Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 87 The Ghost-Faced Man's Identity

Upon hearing this, Murong Huan asked, "You saw his appearance, could you draw it?"

Taiping covered his mouth and laughed again, "You underestimate Zicheng. Zicheng is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. How could he not be able to draw a person's appearance?"

Xiao Muchen also said: "I can only draw the disfigured face that I saw. Whether I can restore his appearance before the disfigurement depends on you."

Murong Huan nodded.

Taiping then ordered someone to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone. With Xiao Muchen's concentrated depiction, in a short while, the figure and outline of the ghost-faced man, as well as his face that seemed to have been burned beyond recognition by fire, appeared on the paper.

After finishing the painting, Xiao Muchen handed the brush to Murong Huan.

Murong Huan did not hesitate and followed the outline of the man's bones in the painting, outlining his original appearance stroke by stroke. After she finished the painting, even she was a little surprised. What appeared on the paper was a handsome man with elegant manners. If compared, he was not much inferior to Xiao Muchen.

"It was him? Didn't he hang himself during his exile?"

After seeing the man in the painting, Taiping couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Xiao Muchen also stared at the person in the painting in some shock.

"Who is he?" Murong Huan asked.

"Helan Minzhi, the saint's nephew, once took off his mourning clothes, put on auspicious clothes, played prostitutes' music, and..."

When Xiao Muchen said this, he looked at Taiping and seemed embarrassed to continue.

Taiping, however, said sternly, "Because of the deaths of his mother and sister, he became dissolute and avenged himself against my mother. He committed numerous evil deeds in Chang'an, constantly destroying his own reputation. He raped many of Chang'an's noble ladies, including Yang, the Crown Princess originally chosen by my father, the Emperor, and my mother, the Empress."

She paused, then continued, "When I was young, I often went to Jiaoyifang on my mother's behalf to visit my grandmother, Madam Rongguo. He once... offended me. Later, when I wasn't paying attention, he raped one of my closest maids, causing her to commit suicide out of shame. So, I informed my mother of this. She originally wanted to train him to be the heir to the Wu family and assist her. But seeing that he had evil intentions and his actions were getting worse and worse, with no regard for the Wu family's reputation, she simply exiled him."

"I heard that he was executed by his mother's secret order during his exile. How could he still..."

"That only means that the news that he died in exile is false, or he faked his death and released the news on purpose." Xiao Muchen said.

"Then what exactly does he want to do? Now he is colluding with my cousin from the Wu family?"

After Taiping finished speaking, everyone fell silent. Given Helan Minzhi's hatred for the saint, it was natural that he would not do anything as he had been hiding in hiding for many years.

"According to Hong Xian, he purchased women from the poor and trained them as assassins or spies. He has already sent these women to various aristocratic families. Perhaps he is exploiting the privacy of these families to find suitable allies."

"He, the King of Wei, and Xue Huaiyi jointly run the underground bank under the White Horse Temple. Besides making money, there must be other greater uses..."

Hearing this, Taiping's eyes lit up: "Could it be that he wants to follow Li Jingye's example and rebel?"

When the word "rebellion" was uttered, it coincided with the answer in Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan's hearts, and neither of them said anything.

"No, I will report this matter to Mother immediately. Perhaps, if you have made meritorious contributions in uncovering this matter, Mother will pardon you."

Taiping was about to leave after she finished speaking, but Xiao Muchen stopped her.

"Princess, wait a minute. Reporting this to the Saint now will surely alert the enemy. We need to find concrete evidence to convince the Saint. We also need to find out if there are other secrets hidden in the White Horse Temple."

Taiping finally calmed down. Looking at Xiao Muchen, whose dark hair had returned, making him look even more handsome and refreshed, like an immortal, she couldn't help but smile. "Zicheng is becoming more and more pleasing to the eye, and his demeanor is charming. Okay, I'll follow your arrangements for now. However, the King of Wei already knows that you know the location of the underground bank in the White Horse Temple. Will you destroy it and move it?"

