Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 35: Counterattack

King Wu Chengsi of Wei?
This news undoubtedly surprised both Lu Ling and Lu Shiyilang.

Wu Chengsi was actually a very elegant person, but he was also very good at flattery. As the left prime minister, in order to please the empress's male favorite Xue Huaiyi, he was able to serve him at her beck and call, and was as respectful as a slave. This kind of flexible and flattering behavior was enough to make all the civil and military officials in the court envy him.

When Lu Ling and Lu Shilang came out to greet them with a group of Dali Temple detectives, Wu Chengsi's gorgeous official sedan had already meandered over and slowly landed.

"Lu Ling, Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, pays his respects to the Left Prime Minister of Wenchang!"

At the call of Lu Ling and a group of constables, Wu Chengsi walked out of the sedan chair supported by two servants.

Murong Huan couldn't help but look up and focus his eyes on the middle-aged man in the first-rank official uniform.

When her eyes met the man's, some images of him flashed through her mind.

Wu Chengsi is now in his forties and has a beautiful beard, but he has small eyes and a short stature, and can hardly be called a handsome man. When the Xue family was suspected of treason, the empress beat Princess Taiping's husband Xue Shao with a hundred sticks and threw him into the sky prison, where he starved to death. Then she chose Wu Chengsi as the second husband for Princess Taiping. This move was not only to use the barrier of the Wu family to protect her only daughter, but also to hand over the country to Wu Chengsi and Princess Taiping.

However, Princess Taiping refused this political marriage on the grounds that Wu Chengsi was ill, and instead chose Wu Youji as her husband, who was not closely related to the empress and did not like the struggle for political power.

In fact, compared with Wu Chengsi, who was the left prime minister, Wu Youji was far inferior to Wu Chengsi in all aspects except for his good looks.

Princess Taiping's action was undoubtedly a slap in the face to Wu Chengsi.

Naturally, Wu Chengsi would not argue with his cousin about this matter. After all, his greatest ambition was to please Emperor Wu and seek the position of crown prince.

Murong Huan seemed to sense Li Linghuan's hatred and anger towards this man. If it were not for this man's instructions, there would not be such treacherous villains as Zhou Xing and Qiu Shenji running rampant.

"Mr. Lu, please rise. How is the investigation into the murders of Zhou Xing and his son going? I heard someone turned themselves in this morning. Who was it?"

Lu Ling replied, "Although someone has surrendered himself, there are still hidden secrets in this case. I cannot give Prime Minister Zuo a clear answer at this time."

"No matter who it is, anyone who dares to assassinate an imperial official must be severely punished and beheaded as a warning to the public. Our Great Zhou has just been established. First, there was Li Jingye's rebellion, and then there was Pei Yan's treason. These traitors and rebels have disturbed the stability of our Great Zhou. Their death is not a pity. However, I am afraid that their accomplices will cause trouble, so they must not be underestimated!"

"Here!"

"Take me to see who surrendered himself."

Wu Chengsi strongly demanded to see the suspect who surrendered himself, and Lu Ling did not dare to refuse anymore, so he ordered the detectives to make way and invite Wu Chengsi in.

At this moment, a group of people suddenly arrived at the Dali Temple gate, shouting loudly: "Zhou Xing and his son are completely devoid of conscience and deserve to die. They kidnapped my daughter and caused her to die tragically in a well. Her body has only been found until now. Return my daughter's life!"

"Such a traitor deserves death! I don't care who killed him, but please hand over his body. We will eat his flesh to comfort my daughter's soul in heaven!"

Wu Chengsi was suddenly shocked when he saw this excited crowd, which even the officials from the Dali Temple could not disperse.

After quickly walking into the main hall of the Dali Temple, Wu Chengsi asked, "Where is the murderer? Why isn't he being interrogated in court?"

Only then did Lu Ling bring Li Xiaolian to the front of the hall. Wu Chengsi, who was sitting at the top, couldn't help but smile mockingly when he saw Li Xiaolian.

"How could a prostitute from Shaohua Courtyard lure Minister Zhou into a trap and kill him?"

"Lord Zuo Xiang is right. A prostitute certainly couldn't have killed Minister Zhou. The murderer must be someone else!"

Murong Huan suddenly added a sentence, which immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the room.

Li Xiaolian looked at her in surprise, as did Lu Ling and Lu Shiyilang.

And because of Murong Huan's words, he quickly attracted Wu Chengsi's attention.

"Who are you?"

"I, Murong Huan, was invited by Lu Shaoqing to be a portrait artist specializing in painting portraits of murderers or deceased persons!"

"Murong Huan? Portrait artist?" Wu Chengsi smiled and made a gesture of invitation. "Alright, then, draw for me now. Who is the murderer who killed Zhou Xing and his son?"

"Here!"

