Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 30: Avoiding the Troubled Army
Xiao Muchen was stunned, a little uncomfortable with this change in style, but before he could think about it, Li Linghuan grabbed the jade belt around his waist and dragged him uncontrollably into a bedroom in the yard.

With a clang, the gate flew open, and panicked voices and the neighing of horses rang out from outside. Dozens of Jinwu Guards, led by Qiu Shenji and Wuling Yue, rushed in.

Hearing the voice, Li Linghuan did not hesitate any longer and untied the jade belt around Xiao Muchen's waist. His snow-white robe slipped off, revealing his white and strong shoulders.

"you!"

Just as Xiao Muchen was about to say something, Li Linghuan took a bite.

"what!!!"

When Wulingyue rushed into the yard, he heard this long scream of pain.

"Who's here?"

Wu Lingyue shouted loudly and was about to rush into the bedroom when Xuan Yu descended from the sky and blocked her way.

"What are you doing? Don't disturb my husband's good time!"

The moment he saw Xuan Yu, Wuling Yue was also stunned!
"You said, the person in this room is your husband?"

"What's wrong with him being my husband? He's already an adult, can't he have a gentle and lovely girl by his side?"

Wulingyue felt a little disappointed, then laughed: Are you sure this is a gentle and lovely girl?

"I can't believe it without seeing him! Xuanyu, you know that Minister Zhou was killed just now, and the murderer is here in Xiuwenfang. I just saw the assassin flee here with my own eyes. Don't shield the murderer, otherwise I will report this matter to His Majesty!"

"Minister Zhou was killed?" Xuan Yu was surprised at first, then looked at Qiu Shenji. "But even if that's the case, what does it have to do with my husband? General Qiu, don't you agree?"

Qiu Shenji smiled awkwardly. How could he dare to offend the favorite of the empress?

"It has nothing to do with Xiao Zhongcheng, but I'm afraid he's also been held hostage by the assassin. That would be terrible. So, Qiu thinks we should go in and investigate to be on the safe side."

"General Qiu is absolutely right. If Xiao Zhongcheng is also assassinated, it will be a matter of great regret. So, Xuanyu, don't try to stop him!"

Wuling Yue said angrily.

This woman is not only skilled in martial arts, but also very shrewd. It is really not easy to hide from her without arousing suspicion.

When Xuan Yu was hesitating about how to delay time, a panting sound was heard from the room. The sound made Chu Wulingyue blush slightly, and he abruptly took back the step that was about to step in.

"Mr. Sheyue, you are a girl, so this will be inconvenient. I will go in and search for her!"

At this time, Qiu Shenji said something, and his expression was surprisingly excited, and it was clear that he was a lustful person who wanted to see it for the first time!
Wuling Yue felt deeply ashamed and disdainful!
At this moment, a cool breeze with a faint fragrance blew over, and Qiu Shenji's surprised voice came to my ears, "Xiao Zhongcheng!"

Wu Lingyue looked back and saw that it was Xiao Muchen standing in front of the door wearing a snow-white robe. However, at this moment, he was not as noble and unattainable as before. Instead, he had a bit of laziness as if he had experienced joy, and there was a hint of anger in his eyes. The lip balm on his neck and a row of teeth marks on his shoulder were clearly visible through his robe.

"Xiao Muchen, how could you do this?"

She remembered that he was clearly a man of integrity. Now, many scholars wanted to be promoted to high positions and were willing to do anything to win the favor of the empress. Even if it meant being a male favorite, they would be happy to do so, just like the famous Song Dynasty scholar Song Zhiwen.

Song Zhiwen's poems were so good that even Shangguan Daizhao once ranked Song Zhiwen's poems as the best at a poetry gathering held by the empress's court.

But this man flatters the empress to the extreme, and now he is willing to give up his status as a scholar and become the chief executive of the Control Crane Palace.

The so-called Konghe Mansion is the empress's harem villa.

Fortunately, although Xiao Muchen's life experience has always caused him to be criticized, he did not follow Song Zhiwen's example and become an official of the Control Crane Palace who was deeply favored by the empress in order to protect himself.

So my aunt might not be completely confident in him!
"Life is about being appropriate, and the joy of family ties is human nature. Why can't I do the same?"

He still liked to drink tea alone with a cup of tea in his hand as usual. His cherry-red lips looked particularly radiant, with a playful smile at the corners of his lips and a look of disdainful arrogance in his eyes.

