The Splendid Brocade of the Painting Physician – Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Lu Lingxuan’s Character, Fenghuang’s Identity

“You just said that Xiao Luan is already dead? I really didn’t know about this…” Zu Ting sighed in surprise and put on a look of regret. “Eh, what a pity, what a pity, she was also a gentle and pleasant beauty, although difficult to approach, but…”

Suddenly feeling a cold light move on his neck, like a silver snake sticking out its tongue, making his scalp tingle, he looked up at the man in front of him, also wearing a half mask and a black robe, and suddenly stopped talking, smiling flatteringly.

“Why did Gao Yan and Gao Zhan send people to look for Xiao Luan?”

At this time, the woman sitting on the couch finally spoke. She slowly stood up, and the afterglow of the setting sun shining in from the window plated a layer of halo on her body, making her look extremely ethereal.

Her voice was also very pleasant, but it contained a hidden coldness.

“How would I know? The Emperor’s intentions are difficult to fathom, perhaps because he cherishes talent! Moreover, the Gao family has produced a mentally unstable person like Emperor Xuan, the descendants of the Gao clan should all be a little apprehensive, right? Xiao Luan’s medical skills are superb, indeed surpassing mine, it’s not surprising at all that they want to keep such an outstanding imperial physician by their side!”

The woman pondered for a moment and asked again:

“At this time, where is Lu Lingxuan and what position does she hold?”

“How much do you know about Lu Lingxuan?”

When asked about Lu Lingxuan, a flicker of hesitation flashed in Zu Ting’s eyes. He remained silent for a while before answering:

“When Emperor Wenxuan died, Lu Lingxuan was just a maid in the Prince of Changguang’s residence, that is, the current Crown Prince Gao Wei’s wet nurse. Apart from that, she had no other identity.

Oh right, it was Xiao Luan who pleaded with Emperor Wenxuan to release Lu Lingxuan from the Imperial Household Department. At that time, Lu Lingxuan should have been very grateful to Xiao Luan and often visited Xiao Luan’s residence, but Xiao Luan seemed to have never let her enter the residence, only meeting with her outside the residence.

Moreover, this woman Lu Lingxuan is also very clever. When she was young, her family betrothed her to Luo Chao, a surrendered general from Western Wei. That Luo Chao was more than twenty years older than her and doted on her in every way. Later, after the death of Emperor Shenwu, Gao Huan, Luo Chao raised a rebellion, wanting to seize the Eastern Wei throne…”

Speaking of this, Zu Ting expressed his own speculation, “Luo Chao’s rebellion, I think it should also be related to this Lu Lingxuan!”

“How can you tell?”

Zu Ting laughed.

“I, Zu, have lived for most of my life and have seen many heroes, beauties, and countless people. This woman Lu Lingxuan is definitely not simple. She has ambitions even greater than men. Luo Chao’s rebellion back then was for his wife. I, Zu Ting, had some friendship with him back then, he lobbied various generals everywhere, ostensibly saying it was to overthrow tyranny, but in reality, it was to give his little wife a noble status!”

“Moreover, Lu Lingxuan’s ability to bewitch men is not small. I don’t know about Emperor Xiaozhao, Gao Yan, but the current Emperor Gao Zhan is one of them. There are also many generals and civil officials in the court who can be called her admirers!”

Speaking of this, Zu Ting realized that he had unconsciously said so much about Lu Lingxuan’s past, and feeling a little guilty, he quickly changed the subject:

“Haha, it seems I’ve digressed. In short, this Lu Lingxuan and Xiao Luan are both extremely clever women rarely seen in the world. It’s just that Xiao Luan is not greedy for power and wealth. Although I don’t know why she came to Northern Qi to become an official, everything she did seemed to be without asking for anything in return, making it impossible to understand what this woman really wanted? She came alone and left alone! She truly regards fame and fortune as dirt, a person not of this world!”

