Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 172 Since you all want me to rebel so much, then so be it if I rebel.

The ministers looked at each other again, and it was clear to everyone that Princess Anle was trying to shift the blame for the emperor's death onto "Murong Huan"—a blatant attempt to frame him!
But the emperor suddenly died at the victory banquet. This news was hard to convince the public. They needed to find a reason, a reason that would convince everyone that the emperor had died!

"Guards, seize this traitor at once!"

Princess Anle cried out, then knelt before Empress Wei, who was dressed in a phoenix robe and crown: "Please, Your Majesty, take charge of the overall situation and behead the traitors who murdered the emperor right here!"

Lady Wei stared at her daughter, still somewhat dazed. After a long pause, she shouted to the guards outside the hall, "Guards! Seize the traitor who attempted to assassinate the Emperor!"

Countless imperial guards surged in, surrounding everyone in the hall. Just as someone with a gun was about to approach Li Linghuan, a voice suddenly rang out: "Stop!"

Everyone's gaze shifted to the sound, and they saw Xiao Muchen stride up behind Princess Anle, a dagger pressed against her neck.

Li Guo'er trembled with fear and said in a trembling voice, "Xiao Muchen, I never intended to take your life, why are you treating me like this?"

"This is...this is treason, do you understand?"

"Release me immediately, and I'll pretend none of this ever happened!"

Xiao Muchen sneered: "What is treason? Isn't it just a matter of the princess's word? Does the princess's word alone mean it is treason?"

“Those who steal hooks are bandits, those who steal a country are lords. Princess, you use the pretext of avenging your father and killing traitors, but you don’t even give others a chance to defend themselves, or even find out the truth about your father’s death. You want to start a massacre at this victory banquet and kill the meritorious officials who helped our Great Tang pacify the borders. Doesn’t your behavior count as treason?”

Xiao Muchen's words silenced the hall, and some ministers began to show signs of shame.

At this moment, Princess Anle said again: "How can this be considered treason... I am the daughter of the emperor, a princess of the Tang Dynasty, and the one destined by heaven. The Imperial Observatory has calculated that last night, the five planets gathered in the constellations of the Ox and the Dipper, the Purple Star entered the constellation of Huan, and hundreds of flowers bloomed. These unusual phenomena indicate that our Tang Dynasty will produce another empress."

And these stars are pointing to my mother, the Empress Dowager.

"Why haven't you all paid your respects to my mother yet!"

Having said this, seeing that the officials in the hall all looked doubtful and hesitated to step forward, she called out to them again:

"Wei Shifang, the Director of the Imperial Observatory, come out and speak!"

Then everyone's eyes turned to the Taoist priest named Wei Shifang.

With a grin, Wei Shifang stepped forward and replied, "Yes, last night I observed the celestial phenomena and discovered that the Ziwei star, which symbolizes the destiny of an emperor, has entered Huan. However, today two people who may have this destiny have appeared, so I cannot determine who the real imperial star is."

Li Guo'er's eyes widened immediately, and she couldn't help but angrily retort, "Weishfang, what do you mean by this? Have you been bribed by them?"

"Princess, I dare not!"

"Okay, even if what you say is true, and there are two people who might have this destiny, who are they?"

“Li Chunfeng once said that a woman with a plum blossom mark on her body is the true Son of Heaven destined to end the Great Zhou and revitalize the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, I believe that whoever has this plum blossom mark in this palace is very likely to be the new imperial star!”

Hearing this, Li Guo'er glanced at Wu Sansi and Cui Shi, who was hiding in the crowd, and a smug smile appeared on her lips: "Plum blossom mark, right? I can show you, I do have a plum blossom mark on my body!"

After she finished speaking, she slid her robe off her right shoulder in front of all the ministers, revealing a large plum blossom mark on her shoulder. The red plum blossoms were in full bloom, as if exhaling fragrance and bursting with fresh blood.

