Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 139 A-Shu's Mother

Faced with the all-knowing gazes of Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan, Madam Wei realized the enormous mistake she had made. How foolish it was to try and put on an act under the watchful eyes of these two legendary figures who were masters of solving cases.

They originally thought that as long as they pinned the matter of the evil dragon eating children on Liu Sheng, the matter would be over, and they could immediately return to Luoyang, which would also be considered an explanation to the people of Fangling County. They never expected that this couple would see through her trick so quickly.

“The murderer is right here in the palace. Wasn’t it the murderer who just used this giant dragon to attack the people here?” Xiao Muchen said, his expression turning cold. He suddenly said in a deep voice, “Your Highness, I don’t care what your relationship is with this murderer. Please tell me the truth, or I will immediately report this to Luoyang.”

"No, no, no..." Madam Wei immediately lost her composure and hurriedly said with a forced smile, "Alright, I'll talk, I'll talk. I was indeed threatened by the murderer, which is why I hid him in the Prince's mansion, but I did not help him kill anyone, and the other matters have nothing to do with me!"

"Minister Xiao, shall we talk inside the Prince's residence? I'll take you to find the murderer you're looking for!"

"No need, we've already caught the murderer!"

After Xiao Muchen finished speaking, Xuan Yu ordered his men to bring a man with half of his face disfigured before the crowd.

When the people saw the man's fierce appearance, they immediately started cursing again, and some even threw eggs from their baskets at the man's head.

The man glanced at Ms. Wei, then suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.

"So my sister was so eager to betray me!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Who's your sister!"

As she spoke, Lady Wei once again turned her pleading gaze to Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan.

Xiao Muchen then signaled Xuan Yu to escort the man to the front hall of the palace.

At the same time, Liu Sheng disassembled and stored the giant mechanical dragon, and at Xiao Muchen's signal, he also came to the palace.

Originally, Li Guo'er wanted to stop Liu Sheng from entering the Prince's Mansion, but her mother, Lady Wei, stopped her.

After the group arrived at the front hall of the Prince's mansion, Li Xian, who was sitting at the head of the main hall, revealed a look of astonishment when his gaze fell on the man's face. He exclaimed in surprise, "It's you? You're still alive?"

The man laughed with a mocking tone: "Yes, I never expected that after all these years, the former Emperor, now a prince, would still remember his brother-in-law?"

"Why did you let yourself get into this state?" A hint of guilt and regret appeared in Li Xian's eyes.

The man sneered, "Why have I become like this? Don't you know, Your Highness? If it weren't for you, would our entire Wei family have been wiped out?"

"Where were you, Your Highness, when our Wei family was besieged by those Imperial Guards? You hid yourself, fearing you would be implicated, but it was our Wei family that suffered this calamity because of you!"

"Shut up!" Madam Wei slapped the man across the face. "Wei Xun, you're already lucky to have survived. You should be grateful. It was the Prince who brought glory to our Wei family. Even if we die, we Wei family members will be eternally grateful!"

"Heh..." Wei Xun laughed bitterly, "Your so-called glory was nothing more than the lives of all the men in the Wei family that were exchanged for you, wasn't it?"

It turns out he was actually Wei's elder brother, a survivor of the Wei family!

Li Xian was deposed and exiled to Fangling. The entire Wei family was exiled with him and died in exile. Xiao Muchen was aware of this. This situation was probably similar to that of Helan Minzhi. The emperor would not openly behead them, but would secretly send people to take their lives.

"Getting back to the point, why did you capture those children? Where did you take them? And who are you working for?" Xiao Muchen asked.

Wei Xun then turned his gaze to Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan, scrutinizing them for a long time before suddenly laughing, "I killed all those children. I'm going to use their blood to refine elixirs. The blood of young children is the purest, and this is the best medicine to preserve the emperor's youth!"

Madam Wei was horrified and grabbed the man's collar, saying, "What nonsense are you spouting? How could you do such a heinous thing?"

The others in the hall were also shocked.

Li Xian pointed at Wei Xun helplessly and said, "You, how could you do such a thing? You have lost all humanity, even Heaven will not tolerate you!"

