Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 52 Night Dream, Soul Separation

When Xiao Muchen left, four beautiful maids followed him and surrounded him like a peacock spreading its tail feathers.

"My dear, you have returned. You did not come home last night. I was so worried!"

"Yes! Siqin and I waited for my husband for a whole night, but he didn't come back. We thought he..."

"Why? Are you afraid that my husband might be assassinated and won't be able to come back?"

Xuan Yu said this in a bad mood. The four maids looked terrified and said one after another: "Of course not, it's just that we have been in the mansion for more than half a year, and the master is still..."

Xuan Yu interrupted, "Have you completed all the tasks assigned to you by the Young Master?"

"Not yet...not yet."

"Then hurry up and do it!"

The four maids looked at Xiao Muchen, each of them shy and resentful, as if they were very unwilling, but they did not dare to say much. They could only say in unison: "Yes!" and then left dejectedly.

Murong Huan and Ashu were stunned.

After Xiao Muchen walked into the courtyard called Changqing Pavilion, Murong Huan and Ashu also followed the woman called Aunt Ning into Qingxin Courtyard.

"Auntie, those women just now..." Ah Shu couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Those four were given to you by the Saint. They've been in the mansion for about six or seven months. You only let them do some gardening, bathing, dressing, feeding, and cleaning up the animals. I'm afraid these ladies can't stand it any longer."

"What do you mean you can't bear it anymore? What do they want to do?" Ah Shu asked with her eyes wide open, puzzled.

"You little girl..." Aunt Ning shook her head and laughed, then warned, "By the way, you are the distinguished guests invited by the master. You will live in this courtyard from now on. Just don't have any contact with those people. If you need anything, just call me. You can also call me Aunt Ning."

After saying this, Aunt Ning was about to leave when she heard Murong Huan calling out:
"Aunt Ning——"

"Hey, what are your instructions, young lady?"

"How do you know we are young ladies?" Ah Shu asked in surprise.

Aunt Ning smiled meaningfully. "My husband asked me to prepare women's clothes for you two. He also said that you should treat the two ladies as if they were his family. Although the two ladies are dressed by my husband and have tried their best to hide their feminine features, I am never wrong in judging people. Moreover..." She pointed at Murong Huan and said, "This young lady has a subtle fragrance. If you are sensitive to smells, you can easily smell it..."

"Oh!"

It turns out that no matter how they try to hide it, someone will still discover their identity as women.

Aunt Ning placed an exquisite dressing box and a complete set of clothes in front of Murong Huan: "My dear, this is what my husband prepared for you. Tomorrow, you will wear this dress and go to the banquet with my husband!"

After saying this, he saw Murong Huan looking at the women's clothing on the table without any objection or surprise, and thought to himself: This young lady is quite calm and collected, and doesn't talk much.

"If you have nothing else to do, young lady, I'll leave!"

Aunt Ning turned around after she finished speaking, only to hear Murong Huan ask, "Aunt Ning, how long have you been following Xiao Zhongcheng?"

"It's been more than ten years now. Ever since my wife disappeared from home, the Master asked me to take care of him. Later, when the Xiao family was in trouble, the Master chased my husband and me to the countryside. We luckily escaped. A year later, when the storm had died down, the Master took us back to Luoyang. We've been with him ever since."

Having said this, she sighed again, "Our young master has had a difficult life. He suffered many hardships and the pain of separation from his family when he was young. My dear lady, I heard that you are a doctor. Are you really sure that you can cure our young master's illness?"

Murong Huan did not give a direct answer, but only asked:
"Do you know who set him up to be attacked by poisonous insects and ants, and then poisoned by the ice silkworm?"

When Aunt Ning heard Murong Huan's question, she was surprised. She obviously didn't expect that her husband would tell the young lady about this matter.

"I just don't know. My husband has investigated and suspected that it might be Cui's conspiracy, but he couldn't find any evidence. Instead, he has suffered a lot from her over the years..."

Seeing that Aunt Ning was sad, Murong Huan stopped asking.

Aunt Ning also took her leave and walked out of Qingxin Courtyard. Before leaving, she said, "By the way, don't go to my husband's yard at night. He doesn't like anyone to disturb him when he's sleeping at night."

"it is good!"

……

After settling down in the Xiao Mansion, Murong Huan did not go out again. She had to get enough rest to do what she had to do tomorrow. Looking at the moonlight outside the window and the pear blossoms in full bloom falling like snow and fluttering like butterfly wings, she felt even more sleepy, so she asked Ah Shu to get her some hot water. After taking a bath, she lay down on the neatly made and clean bed.

Ah Shu also fell asleep beside her, touching the soft and silky quilt, and couldn't help but sigh, "It's so comfortable! Ah Huan, we have never slept on such a comfortable bed, and such a soft and warm quilt. This Xiao Zhongcheng treats Ah Huan so well!"

"If only he could always treat Huan this well!"

She couldn't help but have extravagant hopes, and when she turned around to look at Murong Huan, she found that she had fallen asleep, and she sighed in her heart again.

Hey, Ah Huan must be too tired, we need to let her have a good sleep.

……

Like countless other nights, Murong Huan entered the dreamland again, but the difference was that in her previous dreams, she was Li Linghuan, experiencing firsthand everything that Li Linghuan had experienced, which made her feel dazed and unable to tell who she was.

This time, she actually met Li Linghuan, a woman who looked similar to her but had an aura that looked down on the world and mature charm.

This feeling is also very strange, like seeing my future self.

"Is this the first time we've met in a dream?"

The slender woman in a black robe turned around and looked at her with a smile.

"Yes, Li Linghuan, what exactly do you want to do?"

"There are three thousand great ways. Everyone has something they aspire to do and must do, and a path they must follow. I am no exception."

