Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 23 Who is the murderer?
Lu Shiyilang's eyes suddenly became bloodshot and angry, which frightened Su Sanlang even more.

"I don't know. Maybe he's always had a problem with noble ladies. When we were playing cockfighting together, he often said that what he hated most were those high-ranking noble ladies. Once, when he was drunk, he told me that he was born in the market and was sold to a master's house as a slave when he was young. The master's daughter often bullied him like a dog and played with him. Not only did she let the dogs bite him, and let the servants whip him for fun, she also made him eat shit like a dog. He said that from then on, he swore that one day he would make these noble ladies fall into his hands and suffer a fateful fate!
Later, he met Zhou Xing, who was then a minister of state. Seeing that he was pitiful and brave, Zhou Xing adopted him as his son and let him work for him in the Ministry of Justice.

At this point, Su Sanlang revealed a look of fear again, "I really just took a quick look that day, I don't know anything, I really don't know..."

Upon hearing this, even Lu Ling, who had a solemn expression on his face, changed his expression and clenched his fists in hatred. Lu Shiyilang even punched a stone beside him, and blood immediately flowed out.

He felt no pain at all.

"I should have guessed that she would fall into the hands of Zhou Xing and his son, but why couldn't I find her? Why?"

"Zhou Jiulang is worse than a beast. I will cut his body into pieces!"

After Lu Shiyilang finished speaking, he stood up and ran out of the house.

At Lu Ling's command, two constables quickly subdued him.

"Lu Ling, what do you mean? Tell them to let me go. Shouldn't that beast be punished? Shouldn't he be torn into pieces?"

Lu Shiyilang struggled.

Lu Ling walked up to him and said coldly, "He's already dead. What good will it do to you to cut him into pieces other than venting your anger? It will only give Zhou Xing another reason to frame you!"

"Zhou Xing has already reported this case to the Saint. If he were to say that someone was dissatisfied with the Saint and therefore assassinated Zhou Jiulang as a protest, and the Saint gave him full authority to investigate the case, then countless more people would die in vain at his hands!"

After Lu Lingyan said this, Lu Shiyilang's expression stabilized a little.

"I fought hard to get this case from the saint. Don't be impulsive!" He whispered again.

Seeing that Lu Shiyilang had calmed down, Lu Ling turned to Xiao Muchen who was standing beside him and said, "Sorry, I made you laugh!"

After all, Xiao Muchen is an official of the Censorate and a confidant of the Saint who was promoted by him. Although he has not impeached any official in the court recently, if he says even a word that is unfavorable to them in front of the Saint, it may bring them to ruin.

Xiao Muchen certainly understood Lu Ling's concerns and smiled slightly. "It's nothing. In fact, I also think that Zhou Jiulang deserved to die! Don't worry, Lu Shaoqing, I never impeach those who truly serve the court and the people!"

Lu Ling nodded.

Xiao Muchen asked again: "By the way, where is Zhou Jiulang's body?"

"It has been sent to the charity cemetery for examination by the coroner!"

"Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Lu, to lead the way. Let us also take a look at the body of this man whose death was not worth regretting. How about that? We can also take these bones with us to comfort the soul of the deceased!"

Lu Ling did not refuse and ordered several constables to carefully wrap up the seven or eight skeletons. The group then hurried to the charity cemetery where Zhou Jiulang's body was kept.

When Zhou Jiulang died, no one came to mourn. Even Zhou Xing just took a quick look and walked away angrily with a look of anger on his face.

However, the wives of the Hou and Guo families cried bitterly and strongly refused to have an autopsy. After making a fuss outside the Dali Temple for a long time, they simply moved the bodies of their husbands back home to hold the funeral.

Therefore, there was only Zhou Jiulang's body placed in this charity cemetery.

A middle-aged man seemed to have just finished checking and washed his hands. When he saw Lu Ling and his group walking into the charity cemetery, he came forward to greet them.

"Lu Shaoqing!"

"How is it? Did you find anything unusual?"

The middle-aged man said, "This morning's examination showed that these three people had indeed died suddenly due to excitement. No toxins were found in their bodies, and there were no scars on their bodies. But now I have discovered something strange about Zhou Jiulang!"

After saying this, he turned Zhou Jiulang's body over, exposing his back, and said to Lu Ling, "Master Lu, please look! Originally, there were no scars on his back, but now there is a plum blossom pattern. I just opened the body and saw that although Zhou Jiulang's body looked without any scars on the outside, his liver and other organs had already begun to rot, and the decay was very rapid. There is nothing left now!"

A strange corpse stench emanated, and Ah Shu couldn't help but vomit violently.

Xiao Muchen couldn't help but cover his nose.

Only Lu Ling remained calm and asked, "So the real cause of his death was the poison?"

The middle-aged man also showed a look of surprise. "But this kind of poison is unknown to anyone, and even the silver needle didn't change color when I checked it. I called several doctors to check, but they couldn't find out what kind of poison it was."

"Then what's with this plum blossom? It wasn't there before, and it only appeared now?"

