Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 130: Welcoming Prince Li Xian of Luling

"who are you?"

"Actually, I am you, your future self!"

Xiao Muchen never expected that the truth he saw that night would become a nightmare that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

……

Five years later, it was the first year of Wansui Tong.

In the imperial garden of Shangyang Palace, the empress was wearing a dragon-patterned brocade robe, reclining on a soft couch, basking in the autumn sunshine.

At this moment, when the empress faced two young men as handsome as lotus flowers, her heart, which had experienced many hardships in her life and had long since become indifferent to everything, suddenly began to burn with love as passionate as that of a young girl.

"Saint, it's your turn now? If you don't make a move, you'll lose."

Zhang Changzong said this in a coquettish tone, while Zhang Yizhi was also rubbing the empress's shoulders and back.

On the table between them and the empress was a backgammon chess piece.

The Empress looked at the fallen leaves scattered all over the Imperial Garden by the autumn wind, feeling quite emotional. She sighed softly and said, "A month ago, it was a vibrant patchwork of flowers, but now it's all withered. Time is truly fleeting, relentless and unforgiving!"

"Saint, no matter how time changes, your Majesty's appearance has never changed. It is even more beautiful than that young girl of 28!"

"You've always been so sweet." The empress smiled, a hint of sadness in her eyes. "It's a pity that my children and nephews aren't as considerate as you."

"What exactly is the Saint worried about? Is it still the issue of Li Zhu that is being debated endlessly in the court?"

When Zhang Yizhi asked this, the empress's expression suddenly became solemn.

"I deserve to die. I shouldn't have said so much. Please punish me, Saint!"

Zhang Yizhi immediately knelt down and apologized, with cold sweat running down his back.

At this time, someone announced, "Saint, Prime Minister Di is here!"

The empress's slightly narrowed eyes suddenly opened and looked at the man walking towards her. Although he was over sixty years old, he was still upright and dignified.

This is the pillar of the country!
The empress said with great satisfaction: "Please take a seat, Lord!"

Seeing the drastic change in the empress's attitude towards them, Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi could not help but clench their clothes and cast jealous glances at Di Renjie.

"The Saint has summoned me, but what is the important matter for me to do?"

The empress nodded and raised her hand to signal Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi to leave. After they left angrily, she said sternly, "There has been much debate in the court lately. Some ministers have advised me to depose my son Li Dan and make Wu Sansi the crown prince. I also hold this view. What is your opinion on this matter, Elder?"

Di Renjie then asked, "Your Majesty, do you really want to hear my honest answer?"

"Of course. If you don't answer truthfully, wouldn't that be deceiving me?"

"Saint, Emperor Taizong braved wind and rain, personally risking swords and arrows to pacify the empire. Emperor Gaozong entrusted his two sons to you, Saint. Now you are giving up your throne to a different clan. This is truly against Heaven's will. Moreover... who is closer, aunt or nephew, or mother and son?"

"If Your Majesty appoints a son, then after thousands of years, he will be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and inherit the throne endlessly. But if you appoint a nephew, I have never heard of a nephew becoming the Son of Heaven and offering sacrifices to his aunt's Imperial Ancestral Temple."

The empress's expression finally changed.

"Then, according to the elders, who should I appoint as the crown prince? My fourth son, Li Dan, has repeatedly submitted petitions to me, refusing the position of crown prince. If I hand the country over to him, it would be..."

Di Renjie said, "Prince Xiang has no ambition to be emperor, but he can serve as a minister to assist the government. If the sage can appoint these two sons, they will be able to soar to great heights!"

Why not welcome back Prince Li Xian of Luling!"

The empress fell silent for a moment, then whispered, "In your opinion, Elder, who should I send to do this?"

If Li Xian is really made the crown prince, the matter of welcoming back Prince Luling will be a state secret. This matter must not be known to anyone other than the two of them and the person who welcomes Li Xian, otherwise there will be a lot of blood and gore along the way.

Di Renjie also thought for a while and replied, "Why not let Xiao Muchen go?"

When Xiao Muchen was mentioned, the empress's expression became a little gloomy.

Five years ago, Xiao Muchen had already found out that his father's rebellion was forged by a secret letter from the Cui family, and handed all the evidence to Lu Ling to present to the empress. However, the empress did not vindicate the Xiao family and Heichi Changzhi, but put the matter on hold.

