Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 43: Peeping into Dreams, the Way to Immortality
The maid was stunned for a moment: "Dead? No, no, how could he be dead? He was fine yesterday morning, how could he be dead?"

"When did you see them yesterday?" Murong Huan asked again.

"It was around three quarters past noon. I saw them wearing the expensive clothes given to them by the Master. They said they were going to go out with the Master to meet some distinguished person..." At this point, the maid's face darkened again. Realizing that something serious might have happened, she kowtowed again and said, "That's all I know, really that's all!"

Murong Huan stopped asking questions. Ah Shu understood and said quickly, "Okay, clean up your eldest lady's room and then go down!"

"Yes Yes!"

After the maidservant carefully cleaned the yard of Mrs. Xie, the wife of Guo, she retreated timidly and stealthily to the backyard.

At this moment, Xiao Muchen cast his gaze towards Murong Huan, who was deep in thought. "Have you thought of anything?"

Murong Huan said, "If what this servant said is true, and these two women left the Guo residence with Guo Hongba at 3:30 yesterday morning to meet some distinguished person, then they were most likely killed by Guo Hongba and that distinguished person."

Xiao Muchen also said: "I agree with this."

"But this is just our speculation. There is no evidence yet. Without sufficient evidence, we cannot bring him to justice."

As he said this, Murong Huan's expression became extremely gloomy and cold, and he clenched his fists again.

"Yes, you still want to bring him to justice." Xiao Muchen looked relieved, yet couldn't help but feel pity. He once again tightened his grip on Murong Huan's hand, then changed the subject, "Actually, getting witnesses isn't that difficult."

After saying that, he called Xuan Yu over and whispered some instructions in his ear. Then Xuan Yu hurried out of the yard, as if chasing in the direction the maid had fled.

"Don't forget, there is still a steward in the Dali Temple. If Lu Ling uses some tricks, there is no fear that the steward of the Guo Mansion will not tell the truth.

And this maidservant, following her may bring us unexpected gains."

Murong Huan nodded, and then seemed to think of something, and said, "There is one more thing. The real Xie Zi'e, I think, might go to the charity cemetery behind the Dali Temple to look for the two deceased, or even..."

"You mean, the person who died wasn't the real Xie Zi'e, but was very likely a relative of Xie Zi'e?"

"Yes, and these two deceased people should have some relatives with Mrs. Guo."

"Then let's go to Dali Temple now!"

Xiao Muchen said this and pulled Murong Huan's hand to leave, but Murong Huan refused, saying, "Wait, I still need to treat this Madam Guo, and I have a feeling that if we leave, she might not survive the night."

Xiao Muchen was slightly stunned. Of course, he could also think that Mrs. Guo’s illness was very likely related to Guo Hongba, and their arrival was very likely to accelerate Mrs. Guo’s death.

But he hadn't cared about the death of others for a long time, perhaps since the day his entire family was wiped out, or maybe it was because he had seen too many people die on the execution ground like leeks being cut, or even died from the torture of cruel officials like Zhou Xing.

Sometimes he even felt that he had no control over his own destiny, and that one day he might be framed by cruel officials and die at the hands of jailers.

As I was pondering this, Murong Huan's voice reached my ears: "My master once said that since we live in this world, we should respect life. We should respect the lives of others as well as our own. No matter what happens, we must live on with strength. This is the way to immortality he sought for me."

"The way to immortality?"

"Yes! It's the way to immortality, to survive no matter what."

For some reason, when Xiao Muchen heard this, his heart surged like a tide, as if some familiar scene was about to burst out from his mind.

"Ah Shu, light the incense burner!"

"it is good!"

Under Murong Huan's instructions, Ah Shu happily searched out some items from the package she brought and placed them on the table.

When Ah Shu put out the two puppets, Xiao Muchen's eyes flashed and he looked over curiously. He saw that one of the puppets was quite similar to the current Murong Huan, but the aura was different. The black robe made him look even more cold and elegant, and he had an aura that looked down on the world.

The other puppet has two buns on her head and wears a pleated moon-shaped skirt. She looks like a girl about ten years old.

It was not until he saw the little girl puppet clearly that Xiao Muchen's expression changed completely. He even took the puppet in his hand and looked at it carefully, feeling a little out of control.

After looking at it for a long time, he asked Murong Huan: "Is this what you looked like when you were a child?"

"Yes! This is Ah Huan when he was a child. Isn't he cute? The carving made by the Taoist priest is quite similar to him." Ah Shu continued in a crisp voice.

Xiao Muchen pondered for a moment, his eyes sparkling. After a long while, he smiled and said, "Yes, very cute! The Taoist priest you mentioned is her master, right?"

Ah Shu nodded repeatedly: "Yes, although that Taoist priest is a bit strange, he knows a lot of things and is very kind to me and Ah Huan, especially to Ah Huan."

After saying this, he looked at Xiao Muchen, who was staring at Murong Huan without blinking. "What's wrong, Xiao Zhongcheng? Why do I feel like you seem very sad?"

When Ah Shu asked this, Murong Huan also looked over. After just a moment's glance, he took out the flute he carried with him and started playing it horizontally.

The sound of the flute is faint, like the wind in the pines and the low chirping of hundreds of birds, which makes the listeners feel calm.

