Imperial Physician Sun’s hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
Even though Xiao Ao said he only trusted him, he still sent Su Sheng to follow along.
“This matter is of great importance, and I do not wish for any mistakes either.
I hope Imperial Physician Sun understands my painstaking concern.”
Imperial Physician Sun nodded repeatedly, but his throat was so dry that he couldn’t speak.
“Huo Ci” had just returned after pacifying Beiluo, and public sentiment was at its peak.
If any rumors spread at this time, it would inevitably be harmful to the royal family, and might cause unrest among the people and instability in the realm.
Imperial Physician Sun knew all of this.
But just how deep the calculations within this matter ran, he had no idea at all.
A thin layer of cold sweat seeped onto his forehead, and Su Sheng also kept swallowing mouthfuls of saliva.
The two of them held a silver bowl and scooped several spoonfuls from the clear spring water that had just been drawn this morning.
Imperial Physician Sun even tested it with a silver needle. Everything was normal.
Before long, the silver bowl containing half a bowl of water was placed in the Taihe Hall.
All that was left was to wait for Xiaoya and “Jiang Xingyan.”
“This humble one greets Your Majesty.”
Yun Chunfeng’s voice came from the doorway.
Xiao Ao’s spirits lifted.
How could he have forgotten this State Preceptor with powers reaching heaven and earth? If the State Preceptor performed a divination, wouldn’t the whole sequence of events become perfectly clear?
“State Preceptor, please come in quickly!”
But when Yun Chunfeng stepped one foot through the door of the Taihe Hall, Xiao Ao’s heart skipped a beat.
His eyes!
The two were led into the main hall by a eunuch.
Yun Chunfeng held the bewildered Xiaoya in his arms, walking carefully, clearly truly blind now.
Xiaoya was eating candy in her mouth. The moment she saw Jiang Xingyan pinned to the ground, her little mouth immediately turned downward.
“A-Niang!”
Xiao Ao waved his hand, and the eight imperial guards released “Huo Ci.”
Xiaoya’s tears had already fallen.
Jiang Xingyan couldn’t care about anything else and rushed forward to hug Xiaoya.
“It’s all right, Xiaoya. A-Niang is fine.”
Xiao Ao furrowed his brows, a trace of doubt flashing through his mind.
It had been quite a while since the matter of the wicked servant bullying the master, so why was Xiaoya still calling “Huo Ci” A-Niang?
But what he cared about wasn’t this. It was Yun Chunfeng.
“State Preceptor—”
Before he could even ask his question, Yun Chunfeng spoke ahead of him: “Your Majesty, forgive me!
Today is a day of great joy with General Huo’s return. This humble one originally did not wish to dampen the mood.
But unfortunately, just after I went to the side residence to pick up Xiaoya, I received Your Majesty’s summons, so I had no choice but to come.
In this campaign, Beiluo obtained the aid of an otherworldly visitor and developed weapons not belonging to this world.
To ensure our soldiers returned victorious, this humble one exhausted a lifetime of cultivation to block and destroy all those weapons.
Now I have become an ordinary mortal.
I originally intended to come tomorrow to resign from the position of State Preceptor, but since it’s better to do it today than wait for another day, resigning today is not impossible either.
It is only that if I have disturbed Your Majesty’s celebratory mood, it is truly this humble one’s great crime.”
Xiao Ao’s expression visibly twisted.
He still remembered that he was the Emperor of Western Zhou and could not lose proper court etiquette, which was the only reason he barely held himself back.
But this Yun Chunfeng was truly detestable!
He had clearly hinted again and again that he wanted immortality.
Even if not that, at least eternal youth, or a lifespan beyond a hundred years would do.
Yet the man had paid it no mind at all!
Now, for the sake of some lowly soldiers’ lives, he had actually depleted his mind and spirit, causing all his hopes to come to nothing.
What audacity!
Why was it that Shangguan Hanshan’s ministers all obeyed him completely?
While his own ministers, Xiao Ao’s ministers, didn’t put him in their eyes at all?!
At this moment, Xiao Ao no longer had the energy to care whose daughter Xiaoya was. He only wanted to fly into a thunderous rage, seize Yun Chunfeng, and hack him into ten thousand pieces.
