Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 138 Debate, Counterattack
By this time, a large crowd had already gathered in front of the Prince's Mansion. Liu Sheng was forcibly dragged by two burly men and made to kneel on a huge execution platform.

“Everyone come and see! It’s him! He’s the one who kidnapped those missing children. He keeps a giant dragon that feeds on children. So, he’s the murderer who killed those children!” one of the burly men shouted.

The uninformed crowd immediately erupted in anger, roaring and shouting in protest:

"That damned murderer! Kill him! Kill him to avenge my son!"

"kill him!"

Some people even grabbed shovels, iron bars, or kitchen knives and rushed toward the execution platform.

Looking at the snarling crowd who seemed to want to devour him whole, Liu Sheng felt a helpless, self-deprecating smile. It turned out that inciting public opinion was also a tactic used by those in power, and these simple, ignorant people had no ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

Just as he closed his eyes, ready to resign himself to his fate, he heard someone shout, "Wait! What's the truth? We have to wait for him to finish!"

Hearing the commotion, the crowd parted to make way, and a white-haired, ethereal man led an equally beautiful and otherworldly woman to the execution platform. They stood before Liu Sheng, facing the crowd.

"Right and wrong cannot be determined by mere words. Since these two are accusing Liu Sheng of being the murderer of those children, do they have any evidence?" Xiao Muchen asked.

The two men holding Yagyu on the execution platform were clearly flustered; they were merely following the Queen's orders to put on a good show.

"Of course we have evidence, the giant dragon raised by this Yagyu is the evidence!"

"Then where is the giant dragon? Even if the giant dragon exists, how can it be proven that he commanded it to devour people?"

Murong Huan countered with a question.

One of them glanced at Lady Wei, then looked down into the crowd. A couple knelt down, wailing and pointing at Liu Sheng, saying, "It was him! I saw it with my own eyes! That giant dragon could understand him. He was the one who made it swallow my son whole. My son was only seven years old when he died!"

The woman cried dramatically, as if her heart was breaking, while the man beside her wiped away his tears, sobbing but unable to utter a sound.

Another burst of angry curses and sighs of pity for the couple rose from the crowd.

"Madam, if it really was this Yagyu who commanded a dragon to devour your child, why have you only come forward now instead of reporting it to the authorities first?"

"Moreover, judging from the surrounding people, they don't seem to know anything about this. Are there any neighbors here who know you two and can testify for you?"

The woman was taken aback, but at that moment, a middle-aged man with a full beard pointed at her in surprise and said, "Aren't you the Lady Li from Yichun Pavilion? When did you leave your profession and get married, and have a seven-year-old son?"

The woman's face turned pale: "You widower, what nonsense are you spouting? What Lady Li? Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"

"Look, you still know I'm a widower, so why do you say you don't recognize me?" The middle-aged man grinned lewdly with an ambiguous expression.

The woman named Li Niangzi was so ashamed that she wished she could dig a hole and disappear. In an instant, everyone's eyes were on the two of them.

"What's going on? So you're a prostitute after all!" someone couldn't help but tease.

Lady Li was immediately enraged and jumped up to yell at the man, "You're the one who's a prostitute! Your whole family are prostitutes!"

After she finished cursing, she realized something was wrong and fled, covering her face. The man who was acting with her also covered his face in embarrassment and fled in a panic.

Everyone was speechless: What's going on? "So, this is what you call a witness, evidence?"

Xiao Muchen turned to the burly man who had just pointed out the two men and asked.

The burly man was immediately drenched in sweat and didn't know how to refute it. At this moment, Xiao Muchen turned to Liu Sheng and asked, "Liu Sheng, what is your explanation?"

Liu Sheng then looked at the crowd and said, "I can control that giant dragon, but I have never harmed a single person. I once saved someone, thinking that good deeds would surely bring good results, but I never expected that the person I saved was actually a poisonous snake."

A year ago, I saw a young woman accidentally fall into the river. My brother and I jumped in to save her. The wind and waves were very strong at the time. My brother helped the young woman climb up by stepping on his shoulders. I was also exhausted and barely managed to swim ashore and save my life.

But my brother sank into the river again. I asked this young woman to help me find someone to rescue him, but she never returned, and my brother never came back alive. When I found this young woman, she gave me one hundred taels of silver, saying it was to buy my brother's life, and told me never to tell anyone about this again.

"I was blinded by greed and agreed to her request, but I never expected that she would deceive me and toy with my feelings... Now she wants to frame me and make me die with this false accusation!"

As Liu Sheng spoke, tears welled up in his eyes. He was handsome and had the appearance of a frail scholar. His words were so sincere and moving that they made people sigh with emotion.

Upon hearing these words, Li Guo'er flew into a rage and was about to rebuke them when Wei Shi covered her mouth and dragged her away.

At that moment, Liu Sheng stood up, holding his bamboo flute, and said solemnly, "I never kill people, I only save them!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dragon's roar rang in everyone's ears again, followed by hissing sounds. Before long, someone saw a white dragon rapidly attacking this side.

A terrifying scream suddenly rang out from the crowd, and people scattered like birds and beasts. Liu Sheng then picked up his xiao (vertical bamboo flute) and began to play it.

Seeing the giant dragon begin to attack, Murong Huan leaped from the execution platform onto the dragon's body, grasping one of its horns with one hand and thrusting the short sword in his other hand toward its enormous head.

The giant dragon seemed to struggle for a moment, then gradually stopped roaring to the sound of Liu Sheng's flute. Finally, its massive body crashed to the ground, and the surroundings gradually fell silent.

Seeing that Murong Huan was unharmed, Xiao Muchen breathed a sigh of relief amidst his worry and tension. At that moment, Xuan Yu came to his side and whispered something in his ear.

Xiao Muchen nodded to Murong Huan, then turned to Liu Sheng and said, "The time has come. You can come with us to rescue your mother!"

Overjoyed, Liu Sheng quickly put down his flute and said with tears in his eyes, "Thank you!"

At that moment, the crowd who had been hiding nearby and witnessed this scene suddenly realized what was happening, rushed back, and knelt down in front of the three of them.

"Thank you three for helping us get rid of this beast and saving the people of our city."

"We were wrong. We shouldn't have listened to one person's words and almost wronged this young master Liu!"

Liu Sheng said, "The giant dragon is not dead, it's just asleep. But it's not a real dragon, so everyone doesn't need to be afraid. It won't eat people. Those children were captured by the real murderer!"

"Huh? Who is the real murderer?"

The crowd became agitated and noisy again.

At this moment, Murong Huan turned his gaze to Lady Wei and asked, "Your Highness, are you still unwilling to tell the truth?"