kingnovel Chapter 202 Many Difficulties in Promoting Shadow Puppetry
Chapter 202 Many Difficulties in Promoting Shadow Puppetry
Chapter 202 Many Difficulties in Promoting Shadow Puppetry
The promotion of shadow puppetry faces many difficulties.
Before the morning mist had dissipated, Su Yunlan had already placed the improved shadow puppets in the courtyard of the inn.
Twelve bronze mirrors hung on a bamboo frame, their refracted light perfectly illuminating Du Liniang's light green dress. At the moment the lyrics of "The Peony Pavilion" began, the silk threads adorned with fluorescent powder cast fluttering shadows of begonia flowers on the blue brick floor.
"Did the twenty-fifth brother really find thirty barrels of tung oil?" Her fingertips brushed against the slipknot at the waist of the shadow puppet; the joints of the silk rope made a soft, tinkling sound. "If tonight's premiere is a success, a double-layered stage can be erected at the City God Temple tomorrow."
Before the words were finished, the sound of a gong suddenly came from across the street.
A dozen or so acrobats wearing ghost masks somersaulted past the embroidery workshop, and the leader threw a fire meteor that hit the edge of the bronze mirror array.
Just as Su Yunlan was about to use the silver needles hidden in her sleeve, she saw Young Master Xiao Twenty-Five leap down from the roof, the gold cloud pattern on his black outfit scorched by sparks.
&34；李三的猴戏班在茶楼包场半月了。&34；少年抹了把脸上的炭灰，腰间新佩的错银匕首与萧煜寒的螭纹带扣如出一辙，&34；方才听粮铺伙计说，他们到处宣扬咱们的皮影戏是&39；鬼魅附体之术&39；。&34；
Su Yunlan gripped the "Record of Heavenly Weaving" tightly in her hand; the Big Dipper embroidery pattern she had taken from her spatial storage last night was still pressed at the bottom of her dressing case.
The reflections of the begonia flowers projected by the mirror array suddenly twisted into a grotesque shape. She turned her head and saw Lady Gu leaning against the carved railing on the second floor of the embroidery workshop. The phoenix carrying a branch pattern on her moon-white dress had turned into an upside-down Big Dipper.
The teahouse at 3:45 PM was several times noisier than usual.
As soon as Su Yunlan stepped into the lobby, she was blinded by a deluge of sunflower seed shells.
Li Yiren, walking on stilts, swept across the beams and pillars, his leather whip making the teacups on the octagonal table clink loudly: "Everyone, watch closely!"
Authentic Five Animal Frolics doesn't use those evil mirrors and lights! &34;
&34; Master Li, be careful with your words. &34; Su Yunlan flicked out a silver needle to pin down the wooden stilts he was about to slip on, his embroidered shoes crushing the broken porcelain shards on the ground, &34; The improved joints and hinges allow the shadow puppet to turn three times faster, and the light and shadow of the silk reflected in the mirror array are also recorded in ancient books... &34;
&34; Su Niangzi, don't try to fool people with old books! &34; Li Yisheng ripped open the stage curtain, revealing the dusty old shadow puppet box behind it, &34; true old craftsmanship should be like this— &34; He grabbed the faded Xi Shi washing silk shadow puppet, and the cowhide rope at the joint suddenly broke, and the beauty's head rolled to Su Yunlan's feet.
Amidst the laughter of the tea drinkers, Su Yunlan bent down and picked up the chipped head.
When her fingertip touched the tiny needle hole on the back of her neck, her pupils contracted sharply—this was clearly the old-fashioned slipknot that she had failed to test three days ago, and now the broken part was covered with the unique cool fragrance of the space.
The sound of the night rain hitting the eaves of the inn and the iron horse was particularly crisp.
Master Wang stood in the shadows of the corridor, holding his faded opera trunk. His calloused hands traced the three faded gold characters on the trunk lid: "Qingfeng Troupe." "Master Liu of the South City just cancelled tomorrow's performance, saying that the art passed down from our ancestors shouldn't be mixed with sorcery."
"The arrangement of those bronze mirrors is derived from 'Tiangong Kaiwu'..." Su Yunlan's voice stopped abruptly. She saw the old man take out a red cloth bag from the bottom of the opera box. When unfolded, it was half of a stage curtain embroidered with the Big Dipper pattern—the stitches were exactly the same as the embroidery that Madam Gu had shown during the day.
As the water clock ticked, Xiao Yuhan was repairing the eyeglass frame with a carving knife.
The man, who had changed from armor to dark blue casual clothes, suddenly stopped. The gold-inlaid dragon-patterned belt buckle cast a dragon-like shadow on the wall in the candlelight: "At the height of the Qingfeng Opera Troupe's popularity, Old Master Wang's father once performed the entire 'The Palace of Eternal Life' before the Emperor."
Suddenly, all the bronze mirrors turned to the southeast. Su Yunlan looked at the trembling pearl hairpins on her temples in the mirror and suddenly remembered the incomplete opera script in the hidden compartment of her space.
There seemed to be a land deed tucked between the yellowed pages, the address of which was at the end of the alley where the teahouse that artist Li had booked was located.
When the clapper sounded for the second time at the hour of Yin, Xiao Yuhan pushed the warm almond tea across the windowsill.
