Emperor Muwu chuckled softly. "Elder Cao, you’re quite ruthless."
Despite his words, there wasn’t the slightest trace of fear or retreat on his face. With commanding grace, he ordered for two grand armchairs to be brought over. Once seated, he waved his robe with dramatic flair and said, "Then let’s proceed!"
"Your Majesty!" Chu Hanlin, drenched in sweat, was panicking.
Drafting a self-reprimanding edict was one thing, but this would put his son’s life on the line!
Emperor Muwu waved his hand nonchalantly. "Lord Chu, you need not worry. Chu Yan grew up in your family, calling you father for over ten years. I wouldn’t truly take him away from you."
He then smiled lightly. "From now on, he can call you ’father’ and ’dad.’ Wouldn’t that work?"
Chu Hanlin was at a loss for words.
This wasn’t the issue at all!
Emperor Muwu then beckoned to Chu Yan, "Chu Yan, co over and sit next to ."
Chu Yan hesitated, his eyes eting the emperor’s gaze. For so inexplicable reason, he felt a deep sense of trust and, after a mont’s thought, approached without resistance.
Both were now seated.
Elder Cao, fearing that soone might tamper with the blood-testing bug, endured his injuries to personally oversee the process, refusing to let anyone else handle it.
The blood-testing bug erged from a bamboo tube.
To prevent Elder Cao from using a poisonous bug to harm others, Nanli inspected it first.
She nodded. "It’s the blood-testing bug."
"I’ve lived my life with integrity, serving the nation and its people. How could I possibly use a poisonous bug to harm His Majesty?" Elder Cao exclaid as he gestured for Emperor Muwu to extend his hand.
The blood-testing bug took its first bite on the emperor’s hand.
After sucking so blood, Elder Cao carefully transferred the bug using tweezers to Chu Yan’s hand.
Chu Yan’s hand trembled slightly.
Only he knew that his fingers felt icy cold.
Emperor Muwu pressed a handkerchief, handed over by the Chief Eunuch, to his minor wound and said warmly, "You are my son; there’s no need to be afraid!"
Chu Yan bit his lip and slowly relaxed.
All eyes were fixed on the bug.
Chu Hanlin dared not look.
The blood-testing bug landed on the back of Chu Yan’s hand, bouncing twice, yet it didn’t imdiately bite or suck blood.
Elder Cao was overjoyed. "See? They can’t possibly be father and son!"
But just as his words ended—
The blood-testing bug located a major vein, pierced it, and began greedily sucking blood!
Chu Yan let out a muffled groan of pain.
"It’s sucking blood! It’s really sucking blood!" Pri Minister Lu exclaid, his face lighting up with joy.
Chu Hanlin rushed forward, his eyes widening in disbelief.
It truly was sucking blood!
He looked again and again, his face full of confusion. What was going on?
Throughout the ordeal, Emperor Muwu and Ye Siheng remained calm, as if everything was under their control.
Elder Cao glanced at the two of them and stamred, "It’s... it’s impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Emperor Muwu, unperturbed, cast a sidelong glance at him. "The blood-testing bug has confird Chu Yan is my son, and now you refuse to believe it? Wasn’t it you who brought this bug?"
Elder Cao’s already pale face turned ashen.
His eyes darted around as he tried to figure out where things had gone wrong.
Yes, the bug was his, and he had personally ensured it was the one used to test the blood. There had been no opportunity for it to be swapped...
A sudden thought struck him. "Your Majesty, there must be sothing wrong with this bug! Let’s use a different one, or perhaps another thod to verify the blood relationship!"
But where would they find another blood-testing bug on such short notice?
At this mont, Ye Siheng stepped forward.
He placed the blood-testing bug on his own hand. The bug moved, seeming to confirm his blood, and then it bit him as well.
Interestingly, Ye Siheng’s blood seed to appeal to the bug greatly, as it clung to him, unwilling to let go.
With a calm expression, Ye Siheng removed the bug and placed it on Chu Hanlin’s hand.
However, the blood-testing bug, now satiated, refused to bite anyone else, hovering near Emperor Muwu, Chu Yan, and Ye Siheng as though seeking another opportunity to feed.
Annoyed by its incessant buzzing, Ye Siheng swatted it to the ground and turned to Elder Cao. "Did you see clearly this ti?"
Elder Cao was utterly shocked, staggering backward as his legs wobbled. "They... they really are blood-related..."
It turned out Emperor Muwu wasn’t bluffing.
This was real?!
No, it couldn’t be!
Otherwise, why was the agent he sent to Qi Nation assassinated? Why did Qi Hong rush to the capital in such haste?
Soone must have interfered!
But Emperor Muwu’s face had already darkened, his voice icy.
"Elder Cao disrupted the palace’s protective formations, allowing Emperor Qi access, and nearly cost my life. For this cri alone, I could have you executed on the spot!"
"However, considering your years of service and the fact that this incident led to my reunion with my son, I’ll spare your life."
"Strip him of his rank and expel him from the palace!"
Elder Xu’s lips moved, but in the end, he remained silent.
With Chu Yan’s identity proven, Elder Cao was lucky to keep his life and retire in the countryside.
No one pleaded for him.
The Imperial Guards restrained Elder Cao, removing his second-rank official hat.
Watching this unfold, Elder Cao felt his heart wrench.
No.
If he were to die, he’d rather die in the court!
Being dismissed and expelled from the palace would be a humiliation beyond bearing!
"Your Majesty!" Elder Cao cried. "I have been loyal and outspoken! I contributed to your rise to power! How can you forsake tradition and deceive the court for the sake of Chu Yan, a Qi Nation royal? This is madness!"
He considered himself a loyal minister, determined to admonish the emperor.
But Emperor Muwu turned away, unwilling to listen or look.
After years of enduring such tirades, he’d had enough.
The Imperial Guards, understanding the emperor’s wishes, gagged Elder Cao with rough cloth and dragged him out.
"Mm! Mm!"
Struggling, Elder Cao cast a desperate glance at his protégés.
Yet those two or three individuals either lowered their heads or turned away, unwilling to et his gaze.
"Wait," Ye Siheng suddenly said. "I have a couple of things to add."
The Imperial Guards paused.
Elder Cao glared at Ye Siheng with bitter resentnt.
Ye Siheng leaned in, a faint smile on his lips, and spoke softly, "I didn’t interfere with anything. In truth, Chu Yan isn’t just a Qi Nation royal—he’s also of the Ye lineage."
Elder Cao’s eyes widened, unable to comprehend.
But before he could question further, Ye Siheng straightened up, and the guards dragged Elder Cao away.
Emperor Muwu, feeling fatigued, looked deeply at Chu Yan, his gaze lingering with a mix of emotions—excitent, nostalgia, and hesitation.
Quickly making up his mind, he declared, "It has now been proven that Chu Yan is my biological son. Does anyone still object?"
Pri Minister Lu, ever the opportunist, imdiately understood Emperor Muwu’s intentions. "Your Majesty, if you wish for the Third Prince to be officially recognized, a ceremony at the ancestral temple is required. Only then can he be declared a mber of the Ye royal family."
As for naming a royal heir, that was a matter for later.
Elder Xu frowned. "Your Majesty, while the Third Prince can be recognized as a royal, granting him the title of heir is... sothing I strongly oppose."
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