Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 107 The poison has been cured, who are you?
Cui Shi was shocked. "What puppet doll? I'm not a child. Why would I play with that thing?"

"You've already met Cui Chenglan at one o'clock this afternoon. If you know anything, you'd better tell me. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that you will be the next to die!"

"What do you mean? You said that thing is evil and anyone who touches it will die?"

"We've checked everyone who came to the Bailiang Poetry Society this afternoon. Every one of them reacted to the puppet with unfamiliarity and fear. Only you, Cui Si Niang, and Cui Ying looked different. Although surprised, they weren't unfamiliar. Natural emotions can't conceal their true feelings, which means you've already seen this puppet."

Cui Shi was stunned for a moment, then dropped his disguise and said, "Yes, I have seen it, but it's not mine. On my way to the Bailiang Poetry Club today, a little beggar suddenly bumped into my carriage. I got out to take a look, and when I arrived at the poetry club, it was already on my carriage."

"Little beggar?" Xiao Muchen immediately remembered that the captain of the Dali Temple had also mentioned a little beggar. So, he placed the portrait of the little beggar painted by Murong Huan in front of Cui Shi, "Is it him?"

Cui Shi took one look and his expression changed. "It looks like her, but not like her. She looks similar in general, but the little beggar I saw seemed to be a girl."

"How do you tell it's a girl?"

"Xiao Muchen, I know how to judge men and women, but you still don't trust me. The little girl was evasive and timid. She said her parents had died and she wanted to sell herself to bury her father, but unfortunately no one was interested in her. So I was kind enough to give her some silver. She happily took the silver and ran away. Before leaving, she left something on my carriage, saying that a noble person asked her to give it to me."

"You really believe that this thing was given to you by a noble person, and you dare to bring it to the poetry club?"

"I was just curious. Besides, I saw that this puppet was exquisite and beautiful, so I gave it to a young lady. Who knew that this puppet could bleed? I was scared at the time, okay?"

At this point, Cui Shi asked again, "By the way, I heard there was another murder at the Dali Temple. The two people involved in the White Horse Temple case were killed?"

"You seem to be well-informed. Do you have any spies planted in the Dali Temple?"

"No, absolutely not. Although my Cui clan has many people, we dare not place spies in the Dali Temple! I just heard someone say it at the princess's residence." Cui Shi said this, as if trying to find the expected expression on Xiao Muchen's face, and smiled again, "I have confessed everything you want to ask. Can you let me go?"

Xiao Muchen fell silent. After pacing a few steps in the dim hall, he suddenly asked, "Do you really have the antidote for the ice silkworm poison?"

Cui Shi's expression suddenly changed, he sighed inwardly, then smiled stiffly and said, "I don't have it at the moment, but I can ask my aunt for it.

I know that what my aunt did was wrong. She was a narrow-minded woman. Since she had already divorced your father and cut off all ties with him, she really shouldn't have poisoned you. But this has nothing to do with me, Xiao Muchen, you can't blame me. When you were poisoned, I was still a child the same age as you. Although we were wrong to leave you behind during the spring hunt that day, weren't we also afraid?

When people are scared, they instinctively run away. Isn't that a heinous act?"

Hearing this, Xiao Muchen looked at Cui Shi in surprise. On that day's spring hunt, he was indeed traveling with a group of young men from aristocratic families of similar age, but after entering the deep mountains, those young men from aristocratic families disappeared, leaving only him alone at the entrance of the cave where many snakes, insects, rats and ants were hiding.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Muchen asked again, "How do you know that the poison in my body was put by your aunt?"

"Why ask? Ever since my aunt returned to the Cui family, her dislike for you has been written all over her face. I've heard her mention it... She even called your mother a witch..." He smiled awkwardly. "Actually, all the Cui family members dislike her. She's so controlling that even my father hates her. But after divorcing your father, she doesn't want to remarry. Instead, she controls one of our Cui family's manors and pearl industry. My father can't do anything about her."

Having said that, he looked at Xiao Muchen carefully a few more times and said half-jokingly, "But, Xiao Muchen, I see that you look much better now than before, and your hair has become darker. Could it be that the nourishment of women has eliminated the poison in your body?"

Xiao Muchen's gaze suddenly shot towards him like a sharp blade, causing him to wave his hands in fear: "I was just joking, don't take it seriously..."

Before he could finish his words, he felt a pain on the back of his neck, his vision went dark, and he fell into endless darkness again.

Xuan Yu, who had knocked Cui Shi unconscious, asked, "Sir, what are you going to do with this kid?"

"Send him back to the Cui family!"

"Ah? Sending it back like this, isn't that too easy for him?"