Suddenly, he saw Xiaoya in Yun Chunfeng’s arms.
Was this someone the State Preceptor cared about?
Then I will let him taste what it feels like to lose Xiaoya!
The last trace of pity for the young in Xiao Ao’s heart instantly vanished without a trace.
He asked Old Madam Huo, who was kneeling on the ground, in a cold voice: “Before the blood test to verify kinship, I ask you one last time: was there even a bit of falsehood in what you said?”
Old Madam Huo had already thrown caution to the wind.
She had long since planned it out in her heart. As soon as the result of the blood test came out, she would insist stubbornly that Jiang Xingyan had been unfaithful and committed adultery.
Anyway, the State Preceptor had already lost his powers, so naturally he couldn’t know the full sequence of events.
By then, borrowing His Majesty’s hand, she could eliminate that lowly merchant woman and the wretched girl in one move. Then her son could peacefully marry Princess Shi’an, and she wouldn’t have to fear that lowly merchant woman coming to their door again to disgust them.
She respectfully replied to Xiao Ao: “This humble woman would not dare speak a single untrue word. Your Majesty may verify as you please.”
Xiao Ao’s frenzied gaze fell on Yun Chunfeng. Gritting his back teeth, he said, word by word:
“According to Western Zhou law, if there is a woman who is unfaithful and commits adultery, once it is verified, she shall immediately be drowned in a pig cage.
If there is a child born of adultery, it shall be thrown into the wilderness and left to live or die on its own.”
Yun Chunfeng’s heartbeat paused.
It had only been less than half an hour since they last met. What was going on?!
Blood test to verify kinship? Unfaithful? Adultery?
Hearing these words, his head was already spinning.
After entering the capital, he had not followed the main army back to the barracks. Instead, he had placed the invisibility talisman his senior brother had given him on Xiaoya and carried her toward the young miss’s side residence.
He only needed to enter the gate, wait the time it took to burn a stick of incense, and then carry Xiaoya out openly and properly.
That way, the hidden guards Xiao Ao had sent to watch the side residence would personally see him bringing Xiaoya out from the residence. A full performance, front to back.
But how was it that the moment he entered the side residence, someone from the palace came to invite him: “His Majesty summons the Jiang family member to bring General Huo’s daughter into the palace to meet the Emperor.”
Yun Chunfeng’s heart jumped. He only said that “Jiang Xingyan” was seriously ill and not yet recovered, and feared that her illness might disturb His Majesty, so he would represent “Jiang Xingyan” and carry Xiaoya over with great unease.
Yet unexpectedly, what greeted them was such an absurd blood test to verify kinship?
Why exactly this was happening, he had no way of knowing.
But Xiao Ao’s selfish, self-serving face and his attitude toward the young miss and Xiaoya had long since crossed Yun Chunfeng’s bottom line.
Yun Chunfeng did not show his anger on his face. He curved his lips into a faint smile and said: “Old Madam Huo has already committed the crime of deceiving the Emperor in court before.
Although this humble one has lost his cultivation, I still have my master and eight senior brothers. I need only invite one of them, and we will know whether Old Madam Huo’s words are true or false.”
“Master? Senior brothers?!”
With one sentence, two people in the Taihe Hall were simultaneously shaken with terror.
The first was Old Madam Huo.
Her whole body trembled, her eyes darting around. She knew Yun Chunfeng had some skills, and his master and senior brothers were surely no kind souls either.
The matter today could probably only be resolved by confessing the truth.
But this was for the sake of her son’s and the Princess’s lifelong happiness. Even if she were thrown into prison, she would still do it!
By then, once she became the Princess’s mother-in-law, who would dare touch her?
The other person with complicated feelings was Xiao Ao.
He truly had not expected Yun Chunfeng to still have a sect.
A moment ago, he had let his temper and competitiveness get the better of him, and he had probably already angered this cultivator.
If he wanted Yun Chunfeng’s sect to help him now, it was likely impossible.
He deeply regretted his impulsiveness just now, but the Emperor’s word was final, and there was no possibility of taking it back.
After a moment, a hollow, ethereal voice came from midair:
“Since my beloved disciple has invited me, I shall come personally to act as judge!”
