The Spring Banquet

Huo Yu was six when he was finally brought out of the Cold Palace. The palace servants thought he was mad too. In winter, they poured icy water over him; in summer, they fed him spoiled food. He grew up in darkness, lonely and sinister, becoming unscrupulous and indifferent to life and death. Until one day, a nanny brought in a chubby little palace maid. Every day, she waited outside the Imperial College to shield him from the stones other people threw at him. She even stole a chicken leg from the head eunuch and shared it with him... Even when Huo Yu got her punished, she never gave him away. She was really... unbelievably stupid. Later, Huo Yu personally killed the fourth prince, who had slapped the little palace maid, then trampled the haughty crown prince underfoot... He became the new crown prince, but the little palace maid said she was grown up now and ought to leave the palace to marry. Huo Yu flew into a rage. "If you dare leave, I will slaughter gods and demons until there is nowhere left for you to go!" Then the Eastern Palace was raided, and blood stained the Jinshui River. Huo Yu let his bones be broken and his flesh cut away to beg for a chance at life for the little palace maid. But on the day of his execution, she came back. She said: "Your Highness, I'm here to keep you company." On the execution platform, Huo Yu broke free of his shackles and leaped in front of the little palace maid. He touched her cheek with blood-soaked hands and said, trembling, "You're such a fool." --Extra Scene-- In the second year of Emperor Yuan's reign, the emperor and empress quarreled. That night, Huo Yu tossed and turned, feeling deeply aggrieved: --"Why hasn't she come yet?" --"Can't she just say a few words to comfort me?" --"Forget it. I'll go talk to her first." He pouted. "Everyone else can abandon me, but you can't." Theme: Loving her most