Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 32 Whose Plan
The moment the torches in the Wisteria Courtyard were quietly lit up, it not only attracted the attention of the servants in the Su family mansion, but also attracted another pair of eyes.

Madam Su San looked outside the Wisteria Courtyard for a while, and suddenly felt a sharp gaze through the doors and windows as if it had penetrated the wall and struck her. She shuddered with fear and quickly ran towards her own east wing.

After returning to her own courtyard, Mrs. Su San was still trembling all over, which made Master Su Sanlang Su Yu, who was used to enjoying himself, a little impatient.

"What's wrong with you? You've been acting like a thief these past two days, feeling terrified and guilty."

Mrs. Su San was displeased: "You said that you were living a life of debauchery all day long, and you didn't know that your second brother's daughter had returned to the Su family, right?"

"This child, I feel, is even stranger than she was eight years ago. You said she and that maid were left on the farm with no clothes or food for eight years, and not only did she not die, but she even learned some extremely strange skills. It's really terrifying. I just went to her yard to peek, and she seemed to know I was peeping. The gaze she shot in my direction was like a sharp arrow piercing my heart. It was so scary."

Master Su Sanlang sneered, "What terrifying skills has she learned? In my opinion, you are just doing something sinister and scaring yourself."

"You didn't see it. This morning, she guessed exactly where Lu Shaoqing had been, what he had eaten and drunk. She said she could tell just by smell. She could even draw what Lu Shaoqing looked like when he was young. Not only that, she said she could even draw Bai Gu's appearance in life and the murderer's sinful soul!"

"The painting depicts the bones' appearance in life, the murderer's sinful soul?"

Su Yu couldn't help but laugh: "Is this person you're talking about still a human? Could he be a ghost messenger crawling out of the underworld?"

"Everything I said is true! She even guessed that there was a body sunken at the bottom of the well where Zhou Jiulang died. This is a case within a case!"

When Madam Su San said this, Su Yu could no longer laugh. The case of the body sunken in the well in Prince Huo's house had already caused a lot of uproar. It was said that it had even alarmed the saint. He had heard Xiao Zhongcheng say this when he was listening to Xiao Lianniang playing the piano in Shaohua Courtyard today.

"Can she really draw what the bones looked like in life, the murderer's sinful soul?"

"Yes! You said we... If you hadn't informed the King of Wei, how could your second brother Su Minghe have been killed by those people? How could Sister Murong have died? How could Minghe have died suddenly from excessive grief?"

"Heh..." Su Yu smiled strangely, "Now you're blaming me. Weren't you the one who seduced me? Didn't you say that if you can't have it yourself, you don't want others to have it?"

"When did I ever say that?"

Mrs. Su San was so anxious that she stood up angrily and cursed, "Su Yu, stop slandering me!"

"We've slept together for so many years, and I remember every word you said in your sleep. You knew long ago that my second brother was with that woman from the Murong family, and they got married under my father's witness. But you were unwilling to accept this and insisted on coming to my Su family to please my mother. You even said that you had to marry me to protect my Su family from being implicated."

"Will marrying me make you so miserable? For so many years, in your dreams, even when we were having sex, you kept thinking about my second brother. Why, do you keep thinking about what you can't have?"

"You--" Mrs. Su San stood up suddenly and was about to slap Su Yu, but Su Yu grabbed her wrist and threw her onto the bed.

"Why bring up the past? Su Yu, don't say I seduced you. It was you who took the initiative to show your affection to my father, and even revealed the secret correspondence between your second brother and Crown Prince Zhang Huai."

"You betrayed your brother for your own glory. What else do you have to be proud of? It's a pity that you weren't born to be an official. My father gave you a position as a judicial officer in the Jinwu Guard, but you lost your position because of drinking. Now you can only rely on your second brother to stay here..."

Hearing this, Su Yu finally lost his composure and slapped Madam Su San in the face. Afterwards, he seemed to regret it and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Madam. I was impulsive. You said we're a lifelong couple, tied together. Why are you still saying all this? Isn't she just an orphan and abandoned girl? Why don't you use your strengths to please my mother and whisper in her ear to kick this girl out of the Su family?"
It's just a matter of repeating what we did eight years ago, so what's the problem?"

