Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 156 The Last Scroll, the Last Secret
Murong Huan opened the letter and read: "Since returning to Silla, my aunt has fought bravely to save the royal family, engaging in numerous battles deep into enemy territory and sustaining multiple serious injuries. After succeeding to the throne, she worked tirelessly to unify the Silla kingdoms that were divided by Mi-hee, reforming corrupt practices and managing countless affairs daily. However, due to missing her only son, she often suffers from insomnia and has long been afflicted with a serious illness. This mission to the Great Zhou is to fulfill her last wish and bring her son an antidote to his cold ailment."

……

The letter ended with the line: "Xiao Muchen, if you have any conscience, please come and see your aunt off."

After reading the letter, Xiao Muchen was deeply moved and unable to calm down. He got up and was about to chase after him when Murong Huan said, "I'll go with you!"

"Wait!" Aunt Ning suddenly called out to the two of them, "Young master, there is something I must make clear to you before you make a decision."

"Is Aunt Ning going to talk about the antidote?" Murong Huan asked, as if he had a premonition.

Princess Huishan's letter contained little information, but the mention of an antidote for the cold illness spoke volumes. Five years ago, although they had concocted this prescription to cure the cold poison, it required ten extremely rare medicinal herbs to complete. Over the years, Xiao Muchen had been searching for these ten herbs for her, and now eight of them had been gathered, with only two extremely important herbs remaining: Dragon Tongue and Fire Lotus.

Gathering eight of the ten medicinal herbs is already extremely difficult, let alone obtaining the real antidote.

Just as Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen were wondering, Aunt Ning continued, "Actually, the princess has been investigating the matter of the young master's poisoning. It was only a few months ago that the princess discovered that this Ice Silkworm Cold Poison was concocted by someone she knew well, and that person was Tanxin, the son of Meixi!"

Mei Xi was the favorite concubine of King Jinpyeong, who controlled the court in Silla for more than ten years. Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan had already heard about this from Di Renjie.

"And who is Tanxin?"

"Speaking of which, this person has a complicated relationship with the princess. Before the princess married the prince, he had always stayed by her side as her personal bodyguard. He was highly skilled in martial arts and had a great talent for using poison. He had served the princess faithfully, but at that time, he did not know that he was Meixi's son."

"Later, after the princess escaped from the palace, she got separated from Tanxin and then met the prince. She followed the prince to the Great Zhou and married him. When Tanxin found the princess, he saw that she was already married and had children. He seemed very angry and drew his sword to kill the prince. The princess stood in front of the prince and told him to leave. I was hiding to the side at the time and saw that Tanxin's eyes were very frightening, but he didn't say anything and just turned around and ran away."

"This person's personality was very strange. He was just a traveler in the martial arts world. The princess saw that he was good at martial arts, so she took him to her side as a guard. However, she did not expect that when the princess fought with Mei Xi, she met him again and learned that his identity was actually an illegitimate child abandoned by Mei Shi."

"But strangely, during the battle with Mi-hee, Dam-shin did not stand on her mother's side, but occasionally helped the princess. Later, Mi-hee was defeated and died, and the princess became the queen of Silla. Originally, the princess did not care about Dam-shin's background and wanted to reward him, but Dam-shin suddenly disappeared."

"It was only two months ago that the princess discovered that Tan Xin had been hiding in the Great Zhou all along, and had even cultivated his own force in the Great Zhou, with many assassins and spies under his command."

Upon hearing this, Murong Huan and Xiao Muchen's expressions changed drastically.

"You have many assassins and spies under your command? Is the person you're talking about the creator of the legend? The cult leader?"

Aunt Ning shook her head again: "I don't know about that. These are all things that Princess Huishan said in her letter to this old servant. When the princess found out that the Ice Silkworm Cold Poison was made by him, he sent a letter to the princess, along with this scroll and this medicinal herb for the young master. But he also said that this one herb alone could not completely cure the Ice Silkworm Cold Poison. He demanded that the princess come to see him in person before he could give her the last antidote."

Upon hearing this, Murong Huan finally understood.

"So, Zicheng's mother came to the Great Zhou this time to fulfill Tanxin's promise and obtain the last antidote for Zicheng?"

Aunt Ning nodded with tears in her eyes: "Yes, it's also to settle the old grudges between me and Tan Xin."