“But Lu Lingxuan is the complete opposite of her. She pursues supreme power, and she seemed to have learned a lot from Xiao Luan when they were friends. Take this matter of praying for rain, for example, I’m afraid it’s also one of them…”

Speaking of this, Zu Ting looked at the three people in the meditation room, especially the person holding a sword to his neck, the sight of whom made him tremble involuntarily!

“I’ve said so much, it should be enough, right?” he said with a smile, and quickly explained, “That’s all I know!”

Silence fell over the meditation room for a long time, a melancholic mood quietly spreading in the room.

Just when Zu Ting thought they wouldn’t say anything more, he heard the woman ask: “So Lu Lingxuan actually approached Xiao Luan under the pretense of gratitude and repayment, intending to learn from Xiao Luan and obtain what she wanted, thereby achieving her goal of reaching the highest position, is that right?”

Zu Ting smiled again and said, “Young Lady, you are really eloquent, you have summarized everything I wanted to say in one sentence!”

“Then why did she repay kindness with enmity and kill Xiao Luan?”

This sudden question stunned Zu Ting!

“I don’t know that! Did she kill Xiao Luan?”

“Although I am close to Lu Lingxuan and her son, it is also because I want to use them to speak well of me in the Emperor’s ear and realize my life’s ideals. As for what she is doing now and what she did in the past, I have no idea. And this woman is extremely secretive, she definitely wouldn’t tell such a secret thing to outsiders, right?”

This is indeed the truth! With Lu Lingxuan’s secrecy, I’m afraid she wouldn’t trust anyone and wouldn’t share her past thoughts and feelings with anyone.

The meditation room fell into extreme silence once again.

Taking advantage of the moment of silence from these three people, Zu Ting finally had the opportunity to carefully examine the two people who had stolen all his “evidence” from who knows where. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he shouted in both anger and helplessness, “You sent that fake Princess Consort of Lanling to deliberately seduce me, and then went to my house to steal things openly, right?”

Not noticing the change in the eyes of the man in front of him, Zu Ting suddenly seemed to understand something and shouted in horror at the two of them,

“Could it be that… you are Prince of Lanling… and Princess Consort of Lanling?”

This shock was no small matter. Zu Ting’s face instantly turned ashen, with an expression of “my life is over”!

It’s over! The Prince of Lanling is really here to take my life!

Having been recognized, Xiao Jinyu and Gao Changgong no longer played charades with Zu Ting and removed their masks, looking at Zu Ting!

As the masks were removed, the stunning beauty of both of them instantly shocked Zu Ting’s eyes, and even his entire heart seemed to brighten up!

“You two are truly celestial beings, such grace, you can directly enter a painting!”

Zu Ting is also somewhat obsessed with painting. Although he once flattered Gao Zhan, who was still the Prince of Changguang, with a painting of peaches in the “Ascending the Dragon to Heaven” style, his favorite painting is still the “Nymph of the Luo River.” Now, seeing this Princess Consort of Lanling, he already had the image of the Nymph of the Luo River in his heart.

“Zu, the Assistant Minister of the Secretariat, since you have confessed so far, and all the evidence has fallen into our hands, then, you can only be on our side from now on!” Xiao Jinyu said seriously at this time.

A delicate and stunning beauty could actually put on such an imposing and dignified manner.

Zu Ting was a little confused.

“On your side, does Princess Consort of Lanling mean that you won’t kill me and want me to be on your side?” he asked, somewhat in disbelief.

“Yes!”

“If you agree, then we are allies in cooperation. As long as you don’t commit these crimes in the future, we won’t kill you. If you don’t agree, then we will hand over all this evidence, as well as the secret letter you wrote to Lady Lu, to Emperor Gao Zhan, and let the Emperor…”

Before Xiao Jinyu could finish speaking, Zu Ting was already kowtowing repeatedly.

“As long as Prince of Lanling doesn’t kill me, I’m willing to do anything!”