"Su Yu, how dare you hit me? Don't forget, who is responsible for the Su family's continued safety? Just based on what you have done, it is enough to wipe out the entire Su family! And you dare to shout at me! Aren't you afraid that I will tell my father about this?"

"No! Madam, I was really wrong just now. I was wrong. If you are angry, hit me, hit me! I am happy to do it!"

As he spoke, Su Yu took the Third Madam's hand and slapped it hard on his face.

Mrs. Su San seemed to have finally calmed down and thought to herself, "No, I have to ask my father for his opinion on this matter. I have to find out who that Murong is and why the King of Wei wants her dead."

Can this girl Murong Huan be kept?
.........

Murong Huan woke up from her dream again. This time the dream was very long, but extremely clear. She could even see Zhou Xing squatting in the jar, staring at her with unwilling eyes, begging for mercy!

What followed were some messy scenes: pursuers, a cold and beautiful woman, several young men reciting poems and composing essays, and... Xiao Muchen.

She actually saw the young Xiao Muchen in her dream. The boy, about eleven or twelve years old, was kneeling on the execution platform, his white clothes stained with blood, and he played a song with his hands that was enough to make all officials cry and shock the world and make ghosts weep.

"What's the difference between killing humans and ghosts? Why do you have to learn such mean deeds and snitch on others? Even if my entire Xiao family is wiped out today, I won't do it!"

……

Murong Huan suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

Ah Shu saw her frightened look and rushed to the bedside, comforting her, "Ah Huan, are you awake? Did you have another nightmare?"

Murong Huan was still a little dazed, thinking to himself: Why did I dream of Xiao Muchen? Logically, I don't know his past, I don't know what he experienced when he was young, but everything in the dream seems so realistic?

After a moment's silence, he suddenly remembered Zhou Xing's story and asked:
"Is Zhou Xing dead?"

Ah Shu nodded. "I heard, yes! Last night, we were chased by a group of men in black. She asked me to hide in Xingyun Pavilion, and then we disappeared. Later, a group of people came to Xingyun Pavilion, saying that the Jinwu Guard and the Neiweifu were investigating the murderer, and that the murderer had fled into Xingyun Pavilion after killing Zhou Xing."

Having said that, Ah Shu handed a scroll of silk to Murong Huan, "And this, she asked me to give it to you. She said that the game has been set, and now it's up to you, Ah Huan!"

Murong Huan opened the silk and saw that it was written "The Biography of Huo Xiaolian".

Huo Xiaolian, the granddaughter of King Huo, was willing to give herself to her enemy in order to avenge her blood feud and endure humiliation until she finally assassinated her enemy and overturned King Huo's verdict!

……

"Ah Huan, what does she mean by writing this?"

"She changed the ending for Huo Xiaolian..."

Murong Huan pondered, closed his eyes again, and carefully recalled the dream he had that night.

Zhou Jiulang died in Prince Huo's house, but it was a woman in white who led Zhou Jiulang and the two gentlemen Hou and Guo to Prince Huo's house.

No! Perhaps that wasn't a woman, but an illusion conjured by a hallucinogenic incense.

Then who used this hallucinogenic fragrance to lure Zhou Jiulang to Prince Huo's house?
Murong Huan opened her eyes again and looked at the puppet she had placed on the table. Besides her master, she was the only one who could create this hallucinogenic incense!
So this situation was actually set up by her from the very beginning?
Li Linghuan, what on earth are you going to do?
Murong Huan opened the silk again and glanced through it to the end. He saw the last part clearly written:

Next one, Qiu Shenji and Wu Chengsi!

"Ah Huan, what's wrong?"

Seeing the shock in her eyes, Ah Shu asked with some concern.

"Nothing, let's go out for a while!"

"Ah? Are you going out again today?"

Yesterday's trip was a day full of twists and turns and dangers. Ah Shu felt that she could not bear such a shock anymore.

"Ah Huan, we haven't had breakfast yet. Wait until I make breakfast for you and then we can go out after we finish eating, okay?"

Murong Huan smiled and said hello.

Ah Shu happily ran to the kitchen to get food, but was scolded and beaten by the old woman in charge of the kitchen and was driven back.

"what happened?"

"It's nothing, it's just that the kitchen doesn't provide any food. However, we still have money. We still have a lot of money from the medical fee given by Wang Jia Wu Niang last time! Let's go out and buy some food!" Ah Shu said with a smile.

