Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 106 Who is Yingying? A lesson for Cui Jiulang
When I came to the Bailiang Poetry Society again, everyone inside had left, leaving only three young ladies: Cui Ying, the fourth lady from Cui's Ping'an room, Cui Ying, the lady from the first room, and Lu Xiangling, the lady from the Lu family.

Here, they also met an unexpected person - Wuling Yue.

Ever since Wu Chengsi staged a coup d'etat in the White Horse Temple, Wu Lingyue finally understood the truth behind the informant case and his father's ambition.

As the daughter of Wu Chengsi, she should have been guilty of the same crime as her father, but what she did not expect was that when the saint asked Xiao Muchen what to do with her, Xiao Muchen did not say a word to add insult to injury. Instead, he proved to her in a fair manner that she had not participated in or known about Wu Chengsi's actions, and that she had been working for the saint impartially since she became the deputy governor of the Internal Guards. Her loyalty was evident and she should not be implicated by her father.

The empress seemed satisfied with his answer, so although Wuling Yue was dismissed from his official position, he managed to save his life.

At this moment, when Wuling Yue saw Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan walking in hand in hand, his eyes couldn't help but feel sore, and endless loneliness and sorrow rose in his heart.

"Central Minister Xiao, Princess Jiahe, congratulations to you both... on your marriage!"

She raised her hand and saluted them both awkwardly.

"Why are you here?"

Xiao Muchen asked, although the saint did not punish Wuling Yue, she is now considered the daughter of a criminal, how can she walk around freely outside?

"I heard something strange happened here, so I wanted to come and take a look."

"The strange thing you are talking about is the bleeding puppet doll found here?" Murong Huan continued.

Wu Lingyue nodded. "I've asked everyone here, but no one knows where this puppet came from. The first person to discover it was Zheng Shuxiao, the wife of the Zheng family. She was frightened to the point of being unconscious, and has now been sent back to the Zheng family residence."

"And the two ladies from the Cui family and the Lu family were also unaware of this."

As she spoke, she pointed at Mrs. Cui and Lu Xiangling, who were sitting in the side room and were still a little frightened.

Murong Huan walked towards the two ladies surnamed Cui and cast his eyes on Cui Si Niang and Cui Ying.

It has to be said that Cui Si Niang is worthy of being the legitimate daughter of a famous noble family. She is graceful and calm in the face of any situation.

Even though she was taken to her brother Cui Shi's room by her personally yesterday and almost lost her innocence, she seemed fine at the moment, with no panic or guilt on her face.

She first glanced at Xiao Muchen, then turned to Murong Huan and raised her hand politely:
"If Princess Jiahe has anything you want to ask, please feel free to ask."

"How many people came to your Bailiang Poetry Society at one in the afternoon today? Is there anyone you don't know?"

Cui Ying replied, "I can't remember that. My poetry club has been running for a long time and is very popular among the noble ladies of Shendu. Sometimes even young men come here to play chess and write poetry. People come and go so often. How can I have such a good memory to remember everyone?"

"But I remember everyone who came here at noon! Give me paper and pen!"

Cui Ying smiled, said "OK", and asked the maid beside her to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Murong Huan recalled the scene when he came to the poetry club, and drew a long scroll, depicting all the people who came and went at that time, and placed it in front of the three young ladies, Cui Ying, Cui Ying and Lu Xiangling.

"Tell us, who are these people?"

Wuling Yue looked over in surprise. She had heard that Murong Huan was an intelligent and talented young lady, but she had never expected that she was so smart that she could draw portraits of all the people in the poetry club with just one glance.

Cui Ying, Cui Ying and Lu Xiangling also widened their eyes and looked at Murong Huan in disbelief.

"You can actually..."

"Answer her and see who these people are?" Xiao Muchen continued.

When Cui Ying and Cui Ying heard Xiao Muchen's words, their eyes lit up involuntarily. They nodded and began to look at the scroll carefully. Lu Xiangling also glanced at the scroll carefully.

"These are the young ladies from famous noble families such as the Wang, Lu, Zheng, Yang, Li, and Wei families. At that time, only Xiao Zhongcheng and Cui Jiulangjun were in the poetry club. There were no strange people here."

"When did Mr. Cui Jiulang come to the poetry club?" Murong Huan asked.

Cui Ying was displeased when she heard this and asked, "What do you mean, you doubt my brother?"

"I have no such intention. I wonder if Madam Cui has ever heard the story of 'The Story of Yingying'?"

Cui Ying shook her head: "Not really."

