Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 145 The Mystery of the General's Return
Since Xiao Muchen entered the cabinet and became prime minister, the Xiao residence has once again become a bustling place, with a constant stream of visitors. In addition to some officials in the court, many noble ladies from prominent families also sent invitations to the Xiao residence, most of which invited Murong Huan to attend flower viewing banquets or poetry gatherings.

Murong Huan declined most of the invitations, but personally welcomed Wang Wuniang and Madam Cui into the mansion for a chat and a small gathering.

Three years ago, Wang Wuniang also got married. The man she married was Su Fen, the son of Su Weidao.

Speaking of Su Weidao, Murong Huan felt a pang of emotion. Su Weidao was a man of great talent, much like Song Zhiwen. In his youth, he was known as one of the "Four Friends of Literature" along with Li Qiao, Du Shenyan, and Cui Rong. His wife was the daughter of his former superior, Pei Xingjian. However, after Su Weidao entered the cabinet and became prime minister, he often did not do any real work. In order not to offend anyone, he handled government affairs in an ambiguous manner. Therefore, people gave him a very special title: "Ambiguous Prime Minister".

Moreover, Su Weidao often shared his appreciation of poetry with Wu Sansi, Zong Chuke, and others, and now he is even more closely associated with the Zhang brothers, who are greatly favored by the emperor.

Mentioning her father-in-law, Wang Wuniang looked rather embarrassed and apologetic. She simply held Murong Huan's hand and said, "No matter what my father-in-law chooses, I, Wang Xueying, will always stand by your side. Whatever choice you make in the future, I will support you and hope you live a good life!"

After Wang Xueying left, Murong Huan received another invitation, sent by the Crown Princess Wei, inviting him and his wife to attend the Chrysanthemum Festival held at the Eastern Palace.

But Murong Huan knew that Lady Wei must be trying to win over some of the noble families in Luoyang through this Chrysanthemum Festival, to test their strengths and weaknesses, and to find a suitable noblewoman for her son Li Chongrun to marry.

Murong Huan received the invitation and was about to leave with Xiao Muchen when he saw Zhu Qiniangzi, dressed in a blue robe and wearing a veil, standing in front of the door.

Zhu Qiniang seemed to have been waiting at the door for a long time. When she saw the two of them come out, she immediately stopped them, lifted her veil, and looked at Xiao Muchen with a pleading expression: "Master Xiao, Qiniang has something to tell you!"

Seeing her nervous expression, Murong Huan remembered the strange story about Zhu Qiniang that Lu Shiyilang had told him on the way back to Luoyang, so he immediately invited her in.

"You came to see us because of General Wang?"

After Zhu Qiniang sat down, Murong Huan got straight to the point.

Zhu Qiniang seemed to have just recovered from her shock, and nodded to Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan: "Yes, it is because of General Wang that we have come!"

"Lu Shiyilang said that you saw General Wang, whose soul returned. Is this a lie, or is it true?"

Zhu Qiniang quickly replied, "I am not lying. In fact, he still comes to my residence to see me often. I am a little scared, so I would like to ask you for help."

Murong Huan could tell that Zhu Qiniang was extremely tired, which was obviously due to her frequent use of calming incense.

"Who exactly is this General Wang you're talking about? What does he look like?"

Zhu Qiniang then said, "Actually, I've only met him a few times. He never told me where his home was. Before that expedition, he only said that after his triumphant return, he would come to find me, redeem me from my servitude, and take me as his concubine." As she said this, as if she remembered something, she took out a scroll from her bosom and handed it to Xiao Muchen. "This is what he gave me. However, he placed it by my bedside two days ago, but Lu Shiyilang told me that he died half a year ago, so I don't know what happened."

I dared not report it to the authorities, but only told Lu Shiyilang about it. Before going to Fangling County, he sent two constables to guard outside my room for two nights, but they did not see anyone come. This matter is really too strange.”

As Zhu Qiniang was speaking, Xiao Muchen opened the scroll and found that it was yet another famous scroll.

However, this time the scroll did not specify who it was, but depicted an extremely tragic war scene. A general was fighting against the Khitan enemy in a canyon, but because his generals were afraid of the enemy and dared not come to his aid, he was left to fight alone deep into the enemy camp. In the end, he was reduced to a single soldier and chose to fall off a cliff to his death because he refused to surrender to the enemy.

"Wang Xiaojie, the Left Guard General?"

Although the person was nameless, the familiar scene quickly reminded Xiao Muchen of Wang Xiaojie, a famous general who had fought alongside him.

Four years ago, Wang Xiaojie led his army deep into the Western Regions, defeated the Tubo, and recovered the four towns of Anxi that had fallen into Tubo hands: Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar, and Suyab.

