Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 170 Three Major Cases, Plum Blossoms Weep Blood
As news of the victory reached Chang'an, the soldiers led by Li Linghuan and Xiao Muchen marched out of the Hexi Corridor, passed through Jincheng, entered the Guanzhong Plain, passed through Qinzhou, and gradually headed towards Chang'an.

News of this great victory over the Tibetans quickly spread to towns along the way and throughout the Tang Dynasty. Li Xian was overjoyed, especially after receiving the letter of surrender from the Tibetan king. He was pondering what kind of reward to give Li Linghuan and Xiao Muchen when a messenger brought him some news that shocked him greatly.

"Your Majesty, terrible news has struck! I've heard that our Tang army encountered a severe blizzard on their way back from Anxi, and many soldiers have tragically frozen to death along the way..."

"what?"

Li Xian was so shocked that he stood up from the dragon throne, then slumped back down, unable to recover for a long time. Meanwhile, Cui Shi, standing in the court, couldn't help but let a smile creep onto his lips.

At this point, the messenger changed the subject again, continuing, "However, Anxi Jiedushi Murong Huan did return with a small number of surviving soldiers!"

Cui Shi's expression froze.

Li Xian quickly recovered from his daze and exclaimed with delight, "Quickly, prepare the triumphant ceremony! I want to personally welcome them back to the city!"

……

Meanwhile, news of a series of events in Chang'an reached Li Linghuan, Xiao Muchen, and others who were on their way back, much to the surprise of Lu Shiyilang and the rest of the group.

"Three major cases have now occurred in Chang'an. The first is the case of the rebellion of the Imperial Son-in-Law, Wang Tongjiao!"

"Wasn't Wang Tongjiao the meritorious official who, during the coup, carried the then Crown Prince Li Xian onto a horse and led troops into Xuanwu Gate together with Li Duozuo?" Lu Shiyilang asked in surprise.

Li Yi continued, "That's true. But because the Prince of Liang was in power and was wantonly framing meritorious officials, Wang Tongjiao also learned of the Prince of Liang's affair with Empress Wei. He wanted to assassinate Wu Sansi, but unfortunately, he was betrayed by a villain. So before his assassination plan could be carried out, this villain informed on him and falsely accused him of treason. I heard that the Emperor beheaded Wang Tongjiao without conducting an investigation and arrested many of his accomplices."

"And who is this little man?"

Li Yi turned his gaze to Xiao Muchen, who replied, "Song Zhiwen!"

“Him!” Lu Shiyilang exclaimed in surprise, then said disdainfully, “Isn’t he just a pedantic scholar who’d try his best to squeeze into the Empress’s male favorites?”

However, wasn't it said that Song Zhiwen and Wang Tongjiao were classmates and close friends?

"Indeed, Wang Tongjiao suffered because he trusted his classmate too much. Originally, Song Zhiwen had been exiled to the desolate Lingnan region by the current emperor for flattering the Zhang brothers. However, this cowardly scholar could not bear the hardship of exile and secretly ran away, hiding in Wang Tongjiao's house. He was eager to make a name for himself and escape this predicament of exile, and he did not hesitate to betray his friend and benefactor. Now that Wang Tongjiao's family has been executed, Song Zhiwen has not only not been punished for his unauthorized escape, but has been promoted to the position of Assistant Minister of Personnel for his meritorious service in informing on Wang Tongjiao!"
Moreover, this person is currently being used by Wu Sansi!

"What a despicable person who betrays his friends for personal gain!" Lu Shiyilang was filled with righteous indignation and slammed his fist hard on the table.

"And what's the second important thing?"

“It’s the Tianjin Bridge anonymous letter case!” Xiao Muchen replied.

"What kind of strange case is this?" Xie Zi'e asked in confusion. "It doesn't seem to make sense just from the words."

“That’s how it is!” Li Yi continued, “Isn’t the affair between the Prince of Liang and Empress Wei now an open secret throughout the court, the country, and Chang’an? But that’s not enough…”

"Not enough, what do you mean?"

Li Yi said somewhat awkwardly, "Because someone wrote a notice and posted it all over the Tianjin Bridge. The content of the notice was to publicly expose the various shameful and filthy acts of King Liang and Queen Wei. Moreover, it was detailed and vividly described. It could be called a erotic little storybook!"

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Linghuan, who was listening intently without saying a word, and continued with a blush, "Moreover, at the end of the story, it is stated that Empress Wei is licentious and shameless, unfit to be an empress of a dynasty, and should be deposed."

"And then?" A-Shu asked curiously, "What major case did it trigger?"

"The consequence of this incident was that when the emperor sent people to investigate, they traced it back to some meritorious officials, resulting in all the meritorious officials who had been involved in the last palace coup being exiled or even having their families confiscated and exterminated."

"Huh? How is this related to those meritorious officials?" A-Shu couldn't understand.

"Because the emperor has reason to believe that these meritorious officials want to control him through the matter of Empress Wei, he would rather believe Wu Sansi's words than these meritorious officials. To put it bluntly, it's nothing more than a means to make an example of someone and eliminate dissidents!" Xiao Muchen continued, his eyes filled with even more worry.

"So that's how it is. The Prince of Luling... no, the current sage actually has such thoughts."

"Yes, that's why he didn't punish Empress Wei and Wu Sansi. For him, the people he feared most were the meritorious officials who helped him rise to power, including his younger brother, Prince Xiang, and his sister, Princess Taiping."

