Miss, you are my future wife

"Hello, yes." Xiao Yao replied in a firm tone, then turned to Johns and asked: "Where is your master?"

"He should be here!" Johns' slightly surprised tone did not sound fake, and he still maintained his professional restraint.

"Shen Hongsheng! Are you scared? Come out here!"

The boy's roar echoed once, twice, and three times in the empty hall, and after it dissipated, it was replaced by a soft classical music.

The music was quite soft at first, but gradually became louder.

Xiao Yao felt that the melody was somewhat familiar. Before he could identify it, Yu Luying blurted out: "Swan Lake."

Yes, this is the prelude to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

A figure falling from the sky startled everyone. Xiao Yao took a step back and motioned his two companions to move closer to him. He calmly moved his position to ensure that the newcomer and Johns were within his alert range.

Yu Luying and Daiyu also awakened their spiritual fortress again.

The figure did not seem to have any intention of attacking. Instead, it stood in the center of the hall and saluted the three people with the graceful posture of a dancer.

Then, it saluted to the non-existent audience in the other three directions, stood on tiptoe of its right toe, landed on its toes, and began to spin on the spot.

It is really amazing that it can do this movement, because it is clearly a man-made puppet - the top of the puppet's head, shoulders and limbs are hung with tough silk strings: perhaps it should be called a wire, and the upper end of the wire extends to the ceiling of the palace.

This is a puppet being manipulated.

Although this dancing puppet looks clumsy, it is controlled by several silk strings and appears to be extremely light and flexible.

Under the gaze of four people (if Johns can be considered a "person"), it began to rotate from the center of the "stage".

Xiao Yao "appreciated" its performance warily in case it was targeting Pei Gong, while also keeping an eye on Johns.

However, the dancer only moved sideways and did not approach the elevator entrance.

As Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake neared its end, the dancer finally began to move vertically - towards the throne.

Finally, as the dance ended, it stopped in front of Shen Hongsheng's throne and the huge portrait, and ended.

The floor began to vibrate violently. Xiao Yao, Daiyu and Yu Luying exchanged glances and were ready to fight the enemy.

Then, Shen Hongsheng's portrait disappeared in front of everyone's eyes - to be exact, it was broken, and a large irregular hole was knocked out in the wall behind the throne.

The monster that rushed out was a human figure: it was a huge, translucent shadow, wearing a blood-red robe, a crown covered with twelve-colored gems and inlaid with a golden cross on its head, and a colorful rose with red outside and white inside was held tightly under its chin in its hand.

This is a woman, and Xiao Yao feels that she looks familiar.

This BOSS was extremely tall. Even though the ceiling of the royal hall was quite high, her height was half of that.

"Queen Mary?" Yu Luying on the side called out.

After she called him like this, Xiao Yao finally realized, isn't this Shen Jie's spiritual fortress? When did it become so big?
In the center of the Queen Mary, a yellow girl was floating off the ground - she was wearing a yellow plaid coat and black trousers, and a pair of dark green canvas shoes. If it wasn't Shen Jie who I had just seen in the "hospital", then who else could it be?

"Shen Jie" slowly descended in her huge spiritual fortress, but did not touch the ground when she landed. She was still floating a few centimeters above the ground. She grabbed the puppet dancer with one hand, turned it sideways and raised her thigh to push it up. Then she threw the puppet, which was broken into two sections, aside and sat down on Shen Hongsheng's throne.

"You still dare to come?" Shen Jie's crisp and delicate shout was as loud as a bell, echoing in the entire royal hall.

"Who are you?" Xiao Yao pointed his sword forward and asked loudly.

"You still dare to come?!" Shen Jie did not answer Xiao Yao's question, but repeated these four words.

"Miss." Johns called, lowering his head humbly.

"Is it Shen Jie's shadow?" Yu Luying said.

Hairtail: “…”

The petite girl sitting on the throne spread out her palms, with her right hand slightly higher than her left, and a small flame burning in the palm of each hand.

"Who are you?" Xiao Yao asked loudly.

"Who am I? I am a joke that has been deceived, manipulated, humiliated, and despised," Shen Jie finally answered Xiao Yao's question: "A foolish king - a queen who finally woke up and decided not to be a puppet manipulated by anyone anymore and returned to her throne!"

