Chapter 179: Chaos in Xiaocheng (19) [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
"Hey, look at that fiery red sun, it's a sesame seed cake..."
"It's flat and round..."
Shen Tang is a talkative person.
When she gets into the mood, she'll hum a few tunes that even she doesn't recognize. The music is neither melodic nor tuneful, and she has a bad habit of randomly changing the lyrics; if she can't sing it, she'll just hum incoherently.
It was off-key and unpleasant to listen to.
But she seemed to enjoy singing.
The only one who was unhappy was probably Qishan.
"...Hey, you're like the spring rain, the summer breeze, the autumn apple, the winter fire, burning in my heart, hehe—baby, burning in my heart!" The eleven or twelve-year-old boy had a clear, bright, and pure voice, much higher than other boys his age.
The volume wasn't loud, but it was extremely penetrating.
Qi Shan: "..."
Whenever Shen Xiaolangjun sang, he would complain that his hearing was too good. Wenxin's enhancement of his five senses meant that he could clearly hear what Shen Tang was singing even when they were six or seven zhang apart. He couldn't possibly run away completely, so he could only grit his teeth and endure the torment.
He did try to silence Tang.
Shen Tang retaliated in kind, imposing double the silencing and making him sing off-key twice as much, with lyrics becoming increasingly vulgar, direct, and passionate.
Naked mutual harm.
Qi Shan, who suffered a double loss while killing a thousand enemies: "..."
Fine, he admits defeat. He can't outdo anyone else in being charming.
Shen Tang sang with increasing enthusiasm.
Does it matter whether Qishan is happy or not?
It doesn't matter; what matters is that she's happy.
Her joy turned to sorrow...
Not long after descending the mountain, they encountered a group of about a thousand people escorting supplies and provisions. Although not large in number, they were clearly an elite force, with soldiers exuding a strong sense of vigor. The soldiers on both sides were constantly vigilant about their surroundings, and sharp glints would occasionally flash in their eyes.
The supply wagons were all fully loaded.
Shen Tang's heart skipped a beat. She lowered her eyelids, preparing to move to the side of the road with Qi Shan to make way for her.
They hadn't gone two steps when someone rode up on horseback. Judging from his attire, he probably held a minor or major position in the army. It might not be much of a threat in the military camp, but it was enough for him to lash out at ordinary people, boss them around, and act like a high-ranking soldier.
Shen Tang had no choice but to stop.
The man, mounted on his horse, flicked his whip while glancing sideways at Chen Tang with a raised eyebrow.
"Young lady, were you the one who sang loudly just now?"
Shen Tang had shed her disguise as the scarred, burly man and revealed her true appearance. It was getting dark, and her monogram was transparent, making her easily overlooked. Thus, she transformed back into the "little lady."
Shen Tang paused for a moment, then replied, "It's me."
Seeing this, Qi Shan stepped forward to block Shen Tang.
Unexpectedly, the soldier pointed his whip at Qi Shan's nose and said impatiently and arrogantly, "Get out of the way! What does it have to do with a poor, penniless scholar like you that I'm talking to this young lady?"
Pray, the impoverished scholar, Shan: "..."
Shen Tang burst out laughing.
The soldier said, "Please, young lady, come with me for a while."
Shen Tang thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
She had no choice but to agree.
With Xiaocheng surrounded by rebel forces, it was clearly impossible for them to escape and escort any supplies. The soldier's attire was identical to that of the rebels who had searched the Yancheng prefectural governor's residence on the mountain, making his identity and allegiance obvious. If they rashly refused, things could easily escalate.
However, she had one condition.
Shen Tang timidly grabbed Qi Shan's sleeve, shrank her shoulders, and said softly, "Sir, may my brother also go over?"
Praying for good was like being struck by lightning; I was in a daze.
Shen Tang deliberately used a high-pitched voice, losing some of his clear and cheerful tone and gaining a soft, melodious Wu dialect flavor. If you closed your eyes and didn't look at him, you would really think the speaker was a beautiful young woman. But it was precisely this thought that shocked him quite a bit.
The soldier glanced at Qi Shan.
With a wave of his hand, he said, "Okay, go ahead."
As a precaution, both of them secretly put away their literary signatures. As long as they concealed their literary aura, they would look like ordinary people.
They were led by the soldier to their superior officer in charge of escorting the supplies. Shen Tang initially thought she would see a fat, greasy middle-aged man with a big head and big ears or a pointed mouth and monkey-like face, but when she saw the young man sitting on the supply wagon, she realized she had been mistaken.
