Chapter 71 The Seventy-First Face Kills the Child

The coffin that was transported back to Sui State had no head.

Jiang Jinyi's head had already appeared in the Wu Kingdom's court. Xia Kuan, having somehow obtained the information, directly impeached Fan Qi, revealing that he had changed his identity and was pregnant with a child by a female general. He also claimed that Fan Qi had not killed his own son at all, but was merely covering up the truth.

In the accounts of Xia Kuan and the other two families, the act of killing the son was presented as a cover-up to destroy the evidence. They never mentioned that Fan Qi had won the battle, and instead claimed that Fan Qi harbored rebellious intentions.

With victory within reach, the emperor was filled with rage at these powerful families who valued consolidating their strength more than the national interest. However, he still had no choice but to issue three decrees, abruptly pulling Fan Qi back from his pursuit of the victory.

The emperor certainly wanted to protect him, but he also needed to prove that this was indeed Fan Qi's son, so that the previous events could be explained away with a pretext of being forced to do so. But if this really wasn't Fan Qi's son, then some powerful families would cause trouble.

When Fan Qi entered the hall, his eyes were cold and sinister. If he were real, he could have torn Xia Kuan and the others to pieces.

Xia Kuan was used to stirring up trouble, and although he was startled by that look, he remained completely calm.

Fan Qi looked at the head and sneered, "A blood test is necessary, of course. If it is the biological child, do Lord Xia and the others dare to bear the blame for delaying military operations?"

Xia Kuan bowed to the emperor and said, "General, we are here to share the burdens of the country. If a general who commands 100,000 soldiers has a disloyal heart, we will have nowhere to turn for help. Moreover, this is His Majesty's decree. Are you implying that you are blaming His Majesty?"

"I hate arguing with people like him," Fan Qi sneered, "Who's coercing me knows perfectly well. I've even disregarded my own children for the sake of the country. Is Lord Xia's 'serving the country' just empty talk?"

Before Xia Kuan could answer, Fan Qi bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to prove my innocence, but I also ask Lord Xia and others to prove that they did not intentionally delay military affairs."

Anyone can cheat, anyone can argue.

The emperor was already thoroughly annoyed, and now that Fan Qi was backing him up, he figured Xia Kuan and the others wouldn't dare to do anything. So he immediately said, "I also want to know how Lord Xia has served the country. Surely he hasn't just listened to some rumors and made false accusations against a loyal minister?"

Xia Kuan certainly couldn't reveal that he obtained this information from Zhu Huantang, and besides, he had personally verified that Jiang Jinyi didn't resemble Fan Qi, nor did he look like the portrait of the female general; rather, he resembled one of the concubines of the late emperor of Sui. Therefore, he wasn't intimidated and said, "Of course, then I'll offer a year's salary as collateral..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fan Qi smiled and said, "Lord Xia, if this person is not my biological son, how will the law punish me?"

That's quite blunt. One loses money, the other loses their life—it's simply unequal.

Xia Kuan glanced at the silent officials from the Qiu and Liu families and said, "I can demote you, but what do you think of the other two officials?"

Qiu and Liu had been working for the Xia family for a long time, though unwilling, they had no choice but to accept it. To demonstrate his righteousness, Xia Kuan was willing to be demoted three ranks, only wishing that the other two would be demoted one rank.

Fan Qi coldly observed the harmonious performance of the group before finally speaking up: "How can you, sir, know the pain I feel for killing my own son for the country?"

How do we know? By experiencing it firsthand.

The kinship test was conducted with extreme solemnity, for on one side lay the lives of the three families' young children, and on the other, the life of Fan Qi.

The emperor naturally wanted to protect Fan Qi and deter the powerful families. He was willing to wager the lives of three sons of powerful families, fearing that the families might directly rebel.

Fan Qi personally verified the authenticity of the head. The face was Jiang Jinyi's, but it didn't resemble his birth mother's. He hadn't thought much of it before, assuming that appearances would change with age.

Upon closer inspection, Fan Qi felt inexplicably panicked. Why didn't Zuo Qinghou simply leave? Why did he return to Sui Kingdom to clean up that mess? Why was he still siding with the Emperor? But since things had come to this, he took a blood clot, put it in clear oil, cut his hand, and dripped the blood down.

The blood droplet slowly sank to the bottom, gradually merging with the blood clot.

Fan Qi breathed a sigh of relief, but new questions arose.

Xia Kuan frowned in disbelief as he looked at the result, but he dared not show too much of his emotions, for fear of revealing more flaws and being caught by Fan Qi.

The three young children were so frightened that their legs went weak and they knelt on the ground. The older one had already wet his pants and was snotting and drooling.

The result was different from what he had secretly tested before. Xia Kuan tested it himself, and the result was still the same.

Xia Kuan glanced at his limp young son, and though he couldn't bear it, he closed his eyes and said, "Your subject is guilty, and I am willing to take the blame in your son's place."

The three powerful families are deeply entrenched, and killing one person won't solve the problem. Even if you kill one, others will step forward to take his place. Xia Kuan knew the emperor wouldn't touch him, but for the sake of his young son, he had no choice but to act this way.

Unexpectedly, a flash of light appeared, and Xia Kuan's youngest son fell to the ground, his eyes filled with terror before he died. His other two sons were so frightened that they clung to their father's legs, shrinking back in fear.

Fan Qi sheathed his sword, cupped his hands, and said, "Keeping one's word is a virtue that Lord Xia should exemplify. However, I am deeply aware of the pain of losing a son and do not wish to drive the family to extinction. Therefore, I beg Your Majesty's grace to allow these two sons to join the army for training and serve the country."

Qiu and Liu were naturally happy to oblige, and they quickly nudged their two sons, telling them to go and kowtow to Fan Qi.

Everyone thought the matter was over, but Fan Qi suddenly said, "Lord Xia, I've always had a question: how did you obtain this head that should have been in Sui Kingdom? And who told you this?"

That was a sharp question, but Xia Kuan was prepared and replied, "I had a spy in the army, so naturally the spy informed me."

“It seems those spies are useless. Lord Xia should select some new people.” After saying this, Fan Qi ignored the cold sweat seeping from Xia Kuan’s back and immediately knelt down, saying, “Your subject is willing to lead the troops again and pursue the victory.”

Those whose offspring had died would resent those who hadn't, while those who had escaped by chance would be filled with lingering fear and resentment towards those who had intervened. The three great families had long harbored resentment towards each other, and Fan Qi hadn't intended to deal with them so soon, but since they had delivered themselves to him, Fan Qi simply dealt with them.

However, the back-and-forth had already delayed military operations, and the generals sent in by the Liu family were beheaded by Yan Ran after only a few battles. It was only thanks to Qin Sihai, the military governor, that the situation was stabilized.

Zhu Huantang's soldiers were exceptionally brave this time, defeating the Wu army without any chance to resist. After much deliberation, Fan Qi sent the vanguard he had trained to the front lines.

Those soldiers, oblivious to pain, charged recklessly like mad dogs. Inspired by these men, the soldiers, whose morale had been low, became brave and fearless, and they drove the army into a series of defeats, all the way back to Kuaiji City.

It wasn't until Qin Sihai smelled that familiar scent in the wounded soldiers' camp that his hair stood on end from his toes to his scalp. The fear of being beaten to death by the people when he was a young soldier returned, crashing against him like waves, making him unable to even stand up straight.

Qin Sihai, his voice trembling, immediately ordered his men to search.

He kept praying in his heart that he had misheard, or that someone else had made a mistake.