangled things fell from the second floor, along with many pieces of wooden boards.
Isn’t this the character who was “killed” in the second act of The Muppet Show?
The outer layer of leather had cracked, revealing a mass of flesh and blood. Blood was flowing freely from the puppet's body. The puppet's head and body had separated, and the covering had fallen off, revealing the figure to be a man with a dark complexion and a slightly rough complexion. However, the figure was small and short, and if it were wearing the mask, it would have resembled a woman.
And it wasn't just one, two or three fell down in succession.
"ah!"
"ah--"
Everyone present was frightened and put down their wine glasses and bowls and chopsticks. Some people who were eating meat suddenly felt nauseous and vomited.
"So the scene just now was not realistic, but people were killed." A man in his forties was wearing a robe that was washed white.
After these cases, Xu Ning felt a little disgusted, but he could still handle it.
"What's this?" Xu Ning looked at the words written on the puppet's hide: "The rich and powerful enjoy, peeling human skin." Everyone around saw the words clearly, "This isn't cowhide, it's real human skin!" one of them said in fear.
At this time, the wooden boards on the floor were broken, and the second and third floors were connected. I don’t know who took away the rain curtain on the third floor, but the rain outside had stopped long ago.
In the dark night, the sky cleared up and the fresh and moist air outside rushed into Ruyan Tower, dispersing the smell of wine, meat, cosmetics, blood and all the mixed smells in the building.
"What happened?" Yuwen Xin went to the government office and when he came back he saw a group of people gathered together and some of the floors were broken.
The man in fancy clothes frowned.
The remaining bodies were also revealed: one was Xing Yong, who had died a few days ago, another was Wu Han, and the third was the Tongpan of Linyao.
"President Wu, what's wrong with you..." Seeing that the person who died was his most trusted subordinate, Lu Shiren's eyes were bloodshot, cold sweat began to appear on his forehead, and his face turned pale with fear.
"Among these people, only Xing Yong died in a fall from a building a few days ago," Zhao Mingshang mentioned.
"Yes, yes, a few days ago, there was a ghost in the falling building case, and he was 'killed by a ghost'." One of the onlookers recalled.
Many people in the building were frightened and had no mood to eat, drink or have fun anymore.
"What are you arguing about!" An old man came out shirtless, obviously disappointed. This was the old man who had just held a man and a woman in his arms.
"Yang Shoudao, there's a case here." Lu Shiren said cautiously.
Yang Ye didn't care what the case was, he was just angrily: "I don't care what case you are in, go back to your seats and disturb my fun!" He didn't care how many people died or how big the crime was, he only cared whether he had a good time or not.
"You are really a good official. You didn't even look at three corpses falling at once, and they were right next to you. You really make the people of Linyao feel disappointed." Qu Yi is not afraid of offending people, perhaps because he relies on Qujiazhuang behind him.
Yuwen Xin didn't say anything, he just wanted to see what the parasites in Lin Yao looked like.
"How dare a young boy talk to me like that!" The servant came over to help Yang Ye put on his clothes, and the old man slowly walked downstairs.
"Why not? I'm from the Qu family..." Zhao Mingshang quickly gave him a look, signaling him not to introduce himself.
Tang Xixu came in from outside wearing a brocade black robe. He had changed his clothes. The ends of his hair were still wet, and his lips were bright red, as if he had put on lip balm.
He looked a little tired: "What's wrong?" Then he looked at Xu Ning.
Xu Ning leaned over and whispered in his ear, telling him what had just happened.
"Humph." Tang Xixu said with some disdain, "These bastards really think they are so important."
"What did you say?" Xu Ning didn't hear Tang Xixu's whisper just now.
"Ten kinds of candy. I saw many people buying them, so I bought some." Tang Xixu brought a bag of candy to Xu Ning. Many people bought the ten kinds of candy, but they were sold out when it came to Tang Xixu. He put a knife on the person's neck and did it on the spot. Before leaving, he gave the person one or two taels of silver, "Sir, this is too much." Tang Xixu just carried the candy and walked back quickly, ignoring the shopkeeper.
"Oh. Thank you."
Xu Ning took one and ate it. It was sweet and crispy. Lactose, maltose, and sucrose were mixed together, and dried fruit or
"If he doesn't dare, what about me?" Yuwen Xin then walked out of the crowd.
Yang Shoudao's face was full of confusion.
"I am Yu Xin, the governor appointed by Your Majesty, and I have been specially ordered to come to Yao for inspection. If Your Majesty knew that a local official disregarded the lives of the people and even allowed such a thing to happen, would he replace him with someone else to sit in this position?" Yuwen Xin took out the token to confirm his identity and stared at Yang Ye meaningfully.
Yang Ye didn't dare to speak this time, and said with a flattering look: "It turns out to be Governor Yu, my apologies." The old man just pretended to believe it on the surface, but in fact he still doubted Yuwen Xin's identity in his heart.
"Hurry up and find someone to carry the body back!" Lu Shiren was obviously a little panicked.
"Wait. I have people here." Yuwen Xin called a few people over to carry the body out.
A night passed, and the day was about to dawn. A light drizzle began to fall outside. Yang Shoudao lifted up his brocade robe and walked carefully, fearing that the water would wet his newly made clothes.
"Yang Shoudao's robe is well made. I wonder which shop it is from." Tang Xixu asked with a smile, but there was a cold light in his eyes.
Yang Ye clearly felt the evil spirit from the young man and was scared: "It's not worth it, just a small folk shop." He took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
"Oh? Really? But it looks like the clothes from the Jinyi Pavilion in Beijing. I remember a custom-made piece of clothing like this would cost five or six taels."
The monthly salary of a local governor in the Xin Dynasty was no more than 24 dan of rice for the fourth rank, and 20 dan of rice for the lower rank. Moreover, the actual distribution was made in the form of "discount", where the rice was usually converted into banknotes, pepper, silk cloth, etc., so the actual amount received was not much, and no ordinary official dared to spend it in this way.
Yang Ye was a little scared. He didn't know who the other person was.
"Sir, you've seen it wrong. It just looks like it." Yang Ye wanted to leave quickly.
"Your umbrella is pretty good. I remember the dealer auctioned this one last night. I didn't expect it to fall into your hands." Tang Xixu didn't care whether he allowed it or not, he just took it and touched the umbrella.
"What kind of leather is this made of? It's so smooth." Tang Xixu admired the umbrella worth ten taels of silver and smiled as if he knew the answer.
Yang Ye's heart skipped a beat, his heartbeat quickened again, his face turned pale, and his lips lost their color.
Tang Xixu took Yang Ye's hand, folded the umbrella and put it in his hand. Yang Ye was like a wooden man, being controlled by others.
Before leaving, Tang Xixu bent down and said something in the old man's ear, then patted him on the shoulder: "Sometimes, it's better not to use an umbrella on rainy days. Don't you think so?" The young man smiled again and turned to leave.
Yang Ye was so frightened that he lost his mind and staggered. He returned to his house and quickly wrote a letter and asked someone to send it out urgently.
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