Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 96 Revealing His Identity
Investigate the case in accordance with the imperial edict?

Upon hearing these four words, Wu Lingyue, Wu Chengsi, and the ghost-faced man all turned their gazes towards the empress in surprise.

At this time, Taiping also hurriedly walked into the Heavenly King Palace. He first glanced at Xiao Muchen, nodded slightly, and then saluted the Empress:

"I have sent a message to General Zhang Qianxu of the Right Imperial Guard. I believe General Zhang will be here soon. Is the Queen Mother alright?"

When Xue Huaiyi heard the name Zhang Qianxu, his expression changed quickly, and Wu Chengsi's face turned pale, secretly regretting that he should not have listened to the words of the ghost-faced man.

The Empress had stood up by then, and with the support of Shangguan Wan'er, she took a step towards the hall. She looked at everyone in the hall and said seriously, "Yes, it was I who asked Zicheng to set up this trap, and the purpose was to investigate these old cases in the White Horse Temple."

"As early as when Lai Junchen brought Zicheng to the Xuanzheng Hall to see me, I saw the handwriting of the secret letter accusing him of treason, and I knew that the letter was not written by Zicheng."

"At the same time, Zicheng also left some information for me in this letter."

As she spoke, she ordered Shangguan Wan'er to bring the letter again. She saw twelve words written on the back of the letter: "In the second year of Yongchun, military pay was stolen, and there is another hidden story." These words were so powerful that they could be seen through the paper, yet they retained their elegant beauty. This was the real handwriting of Xiao Muchen.

Seeing this scene, the ghost-faced man was stunned.

"What do you mean? Could it be that the secret letter that Hong Xian hid in your Xiao Mansion has already been discovered by you?"

Xiao Muchen looked at the ghost-faced man and replied, "Indeed, since we can peek into Hong Xian's dreams, how could we not know where she placed the real secret letter? You wanted to divert our attention with a fake secret letter. Now that I think about it, isn't that a bit self-deceiving and ridiculous?"

Mentioning the words "seeing dreams", the ghost-faced man smiled bitterly with some self-mockery: Yes, this technique of hypnosis and seeing dreams was originally a skill he learned from his master. His master was reluctant to teach him at first, fearing that he would go astray, but he still learned it secretly. Even if he learned it, he was still not as good as his senior brother. Now even the disciples he taught are better than him.

"I see. So you've been lying to me all these days?"

He suddenly realized and smiled teasingly.

Xiao Muchen continued sternly, "The military pay that was robbed in the second year of Yongchun was done by you and the King of Wei, right?"

"And then there was the famine in the first year of the Yongchun era. The relief grain the court sent to Shannan Prefecture was already very little by the time it reached the victims. That year, countless people sold their children, some even exchanged their own sons for food, because they had no corn to eat. And you exploited that grain layer by layer, and looted it into your own granaries, didn't you?"

He asked this question not only to the King of Wei and the man with the ghost face, but also to Wang Chengyi, as well as some officials and businessmen who were escorted out of the underground money houses.

Seeing these officials and businessmen being escorted out, Wu Chengsi and the ghost-faced man's expressions changed again.

Wang Chengyi was so frightened that he burst into tears and kowtowed repeatedly.

Wu Chengsi shouted sternly, "Xiao Muchen, don't talk nonsense without evidence!"

"Of course I won't say anything without evidence. I'm talking about these files left by the Dali Temple."

After Xiao Muchen finished speaking, he had his inner guards bring in a box of files. "These files record everything that happened during those two years. During those two years, due to rising grain prices, famine, and the embezzlement of disaster relief grain by officials, military pay sent to the border was looted, and thousands of civilians died. Furthermore, the soldiers fighting on the border suffered from food shortages due to delayed military pay, and they were starving and underfed. The battle against the Tubo was a devastating defeat, with countless casualties."

"Can you really forget these things? Don't you feel guilty?"

Wang Chengyi bowed his head in even greater shame.

"And you, you treat these innocent women as playthings. Have you ever thought about your own families, sisters, and daughters? If one day, your family members suffered such a disaster, how would you feel?"

"Xiao Muchen—" Wu Chengsi suddenly interrupted, "Stop slandering me. Do you have any witnesses to the things you're saying? Just based on these files you brought out, can you throw all the dirty water on us?"

"Of course I have witnesses! These innocent women, all the Buddhist monks in this White Horse Temple, and all the people in your so-called underground bank are witnesses!" Xiao Muchen said this and turned to the ghost-faced man:

"And you, Helan Minzhi!

You stole military pay, colluded with officials to deprive disaster relief grain, forced the poor to sell their children, and then bought these young children to subject them to inhumane and brutal training, ultimately selecting the winners to use as tools for your murders and the theft of the powerful. You committed such heinous acts that are beyond the reach of Heaven. Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?"

When the name Helan Minzhi was mentioned again, a burst of shocked exclamations suddenly rang out in the hall.

The empress's expression suddenly changed, and her face was covered with dark clouds.

Wuling Yue's expression also fluctuated as he looked at the ghost-faced man.

"Helan Minzhi? Are you Helan Minzhi?"

"Didn't Helan Minzhi hang himself with a horse bridle during exile twenty years ago?"

Although he died by hanging, everyone knew that this must be the will of the saint, and that the saint sent people to execute him secretly.

It doesn’t matter how he died, what matters is that this person should have been dead!
Amidst the crowd's confusion, shock, and even fear, Helan Minzhi suddenly burst into laughter.

He suddenly took off the mask on his face, revealing a hideous and distorted face, and looked at the empress viciously.

"Xiao Muchen, you keep saying that what I did was unforgivable by Heaven, but what about her? Doesn't what this woman did deserve Heaven's punishment?"

Helan Minzhi said this, pointing at the empress.

"In order to monopolize Emperor Gaozong's favor, she executed Queen Wang and Consort Xiao Shufei with the cruel punishment of bone intoxication. My mother and sister came to Luoyang at her request, but she mercilessly killed them just because they were favored by the emperor."

"And me, what have I done to her? Why would she want to erase everything about me? Just for her own reputation?"

"Don't you know how many people she killed with the help of cruel officials in order to secure her throne?"

Having said that, Helan Minzhi looked at Xiao Muchen again.

"Didn't your Xiao family also perish at the hands of cruel officials?"

"And you, Shangguan Wan'er! Back then, Emperor Gaozong himself wanted to depose the empress, and your father simply drafted an edict to fulfill Emperor Gaozong's wishes. Yet, she murdered your entire Shangguan family. Don't you harbor any hatred in your heart?"

Shangguan Wan'er's face changed drastically. She looked at the Empress with a hint of fear, then bowed her head and said, "The Saint has shown me great kindness. How could I harbor any hatred?"

"Hahaha... well said! Just a simple gesture of gratitude can make you forget the hatred of your entire family being annihilated. Your loyalty truly moves heaven and earth!"

"Just because she's the emperor now, does that mean everything she does is right? What I did was unforgivable, but aren't the things she did evil, too?"

"You said the lives of those poor women are also lives, they are so innocent, but what about me? Is my life not a life?"

He pointed to his face and asked sharply, "Why do I have to endure all this?"

(End of this chapter)