"You are Shen Jie, right?" Xiao Yao took a step forward and continued to talk to her from a distance: "Is it Shen Jie's shadow? When have I ever deceived or manipulated you? When have I ever bullied or despised you? I truly love you——"

He had just uttered half of the word "love" when he caught a glimpse of Yu Luying standing beside him, and then he stopped talking abruptly and remained silent.

"Ha!" Shen Jie sneered in mockery.

"Today is Valentine's Day. I bought you a rose on the way here." Xiao Yao took the rose that belonged to Shen Jie from Yu Luying's hand and held it in front of his chest: "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Don't be so hypocritical!" Shen Jie waved her right hand forward, and the small flame in her hand immediately flew over and burned the rose in Xiao Yao's hand to ashes: "She, earlier today, got an identical one. Am I right?"

Xiao Yao felt a burning pain on his hand, so he subconsciously retracted his hand and took a step back, saying awkwardly, "Yes, but——"

"Valentine's Day should be spent with the one you love, that's the only way it's meaningful, isn't it?" Shen Jie's voice changed from being intimidating to a bit sad: "You two were having a good time, but you had to do this and drag me into it. You two even came to my place today to protest?"

"What did you say you?"

"Is coming here to humiliate me part of your game?"

"There's no need to waste time talking to a shadow," Cinderella was already eager to try, "Just wake her up first!"

"Wait a minute!" shouted the hairtail.

"No!" Xiao Yao was secretly puzzled. When did Yu Luying become such an impulsive woman? "What if we act rashly and hurt Shen Jie's soul?"

"Don't be so hypocritical here," Shen Jie sneered, and turned to Yu Luying: "And you too, are you so impatient? You had your eyes on your man from the beginning, so why would you let him out to scare me?"

"Shen Jie, wake up. We are not here to humiliate you, and we have never thought of fighting with you." Xiao Yao swallowed his saliva and did not care about Yu Luying's presence. He said slowly: "What nonsense are you talking about? We are in love. We are here to take you home."

"Go home? Am I not at home now? This is my home." Shen Jie said, "You guys broke into my home and told me to fight? Uncle Johns, send them out."

"Miss," Johns bowed slightly, "The master said he wanted to see him."

"Your master doesn't want to see anyone, or have you already found a new master?" Shen Jie stared at Johns.

"Yes...Miss." Johns looked a little embarrassed. After thinking for a while, he turned to Xiao Yao and said, "Son-in-law, how about we go back today--"

"Since you call me uncle," Xiao Yao said sarcastically, "am I not your master?"

"It is……"

Xiao Yao did not waste any more words with Johns, but took two steps closer to the throne: "Wife, Jie'er, look at me, look at me! I am your husband and the father of your daughter..."

"Daughter?" Shen Jie's tone was filled with disbelief, disdain and surprise.

"I believe that even your shadow will never hurt me," Xiao Yao said as he walked forward tentatively: "Come, we will take you home--"

Having said that, his hands never left the weapon for a moment.

Seeing Xiao Yao walking further and further inside, Yu Luying became quite worried and subconsciously followed him two steps forward. Only Hairtail was still looking at Butler Johns warily.

After Xiao Yao said this, he felt that it was not right to bring a shadow home: "Jie'er, get out of the way and ask your father to come out and see me. I will talk to him, and then we will take you from the real world home."

"Ah, father," Shen Jie said sarcastically in a tone of pretended surprise, "If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten why you came. You brought your accomplices into my house, weren't you here to assassinate my father?"

"No! We—"

"I hid him, somewhere you can't find him, somewhere you can't hurt him," Shen Jie raised her little head arrogantly: "Here, I'm the boss now. You - you, if you have nothing else to do, you can get out now -"

"Shen Jie, I love you." Xiao Yao said sincerely.

Xiao Yao believes that it is impossible to reason with the shadow, and he can only try to be sincere and true, and perhaps he can impress the other party.

Sure enough, these three clichéd words achieved desirable and positive results.

Although they were still quite far apart, Xiao Yao bet that he saw the subtle change in Shen Jie's expression, and she was silent for a full five seconds. For a moment, the huge shadow of Queen Mary that had been covering the girl became a little blurry, and then it lit up again, brighter than before.

"Xiao Yao, let me tell you a story." When Shen Jie spoke again, her tone became softer.

"Yeah." Xiao Yao nodded and took two steps forward.

