Chapter 70 Blood Test for Kinship

Lady Gao became somewhat anxious: "My lord is busy every day, and his health has not been good these days. Why should you worry about such a trivial matter? This is a matter of the inner court, and I should handle it myself. Why should my lord bother with it?"

Mu Xi was not about to let the opportunity slip by: "No need for you to worry, my lord. Your wife has already invited you here. Now that you are here, why not listen to what Cao Pan'er has to say?"

Lady Gao then turned to Lord Muzhen and pleaded, "My lord, this is a family scandal and should not be delayed. Why not let me handle it?" Lady Gao pleaded again.

"Since this matter is a family scandal, you don't need to argue between the two of you. Why don't you just send Cao Pan'er away? As for her son..." Mu Zhen was caught in a dilemma and tried to smooth things over.

Mu Xi stood her ground: "The child was born to Cao Pan'er, who has the right to dispose of it?"

Gao retorted, "That's a bastard, everyone despises him, so why can't we deal with him?"

Mu Xi ignored them and turned to order the rough servants in her courtyard: "Help Cao Pan'er up, bring out a chair, and let Cao Pan'er sit down to talk."

Jin Fangjun and Mu Zhen remained silent, and the people brought by the Gao family dared not stop them.

Mu Xi's people then obeyed orders.

Soon, Cao Pan'er was helped to sit down in a chair. The woman who had just given birth had almost exhausted all her energy and was so weak that she looked like she could be blown away by a gust of wind, but her eyes never left the swaddled baby in Granny Qian's arms.

The baby in the swaddling clothes cried a few times, but the sound gradually faded away.

Mu Xi then ordered Granny Qian, "Give the child back."

Granny Qian remained motionless, constantly watching Gao's expression.

Mu Xi then stepped forward herself.

Madam Gao stepped in front of him, saying, "Young Master, in broad daylight, how can you be so concerned about a bastard? Could it be that you have some connection with this lowly servant and her bastard?"

"Hmph..." Mu Xi was about to retort.

Cao Pan'er suddenly spoke up: "It has nothing to do with the young master. I was a cleaning maid in the west courtyard when the third young master took a liking to me..."

"Shut up, what nonsense are you spouting, you lowly servant?" Madam Gao quickly rebuked her.

Mu Xi originally intended to wait until she could take the swaddling clothes in her hands and return them to Cao Pan'er.

Perhaps Cao Pan'er will explain something for the sake of the child.

Unexpectedly, before the child could be taken back, Cao Pan'er spoke first, and she had to support her: "Why doesn't Madam let people continue? As for whether it is related to Mu Chong, I have already sent someone to invite him, and we will surely be able to find out today."

"What...what are you going to do?" Only then did Madam Gao realize that Mu Xun had disappeared, and she quickly winked behind her.

Mu Xi turned to Cao Pan'er and said, "Speak up and explain everything clearly at once."

Cao Pan'er continued, "The Third Young Master kept pestering me, but I refused to give in. Then, about ten months ago, Li Fu drugged me and took me to the Third Young Master's room while I was unconscious..."

"Ah..." Mu Xi was surprised by how crude the method was.

Madam Gao shouted, "Nonsense! Nonsense! This lowly servant has gone mad!"

As Cao Pan'er recounted this, a cold smile crept across her lips, as if she had just remembered something: "Heh, Madam, the madness doesn't end there. After the Third Young Master forcibly took me as his own, he promised me benefits to keep me quiet, but I refused. Then he said he wanted to take me as a concubine, but I still refused. One day, Li Fu suddenly ordered me to retrieve two glass bottles from the treasury. I went to the treasury and was immediately arrested by Li Fu, who accused me of stealing the glass bottles. He then led his men to search my residence and indeed found the items under my bed. I was initially locked in the woodshed, but Li Fu tried to coerce and bribe me, and I still refused. That's when they finally sent me to the Court of Justice."

"Aren't you afraid that if we just send you to the Court of Justice like this, you'll confess everything there?" Mu Xi asked, not only to clear up everyone's doubts, but also to clear up her own.

Cao Pan'er smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, you don't know this, but when I was detained in the Court of Justice, I was never formally interrogated. I was always kept in solitary confinement by some Left Supervisor. Li Fu came and threatened me twice, but I remained steadfast. Later, they got impatient and tried to kill me in prison. If I hadn't suddenly discovered that I was pregnant, I probably would have died long ago."

Mu Xi had always had doubts about the child's father, but now that Cao Pan'er had said so herself, she went along with it and asked, "So, this child is Mu Chong's?"

Before anyone could answer, Mu Xun shoved Mu Chong inside.

Upon seeing Mu Chong, Cao Pan'er's eyes turned bloodshot: "You may not believe me, but the Third Young Master knows in his heart what he did. If it weren't for that, I, Cao Pan'er, wouldn't be alive today."

"It's none of my business, I don't know anything about it." Mu Chong was startled when she saw Cao Pan'er and quickly hid next to Gao Shi.

"You don't know? What about Li Fu?" Mu Xi hadn't seen Li Fu since earlier.

Mu Xun waved his hand and brought Li Fu over: "When I went to look for our Third Young Master just now, I happened to see Li Fu sneaking around trying to escape, so I brought him over."

As Li Fu was brought in, he shouted wildly, "My lord, my lady, this is absolutely not true! This lowly servant will say anything to save her life. It's not believable, it's not believable!"

With all the main characters present, Mu Xi said unhurriedly, "Whether this happened or not, words alone are not enough. Since Mu Chong is here, why not have a blood test to prove kinship?"

The so-called "blood test for kinship" is obviously unreliable, as anyone with a bit of modern common sense knows.

Now that Mu Xi has said that, let's see if Mu Chong dares to do it.

Mu Chong's legs went weak and she knelt on the ground, clutching Gao Shi's skirt tightly: "Blood test for kinship? Mother, I don't want a blood test for kinship."

Gao would remain calm: "What nonsense are you talking about? Why should I ask you to do a blood test for kinship out of nowhere?"

"For no reason? Didn't any of you hear what Cao Pan'er said just now?" Mu Xi glanced around, automatically ignoring her scumbag father's face, which was practically dripping with tears.

Mu Chong was still young and had never experienced such a situation before, so she followed her mother and said, "That's right, I won't do a blood test to prove kinship, so why should I do one?"

"So you're saying we don't need to test anymore? You admit it?" Mu Xi looked down at Mu Chong.

Mu Chong looked flustered and at a loss for words: "I...I didn't, it wasn't me..."

"Not you?" Mu Xi stepped forward and grabbed Mu Chong's collar. "If it wasn't you, and your mother said she wanted to kill this bastard, would you dare to do it yourself?"

"No, no, no..." Mu Chong shook his head like a rattle drum.

Mu Xi sneered and pushed the man back to the ground: "A coward who has the guts to do it but not the guts to admit it."

Madam Gao, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore: "Your Highness, there's no need to be so aggressive. Mu Chong is still young and doesn't understand these things. If you keep bluffing him like this, he'll probably admit to everything out of fear."

“Even now, Madam is still stubbornly defending Mu Chong. In that case, let’s have a blood test to prove kinship.” Mu Xi seized on the other party’s reluctance and persisted relentlessly.