Afterwards, he fought against the Western Turks and the Tibetans many times. Later, when the Khitan leader Li Jinzhong and his brother-in-law Sun Wanrong rebelled, he and Ahuan followed Di Renjie to suppress the rebellion. In that battle, Ahuan took Li Jinzhong's head, which frightened the Khitan army led by Sun Wanrong into fleeing in terror.

But after they returned to Luoyang, two years later, the emperor once again ordered Wang Xiaojie, who was stationed in the four towns of Anxi, to annihilate Sun Wanrong. It was after this battle that the famous general Wang Xiaojie was besieged by the enemy and fought until he was left with only one soldier. He jumped into the valley and died, leaving no trace of his body.

"The Four Garrisons of Anxi? Wang Xiaojie?"

Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan immediately thought of what Murong Xian'er had once said: that the legendary assassin organization was located in the Four Towns of Anxi in the Western Regions.

So Murong Huan drew a portrait of Wang Xiaojie, placed it in front of Zhu Qiniang, and asked, "Is the General Wang you saw him?"

Zhu Qiniang glanced over and immediately nodded: "It's him! However, there seems to be a slight difference. The General Wang I met seemed to be younger than the person in this portrait, but their facial features are similar."

"Why are you so sure, Lu Shiyilang, that the General Wang you saw is dead?"

"Because I inexplicably ended up at General Wang's house that day, right in front of his mourning hall. It was General Wang's wife who told us about it."

Xiao Muchen was silent for a while, then said seriously, "Zhu Qiniang, Wang Xiaojie has been guarding the four towns of Anxi for many years. Later, he went to Hanhai Road and Shuofang Road as the Grand Commander. He has been fighting against the Turks and Khitans. He rarely returns to Luoyang."

"Then who exactly is this person I met? And why is he clinging to me and giving me this painting back? What does he want?"

Murong Huan then replied, "Perhaps only by finding this person can we find out."

Zhu Qiniang became even more uneasy.

Murong Huan then asked, "When does he usually come to see you?"

Zhu Qiniang hesitated for a moment before answering, "Tonight...11:00 AM."

One quarter past midnight?
Could it be that the soul has really returned?
Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen exchanged a glance, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Zhu Qiniang, why don't you lie down and get some sleep first, and I'll take a look at you!"

Zhu Qiniang immediately realized that Murong Huan was about to use a dream-entering technique on her.
Just as she was hesitating, Murong Huan's flute music began to play, gradually entering Zhu Qiniang's dream.

In her dream, a man who looked remarkably like Wang Xiaojie knocked on her door. When Zhu Qiniang opened the door, the man stared intently into her eyes. As if possessed, Zhu Qiniang let him into the room, and then, as if out of control, she embraced him tightly on the bed.

But by daybreak, Zhu Qiniang was alone again.

This was undoubtedly an inexplicable nightmare for her.

……

Upon waking from her dream, Zhu Qiniang looked at Murong Huan with some embarrassment.

“You must have been hypnotized by a mind-controlling technique. The person you saw was definitely not General Wang; he was just in disguise. And…” Murong Huan said somewhat embarrassedly, “He looked like a womanizer!” Zhu Qiniang’s face turned even more ashamed. Although she was a courtesan, she was once a noble lady who had fallen into the brothel and had always kept her chastity. She never expected that she would be deceived by a womanizer in the end.

She glanced at Xiao Muchen with some regret. Before he met this young lady, Xiao Muchen would occasionally go to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion to listen to her play the zither. The two were kindred spirits. However, this young talent of the Great Zhou Dynasty always kept to himself and never overstepped his bounds with her. Even the only time he asked her for help was after Zhou Xing was killed, in order to protect his current wife from being discovered by the Imperial Guards.

"If you're afraid, then stay here in our Xiao residence for now!" Murong Huan said, seemingly seeing through her thoughts.

"No, if we want to catch this flower thief, we'll have to trouble Zhu Qiniang to stay at your place for another night."

Although Zhu Qiniang was afraid, she knew that what Xiao Muchen said made sense, so she nodded.

So Zhu Qiniang quietly returned to her residence.

Xiao Muchen ordered Xuan Yu to send some secret guards to monitor the area.

After Zhu Qiniang left, Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan were puzzled again by the list of names related to Wang Xiaojie. If this person was really a womanizer, why did he choose to deceive Zhu Qiniang and put the list of names by her bedside?
When they showed the list of names to Murong Xian'er, she said, "I haven't seen this list in the leader's study. Is it a new addition?"

