Chapter 213

One-month deadline

Gao Caiyong's face was filled with doubt, but Nie Jinxuan instinctively felt that he was asking this on purpose. Regardless of whether Gao Caiyong was intentional or not, it gave her the opportunity to expose the authenticity of Huo Lian. So Nie Jinxuan said in a low voice:

"As a sorcerer, Huo Lian could predict wind and rain and could also read faces and bones, which is indeed very remarkable. But the Emperor is not a fool, and to be able to gain such trust from the Emperor in such a short time, he must have had some real ability. He might have even said many things to the Emperor that were baffling but were proven to be completely true after strict investigation, which is why he was so valued!"

"Of course, I don't know what Huo Lian said to the Emperor or how he did it. But at the flower viewing banquet that day, I felt that Huo Lian was suspicious. After all, Eunuch Gao was also at the scene of the flower viewing banquet, so you should have seen it. I remember that Huo Lian looked at the princes present at the time and was instantly slightly stunned, his expression also slightly strange... And of course, if I remember correctly, Huo Lian was looking at Prince Chen, right!"

In fact, Nie Jinxuan hadn't paid much attention to this matter originally. But after knowing that Huo Lian had been deliberately planted by Emperor Shuncheng's side, Nie Jinxuan suddenly thought of this!

"So, Eunuch Gao, think about it. Given the Emperor's personality and discernment, the Emperor could not have failed to see this reaction. But with civil and military officials, and even princes and commandery princesses from the Tiancheng Kingdom present, the Emperor naturally wouldn't say much. But given the Emperor's personality, he would definitely pursue the matter later. And this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity..."

In a conspiracy, as long as you find a small clue, you can follow the vine to find the source. At this moment, hearing Nie Jinxuan say this, Gao Caiyong was stunned and turned to look at Emperor Shuncheng. Seeing this, Nie Jinxuan knew that Gao Caiyong was intentionally helping her, or rather, helping Yin Fengzhan, and she smiled slightly at him, not missing the opportunity to continue:

"So I think that late that night, the Emperor should have kept Huo Lian in the palace and asked about the previous matters. Huo Lian naturally wouldn't say anything immediately, but he would have led the Emperor into the trap he had already dug, and the Emperor would have heard the story Huo Lian had already fabricated..."

"However, things didn't succeed here. After all, although the Emperor has been depressed for so many years, a few words from Huo Lian could not make the Emperor completely insane! But Huo Lian didn't understand the Emperor; he thought his task was finished, so he left. He must have wanted to go to his true master to collect his reward and then fly away. If the Emperor looked for him, he would leave a note saying he had leaked heavenly secrets and could no longer stay, and the matter would be settled..."

"However, what Huo Lian didn't expect was that the person behind the scenes never intended for him to live. Of course, silencing him was one aspect, but more importantly, they wanted to use Huo Lian's death to prove a point! That is, what he said was the truth, and because it was the truth, he leaked heavenly secrets and thus died!"

……

All of this was deduced by Nie Jinxuan, but it told eighty percent of the truth. So upon hearing this, Gao Caiyong narrowed his eyes instantly and asked:

"So... could it be that Taoist priest Huo Lian being hit to death by falling bricks was not an accident, but..."

"Otherwise, what does Eunuch Gao think? Our Dongling Imperial Palace hasn't fallen to the point where no one maintains the bricks falling from the palace walls, right? And it didn't fall early or late, but had to fall at that time, at that location, and coincidentally hit Huo Lian on the head... Eunuch Gao, don't you think this is very interesting?"

"Uh... maybe it really was..."

"Yes, there is a possibility of coincidence. But may I ask Eunuch Gao, even if the bricks on the palace wall fell, they should have fallen close to the palace wall, right! And in the middle of the night, was Huo Lian walking close to the palace wall? Otherwise, how could the brick hit his head? And if not, Huo Lian was walking properly on the road; did the brick grow legs or wings to fly to the middle of the road and hit him?!"

"This... so you mean, someone had long since..."

