kvmb Chapter 421 Body Test
Chapter 421 Body Test
The Empress looked at the letter that had fallen to her feet, bent down to pick up the thin piece of paper, glanced at it briefly, and then looked up at the Emperor of Northern Qi.
"Your Majesty, we have been husband and wife for half our lives, yet our affection is not as strong as this piece of paper, nor as strong as that of a stranger."
"As the mistress of the harem, even if I have not borne any children of my own, I can still raise the children born to the concubines in the harem to consolidate my position. To confuse the royal bloodline is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. Why would I take such a risk?"
"Besides, if I were truly confused and adopted a child born from the affair between a palace maid and a guard, and then passed it off as a royal bloodline, instead of threatening the female physician in the letter to keep this secret to herself, why not simply kill her? After all, only the dead can keep secrets from being revealed."
Having said that, the Empress glanced at the female physician and said, "My maternal clan has hundreds of lives. Compared to the female physician's single life, which is more important? I don't need to spell it out for you, do I?"
Upon hearing the Empress's words, Lord Feng sensed something was amiss and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I have not wronged Her Majesty the Empress. The physician survived because she had a backup plan. If she were to die mysteriously in the palace, someone would expose the Empress's false pregnancy. The Empress is afraid of being exposed and has no choice but to act cautiously."
The Northern Qi Emperor's eyes were sinister. Listening to the Empress's explanation, his heart wavered for a moment. If the Empress were to confuse the royal bloodline, and the female physician learned of such a shocking secret, she would surely be silenced.
There's no smoke without fire. If there were no evidence, Lord Feng wouldn't have accused the Empress of confusing the royal bloodline.
Moreover, Lord Feng's words make some sense.
The empress must have had some concerns in not silencing them.
The Emperor of Northern Qi looked at the King of Qi and carefully examined his face.
No matter how he looked at it, the appearance was neither like his nor like the empress's.
The Empress's eyes flashed sharply: "Lord Feng, you keep saying that Chong'er is not my child, but the child of a palace maid and a guard who had an affair. The palace rules are strict, and the palace maid and the guard have no interaction. How could they have been secretly exchanging gifts and having an affair?"
Lord Feng was speechless. If he told the truth, it would implicate Consort Shu.
"If I remember correctly, the Feng family and the Lin family have a close relationship, don't they?" the Empress said coldly. "Lord Feng specially sought out a female physician and forged a letter to slander Chong'er as not being the imperial heir. What are his true intentions?"
Lord Feng's face turned ashen. The Empress's words clearly implied that he had maliciously framed Prince Qi for not being the heir to the throne in order to support Prince Xian's ascension to the throne.
"Your Majesty, I have no selfish motives whatsoever. I only wish to prevent anyone from disrupting the royal bloodline, which is why I risked my life to tell Your Majesty the truth." Lord Feng cried out, "If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may interrogate the female physician."
The Northern Qi emperor looked at the female physician.
The female physician was pale, her hands tucked into her sleeves. Upon hearing Lord Feng's words, her eyelashes trembled a few times, and she pressed her pale lips tightly together.
The Emperor of Northern Qi asked, "You personally delivered the Empress during her childbirth. Tell me truthfully, was the Prince of Qi born to the Empress?"
The female physician glanced timidly at Lord Feng.
Upon seeing this, the Emperor of Northern Qi's face darkened: "Just tell the truth, and I will spare your life. If you conceal anything and distort the truth, I will exterminate your entire family."
It's unclear what words triggered the female physician, but she trembled and said in terror, "I...I said, King Qi...King Qi is...is the son of the Empress."
"You're lying!" Lord Feng's face turned ashen as he angrily said, "You clearly said that Prince Qi is not the Empress's biological son, but the child of a palace maid and a guard who had an affair..."
The female doctor interrupted him: "I... I didn't say that. You threatened me with my family. If I didn't do as you said, you would kill my family. But if I lied to His Majesty, I would be committing the heinous crime of deceiving the emperor, and my entire family would be wiped out."
She placed her hands on the ground and kowtowed to the Emperor of Northern Qi: "Your Majesty, the Prince of Qi is the Empress's biological son. Every word I have said is true. If there is even a single lie, I am willing to have my entire family executed."
The Northern Qi emperor's gaze fell on the female physician's hands. Two of her fingernails had been pulled out, clearly indicating that she had been tortured to extract a confession.
He asked, "What's the story behind this letter?"
The female doctor replied, "It was forged by Lord Feng."
Lord Feng did not torture the female physician at all; he merely used her family to threaten her, and she confessed everything.
Who would have thought that the female physician would turn the tables on him in front of His Majesty?
He looked at the female doctor, paused, stared intently at her injured finger, and suddenly understood.
The female physician deliberately pulled out her own fingernails to feign being tortured by him, only to be forced to comply with his wishes and slander the Empress for confusing the royal bloodline. In the end, however, she was forced to tell the truth due to the imperial power of the Northern Qi Emperor.
The "truth" revealed by the female doctor plunged him into hell.
The only evidence he could use to prove that the King of Qi was not the Queen's son was the female physician and that letter.
Now that the female doctor has refuted his claims, he can no longer produce any other evidence.
Lord Feng broke out in a cold sweat: "Your Majesty, you can perform a blood test to determine kinship... No, no, no, you cannot perform a blood test to determine kinship..."
Once the blood test is conducted, even if the Prince of Qi is not the biological son of the Emperor of Northern Qi, he will become the Emperor's biological son.
Historical records show that some people used the method of blood testing to verify the father-son relationship.
The blood of the father and son mingled together in the water.
The matter should have ended there, but then some busybody dripped his own blood into the bowl, and it miraculously mixed together.
Ironically, this busybody had no blood relation to the father and son.
To distance themselves from the situation, some busybodies brought in several servants to drip blood into the bowl, and the blood of two of them mixed with that of the father and son.
As it turns out, this method is unreliable.
Desperate, Lord Feng said, "Your Majesty, you can have an experienced nanny examine the Empress. She can detect any woman who has given birth."
The female physician's expression suddenly changed, and she subconsciously looked at the Empress, her eyes filled with worry.
Because women who have given birth have some physical characteristics that are different from those of women who have not given birth.
If an experienced nanny were to examine it, she would surely notice some clues.
Especially the private parts.
Upon hearing Lord Feng's words, the Empress clenched her fingers tightly inside her sleeve.