Chapter 364 Bewitchment
However, Fu was old and exhausted from the battle. Princess Qiongxiao pulled her along for only a few steps before she was panting heavily and shaking her head repeatedly.
"Princess, go ahead and don't worry about this old servant... This old servant really can't run anymore."
Princess Qiongxiao stopped and sighed.
It wasn't that she didn't want to leave, but several more guards had appeared ahead and blocked her way.
Meanwhile, Meng Lingge's guards had already captured all four of her assassins.
She can't leave.
"Fine... Old Fu, this time I can't treat you to a life of luxury, I can only accompany you to jail."
Princess Qiongxiao gave a bitter smile, but when she turned to look at Elder Fu, she was stunned.
Old Master Fu broke out in a cold sweat. She simply ripped off the skin from her face. Princess Qiongxiao couldn't help but scream. She thought she would see a bloody, mangled face, but she didn't expect that after Old Master Fu tore off the young skin, she would reveal her own face.
That face was covered in wrinkles and bluish spots.
Princess Qiongxiao asked in surprise, "You didn't have a face transplant, did you? How could that be?"
Fu Lao frankly said, "Princess, I do have the ability to change faces, and I can change the faces of everyone in the world, but I can't change my own... But the government is searching for us everywhere, and in order to put the princess at ease, this old servant can only stick a human face on his own skin."
When changing faces, one must be completely focused and have impeccable knife skills. No matter how skilled she is, she can't cut her own face.
Princess Qiongxiao was shocked: "If you can stick human skin on your own face, why didn't you say so sooner? Then I suffered for nothing..."
The pain of a face transplant is no less than having your heart and liver ripped out. If it can be applied, then what is the pain she felt when she had her skin cut?
Old Fu shook his head and said, "A human skin stuck to one's own face can only be used temporarily. If you sweat a lot or exert a little force, it will fall off. Moreover, since it is not integrated with the flesh, this skin will fester and smell bad in a few days."
Princess Qiongxiao felt a little better after hearing this.
At this moment, Meng Lingge and the others had caught up and overheard Elder Fu's explanation.
Meng Lingge couldn't help but say, "Whether it's pasted on a face or a completely different face, it's still not your face. A fake is a fake, and no matter how realistic it is, it can never be the same as the real thing."
"Is that so?" Old Fu's unpleasant voice was laced with a sinister laugh. "Your Majesty, look at Princess Qiongxiao's face. Doesn't she look like a young girl? She's already forty-two this year. As long as she's in my hands, whether she wants to stay young forever or turn back to twenty years ago, it'll be as easy as turning my hand. Your Majesty, you have high position and power, wealth, status, and love—you have everything, except to hold onto time. Don't you want to stay young and beautiful forever?"
She was convinced that no woman could resist the allure of eternal youth.
Meng Lingge ordered the guards to seize Princess Qiongxiao and Elder Fu, and asked in a completely calm tone, "What do you mean?"
She understood what Old Master Fu meant, but she couldn't believe that this old man would try to save his life with this harmful skill even when he was about to die.
Old Fu stared at Meng Lingge with his cloudy old eyes, as if he were an old witch trying to bewitch people.
"Your Majesty is a wise woman, why pretend to be foolish in front of this old servant? If you wish, you can hide me and Princess Qiongxiao away without anyone noticing. Since I've survived this time, I'm yours now. You are of noble birth, you can get any face you want, and I will make sure it's genuine, so no one can tell there's been any alteration. If the Emperor finds you old and faded, you can simply change into a new, stunning face to bewitch him again..."
As Old Fu spoke, he became more and more agitated, while Meng Lingge frowned slightly and her expression turned cold.
Old Master Fu thought she had fallen for him but was hesitant and wavering.
So he continued to persuade, "Not just your face, this old servant has recently been studying the skin of other parts of the body, and given time, I will definitely be able to replace your entire body's skin..."
"Shut up!"
Meng Lingge could no longer bear to listen and interrupted, "I dare not employ someone like you, and I have no desire to experience the unique skills you have researched. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural laws of human beings. Princess Qiongxiao has already received retribution for attempting to change the will of Heaven, which is enough to prove that your skills have caused great harm. Instead of reflecting on your mistakes, you still want to bewitch me, which makes your crime even more serious."
Old Master Fu looked at Meng Lingge in surprise, unable to believe that a woman would refuse a method to stay young forever.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the officers and soldiers of the Censorate walking towards them, and Old Fu immediately "realized" and lowered his voice.
"Your Majesty, my words have always held true. You can get us out whenever you come to your senses. This face-swapping technology is something only I can do in the world. If you miss this opportunity, it will be too late to regret it when you are old and your beauty has faded."
"You old hag, you killed my brother, and now you dare to speak disrespectfully to the Empress! You deserve to be beaten!"
Unable to bear it any longer, Lu Shui stepped forward and slapped Old Fu repeatedly across the face, making him cover his face and wail in pain.
Just then, Lord Liu and Zhang, officials from the Censorate, arrived. Upon seeing the two, they exclaimed excitedly, "Fortunately, Her Majesty the Empress was cautious, otherwise the criminal would have almost escaped right under our noses."
Old Master Fu's face was undeniable. Although Princess Qiongxiao's face didn't match, her demeanor and bearing were those of a noblewoman, completely different from the cowardly and panicked appearance of the two men before. They knew at a glance that this was the criminal they were looking for.
Meng Lingge exchanged a few pleasantries with Lord Liu, then pointed at Old Fu and said, "This prisoner is unrepentant and keeps trying to change her face to save her life. Just in case, after we take her back, we'll sever the tendons in her hands so she can no longer use this harmful method."
Lord Liu nodded and replied, "Thank you for the reminder, Your Majesty. I will remember it."
Old Fu's hands were tools for harming people. Once the criminal is caught, such murderous weapons should indeed be destroyed.
Since the tendons in her hands have been severed, it won't stop her from signing her handprints to confess her crimes and submit to the law.
Old Fu looked up in astonishment, staring at Meng Lingge in disbelief, the last glimmer of light in his cloudy old eyes completely extinguished.
Princess Qiongxiao stopped making futile struggles. After Meng Lingge ordered that Fu Lao's tendons be severed, she finally realized that the eternal youth she had sacrificed everything for was not so important in everyone's eyes.
It took more than a dozen lives and the prestigious status of a princess to finally obtain this young and delicate face.
Now he faces imprisonment, is condemned by thousands, and will soon be executed according to the law.
Based on her crimes, it is unknown whether she will be subjected to slow slicing, beheading, or hanging.
She didn't use this face for very long, not even until her own skin had aged.
Was it all really worth it?
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