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Muchen felt as if his heart had been emptied, and he was filled with endless fear and guilt. He asked anxiously, "Aunt Ning, do you know where Tanxin arranged to meet Mother?"

Aunt Ning shook her head and sobbed, "I don't know. The princess didn't want you to know about this, so she didn't even tell me."

"What about Princess Huishan? Didn't even she tell you?"

Murong Huan seemed to have thought of something and quickly opened the scroll to look at it, only to find that it was completely blank. It looked like a name scroll, but why would Tanxin give the Queen of Silla a blank name scroll?

Murong Huan was completely baffled. He took the letter written by Princess Huishan and looked at it repeatedly in the sunlight. Finally, he noticed the anomaly in the letter and pulled Xiao Muchen to look at it: "Zicheng, look, the way these words are written in this letter seems to be different."

Xiao Muchen forced himself to calm down and looked at the letter again. Sure enough, he noticed that three characters were darker than the others, written in a rather unique font. These three characters together formed the following sentence:

Longmen Post Station!
Longmen Station was the fourth post station between Luoyang and Silla, and even at the fastest pace, it would take two hours.

"Aunt Ning, when was the letter delivered? How long ago did they leave?"

"The letter arrived at 1:15 AM. I heard that Princess Huishan submitted her letter to the Emperor early this morning, so she must have set off about an hour ago."

Xiao Muchen immediately summoned Xuan Yu: "Send one hundred inner guards, we're going to Longmen Post Station right away!"

"Here!"

After Xuan Yu left, Murong Huan noticed that Xiao Muchen's eyes seemed to be filled with tears, revealing an unusual panic. He took Xiao Muchen's hand and comforted him, "It's alright, don't worry."

Xiao Muchen smiled slightly and pulled her into his arms.

"I know that I have not done a good job as a son, and I have certainly disappointed my mother."

She must have been very sad when she left!
"Xiao Muchen, I have a feeling that this matter is not so simple. Why would this Tan Xin choose to meet your mother when all the envoys have arrived in the Great Zhou?"

"You are the son of the Queen of Silla, and someone will surely try to exploit this situation. Therefore, we must remain calm. Your mother must be saved, and you cannot be harmed either!"

……

"If Xiao Muchen really went to Longmen Post Station, should we kill him and that Silla envoy there?"

Inside the Liang Prince's residence, Lai Junchen couldn't help but ask excitedly.

"Don't kill him yet. If we kill him directly, the Emperor will surely punish us. Why not take this opportunity to force him to flee to Silla, accuse him of treason, and then have my aunt order his execution? This would also cause internal strife in Silla. Wouldn't that be better?"

"King Liang's plan is indeed brilliant, but will that person really do as we say? He's just an assassin; does he really have that much ability?"

"The legendary assassin has been working with my brother and me for many years. If it weren't for the internal strife that occurred within the legendary organization thirteen years ago, leaving it leaderless, many things wouldn't have had to wait until now."

After Wu Sansi finished speaking, he lowered his voice and laughed.
“However, this man has an old grudge against the Queen of Silla. He is the son of Mi-hee, the former uncrowned king of Silla. Mi-hee died at the hands of Queen Kim Jong-hee of Silla, and he will definitely avenge his mother!” Wu Sansi said, then put down his teacup, looked at Lai Junchen, and suddenly changed the subject, saying, “This morning, I received news that Wei Tuan’er is dead!”

Lai Junchen's face suddenly stiffened: "Wei Tuan'er is dead? How did she die?"

"Although Xiao Muchen and his wife discovered that the case of Prince Chidu last night was the work of the sixth prince of Tubo, the Emperor still had other doubts, so he asked Murong Huan to investigate who released the cat."

"This investigation also uncovered her framing of the Prince's wives and concubines. Taiping brought witness testimonies and made her confess on the spot. Wei Tuan'er committed suicide."

Upon hearing this, Lai Junchen's face darkened immediately, and cold sweat involuntarily broke out on his forehead.

Did she confess to identifying me before she died?

Wu Sansi stood up, his tall figure hidden behind the screen, and said in a low voice, "Whether you confess or not, do you think that with the Sage's abilities, he wouldn't suspect you?"

"You have no way out now. Only by killing the Silla envoy, breaking the alliance between the two countries, driving Xiao Muchen out of our Great Zhou, and forcing Crown Prince Li Xian to launch a coup, can we have a chance to turn defeat into victory and serve the king!"