Murong Huan nodded: "Okay! However, no matter who bullies you in the future, you must fight back. Ah Shu, we didn't come to the Su family to be bullied!"

Ah Shu nodded vigorously and laughed through her tears. In fact, she didn't feel wronged, but she felt wronged for Ah Huan.

She said she was returning to the Su family, but except for the head of the family, Su Qing, no one in the Su family treated her as a member of the Su family.

It is clearly my own home, but I feel like I am living under someone else's roof.

"Ah Huan, do you feel sad?"

"Why should I be sad?" Murong Huan asked back, tapping the little girl's forehead. "Okay, stop imagining it. I live my own life. How I live is something only I know in my heart. It has nothing to do with others. I won't be sad because others treat me badly, because it's not worth it, and I won't force it."

"It's enough for us to be good to ourselves!"

"Yeah! Ah Huan is right!" Ah Shu nodded again.

"Then let's go buy some meat buns now."

Just as the two were about to step out of the Wisteria Courtyard, they saw Old Madam Su and a group of people rushing towards their courtyard.

Mrs. Su, leaning on a cane, shouted loudly as she arrived at the gate, and threw the cane in her hand towards Ah Shu, angrily scolding:

"Where did you go last night? Did you get into trouble again? Why did you attract people from the Dali Temple?"

After saying that, he actually scolded Ah Shu: "It's all because of this bitch that led you astray!"

Murong Huan took the cane and looked at Madam Su with a gleaming look in his eyes: "Grandma, is it true that no matter what I did or didn't do, it was all wrong?"

"You think I was born guilty because of my father's death? Is that right?"

"So what exactly caused my father's death? Grandmother, don't you bear any responsibility at all? Or is it because you can't get over the guilt in your heart that you're putting all the blame on me?"

Madam Su was stunned by the question. At this time, Murong Huan said, "If you really don't like me, I can leave the Su family. However, I want the family property my father left me!"

Su Minghe once practiced medicine with Murong. With the reputation he had accumulated, he did some business in medicinal materials. Because he was popular among the people, he had a group of loyal subordinates who managed the Su family's medicine shop bigger and bigger, until it became a place that made a lot of money every day.

When Su Minghe died, he did say that he would leave the Su family pharmacy to his daughter, but his daughter was only seven years old. What could she do?

So Old Lady Su took the initiative and let her eldest and third sons take charge of the business. However, the eldest son Su Qing was an honest man who only knew how to be an official and earn a meager salary. He did not understand business, so the drugstore was handed over to the third wife, with Qin from the eldest wife assisting in the management.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Your father is a scholar, what kind of property could he have? And even if he did, what can a little girl like you do in control of it?"

Murong Huan clenched his fists, his eyes suddenly cold. He really had nothing to say to this grandmother who had no feelings for her at all.

"Grandmother, I will only say this once today. If you don't give me what my father and mother left me, I will come to get it someday. I will leave this door today and establish my own family. I will no longer have anything to do with your branch of the Su family!"

"Also, no one is allowed to touch my maidservant!"

After saying that, Murong Huan threw away the crutch he had snatched away, took Ah Shu's hand, and walked quickly towards the gate of the Su family mansion.

Old Madam Su was shocked and couldn't say a word.

“Madam, this girl has such a bad temper!”

"This evil creature actually threatened me like this for a little girl. He truly has no filial piety at all!"

At this time, Su Qing hurried over. Seeing Murong Huan striding towards the Su residence with a sullen look on her face, she realized something was wrong and hurriedly stopped her, saying, "What's wrong? Ah Huan, did your grandmother say anything to you? Your grandmother is just like that, with a bad temper. Don't take her words to heart."

"Nothing!" Murong Huan didn't want to continue on this topic, so he asked, "Uncle, are the people from the Dali Temple here again? What's the matter?"

Su Qing's expression suddenly changed, and it was unclear whether he was more happy or worried. After a pause, he nodded and said, "Yes, I heard that Zhou Xing was killed last night. Lu Shaoqing should be looking for you to paint.

Ah Huan, where did you go last night?

　Thanks to changtanyu for the monthly ticket, Yanzhihu 1, Zizhuha, Huohuohuoyi for their continued support, and thanks to Foqianchenpianpian, Lose Weight in a Dream, Ruge's Andante and other friends for their votes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)