It was a palace eunuch who had arrived and summoned Gu Nanjiao to the palace.
Gu Nanjiao hurriedly found some pigskin to apply to her face and covered her face with a white veil, but Lu Yanzhao ripped it off and threw it aside.
"Let's go!"
"How can that be? If the emperor sees it, he might become suspicious, and what if he charges me with deceiving the emperor?"
“He won’t.” Lu Yanzhao’s tone was very certain.
No sooner had Gu Nanjiao left than Lu Yanzhao went to find Gu Qingyan.
Night slowly fell, the thick, dark air making it hard to breathe.
Gu Nanjiao followed cautiously behind the eunuch, looking up at the three large characters "Ning Shou Palace" with a puzzled expression, wondering why the eunuch had brought her here.
A moment later, an imperial attendant announced that the Emperor and Empress Dowager had summoned Gu Nanjiao for an audience.
Inside the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, the lights were on.
The Chu Emperor rested his chin on his hand, leaning back on the bright yellow soft seat, while the Empress Dowager sat upright to the side, her expression gloomy and inscrutable.
Inside the hall, Consort Yue and Prince Cheng knelt on the ground, while Princess Fuyang stood proudly upright. Beside her, a woman in tattered clothes remained in a kneeling posture, trembling but never raising her head.
Gu Nanjiao bowed to the Emperor and Empress Dowager. Upon seeing Gu Nanjiao's face, the group looked up. Consort Yue stared in horror, pointing at Gu Nanjiao's face and stammering, "You...your face isn't disfigured?"
Seeing this, Fu Yang sneered, his eyes gleaming with smugness: "Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, it is clear at a glance who is right and who is wrong. Consort Yue has defiled the harem and deserves to be executed. Gu Nanjiao and Prince Cheng are bastards. In my opinion, they should be hanged."
The emperor's pupils contracted, and his face turned as dark as a cloud.
“Your Majesty, please be careful with your words!” Prince Cheng spoke, glancing at Princess Fuyang with some disgust. “The matter is not yet settled, how can you make arbitrary judgments!”
“Then let’s do a blood test to prove kinship!” Fu Yang met Cheng Wang’s gaze directly, without a trace of fear, only smugness.
Didn't Prince Cheng look down on her? A bastard whose name she didn't even know? How dare he order her around? Once her identity is verified, she will definitely grind Consort Yue and her son to dust.
The Empress Dowager ordered someone to bring water for the blood test to determine kinship. When Consort Yue saw the palace maid carrying two bowls of clear water, she was shocked, and her lips became cold and numb.
Two bowls of water!
Two bowls of water!
If only Prince Cheng were examined, Consort Yue wouldn't be worried at all. But the Empress Dowager wants to examine Gu Nanjiao as well.
Gu Nanjiao is not His Majesty's biological daughter; the truth came to light after a blood test revealed their paternity.
Well... if we investigate further!
Consort Yue dared not think of it. She suddenly stood up and said, "It cannot be tested."
The Empress Dowager's gaze sharpened: "Consort Yue, what are you afraid of?"
"No...no, Your Majesty is the supreme ruler, how could you pierce the dragon's blood? I cannot bear it!"
Fu Yang spoke in a sinister tone: "This concerns the royal bloodline, and even more so, the reputation of Consort Yue. Your brother can clear your name by sacrificing two drops of his blood. Consort Yue, what are you panicking about?"
"This...this Empress..."
Prince Cheng stepped forward and took Consort Yue's hand, forcing a smile: "Mother, don't panic. You often say that Father and I look alike, and even our personalities are exactly the same. So what's so scary about a blood test?"
The Empress Dowager beckoned to the palace maids, and two maids knelt before the Emperor Chu with water in their hands.
Seeing the Emperor of Chu hesitate, the Empress Dowager urged him, "Your Majesty, you must be decisive in your actions."
Without further hesitation, the King of Chu picked up a silver needle, pricked his finger, and dripped a drop of blood into a bowl.
Gu Nanjiao finally understood what was going on; it turned out that Princess Fuyang had reported her relationship with Consort Yue.
Now the Empress Dowager suspects Prince Cheng's bloodline and insists on a blood test to verify his true lineage. Two bowls of water were also prepared for her to be tested together.