"Then what is your Tao?"

"Ask the heavens! Ask the Tao! Ask yourself! Ask those who have strayed from their original aspirations and continue to struggle and betray the path they chose!"

"What do you mean?"

Li Linghuan didn't answer, but changed the subject and said, "Murong Huan, you are too kind and gentle. There are many things you can't do. Only I can help you do them, and your future destiny can only be changed by me."

After Li Linghuan finished speaking, Murong Huan felt something tugging at her clothes, and her dream began to unravel. An eerie ringing sounded from nowhere, and she felt as if someone had pushed her and tumbled off a cliff. The rapid, weightless fall awoke her instantly, and she was startled awake to find a snow-white fox scratching her chest with its claws, whimpering softly.

Murong Huan saw a hint of anxiety and worry in the snow fox's eyes, so he asked, "Do you have something to say to me?"

The snow fox seemed to understand her words and squeaked for help again, with a hint of sadness hidden in the amber light in its eyes.

"Okay then! Take me to where you want to go."

The snow fox nodded softly again, turned around and ran quickly out the door. Murong Huan also stood up, put on a white feather cloak, and chased the snow fox all the way to an elegant house opposite, with the four corners of the house covered with moonlight and eaves.

The plaque above it has three large vermilion characters written on it: Changqing Pavilion.

This is Xiao Muchen’s yard!

Aunt Ning said that Xiao Muchen didn't like others disturbing her sleep.

The thought had just flashed through her mind when the snow fox ran into the hanging flower gate. Seeing that she didn't follow, it immediately turned around and called out twice, as if urging her to hurry.

do not care!
Murong Huan strode into Changqing Pavilion and chased the snow fox all the way to Xiao Muchen's bedroom. As soon as he entered the room, he felt a chill. Xiao Muchen was lying on the bed talking in his sleep, with pain from nightmares condensed between his brows.

Could it be that he, too, would be haunted by nightmares?
And as if affected by the dream, there was a chill emanating from his body.

"Xiao Muchen——"

Murong Huan tried to call him, but it didn't wake him up. He seemed to have fallen deeper into the dream, and the coldness around him became heavier.

The sound of "ding ding" bells came again from the distance, seeming far and near, and extremely ethereal.

"Xiao Muchen, wake up!"

Murong Huan called out again and reached out to feel his pulse.

It’s so cold!

Could it be that the ice silkworm cold poison has taken effect?
No, he has to wake up from his dream first!
So Murong Huan took out the puppet again, took out the spices, and lit the gilded lying turtle and lotus incense burner that was already in the room.

As the smoke dissipated and gradually flowed along Murong Huan's fingertips into Xiao Muchen's nose, the coldness around Xiao Muchen gradually weakened.

At this time, Murong Huan played the soul-calling flute again. When the flute sounded, the bell sound coming from nowhere gradually faded away.

Xiao Muchen's expression gradually eased, from the initial pain to the final reluctance to leave.

With the help of the fragrance and his mumbling in his sleep, Murong Huan once again entered his dream.

He discovered that his dream was all white. The little boy Xiao Muchen was reaching out to grab a woman, but the woman seemed unreal with her back to him and didn't say a word.

He kept asking again and again:

"Why did Mother leave us?"

"Who are you? Why did you make up such a ridiculous lie to deceive us?"

……

"Who was the one who reported the Xiao family to the authorities?"

"who are you?"

"who are you?"

In the dream, the beautiful woman who looked like a fox fairy gradually disappeared, and only a sentence came from the distant sky: "Achen, I'll wait for you to come find me!"

A distant and pleasant flute sound was heard, and Xiao Muchen regained consciousness. He suddenly woke up from his dream and reflexively reached out to grab the person who tried to approach him.

When he finally woke up and looked carefully, he found that he was holding Murong Huan's wrist tightly.

"It's you. Why are you in my room so late?" He said apologetically, letting go of her wrist.

Murong Huan pointed at the snow fox squatting nearby and said, "It was this fox that led me here!"

The snow fox squeaked at Xiao Muchen again, and as if afraid of being blamed by him, it turned around and ran out the door.

"This snow raccoon always likes to meddle in other people's business!" Xiao Muchen said with a smile.

"This snow fox understands human nature. You are its master, and it wants to save you," Murong Huan said, then asked, "Does your ice silkworm cold poison attack every night?"

"Not really. At first, it happened once a month, then it gradually became twenty days, then ten days. Now the frequency is irregular. Sometimes it happens twice a day, and sometimes there can be a five-day interval."

So this is how you've survived for the past twelve years, since you were poisoned at the age of eight?

"Did you hear a bell ring?"

"Ring sound?" Xiao Muchen shook his head. "I haven't noticed it before, but every time I dream of my mother, I seem to hear the sound of silver bells, as if the bells hanging on my mother's feet are ringing."

Murong Huan became even more suspicious and asked, "Xiao Muchen, is it possible that there is a thief in your house, or among the people around you?"

Hearing this, Xiao Muchen couldn't help but laugh: "If that's the case, then apart from Aunt Ning, Uncle Lu, and Xuan Yu, everyone else is also possible. Of course, you and your little maid Ah Shu just arrived, so you don't count!"

The room fell silent for a moment. After a long while, Murong Huan said:
"Your illness cannot be delayed any longer. Emotional influence will accelerate the onset of the ice silkworm cold poison. If the intervals between attacks become shorter and shorter, it may cost you your life."

"Well, that's true. However, it seems the person who poisoned me didn't want me to die sooner, but wanted to torture me this way. So, I should be able to live for several more years."

Seeing his nonchalant expression, Murong Huan said angrily, "Xiao Muchen, do you really not care about your own life or death?"

"I care! Aren't you here now?" He said with a joking smile.

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(End of this chapter)