Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 112 Another secret
"How did you bully her?" Murong Huan asked.

Qinghong seemed to have thought of something extremely terrifying. She bit her lip and remained silent for a long time. Seeing her hesitant, Lu Shiyilang urged her impatiently, "Tell me quickly, how did you bully me?"

"He would often beat her. Later, Madam Cui took a fancy to that young man surnamed Zhang and wanted him to marry the young lady named Lu Yingying. But my girl also took a fancy to that young man Zhang. Especially at Madam Cui's request, when they were introduced to each other, my girl and that young man Zhang also fell in love with each other. That young man Zhang said that he was only attracted to Lu Yingying's beauty. A poor tofu seller's daughter was not qualified to be her legal wife. He would eventually come to the Zheng family to propose marriage."

Matchmaker? Could it be that Zheng Shuxiao was playing the role of matchmaker between Zhang Sheng and Yingying?
"What happened next? Why did Lu Yingying die?" Murong Huan asked back.

"At that time, a newly appointed governor of Puzhou took a fancy to her and wanted to take her as a concubine. I heard that this young lady was very fierce in defending her innocence. Even after being with Zhang Sheng for a long time, she refused to let him have her body. Later, Zhang Sheng saw that her beauty had attracted the governor's desire, so he simply tricked her into going to the governor's mansion with my girl, intending to give her to the new governor. However, I heard that she refused to comply and committed suicide on the spot."

Murong Huan stood up suddenly. "What did you say? Yingying was tricked into the governor's residence by Zhang Sheng and your daughter?"

Qinghong nodded, and said timidly: "Yes, that's all I know."

Murong Huan then asked, "Besides your daughter, are there any other young ladies involved in this matter?"

"The Cui... The Cui family has some too, right? After all, the fourth and fifth wives of the Cui family both hate Lu Yingying very much. They pretend to be sisters with Lu Yingying in front of Madam Cui, but humiliate her in private."

At this time, Xiao Muchen asked, "Who is the newly appointed governor? And in what year did this incident happen?"

Qinghong replied, "It was in the fourth year of Chuigong. The newly appointed governor seemed to be called... Heichi Changzhi..."

In the fourth year of Chuigong, Wu Chengsi presented the jade stone, and the empress summoned the Li kings to Luoyang, causing the Tang royal kings to panic and rise up in rebellion.

It was also a year of constant war and great turmoil.

In the same year, Heichi Changzhi was promoted to Duke of Yan because of his great victory over the Turks. However, the following year he was falsely accused by the cruel official Zhou Xing and imprisoned, where he committed suicide in prison.

"It can't be General Heichi Changzhi. Did you remember it wrong?" Xiao Muchen said suddenly.

Qinghong bit her lip but still insisted: "But I heard from my daughter that the new governor is General Heichi Changzhi."

Murong Huan asked curiously, "Why do you think it couldn't be him?"

Xiao Muchen said, "If we talk about military achievements, Heichi Changzhi can be compared with your grandfather. He was originally from Baekje and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. He repeatedly conquered the Tubo people and killed thousands of enemies. Later, when the Turkic Ashina Gudulu invaded Changping, the sage sent him to fight, and he defeated the Turkic army again. This year happened to be the fourth year of the Chuigong era.

But in the first year of Yongchang, which was the second year after he was promoted to Duke of Yan for his military achievements, he was falsely accused of treason by Zhou Xing and, unable to endure the torture, hanged himself in prison.

Xiao Muchen felt quite sad and regretful that a famous general had met such a fate.

"Could it be that General Heichi Changzhi being falsely accused of treason is also related to this incident?" Murong Huan continued.

There was a slight flicker in Xiao Muchen's eyes, but he couldn't guess what the connection was.

Murong Huan seemed to have thought of something and asked, "During the time Madam Cui was staying in Puzhou, was there anyone with Lu Yingying?"

Qinghong thought about it carefully and replied, "That young lady doesn't have a servant by her side. Madam Cui did give her one, but that servant doesn't seem loyal and only listens to Cui Wuniang."

