Chapter 210.2 - I Became the Legendary Emperor Throughout the Ages After I Started Giving Away My Territory

Finding there were a few more pages left, he continued to flip through them.

“Huh? This seems to be a musical score?”

He knew how to play the zither, and there was one hidden in his home.

He immediately brought it out and began to play according to the score.

The melodious and mournful tune slowly filled the air, and he saw two beautiful butterflies entwined in an intimate dance.

As he played, he suddenly burst into tears!

Hearing the noise, the servant boy ran in and was shocked to see Liu Shanhai’s tear-streaked face.

“Young master, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Don’t scare me!”

“It’s nothing! I am just…”

Liu Shanhai’s eyes were filled with despair: “I am just mourning my deceased love!”

The Servant boy: “…”

With your looks? You’re not even aware of it…. what love could you possibly have?

……

Meanwhile, this kind of thing was happening in the homes of many scholars.

When they saw the male protagonist, Liang Shanbo, handsome and dashing, sunny and charismatic, and full of righteousness, they perfectly identified with him, as if they were talented and brilliant.

When they saw the female protagonist, Zhu Yingtai, beautiful as a flower, well-read and sensible, and full of love for the male lead, they immersed themselves in the story once more, as if Zhu Yingtai was their own intimate lover.

However, when they reached the melodramatic twists in the story, they identified with that too, and then…

They collectively spat blood, their hearts turning to ashes!

Lin Beifan was indeed using the writing style of online novels!

The deeper the identification, the deeper the hurt!

Thus, they cried out in heart-wrenching pain.

“Ah! My love is dead!”

“Yingtai, my Yingtai is dead, such a tragic death!

“Yingtai is dead, and with her, my heart is dead too. I will never love anyone again!”

“Yingtai, I will join you in the next life!”

For the single dogs, it was still okay, but for those scholars who were already married with children, their wives grabbed their ears and scolded them.

“Tell me! Who is this Zhu Yingtai! Has this vixen bewitched you?”

“Shut up! You yellow-faced woman! Don’t insult my Yingtai!” the scholar yelled.

(TLN: Yellow-faced woman describes a woman who has been married for a long time. In ancient China, women misused cosmetics with lead and made their faces yellow to cover their aging faces.)

His wife became furious: “You heartless man! I’ve washed your clothes and cooked your meals all my life, given you two children, and devoted my life to this family! And for some woman outside, you dare to call me a yellow-faced woman? I’ll fight you!”

She charged at him.

The scholar cried out, “Don’t hit me! I actually don’t have another woman outside, it’s all a misunderstanding…”

“I’ll beat you to death first, then we’ll talk!”

Instantly, chaos erupted everywhere.

Consequently, the book “The Butterfly Lovers” became wildly popular among scholars.

They would often gather together to play “The Butterfly Lovers” song in memory of their deceased lovers while simultaneously cursing Ma Wencai and the noble families.

The loving couple would not have died if it weren’t for their meddling and breaking up the pair!

Their love would not have perished either.

“All noble families deserve to die!”

“If they hadn’t intervened, how could Liang Shanbo have died? How could Zhu Yingtai have died?”

“My Yingtai, oh how tragically you died!”

……

Coincidentally, there was a ‘Ma family’ within the noble families.

Even more coincidentally, there was a promising young man named ‘Ma Wencai’ in the Ma family.

One day, Ma Wencai was strolling through the streets.

As a result, he was smashed with mud by many passing scholars, leaving him filthy from head to toe.

Ma Wencai became furious: “What are you doing? What is this for? I haven’t provoked or offended any of you!”

“You know exactly what you did!” The group of scholars glared at Ma Wencai with bloodshot eyes, as if he had killed their parents.

Ma Wencai was bewildered: “What did I do?”

“You did it and now you don’t dare to admit it? It was you who broke up the loving couple, causing the deaths of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai! Without you, they would surely be living happily together right now! My Yingtai, oh how tragically you died!”

Ma Wencai was still confused: “Who are Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai? What do their lives or deaths have to do with me?”

The scholars trembled with rage: “Ma Wencai! You are really cunning and deceitful! Even now, you still won’t admit it? You’re a disgrace to all scholars! I’ll beat you to death!”

“Beat him! Such a person doesn’t deserve to live!”

“I will avenge Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai!”

Everyone picked up the mud from the ground and hurled it at him.

Some even picked up bricks and threw them at his head.

“You bunch of scums! I’ll remember this grudge, just you wait!”

Dirty and bleeding from the head, Ma Wencai ran back home and then sent people to investigate the cause of the incident.

After learning the truth, he spat out a mouthful of blood in shock.

“What does the Ma Wencai in the storybook have to do with me? If you want revenge, go find that Ma Wencai! What use is there in bullying me?”

The more Ma Wencai thought about it, the more wronged he felt.

While he may not be considered a saint, he has always tried to be kind to others and never forced anyone to do anything.

But now… to suffer such an unjust disaster was too unfair!

“How dare this storybook malign me like this, I won’t let you off easily!”

He immediately led a group of his family’s servants and guards to confront the shop that was selling the book, demanding they stop the sales.

As a result, they returned home with a head full of bruises.

Unable to seek revenge for the injustice done to him, his rage and grievances turned into a mouthful of blood that he spat out again.

“So unreasonable!!!”

……

“The Butterfly Lovers” is primarily popular among the scholars.

However, among the common folk, “The White-Haired Girl” is the popular tale.

A storyteller (someone who narrates or recounts stories orally to an audience) felt that this story was exceptionally well-told, so he purchased it and explained it over several sessions.

The audience listening below were all impoverished common people.

The common people listened with rapt attention. Because the story was so close to their own real lives!

The story’s protagonist, Xi’er, seemed like someone from their own surroundings, perhaps their own daughter, or their sister, or maybe the child from next door…

The sense of immersion was incredibly strong!

Their emotions were tossed and turned, following the life of Xi’er.

***