"Just stand there and don't move." Shen Jie warned.

"Okay." Xiao Yao stopped.

"Once upon a time, there was a girl," Shen Jie began to tell the story. "She grew up in a harmonious family. Her family had never lacked money since she was a child. Although her mother died when she was very young, her successor mother was not a bad person and treated her very well. Everyone thought that she was a happy and enviable child."

"Yeah." Xiao Yao nodded and thought to himself, let's call this girl Shen Jie.

"She has indeed always lived a very happy life," Shen Jie's voice became more and more gentle, as if she was really telling a fairy tale to lull a child to sleep: "She has not become lazy because of her affluent life. She has always had ideals and goals, and she has been working diligently for them..."

"She's a good girl." Xiao Yao praised her but thought to himself, when I was with you, I never heard you mention any ideal goals.

Shen Jie seemed to be able to hear Xiao Yao's thoughts and frowned unhappily. Xiao Yao quickly forced himself to stop thinking about it for the time being.

"One day," as the story progressed, the girl's tone suddenly became serious and heavy, just like when telling a bedtime story to a child, "One day the devil Satan appeared": "She was targeted by a scoundrel, a rogue, and a villain."

"Yeah." Xiao Yao said.

"When was her secret discovered? She couldn't remember." Shen Jie's tone became a little confused: "Maybe it was at a grand masquerade ball, maybe at a street corner, or maybe..."

"You've been with me for such a while, and your Chinese has improved." Xiao Yao commented.

"The villain coveted the beauty of the girl. He fell in love with her - no, he wanted to possess the girl, to occupy her, her wealth and status, her body and soul."

"Alas, alas, this is what malicious speculation looks like," Xiao Yao pointed out.

He regretted bringing Yu Luying along; the scene was really awkward.

As for hairtail, it doesn’t matter.

"He knew that with his looks and personality, it was impossible for him to win the heart of the girl, so he made up a lie, a ridiculous story," said Shen Jie.

"But he doesn't have the ability to conjure up a future in the mirror." Xiao Yao couldn't help but remind her.

"No matter what method or magic he used," the queen said to herself, "or if he conspired with someone..."

Shen Jie's cold eyes swept across Daiyu and Yu Luying: "In short, in the end he tricked the girl into believing this story, believing his lies, believing that a wild girl who was found from nowhere and had nothing to do with the girl was her future daughter -"

"You can't say that about Tianyun!" Xiao Yao said angrily, "You obviously know that's not the case! There must be some other hidden story here - I don't know how your father made the false report, and I don't know it anyway! I didn't lie on purpose -"

"Ah, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." Shen Jie pinched her throat and imitated Xiao Yao's tone of voice, deliberately speaking in a pretentious tone: "Should I say it's okay? You are always like this. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to dirty your new shoes. I didn't mean to bully you. I didn't mean to fail the exam or repeat the grade. Everything is always someone else's fault. It's also someone else's fault that I am isolated and excluded. I didn't mean to stink. I didn't mean to piss off my grandma to death—"

"Shut up!" Xiao Yao interrupted her and growled, "It doesn't matter how you humiliate me, please don't use my grandmother... don't use the deceased... I won't allow it..."

"People who have passed away," Shen Jie nodded, revealing a thoughtful expression: "People who have passed away can still make use of their remaining energy. Morally blackmailing the ex-girlfriend to come back to fulfill her filial duty."

Xiao Yao: "..."

"Xiao Yao, let's get started," Daiyu shouted, "I'll find a way to purify my sister-in-law's shadow!"

"Oh, shadow," Shen Jie laughed, "Daiyu, you know I'm not a shadow. I am just myself."

"The real Shen Jie would never speak like you. She would never utter a bad word even if it meant breaking up a friendship," Xiao Yao warned calmly, "Get out of the way and let me see Shen Hongsheng, or don't blame us for using violence!"

"Yes, the real Shen Jie," Shen Jie sighed, "that poor girl who was played around with, that puppet on the strings...where were we just now about her story? Oh, that's right. The girl believed the stupid lie, she accepted him, she persuaded herself, no, she forced herself to love him, to be his girlfriend, his wife, his mother, his nanny and maid, the mother of that child who came from nowhere, his ATM and bed partner——"

"Well, how about you guys continue chatting while I go downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes?" Daiyu suggested.

