Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 153 Finding the Murderer on the Spot
what?
Did Prime Minister Xiao kill this Prince of Chidu?
Everyone was stunned, but the situation had been too chaotic, and many people were still terrified by the recent rumors circulating in the palace about a demonic cat that ate people. Everyone was thinking about escaping, and very few people noticed what was happening here.

Tibet is militarily powerful and is currently in a tense standoff with the Great Zhou. If peace talks fail, it is very likely that another major war will break out.

Therefore, regardless of the reason for the death of this Prince Chidu, the fact that he died at this moment, and in the Mingtang Hall of Empress Jinjian, is extremely unfavorable for the Great Zhou.

We must give the Tufan a reasonable explanation, even if their demands are unreasonable.

"What's going on? I think I just heard a cat meowing, and the lights in the hall flickered several times. It's terrifying! Could it be the legendary demon cat?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Where did this demon cat come from?"

"I heard that the Prince's wives and concubines were eaten by a demon cat, and their bodies have never been found..."

Some whispered amongst themselves, while others were still in shock. Amidst the chaos and terror, the Empress suddenly shouted, "Silence! Stop talking nonsense! Who spread the rumor that the demon cat eats people?"

After speaking, she paused for a moment, then continued, "Consort Dou and Consort Liu harbored treacherous intentions and plotted to assassinate me, so I have granted them death. With me here, what do I have to fear from any evil spirits? Anyone who dares to utter the words 'demon cat' again will be punished the same as the two consorts!"

The Empress's words immediately silenced the bewildered crowd, who dared not utter another word. In particular, when Prince Xiang heard his mother so frankly admit that Consorts Dou and Liu were killed by her, he didn't even dare to show any sign of wanting to cry. He could only force himself to put on a calm and composed demeanor as if nothing had happened.

Crown Prince Li Xian and Princess Taiping dared not speak, while only Wu Sansi watched everything that was happening in the hall with an inscrutable expression.

The entire Mingtang fell into an eerily quiet silence once again.

In the silence, the Empress turned her gaze to Qi Siruo: "How could the Prime Minister of my Great Zhou Dynasty be such a narrow-minded person? Is Your Excellency questioning my ability to judge and appoint people?"

Qi Siruo immediately broke out in a cold sweat, thinking to himself: I have long heard that the Empress of the Great Zhou is ruthless and vicious, killing her son and brother, murdering the emperor and poisoning her mother. She is a rare ruthless character among women. Seeing her today, it is indeed chilling.

"Khan, I am not questioning your judgment."

"Then let's stick to the evidence. How do you determine that Prince Chidu was killed by Prime Minister Xiao?"

Qi Siruo pondered for a moment and replied, "Just now, Prime Minister Xiao was the closest to our Prince Chidu, and look!" He pointed to Prince Chidu lying on the ground, "Our prince has a short arrow in his back, which is obviously caused by a hidden weapon. Just now, when the cat meowed, everyone panicked and tried to run away, but I saw that only Prime Minister Xiao was still standing here calmly and motionless."

Murong Huan then replied, "You're wrong. Not only did he not move, but I also stood beside him without moving. According to your logic, does that mean I'm also the murderer?"

“You are his wife, of course you will speak up for him!”

"Then tell me, why would Prime Minister Xiao want to assassinate your Prince Chidu? He has no grudge against this Prince Chidu, so why would he kill him because of a single rude remark from you? Even if he were to kill someone, shouldn't it be you?"

"Of course, it's to sabotage the peace talks between Tibet and the Great Zhou!"

Qi Siruo blurted out, and Murong Huan laughed: "As a subject of the Great Zhou, Prime Minister Xiao is wholeheartedly concerned for the people of the Great Zhou and loyal to the emperor. Moreover, he is in charge of all the diplomatic affairs this time. Why would he want to ruin this peace talks and give others a handle to make himself unhappy?"

"My esteemed envoy, could it be that you do not wish to negotiate peace with my Great Zhou, and thus deliberately caused this incident?"

Upon hearing Murong Huan's words, Qi Siruo's expression changed drastically. Another Tibetan envoy sitting at the table quickly stepped forward and apologized to Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen, saying, "I apologize. Our Langzong was only flustered and confused because of the death of Prince Chidu. After all, the deceased was a prince of Tibet. If we cannot find the real culprit, how can we explain to our Khan?"

