Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 65: A Different She, the Death of Qiu Shenji

"Another assassination attempt! Are you trying to challenge this princess's bottom line?"

Almost at the moment the arrow was shot, Xiao Muchen felt an arm wrapped around his waist. With a loud click, the bottom of the carriage fell down instantly. At the same time, Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen also fell down.

"Puff puff!"

Immediately afterwards, countless powerful crossbows shot at him. Murong Huan held him and rolled to the side. Xiao Muchen, who had reacted, saw that something was wrong and shouted, "Xuan Yu, get off the carriage and get down!"

Xuan Yuyuan was still using his sword to block the arrows that were whizzing towards him like heavy rain. He immediately reacted after hearing the sound and rolled towards the darkness to the side, but he still couldn't avoid an arrow that pierced his left shoulder.

The carriage, which was still galloping, was riddled with arrows like a hedgehog. The horse let out a wail, bent its legs, and fell to its knees.

When Xiao Muchen was shocked, he saw Murong Huan running towards a tavern in front of him like an arrow, and climbing up the branches on the roadside and quickly reaching the top of the eaves.

There was clearly a man in black standing on the eaves.

In the night, Murong Huan's light golden fairy dress became the most eye-catching bright color.

Xiao Muchen was surprised and nervously ordered, "Xuan Yu, quickly mobilize the soldiers from the Inner Guard House! Also notify General Li who is guarding the North Gate!"

"But my dear, if I leave, what will you do?"

"I'm fine, I can protect myself!"

After Xiao Muchen finished speaking, he also ran quickly towards the tavern.

On the eaves, Li Linghuan looked at the ghost-faced man in black standing only three feet away from her. The corners of her lips curved as she smiled and said, "Did the King of Wei send you to assassinate us?"

"It is I who wants to kill you. It has nothing to do with the King of Wei."

Li Linghuan sneered again, "Just now you used the bows and crossbows of the Southern Court Guards. As far as I know, the Imperial Guards guarding the North Gate are commanded by Li Duozuo, the Right Winged Guards General, while the other is led by the Empress's male favorite, Right Guard General Xue Huaiyi. Xue Huaiyi should be on the side of the King of Wei, right?"

Li Linghuan's words made the eyes behind the ghost-faced man's mask reveal an expression of extreme surprise.

"Why do you think it was Xue Huaiyi and not Li Duozuo? And how do you know Xue Huaiyi is the King of Wei's man? Who are you?"

The ghost-faced man's eyes showed suspicion and fear, but then he laughed loudly: "Haha, no matter who you are, I will not let you leave here alive today!"

The ghost-faced man took out his crossbow again, pulled the string and put an arrow on it. Li Linghuan smiled again: "Let's see, which is faster, your arrow or my hand!"

The moment the arrow was shot, Li Linghuan turned around and suddenly came in front of the ghost-faced man, reaching out and pinching the ghost-faced man's neck.

Of course, the ghost-faced man would not really give her the chance to strangle her. Instead, he transformed the arrow into a sharp blade and stabbed it into Li Linghuan's chest, exclaiming in amazement: "What a pity! She is such a beautiful young lady. It would be a pity to kill her! It would be better to..."

Before he could finish his words, his pupils suddenly widened as he discovered that Li Linghuan dodged past him like a ghost and punched him in the abdomen, causing him to spit out blood. He suddenly retreated three feet, and the tiles on the eaves made a sound of falling.

"You little lady, you look so delicate, but how come you have so much strength?"

"Forget it, I won't play with you anymore, let them play with you!"

"Someone, take her down!"

At the command of the ghost-faced man, several more men in black emerged from all directions, each holding a bow and crossbow in their hands, forming an encirclement and aiming at Li Linghuan.

At night, the sound of bells and the woman's singing could be heard again, sad and mournful.

At the moment when several arrows were fired, Li Linghuan crouched down and slid down the tiles, kicking several of them on the wrists. Suddenly, the arrows that were originally shot at her changed direction and shot towards the other men in black who formed an encirclement.

A few short howls were heard in the night. The companion who was shot asked aggrievedly before dying: "Why...why did you shoot me?"

After escaping the encirclement, Li Linghuan quickly fell from the roof. Seeing Xiao Muchen rushing towards her, she took his hand and fled together to a hidden place outside the tavern. At that time, the soldiers from the Inner Guard finally arrived.

Along with the soldiers from the Inner Guard came a crowd of people who had rushed out of the tavern after hearing the noise. Most of them were young scholars exchanging poetry and wine.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Yeah, what happened? Isn't that Xiao Zhongcheng? And the little girl who can play the flute beside him!"

Everyone looked at each other and asked.

At this moment, another group of Qianniu Guards guarding the imperial city also rushed over upon hearing the noise. Seeing the carriage pierced like a hedgehog, a horse lying dead on the ground, and Xiao Muchen looking slightly angry and nervous, the leading general asked, "May I ask, Xiao Zhongcheng, what exactly happened?"

