Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 920 Let's Play Big

The square was already packed with people, the crowds even larger than those at yesterday's food festival.

Peddlers, scholars, merchants, families, and even many elderly people with canes crowded this open space.

The Northern Imperial Guards gripped their long halberds tightly, forming an impenetrable wall around the crowd.

The Third Lady did not actually attend the specially reserved seats in the front row. She only sent the Director of the Palace Attendants. Most of the prime ministers and important officials were also absent. Only a few ministers who were always interested in novel things and officials from the Court of State Ceremonial accompanied the envoys from various countries with different expressions to sit in the front row.

Li Zhi, Li Chengqian, Xiao Wu, Zhang Jianzhi and the others sat in their reserved seats, their expressions even more solemn than during the preview screening in the courtyard. Tuoba Shang squeezed next to Li Zhi, unusually quiet, his eyes darting around, constantly scanning the dark mass of people.

Even this scoundrel began to feel uneasy, because if even the slightest problem arose, it would truly be a cataclysmic event.

"Last night, there were only a few dozen people, and I was already alarmed," Li Chengqian said in a low voice. "Today, facing thousands of people, I wonder what kind of reaction this voice will elicit."

Xiao Wu straightened his sleeves and said softly, "Master has granted permission for its public screening, but I'm also a little apprehensive. This is truly..."

Zhang Jianzhi was deeply worried: "What is said in the film goes straight to the heart of the matter. I fear that the people cannot bear such a truth."

As they were talking, a commotion broke out in the crowd. Xia Lin and Dou Yazi walked side by side, followed by Tuoba Jing, whose eyes were red with excitement.

Xia Lin sat down next to Li Zhi: "Why are you all so serious?"

"Father," Li Zhi lowered his voice, "What about Mother..."

"Let her be." Xia Lin waved his hand dismissively: "Damn, she's developed a bad habit."

As dusk settled completely, the gas lamps hissed and lit up the square in a pale light. The noisy voices gradually subsided, and everyone looked at the hundred-foot-long curtain at the front.

Tuoba Jing took a deep breath and looked at Xia Lin, who nodded slightly.

"click"

The projector lens suddenly lit up, the beam of light like a sword piercing the darkness and reaching the white screen. The deep hum of the machine was particularly clear in the deathly silence.

Without warning, the scene opened with a howling north wind, swirling snowflakes and lashing the peeling vermilion palace gates. As far as the eye could see, the palaces remained majestic, yet they exuded an indescribable sense of decay and death.

The real-life city of Jinling, filtered through a dark, underworld-like black-and-white lens, creates an absolutely stunning atmosphere. Even Xia Lin, who has seen truly amazing blockbusters, felt that Tuoba Jing was a born artist.

A deep, resonant voice-over, tinged with a fatalistic pathos, slowly rises, each word like a hammer blow:

"The magnificent palace, with its nine layers of walls, is a tapestry of brocade and embroidery, yet beneath it lies a carpet of bones."

Before the words were finished, the scene shifted to the Golden Palace. The young emperor sat high on the dragon throne, his face pale and swollen, his eyes vacant as he stared at the kneeling officials below.

Inside the hall, incense smoke curled gently, and songs and dances filled the air.

"Your Majesty," the Grand Secretary stepped forward tremblingly, his voice hoarse, "the Central Plains are suffering a severe drought, the land is barren for thousands of miles, millions of people are displaced, and they have... they have already resorted to cannibalism!"

The young emperor lazily raised his eyelids, his voice hoarse from being steeped in wine and women: "A few starving people, are they really worth disturbing my peaceful sleep? Order the granaries to be opened in all places."

"The national treasury... the national treasury is already empty!" The old minister pounded his head on the ground, wailing as if crying blood, "Even the salaries of the three major military camps in the capital have been in arrears for half a year, Your Majesty!"

"Then raise taxes!" The emperor waved his hand impatiently, as if shooing away flies. "Do you want my birthday celebration to be so shabby? I think you all can't stand to see me have a moment's peace!"

The authentic dialogue and clear tone starkly expose the estrangement between the emperor and his ministers, as well as the corruption of the court, instantly bringing the emperor, who was once high above everyone, to the forefront of public attention.

A collective gasp filled the square as many people stared wide-eyed at the absurd yet real scene unfolding on the screen.

