Chapter 18 Pear Garden Shadow (Eighteen) I'm sorry, it's all my fault...

"Huh?" The person next to him spoke abruptly, Zhao Jinfan didn't react for a while, and asked: "Wait for you to come back? Where are you going?"

Xie Zhiyan's face was also full of doubts, he looked at him with his arms folded, and said in an unhappy tone: "What do you want to do!"

Ye Qingzhan, who was silent around the three people, pulled Wen Gu forward. Li Zhixing also pricked up his ears, wanting to hear the young man's answer.

Ayang returned the shadow figure in his hand to the old man, stood upright in front of Zhao Jinfan, and said solemnly: "Thank you for your care these days. If you are willing, wait for me, wait for me..."

"She doesn't want to." Xie Zhiyan stared at Ayang, "Who are you? Why should Jinfan wait for you? God knows where you are going!"

"Xie Zhiyan!" Zhao Jinfan poked him with his elbow, "Listen to what Ayang has to say." Xie Zhiyan stopped talking and turned his back.

The young man, who was interrupted in the middle of his words, did not show any annoyance on his face, but his eyes sparkled with joy. He said, "No matter what, please wait for me to come back. When we meet again, I will tell you everything about me." He paused, his tone suddenly hesitant, and said, "When the time comes, whether you are willing to keep me or drive me away, I will accept it."

The young man's phoenix eyes swept away the gloom of the past, and became bright and sincere.

Zhao Jinfan looked at him, and after a moment, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, we are waiting for you. When the time comes, you are not allowed to refuse to learn opera again."

Ah Yang nodded heavily.

Zhao Jinfan glanced at him, and took out a pair of small shadow figures made in the afternoon from her sleeve. The workmanship was a little rough, but the appearance was very delicate. She lowered her eyes to look at them, then raised her head to look at Ah Yang: "This is what your brother Xie and I made together. Just now you said you wanted to be a shadow figure, and you said that shadow figures together are like a family. In that case-"

"Take these two shadow figures," Zhao Jinfan handed them to the young man. "Think of it as your brother Xie and I accompanying you." She added, "As family."

Xie Zhiyan, who had been angry, immediately calmed down upon hearing what Zhao Jinfan said. "Brother Xie" gave him a sense of belonging, and he felt he should be more generous. He turned around and said, his tone gentler, "Take them, take them. Don't lose them."

Ah Yang carefully took them, lowered his brows and looked at them for a long time. "I'll cherish them." After a moment, he looked up at Zhao Jinfan. "Wait for me."

He took the little shadow figure in his arms, turned, and swept through the crowd. With a few taps of his toes, he leaped over the high wall. In an instant, he disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Ah Yang's kung fu is so good!" someone exclaimed.

"Yes, but where is he going so late?" someone asked.

Miss Ye, enjoying herself with the shadow figures, scurried over to Zhao Jinfan and asked, "Did Ah Yang escape?"

Zhao Jinfan, eyeing the gently swaying branches on the high wall, affirmed,

"He'll come back."

While everyone's attention was focused on Ah Yang's disappearance, Li Zhixing glanced at Ye Qingzhan and Wen Gu, then quietly retreated to the shade of a tree. Then, slowly shrinking into a small shadow figure, he chased Ah Yang.

Qinghuai gazed at the high wall from afar, smiled wryly, and said, "Ah Yang, Ah Yang, you've forgotten that a shadow figure can't escape the control of the bamboo string for the rest of its life."

The young man's whisper was heard by everyone. Wen

Gu's eyes were sharp, and he said, "Then cut it off."

Ye Qingzhan's gaze blazed, and he replied, "Yes!"

Before he could finish his words, the Master of Illusion departed, and the Ye Mansion underwent a sudden transformation. Ye Qingzhan and Wen Gu grabbed Qinghuai and closed their eyes in a flash of light. When they opened their eyes again, they and the ghost stood beneath a stage.

The actors on the stage were Zhao Jinfan, who was dressed as a military commander, and Xie Zhiyan, who was acting as a young man.

When all the guests in the hall were clapping and cheering, a group of soldiers suddenly rushed in. The audience scattered like a flock of birds and beasts, running around.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Ye Qingzhan pulled the two tall men who were standing still to hide behind the stage, and stuck his head out to observe carefully.

"Stop singing!"