This reaction left Xiao Jinyu somewhat stunned. It was difficult to know how to evaluate someone like Zu Ting. To say he was afraid of death, he dared to speak frankly and admonish the Emperor, scolding Gao Zhan to the point where he almost killed him. To say he was a capable official, he had taken shameless villainous acts like theft, embezzlement, and seducing good women to the extreme!

Gao Changgong didn’t know what to say either, he just protected Xiao Jinyu by his side.

“You just said that Lu Lingxuan is very good at bewitching men, and many civil and military officials in the court have fallen under her skirt. So, besides He Shikai, Han Changluan, and Gao Anagong, who else is there among these civil and military officials?”

✿✿✿

“How does the Princess Consort also know that Han Changluan and Gao Anagong are her lovers?”

Zu Ting felt very strange and at the same time became somewhat afraid of Prince of Lanling and his Princess Consort. Lu Lingxuan had a very powerful intelligence network in her hands that collected other people’s privacy and information. Could it be that this couple also had such a secret organization?

Seeing the cold and stern looks of Prince of Lanling and Xiao Jinyu cast upon him, Zu Ting hurriedly replied with a smile, “There are many, Xin Deyuan, the Assistant in the Secretariat, Xu Zun, the diviner, and…”

Before Zu Ting could finish his words, a sudden shout from Fenghuang came from outside the meditation room: “Qing Gege, be careful, there are archers!”

Almost as soon as his voice fell, arrows shot in from outside the window with a whooshing sound. Prince of Lanling immediately shielded Xiao Jinyu in his arms, ducking down. At the same time, Ling Ye’s sword flashed in the room like lightning, cutting off all the arrows.

Zu Ting was so frightened that he quickly found a hidden place to hide, and then he heard the sound of fierce fighting coming from outside the door. It seemed that the boy guarding the door was surrounded by a group of people!

Hearing the fighting, Xiao Jinyu and Prince of Lanling also rushed out of the meditation room and saw several masked men in black surrounding Fenghuang, who was desperately fighting with them.

Among these men in black, Xiao Jinyu noticed that one person’s skills were extraordinary, able to fight Fenghuang to a draw. Moreover, there were others attacking from all sides. If this continued, Fenghuang would definitely be defeated!

So Xiao Jinyu also shot out the hidden arrows from her wrist, repelling the enemies coming from behind Fenghuang!

Prince of Lanling also joined the fight with this group of men in black!

Not long after, after dealing with the archers lurking around, Ling Ye also returned, sweeping his sword across, forcing the crowd to retreat.

Some of the servants Zu Ting brought seemed to have never seen such a scene and were so frightened that they quickly scattered like birds and beasts!

These men in black were not ordinary assassins. One of them kept pestering Fenghuang relentlessly. It was not until the others injured several of the men in black and they fell to the ground that the man gave Fenghuang a fierce look, with a sinister and knowing smile in his eyes, and turned to flee!

Seeing him flee, the rest of the men in black also fled!

Ling Ye stopped one of them and wanted to ask his identity, but unexpectedly, the man directly sent his head onto Ling Ye’s sword blade and slit his own throat without hesitation.

After the fierce fight ended, Lu Yu came running in with a group of guards, followed by some monks!

“Your Highness, what happened? We seemed to hear…”

Lu Yu asked, his gaze already falling on the meditation room that had been pierced by arrows. At this time, Zu Ting was sneaking out of the meditation room!

“It’s too scary! What kind of people are these, they even dare to commit murder in this solemn Buddhist temple!”

“No, no, I have to go back to the residence quickly!”

As Zu Ting said that, he was about to run, but he heard Xiao Jinyu call out, “Zu, the Assistant Minister of the Secretariat, if you go back to the residence now, I’m afraid you won’t survive the journey, right?”

“Someone is targeting you?”

Targeting me? Who would send someone to assassinate me?

Zu Ting’s heart skipped a beat: Could it be Lu Lingxuan and her son? They found out so quickly that I came to this Grand Solemnity Temple to meet with Prince of Lanling and his wife?

“Let’s escort Zu, the Assistant Minister of the Secretariat, back to the residence.”