You say it's not realistic? This emperor is played by a real emperor, the palace is a real palace, the dragon throne is a real dragon throne, and even that old minister with a sorrowful face is the second prime minister of the Great Wei. That kind of immersive and natural performance is something that no one else could have done.

The scene shifts. In the dead of night in the palace alley, an old eunuch leads the way with a lantern, whispering, "Your Majesty, an urgent message from Liaodong: Goguryeo has captured another city..." The emperor, drunk and embracing his favorite concubine, interrupts, "What a spoilsport! Today I acquired a magical bird from the Western Regions that can sing eighteen kinds of tunes. Would my beloved concubine like to hear it?"

The text even includes character introductions; the woman the emperor is embracing is one of the real imperial concubines, holding a very high position… she is actually playing herself.

At the same time, the scene shifts to the border region.

Snowflakes fell heavily, and soldiers, lacking food and clothing, huddled under the broken battlements. A young soldier, his face blue with cold, murmured to the old soldier beside him, "Uncle Wang, my mother... my mother is still waiting for me to bring money back to buy medicine..."

The old soldier silently took off his tattered cotton-padded coat and covered him with it, his voice hoarse: "Sleep, fall asleep... and you won't be cold anymore."

The sound came clearly, and the young soldier was no more.

The square was deathly silent, with the faint sound of a woman's suppressed sobs.

The scene shifts back to the palace. The emperor is holding a grand banquet for his favorite concubine's birthday, with each dish costing a hundred taels of gold. During the banquet, the concubine giggles and asks, "Your Majesty, I've heard that some women in the common world have skin as white as snow, which they achieve by bathing in human milk. Is that true?"

The emperor laughed: "If my beloved concubine is pleased, I will order the entire realm to select a wet nurse to enter the palace!"

Intertwined with this is a scene from a remote village a thousand miles away. A emaciated mother kneels in the snow, slits her wrist, and drips warm blood into the mouth of the infant in her arms. The baby continues to cry, its cries growing weaker…

"Stop playing!" someone in the crowd suddenly screamed in despair, "Stop playing!!!"

But this sound was quickly drowned out by the film's even stronger sound waves.

Smoke and fire suddenly blazed, obscuring the sun. The rebel army surged towards the capital like a tidal wave. The camera calmly panned across the battlefield: the government soldiers were emaciated, their weapons rusted, crumbling at the first touch against the ferocious rebels. Among the rebel ranks were also many peasants driven to desperation by the oppressive government, their eyes burning with hatred and despair.

"Relieving the people and punishing the guilty! Execute this tyrant!" The roar shook the heavens and the earth.

Within the imperial city, the emperor finally panicked. He tried to mobilize troops, but found that the imperial edict could not leave the palace gates; he wanted to raise funds for the army, but the treasury had already been embezzled; he even wanted to emulate his ancestors by personally leading the army, but found that he could not even find a decent warhorse.

"I am not a ruler who brought about the downfall of the country! My ministers are all ministers who brought about the downfall of the country!" He roared hysterically in the empty hall, his voice filled with resentment and fear: "It is you! It is you who have ruined me! Ruined this country!"

Finally, the palace gates were smashed open. The torrent of rebels surged into the city that symbolized supreme power. The emperor, disheveled and dressed in hastily changed civilian clothes, tried to blend into the crowd to escape, but was recognized by an old eunuch whom he had once ordered to be flogged and crippled.

The old eunuch pointed at him, his voice shrill like an owl's cry: "It's him! He's the emperor!"

An angry crowd gathered...

The scene doesn't directly show the final carnage, but instead freezes on the emperor being forced by swords and spears to walk towards the blazing dragon throne...

As the curtain fell dark, all was silent.

Only the projector beam shone hollowly and the gas lamp hissed.

Darkness enveloped the square, and the suffocating silence was more destructive than any shout.

A long, long time passed, but the lights never came on.

In the darkness, cries, curses, sighs, vomiting... all sorts of sounds gradually rose up, intertwining into a chaotic and painful wave.

The crowd was beginning to stir, but Tuoba Jing, standing nearby, suddenly jumped up without warning, trembling all over, his face flushed, and he clenched his fists and shouted, "Good!!"

Then Emperor Jingtai stood up and shouted to the people around him, "Was my acting good?! I'm not like this in real life, please don't hit me..."

Xia Lin quickly pulled the boy down and said in a low voice, "If you're looking for death, don't drag me down with you. You still dare to get up at a time like this?"

(End of this chapter)