Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 98 The Secret of the Master

"What do you have to ask? He is the one who wants to kill the saint. It has nothing to do with me! It has nothing to do with me!"

Wu Chengsi seemed to be incoherent for a moment, and his eyes were filled with panic and fear.

"The King of Wei is so anxious to kill him. Is he planning to shift all the blame onto the dead man and clear himself again?"

Wu Chengsi suddenly turned around and looked at Xiao Muchen.

"Xiao Muchen, shut up! Stop slandering me!" he shouted. "Do you really want to kill me?"

"It's not me, King Wei, who's forcing everyone in the court. To become crown prince, you instigated the scoundrels in Luoyang and your own cronies to submit letters of denunciation in a bronze box. You also ordered Lai Junchen to torture and extract confessions, falsely accusing Prime Minister Di, Prime Minister Cen, and others of treason. Countless people have died in prison because of your false accusations. How are your actions any different from those of Helan Minzhi?"

"You are slandering me!" The King of Wei was so angry that smoke was coming out of his nose. "What right do you have to say that I am making a false accusation? Even if it is a false accusation, it was made by Lai Junchen, the cruel official. What does it have to do with me?"

"So, King Wei, you acknowledged those secret letters reporting Di Xiang and others' conspiracy to rebel, which were false accusations, correct?"

"you--"

Xiao Muchen ignored the King of Wei's rage and turned to the Empress, bowing and saying, "I implore Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate this case. I have also found some witnesses who delivered secret letters falsely accusing Prime Minister Di and others. I hope Your Majesty will hand this case over to the Three Courts for a fair trial. This way, the King of Wei will not be wrongly accused!"

A joint trial by three judges!
Everyone was amazed. After all, the King of Wei was the nephew of the Empress. Would the Empress agree?

At this point, even Li Duozuo knelt down and pleaded, "I also implore Your Majesty to hand this case over to the three courts for joint trial. This case has wide-ranging implications, affecting not only the common people but also the soldiers on the border, and even more so the country and people of our Great Zhou. Please, Your Majesty, thoroughly investigate this case and bring justice to the world!"

The empress's expression was still ambiguous.

Helan Minzhi, who was already on the verge of death, burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" someone couldn't help but ask.

"I'm laughing at your naiveté. The heart of an emperor... what is the heart of an emperor? In her eyes, all of you are just pawns she uses. When pawns are no longer useful, it's time to discard them and silence them, just like I am now!"

This sentence finally made the empress's eyebrows raise and she became furious.

"General Li, arrest the King of Wei and Helan Minzhi and send them to the Imperial Prison of the Magistrates' Court!"

After saying that, he turned to Shangguan Wan'er beside him.

"Wan'er, draft an edict for me. The White Horse Temple case will be handed over to the three courts for joint trial. Regardless of whether it's the King of Wei or General Xue, anyone suspected of embezzling disaster relief funds, misappropriating military pay, or oppressing innocent people will be punished according to law once they are found out. I will show no mercy!"

"Here!"

After hearing what the empress said, Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen both relaxed.

"aunt!"

Wu Chengsi screamed and his body went limp, almost falling down.

The empress did not look at him again, but turned her gaze again to the Buddhist monks in the White Horse Temple.

"What explanation do you want to give?"

Surrounded by the imperial guards led by Li Duozuo, the Buddhist monks knelt in fear and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive us! We were deceived and misled by Xue Huaiyi and had no idea what was going on in the underground bank. Your Majesty, please investigate and restore our temple's innocence!"

"Humph, before the truth was revealed, you all shared the glory and wealth, but once the truth was revealed, you all just shirked responsibility."

"I have handed this matter over to the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate for a joint trial. I only await a result. Today's matter ends here. I am exhausted. I will hand it over to General Li and Minister Xiao. Wan'er, Taiping, follow me back to the palace first!"

"Here!"

It happened that General Zhang Qianxu of the Right Feathered Guard arrived with a group of imperial guards. Then, they escorted the empress's carriage out of the White Horse Temple and headed towards the Ziwei Palace.

……

Inside the White Horse Temple, Murong Huan's attention quickly shifted to Helan Minzhi, whose chest was still bleeding and whose last breath was still lingering. While he was still breathing, Murong Huan urgently asked, "Did you inflict the Ice Silkworm Poison on Xiao Muchen? What kind of venom did you use to create it? Tell me now!"

Helan Minzhi smiled silently and said, "Little girl, are you nervous about him? Are you in love with him?"

There was a hint of joking and even pride in his tone.

Murong Huan did not answer him, but listened to him:
"If I tell you there's a way to completely cure the ice silkworm poison in his body, but it requires a small price to pay, would you be willing?"

"you say!"

"Come, I'll tell you quietly!"

When Murong Huan half-believingly put his ear close to him, Xiao Muchen nervously called out, "Ah Huan, don't listen to him, don't get close to him!"

But Murong Huan did not listen to the advice. When she saw Helan Minzhi's lip movements clearly, her expression changed slightly.

At this time, Xiao Muchen also came to Helan Minzhi's side and asked sternly, "Why do you call my master "brother"? And why do you hate my father so much? Was the secret letter reporting my grandfather and father's rebellion also written by you?"

Helan Minzhi smiled and said, "So what if it's me? Xiao Muchen, do you know why the empress killed your entire Xiao family, but only let you live until now?"

"And your master, or rather your master, do you really think he is a good person?"

Having said that, Helan Minzhi let out a mocking and shrill laugh.

"No one would be nice to you for no reason. Why would he save you?" After asking Xiao Muchen, he turned to Murong Huan, "And why would he accept you as his disciple and teach you two everything he knows? In fact, he's only being nice to you because he feels guilty and wants to make amends. How could someone who wants to rewrite everyone's fate care about the life and death of one or two people? And everything you do now is under his control!"

"What do you mean?"

Xiao Muchen asked somewhat uneasily.

Helan Minzhi glanced at him, let out a smug laugh that seemed to have no clear meaning, and said only one sentence: "Think about it carefully! Xiao Muchen, after I die, you will never find out the truth about the extermination of your Xiao family... Maybe in the near future, you will suffer again, hahahaha..."

"What do you mean?"

Xiao Muchen wanted to ask more questions, but he saw blood gushing out of his mouth again. His eyes became dull and his spirit gradually faded, and he collapsed.

"Never mind, he's dead!"

Murong Huan said that Hong Xian's knife had already pierced his heart, and this knife was enough to kill him.

At this time, the red line was already dying.

Lu Shiyilang rushed to Hongxian's side, helped her up, and asked, "Where is Qiu Shenji now? Also, you can't die. All the cases in the White Horse Temple require you to be a witness."

"Quick! Call a doctor!"

Amid Lu Shiyilang's panicked shouts, Murong Huan came to Hong Xian's side.

Seeing Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen, Hong Xian's eyes suddenly showed a trace of extreme envy, and she sighed, "The infatuation of a man can be explained, but the infatuation of a woman cannot be explained. I have experienced countless betrayals in my life, family, friendship, and the so-called fleeting love, but when I see you, I still envy you.

My master always said that feelings are the most unreliable thing. Even dogs know loyalty, only humans can betray. But if a person is heartless, is he really a human being?

"Murong Huan, I envy you so much. You've met a good master... and a good husband."

"Don't say anything!" Murong Huan stopped Hong Xian from saying anything else and stuffed a pill into her mouth. "This can temporarily save your life. Hold on for now."

"I treated you like this, and you still saved me?"

Hong Xian seemed in disbelief, and a ray of light appeared in her eyes again.

"We need you to be a witness and expose the crimes of those people!"

(End of this chapter)