Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 42 Exploration
Guo Hongba's face froze, but he finally invited Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan into the Guo Mansion. The reason was simple: the smile of the Lord Zhongcheng was so gentle and beautiful. Facing this smile, he felt like he was drugged and unable to resist.

After entering the Guo Mansion, Murong Huan's expression became cold again. He saw that even the ground in the mansion was covered with fresh flowers. There were also beautiful maids holding incense burners on both sides of the road. The maids were all wearing gorgeous clothes, radiant and looking better than the clothes she had worn before.

Guo Hongba was only an eighth-rank censor, but the clothes worn by the maids in his mansion were not much worse than those of the girls in the Su family.

Ah Shu was even more amazed and sighed, "Master Guo, your maids are all dressed so well! Master Guo treats his servants so well!"

"Of course. Servants are human beings too. It's impossible for the master to become prosperous and then tighten the belt for the servants. I am willing to share my wealth with others!"

"Master Guo, you are so kind. It's so happy to be a servant in the Guo family!" Ah Shu sighed again.

Xuan Yu curled his lips and thought to himself: What a stupid girl.

Although Guo Hongba had a smile on his face, his back was covered in sweat.

He hurriedly invited Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen to the lobby, and immediately asked two beautiful maids to bring them tea.

"Newly arrived Mengding Ganlu tea, please try it, Xiao Zhongcheng!"

At Guo Hongba's signal, two maids held the teacup with their slender fingers and carefully raised it in front of Xiao Muchen.

Ah Shu raised her eyes and saw that the two maids were constantly flirting with Xiao Muchen, with their white breasts shaking under the veil.

Xiao Muchen was slightly stunned. Just as he was about to take the teacup, he heard Ah Shu's voice, which was very inappropriate: "Two sisters, aren't you wearing enough clothes? Besides, look at your clothes, they are almost falling off your chests. It would be so embarrassing if the guests saw them!"

"boom!"

There were suddenly several crisp sounds of tea cups falling to the ground in the hall, as well as a very muffled laugh. Ah Shu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Xuan Yu standing nearby, covering his mouth with his hands and laughing so hard that he couldn't straighten his back.

Guo Hongba's face flushed crimson, and he quickly shouted at the two frightened maids, "Get out! Get out!"

After that, he apologized to Xiao Muchen and said, "I'm sorry, Xiao Zhongcheng, those two maids just now were so rude that they ruined your mood. How about we go somewhere else and talk?"

Xiao Muchen smiled faintly but remained silent. He noticed Murong Huan staring at Guo Hongba with an unusual expression. He clenched his knuckles tightly, even wanting to attack Guo Hongba at any moment. He suddenly stood up, walked over to Murong Huan, and shook her hand tightly. He said to Guo Hongba, "No need for a long chat. As I just said, I just brought a famous doctor to see Censor Guo's wife!"

"Oh, by the way, where is your wife now?"

……

Mrs. Guo's courtyard was actually quite far away from the main hall where Guo Hongba was. As soon as they arrived at the gate of the courtyard, they heard loud shouts, footsteps and the sound of porcelain breaking coming from inside.

As Murong Huan stepped out of the door, something hit her head on. She subconsciously reached out and grabbed a small stool.

The stool fell, and a disheveled woman appeared before him. She looked as if she were both laughing and crying, and she kept shouting, "Retribution! It's all retribution! You will be punished too! You will all be punished!"

Guo Hongba was very displeased and shouted, "What's going on? What are you all doing? Can't you even serve the Madam?"

The servants trembled and fell to the ground, "Damn it! Damn it! It's our fault for not taking good care of the Madam!"

"Get out! Get out!"

Guo Hongba's shout caused all the servants to scatter like birds and beasts. At this moment, Xiao Muchen suddenly called out, "Wait a minute, Censor Guo, you've driven away all the servants in this courtyard. Who will take care of your wife? The miracle doctor I brought here is only there to treat your wife. You can't expect her to take care of your wife's daily needs, can you?"

"How dare I?" Guo Hongba laughed, and pointed his gaze at one of the maids, "You! You stay and serve the mistress. Everyone else, go back and don't disturb the miracle doctor!"

The servant girl froze, her face pale with fear, and then nodded resignedly: "Yes, I obey your command!"

Guo Hongba hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Xiao Zhongcheng, I'll have to trouble this miracle doctor to treat the lady's illness! I..."

Xiao Muchen nodded. "If Censor Guo has nothing else to do, please go and do your own thing. I'll sit here for a while. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"No problem! Of course no problem!"

Guo Hongba's face froze slightly, he smiled, and had to retreat with his servants.

After Guo Hongba and the servants in the courtyard left, Xiao Muchen had Xuan Yu take the maid aside. Then he looked at Murong Huan and asked, "What's wrong with you? Why do you feel such strong hatred when you see this Censor Guo?"

Murong Huan pondered for a moment and replied, "He was also one of the people who participated in the assassination of my father and mother. I remember his eyes!"

As her memory gradually returned, the eyes of the assassins who surrounded and killed her mother appeared more and more clearly in her mind. Even with her face covered, she could still depict the faces of these people one by one.