Why did the Empress Dowager prepare two bowls of water?
Gu Nanjiao was puzzled, but she knew that the ancient practice of blood-drop kinship testing was unreliable.
Even blood that isn't biologically related can be compatible, while some biological fathers and sons have incompatible blood. This has led to countless misunderstandings throughout history.
Two young palace maids carrying trays approached Prince Cheng and Gu Nanjiao respectively.
Without hesitation, Prince Cheng pricked his finger and dripped the blood into the bowl. Seeing Gu Nanjiao hesitate, Fu Yang couldn't help but urge, "Gu Nanjiao, what are you hesitating about? Do you want His Majesty and the Empress Dowager to wait for you?"
Consort Yue rushed over and pleaded, "Your Majesty, no, no! Prince Cheng has already examined her; there is no need for Gu Nanjiao to examine her again."
Fu Yang stepped forward, grabbed Gu Nanjiao's hand, and swiftly used a silver needle to pierce her finger.
Gu Nanjiao hissed, and blood dripped from her fingertip into the bowl.
Fu Yang laughed triumphantly, while Consort Yue slumped to the ground in despair, as if all her strength had been drained away.
Two palace maids held the bowls high above their heads and presented them to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. The blood droplets in the two bowls were joined together, like a pair of long-separated relatives merging together.
"Hahahaha," the Chu Emperor's gloomy face finally broke into a smile. He waved his hand, signaling the palace maid to bring the bowl to the Empress Dowager.
Sure enough, the blood in both bowls of water was completely mixed. What does this mean?
Both Prince Cheng and Gu Nanjiao were sons of the emperor.
"Fuyang!" The Empress Dowager's eyes narrowed slightly, a surge of anger seemingly rising between her brows, her voice as cold as ice: "Spouting nonsense and slandering the royal bloodline, what is your punishment!"
Fu Yang was puzzled and rushed forward to check, only to find that the blood in the two bowls of water had mixed together.
"How is that possible?"
She was shocked and stood frozen in place, unable to move. How could Gu Nanjiao be the emperor's child?
Consort Yue was equally shocked; when she saw the two bloods mingling, her astonishment was no less than that of Princess Fuyang.
Soon, Consort Yue came to her senses and cried heartbrokenly: "Your Majesty, I am now innocent. What are Princess Fuyang's intentions? She wanted to kill me with one move."
"Is she dissatisfied with His Majesty's bestowal of a marriage? But my nephew is also a handsome man; how could he disgrace the princess?"
Princess Fuyang's face turned deathly pale, gradually losing all color, and she appeared almost insane: "Impossible! If Gu Nanjiao is His Majesty's child, then who is Prince Cheng?"
"Ping'er!" Princess Fuyang grabbed the barely noticeable Ping'er and shouted angrily, "Didn't you say that Gu Nanjiao was the bastard child of Consort Yue's affair? Why did you try to harm me? Who ordered you to do this?"
Ping'er kowtowed heavily on the ground several times: "This servant did not say that. When the Empress Dowager and the Emperor asked me questions earlier, I only said that Consort Yue gave birth to a baby girl after returning to the palace. I did not say that the baby girl was a bastard."
The Empress Dowager glanced at the Emperor and frowned: "She didn't say that Consort Yue had an affair, but who is the father of Prince Cheng? Could it be that Consort Yue gave birth to twins?"
“Absolutely impossible.” Fu Yang knelt down with a thud: “Prince Cheng and Gu Nanjiao are born a year apart, they could never be twins.”
Gu Nanjiao smiled and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I am exactly 18 years old, but when I registered my household, I was listed as one year older."
The Emperor of Chu nodded, his gaze towards Gu Nanjiao carrying a complex mix of emotions.
The thought that such a treasure was actually his daughter filled him with a little excitement.
He said it himself! What kind of person could be so talented as to not only design firearms and improve agricultural tools, but also manufacture machines for sewing clothes?
It turns out it's his bloodline!
but?
King Cheng was also his son!
If Consort Yue had given birth to twins back then, there would have been no need to go through the trouble of sending Gu Nanjiao away, and the secret guards reported that Consort Yue was suspected of assassinating Gu Nanjiao.
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