The little princess was torn, and the demon emperor patched her up

Chapter 12 The Girl Smells Like Orange Blossom
Qiu Xinghe's eyes turned red and tears suddenly rolled down.

He did not dodge or evade, but still knelt there and stretched out his arms towards her, wanting to hold her in his arms.

The golden hairpin held high by Xiao Baojing was suspended in the air.

She stared blankly at Qiu Xinghe's tears.

——Baoer, does it hurt?

——Baoer, this is the sword I used when I was a child. You can keep it with you for self-defense.

——Baoer, don’t be afraid, I’m marrying you and I will protect you from now on.

The young general's gentle voice was close to my ears.

But later, they brutally took away the small sword he gave her for self-defense.

They used the small sword to peel off her skin bit by bit and cut her joints bit by bit.

It hurts.

She was in so much pain.

Two lines of tears rolled down uncontrollably, dripping down the girl's pointed and white chin onto Qiu Xinghe's cheek, mixing with his tears.

She reached out and touched his tears.

The boy's tears were hot.

Through the tear on her fingertips, she saw that on the wedding day, the young general was deceived by his sister and excitedly picked all the peonies in the garden to decorate their new house.

That look of burning longing seemed as if he wanted to give her all the good things in the world.

not him.

The person who killed her was really not him...

She knew it...

The golden hairpin that was held high slipped to the ground.

The girl looked carefully at Qiu Xinghe's eyebrows and eyes in the moonlight, as if she wanted to remember his face forever.

The little face, covered with tears, slowly raised a gentle and bright smile towards him.

Qiu Xinghe held her hand tightly.

Shang Bingjiu stared at the two clasped hands, his smile deepened on his thin lips, but the hostility in his fox eyes was so dark and thick that it seemed to be overflowing.

The red thread was plucked again.

Xiao Baojing flew backwards uncontrollably.

Qiu Xinghe was aware of something and crawled on his knees in the camellia bushes, still refusing to let go of her hand. His voice was filled with anxious tremors and pleading: "Bao'er, don't go, don't go..."

Xiao Baojing retreated faster and faster, and in the end he could only barely hold her snow-white fingertips.

The wind suddenly blew, and thousands of fireflies floated out from the camellia bushes and gathered into a galaxy, like a grand farewell.

The girl's fingertips slipped out of Qiu Xinghe's hands, and her whole body quickly flew backwards towards Shang Bingjiu. Finally, he picked her up with one arm and sat on his shoulder like a puppet.

"Bao'er..."

Qiu Xinghe looked at Xiao Baojing from afar, but suddenly felt very strange.

That's not his baby.

He raised his head.

It is said that when a person's soul dissipates, it will turn into millions of fireflies to light the way home.

He slowly raised his hand, trying to grasp something in the air.

But I couldn't hold anything.

The young general suddenly coughed up blood and fainted in the camellia bushes with a pale face.

Xiao Baojing sat on Shang Bingjiu's shoulder, his heart beating so fast that he almost suffocated.

She could clearly feel that a part of her body was being taken away tonight.

Is it... another soul?

The skin she was using originally belonged to that soul and was picked up by the peddler and patched up until it became what it is now.

And tonight, she clearly saw and heard everything that the soul had experienced. Until she and Qiu Xinghe looked at each other, the soul seemed to confirm something, and the obsession that remained in this skin finally dissipated.

Qiu Xinghe was carried back to the yard by his followers.

The actors who were watching the show returned to the big bunk bed while talking.

Shang Bingjiu took Xiao Baojing to a well.

His puppet was touched by someone else and became dirty.

He wanted to wash her hands.

Shang Bingjiu fetched a bucket of water, soaked a handkerchief in the well water, and carefully wiped Xiao Baojing's fingers, only to find that her little face was covered with mottled tear marks, and her clear almond eyes were filled with indelible sadness, as if she was still immersed in the sorrow of the life and death separation of Qiu Xinghe and the Ninth Princess.

But the remaining soul in this puppet has clearly disappeared. It is...