Murong Huan noticed that the Tibetan envoy was noticeably more composed and reserved, and appeared to be older. Her gaze lingered on the two faces for a moment before she returned the greeting and said, "The unfortunate assassination of Prince Chidu is a great loss to our Great Zhou. Your Excellency is right; we must find the true culprit and avenge Prince Chidu. Only in this way can we avoid disrupting the peace talks between our Great Zhou and your country."

The Tibetan envoy's face stiffened for a moment, then he said, "Then please have someone from your country's Court of Judicial Review examine the body and find the real culprit!"

Before he could finish speaking, Murong Huan replied, "No need. I can also perform an autopsy, and I will apprehend the murderer on the spot at today's banquet!"

As soon as Murong Huan finished speaking, Qi Siruo burst into laughter: "Madam Xiao, aren't you being far too arrogant?"

The Turkic and Khitan envoys standing nearby also looked at Murong Huan as if they were watching a spectacle.

"I am not being arrogant, but as long as everyone here leaves this hall today, the murderer will surely escape, and the truth about your prince's death will never be known. I think that when you return to Tibet, you will tell your Khan that my Great Zhou killed your Tibetan prince and incited your Khan to attack my Great Zhou, won't you?"

Qi Siruo stared wide-eyed, speechless for a moment, and then said, "Fine, then I'd like to see how you find the real culprit and convince us. The envoys from various countries present here can also be witnesses!"

After saying that, he gave a mocking smirk and thought to himself: A delicate woman like her wants to investigate cases like the Dali Temple. After the Great Zhou produced an empress, every woman wants to take herself seriously. How ridiculous!

The Empress also turned her trusting gaze to Murong Huan.

At this moment, Murong Huan bowed to the Empress and came to the side of Prince Chidu, who was lying on the ground slowly stiffening. She looked at the short arrow that had pierced his heart and saw a circle of deep red blood around the arrow. She then looked at the color of Prince Chidu's pupils and tongue, and then examined his hands and exposed skin. Finally, she found a clue on the middle finger of Prince Chidu's right hand.

Xiao Muchen also squatted down and saw a tiny hole on the middle finger of Prince Chidu's right hand. If it weren't for the little bit of dark red blood that had seeped out, it would have been hard to notice.

The only thing that could cause such a small wound was something as fine as a needle. So, Xiao Muchen went to check the zither that the Prince of Chidu had just played. Just as he was about to reach out to examine the zither, Murong Huan stopped him and grabbed his wrist.

Queen Silla seemed to sense something and slipped something into Princess Hye-sun's hand.

Princess Huishan understood their meaning, so she walked down from the palace and came to their side, saying, "Do you suspect there is something on this zither? I have something here that can help you examine the zither and its strings."

After saying that, she put something that looked like tweezers into Murong Huan's hand: "This is called 'Iron Handling,' it should be able to help you."

Murong Huan nodded, took the iron object and went to the zither. Just as he was about to inspect the body and strings, Xiao Muchen pointed to the right side of one of the strings. Murong Huan saw that there was indeed a silver needle hidden there, so he used tweezers to take the silver needle out.

When everyone saw the silver needle she had pulled out, they wondered curiously, "What happened? How did Prince Chidu die? Who killed him?"

"There were so many dancers surrounding him just now, could he have been one of them?"

Amidst the murmurs and discussions, the Empress turned to Xiao Muchen and asked, "Zicheng, have you discovered anything? Tell me!"

Xiao Muchen replied, "What truly caused the death of Prince Chidu was not the short arrow on his back, but the poisoned needle hidden in the strings of the zither!"

"A poisoned needle!" someone exclaimed. "Why don't we have Physician Liu examine it and see what kind of poison was injected into this silver needle?"

The Empress nodded and ordered Physician Liu, who was sitting in the hall, "Physician Liu, go and examine him!"

"Here!"

Physician Liu hurriedly took out his own medicine box and asked someone to bring a bowl of water. He then instructed Murong Huan to drop the silver needles into the bowl of water.

Almost instantly, a bowl of clear water turned bluish-black.

Xiao Muchen then summoned several ministers and other envoys from Tibet to come and watch.

The other Tibetan envoys were also greatly alarmed upon seeing this: "It is indeed poisonous. In that case, someone deliberately hid this poisoned needle in the strings of the zither, intending to kill our Prince Chidu."

"Who is it?"

The elderly Tibetan envoy demanded an explanation in a stern voice.

The dancers were so frightened that they trembled and none of them dared to speak.

"A bunch of lowly maids! Is there a traitor among you? Who is the murderer? Step forward, or I will kill you all to make amends for the prince's funeral!"