Xiao Muchen gazed at the figure standing in front of the door, playing the flute, his mind drifting away. The wind blew, and leaves fluttered in the wind, as if everything in the world was enchanted by the distant, mysterious, dreamlike sound of the flute.

Gradually, Xiao Muchen also seemed to fall into a dream, and in the dream, a white shadow with an immortal look became clearer and clearer.

"master--"

"Zicheng, I changed your fate, but I also affected the fate of others."

"Your little apprentice sister is unlucky and will die young. If you meet her in the future, you must treat her well... Let her live her life to the fullest!"

In another room in the yard, Mrs. Guo also fell asleep.

After the incense burner was lit, the smoke drifted away like mist, flowing into Mrs. Guo's nostrils like a gradually condensing soul.

……

"Where does this flute sound come from? Damn it, it makes me want to cry and sleep at the same time."

In the central hall of the front yard of the Guo Mansion, Guo Hongba, who had been sitting restlessly, couldn't help but quiet down when he heard the sound of the flute. A guest beside him couldn't help but complain.

"Master, these two new guests are still lingering in Madam's courtyard. Could it be that they really have the ability to cure Madam's illness?"

"What a joke! Xiao Zhongcheng only found a pretext to enter our Guo Mansion. How could he really treat Madam? Besides, a kid who is only a hairpin is worthy of being called a miracle doctor? If he can be called a miracle doctor, then I will become a miracle doctor too!"

"Doctor Ning is so confident? Is Madam's illness truly incurable?"

"My dear, please rest assured. I have been practicing medicine for many years and I know that the most difficult disease to cure in the world is heart disease. Madam's heart disease has reached a point where it is beyond repair. Not to mention the imperial physician Yang in the palace, even if a god were alive, it would be difficult to save her!"

"We're not afraid of accidents, we're just afraid of the worst! If Madam is truly cured, but can't control her mouth and says something wrong, that would be extremely bad for the Master."

"Master, would you like me to quietly kill these two people?" The retainer volunteered.

Guo Hongba's face was gloomy. After pondering for a while, he waved his hand and said, "No need. Do you know who this Xiao Zhongcheng is? He is a person that the Saint relies on very much. Even though his family members committed the crime of treason, the Saint still pardoned his crime and let him take on the position of supervising all officials.

Countless officials were imprisoned due to Zhou Xing's false accusations, but he was the only one who remained in the imperial court without being suspected by the emperor.

"He cannot die in my Guo Mansion. If he dies here, it will be a major case that will truly attract the attention of the court."

……

In the dream, two beautiful young girls appeared in front of Mrs. Guo. They looked less than fifteen years old. They were both trying to persuade her earnestly and begging her:
"Guo Hongba deliberately set you up. He killed all the servants on your boat, forced you to jump overboard, and then rescued you from the river. He used this favor to blackmail your father into marrying you off to him. But what has he done all these years? He gained his position by fabricating charges against Zhou Xing and his son, framing loyal officials, and yet he's still not satisfied."

"He hired bandits to kill dozens of members of my Xie family and plundered all our wealth. He also assisted Qiu Shenji in killing over a thousand officials and civilians in Bozhou, all to conceal the fact that he hadn't done anything to suppress the rebellion."

"Aunt, please wake up and take a good look at the man next to you. Why haven't you had children after being married to him for so many years? Is it really because you are infertile? Or does he simply not want you to have children?"

"If you had listened to that person's advice earlier, how could you be in this situation today?"

Mrs. Guo's expression gradually became extremely painful and crazy.

"Yes, if I had listened to her advice earlier, I wouldn't be in this situation today. This is all my karma, my karma!"

"Aunt, come with us and kill them! Okay? If you don't kill him, he will kill you sooner or later."

"Don't you know that he dotes on that Concubine Yao and wants to make her his wife?"

"Don't you know that he has actually wanted to divorce you for a long time?"

No, I can't murder my husband, I can't do such a thing! Otherwise my reputation will be ruined!

"Oh, your life is almost gone, what's the point of that hypocritical reputation? Do you know how your brother, my father, and my father and brothers died? Those bandits were so bloodthirsty that they didn't even spare a three-year-old child. My brother, your nephew, died under their butcher knives before he even celebrated his third birthday!"

"He killed dozens of people in my family. How could he let you go?"

"You know so many of his secrets, will he still let you live well?"

"How did you get sick? Didn't he make you crazy?"

　Author's words: Although this chapter seems a bit sad, the ending of this article will not be sad. When writing this book, the core purpose set by Mou Ye is: survive, strive to live, and the path to immortality. This is not only for the heroine and the hero, but also for some minor characters in the small stories in this article, such as: Wang Wu Niang, Huo Xiaolian also known as Li Xiaolian, and Mrs. Xie and Xie Zi'e in the story that is being updated.

　　Because the heroine's specialty is psychotherapy, the characters in these short stories seem to have some tragic experiences, and it seems that the writing style is not lively anymore. Later, I will try to write in a more cheerful style. Even if the characters have had many misfortunes in the past, they will all become bright in the future.

　　I am also very grateful to those who have been following my story until now. Although there are not many of them, they have given me great encouragement.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)