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

Chapter 1 The Puppet and the Peddler
Xiao Baojing held the bronze mirror with a pomegranate pattern in his hands, staring blankly at the childish face with heavy makeup inside.

She traveled through time and became a puppet in painted clothes and makeup.

She poked her white and tender fingertips out from the wide sleeves of her red palace skirt, touched the red thread sewn on her neck, and couldn't help but let out a sharp cry: "Oh my God! If it weren't for the stiff body and the red thread sewn on the neck and joints, who would have known that this was a puppet? The skin, the eyebrows and eyes, are too realistic! What kind of skin is this made of? Were the craftsmen in ancient times so skilled?!"

There was a ringing sound from outside the yard.

Xiao Baojing quickly threw away the bronze mirror and hid it among a pile of colorfully painted puppets in the corner.

These puppets were as tall as normal people, and there were men, women, young and old, but they were not as delicately crafted as hers. The little maid puppet next to her, who was wearing a goose yellow half-sleeved skirt, had her eyes almost popping out.

Xiao Baojing couldn't bear it, so he helped her stuff her eyeballs back into her eye sockets.

The sound of the bell was getting closer, and the footsteps in the yard had already reached the eaves of the corridor.

Xiao Baojing quickly adjusted his gaze.

The moment she looked forward, the little maid puppet next to her suddenly blinked and looked at her curiously, but her stiff expression returned to its original state the moment her master pushed the door open.

The owner of this small house was a young peddler. Every morning, he would carry a shoulder pole filled with various small items and go to the town to sell rouge, powder, hairpins, embroidered shoes, and glove puppets.

Xiao Baojing saw him take off his clogs and step over the threshold. His dark blue Taoist robe made his figure look slender and thin. When he poured tea, a pale and thin wrist was exposed. Even his ankles were thin and slender. He looked like a typical growing teenager.

Although he was clearly a craftsman who walked the streets, he liked to wear a floating scarf like a scholar and pin a deep red and light pink hibiscus flower on his temples. When he didn't wear the flower, he would hang a snow-white fox mask around his waist. The fox's slender and slightly raised eyes were exactly the same as his. When he smiled, his lips were red, his teeth were white, and his eyebrows and eyes were beautiful. He really looked like the fox scholar in strange stories.

The peddler put down the teacup and walked towards the low dressing table by the window: "Why is the bronze mirror thrown here?"

Xiao Baojing's breath was choked.

Seeing that the peddler did not doubt too much and just put the mirror back into the sandalwood frame, she breathed a sigh of relief.

If the peddler found her running around and moving around, he would probably think that the puppet had become a spirit, right?

Maybe he would report her to the authorities and burn her to death.

It drizzled at night, and the banana leaves rustled outside the window.

The peddler lit an oil lamp, suddenly walked to the corner, and picked up Xiao Baojing by the waist.

Xiao Baojing's pupils shrank slightly, and his heart was nervously in his throat.

It was late at night, a man and a woman were alone, why was he hugging her?
Did he want to...

What does he want to do with her?
Abnormal!

Fortunately, the peddler just placed her in front of the dressing table by the window.

He combed her hair into an intricate and beautiful court bun, picked up some bright red rouge with his little finger, and spread it evenly on her lips, his fingertips were cool and his movements were delicate.

Xiao Baojing frowned and looked over quietly.

The young man lowered his eyes, his long, fine eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks, covering his dark and deep pupils.

After finally applying the rouge evenly, he curved his fox eyes and praised: "Whose little princess is so beautiful? Oh, it's mine..."

His voice was gentle and clear, and the upturned ending sound seemed to carry countless small hooks, which made Xiao Baojing feel itchy in his heart.

This guy is quite flirty.

The peddler's eyes fell on the sachet around her waist again: "This sachet is old. I will buy you a new one when I sell all the goods tomorrow."

He turned around and started doing handicraft, taking out red silk thread and a handful of copper coins from the bamboo basket, as if he was planning to weave a bracelet.

But he was not satisfied with the shape of the bracelet, so he kept weaving and unweaving it, and after an hour he had only finished half of it.

Xiao Baojing thought to himself that it was no wonder that the peddler had no valuables at home. As a craftsman, he was so slow in doing his work that he could only weave a bracelet in an entire night. It would be strange if he could make any money.

The night is getting darker.

The peddler put the braided copper bracelet into the basket, blew out the oil lamp, and went to bed. The rain stopped, and the moonlight shone into the room.

Xiao Baojing had slept enough during the day. He glanced at the young man sleeping soundly on the wooden couch, stretched his body with relief, and began to wander around the small house.

Although the peddler lived alone, his house was kept in tidy order.

The small courtyard was planted with lush banana and hibiscus trees, and an ancient bronze animal-head bell was hung on the eaves. Perhaps because the family was poor, there was no meat or vegetables in the cupboard, and no rice in the rice jar.

"We are so poor that we can barely afford to eat."

Xiao Baojing imagined the peddler's life story:

He was originally a scholar, but unfortunately his parents died early. In order to raise money to go to Beijing for the imperial examination, he had to temporarily become a peddler.

How pitiful.

After touring the small house, she decided to take a look at the town.

Unfortunately, this body cannot move like a normal person. Her joints are stiff when she walks, and she can only walk slowly by holding on to the wall.

The town was filled with mist and was so quiet that not a single sound was heard.

In the moonlight, Xiao Baojing saw the dilapidated and ancient buildings in the distance, dimly hidden in the mist, and could see the faint green candlelight shining through the windows.

Xiao Baojing finally walked onto the street.

It was clearly late at night, but all the shops were still open and the lights were still as bright as day.

When Xiao Baojing passed by a rice shop, she remembered that the peddler was so poor that he could not even afford to eat, yet he still wanted to buy sachets for her. She took off a golden hairpin and planned to exchange it for some rice to repay him.

She touched her stiff neck and spoke with difficulty: "Boss, buy rice."

The middle-aged shopkeeper sat on a worn and yellowed bamboo chair and ignored her.

Xiao Baojing repeated: "Buy rice."

The shopkeeper still ignored her.

She stepped forward: "Buy——"

It was like a duck being pinched by the neck, and the remaining word was strangled in the throat.

Xiao Baojing stared blankly at the shopkeeper's face, which was covered with wood texture and facial features painted with colored paint, and suddenly his hair stood on end.

She turned and left.

He broke into other shops and houses at random, and the men, women, old and young inside were all carved out of wood. Some were crying, some were laughing, and they looked extremely strange under the candlelight.

Gusts of cold wind blew out the green lanterns outside the shops.

Countless white paper money poured in from the end of the long street.

Xiao Baojing held onto the wall and crawled back to the peddler's small house.

She slammed the bolt on the courtyard door, leaned against it in fear, and kept stroking her chest.

There was no one alive in the town.

The people living here are all wooden dolls wearing colorful clothes!
This is basically a dead town!
As dawn approached, Xiao Baojing knelt down in front of the dressing table again, maintaining the same posture as last night.

But my heart felt like there was a small drum beating.

If there were no living people in the town, why would the peddler live here?

He goes to the town every day to sell goods. Who does he sell them to?
　Long time no see!! The male protagonist's appearance is inspired by "Chinese Tales: Goose, Goose, Goose".

　　
　
(End of this chapter)