Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 125 His Mother
Watching his "bride" approaching step by step, the old Taoist priest inexplicably felt a kind of imposing aura like a mountain pressing down on his head. At this moment, even Lu Shiyilang looked at her with a little surprise, thinking to himself: How come this young lady seems to have suddenly become different, or did I not know her well enough before?
"Since you say you can communicate with ghosts and gods, then has the King of Hell told you when you will die?"

Li Linghuan asked, lifting the old Taoist priest up with one hand and continued, "If you say a hundred years from now, then I will kill you today. But if you say today, I will also grant your wish!"

Lu Shiyilang's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself, "Brilliant! This is truly brilliant!" No matter how he answered, he would die. If this old Taoist showed even a hint of fear, it would only prove that he was nothing more than a charlatan.

The old Taoist priest was indeed frightened. He glanced at Cui Yuan and replied with trembling lips, "How could you... kill me? As a bride, do you really want to stain your wedding scene with blood in public? Besides, people from the Dali Temple are here too. Are you planning to commit murder in public?"

"Really?" Li Linghuan raised his lips in disdain, tightening his grip. "Do you want to try it?"

The old Taoist suddenly felt suffocated and his face was distorted. The guests at the banquet were also a little frightened. Lu Ling wanted to stand up and persuade them, but was pulled down by Lu Shiyilang.

Xiao Muchen hurried to her side and held her other hand.

"Sorcerers like Dongfang Shuo, Yuan Tiangang, and Li Chunfeng all thought about serving the country and benefiting the people, but you borrowed the names of others, used despicable means, slandered their reputations, and even harmed their lives!"

"Twenty years ago, you, under the guise of Ming Chongyan, deceived Madam Cui by saying that having twins would be an ominous omen and would bring misfortune to the Cui family, right?"

As soon as Li Linghuan finished speaking, Madam Cui's face suddenly turned pale, her eyes fixed on the old Taoist priest, and she suddenly rushed over.

"It's you!" Madam Cui said sternly. Although many years had passed, she could not be mistaken in the Taoist's eyes. "You deceived me? Why did you deceive me?"

Li Linghuan loosened his grip, and the old Taoist priest fell to the ground like a rag doll. But before he could get up, Madam Cui had grabbed a dagger from somewhere and pressed it against the old Taoist priest's neck.

The old Taoist priest was instantly terrified. Although he was certain that the young lady Murong Huan would not dare to take his life in public, Madam Cui was a mad woman who had learned the truth about the tragic death of her own daughter!
In order to avenge her daughter, a mad woman would do anything.

"Okay, let me tell you, Madam. I used to be just a fortune teller, specializing in fortune-telling for a living, but my skills were sometimes effective and sometimes not... In the beginning, I only cheated people out of money, and never did anything wicked. It was she..." The old Taoist suddenly pointed at Cui Yuan, "She said that if I could read the fortune of your unborn child once and follow her instructions, she would ensure that I would have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of my life. So, it was she who told me this ominous prophecy about the twins!"

Madam Cui suddenly looked up and looked at Cui Yuan in disbelief: "You? Why?"

Cui Yuan glanced at Madam Cui and sneered, "Why? You believe the words of a charlatan? Zheng Shihui, don't you forget how you married into the Cui family? Do you want me to tell you in front of everyone?"

Under the rule of the empress, the nobles were already feared and at the center of the storm. The saints could not tolerate the things that bound their interests together through marriage. Madam Cui had never expected that Cui Yuan, who was a fellow member of the Cui family and could be called her close friend in the past, would reveal such a terrifying side that wanted to perish together with her.

In the past, she insisted on marrying into the Xiao family. As a good friend, she tried to dissuade her many times, but Cui Yuan did not seem to understand her true intention. Instead, she became increasingly cold towards her, with hatred hidden in her eyes. Later, she also heard that although Cui Yuan was in charge of the housekeeper in the Xiao family, her life was not going well, and her beloved husband had never even set foot in her room.