The sound of string music and drums stopped, and Zhao Jinfan and Xie Zhiyan looked at the soldiers who were showing off their power below the stage. The leader threw away the scroll in his hand, lowered his eyes and glanced at the stage, only to hear him shout in a stern voice:

"Catch them!"

Following the order, the soldiers behind him rushed onto the stage, knocked the two men on the stage to the ground, and put knives to their necks.

Zhao Jinfan knelt on one knee on the ground, his eyes wide open, and asked loudly: "Why! What crime have we committed!"

"How dare you!" "

Zhao Jinfan, the owner of the Suihe troupe, secretly harbored Xie Xu, the son of Xie Cang, a criminal minister of the court, Chiyao."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Qingzhan's brows jumped behind the stage, and he asked himself: Why would something that happened more than ten years ago be dug up again?

"The two of them colluded secretly and harbored evil intentions, and they are worthy of death. They are arrested today by imperial decree!"

The knife was against his neck, and the fine hair on his temples scattered in the wind. Zhao Jinfan's

eyes were still full of determination, and he asked: "Do you mean what you say? Evidence, do you have evidence!" The leading officer glanced at her, then glanced at Xie Zhiyan's face, and said disdainfully: "Evidence? Go to the jail and ask someone for it."

"Take him away!"

Xie Zhiyan knelt on the ground and struggled, and said angrily: "You are arresting people indiscriminately without evidence, you are taking human life lightly!"

"Taking human life lightly?" The officer asked back, "Where were you when Xie Cang colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country?" The officer asked back, and tilted his head, and said coldly, "Collaboration with the enemy and treason will kill nine generations of your family. Xie Xu, don't think that after ten years, you can escape death and start a new life in anonymity."

"Remember, Xie Xu, whether Xie Cang is dead or not, you are his son."

"Always the son of a guilty minister."

The general looked at Xie Zhiyan, and every word was precious. Seeing his head lowered, he ordered his men, "Gag them and take them away." Glancing around, he said, "Take away the remaining actors from Sui and the troupe!" Upon

hearing this, some of the troupe members, who had been hiding in their hiding places, remained frozen in place, while others fled in terror. In their panic, they still couldn't escape the search and arrest of the soldiers.

In less than half an incense stick of time, only Ye Qingzhan, Wen Gu, and Qinghuai remained in the entire opera house. As the soldiers searched for them, the three of them escaped thanks to the barrier cast by Ye Qingzhan.

Qinghuai wanted to rush out and fight to the death with those officers and soldiers, but was stopped by Ye Qingzhan. She asked, "Qinghuai, you remember everything, right?"

Qinghuai nodded, tears in her eyes and said, "I remember. I remembered it when the reed flute sounded that day."

Ye Qingzhan wanted to ask more details, but the most important question at the moment was only one: "Then do you know where the knot in your heart is?"

"Of course, I want to see the leader of Jinfan and the others again."

"Okay." Ye Qingzhan looked at Wen Gu seriously, and he also cast his eyes on her. The two of them understood each other without words.

Wen Gu said, "Then change the ending of this story and break this situation."

***

"Why do you want to hide the criminals of the court?" The iron chains were hinged on the woman's body. The thin clothes were stained with blood. The thin flesh on her wrists and ankles was turned out, and her face was marked with a deep and a shallow whip mark.

"Are you from the Zhao family of Chiyao?"

"What do you want to do by colluding with the Xie family!"

"Do you plead guilty?"

Zhao Jinfan's lips were bleeding, her eyes filled with coldness. She said, "I am Zhao Jinfan of the Chiyao Zhao clan."

"My Zhao family was murdered by a traitor. The entire family was tragically killed, leaving only me. What crime have I committed?" She looked at the fierce-looking yamen runner and suddenly smiled, a look of disdain on her pretty face. "Are you in cahoots? With treacherous officials in power, you believed slander and forced a confession under torture. I think you're the worst of them!"

"Who are you scolding?" The yamen runner's face was grim. He picked up the branding iron and struck her in the heart. "Stop talking tough!" The sound of flesh

being scorched

echoed. Zhao Jinfan bit her lip, bleeding profusely, and lost consciousness.

Xie Zhiyan sat against the wall, his hair disheveled and his clothes tattered. His usual spirit was gone, but his eyes held an unyielding look.