This was also the first thing she learned since she began her apprenticeship with her master: reading from bones, drawing a clear picture from a vague image. "So this Lord Guo is actually the enemy who killed the Lady Lang, Ah Huan..." Ah Shu also began to feel sad.

Xiao Muchen pondered for a moment and asked, "Who is your mother?"

"I heard that he is a secret guard beside the filial emperor Li Hong, a doctor, and the successor of Li Chunfeng."

"Li Chunfeng?"

Hearing the name Li Chunfeng, Xiao Muchen's expression changed with extreme surprise. "Li Chunfeng is not only proficient in astronomy, calendar calculation, yin and yang, and Taoist theories, but he is also the first person in history to categorize wind. He is a person who truly transcends the mundane world and seeks the true meaning of the great Dao. Your mother is actually his disciple?"

"I just heard it from others, but I don't know its authenticity."

"Then do you know who your master is?" Xiao Muchen asked.

Murong Huan shook his head: "I don't know."

Xiao Muchen fell silent and stopped asking questions. There was a hint of doubt and realization in his expression.

At this moment, a shrill laugh suddenly rang out in the yard again: "Who are you? Are you here to laugh at me? I'm going to kill you... Hahaha... I'm going to kill you..."

A few people looked in the direction of the sound, only to see that Madam Guo had found a kitchen knife from somewhere and was slashing at the air. Ah Shu was so scared that she quickly hid behind Murong Huan. When Madam Guo rushed over with the kitchen knife, Murong Huan knocked the knife out of her hand with one hand and hit her on the back with his elbow, knocking her unconscious.

"Ah Shu, drag her into the room, and we'll start hypnotizing her with incense!"

"it is good!"

……

Mrs. Guo's room was not as magnificent as other places in the Guo Mansion they had seen before. Instead, it smelled like feces and urine.

Ah Shu pinched her nose and couldn't help but sigh, "What's wrong with you guys? Hasn't your eldest lady's room been cleaned? Why does it smell so bad?"

Upon hearing that, the maid ran over quickly and said, "I'll clean it up! I'll clean it up!" Then she took the dirty bedding out and replaced it with a clean one.

"Please clean up the room as well. The front of the Guo Mansion is so magnificent, but why is Madam Guo's yard like this? Are you guys thinking your Madam has gone crazy and are stopping serving her and abusing her?"

"No, no, how dare we mistreat the Madam? It's just that the head of the family has ordered us to let the Madam do what she wants and not to interfere too much..." At this point, the maid's face changed, and she slapped herself hard, thinking, "What am I talking about? Nonsense! Nonsense!"

"Why are you so weird? Why are you hitting yourself in the middle of a sentence?"

The maid's action quickly attracted the attention of Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen.

Xuan Yu came over at Xiao Muchen's suggestion and pressed the issue again, "What on earth happened to the Guo family? Why did your eldest lady become like this?"

"I don't know. I was just sent here to serve Madam not long ago. I really don't know why Madam has become like this."

Xuan Yu sneered and measured the sword in his hand, and said in a deep voice again:

"I warn you again, Xiao Zhongcheng doesn't have much patience. You don't have to tell anyone, but if Xiao Zhongcheng finds out that you and your family head are colluding to commit murder, you will be tortured, or even your entire family will be wiped out!
Oh, by the way, you should have heard of tortures like the donkey-pull-out-the-peg and the immortal-seeing-fruit tortures in the Ministry of Justice prison, right?"

Xuan Yu's words frightened the maidservant so much that her legs went weak. She knelt down again, kowtowed repeatedly, and said, "I'll tell you, I'll tell you! When our eldest wife first married into the Guo family, she was actually quite happy. Master Guo treated her well at first, and the couple treated each other with respect. But who knew that not long ago, the wife learned from somewhere that the murder of her family by horse bandits was actually a plot by the master of the family to get her family's property."

"Is your wife's family very rich?" Ah Shu couldn't help but ask.

The servant girl replied, "Yes, my wife's surname is Xie. She was originally the sister of a wealthy merchant in Bozhou. I heard that when she was traveling for business in her early years, she was attacked by a group of pirates. She fell into the water while fleeing, and it was Master Guo who saved her. After that, the wealthy merchant married her to him. When she married, she brought a dowry that filled an entire street.

At first, Lord Guo respected and loved her, but later he discovered that his wife was infertile, so he began to take concubines one after another. Just two days ago, he also took in Lord Er's two young and beautiful concubines. So our eldest lady seemed to be stimulated and kept going crazy..."

"Is Mrs. Guo's surname Xie?" Murong Huan asked.

The maid nodded: "Yes, her surname is Xie, and her original name is Xie Rou."

"Then why did your wife beat those two concubines to death?"

"Beat two concubines to death?" The maid was stunned. "No! Our mistress never beats or scolds servants. Moreover, after those two women were taken in as concubines by Erlang, she took good care of them. How could she beat them? You must be mistaken! Our mistress is kind and gentle, and never scolds her servants!"

"Then how did they die?" Xuan Yu asked again.

(End of this chapter)