Later, after the death of the previous emperor, the Empress took action against many aristocratic families in order to eliminate dissidents and suppress the powerful families. The Cui family managed to save their lives in this political vortex, but the Xiao family was framed by cruel officials and was wiped out. She once suspected whether this was the work of Cui Yuan who secretly promoted it.

So I don’t know when, the close friendship they once had no longer existed, but they still had to maintain the superficial harmony between the sister-in-law and the sister-in-law, so it didn’t end up to the point of being torn apart like today.

Cui Yuan didn't know that her words had already caused a storm in Madam Cui's heart, and many past suspicions she had about her came flooding back to her mind.

She glanced at Madam Cui with disdain and turned to Xiao Muchen: "Okay, even if this old Taoist priest is a charlatan, Xiao Muchen, do you want to be a person without faith and without loyalty?"

Xiao Muchen clenched his fists, having already sensed ill intentions.

"Did you know that when your father and mother were alive, they arranged a marriage for you. It was between you and a girl from the Cui family." Cui Yuan curled her lips and pulled out a marriage certificate from her sleeve. She looked at Xiao Muchen with great pride and opened the marriage certificate in front of the guests. "There really is a marriage certificate! It seems to have signatures from both parties. Could this be true?"

Some people who like to watch the fun and stir up trouble couldn't help but talk about it.

Xiao Muchen looked at the marriage certificate and said coldly, "Since it was arranged by my father and mother, why is it in your hands?"

Moreover, he had never heard his father mention this matter before. There must be something strange in this marriage certificate!

"Your mother was a princess of Silla, and according to my secret investigation, she is now the queen of Silla. The two old servants beside you are your mother's personal followers, whose purpose is to monitor everything you do in the Great Zhou. Now that you are getting married, she has sent people to attend the wedding banquet.

This marriage certificate is what she asked me to produce. If you don't believe me, just ask the two old servants beside you and the two envoys from Silla at the wedding banquet!"

Twenty years ago, the war between the Tang Dynasty and Silla caused the Tang Dynasty to lose nearly 82 cities of the Xiongjin Military Governor's Office, and the Baekje territory that had been recaptured by Su Dingfang was all taken away by Silla. Afterwards, the Tang Dynasty sent Liu Rengui to fight Silla several times. Although the Silla army was defeated three times, the former Baekje territory still belonged to Silla. Since then, the Silla King Famin paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty, and the two countries have been friendly since then. Therefore, the two countries now often send envoys to negotiate.

Originally, Xiao Muchen thought that he just needed to destroy the marriage certificate and pretend that this incident had never happened, but Cui Yuan's words made him unbelievable, as if he had been electrocuted.

In his opinion, even if there was a marriage certificate, his father would never tell Cui about this, and his mother would never have any contact with Cui.

"The Queen of Silla?" These words made the guests even more surprised and excited. "Then may I ask where the envoy is?"

At Cui Yuan's signal, two men stood up at the banquet. There was not much difference in appearance between the Silla people and the Tang people, so as long as they wore Tang Dynasty clothes, they would look no different from the Tang people.

But those two faces were indeed unfamiliar.

"You are the envoys from Silla. How come we didn't know that Silla had sent envoys to our Great Zhou?"

Someone asked.

"Yes! Lord Shangguan, are there any Silla envoys coming to our Great Zhou?"

Before Shangguan Wan'er could reply, Cui Yuan said, "Luoyang's South Market is already a gathering place for merchants from all over the world. These two envoys are merely merchants who came to our Great Zhou to do business. It's not surprising that you didn't know about them."

"Then may I ask if the two envoys have any letters of credence?"

Xiao Muchen asked, but the two messengers were unable to answer for a moment, so he turned to Cui Yuan and said coldly, "Give me the marriage certificate!"

"What are you going to do? Shouldn't you ask the two loyal servants beside you about your mother's origins?"

Xiao Muchen said: "For me right now, completing this wedding is the most important thing. I can check other things later!"

"Give me the marriage certificate. I want to verify its authenticity!"