It snowed all day and all night, and everything in the world was buried under the snow.
Until the palace lantern faded, and in a blink of an eye, it was dawn again.
Early in the morning, red lanterns were hung high and lined up from the city gate to the palace. The color was so festive.
Today, all civil and military officials are dressed in rich costumes, and envoys from various countries have come from far away to celebrate the birthday of the king of Jiangnan.
Jiaofang, Pingle Pavilion.
Liu Ruyan opened the door and saw Shen Yanchu waiting at the door. Judging from his posture, he seemed to be waiting for a rabbit.
She remained calm, turned around and left.
Unexpectedly, the person opposite seemed to rely on her and followed her unhurriedly.
Her eyelids twitched slightly, remembering the time when he had just lost his memory and how he had been pestering her inexplicably.
No matter how you look at it, this situation looks a bit familiar.
Liu Ruyan suddenly stopped.
The people behind also stopped.
She immediately turned around and asked angrily: "Why are you following me?"
Shen Yanchu stood with his hands behind his hands and looked at her sideways. He was noble and different from ordinary people. He said seriously: "Last night you poured out your heartfelt words and expressed your love. Could it be that now that things have happened, you are planning to give up after all?"
Liu Ruyan was shocked by his audacity, as if he really echoed an old saying.
——A loyal girl is afraid of stalking her husband.
However, what she said was true, but she never thought that one day she would be with him.
She has such a bad fate, how can she dare to ask for it?
"That's all, at worst, you can follow me when I go to the toilet." She was helpless.
Shen Yanchu looked at the end, and it turned out to be a toilet.
"Just go ahead." The tips of his ears turned red.
Noon.
A birthday banquet was held, and countless delicacies were presented to the banquet.
In the hall paved with felt, actors danced and played music.
The king had been in power for a long time and had seen many of these scenes. He held on to the cup with wan interest and lamented that the arrangement of the classroom had been the same every year without any progress.
During the dinner, an official saw what the king was thinking, and he winked at the eunuch.
The eunuch announced: "Master Yan from the Dali Kingdom has come to perform a performance——"
Only then did the king become interested.
The officials also looked outside the palace.
But I saw several men and women wearing foreign costumes slowly walking into the hall.
Led by Liu Ruyan and Shen Yanchu, they paid homage to the leader of the country, Li Chongguang.
After the ceremony, Liu Ruyan stood still with her head held high.
She saw that on the left of the king was a monk and on the right was a Taoist priest. She actually knew that Taoist priest.
It is Ming Juezi who is the magic stick of Jiu Gourd who never leaves his body day and night.
Ever since Liu Ruyan and his party entered the palace, the king's eyes never left.
Especially the two leading ones, wearing white alien costumes embroidered with gold thread and covered with a pure white feather coat, almost blended in with the peacocks perched on their shoulders.
The male bird has a long and slender neck, its tail feathers hang down, and its distinct feathers are white and flawless.
The female sparrow has shorter tail feathers and a lighter body.
Shen Yanchu faced the king of the country. After he finished his congratulations, the peacock fluttered its wings and flew down: "On the occasion of his birthday, I would like to offer you two gifts, and I hope that the king will accept them."
The female bird on Liu Ruyan's shoulder also flew down.
Two peacocks, a male and a female, flew to the feet of the king.
The king looked at the King of Birds and found that these two little things were not familiar with life, and their pale red eyes looked curiously, quite spiritually.
In just a short time, the venue for the puppet show was set up.
In a two-story building, the Yanshi masters were hiding behind a curtain on the roof. Looking from a distance, the dolls seemed to come alive.
Today's play is "Wang Fu Yun":
Legend has it that before Dali was founded, there was a princess of Nanzhao named Afeng.
She met a young hunter at a grand gathering of the Bai people, and the two fell in love at first sight. With the help of the Cangshan God, the hunter married Afeng.
After Ah Feng disappeared, King Nanzhao could not find him. He learned from the eminent monk that Ah Feng lived with the hunter in Cangshan Mountain.
In order to force Ah Feng to return to the palace, the eminent monk blocked Cangshan Mountain with a blizzard.
In the ice and snow, a hunter sneaked into Luoquan Temple against the wind and snow, and stole the Qibao cassock, which is warm in winter and cool in summer, in order to protect his wife from the severe cold. The hunter took the cassock through Erhai Lake. Suddenly, the hunter was knocked into the seabed by the eminent monk who was chasing him, and turned into a cassock.
For a stone mule.
When Ah Feng heard the bad news, she died of grief and anger, and her energy turned into a white cloud.
At this time, a strong wind blew up, setting off huge waves, blowing away the water of Erhai Lake, and finally revealed the stone mules on the bottom of the sea. Only then did the wind calm down and the clouds disperse.
At the end of the performance, several palace maids clung to one end of the blue veil, like the turbulent Erhai Sea, blown up by the wind, and the angry sea surged into the sky.
The wind howled incessantly, and white mist slowly rose from the sea, eventually condensing into a cloud.
The clouds floated overhead, and the officials looked at it with wonder.
One after another, people stood up, and some touched it with their hands.
"It's really a cloud!"
The clouds rise and fall, just like the clouds overlooking the vast Erhai Lake, lingering for a long time.
When the storm calmed down, it fell down, the clouds and mist cleared, and a beautiful woman in foreign clothes walked out.
The woman's face was beautiful, like a puppet princess transformed into a real person. She sat on her knees, held up the stone mule in her hand and played softly.
The officials below were deeply shocked by the scene in front of them. They wanted to step forward to take a closer look, but they were afraid of offending.
But it didn’t stop them from whispering to each other:
"How can a puppet become a real person?"
"It's just a mystery."
"In my opinion, it must be this Bai girl, dressed as Princess Afeng."
…
The king couldn't hold back his curiosity. When the performance was over, he came to Ah Feng and took a closer look at her.
Regardless of body shape or appearance, the princess in front of her looks like a real person, with delicate skin that can be broken by a blow.
It must have been dressed up by a girl.
This performance pleased the king, who gave him a special seat and invited Ah Feng to sit with the artists.
As for the clinker, Ah Feng just stood up and bowed, without opening his mouth to express gratitude.
"To the Lord of the Kingdom——" A young man ran out from behind the stage and explained to the Lord of the Kingdom, "Miss Ah Feng cannot speak because she is a puppet."
As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar.
Even the king was stunned.
"Seriously?" he asked the boy.
Gong Shuyu's attitude was sincere: "I don't dare to deceive the king. Ah Feng is indeed a puppet."
As he said that, he lifted up the edge of Ah Feng's sleeves and twisted off the girl's wrist: "Master, please take a look."
The ruler of the country believed that he was well-informed and was quite surprised when he saw a piece of log exposed under his wrist.
He stroked his palms and said, "I never thought a puppet show would be eye-opening."
Gong Shuyu smiled: "This puppet is the second gift to the king."
The king was overjoyed and offered him a seat again.
In the evening, the banquet will break up.
The officials were drunk, thinking that they would have to go back home later, so they did not dare to drink too much during the dinner.
Perhaps it was because of the end of the song that the noise outside the hall was faintly transmitted into the hall.
Eunuch Fang took a look and went out to investigate.
Separated by a curtain, it's freezing outside, and the scenery of lakes and ponds is covered in ice and snow.
Today's banquet was held in the Lake Hall. Eunuch Fang stepped down the steps and saw a few people standing in the ice lake from a distance, as if they were looking at something.
He squinted his eyes and saw clearly what was on the lake. His expression immediately changed and he hurried back into the temple.