Seeing the yamen runner dragging someone towards him and unlocking the cell door, he hurriedly stood up to retrieve the tortured woman.

Xie Zhiyan embraced Zhao Jinfan in his arms, his eyes full of tenderness.

The young yamen runner looked at the two people leaning against each other and sighed softly: "They are both stubborn, what a pity. Why offend Lord Jin when you can offend anyone else?"

"Shut up, don't say things you shouldn't say." Another yamen runner reminded.

The young man covered his mouth and the two retreated.

The person in his arms was pale, with frowns and closed eyes. Xie Zhiyan was worried, wondering if she had heard what the two said. When he came to his senses, the person had already retreated.

Xie Zhiyan put the person on the ground, let her lean against him, and hugged her.

He raised his hand, wanting to wipe the dirt off her face, but he didn't know where to start. A face that was once beautiful and handsome was now covered with scars, which was shocking.

A tear slipped from the corner of his eye without warning.

Xie Zhiyan hugged the person tighter, but was afraid of touching her wounds, so he could only hold her shoulder lightly. He lowered his eyes to look at the person in his arms, tears welling up in his eyes. In a trance, he suddenly remembered their past, and also her...

When he first met Zhao Jinfan, Xie Zhiyan was only fourteen years old. He secretly climbed over the wall from the martial arts training ground and was chased. He ran all the way and accidentally ran into the Zhao family opera house.

The one performing on the stage at that time was Zhao Jinfan, who was in her prime. Dressed in the robes of a general, she played a heroine. She

was radiant and heroic.

The heart of a young man is always caught off guard.

The girl on the stage walked into the heart of the young man below, step by step.

Later, whenever there was a break in his training, Xie Zhiyan would sneak into the Zhao family, sit on the high wall, hide behind the green branches, and watch the girl on the stage sing with all her heart.

He had seen her play a martial artist, handsome and graceful; he had seen her play a princess, dignified and beautiful. He watched her fall on the stage, then see her rise and sing along, stubborn and persistent...

His eyes always followed her, his joys and sorrows all driven by her presence. Sometimes he laughed, sometimes he cried, not knowing if it was because of the characters in the story, or simply because of her.

It was the first day of June, the 25th year of the Jiakang

reign, and the sun was shining brightly. Xie Zhiyan sat quietly on the high wall as usual, gazing at the stage from afar, but the person he longed to see every day never arrived. He was anxious when he heard a voice from below:

"You sit here every day, are you here to watch the show?"

Xie Zhiyan lowered his eyes, only to see the girl who was supposed to be on the stage now looking up at him. He was surprised and delighted, but his joy turned to sorrow, and he tumbled down the wall.

He hugged his feet, and the girl reached out to him, anxiously asking, "Are you okay?"

Almost subconsciously, Xie Zhiyan reached out, but found his hands were covered in dirt. He quickly withdrew his hand, wiping it on his clothes twice before taking her hand.

The calloused girl's hands filled him with delight, his heart pounding.

"You're a good-looking girl, but you're not so respectable," the girl said, looking at him intently and winking. "Next time you want to see a play, go through the main entrance, don't sit on the wall."

Xie Zhiyan nodded dazedly, reluctantly withdrawing his hand. "I understand," he said. He hid his hand behind his back, clenching his fingers and rubbing them.

After a moment, he finally mustered the courage and blushed, asking, "What's your name?"

The girl mumbled, her hands on her hips, and said, "You're so rude! How can you ask a girl's name like that?"

Xie Zhiyan realized, in his nervousness, that he had forgotten basic etiquette. He wanted to open his mouth to make amends, but heard the girl who was just inches away say again: "Forget it, since you are pretty, I will reluctantly tell you my name!"

"Listen carefully, my name is Zhao Jinfan."

"Zhao in Zhao family, 'Jin' for icing on the cake, 'Fan' for controlling complexity with simplicity."

"Do you remember?"

Zhao Jinfan took a step forward, raised his eyes and looked at the young man who was half a head taller than him, and asked again: "Do you remember?"

How could he not remember?

Xie Zhiyan smiled and looked at the person beside him, who had been tortured beyond recognition. He raised his hand to wipe the blood off Zhao Jinfan's face, and said with tears in his eyes: "Jinfan, I'm sorry, it's all my fault."