"Those who are credited with this are truly pitiful," A-Shu couldn't help but sigh. "Who exactly was the person who spread this news and plastered notices all over the Tianjin Bridge?"

“I bet this person is Wu Sansi!” Xiao Muchen added. “This is probably just a play he orchestrated himself!”

"Huh? He wrote about his affair with Empress Wei in a storybook?" Lu Shilang raised his voice.

Li Linghuan also stood up and added, "No need to guess, he was the one who did it!"

"Ah Huan..." Ah Shu couldn't help but call out, but when her gaze fell on Li Linghuan's face, she couldn't help but lower her head and thought to herself: The person now is not Ah Huan. More than half a month has passed. Is Ah Huan really not going to wake up again?
"And what about the third major case? What is it?"

“It’s the death of the current Crown Prince, Li Chongjun!” Li Yi replied solemnly.

"After Li Xian ascended the throne, his eldest son, Li Chongfu, had already been sidelined by Empress Wei and sent to Junzhou as prefect. The reason given was that he had reported that his eldest son, Li Chongrun, had verbally insulted the Zhang brothers. Afterwards, Li Xian made his third son, Li Chongjun, the crown prince. However, it is said that although Li Chongjun was the crown prince, he was repeatedly humiliated by Princess Anle and her husband, who even called him a lowly slave and said he had no role model for a crown prince. Therefore, Li Chongjun also rebelled!" "But after Li Chongjun's rebellion failed and he was killed, a strange thing happened. On the day he died, an unusual phenomenon appeared, and it was feared that plum blossoms wept blood!"

"What is meant by 'plum blossoms weeping blood'?" A-Shu asked curiously.

Li Yi explained, "Overnight, the plum blossoms bloomed, some of them with buds that were as red as if they were weeping blood, hence the name 'Plum Blossoms Weeping Blood'!"

"So what does this signify, is it a good omen or a bad omen?"

"Is it good or bad?"

"How do you say this?"

Xiao Muchen explained, "The plum blossoms weeping blood have two meanings. First, it refers to the death of Crown Prince Li Chongjun, which is said to be the will of Heaven. Heaven believed that he was not suitable to be the heir apparent, so his rebellion was bound to fail, and the blood splattering on the plum blossoms is also his fate."

"What about the second meaning?" Lu Shiyilang asked curiously.

"Besides the plum blossoms blooming overnight, there is also a children's rhyme circulating in Chang'an City: 'Plum blossoms bloom overnight, a crown prince descends from the heavens, a goddess will descend to earth, and a prosperous age begins!'"

"Why does this folk song sound so strange? Could it be that someone deliberately spread this rumor to create some kind of buzz?"

At this point, Li Linghuan replied, "To create momentum for the Crown Princess, since Li Chongjun is dead and his death was attributed to Heaven's disapproval of him as the heir apparent, then there must be someone whom Heaven approves of."

Everyone then realized what was happening and exclaimed in surprise, "Princess Anle, Li Guo'er?"

"So all of this was orchestrated by Princess Anle, Li Guo'er?"

"This is just the beginning; something big is about to happen," Li Linghuan said again in a deep voice.

"What is it?"

Lu Shiyilang asked impatiently, but Li Linghuan remained silent.

Murong Xian'er suddenly realized and said, "So, that's why you spread the news that the Tang army suffered heavy casualties in a blizzard, and then sent a group of people back to Luoyang quietly."

"Yes, if I take all of you back, the 40,000 Tang soldiers, though they did not die in the blizzard, may die from the current emperor's suspicion. With Wu Sansi and Princess Anle controlling the court in Chang'an, we must act cautiously and show weakness to them first."

"Understood!" Lu Shiyilang exclaimed again, "Although the young lady is a little different from before, she is still as clever as ever!"

"Speaking of Princess Anle..." Lu Shiyilang said jokingly to Xiao Muchen, "By the way, Prime Minister Xiao, hasn't Princess Anle taken a fancy to you? Why don't you temporarily humble yourself and use your charm to help us gather intelligence?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that Xiao Muchen's face darkened instantly, and he was so frightened that he quickly raised his hand: "Pretend I didn't say anything, pretend I didn't say anything!"

But his apology did not soften Xiao Muchen's expression at all. On the contrary, he seemed to look a little sad. In the blink of an eye, he noticed that A-Shu was also hanging her head, tears welling up in her eyes, and she did not say a word.

What's wrong with you all?

"You still dare to talk!" Li Yi glared fiercely at Lu Shiyilang.

A-Shu ran out crying, while Xiao Muchen followed Li Linghuan to a room in the post station and brought her a bowl of cooked white fungus soup.

Li Linghuan did not refuse and picked up the bowl, intending to finish eating quickly, but was stopped by Xiao Muchen.

“I know you’re doing this for the sake of the baby in my belly, so I’ll eat whatever you give me, as long as you’re not worried about fattening up your wife.”

"However, Xiao Muchen, you can also choose not to help me, and I won't mind."

“You’re using A-Huan’s body right now, do you think I can stay out of this?” Xiao Muchen retorted.

Li Linghuan nodded, stood up and said, "That's right, then I can only succeed, I can't fail, I'll do my best to save your lives!"

……

Night fell, and stars hung low over the fields.

Ah Shu hugged her knees, gazed at the brightest star in the night sky, and murmured to herself with tears in her eyes.

"Ah Huan, you must come back! We're all waiting for you!"

"And your child is waiting for you too!"

"I miss you so much, Ah Huan!"

Just then, a shooting star streaked across the sky, and at the same time, a melodious flute melody seemed to pierce through the night.