The officials in the hall once again showed surprise and alarm. Some of them couldn't help but cover their eyes with their sleeves, thinking to themselves: What kind of behavior is this? What kind of behavior is this?
"Because of Li Chunfeng's prophecy, I have become a traitor to the country, relentlessly pursued by the King of Wei and the King of Liang, while Princess Anle is to become the true emperor? It's true that people can say whatever they want, isn't it?"

Li Linghuan turned his gaze to Wu Sansi in the hall and asked with great sarcasm, "Your Highness Prince Liang, is this another play you orchestrated?"

Wu Sansi laughed, "Governor, sometimes you just have to accept your fate. Since you don't have that fate, you can only accept the crime of treason!" "What a fine line: 'If you don't have that fate, you can only accept it!'"

Li Linghuan chuckled and suddenly said, "Then today I will show you what true auspicious omens are, and what a true Son of Heaven is."

As soon as she finished speaking, a dragon's roar suddenly rang in the ears of the ministers, and someone couldn't help but ask in shock, "What was that sound?"

"There's a dragon! There's a dragon circling in the sky!"

The guards outside the hall also cried out in alarm. Because of this, everyone inside the hall panicked and rushed out of the hall in a flurry.

When Li Linghuan walked out of the hall, everyone saw the dragon descend straight down from the sky, circle around Li Linghuan, and then rise into the sky again, letting out another deafening dragon roar.

Many people were so shocked that they fell to the ground.

"Is this a dragon? I've lived most of my life, and this is the first time I've ever seen a real dragon! And it's appearing next to a woman?"

"Yes!"

"So who exactly is she?"

"I've heard the rumors before that she's the daughter of Emperor Xiaojing, Li Hong. Otherwise, the Empress wouldn't have bestowed upon her the title of Princess Jiahe, entrusted her with important responsibilities, and even sent her to quell the Anxi rebellion!"

"So she is the chosen one in Li Chunfeng's prophecy? She is the true Son of Heaven?"

Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, a woman's voice answered, "That's right, she is the daughter of Emperor Xiaojing, Li Hong, the chosen one in Li Chunfeng's prophecy, the true Son of Heaven!"

Then everyone's eyes turned to the woman, who was dressed in black robes and an official's hat, and walked over with a scroll and a small black box.

Several guards dressed in black inner guard uniforms followed behind her.

This person was none other than Murong Xian'er.

"and who are you?"

The fact that this woman could enter the Linde Hall of the Imperial Palace so openly meant that she had already taken control of the Imperial Guards and had even come across mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Murong Xian'er replied, "I am also a secret guard of the late Crown Prince and Emperor Xiaojing, Li Hong, named Yao Ri!"

Many veteran officials had heard that the late Crown Prince had two outstanding bodyguards, one named Moon Shadow and the other Sunrise.

However, after Li Hong died suddenly in Hebi Palace, the two top-notch bodyguards disappeared without a trace. Of course, there were also rumors that Su Minghe, the second son of the Su family, married Yueying.

This bodyguard named Yao Ri was someone that very few people had heard of, and no one had ever seen!
It turned out to be a woman too!
Amidst the gasps of astonishment from the crowd, Murong Xian'er took out a seal and another scroll from the box and showed them to everyone: "Please look, everyone. This seal in my hand is none other than Li Hong's Crown Prince Seal! And this will written by the Crown Prince himself can prove Murong Huan's true identity and also prove that the death of the Crown Prince back then was inextricably linked to your Wu family!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Wu Sansi stood up agitatedly. "Back then, Chengsi and I were still in exile in Lingnan. What did Li Hong's death have to do with us?"

"Besides, is now the time to talk about this?"

Wu Sansi sneered, "Do you think you can stir up trouble here and help Murong Huan rebel just because you have the former crown prince's private seal and a scroll?"

Li Linghuan then laughed coldly, his voice suddenly turning cold as he said, "Since you all want me to rebel so much, what if I do rebel?"