Gao Caiyong was also shocked. After all, although he had suspected Huo Lian at the time, he couldn't explain why. But hearing Nie Jinxuan say this, he was suddenly enlightened! He turned his eyes to look at Emperor Shuncheng, who was still lowering his head and not speaking, and then set his gaze on Nie Jinxuan.

Seeing this, Nie Jinxuan nodded secretly at Gao Caiyong and said:

"If Eunuch Gao wants to investigate, why not check which palace wall and which position the brick fell from? Wouldn't it be clear then?"

……

Nie Jinxuan and Gao Caiyong sang in harmony. Subsequently, the large Imperial Study fell into a strange silence.

Emperor Shuncheng still lowered his head, and Nie Jinxuan and Gao Caiyong watched him without speaking, not daring to make a sound. For a time, the suffocating tension made people feel breathless!

Just like that, time passed minute by minute. Finally, after an unknown amount of time—so long that Nie Jinxuan felt a bit nervous, hesitant, and uneasy—a very soft laugh suddenly sounded in the quiet Imperial Study.

The person laughing was Emperor Shuncheng. Nie Jinxuan was stunned, but then Emperor Shuncheng stopped laughing. After another long silence, Emperor Shuncheng slowly raised his head:

"Nie Jinxuan, you really have a lot of nerve... However, I want to know, how did you know about Huo Lian?"

Completely different from Gao Caiyong's inquiry just now, Emperor Shuncheng was not asking why Nie Jinxuan knew Huo Lian was a fake, but why she knew about Huo Lian's affairs... After all, that day at the flower viewing banquet was the first time Nie Jinxuan had seen Huo Lian, and the series of events that happened after Huo Lian was kept behind should have been completely unknown to Nie Jinxuan! Furthermore, she had been locked in the Celestial Prison for the past few days, so this was indeed a baffling matter!

Clearly, Emperor Shuncheng's question was much more brilliant than Gao Caiyong's. While questioning, Emperor Shuncheng stared fixedly at Nie Jinxuan, his haggard face no longer showing the collapse and madness from just now, but had become cold and serious!

Emperor Shuncheng had recovered his usual majesty. He stood up from the ground. At this time, Nie Jinxuan also stood up tremblingly, but she smiled slightly:

"If I said that all of this was because Anguo was blessed by an immortal and had opened my heavenly eyes, so I could distinguish right from wrong in the human world, would the Emperor believe me?"

……

Emperor Shuncheng had previously believed that Yin Fengzhan was not his child because of Huo Lian's words. Nie Jinxuan saying this now was undoubtedly a provocation and irony to Emperor Shuncheng.

But upon hearing this, Emperor Shuncheng was not angry; he was stunned for a moment, then laughed:

"What a sharp tongue and reckless behavior; you are the first person who dared to speak to me like this! Fine, since that's the case, I will give you a chance!"

As he spoke, Emperor Shuncheng stepped forward, came directly in front of Nie Jinxuan, and his expression turned stern:

"You just said the Fourth Prince is my son, then prove it to me and see if he is or isn't!"

Yin Fengzhan's background was a nightmare for Emperor Shuncheng. But upon hearing this, Nie Jinxuan looked quietly at Emperor Shuncheng, who was serious, and shook her head:

"Emperor, I am very sorry. I cannot prove whether Prince Chen is your child!"

"What?!"

Emperor Shuncheng had never expected Nie Jinxuan to say this. For a moment, he was stunned on the spot, unable to speak, but then his expression turned gloomy.

At this time, seeing that the situation was bad, Gao Caiyong on the side could not help but be anxious and stepped forward to whisper:

"Uh... please allow this old servant to say a word... Commandery Princess, since you can examine corpses, you should know some methods of recognizing relatives! I remember hearing that there is a method called... what was it? Oh, right, the blood-dripping method! It's blood-dripping kinship recognition; if the blood merges, they are related, if not, they are not! Why don't you..."