Lu Ling was still a little stunned, not quite understanding why Murong Huan did this? And why did he introduce himself as Murong Huan instead of Su Huan, the fourth son of the Su family?
Lu Shiyilang didn't take it seriously. When he heard that she was going to paint, he became very excited and looked forward to it. He quickly got the brush, ink, paper and inkstone for Murong Huan, and ordered someone to bring a screen so that she could paint.

As soon as Murong Huan stopped writing, Lu Shiyilang immediately went over to take a look, and his smiling face suddenly froze.

Seeing Lu Shiyilang's surprised expression, Wu Chengsi also walked over with some curiosity to take a look, but he saw that there was only a faceless person painted on the picture, and half of the person was wearing a woman's hair crown, while the other half was wearing a man's hat.

"What does this mean, Young Master Huan?"

Murong Huan then said, "Because this person has received the mandate from Heaven, his aura is too overwhelming, so I dare not paint his entire appearance."

"However, although I cannot reveal the murderer's identity, I can still judge his appearance and motive based on some traces at the scene and the descriptions of Lu Shaoqing, Li Xiaolian, and others. Lord Zuo Xiang, do you want to hear it?"

Wu Chengsi had no idea what she was up to, so he raised his hand and said, "Okay, tell me!"

"Let's first discuss the murderer's motive: Zhou Xing and his son committed numerous evil deeds. Not only Huo Xiaolian, the famous prostitute from Shaohua Courtyard, but even many people in Luoyang City wanted to kill them as soon as possible. However, given Minister Zhou's status and position, there are only a few people who could approach him and successfully assassinate him. The first type of person is their bedmate or the person they are closest to and most trusted, and the second type of person is someone who has used him and wants to discard him!

Does Lord Zuo Xiang agree with what I said?"

Wu Chengsi nodded. "Yes, these two people are indeed the most likely murderers. Then who are the people Zhou Xing and his son trust the most, and who is the one who wants to abandon them the most?"

"For Zhou Jiulang, the person he trusts the most should be his adoptive father Zhou Xing, and the person who wants to abandon him the most should also be his adoptive father Zhou Xing!"

"What do you mean? Are you trying to say that Zhou Jiulang was killed by Zhou Xing?"

"It's not impossible. Zhou Jiulang is a knife in Zhou Xing's hand, but he doesn't do things cleanly and efficiently. A knife will always be discarded when it's used improperly, or when a person has other ideas."

Wu Chengsi laughed heartily after hearing this. "You are such a clever talker, kid! Are you trying to excuse the murderer?"

"Lord Zuo Xiang, I am only discussing the facts. After all, Zhou Xing has already written down most of the evil deeds he has done in his confession. But who was the one who ordered him to do those things?
In fact, Zhou Xing's worn-out sword was about to be discarded, and the murderer who discarded Zhou Xing's sword had already found a replacement, so his death was imminent!

When Murong Huan said this, the Dali Temple detectives led by Lu Ling were stunned, and Wu Chengsi finally reacted.

"Boy, what do you mean by that?"

As soon as Wu Chengsi finished speaking, he heard a voice from outside the hall saying, "She means that Zhou Xing and his son were murdered by heaven, and I have been ordered by the saint to punish them!"

Wu Chengsi suddenly turned around and saw Xiao Muchen walking slowly towards him with Xuan Yu. He seemed to be holding a bright yellow scroll in his hand.

It seems that he just came here from Ziwei Palace.

"What does Xiao Zhongcheng mean by this?"

Xiao Muchen replied, "The Left Prime Minister may not be aware of this, but two days ago, someone delivered a letter of accusation of Zhou Xing's rebellion in a bronze box. To avoid alerting Minister Zhou, the Holy Lord ordered me to investigate the matter in secret. Last night, I ordered the Imperial Censor Lai Junchen to interrogate Minister Zhou. But upon hearing the accusation of rebellion, Minister Zhou simply committed suicide out of fear of punishment!"

Wu Chengsi sneered as if he had just heard a ridiculous joke: "You're talking nonsense! If Zhou Xing committed suicide out of fear of punishment, why would he have put himself in a jar and endure the burning pain?"

"Given his crimes, if he doesn't suffer the torment of being burned alive, then his entire clan will suffer the torment of being cut into pieces. So this punishment is still light for him!"

Xiao Muchen continued to explain with a smile, and at the same time handed the imperial edict and a letter of accusation to Wu Chengsi.

"Lord Left Prime Minister, why not take another good look at this confession and see what he has confessed? Then listen to the voices of the people outside the Dali Temple..."

　Thanks to Yanzhihu 1, Cangyoujiacuo, and Lose Weight in a Dream for their monthly tickets, thanks to Zizhujun for the reward, Foqianchenpianpian 2015, Lose Weight in a Dream and other friends for their recommendation tickets, etc. Happy New Year to everyone!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)