"That's a possibility, so Princess, we have to be prepared for both scenarios. If he moves this place, a large number of dirty things and women will be moved out. As long as we send people to keep a close eye on him, we will be able to capture him and the women as well."

Taiping nodded: "That's a good idea!"

Murong Huan said, "But I don't think he will move. Compared to killing us to silence us, moving the dirty stuff and those women is too big a target and will easily attract attention. And there's Hong Xian with them..." "Hong Xian, is she the female killer who sneaked into Zicheng's room and tried to seduce him?" Taiping asked back, glancing at Xiao Muchen again, as if teasing him deliberately, and then covered her face with her fan and smiled, changing the subject, "But from what I heard from you yesterday, it seems that you were tricked by her."

"Yes, but Hong Xian is a complicated person. I always feel that she will make the right choice in the end."

……

At this time, Hong Xian had been beaten by the ghost-faced man until her body was covered in blood, but she didn't even dare to say a word of begging for mercy. For a killer, torture is commonplace, and it is also a means to temper their will and not allow them to betray.

"Do you have anything to say now?" asked the ghost-faced man after he was exhausted from fighting.

"Master, I think Xiao Muchen must have deceived you. Master has also practiced the art of hypnosis and dream watching, but the so-called dream watching is nothing more than piecing together some vague images based on the hypnotized person's sleep mumblings. Even if they saw these images, how would they know where they are?
Hong Xian would never betray her master. No matter how they pressed her, she didn't reveal anything about the underground bank."

"You didn't reveal it, so how did Xiao Muchen know about the White Horse Temple and the underground bank?"

"Hong Xian believes that there must be a spy in the White Horse Temple who has leaked the secrets of the underground bank. Master, why don't you check who has been frequenting the White Horse Temple recently?"

The ghost-faced man fell silent.

For a suspicious person, any possibility is worth his deep consideration and doubt.

After pondering for a long time, he lifted Hong Xian's chin again and said, "Go! Find Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan, and kill them like you killed Guo Hongba. If you fail again this time, I will kill you and feed you to the dogs!"

"Yes!"

……

"Why do you think Hong Xian chose to betray her master in the end?" Xiao Muchen couldn't help asking after returning to the warm room. "She hated her master, but she was just a chess piece being manipulated. She had no choice. I'm afraid she couldn't betray him even if she wanted to."

"But human patience has its limits. When it reaches a certain limit, hatred and anger may outweigh fear. Deep down, Hong Xian longs for good, especially for those impoverished women who have also been trafficked and abused. She has compassion and empathy, and she longs to change her fate."

Xiao Muchen hummed and brought a cup of brewed tea to her: "It's a bit cold in the morning, how about a sip of tea first?"

"Well, the tea you make is indeed delicious."

When she picked up the teacup, she suddenly heard Xiao Muchen ask:

"Did I... hurt you last night?"

After taking a sip of tea, she looked at Xiao Muchen in astonishment, as if she didn't understand. She shook her head and said, "No, I was the one who treated you. You were the passive one. How could you possibly hurt me?"

Oh……

Murong Huan noticed that Xiao Muchen's face had turned even redder, and his fair skin was like the reflection of a clear pond, extending all the way to his neck.

"My master once told me that when a person is extremely sad, their hair may turn white overnight. However, if we do the opposite and let them release their pent-up emotions in another way, once the knot in their heart is untied, perhaps the gray hair will turn black again.

So I tried it this way, and I didn’t expect it to work this way.”

Xiao Muchen didn't know what to say for a moment. It was obvious that this girl had not yet opened up to love affairs and didn't understand anything. She just thought this was a way to cure diseases and save lives, but she didn't know what she had lost.

"Don't treat others in this way in the future!" he suddenly said.

Murong Huan was stunned for a moment, and wanted to ask why, but finally said, "Okay."

"After this matter is over, I will go to your Su family to propose marriage. No matter how long the future is, we will be husband and wife in this life. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)