Gao Caiyong meant well. But before he could finish, Nie Jinxuan shook her head and said slowly:

"Eunuch Gao, Anguo understands what you mean. There are currently two methods of kinship recognition: one is the blood-dripping kinship recognition you just mentioned, where the blood of father and son is dripped into the same bowl; if it merges, they are related, if not, they are not! The other is bone-dripping kinship recognition, where the son's blood is dripped onto the father's skeleton; if the blood seeps in, it proves they are related, if not, they are not... But Eunuch Gao, Anguo can tell you very definitely that although these two methods are widely circulated, they are not accurate, because there is no scientific basis for them at all!"

"Uh... sci... scientific basis?"

Gao Caiyong did not understand what Nie Jinxuan meant by scientific basis and was confused for a moment. Nie Jinxuan explained:

"It means these two methods themselves are wrong and have no logic to explain them. It's just that they have been circulated for a long time, and everyone knows them, so they believe them to be true. But in fact, even if the Emperor and Prince Chen were to perform blood-dripping kinship recognition now, Anguo can guarantee that their blood would definitely merge, so this method won't work!"

"Then... then this..."

This time Gao Caiyong understood, but he could not help but start to struggle and looked uneasily at Emperor Shuncheng. Emperor Shuncheng was staring at Nie Jinxuan with a gloomy expression and said coldly:

"So, you cannot be sure whether the Fourth Prince is my son... is that it?"

Emperor Shuncheng's words were dangerous. But upon hearing this, Nie Jinxuan nodded truthfully:

"Yes!"

In this ancient era where technology was extremely underdeveloped, Nie Jinxuan indeed had no way to use scientific methods to prove whether Yin Fengzhan and Emperor Shuncheng were biological father and son.

For a time, Emperor Shuncheng's expression was extremely ugly, clearly showing signs of going mad again. But just then, before Emperor Shuncheng could act, Nie Jinxuan raised her gaze and changed the subject:

"However, Emperor, although Anguo cannot directly prove whether you and Prince Chen are biological father and son, Anguo feels that since it cannot be directly proven, a roundabout investigation should still be possible!"

"……Roundabout investigation?"

"Yes, Emperor!"

She nodded seriously and said slowly:

"Emperor, please forgive Anguo for saying something I shouldn't, but does it really matter to you whether Prince Chen is your biological son? After all, Anguo feels that the reason you value Prince Chen so much is ultimately because of Noble Consort Ning!"

"After all, your only fatal weakness is Noble Consort Ning, not Prince Chen. So whether Prince Chen is your son is actually something you should know in your heart. But even so, you are still so angry and even lose your reason and go mad, because Prince Chen is Noble Consort Ning's son. So once Prince Chen is not your son, you believe Noble Consort Ning was unfaithful to you back then, and it is precisely because of this that you have become so angry!"

"So, if that is the case, Anguo feels it would be better to investigate Noble Consort Ning's affairs back then! What did Noble Consort Ning do back then, how did she die, and what happened back then... Only when these are investigated clearly will you know whose child Prince Chen is! In this way, you can fundamentally untie your heart's knot. And this knot is not just yours; I imagine Prince Chen feels the same way!"

……

Nie Jinxuan did not know the grievances of more than twenty years ago. But Nie Jinxuan believed that the truth back then might not be as Emperor Shuncheng imagined! And regarding that past, not only Emperor Shuncheng but Yin Fengzhan should also be very concerned, otherwise he wouldn't have repeatedly broken into the forbidden palace!

So at this moment, rather than saying Nie Jinxuan was persuading Emperor Shuncheng to untie his heart's knot and save Yin Fengzhan, it would be better to say she was helping Yin Fengzhan fulfill his wish! Hearing Nie Jinxuan's words and looking at her exceptionally serious expression, Emperor Shuncheng turned around, facing away from her, and after a long while, finally pressed his lips together and said in a low voice:

"Fine! Since you say so, I will believe you one more time! But you must remember clearly, I will only give you one month. If the result is not what I want, then not only you, but the Fourth Prince, and even your entire Nie family, I will not let go... Do you hear me clearly?!"

Emperor Shuncheng's voice was calm, but his words made people feel cold to the bone. Upon hearing this, Nie Jinxuan instantly felt a surge of joy and hurriedly responded. But just then, perhaps because her tightly wound spirit had finally relaxed, Nie Jinxuan fainted on the ground...