"That man keeps saying he loves her, but in fact he just wants to possess her, control her, and treat her as his own doll," the girl on the throne said with increasing excitement, "and what about her? She has to tolerate his fickleness, tolerate him finding a mistress outside, and wear those damn flesh-colored short stockings, those disgusting flesh-colored short stockings..."

Yu Luying frowned and covered her ears in protest.

"Your XP is disgusting! Xiao Yao's XP is disgusting!!"

Xiao Yao discovered that no matter how stunningly beautiful a girl was, she would not look good when she spoke with a hideous look and gritted teeth like that.

No, I can't be angered, Xiao Yao thought.

He knew it deeply, and he warned himself that if he got angry, he would play into Shadow's hands.

"Everything is for a daughter who doesn't exist—"

"Shen Jie," Xiao Yao cleared his throat and said, "When we were together, like all couples, we had some conflicts, arguments, and unhappiness. I did do a lot of things wrong."

"Stop talking nonsense and get out of here, or I won't be polite."

"We can find out what happened to Shen Tianyun after we leave here. Escape and cold violence will never solve the problem," Xiao Yao continued to persuade, "but there is one thing I am sure of, and you should believe it, that is, I definitely did not deliberately deceive you, and my heart is sincere to you."

"Isn't this two o'clock?" Cutlassfish interrupted.

"Xiao Yao, do you know?" Shadow's mood changed very quickly, a speed that ordinary people could not match. She suddenly changed from anger to sadness: "I also have two points to tell you."

"You said."

"During the time I've been home," the girl in yellow stood up and floated above the ground like she did at the beginning, "I asked myself many times, I asked myself to recall the happy moments when I was with you."

"Then what?" Xiao Yao asked.

"I was surprised to find that I couldn't think of it," Shen Jie said in a very sad tone, "I can't even remember one."

"How is this possible--" Xiao Yao suddenly felt his heart being pulled and it hurt: "I'm sorry, I didn't do well enough."

He wanted to hug her so much.

"You think too much. You can't be blamed for this." Shen Jie shook her head. "It's because I don't love you at all. When you are with someone you don't love, you won't have any happy memories."

"..." Having said that, Xiao Yao didn't know what else he could say.

"Ever since you broke into my life," Shen Jie said gently, "my life is like a planet whose orbit was changed by an asteroid impact. Everything has changed and everything is in chaos. I think back to this year, less than a year, and it seems that I didn't do any of the things I was going to do..."

Xiao Yao was speechless: "..."

"I don't know how I got through this year. Everything seems like a dream," Shen Jie's voice really became like a dream. "My academic performance was getting worse and worse, and finally I transferred to another school for you."

Xiao Yao thought, is it the woman's poor logical ability or the shadow's poor logical ability? We just got together and it was summer vacation. You transferred to another school when school started, okay? Why do you say that you transferred because you couldn't keep up with the studies?
"Don't you remember what I told you? It was the day when it snowed and I went to the hospital to see your grandma," Shen Jie said, "I told you before I got in the car that you should stop bothering me. I don't want to transfer schools again for you. I will make sure you can never find me."

"I came here to see your father." Xiao Yao reminded her.

"You came here to kill my father," Shen Jie said word by word as she slowly floated down from the throne: "You came here to murder my father's soul so that you can continue to possess me. Tell me, what else do you want? You broke into my life and ruined my life. You spent my money and broke my - ahem, and now you come here with your little vixen and your followers, trying to murder my father.

"What else should I do? What should I do? What should I do to make you let me go and let our family go?"

When the shadow spoke these words, he spoke each word with a heavy voice at first, then he gradually became excited, and finally he even started to cry.

During this process, the ground began to vibrate again, and the figure of Queen Mary behind the girl became more solid and clearer, while "Shen Jie" herself slowly became transparent.

She began to rise slowly again, stopping at the center of Mary, becoming ethereal, as if merging with her spiritual fortress.

As this "monster" approached, Xiao Yao, Yu Luying and Daiyu felt a huge heat wave pushing towards them.

Xiao Yao couldn't help but think of the scene when Tang Seng and his three disciples approached the Flaming Mountain, except that they approached the flames on their own.

Daiyu saw that the corners of Shen Jie's clothes and trouser legs seemed to be on fire.

Butler Johns, who had been a quiet presence from the beginning, suddenly spoke. (End of this chapter)