"Yes, it must be some kind of drug that can make him appear under certain circumstances." The middle-aged man said this with a bit of embarrassment. "As for what drug it is and why he appears, I still can't figure it out."

"Does this plum blossom have any special meaning?" Lu Ling said as he was about to reach out to touch it, but Murong Huan grabbed his wrist and stopped him from taking any further action.

"Be careful! It's poisonous!"

Murong Huan said: "This plum blossom mark may be a humiliation to the deceased, or it may be a hint, or even a kind of psychological comfort for the avenger!"

"Li Xiaomei?"

At this time, Xiao Muchen added a sentence.

Lu Shiyilang said unhappily, "Xiaomei is dead, she died at the hands of this beast, what does it have to do with her?"

"So I think it's more likely a hint. Just now at Prince Huo's house, Su Sanlang said that the woman he saw also had a plum blossom on her body. So this plum blossom may not represent Li Xiaomei!" After a pause, Murong Huan continued, "It's more likely that the women killed by Zhou Jiulang all had a plum blossom mark on their bodies."

Watching Murong Huan seriously analyzing the case, Xiao Muchen's curiosity and suspicion grew even stronger, and he couldn't help but think to himself: Could it be that she really wasn't the murderer of Zhou Jiulang?
"You mean, Zhou Jiulang killed these girls because they all had a plum blossom mark on their bodies?" Lu Ling seemed to have thought of something.

A flash of inspiration seemed to come to Murong Huan's mind, and he expressed his agreement with silence.

She also came to Zhou Jiulang's body and looked carefully at the plum blossom on his back, but as she looked, some familiar yet strange images appeared in her mind, as if she had seen them somewhere, but she could not remember when and where.

Seeing that she seemed a little dizzy, Lu Ling reached out to help her, but unexpectedly Xiao Muchen appeared beside Murong Huan at some point and took the lead to support Murong Huan.

"Are you okay? Have you been here for too long and are you feeling unwell?" Xiao Muchen asked, enduring the pungent stench of the corpse.

Murong Huan shook her head, and then her mind focused. She felt a hand on her shoulder, seemingly casual, but very powerful.

She hurriedly bowed to Xiao Muchen and said, "Thank you, Xiao Zhongcheng, I'm fine!"

Xiao Muchen turned to Lu Ling and said, "I see that Lu Shaoqing is not in a hurry to find Zhou Jiulang's murderer. On the contrary, the murder of these eight innocent girls is more eye-catching. Why not call it a day today?"

"Mr. Xiao is guaranteeing that I should release them!" Lu Ling asked.

Xiao Muchen smiled and said, "What do you mean, Lu Shaoqing? Didn't you bring this Su Silang here to assist you in the investigation?"

Lu Ling looked at Xiao Muchen's gentle smile and was stunned for a moment. Then he turned to Murong Huan and said, "I just want to ask Su Silang one question. Can you answer truthfully?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Lu?"

"Is Zhou Jiulang's death related to you?"

As soon as Lu Ling finished speaking, he stared at Murong Huan closely, as if he wanted to find even the slightest flaw in his face. However, he saw Murong Huan slightly raised his lips, and there was no fear of guilt in his eyes, but rather some sarcasm.

Ah Shu, however, shouted in displeasure, "Lu Shaoqing, what do you mean? My husband is kindly helping you investigate the case, and you suspect him?"

Lu Shiyilang also felt a little guilty and said, "Yeah! Shilang, what are you doing? You shouldn't doubt him, no matter who you are."

After saying that, he turned to Murong Huan and said, "I'm sorry, Shi Lang is in this position and is suspicious of everyone involved. He is not just targeting you."

Murong Huan said, "I understand! It's normal for Lu Shaoqing to doubt me! I accept his suspicion and am willing to accept his investigation!"

Just as she finished speaking, she saw a carriage parked outside the charity cemetery, and a young girl and a woman were getting out of the carriage.

Then, a young girl's voice was heard saying, "If Lu Shaoqing is suspicious of everyone involved, shouldn't he first suspect me? After all, I'm the one who most wants Zhou Jiulang dead!"

Lu Ling looked outside the door and saw a graceful young girl and a beautiful lady walking into the charity cemetery with several servants.

A constable came to report: "Lu Shaoqing, this Madam Wang and her daughter have come to see everything!"

The people who came were Wang Wuniang, Wang Xueying and her mother Liu.

Lu Ling had naturally heard of the rumors that Wang Wu Niang was forced to marry by the Zhou family, committed suicide by jumping into the lake, and came back to life, but he would never associate the murderer with this frail young lady from the Wang family.

Unexpectedly, she took the initiative to divert the suspicious attention to her.

When Lu Ling looked at Wang Wu Niang, Wang Wu Niang turned her gaze to Murong Huan, who was dressed in men's clothes. There was a hint of surprise and gratitude in her eyes, and then she bowed to Lu Ling.

"Wang family's Fifth Lady, greetings to Lu Shaoqing!"

"Why are you here?" Lu Ling asked.

(End of this chapter)