Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's words, the ministers' faces lit up with joy. As long as it was a red jade bead, they could be certain that it was the Second Prince.
Su Ruojin and Xiao Yanchu exchanged a glance and smiled slightly; this was going to be interesting.
Now that it's a red jewel, the next step is verification.
Both Dapu and Yuan Hong cut their fingers and dripped blood onto the beads, but the beads did not react at all.
Everyone, including Lu Hong, was stunned.
What's going on here?!
Others might not know, but Lu Hong had personally witnessed Yuan Hong's blood drop turning the bead golden.
Could this bead be fake?
But Empress Wu had already examined it carefully. She knew the appearance of the Red Jade Bead better than Lu Hong, so there was no way she could have made a mistake.
Lu Hong himself saw the bead; it was the same one from before.
He glanced anxiously at Xiao Yanchu and Su Ruojin, only to see that they looked perfectly normal, without a trace of shock on their faces.
Seeing the two of them like this, Lu Hong understood that the Regent and the Queen must have some kind of plan. His heart gradually calmed down, and he stopped talking.
Gao Hongyuan was even more shocked, because he had observed the celestial phenomena and was absolutely certain that one of the two was the Second Prince Ji Yanche, but what was going on now?
The red jade bead was seen by the Empress Dowager; it couldn't be fake.
Xiao Yanchu then spoke up, "Perhaps the beads are fake?"
"Impossible, Empress Wu verified it," Su Ruojin said cooperatively.
"In that case, why not have His Majesty test the bead with his own blood to see if it is real or fake?" Xiao Yanchu said, looking at Ji Yanzhuo sitting on the dragon throne.
If Ji Yanzhuo's blood drips onto it and the bead changes color, it proves that it is a genuine Red Jade Bead.
"Absolutely not!" The Empress Dowager, who was sitting behind the curtain, suddenly stood up, her tone tinged with panic.
"No! His Majesty's health must not be harmed!" Gao Hongyuan also spoke up to stop him.
"What should we do then? Could it be that Yuan Hong and Da Pu are both princes of Xiao Yue? Or perhaps neither of them are?" Xiao Yanchu watched all of this with a calm and collected expression.
The ministers were stunned and didn't know what to do.
If the beads are fake, then Yuan Hong and Da Pu still have hope; they can simply look for real beads.
If the bead is real, it means that neither of these two people is the second prince they are looking for.
The fact that the beads are indeed only mentioned by Empress Wu is bound to raise suspicions.
Lu Hong's mind worked quickly, and he vaguely guessed what the Regent and his wife were planning to do.
But the idea was so absurd that even Lu Hong found it hard to believe.
However, he also stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, this matter concerns the royal bloodline and cannot be wrong. This old minister humbly requests that the Imperial Advisor take a little of Your Majesty's blood for verification."
"Prime Minister Lu, His Majesty is still young, how can we harm his health!" Empress Dowager Wu said in an unfriendly tone.
She never expected that Prime Minister Lu, who had always been loyal to her, would contradict her at this time.
"Your Majesty, it's just a few drops of blood. His Majesty is in good health, so it should be fine. This old minister has three-hundred-year-old ginseng in his family. I'll have my son send it to the palace in a moment to nourish His Majesty," Prime Minister Lu insisted.
Even if he didn't understand medicine, he knew that it was just a matter of taking a few drops of blood from a small child, how could it possibly cause any harm?
Other ministers who were familiar with Prime Minister Lu and knew the truth, although they did not understand what Prime Minister Lu meant, also stepped forward in cooperation.
"We humbly request Your Majesty's permission."
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