Cui Ying and Lu Xiangling also thought for a while, and said impatiently: "What is this? Why do you suddenly ask this? You ask so many questions, could it be that you suspect that this puppet was brought by us? Why do we do this? Is it just to scare people?" Murong Huan did not speak again, but nodded to Xiao Muchen, and the two walked out of the poetry club.

Cui Ying took a look with great curiosity.

Just as the two were about to leave the poetry club, Wu Lingyue suddenly called out, "Xiao Muchen——"

Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen stopped suddenly.

Then she said in a hoarse voice: "I'm sorry, everything you did was right, I was wrong, I was so wrong..."

I almost killed you... Your choice was right, it's me who is not worthy of you!
Wuling Yue's eyes were blurred by tears for a moment, and he felt extremely guilty and sad.

Xiao Muchen didn't say anything, but walked out with Murong Huan, got on the carriage and drove towards the Xiao Mansion.

As soon as they got on the carriage, Xiao Muchen asked, "Do you suspect this Cui Ying?"

Murong Huan nodded. "Yes, in fact, it was Cui Ying who brought me to see Cui Shi yesterday. Although my uncle's daughter, Su Sanniang, is a calm and composed person, she would never have dared to take such a risky action and lure me to the Bailiang Poetry Society without someone's instructions."

"And when I asked her a question just now, her answer was very straightforward and direct, without any hesitation. It was completely different from Cui Ying and Lu Xiangling's answers."

"So, you suspect she is the Cui Yingying mentioned in the scroll?"

Murong Huan nodded: "But I don't have any evidence yet to prove that she has killed anyone. Maybe we should wait and see what she will do next."

Having said this, Murong Huan continued, "Besides Cui Ying, Cui Shi is also very suspicious. Is the Cui family also involved in the extermination of your Xiao family?"

Xiao Muchen was slightly startled. The mention of Cui Shi reminded him of what happened yesterday, which suddenly made him furious. However, in order not to worry Murong Huan, he smiled and said, "I will send someone to secretly investigate Cui Shi. Don't think too much. You haven't had a good rest since you came to my Xiao family."

"Come, I'll hold you and you can have a good rest."

As he spoke, he hugged Murong Huan into his arms, but found that Murong Huan's body seemed to be surrounded by coldness, and it was getting colder and colder. He felt guilty and couldn't help but hugged him tighter.

"Is the cold poison acting up?" He kissed her cheek and asked with great pain.

"Xiao Muchen, don't worry, I will cure you. I will definitely remove this poison."

……

At the hour of You, the golden sun was setting in the west. Cui Shi had just walked out of Princess Taiping's mansion and had not walked far along an alley when he was attacked by seven or eight masked men in black. After knocking his followers unconscious, they put a black bag on his head and carried him into a carriage.

When Cui Shi woke up, he saw an extremely unfamiliar and dim environment, which seemed like a dungeon. It was terribly quiet all around, with the sound of dripping water coming from time to time.

In the flickering candlelight, he finally saw a familiar face.

"Xuan Yu! Are you the follower beside Xiao Muchen? How dare you bring me here?"

"You've been going to Princess Taiping's mansion quite frequently recently. Do you want to rely on women to get into the core of the imperial court?" Xuan Yu asked teasingly.

Cui Shi was so panicked at this moment that he couldn't hear Xuan Yu's words. He just shouted, "Did Xiao Muchen order you to bring me here? Where is he? Where is he? You are so bold! I am the legitimate son of the Ping'an branch of the Cui family in Boling, and I am this year's newly-minted Jinshi. How dare you arrest me?"

Amidst his curses, Xiao Muchen, dressed in black and wearing a half-mask, walked up to him and said, "Cui Chenglan, just because I didn't settle the score between our two families doesn't mean I'm afraid of you, the Cui family. As long as you don't offend me, I won't bother with you. But you actually set your sights on Ah Huan, so don't blame me for teaching you a lesson and punishing you!"

After Xiao Muchen finished speaking, he glanced at Xuan Yu.

Xuan Yu picked up the red-hot iron from the charcoal stove beside him and said with a smile, "You like to attract bees and butterflies so much, relying on your handsome face to seduce young ladies everywhere. How about I destroy this little brother of yours?"

After saying that, he was about to extend the branding iron towards Cui Shi's crotch.

Cui Shi was so frightened that he screamed, "Xiao Muchen, what are you doing? Stop it, stop it. I won't dare to do it again. I will never dare to have any improper thoughts about her again.

Also, I'll give you whatever you want!

I don’t want that position of Zhongshu Sheren anymore.”

Xuan Yu paused with the iron he was holding, and Xiao Muchen asked, "Did you put that puppet doll in the Bailiang Poetry Society there?"

(End of this chapter)