After Qi Ruosi finished speaking, he was about to draw his sword when he realized that they had already removed their weapons before entering the Mingtang.

At this moment, Murong Huan continued, "It wasn't them. They just surrounded Prince Chidu at the most opportune moment, blocking everyone's view. At that moment, Prince Chidu was already poisoned, but because he was surrounded by them, he didn't have time to call for help and died from the poison."

"Physician Liu, may I ask what kind of poison this is?"

Physician Liu said, "It's arsenic!"

"Crane's crest poison! No wonder he died so quickly from the poison!"

"If it's not them, then who is it?"

Xiao Muchen then turned to the Empress and continued, "Just now, everyone should have heard that when the music was at its most intense, there were meows from cats and screams from the dancers. The meows were meant to cause panic. So why did Prince Chidu touch the poison needle hidden in the strings just as he was playing?"
This shows that the person who hid the silver needle was also extremely knowledgeable in music; he knew that when Prince Chidu played this piece, he would definitely touch this string, or even this specific position.

"I won't discuss for now who could have gotten close enough to Prince Chidu and tampered with his zither strings, but rather this short arrow in Prince Chidu's body..."

"That's right! Who shot this short arrow and hit him right in the back? Was it not enough to kill Prince Chidu with a poisoned needle? Did this murderer have accomplices?" someone asked.

Murong Huan then stepped forward and said, "Everyone, think about it. When the dancers have all dispersed and Prince Chidu has fallen, whoever is the first to approach him will be the one who pierces his heart with this short arrow!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the hall turned their attention to Qi Ruosi.

"What do you mean? You're saying I killed our prince? Isn't that ridiculous? Why would I kill him?"

Qi Ruo tried to explain, but his face clearly showed signs of panic.

At this moment, Princess Taiping suddenly realized and said, "I understand now. It turns out that it was all a play performed by you, Qi Ruosi. You deliberately rushed to Prince Chidu's side first when he fell, just to stab him in the back with this short arrow, creating the illusion that he was shot and killed, so that you could pin the prince's death on my Great Zhou, is that right?"

"I know that your general, Lun Qinling, does not support your Tubo Khan in negotiating peace with my Great Zhou. So you tricked the Zanpu's most beloved prince, Chidu, into coming to my Great Zhou to participate in the peace talks, just to kill him here and thus destroy the alliance between Great Zhou and Tubo!"

"You're talking nonsense!"

Qi Ruosi let out a fearful and guilty cry, and Murong Huan added, "Not only that, just now your esteemed envoy also wanted Silla dancers to accompany Prince Chidu. Do you also want to pin Prince Chidu's death on Silla in order to destroy the alliance between our Great Zhou and Silla?"

These words immediately provoked the anger of the assembled civil officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Qi Ruosi wanted to say something more, but Murong Huan looked at him again and said in a deep voice, "Moreover, you are not the real Qi Ruosi!"

This last sentence immediately caused an uproar throughout the entire hall.

It would be one thing if it were discovered that Qi Ruosi was the murderer of Prince Chidu, but if he wasn't the real Qi Ruosi, then what about the real Tibetan envoy Qi Ruosi?

"What makes you say he's not the real Qiruosi?" a Tibetan envoy asked, unconvinced. "Our Langzong looks exactly like that!"

"Because I can draw portraits by feeling bones, I already know what he really looks like through his fake face."

After saying this, Xiao Muchen ordered someone to bring paper and pen to draw a portrait of Murong Huan.

Before half a cup of tea could be brewed, a portrait was presented to the Tibetan envoys.

It turned out to be the face of a very young man.

"The Sixth Prince?" Several Tibetan envoys were shocked upon seeing him. "How is it you? Where is Langzong?"

The young prince, his mask torn off, was immediately exposed and could no longer remain calm. He glanced at the elderly Tibetan envoy as if pleading for help, when he heard Murong Huan say, "He has probably already detained him!"

"Since you have all recognized him as the sixth prince of Tibet, and the prince who died here, Chidu, was your Khan's most beloved son, you should know best why the sixth prince killed Chidu."

"This matter has nothing to do with my Great Zhou!"

"Yes, yes, this matter naturally has nothing to do with the Great Zhou!" the elderly envoy replied, his expression cold and solemn. He turned to the Empress and said seriously, "I will bring back the body of Prince Chidu and the murderer together, and let the Khan handle this matter. I am truly sorry that today's banquet has frightened the Heavenly Khan!"