Two years later, the Khitan leader Sun Wanrong rebelled and captured Jizhou in less than a month. Reports of the battle reached Luoyang, shocking the court and the people. The empress asked in court who could defeat the enemy. It was Xiao Muchen who stepped forward and said, "Di Gong was once very famous in Weizhou. I recommend Di Gong as the governor of Weizhou, and I am willing to go with him to fight against the Khitan!"

Therefore, the empress recalled Di Renjie, who was demoted to Pengze, to the court again, and ordered Xiao Muchen to be the Sima of Weizhou, and go together to resist the Khitan.

This war also achieved a very brilliant victory. Not long after Xiao Muchen and Di Renjie's troops arrived in Weizhou, Sun Wanrong was frightened and retreated without a fight.

The empress was delighted and immediately gave them both purple robes and tortoise-shaped belts, and inscribed twelve golden characters on the purple robes as a commendation. Di Renjie was again appointed as a prime minister, serving as the Minister of Luantai and the co-director of Fengge Luantai, and was granted the title of Yinqing Guanglu Dafu.

However, Xiao Muchen refused all the rewards from the empress and only asked her to let him resign and retire, saying that he wanted to accompany his wife to travel around the world.

The empress had no choice but to agree to give him three years to travel, and he had to return to the court after three years.

"Now that the three-year deadline has indeed arrived, does the State Elder know where Zicheng is now? He blames me for not issuing an edict to exonerate his father."

"A saint has his own principles for doing things, and Zicheng is not a narrow-minded person. It's just that the young wife he married seems to be in poor health, so he wanted to take her on a trip..."

"Oh? You're not feeling well? Are you sick?"

When mentioning the girl named Murong Huan, the empress always felt as if something was missing in her heart, and she couldn't help but sigh: That young lady was a very bright scenery in Luoyang City back then!

……

In Fangling, after several heavy rains, the weather has gradually turned cooler.

A lot of people gathered in an inn, some were sighing, some were laughing, and some were complaining in frustration.

Suddenly, there was the sound of galloping horses. Someone couldn't help but look outside and saw a green-covered carriage stopped in front of the post station.

Soon the curtain opened, and a young man wearing a veiled hat got off the carriage first, and then helped a young woman with a good figure to get off. The two of them came to the post station with a guard and a little girl.

Although the young man and woman both covered their faces with veils so that their features could not be seen, their overall elegance was unforgettable at first sight.

After the little girl arrived at the post station, she immediately set up the stove and cooked tea while making vegetables, dumplings and snacks. After a while, the aroma filled the air, making everyone in the post station hungry and salivating.

"What is that? It looks delicious! Auntie, I want to eat it too!"

A young child couldn't help but lick his tongue. His parents couldn't help but cover his eyes and pulled him aside. At this moment, they heard a very pleasant female voice saying:
"Ashu, give one to that child."

"Okay!" Ah Shu responded, picked up a vegetable dumpling, wrapped it in paper, and handed it to the child.

The child's mother thanked him repeatedly.

Ah Shu ran back and brought the prepared snacks and boiled tea to Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen.

"Ah Huan, my dear, come and eat. Look at my cooking skills now. Have they improved a lot?"

Murong Huan brought over a vegetable dumpling, slightly lifted the white veil, and stuffed the dumpling into his mouth. After a moment, he smiled and said, "Yes, it's delicious. Ah Shu is amazing!" "That's great. My cooking skills have finally been perfected. I don't have to worry anymore..."

She wanted to say that she no longer had to worry about being disliked by the princess, but when she said this, she couldn't help but feel worried.

"My dear, do we really have to go back? But I think we have been very happy out here for the past three years, especially Huan. She is very happy."

Xiao Muchen did not answer. In fact, it was not him who wanted to go back, but the girl in her body!

Over the past few years, he has always obeyed all her requests and met her wishes, including going to the battlefield with Di Renjie. Whether it was fighting against the Khitan leader Sun Wanrong or conquering the Turks, she had made many contributions on the battlefield.

And she pushed all the credit for it onto him.

Thinking of this, Xiao Muchen thought of that night five years ago. In fact, until now, he couldn't tell whether it was a dream or he really met that "master"?
……

When he split open the mask and saw a face that looked exactly like his, the shock in his heart was naturally self-evident.

But what shocked him even more was that in the dim night, a tall and handsome man in green clothes, with long hair and a flying jade belt, and a cold face like the god of death, looked at him and said these words:

"Actually, I am you, the future you!"