Su Yunlan watched his figure disappear into the rain. As his dark blue robe swept across the blue bricks, a glint of dark light flashed from his gold-inlaid belt buckle—but the direction was not the official road leading to the military camp.
The rain at dawn, carrying the steam from the almond tea, condensed into winding watermarks on the windowpane.
The faint glint of the gold-inlaid dragon-patterned belt buckle left by Xiao Yuhan still lingered in her eyes. Su Yunlan stroked the Big Dipper embroidery pattern on the bottom of the dressing case when she suddenly heard the sound of a wooden wheel rolling over a bluestone in the front yard.
Just after the clapper of dawn struck, the headmaster of Heming Academy in the east of the city arrived in a painted carriage, braving the rain.
The old man's raincoat was damp with night dew, but he was tightly clutching the fragment of "Tiangong Kaiwu" that Xiao Yuhan had sent him the night before.
When Su Yunlan saw the vermilion annotations tucked between the pages of the book, her throat tightened suddenly—those vigorous characters were clearly Xiao Yuhan's imitation of the calligraphy of the previous dynasty, done with his left hand.
"When I was young, I worked in the Imperial Observatory." The headmaster pointed to the Big Dipper's image projected by the mirror array, his withered fingers trembling. "The arrangement of these twenty-eight constellations is exactly the same as the armillary sphere on the observatory during the Yonghe era!"
As dawn broke, the teahouse in the south of the city was already bustling with activity.
The veins on the back of Li Yiren's hand, which was gripping the faded curtain, bulged. The "evil light of the demon mirror" red banner that he had hung between the beams and pillars last night had now been replaced with a brocade banner embroidered with the emblem of Heming Academy.
Tea drinkers crowded in front of the stage, holding newly made tung oil lamps, the lampshades prominently displaying the shadow puppet patterns that Su Yunlan had improved.
&34; Ladies and gentlemen, please look at this intricate mechanism. &34; The gold thread cloud pattern on Xiao Yuhan's black outfit shimmered under the tung oil lamp. He lightly flicked the gilded gold hairpin on the Xi Shi shadow puppet, and the beauty, in full view of everyone, made a shy, veiled gesture—a gesture never before seen in "The Story of Washing Silk"—&34; The craftsmanship of the Qingfeng Troupe, passed down for six generations, should surely imbue the shadow puppet with more spirit when it turns. &34;
The sound of a porcelain cup shattering came from a corner of the teahouse.
Li Yiren stumbled and knocked over the Eight Immortals table. Among the Five Animal Frolics manuals that fell from his arms, there was a Big Dipper pattern that was the same as the one on Gu Niangzi's embroidery.
As Su Yunlan bent down to pick up the map, a trace of the unique coolness of the spatial cold spring brushed past her nose—this scent clearly came from the silk spool she had lost next to the mirror array last night.
As the sun began to set, Young Master Xiao was squatting on the roof of the inn, counting the barrels of tung oil.
The newly added dragon-patterned dagger at the boy's waist suddenly rang out. He looked at the brocade sedan chair that suddenly appeared at the end of the alley and excitedly blew a bamboo whistle: "Sister-in-law, look!"
Lady Gu from Linglong Embroidery Workshop has arrived with thirty-six embroiderers to collect the Big Dipper embroidery pattern! &34;
As dusk painted the eaves red, Su Yunlan was led by Xiao Yuhan through the mirror array.
The improved Du Liniang shadow puppet is spinning in the glow of the sunset, and twelve bronze mirrors transform her water sleeves into a sky full of fireflies.
As the last rays of sunlight swept across Xiao Yuhan's dark blue casual clothes beneath his armor, Su Yunlan suddenly noticed that half a blood-stained embroidered handkerchief was hidden in the concealed slot of the dragon-patterned belt buckle at his waist.
"These days..." Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Yuhan suddenly tucked her loose hair behind her ear.
The lingering scent of gunpowder on the man's fingertips intertwined with the faint, cool fragrance emanating from him, creating an inextricable knot.
At the end of the corridor, Master Wang, holding his opera box, wept bitterly. The faded curtain of "The Palace of Eternal Life" billowed in the night wind, revealing the Twenty-Eight Constellations embroidered in gold thread on the back.
The sound of the water clock urged the candlelight to flicker. Su Yunlan looked at the incomplete score of "Rainbow Feather Robe Dance" that had suddenly appeared in her dressing case, her fingertips brushing over the fresh vermilion ink marks on the yellowed pages.
Suddenly, fireflies gathered outside the window in the shape of the Big Dipper, reflecting a faint, rippling light onto the jade bracelet on her wrist—within which lay the sound of gilded mechanisms turning, a sound only found in hidden compartments of the space.
The midnight wind lifted the inn's wine flag, and Su Yunlan inserted the last silver needle into her hair in front of the bronze mirror.
Suddenly, the Big Dipper embroidery pattern at the bottom of the dressing case shone with starlight, projecting winding patterns of the Yellow River and Luo River onto the mirror.
As she reached out to touch the shimmering light spots, the tinkling of the shadow puppets' ornaments suddenly echoed from the depths of the space—the melody perfectly matched the missing final chapter of "Feathered Robe" on the incomplete score.