Hearing this, Li Linghuan couldn't help but look at the newcomer. This man was none other than General Li Duozuo, who commanded the Northern Gate Imperial Guards. In a previous life, he had been her most capable assistant. In the first year of the Shenlong reign, it was thanks to him that he had summoned the Imperial Guards and, in conjunction with Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi, Cui Xuanwei, Jing Hui, Huan Yanfan, and Yuan Shuji, launched a coup that successfully forced his elderly and dotardine mother, Wu Zhao, to abdicate. It turned out to be him!
Li Linghuan's eyes lit up as he continued, "Someone is trying to assassinate Minister Xiao. General Li, please take these arrows and crossbows and the assassins back and find out their identities."

The momentum of this sentence was so strong that no one could refute it. Xiao Muchen looked at Li Linghuan in surprise and suspicion.

The soldiers and guards responded, "Yes!" and left one after another.

……

Inside the Prince of Wei's residence, a man in black with a ghostly face climbed over the courtyard wall and, taking advantage of the thick darkness, sneaked all the way to Wu Chengsi's bedroom. However, he could hear the delicate sobbing of a woman from within the bedroom. A guard stopped him and said, "Wait, the Left Prime Minister is taking a new concubine. Don't go in and disturb him!"

"She's just a maidservant, just for fun, but how can she interfere with important matters? Go tell the King of Wei that Ghost Face has urgent matters to discuss with him." The Ghost Face man glared at the guard again, "If you delay important matters and the Left Prime Minister blames you, how can you bear the consequences?"

The guard's face changed, and he replied in panic, "Yes!"

After a while, the King of Wei, who looked tired from overindulgence, came into the study room wearing a black feather cloak and a look of exhaustion.

"What happened? You rushed to see me in such a hurry, but is the matter settled?"

"No, it's all because of the incorrect information you gave me. You said Xiao Muchen was just a weak scholar who only knew how to talk in the court, but today, more than a dozen of our crossbowmen shot his carriage into a nest of cavalry, and he and the young lady beside him were able to escape."

"Even more terrifying is the young lady beside him. She's agile and lightning-fast. One punch nearly shattered my internal organs. If it weren't for my own internal energy protecting me, I'd have been killed by now!"

"What did you say? That young lady can also fight?" Wu Chengsi seemed unable to believe it.

The ghost-faced man gave another bitter laugh and sneered, "Not only is she skilled in martial arts, but I'm afraid few martial artists in the world can rival her!"

Wu Chengsi was so shocked that he was speechless: This is impossible? He really couldn't imagine that the seemingly delicate and frail little girl was connected with such a rough martial arts master.

Realizing that the situation seemed to have completely deviated from his imagination and was heading in an extremely bad direction, his expression changed rapidly and he said angrily, "So, what do you want from me now that you've returned? Do you want me to clean up this mess for you?"

Facing the King of Wei's anger, the man laughed without fear and said sarcastically:

"Your Highness, you and I are tied to the same rope. If we fail, we will try to shift the blame. This is not the alliance we once made."

Wu Chengsi's arrogance was immediately suppressed, and he said helplessly and angrily: "Then what do you say we should do now?"

The ghost-faced man was silent for a moment, then suddenly picked up a chess piece and pressed it heavily onto the chessboard. He replied, "There are some things that your Highness must resolve to do. Don't you still have Lai Junchen's sword in your hand?"

"Since these so-called loyal ministers of the Tang Dynasty have been opposing the Saint's decision to appoint you as his successor, then let them all be imprisoned! This is also a good opportunity to eliminate the two people the Saint trusts most!"

"Which two? Are you talking about the newly appointed Prime Minister Di Renjie?"

"Indeed, this time Xiao Muchen has set up such a grand scheme, exposing Qiu Shenji's crimes to all the scholars in Luoyang, the capital of the gods, and at the same time implicating you, Lord Zuo Xiang, as the real culprit behind this. Di Renjie has made an indelible contribution. Perhaps he has already surrendered to the Prince of Xiang. If you still want to be the crown prince of the Great Zhou, this man must be eliminated!"

……

The ghost-faced man's departure did not attract anyone's attention. When Li Linghuan came to his senses and wanted to chase him, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you OK?"

Looking at Li Linghuan, who was radiating an aura of dominance and rushing forward without any regard for danger, Xiao Muchen felt fear and doubts.

Why did she give him a completely different feeling now than usual?

Li Linghuan seemed to have noticed Xiao Muchen's suspicion and said with a smile, "I'm fine. You should go to the tavern and see where the ringing and singing just now came from."

Xiao Muchen nodded, and as he walked towards the tavern, he saw that "Murong Huan" was walking faster than him and walked into the tavern with big strides. He followed him, and when they found a room where the singing came from, they saw a man hanging on the beam like Zhou Xing, with a letter of apology hanging on his chest.

This person is none other than General Qiu Shenji of the Left Jinwu Guard!
Li Linghuan found it funny for a moment and sighed: Learn from me!
At the same time, someone in the tavern was the first to shout, "Murder! Murder!"

Then, everyone rushed towards the room like a tide.

Suddenly, the place was filled with voices and was extremely noisy.

When everyone rushed to the outside of the room and saw the scene inside, time seemed to stand still for a moment in an unusually eerie silence. Then a woman's scream rose to the sky, and soon after, a large number of screams came one after another, the shouts shook the sky, and it was as eerie and terrifying as hell.

Li Linghuan felt the ground shook three times.

Oh my god! This is too exaggerated!
Forget it, even though I know it’s a trap, I’ll still leave the investigation to you, Murong Huan!

(End of this chapter)