"General Qiu, do you still want to go in and search?"

"Don't dare!"

Qiu Shenji said, waving to the people behind him, "Everyone, get out! Don't disturb Xiao Zhongcheng's elegant business. Search somewhere else!"

"Here!"

Qiu Shenji led the crowd away with some doubts. The sounds of footsteps and horse hooves outside the door gradually faded away, but the noise in the night continued.

Wu Lingyue glanced at Xiao Muchen, then glanced at the beautiful figure hidden under the fluttering curtains in the room. He saw a piece of snow-white arm exposed, and the fair skin was dotted with bright red spots.

"Farewell!"

Wulingyue blushed and left.

Xiao Muchen then returned to the bedroom, but saw that the person on the bed had taken off his bloodstained nightgown, revealing the plain white robe he usually wore.

She jumped off the couch very nimbly, stood up, and stood in front of him again.

"Xiao Zhongcheng's cooperation was excellent. Thank you for helping me out!"

Xiao Muchen blushed slightly, glanced at her arm, which had pinched her until it was bright red, and sighed: How cruel! She's cruel to me! And even crueler to herself!

"Is Zhou Xing really dead? How did he die?" he asked. "Yes! He died in a terrible way, in the urn torture he himself created!" Li Linghuan pointed at himself and said, "I killed him!"

"Tomorrow, you'll know what's going on, but today, you still have to do me a favor."

Xiao Muchen was a little amused: "Why do you think I will definitely help you?"

"Just because we've slept together before, and you've concealed the secrets from the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Inner Guards and the Grand General of the Imperial Guards, we're now in the same boat. You wouldn't betray your allies, would you?"

"You little girl... why aren't you ashamed at all?"

Li Linghuan looked at his slightly blushing neck and couldn't help but smile, then thought to himself: Oops! This body belongs to Murong Huan, I can't do anything wrong!
At this time, Xiao Muchen asked: "What do you want me to help you with?"

Li Linghuan said sternly, "Let's go to Xingyun Pavilion near the Imperial College. I have to give an explanation to the Su family, and I'll also have to give an explanation to the Dali Temple tomorrow!"

……

Xingyun Hall, near the Imperial College, was a place where young students competed in poetry and prose. Since the Tang Dynasty, poetry has been highly valued, even in the imperial examinations. Good poets, with recommendations, could lead to official positions.

The sage of today is also a person who attaches great importance to poetry. When Li Jingye rebelled, Luo Binwang, as Li Jingye's supporter, specially wrote an impassioned and unrestrained article "An Edict to Punish Wu Zhao", in which the Empress Wu Zhao was severely criticized. However, when Wu Zhao heard the content of the edict, she could not help but be impressed by his outstanding literary talent, and insisted on meeting this great talent.

But unfortunately, after Li Jingye was defeated and killed, Luo Binwang disappeared since then, and the legend about him became a legend that literati talked about with relish.

In the early Tang Dynasty, poems written by Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin and Luo Binwang changed the decadent and gorgeous style of poetry during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and created a prosperous style of poetry that was even better than the Yongming style.

However, writing poetry also has its risks. Fifteen years ago, Lu Zhaolin, who was full of vigor and vitality, was inspired by the prosperity of Chang'an City and wrote a poem "The Ancient Style of Chang'an" with a strong sense of arrogance and debauchery of the powerful class. One of the lines "The Liang family's painted pavilion rises to the sky, and the Han emperor's golden stem goes straight beyond the clouds" was regarded as a mockery by Wu Sansi, and he was thrown into prison.

When Li Linghuan and Xiao Muchen arrived at the Xingyun Pavilion, some young students were also composing poems. One of them wrote: "The carved buildings of the Wei family rise to the sky, and a song of the sheng travels 90,000 miles..."

Someone couldn't help but laugh and said, "Pei Qilang, are you trying to imitate the ancient style of Chang'an and go to the prison of the Ministry of Justice to broaden your horizons?"

"Me! What's wrong with the ancient charm of Chang'an? I just wrote about the prosperity of Chang'an City, but those with ulterior motives took it as ridicule. I finally understand why Confucius said that only villains and women are difficult to raise. If they are close, they will be disrespectful; if they are far away, they will resent. A poem can be accused of disrespect and treason!"

The person who spoke was Lu Shiyilang. Because he drank too much, his cheeks were a little flushed and his eyes were blurry, so he spoke without restraint.