Although this world is very chaotic, it is truly a paradise for those who appreciate good looks, especially for scholars and warriors. The people that Shen Tang has seen so far have at least regular features, coupled with their temperament—even if they are ordinary-looking, they are definitely not ugly.
The young man before us has nothing to do with this word.
The young man was dressed in a dark, fitted outfit, his long hair tied into many small braids, gathered together and secured with a hair ornament. Shen Tang's gaze shifted upwards—the young man probably rarely stayed up late, his hair wasn't tied up tightly, it was long, thick, and black, and his hairline didn't look dangerous.
Their clothing style was unlike that of the remnants of the Xin Kingdom, but rather had a somewhat alien feel. The sleeves were very narrow, and they wore a pair of iron armor gauntlets with ferocious snake patterns, a shoulder guard on one shoulder, and a skirt armor hanging from their waist. The other armor parts were nowhere to be seen.
He was now lounging on a pile of supplies and provisions, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, craning his neck to look in the direction Shen Tang had come from. He was tall, and so was he sitting. A soldier stepped forward and replied, "Boss, we've brought the man. What do you think we should do with him?"
Shen Tang: "..."
Seriously? Singing is illegal?
Qi Shan secretly rolled her eyes—
Look, even the rebels can't withstand the poisonous influence of Young Master Shen's enchanting voices and are preparing to "uphold justice."
The young man spoke with a heavy accent and not quite fluently, asking Shen Tang, "Was that the song you sang just now?"
Shen Tang replied, "Yes."
Qi Shan was prepared to hear the young man rant, but to her surprise, he didn't play by the rules. His dark, bright eyes suddenly lit up, and he sincerely praised, "Heavenly voice! Mama, you sing so beautifully!"
Qi Shan: "..."
Chen Mama Becomes a Mother Tang: "..."
Did she just suddenly have a wonderful son?
Being called "Mom" so soon after meeting someone makes Shen Tang feel a bit awkward and helpless, even though she enjoys playing the role of "Dad."
She smiled awkwardly but politely.
"Oh, not at all... My singing was so-so, so-so. Just praise me, no need to call me 'Mom' so enthusiastically..."
Qi Shan's lips twitched: "...People call you 'little lady'."
She didn't recognize him as her mother upon their first meeting.
In his youth, he traveled extensively with his friends.
The two traveled together, climbing mountains and wading through rivers, exploring everywhere.
If I'm not mistaken, these young people should be a special group from the border region of the Geng Kingdom. It is said that hundreds of years ago, their ancestors, weary of war, led their people into seclusion deep in the mountains. After centuries of isolation, their customs and lifestyle are very different from those of the outside world.
“Mama” is equivalent to “little lady”, a term of address for a young girl.
As for singing aesthetics—
emmm...
It's not surprising that this entire family has problems.
Shen Tang: "...Oh."
The young man warmly invited Shen Tang to accompany him so that they could exchange and hone their singing skills. An official beside him hesitated, seemingly about to step forward and persuade the young man not to let strangers approach the supply convoy, but for some reason, he withdrew his step.
The young man enthusiastically pointed to the supply truck next door.
“Mama, sit here.”
|ω)
There will only be one update, I'll make up for it tomorrow (I'm really sorry to all the investors for not being able to complete the investment milestone of updating 3,000 words for 30 consecutive days since the book started).
Tang Mei's lyrics are adapted from "Love Song".
[Continuing from yesterday's chat]
The character descriptions in "The Retired Emperor" and "The Empress" are different. "The Empress" can utilize the perspective of the live stream audience, appropriately providing keywords to remind readers of information about characters who appear after a long interval. Therefore, the information about each character can be fragmented and interspersed in different places. There is no fear that readers will forget the characters and plots due to long absences, because the bullet comments will remind them (which is also a reasonable way to fill in gaps in the story).
However, "Retreat from the Emperor" is different. It's told from a normal third-person perspective, and there are no casual viewers providing commentary or reminders in the live chat. In a serialized novel that's destined to be long and feature many characters, if a character's information is too fragmented and they don't appear for a long time, readers can easily forget them (it's undeniable that a great author can create a memorable character in just a few words, even after hundreds of thousands of words, but Xianggu is clearly not that kind of writer; character development can only be achieved through the enrichment of the background plot. Looking back now, the live chat feature was actually quite clever).
Because of these considerations, Shiitake Mushroom experimented with changing the narrative style, which inevitably slowed down the pace in Qi Shan's main storyline, as he attempted to further develop Qi Shan's backstory. Currently, it seems this wasn't very successful (thank you to the readers of the previous chapter for your support, but the pacing was indeed problematic; the number of chapter comments for each chapter speaks volumes).
I will try to balance and adjust.
(End of this chapter)
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