Thinking of this, Qinghong changed the subject again, "However, I seem to have heard that she has a younger brother or something, maybe from her adoptive mother's family, but we haven't seen him."

"younger brother?"

The word "brother" made Murong Huan's eyes light up again. She hurriedly handed Qinghong to Lu Shiyilang and asked him to take her back to the Dali Temple for interrogation and protection. Murong Huan then returned to the Xiao family with Xiao Muchen.

As soon as he arrived at the Xiao family's house, Murong Huan summoned the little girl and drew a picture of the blind musician. He placed it before her and asked, "Is that the brother who gave you the puppet doll?"

The little girl shook her head and said nothing.

Seeing a hint of disappointment in Murong Huan's eyes, Xiao Muchen said, "You doubt what Qinghong said. Lu Yingying has a younger brother, who is very likely the blind zither player, and the noble lady who saved him is most likely Lu Yingying, right?"

Murong Huan nodded. "He's good at playing the qin, and his flute sounds seem to be similar to mine. I've always wondered if he's related to my master. But he wasn't the one who sent the puppet doll."

"This matter is also related to Cui Si Niang and Cui Wu Niang. If the murderer is seeking revenge for Lu Yingying, I have a feeling that Zheng Shuxiao's death may just be the beginning."

Almost as soon as Xiao Muchen finished speaking, the snow lizard brought something in front of them.

Murong Huan picked up the object and took a closer look. It was another lifelike puppet doll. Just like before, it shook slightly and a hint of crimson appeared at the corner of its mouth.

Xiao Muchen's expression changed again: "This puppet seems to be carved out of Cui Ying, the fifth daughter of the Cui family!"

The two men's expressions changed, and they asked Snow Fox, "Xue Li, where did you pick up this puppet?"

Xueli turned around and ran towards the door. Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen also chased to the gate of the Xiao Mansion and saw Xueli stopped under a white poplar tree.

But at this moment, there was naturally nothing under the poplar tree.

"It seems someone delivered this thing and left immediately," Murong Huan said. "The murderer will kill Cui Ying next, but why did they have to let us know before killing him?"

"Maybe he wants to guide us to investigate something? Maybe another case!" Xiao Muchen continued.

"Then let's go find Cui Ying now! And that blind musician..."

Xiao Muchen knew what she wanted to say, and quickly called Xuan Yu over, handing him the portrait of the blind musician. "Send someone to keep an eye on him. Don't let anything go wrong this time!"

"Here, my dear!"

……

So, Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen once again came to the Cui family in Sigongfang, but this time they visited the two girls in Anpingfang of the Cui family.

At that time, Xiao Muchen's stepmother, Cui, was also in the Cui family.

Cui Wuniang was also frightened when she heard about Zheng Shuxiao's death, and she also received a bloody gift today, a carved wooden hairpin.

But after seeing the hairpin, Cui Wuniang and Cui Ying were so frightened as if they had seen a ghost that they screamed and asked for a Taoist priest to exorcise the ghost.

Cui scolded her, "How can you make such a fuss? It's just a hairpin, and you've made a girl from the Cui family lose her composure!"

"Aunt, you have no right to scold a girl from my Cui family. Besides, a bloody hairpin is unlucky no matter how you look at it, right?" Cui Shi continued.

"You said you couldn't even handle a little slave girl beside Xiao Muchen, and you were tricked by the two of them. You have brought shame to the Cui family, haven't you?"

"you!"

Cui Shi was so angry that he had nothing to say, so he left in anger. At this moment, the housekeeper ran into the hall, panting, and reported: "Master, Madam, Xiao Zhongcheng... Xiao Zhongcheng has arrived at the door of our Cui Mansion with a little girl..."

"Who?" Cui Shi thought he hadn't heard clearly, and Cui Shi was even more incredulous. "Who's here?"

"That's Xiao Zhongcheng, the Imperial Censor Xiao Muchen!"