As he spoke, he pointed to Ah Shu, who was dressed in men's clothing, and said, "Boy, pour me some wine and grind some ink. I'm going to write a poem today to show them what it means to be a villain in power!"

Ah Shu was dragged here by him. It was a bit inappropriate for her to break into the Xingyun Pavilion by force. She happened to meet Lu Shiyilang and a group of students drinking and writing poetry there. Lu Shiyilang saw them with his sharp eyes, so she simply lied and followed them in reluctantly.

"Speaking of which, boy, your husband went to the toilet, but why did he take so long? Did he fall into the pit? Do you want me to rescue him?"

"Ugh! What nonsense are you talking about? Aren't you scholars particularly particular about elegance and grace? Even using the toilet has its own rules. You can't be impatient! If you're too impatient, that's not what scholars do!"

"Puff--" Lu Shiyilang couldn't help but spit out the wine he had just drunk, spraying Ah Shu's face with wine and making her unable to open her eyes.

"Boy, you are very good at speaking and what you say makes sense. Come, grind some ink for me so I can write a poem!"

After saying that, he also picked up the wolf hair brush and wrote with one stroke. Ah Shu saw written on the paper: I will always watch the crabs with a cold eye, to see how long you can run rampant!
A sharp-eyed young man saw this and couldn't help but teasingly asked, "Lu Xun, are you making a sarcastic remark about Zhou Xing and his son?"

"So what if I'm secretly criticizing Zhou Xing and his son? These treacherous officials and lackeys, these villains in power, have murdered countless innocent lives. Today, I, Lu Xun, will expose the true faces of both father and son! Am I afraid that if I keep it hidden in my heart, I will never forget it?"

"Lu Shiyilang, stop talking!" Ah Shu advised.

At this moment, a clear voice came from the hall, saying, "Keep it in your heart, how can you forget it? In the Jin Dynasty, Sun Xiu always remembered Pan An's expulsion of him. Until the end, when King Zhao came to power, he had Pan An and his entire family executed."

"Lao Tzu once said, 'Be upright without being unbridled, be radiant without being dazzling.' This is telling us that we don't have to flatter the powerful, but we also can't provoke them and show off our arrogance, as that can bring disaster!"

When Lu Shiyilang opened his blurry eyes, he saw a white shadow gradually approaching. It was none other than Su Silang, who could draw the appearance of Bai Kuo when he was alive!
Seeing Li Linghuan, Ah Shu was so surprised that she couldn't help but scream out loud, but a look from Li Linghuan stopped her from saying anything. So, she had to cover her mouth and looked at Xiao Muchen and a girl with a hood on her head who came with Li Linghuan, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Shiyilang, still half drunk, said, "Su Silangjun has finally returned from the toilet! I thought..."

Li Linghuan covered up what Lu Shiyilang wanted to say with his hand and blinked: "We are brothers, so don't make some things too clear!"

Lu Shiyilang suddenly sobered up: Why does this hand feel so soft and smooth! It doesn't feel like a man's hand!

Xiao Muchen, who was standing by, pulled Li Linghuan's hand back with great displeasure.

Some young students couldn't help but sigh when they saw Xiao Muchen.

"Why is he here? He's the only one who escaped the annihilation of his clan with his beauty and talent, and he even became a favorite of the Empress!"

"I heard that his hair turned white on the day his clan was exterminated. The entire Xiao family was executed, but he stood on the execution platform, playing the zither and reciting poetry. His poem, "A Hundred Questions and Long Questions," was comparable to the "Edict to Punish Wu Zhao." Not only did it save his life, but it also persuaded the current sage to spare his life."

"That's right! A young man of eleven or twelve years old, not only born with good looks, but also possesses such amazing talent. I bet the Saint wants to raise him and make him his own concubine, right?"

Someone chuckled softly at the side, and suddenly a cup of tea floated over, instantly making the young man shut up.

The young man wiped the tea that dripped down his face, looked up, and saw that the person who had just thrown the cup was Xuan Yu, the guard beside Xiao Muchen.

Xiao Muchen leisurely found a chair opposite the young man and sat down. He tapped the table with one hand and said with a smile, "Go on. I'm listening!"

"I wouldn't dare!" The young man immediately put on a respectful and apologetic expression, bowed his hands, and then looked at Li Linghuan and changed the subject, "Who is this kid? What he said just now seems to be quite right!"

(End of this chapter)