Chapter 218: Skeleton Kin Recognition

"Third brother!" An Chengren couldn't help but lower his voice to scold, "Are you crazy?"

He never expected that his third brother, usually mild and hesitant, would at this critical moment actually stand on Xiao Yin's side.

Moreover, saying this would completely offend the third prince; Xiao Wei has always been narrow-minded, his methods cruel and ruthless—on his path to seize the throne, who knows how many families have been utterly exterminated by Xiao Wei.

Those great clans, once said to be exterminated, are exterminated; let alone our An family, which has no power or influence.

This time An Chengren was so frightened his body trembled slightly; he furtively glanced at Xiao Wei standing nearby, and indeed Xiao Wei's face was grim to the extreme, his eyes filled with a hint of cold killing intent.

An Chenggui seemed to have made up his mind, stepped forward and clasped his hands toward Xiao Yin: "Your Highness, my elder brother most respected you in life; please grant my elder brother justice, and grant justice to the bloodline of our An family."

"Although this daughter of my elder brother is not recorded in our An family genealogy, we cannot let his spirit in heaven remain unsettled; who his true biological daughter is, who is genuine and who false, must be decided by Your Highness."

Xiao Yin nodded, while Xiao Wei beside him coldly snorted: "Who exactly is in charge of the An family?"

"Well, the An family is also an old noble lineage, with distinction between legitimate and illegitimate; the elder brother hasn't said anything, yet the younger brother steps forward to take charge—An Chenggui, Sir An, who gave you the courage?"

Although An Chenggui was desperately suppressing his inner fear, his body still trembled slightly.

The An family, usually cautious and careful, never imagined they would end up at the forefront bearing the wrath of the imperial nobility.

He now understood: once you draw the bow, there's no turning back; having made such a decision, you must see it through to the end in order to gamble for a splendid future amidst myriad dangers.

This time, he no longer agrees with the second brother; he wants to put the An family on Prince Rui's side.

Moreover, Prince Rui has taken care of our An family for so long; actually, the elder brother had already parted ways with our An family back then, completely severing the father-son relationship with their father.

Whether Prince Rui helps the An family or not is understandable, yet he has still been secretly looking after them; this kindness cannot be let go just because the second brother is weak and fearful.

He took a breath, bowed to Xiao Wei, and said: "In reply to Your Highness, back when our father and elder brother severed their father-son ties, in fact he secretly kept the position of legitimate heir for the elder brother."

"Every year during the Spring Sacrifice, the spot where our elder brother stands to worship the ancestors is left empty; we two brothers are not qualified to stand there."

An Chengren's head drooped slightly, his heart filled with waves of sorrow.

He knew that he and his third brother were mediocre and not valued by their father; even though the elder brother had broken ties with their father over a woman, their father still did not think highly of him.

An Chenggui paused, then said: "Therefore, the An family has never had a legitimate heir, and there is no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate."

"The second brother and I are both sons of concubines; we usually discuss matters together, but now the appearance of our elder brother's orphan has raised the question of true or false; if we cannot tell them apart, it would be a disservice to our elder brother."

"If the elder brother were alive, he might even be willing to use his own flesh and blood to verify; let alone now, with just a corpse, what difference does it make?"

After An Chenggui finished speaking, Xiao Wei was momentarily left speechless by the rebuke.

He is originally a military general; when it comes to debate, how could he possibly match a civil official?

Xiao Wei gritted his teeth, wishing he could draw his sword and stab that pedantic scholar to death, but at this moment he could do nothing—after all, it is the An family's ancestral grave, and one cannot interfere with another's ancestral grave.

He still clenched his teeth, looked toward An Chengren beside him, and said word by word: "Sir An, what do you think?"

An Chengren's forehead beaded with cold sweat as he looked at his third brother; An Chenggui's returning gaze carried a hint of resolute determination.

He secretly sighed, unsure whether this move was right or wrong; in any case, he would just take a gamble.

He took a breath, bowed to Xiao Wei, and said: "Your Highness, I… I agree to open the coffin; after all, it concerns my elder brother's bloodline, and this matter admits of no… no pretense."

Gu Jiu Ling shouted: "Someone! Ask the coroner to go to the An family ancestral grave and bring back General An's remains."

"Both Sir Ans, please lead the way and also serve as witnesses, so that no one can later deny responsibility!"

Su Wanrou's face changed drastically; she instinctively wanted to flee, but Xiao Yin's gaze forced her to stay, unable to move even half a step.

She repeatedly murmured in her heart: Gu Jiu Ling is a person, not a god.

She is merely lucky; how could she really verify any blood relation?

In this world, although blood-dripping can recognize kin, but people are dead—what else can be done?

As the saying goes, "no evidence from the dead"; how can Gu Jiu Ling verify it?

As long as she does not acknowledge it, these witnesses are all people Xiao Yin found; Xiao Wei cares most about face, so he would certainly not lose face here and would surely protect her.

Su Wanrou kept murmuring, and after half an incense stick's time, the two Sir Ans, together with the coroner and others, still returned to the Third Prince's residence.

The faces of the two An brothers were not good; they were filled with sorrowful expressions.

When they collected the elder brother's corpse back then, it was simply horrifying; his whole body had been almost burned to ruin, and one cannot imagine how much courage it took, enduring excruciating pain to carry Xiao Yin out.

When opening the coffin today, they did not expect the body to be completely rotted; it turned out the elder brother had not only been burned by fire but also poisoned, causing rapid decay—even though a fine coffin had been used earlier, the corpse had rotted into pieces.

This time the coroner presented a box before Xiao Yin and Gu Jiu Ling, opened it, and revealed a piece of bone inside.

Upon seeing that piece of bone, Xiao Yin's face instantly stiffened; his usually flirtatious and roguish visage rarely showed a trace of sorrowful grief, which was so deep it could not be dispelled.

He furrowed his brows tightly; beside him, Gu Jiu Ling raised her hand and lightly took Xiao Yin's hand—his hand was cold, and she gently clenched it.

Xiao Yin seemed to respond to her, returning the grip slightly.

Jinzhi looked at that piece of bone; for some reason, a layer of tears welled up in her eyes.

She had forgotten her entire background, yet she still vaguely heard from others that her father was a great hero with countless military exploits, and her mother was the foremost beauty of Longzhou.

She is their child, yet she cannot enter her grandfather's family genealogy.

At this moment, looking at that bone, she felt especially stifled, her eyes hot and painful; an evening breeze blew, bringing a hint of coolness to her cheeks, and she realized she had already been crying tears streaming down her face.

Gu Jiu Ling slowly rose, looked around, and said: "I once saw a passage in an ancient text titled 'Record of Rectifying Wrongs'."

"It means that when a person dies, one cannot perform blood-dripping to recognize kin, but one can drop blood onto the bones of relatives."

"If the blood droplets seep into the bone, it is a true parent-child relationship; if they cannot penetrate, it is a fake!"

"Everyone, please serve as witnesses today!"

"Someone! Bring the silver needles!"