"However, we have heard of Wang Xiaojie's great name. Even the leader of the sect seems to admire him quite a bit. But unfortunately, he was betrayed by his subordinates in the end, which is why he ended up being smashed to pieces."

When news of Wang Xiaojie's death reached Luoyang, it greatly angered the Empress. She even issued a secret edict to execute his general, Su Honghui. However, when the messenger delivered the edict, Su Honghui was miraculously pardoned for his military merits.

Today, the four towns of Anxi are garrisoned by this Su Honghui.

"Betrayed by your subordinates?" Xiao Muchen asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes! If Su Honghui hadn't led him to that canyon, he wouldn't have fallen into the ambush of the Khitan Sun Wanrong. Afterwards, Su Honghui abandoned him and fled with his troops, leaving him to penetrate deep into the enemy camp alone until his death in battle. Isn't that betrayal?"

"You seem to know so much about this battle?"

Murong Xian'er smiled and said, "There are secret agents in the legends who specialize in collecting intelligence. Not only these battles, but also the private affairs of the major families are recorded in the legends. And I used to be the one who collected and managed this intelligence."

Xiao Muchen nodded.

Since returning to Luoyang, Murong Xian'er has lived in the Xiao residence as a guard. Her identity as A-Shu's mother has not been publicized. Xiao Muchen only told Aunt Ning and Uncle Lu that Murong Xian'er was a chivalrous swordsman he had invited to protect Murong Huan's safety.

No one in the Xiao family suspected anything.

Murong Huan said, "Thank you!"

Murong Xian'er then said, "Why are you still being so polite to me? If we're talking about status, you should call me 'Auntie.' Are you still resentful of what your mother did?"

"Don't worry, Auntie. I don't resent her. No matter what she did, she ultimately protected me with her life. How could I resent her?"

"That's good. I thought..." Murong Xian'er's eyes filled with tears. "You are so outstanding now. If your mother knew in the afterlife, she would be very gratified."

Murong Huan did not respond further, but simply asked Murong Xian'er to accompany A-Shu out for a walk to see the sights and people of Luoyang.

The two had originally planned to wait until evening to see who this flower thief was, but unexpectedly, another uninvited guest arrived at the Xiao residence.

This person was none other than Li Longji, the third son of Li Dan and the Prince of Linzi!

Although he sent a visiting card, Li Longji did not announce his arrival. Instead, he disguised himself and came to visit secretly.

Upon entering the Xiao residence, Li Longji bowed to Xiao Muchen and said, "Longji greets Right Chancellor Xiao."

“I know that the Right Chancellor is loyal to the Sage and does not belong to any party. Even your aunt cannot bring you under her wing. Therefore, Longji dares not make a blatant attempt to cause trouble for the Right Chancellor during this trip.”

"Your Highness Prince of Linzi has considered everything very well. Thank you."

After saying a few words, Xiao Muchen immediately instructed Aunt Ning to bring tea and invite him inside for a chat.

"So, what brings Your Highness the Prince of Linzi to my humble abode?"

Li Longji bowed to the two of them again and pleaded, "Longji would like to ask you two to help investigate the case and find out the truth about my mother's disappearance. I want to know whether she is alive or dead, and who framed her?"

After a moment of silence, Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen asked:

"Does His Highness the Prince of Linzi have any leads?"

Li Longji then recalled, "My mother was cautious and timid by nature. After she and my father lived in seclusion in the Eastern Palace, she dared not associate with anyone and never offended anyone. That day, after the routine grand court assembly, my grandmother suddenly issued an imperial edict, saying that my mother and Consort Liu were to come to the palace for an audience. Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi were also there at that time..."

"Does Your Highness suspect that Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi whispered something slanderous in His Majesty's ear?"

Li Longji nodded: "Yes!"

"Your Highness's mother, Consort Dou, has never offended anyone. So, is Your Highness or your father, Prince Xiang?"

Li Longji pondered for a moment and replied, "I have not offended anyone. At least I have no conflicts or interactions with these two Zhang brothers. My father has always lived in seclusion in the Eastern Palace. Apart from occasionally meeting with the Emperor, he has never had any contact with anyone else. After all, Pei Feigong of the Imperial Workshop and Fan Yunxian of the Inner Palace are cautionary tales. My father does not want to implicate officials in the court and cause them to lose their lives because of him."

At this point, he changed the subject, "However, there is one thing, I don't know if it counts as offending you?"

"What's the matter?"

“Every time my father enters the palace, he is harassed by a palace maid. My father does not want to have close relationships with anyone close to my grandmother, so he refuses the palace maid. Moreover, this palace maid seems to have dealings with Lai Junchen.”

"what is her name?"

Li Longji replied, "Wei Tuan'er!"