"Everything I do is to change your fate! Although I have tried many times, and each time the world has undergone different changes due to my changes, the result is surprisingly the same..."

……

"You are me, my future self?"

"You did all this to change our fate?"

"Xiao Muchen——"

Someone was calling him, which suddenly woke him up from his dream.

The dream dissipated like unclear smoke, and the master's face also dissipated at the same time.

A soft hand reached out to his cheek, and the warmth of the skin touching made him look up suddenly, looking at the bright, beautiful and gentle face in front of him.

Murong Huan, who is already 20 years old, has lost some of the childishness of his youth and gained a mature charm and awe. Sometimes he is a little dazed. Is she Ah Huan, or that woman?

The master said that they could be considered the same person, but their personalities were clearly completely different.

"What's wrong? Are you thinking of something unhappy?"

Xiao Muchen shook his head and smiled, "It's okay. Everything is fine as long as you are here!" Then he held her hand in his palm.

Murong Huan also picked up a vegetable dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth, saying, "It's delicious. Have one too."

"it is good!"

"Look, mother, that sister and brother are so beautiful, just like the fairies in my stories!"

Because of the little girl's words, many people in the inn looked over curiously.

"Oh no, my dear, it's not easy to stay here for long. Let's go quickly. The rain has stopped!" Xuan Yu said hurriedly in Xiao Muchen's ear.

Xiao Muchen nodded, pressed down the brim of his hat, took Murong Huan into his arms, and hurried out of the post station.

As soon as they left, someone in the post station suddenly remembered something and shouted, "I remember now. I saw that young man and young lady when I was in Weizhou. They were the two of them who led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to fight bravely and defeat the 100,000-strong army of Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong without a single soldier left."

"They seem to be Xiao Muchen, the most talented man in the Great Zhou Dynasty, who was once famous in Luoyang City, and his wife Murong Huan. His wife is also very capable and has solved many cases in Luoyang City."

"So it's them! It's truly a blessing to meet these two legendary figures here. Why don't you go out and see them off!"

"Yes, let's go see them off too!"

The post station was suddenly filled with voices and footsteps, and people were rushing out of the post station. Only one person stood in a corner where no one could see him, looking thoughtful.

In order to avoid attracting more attention, Xiao Muchen ordered Xuan Yu to drive the carriage to the door of an inn.

Xuan Yu booked three rooms and the few of them spent the whole night there.

That night, Xiao Muchen also had a strange dream. In the dream, he seemed to have come to a strange place with springs and waterfalls everywhere. It was not like the human world, but like a fairyland.

But this doesn't seem to be a fairyland.

There was no one else here, and when he reached the end of the road, he saw another self.

"I am also willing to exchange everything I have in this world for it."

"My exchange is to get back everything she exchanged."

……

"Xiao Muchen——"

The dream dissipated like smoke again, and Xiao Muchen sat up from the bed with some lingering fear.

The golden rays of the morning sun outlined the silhouette of a woman. She stood tall and majestic, like a female general who had just returned from the battlefield.

The woman turned around, looked at him and said, "Xiao Muchen, my time is almost up. Regardless of whether I can successfully survive this disaster this time, I will return Murong Huan to you in one piece!"

"What do you mean by the time is almost up?"

Xiao Muchen stood up and asked.

Li Linghuan then handed him a piece of letter.

"This is the letter Prime Minister Di brought you. The Empress has finally made up her mind and summoned Prince Li Xian of Luling back to be appointed Crown Prince."

Xiao Muchen took the letter and saw that it was indeed written by Prime Minister Di.

"How did the letter end up in your hands?"

"It was sent by your Fire Phoenix Bird."

Li Linghuan pointed to a colorful bird circling in the sky outside the inn.

The Fire Phoenix is ​​a messenger bird given by Xiao Mochen to Di Xiang. Ever since the couple began their travels, they have relied on this colorful bird to exchange letters with Luoyang.

"Once Li Xian returned to Luoyang, within a few years, the Shenlong coup would take place, and I would die at the hands of Li Xian."

When Xiao Muchen heard her say the word death, he inexplicably felt a trace of sadness and pain.

"Of course, I'm not asking you to kill Li Xian right now. It would be useless and would only put you and your wife in a position of infidelity and injustice."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Welcome back Prince Li Xian of Luling. After all, the Wu family's reign needs his name to end!"