Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 58: Confrontation, Holy Emperor and Empress

Qiu Shenji had just woken up from a dream when he heard these words that were like a bolt from the blue. He screamed in shock, stood up and was about to draw his sword to chop at Xie Zi'e.

At this time, Murong Huan sneered and said, "Why, General Qiu, are you so impatient to kill and silence someone?"

Qiu Shenji was extremely angry and pointed at Murong Huan and cursed:

"This lowly servant is talking nonsense! I don't even know this person. How can a lowly merchant be qualified to attend Her Royal Highness the Princess's banquet? Come on, kick them out!"

Xiao Muchen's face darkened, and a chilling chill emanated from his body.

Murong Huan quietly grasped his wrist, looked at Qiu Shenji and smiled, "General Qiu, since you don't know this person, how do you know she's a lowly merchant? Besides, this is the Princess's residence. Even the owner hasn't given the order, so what right do you have to kick them out?"

"Let's wait for Madam Xie to finish her words before we say anything else!"

"you--"

Qiu Shenji knew that he had spoken out of turn, but words once spoken could not be taken back, so he could only look at the King of Wei beside him with a pale face, asking for help.

At this time, Princess Taiping smiled and said, "This young lady is right. General Qiu, I remember that in the fourth year of the Chuigong reign, the Sage appointed you as the Grand Administrator of the Qingping Dao, and sent you to Bozhou to suppress Li Chong's rebellion. You did bring back Li Chong's head, and for this you were commended by my mother and awarded the title of Grand General of the Jinwu Guard. But now it seems that you didn't kill Li Chong, right?
"Since you didn't kill Li Chong, why did you kill the entire city's officials and civilians? Was it just to silence them and claim credit for it from His Majesty the Divine Emperor?"

"Your Highness, you are being wronged. This is all nonsense from this woman. It cannot be taken seriously. She is just putting on a puppet show. There is no basis for this!"

"In that case, just let her continue. Why were you so anxious to silence her just now?"

Qiu Shenji was so anxious that his lips trembled, his face turned pale, and he could no longer utter a word.

He glanced at King Wei, but saw that King Wei seemed not to see him and was still sipping tea as steady as a rock.

"Then let her continue!"

King Wei looked at Xie Zi'e with a cold gaze, as if he were looking at an ant.

Xie Zi'e's eyes were filled with tears. He looked at the powerful and wealthy children all around him in gorgeous clothes and suddenly sneered: "The anger of one person can cause the corpses to be scattered for a thousand miles. And just because of the merit of one person, he makes the people pay for his funeral. Even if I, Xie Zi'e, die today, I still want to ask all the nobles present here, are the lives of ordinary people really as worthless as grass?

We are just mortal knights, who only come to save a group of weak people. After the mission is completed, we will leave without any merit or fame. We do not expect any reward, but it is just such a small wish. We do not want to become a stumbling block for others who want to seek benefits and win high positions.

Is this really fair to ordinary people like us?"

"I've heard that saints are the incarnation of Buddha, governing the country with benevolence and forgiveness. To encourage open communication, they established the "Ji Jian" system, allowing ordinary people the opportunity to report grievances or appeal. But my two sisters simply submitted letters of denunciation in a copper box, appealing their grievances, and yet they were tragically murdered. Furthermore, after killing my two sisters, the murderer tried to shift the blame onto others. Is this the law of the Great Zhou?"

As soon as Xie Zi'e finished speaking, there were cries of shock and a buzz of laughter all around. Someone couldn't help but sigh, "So this is the truth behind the Ruyi Tower corpse falling case. The murderer actually wants to frame someone else. This is truly unacceptable..."

"Yeah, but..."

Some people were indignant, while others were afraid. After all, the real murderer that this woman accused was the General of the Jinwu Guard who was beside the empress, and the extremely powerful King of Wei.

Countless nobles died at the hands of this general. Even Prince Zhanghuai Li Xian, who was forced to death by him, was only exiled for a short time before being quickly recalled by the sage. ...

Amidst all the discussions filled with either shock, anger, or fear, a woman wearing a golden crown and a purple phoenix robe was quietly watching all this in an attic not far from the banquet venue. Beside her stood a middle-aged man in his sixties wearing a red official robe and a young female official in her twenties.

Seeing this, the phoenix-robed woman's expression changed slightly, and she let out a faint sigh. "Lord Di, is this the kind of people's livelihood and the prosperity of the Great Zhou you wanted me to see? Why do I only see boiling public resentment and dissatisfaction with me?"

The man beside her immediately replied, "Your Majesty, our Great Zhou is indeed prosperous and peaceful now, but even in a peaceful era, there are still places of unrest. There are always some people who will use some means to deceive the eyes of the Saint."

"I believe that this Lady Xie isn't expressing dissatisfaction with the Saint, but rather a complaint about the injustice of the world. The Saint was able to promote me from a humble background, so he understands the hardships faced by the lower classes and the humbler families. This Lady Xie doesn't seek fame or fortune, but only wants to vindicate her fallen companions. I find her character and integrity truly commendable!"

The Empress smiled softly. "Yes, this story is very touching and truly moves people's hearts. This is also thanks to Zicheng's arrangements and the young lady's flute playing, right?"

After saying that, she changed the subject and said, "It was Zicheng who asked you to bring me here to watch this show, right?"

Di Renjie, who was nearly sixty years old and had experienced many ups and downs in the political world, smiled when he heard this: "Zicheng is also loyal to the Saint. He is worried that the Saint will be deceived by villains. He is even more afraid that those villains will use the Saint's name to hurt the hearts of the people of our Great Zhou and disrupt the clear and bright rule of law in our Great Zhou."

"Mr. Di always manages to make me feel relaxed and speechless when he speaks."

The Empress smiled again and said, "When Zicheng first entered officialdom, he became Di Qing's disciple. Compared to Di Qing, his style of doing things is probably even better than his teacher's!"

"Zicheng's good fortune is his own ability. I just gave him some pointers."

"Alright, old man, stop being so modest." The empress laughed and continued, "Oh, by the way, who was that young lady playing the flute just now? For so many years, Zicheng has been alone. When I gifted him beauties, he either refused them or kept them at home to tend to his flowers, plants, and even animals. Now he's finally caught on and is actually interested in this young lady?"

Di Renjie also smiled.

"I don't know either. I only heard that she was a young lady who could draw portraits to investigate crimes. In the recent case of the body at the bottom of the well, she drew portraits of the bones that had been buried for many years, allowing the deceased's soul to return to his homeland."

"Oh? That's a really capable young lady. There aren't many talented women in our Great Zhou, and Wan'er is one of them. It's rare to find such an interesting one among the people.

Di Qing, Wan'er, then please accompany me to take a look!"

Di Renjie and Shangguan Wan'er answered in unison: "Yes!"

……

The atmosphere at the banquet was extremely tense. The King of Wei even slammed the table and stood up, pointing at Xie Zi'e and saying, "How dare you! Are you accusing the sage of being foolish and unclear about the laws?"

Murong Huan continued, "Lord Zuo Xiang, Xie Zi'e didn't say that the saint was stupid. If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext. You can't put this hat on an innocent person, right?

Moreover, a country is neither always in order nor always in chaos. When laws are enforced, the country is in order; when laws are relaxed, the country is in chaos. The unrest in Bozhou, where officials and civilians were killed in a city, was not that the work of General Qiu?"

(End of this chapter)