Xiao Muchen did not continue talking to him, but strode out of the secret prison and hurried back to the Xiao family. When he arrived at Qingxin Courtyard, he saw Murong Huan soaking herself in a bathtub, and the misty fog made her appear and disappear.

Ah Shu was so anxious that she ran back and forth outside the tub, muttering to herself, "What should I do? What should I do?"

Xiao Muchen walked in quickly and stood in front of Murong Huan, but saw that her eyes were closed tightly and her whole body was emitting a cold air. The plum blossom mark on her chest became even more delicate and charming.

"Ah Huan, wake up!"

He suddenly remembered what Helan Minzhi said that day: "If I have a way to cure the poison in his body, but it requires a small price, would you be willing?" A bad premonition rose in his heart. "A Huan——"

After calling him several times, Murong Huan suddenly opened his eyes, but when he looked at him, he was a little surprised, and there was even a fierceness and coldness in his eyes that was completely different from usual.

She suddenly stood up from the bathtub and stood naked in front of him, then asked Ah Shu to bring her a loose black robe.

"I'm fine, don't worry." She said, putting on her black robe and tying her belt. Then she asked, "Did you get any news from Cui Shi?"

Xiao Muchen nodded: "He said that he also got the puppet doll from that little beggar."

Murong Huan didn't seem surprised. He simply said, "Actually, it's useless for you to find the person behind the murders of Xue Huaiyi and Hong Xian. What was going to happen will still happen. Now that Prince Wu Chengsi of Wei has fallen, the Wu family still has Prince Wu Sansi of Liang. This man is even more cunning and scheming than Wu Chengsi. If my guess is correct, they should take action against Prince Xiang."

"you……"

Xiao Muchen suddenly felt that the person in front of him became very unfamiliar. This was not like the Ah Huan he usually saw. Although Ah Huan was usually a little cold and sarcastic, he was not as stern and sharp as he was at this moment. He even had an imposing aura that made people feel unapproachable.

Ah Shu kept making faces and looked extremely anxious, but when she saw Xiao Muchen's eyes glancing at her, she quickly turned her back and pretended that she saw nothing.

Only then did Murong Huan smile and change the subject: "By the way, when is our wedding? The Dragon Boat Festival is almost here, I think..."

"Do you think it's okay to hold it on the Dragon Boat Festival?"

Murong Huan smiled and said hello. Facing Xiao Muchen's slightly suspicious gaze, he seemed a little embarrassed. After a while, he said, "I'll go out for a while!"

"Where are you going so late?"

Murong Huan paused for a moment, then heard Xiao Muchen ask, "Are you going to Prince Wei's mansion to kill Wu Chengsi?"

"You don't look like Ah Huan, who are you?"

Only then did Li Linghuan suddenly turn around and look at him, even secretly clenching his fists.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense and stagnant. Ah Shu, realizing that things were not going well, quickly rushed over and said with a smile, "Nothing, nothing, Xiao Zhongcheng. Ah Huan just wanted to take a walk outside. She likes walking to relax. Whenever she arrives at a new place, she always looks around."

"Really?" Xiao Muchen felt very uncomfortable for a moment, but he couldn't tell why. "Then I'll go for a walk with you!"

"Okay!"

Li Linghuan did not refuse, and the two of them put on their cloaks and left the house, walking in the twilight of Luoyang's streets.

It was not yet curfew, and although there were not many people on the streets, there were still BMWs shuttling through the neighborhoods.

Li Linghuan suddenly asked, "Xiao Muchen, do you know Ming Chongyan?"

"Of course we know. He was a descendant of Ming Shanbin, a famous scholar in the Southern Dynasties. Although he was from an aristocratic family, he was fond of the mystical arts of gods and ghosts, as well as physiognomy. The world considered him despised, but he gained the trust of Emperor Gaozong and the current sage. He was a sorcerer who became prime minister and used the mystical arts of gods and ghosts to discuss current affairs. Emperor Gaozong and the sage both had great faith in him. It's a pity that he later died mysteriously in his own home. Some said he was killed by gods and ghosts, some said he was killed by thieves, and still others said he was killed by Prince Zhanghuai Li Xian."

"What do you think?"

"The theories about gods and ghosts are ultimately unbelievable. I am more inclined to the fourth possibility."

"Oh? What's the fourth possibility?"

Xiao Muchen looked at her even more strangely, and an inexplicable pain suddenly rose in his heart.

"Is the person talking to me now really Ah Huan?"

Li Linghuan didn't dare to look into his eyes for a moment, so she looked away. At this moment, a little beggar with disheveled hair flashed past her and stuffed a puppet into her hands.

(End of this chapter)