Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 49 Xiao Muchen's Past
Hearing Murong Huan's question, Xiao Muchen couldn't help but stare at her eyes in a daze, lost in thought. However, seeing that Murong Huan's eyes were like a deep pool, the more he looked, the more he fell into it. Suddenly, some not-so-pleasant memories emerged in his mind.

The figure of his mother leaving, the white fox mauled to death by wolves in the snow, the cold mockery of his stepmother, and the head of his father falling to the ground on the execution ground...

Sensing his emotional fluctuations, Murong Huan immediately sat back in his original seat.

"You can't have too much emotional fluctuation, otherwise it will trigger the ice silkworm cold poison in your body. If it's some not-so-pleasant memory, forget it!"

No wonder he always has a smile on his face and people can't tell his true joy, anger, sorrow or happiness. It turns out that it is because he has to control his emotions.

Xiao Muchen was slightly stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Actually, it's okay to say it out loud. I was born into the Lanling Xiao family. The Xiao family is also a large family with two major branches, the Imperial Uncle's branch and the Qiliang branch. The Qiliang branch is further divided into the Southern Qi branch and the Southern Liang branch. My father's lineage is the Southern Liang branch.

Just like the royal court, a large family also has its share of intrigues and bloody struggles.

Originally, my father was not interested in court affairs and just wanted to concentrate on writing and be a leisurely person. But my uncle was different. He wanted to improve the family's status in the court, and wanted the Xiao family to prosper, or even return to the heyday of the Southern Dynasty. Therefore, they sent one woman after another from the clan to the palace. Some of these women failed in the harem struggles and disappeared without a trace, while others became more and more deeply trapped in the struggle for power.

The harem often implicates the imperial court. My uncle's branch suffered confiscation of property and exile because of a woman's failure. Originally, this matter had nothing to do with our Nanliang Xiao clan, but later, due to a letter of denunciation, someone accused my mother of being a spy for another country and even reported my father for writing a poem satirizing Empress Wu's "hens crowing at dawn." As a result, my father was falsely accused of treason by the cruel official Suo Yuanli and imprisoned. The sage once again sentenced my entire Xiao family to execution and exile of all three clans!

"Originally, I was going to die, but my master pleaded for me in front of the Saint. The Saint, considering my young age, pardoned my death sentence and allowed me to enter the North Gate Academy, to work for her and make meritorious contributions at her expense!"

"Master?" Murong Huan suddenly asked, "Is this the master in your dream?"

Xiao Muchen was stunned again. It turned out that the dream he had under hypnosis in Xie's courtyard was also peeped by her?
"Don't worry. Although I can hypnotize you, I can't see your dreams completely. I'm just using your sleep mumblings to recreate the scenes in your dreams as best I can." Murong Huan paused and explained, "I heard you calling for your master. That must be someone very important to you, right?"

Otherwise, his emotions wouldn't be affected so greatly even in his dreams.

When he dreamed of his master, he seemed to be both happy and sad, reluctant and guilty.

When Murong Huan asked this, Xiao Muchen seemed to be lost in reminiscence and remained silent for a long time. After a long while, he finally answered, "Yes, he is a very important person to me. He has saved my life. Not only did he teach me some knowledge about astronomy, the Book of Changes, and arithmetic, he also saved my life twice."

"twice?"

"Yes, the first time was when I was eight years old. I participated in a spring hunting event organized by the late emperor. After entering Beimang Mountain, I and a group of noble children were attacked by poisonous insects and ants. At that time, the noble children had already fled, and there was no one to help me except me. Just when I was fighting with those ants and thought I was about to die, my master came and saved me. It was at that time that I was poisoned by the ice silkworm."

Hearing this, Murong Huan was also a little frightened and fell silent. She had heard her master say that there were several poisons in the world that had no antidote, and the ice silkworm poison was one of them.

No wonder he never received treatment, but he survived tenaciously.

How did he survive?

Just as Murong Huan was pondering, Xiao Muchen continued, "The second time was when my Xiao family was exterminated. Master saved me again. As I just said, he pleaded for me in front of the Saint."

As he spoke, he smiled again, and the carriage suddenly became very quiet.

Just when Xiao Muchen thought Murong Huan wouldn't respond, she suddenly asked, "Who is your mother? Why was she falsely accused of being a spy for another country?"

Xiao Muchen said, "I don't know who my mother is. My father said she wasn't from a wealthy family. He saw her on the battlefield when he was following my grandfather in the war against Silla. She saved my father, and they fell in love with each other during their time together, so my father married her.