Xiao Jinyu said another sentence, and Zu Ting felt as if fireworks were exploding in his heart.

“How dare I trouble Prince of Lanling and Princess Consort of Lanling?”

He said with an awkward smile, and before Prince of Lanling and Xiao Jinyu could answer, he hurriedly asked Lu Yu, “Where is Prince of Lanling’s carriage? Quickly send me back!”

Lu Yu gave him a contemptuous look and, under Prince of Lanling’s suggestive gaze, sent Zu Ting back to his residence. Afterwards, they returned to the Prince of Lanling’s residence. Along the way, Xiao Jinyu noticed that Fenghuang was extremely silent, as if he had something on his mind. When she asked him, Fenghuang just shook his head and didn’t say a word.

It wasn’t until the hour of Hai （9-11 pm）, when everyone in the Prince of Lanling’s residence had fallen asleep, that Fenghuang quietly prepared to leave the residence alone. Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the front gate, he saw Xiao Jinyu and Gao Changgong standing there, as if waiting for his arrival.

“Fenghuang, it’s so late, where are you going?” Xiao Jinyu asked.

Fenghuang’s tears were about to fall, as if he was trying to hold back the sadness and reluctance in his heart. He said in a hoarse voice, “I’m sorry, Qing Gege, I have to leave. Although I’m very reluctant to part with you, but my aunt once said, ‘When fate comes, we gather, when fate goes, we disperse.’ I think it’s time for me to leave!”

“Have you thought about where you’re going?”

Fenghuang shook his head. “The world is vast, anywhere is fine, right? When I was fleeing and wandering with Qing Gege, I felt that no matter where I was, I could feel at ease and call it home! But Qing Gege is married now and no longer needs Fenghuang…”

“Fenghuang!” Xiao Jinyu interrupted him. “If you’re worried about implicating us, then abandon that thought. I’ve always considered you my family. It was you who protected me all along, allowing me to escape from pursuit again and again.

From now on, I can also protect you. Do you remember what I said? If we encounter danger again, I won’t let you stand in front of me. Your life is just as precious as mine!”

Saying this, Xiao Jinyu walked up to him and asked softly, “Has your identity been discovered?”

Fenghuang suddenly looked up, looking at Xiao Jinyu with some disbelief.

“Qing Gege, you know my identity?” he asked in surprise, tears welling up in his eyes.

At this time, Prince of Lanling also walked over and said, “I’ve known your identity for a long time. You are the son of Murong Sisu, the grandson of Murong Shaozong. Speaking of which, your grandfather Murong Shaozong was also a famous general I greatly respected.

Back then, my grandfather, Emperor Shenwu, and my father also valued him greatly. It was he who defeated the traitorous general Hou Jing and fully assisted my father. But unfortunately, as the saying goes, ‘Cold words can freeze, northerners are good at riding horses, southerners are good at sailing.’ Murong Shaozong fell for the Western Wei general Wang Sizheng’s trick of flooding Yingchuan City and eventually drowned.

A generation of famous generals, such an ending, is truly regrettable!”

Saying this, Prince of Lanling lowered his eyes, his expression full of awe and lament for the fallen general.

Fenghuang’s eyes were filled with sadness and anger.

After a while, Prince of Lanling continued, “After your grandfather’s death, your father Murong Sisu continued to support my father in replacing the Wei and becoming emperor, and later served under my uncle, Emperor Wenxuan. Until the establishment of the Qi state, your father was also reused, inheriting the title of Duke of Yan Commandery, granted the privilege of establishing a separate residence and administration, and holding the position of Gentleman of the Imperial Retinue, Third Rank. For a time, he held military power and was also extremely powerful in the court.

But after Emperor Xiaozhao, Gao Yan, ascended the throne, someone exposed your father for plotting rebellion and presented the evidence of rebellion to His Majesty.

Therefore, Emperor Xiaozhao decreed that all the male members of the Murong clan be executed…

You are Murong Sisu’s youngest son, Murong Jue, right?”

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