Have you cultivated your own soul?

He placed the Xiao Baojing on the wellhead, sat beside her, and stroked his Taoist robe: "It will be dawn in an hour. The big bunk bed is noisy and dirty. I will stay here with the little princess."

Xiao Baojing slowly walked out of the emotions left by the remnant soul.

I have to say that this peddler is quite considerate of her...

However, he suddenly looked at her bulging bag suspiciously: "What did you steal?"

Xiao Baojing: ...

She was caught stealing someone's shoes!

How could she explain that she was just a puppet and would run out and steal other people’s things?

You will be suspected of being a monster!

She was wondering what to do when Shang Bingjiu reached into her bag.

Xiao Baojing: How could this guy reach directly into a woman’s bag?
Shang Bingjiu took out a pair of white satin embroidered shoes.

Xiao Baojing: Stop it!
Either pretend to be dead, or she pretends to be dead!

No matter how he asks, she will never open her mouth!
Unexpectedly, Shang Bingjiu did not question her anything.

He played with it for a moment, then reached out and pulled out two embroidery needles hidden under the sole of his shoe.

The original pearl satin embroidered shoes turned into two white birds in the boy's palm. They circled and chirped for a while, then flapped their wings and flew into the night in pairs.

Xiao Baojing opened his eyes wide in surprise.

No wonder the old demon hunter said that these shoes were made of monsters, it turns out they were really transformed from a white bird!
Shang Bingjiu's voice is clear and melodious: "The Xuanshi Zhi says: There were two clogs, with very fine patterns, white in color and extremely exquisite in design. At midnight, they suddenly turned into white birds."

He looked at Xiao Baojing with a half-smile: "The white bird flew into the brocade bag out of mischief. Are you scared, little princess? I said I would always protect you, little princess. Look, I've chased them away for you now."

Xiao Baojing breathed a sigh of relief.

The peddler actually thought that it was the white bird that caused trouble and flew into her bag on its own.

It turns out that her identity has not been exposed.

The crescent moon sets in the west, and the grass and trees turn white with dew.

There is an orange tree next to the dry well, and in spring and summer its branches are full of pure white orange flowers.

The drooping branches fell on the boy's shoulders, blocking Xiao Baojing's view of him.

She brushed away the blossoms.

The tender yellow orange stamens brushed against her fingertips and cheeks, leaving a sweet and sour fragrance.

She quietly approached Shang Bingjiu and carefully observed his closed brows.

This peddler was not what she had imagined. Not only could he sew puppets, he also had amazing puppetry skills. Was it his parents who taught him this?

but……

Xiao Baojing thought of the red threads that pierced her body and his ten fingers tonight.

She didn't want to be a puppet controlled by others.

She still wanted to go to Yejing to find the imperial teacher and become a real person.

Shang Bing drank wine and closed his eyes to relax.

The girl wore a peony palace lantern sachet around her waist, which should have smelled the familiar scent of the Bingpo Qiongling flower, but tonight her breath was so close to him, with a subtle heat lingering around his cheeks, and he could not smell any scent of the Qiongling flower on her face.

His puppets smell like orange blossoms.

Orange blossom flavor...

Shang Bingjiu suddenly opened his eyes.

That soul...is she back?

...

The sky is bright.

Today is the old lady’s sixtieth birthday in the County Magistrate’s Mansion, and the mansion has been busy since early in the morning.

Shang Bingjiu and other actors went to the front yard to perform various operas. Xiao Baojing climbed out of the box and continued to look for Yaoyao quietly.

The county magistrate's mansion was huge, but she only had one day.

When she broke into a side yard, she saw that everyone here had run to the front yard to watch the fun, so she bravely shouted: "Yaoyao! Yaoyao? Are you here?"

forecourt.

Shang Bingjiu sat cross-legged on a high platform, surrounded by a group of children.

He held up two glove puppets with colorfully painted clothes, and his fox eyes smiled warmly: "Today we are telling the story of braised pork."

(End of this chapter)