……

"Ce——"

The autumn wind was blowing, and a troop of cavalry swept across the official road like lightning, leaving a trail of fallen leaves in their wake.

The post station soldier, who was dozing off, stood up again upon hearing the noise and muttered with great curiosity, "How strange, is this the third wave of people today? They all rushed by in such a hurry that they didn't even have time to take out their official documents!"

"Why didn't you take it? The group of people walking ahead is an envoy from Silla. This group came from Luoyang, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. Their status is quite extraordinary."

"Who is that?"

"It's none of your business who it is, as long as the postmaster knows! You can continue with your duties!"

The post station soldiers continued to check each person passing by, but no one could have imagined that a fierce battle was already taking place inside the Longmen Post Station.

As soon as the Silla delegation arrived at Longmen Post Station, they saw many people lying on the ground, their blood spreading like a winding stream across the ground covered with withered leaves.

When Princess Huishan lifted the carriage curtain and saw this chilling and eerie scene, she was terrified.

Fortunately, the Queen of Silla seemed to have anticipated all of this, and calmly and composedly said to Princess Hye-sun, "Don't be afraid, Hye-sun. The reason I brought you to the Great Zhou on this mission is to temper your character and will. No matter what happens, the first thing you must overcome is your inner fear."

"Death is inevitable for everyone, but as long as we live, we must not show weakness in front of the enemy; that would be a path to death!"

"Yes, Aunt!"

"You stay here, I'll go down first!"

After saying this, the Queen of Silla suddenly drew a soft whip from her waist, turned around, and leaped out of the carriage.

"Gentlemen, please step back behind me!"

At the Queen of Silla's command, all the envoys drew their swords and shouted in unison, "Your Majesty, we will not retreat! We are willing to live and die with Your Majesty!"

"Very well! Then please have the Khitan envoys come out!"

When Hui Shan heard the words "Khitan envoys," she was somewhat surprised, but the next moment, she saw the same Khitan envoys she had seen at the banquet at the Wanxiang Divine Palace the night before walking out of the post station.

Of the five people at the head, four were dressed in fur coats, while the other was dressed in coarse linen clothes, looking like a beggar. He was the first to arrive, and when he saw the Queen of Silla, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, with a playful and irreverent smug smile, but there was an indescribable infatuation and sorrow in his eyes.

"Princess...no, Your Majesty, you've finally come to see me!" The man said, raising his hand to rip off the mustache from the corner of his mouth and the other layers of disguise on his face, revealing an extremely bright smile. "Chenxi, it's been a long time!"

"Tanxin, I once trusted you, promising you high office and wealth, and allowing you to regain your noble status in Silla, but you turned to the Khitan?"

"Trust?" The man smiled mockingly. "No, Chenxi, you're wrong. It's not that I've sided with the Khitan, but that the four garrisons of Anxi in the Great Zhou are now under my control. It's the Khitan leader, Sun Wanrong, who has sided with me!"

"Why did you poison my son? Now that I'm here, can you give me the last antidote?"

“Chenxi, you see, you always misunderstand me. I have never poisoned your son. It’s just that when I prepared this poison, it was stolen by one of my assassins. I didn’t know that he used it on your son.”

As he spoke, the man smiled again, whether it was a pretense or a genuine expression of emotion, a hint of apology in his eyes, "Of course, I only learned five years ago that your son was poisoned by this Ice Silkworm Cold Poison, and it just so happens to be the same poison I concocted."

The Queen of Silla seemed unwilling to continue arguing with him, and simply stretched out her hand, saying, "Give it to me, what do you want in exchange?"

The man grinned again, adopting a deeply affectionate expression, and said, "My princess, since the day I became your guard, I have never asked anything of you, have I?"

"Yes!"

"Actually, what I want is very simple: to stay by your side and be the person you trust the most. But Chenxi, it seems you have never trusted me. You would rather marry a man from Da Zhou whom you had known for less than a month and have children with him than believe that I can protect you and help you stay in Xinluo."

"I killed my own mother for you, but you, because of my identity, are unwilling to give me even the slightest bit of trust."

"It's not that I don't trust you..."

Before the Queen of Silla could finish speaking, Dam Shin suddenly shouted, "Then why did you send someone to kill me?"

"On the very day you ascended to the throne as queen, you dispatched nearly a hundred elite troops to eradicate the remnants of Mei Xi's faction, which is none other than me?"