My mother left me when I was very young. Before she left, she left a letter for my father. The words in the letter were a little unbelievable..."

Having said that, he smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly.

"what did she say?"

Xiao Muchen paused and said with a smile, "She actually said that she was the incarnation of a white fox. Because my father once saved her life, she came to repay the favor. Now that the favor has been repaid, she is leaving.

She left very decisively, leaving only a letter, and never came back. But just one month after she left, my father did pick up a white fox. He was so crazy that he thought it was my mother, and he kept it by his side. This made my grandparents very taboo, and they were very disappointed in my father, and even became more and more displeased with me.

Later, the white fox also died, apparently bitten to death by a vicious dog. My father could not withstand the pressure from his family and married Cui, the daughter of a noble family.

Cui was a true matriarchal woman, dignified and virtuous, yet also very capable and resourceful. Shortly after marrying my father, she quickly gained control of the Nanliang branch of the Xiao family. Even my grandfather trusted her over my father. But I could sense that Cui deeply disliked me. Because of my mother's status, she once suggested that my grandfather expel me from the Xiao family.

It was my father's insistence that allowed me to stay in the Xiao family."

Having said that, he paused again, sorted out his somewhat unpleasant emotions, and looked at Murong Huan again with a warm smile.

"What happened later? The Xiao family was wiped out. Did she also..."

"No, after my father was framed and imprisoned by Suo Yuanli, Cui Shi petitioned the government for a divorce, citing marital discord. My father wrote a letter of release, allowing her to leave. Because of this, Cui Shi escaped the calamity of extermination of my Xiao family."

Hearing this, Murong Huan couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness in her heart, and immediately thought of her own life experience and a scene she had dreamed of about Xiao Muchen's youth.

"When the Xiao family was being tortured, did you play the zither on the execution ground?" she suddenly asked. "Was it snowing heavily that day?"

Xiao Muchen's eyes were immediately filled with surprise: "How did you know?"

It seemed that everything she dreamed was true.

"I... guessed. I heard them say that it was because you wrote a poem that the saint appreciated your talent and pardoned you."

"They also said that you escaped the calamity of extermination of your family because of your beauty and talent..."

Listening to Murong Huan's serious explanation, Xiao Muchen's neck instantly turned red, and he scolded in embarrassment: "Just listen to their nonsense..."

"So it's none of them? The real reason is that your master asked the saint for mercy. Then who is your master?" Murong Huan suddenly changed the subject and asked him with an angry look in his eyes.

Xiao Muchen felt a little guilty when he saw those eyes, so he looked away slightly and said, "He is a Taoist master and also a naughty old man, but I don't know his name either."

Murong Huan nodded and said "hmm". He knew that he didn't want to reveal his master's name, so he changed the subject and said, "Your mother's story reminds me of a story my master once performed for me in a puppet show. It's called "The Story of the Ren Family". It's also a story of a fox spirit repaying a favor, and the ending is not so happy."

"The Ren family biography?" Xiao Muchen was also slightly startled and asked in doubt.

"Yeah!" Murong Huan nodded.

"Although I don't know my mother's true identity, she did marry my father under the name of Ren."

Xiao Muchen said in surprise. As soon as he finished speaking, the two of them seemed to think of something incredible at the same time. They looked at each other, but remained silent.

In fact, not only that, the stories of Huo Xiaolian and Xie Zi'e also seem familiar.

Murong Huan fell into deep thought filled with doubts.

After an unknown amount of time, the carriage suddenly stopped and Xuan Yu's voice came from outside the window, saying, "My dear, we've arrived at the Xiao Mansion!"

"Is it here yet?"

Ah Shu shouted with joy and jumped off another carriage. She saw in front of her a house that was not magnificent but elegant. There were no stone lions or unicorns as decorations in front of the door, but there were several towering ancient trees with lush green leaves. Bright golden light flashed between the swaying leaves, which made her feel very comfortable.

Murong Huan saw the words "Xiao Mansion" written in the calligraphy of the Two Wangs on the plaque and pondered for a moment until Xiao Muchen took her hand and said, "Come in! If you don't mind, you can treat this place as your home from now on."

Feeling that the kindness was not a disguise, Murong Huan felt a sudden warmth in his heart and nodded.

But at this moment, a voice came from behind and shouted: "Ah Huan, come back with me!"

(End of this chapter)