Wei Xun then said, "Is that so? Anyway, I've already died once, haven't I?"

Murong Huan sensed something was amiss and continued, "No, you're lying. If you really killed those children, where were their remains buried? And where is your alchemy room? And who is acting on your orders?" Wei Shi seemed to realize something, a thought flashing through her mind, and said, "Could it be Zhang Yizhi? Wei Xun, are you working for Zhang Yizhi?"

Wei Xun did not reply.

Murong Huan walked up to Wei Xun, stared into his eyes, and asked, "Where did you send those children? Also, like Helan Minzhi, did you join some kind of assassin organization?"

Wei Xun's nonchalant smile vanished instantly.

"He Lanminzhi's face was disfigured in a fire, what about yours?"

"You actually know about the Legendary Assassin Organization?" Wei Xun looked at Murong Huan in surprise. "That's right. I was forced to become a member of Legendary, but I was an abandoned one. I'm not as capable as Helan Minzhi, who could persuade the King of Wei to assassinate the Sage."

"But Helan Minzhi also failed!"

"I know he failed. It's ridiculous. He planned for so long, yet he still failed. It's a waste of his life's efforts and knowledge!"

As Wei Xun spoke, his tone suddenly became very indignant, as if he deeply regretted that Helan Minzhi had failed to kill the Empress.

"Helan Minzhi's mission is to incite the King of Wei to assassinate the Emperor, so what about you?" Murong Huan asked, "What is your mission?"

Wei Xun's expression changed, and suddenly a smile appeared on his lips: "Do you think I would tell you?"

But as soon as he finished speaking, his expression changed, because he heard the sound of a flute. The sound was sometimes near and sometimes far, sometimes plaintive and sometimes sorrowful, as if it took him to a vast world, and all the memories in his mind flashed back like a revolving lantern.

Initially, he was being hunted down. During his frantic escape, he encountered a group of people wearing bronze masks. They saved him and took him to an infernal hell, where he survived like a dog. In order to stay alive, he killed countless people.

When he emerged from that hellish cage, those people led him to a magnificent palace, where he met a high and mighty "king." Although the man also wore a mask, he exuded an aura of dominance that looked down upon the world.

The man gave him a portrait and told him to go find the woman in the portrait.

So he searched everywhere and finally found the woman in Fangling County. After finding her, he quietly killed everyone around her and imprisoned her in a secret room under the palace.

When the woman, whose limbs were bound in heavy shackles and who was tied up in the dark chamber, raised her head and her face entered Murong Huan's mind, Murong Huan's expression suddenly changed.

"A-Shu?"

The flute music stopped abruptly. Xiao Muchen noticed her expression had changed, so he quickly came over to steady her and asked, "What's wrong? A-Huan, what did you see?"

Ah Shu, who was standing nearby, asked curiously, "Ah Huan, you called me just now, is there something you need?"

No, that woman wasn't A-Shu, but she looked so much like her... Could it be...?

"Let's go, let's go to that underground secret room!"

After Murong Huan finished speaking, he was about to head towards the dilapidated low house in the backyard of the Prince's Mansion. Wei Shi was surprised and wanted to stop him, but under Xiao Muchen's gaze, she withdrew what she was about to say.

So the group went to the place where Wei Shi and Wei Xun had agreed to meet the night before. Following the direction of Wei Xun's memory, Murong Huan led Xiao Muchen and the others into the room, found a hidden door with a mechanism, opened it, and then followed a long passageway into this underground secret room.

When you reach the end of the passageway, the space suddenly opens up and becomes bright and spacious. There are candles burning in the secret room, and a woman in tattered clothes is tied to a cross.

Upon seeing this, Liu Sheng suddenly turned and ran towards the woman, untying the iron chains as he cried out, "Mother, Mother, wake up..."

The woman seemed very weak, but at Liu Sheng's call, she finally raised her head and opened her eyes.

At this moment, Ah Shu, upon seeing the woman's face, seemed startled and shuddered.

"Who are you? Why do you look so much like me?"