Penalty Is Death, Execute the Entire Family
Feng Yu Heng’s words caused Liu Huai’s son to nearly wet himself out of fear. His entire person seemed to be on the verge of collapse, as he loudly shouted: “Impossible! Why is it me? Why is it me?”
This shout had truly been very loud. It was such that the people outside could hear it. Those people who had been tested but were found to be incompatible felt very resentful toward Liu Huai. Hearing his son shout like this from inside, how could they fail to understand what was happening, thus someone said: “Sure enough, only close relatives are suitable. The closer the relation, the higher the chance of success!”
The madam, Li shi, was also frightened. The person that had shouted from inside was her son. How could she allow for a kidney to be taken away from her son to be given to someone who was about to die? She grabbed a hold of Liu Huai’s collar and loudly asked: “Liu Huai! Could it be that you will have your son give a kidney to your younger sister? In the end, who’s closer, your sister or your son? You only have one son from your first wife! He still has not gotten married. If a kidney is taken away, he will be ruined! He will be ruined!”
Liu Huai’s legs trembled. He understood Li shi’s reasoning, and he also did not want to harm his own son, but what could he do? The situation had already reached this point. It was not just Feng Yu Heng in that side room. There was also the Emperor!
He brushed away Li shi’s hand and coldly said: “If you have the ability, go and take him away from the Emperor!”
When the Emperor was brought up, Li shi immediately lost her confidence. She did not dare go and ask the Emperor to take him back. She did not even dare to go and ask Feng Yu Heng, but she could not just ignore her son’s despair. Li shi was a smart person. With a quick thought, she turned around and looked behind. In an instant, she found a group of sons and daughters of concubines from the Liu family! She squinted her eyes and forcefully said: “To speak of close blood relations, you guys are also children of the Liu family. Your blood should be the same as Huan’er. You guys, get in there! Go and accept the testing!”
Li shi’s reminder received Feng Yu Heng’s approval. She even came out to say to the Liu family: “The young sir of the Liu family’s compatibility reached 60 percent, but it’s not the best. If there is someone with a higher compatibility than 60 percent, that would be best. That’s why I will ask all of the Liu family’s children to come in!” After saying this, she glanced at Liu Huai, “Lord Liu should also come in! To really speak on it, you are the one with the closest blood relation to Her Highness Concubine Liu.”
At this moment, Liu Huai had the heart to just kill himself by smashing his head against something. He never thought that Feng Yu Heng could be so cruel. Was this not just asking him to trade his life for another? But what of it? Back when he had Feng Yu Heng enter the palace to treat the illness, it was something that he had personally requested of the Emperor; however, he now regretted having done it.
Everyone walked in together, including Liu Huai. Feng Yu Heng looked at these people and began to plot. At a time like this, she needed to determine the best candidate through thorough observation, and she needed for this candidate to say something that she wanted to hear. This was a type of psychological observation, and it was not a guaranteed success, but it was not so inaccurate as to be unreliable.
The first to be subject to blood testing was Liu Huai, and Feng Yu Heng announced an extremely high 90 percent; however, she told the others: “Lord Liu is a little older. Although your compatibility is extremely high, if there is someone among the younger people with a similar compatibility, the younger person will be chosen. If there aren’t any, then we can only ask Lord Liu to volunteer a kidney for Her Highness’ transplant.”
Liu Huai trembled, and a complicated feeling filled his heart. He could not tell whether he hoped for someone else to have a higher number or hoped that there would not be any. He wanted to live the rest of his life comfortably; however, he was unwilling to let his children suffer. He felt very conflicted.
Immediately following this, the remaining children of concubines went to get their blood tested, and Feng Yu Heng handed out compatible scores, but they were roughly the same as the number given to the son of the first wife. Though they felt apprehensive, they did not mentally collapse like Liu Huan. This continued until a girl around 15 or 16 years of age came forward. Feng Yu Heng suddenly saw a different expression on this girl’s face than the others.
This girl had her brow tightly furrowed, and her expression was not the same horrified or terrified look that the others had. It seemed as though there was something conflicting in her emotions. When her eyes met Feng Yu Heng’s, she even paused for a moment. It seemed as though she was wondering if she should say something or not.
A lightbulb went off in her mind. After the blood had been drawn, the instrument spun a few times until everyone began to feel a bit worried. She let out a long sigh, as a joyous look appeared on her face, saying: “Success! This miss, your kidney’s compatibility with Her Highness Concubine Liu is at 100 percent. It’s the most suitable.”
“What?” The girl froze then took a deep breath. It seemed as though she was very doubtful of this outcome, but there was nothing that she could do to object. Seeing that Feng Yu Heng had already grabbed her hand and was pulling her toward the Emperor, she began to feel panicked, as if a secret was on the verge of coming out. “Wait a moment! I have something to say!”
This was a daughter of a concubine in the Liu manor that was not favored, and she was not beautiful. She was just very plain, and she was even bullied by her other sisters. When everyone heard that there was a kidney with 100 percent compatibility, the people were extremely happy. There was finally someone that would take the fall for them. Thus someone loudly said: “What more do you want to say? To be able to provide a kidney for Her Highness Concubine Liu, who is our aunt, it is something to be proud of! Our aunt is a concubine in the imperial harem. Could she possibly treat you poorly? What else is there to say?”
There was even someone that rushed to urge Liu Huai: “Father, quickly advise third sister to prepare for her aunt’s kidney transplant!”
“On what basis?” The third young miss suddenly shouted: “I don’t want to do a kidney transplant!” While shouting, she glared at Liu Huai and forcefully said: “Father, exactly what sort of heart do you have? On one side, you send people to poison aunty to worsen aunty’s illness. On the other, you have your own children give up their kidneys to aunty. If it was like this, it would have been better to just directly take our kidney. Why bother being so roundabout?”
“Hm?” These words caused Feng Yu Heng, Xuan Tian Ming, Xuan Tian Hua and the Emperor to express their surprise. Xuan Tian Ming let out a sly laugh then said: “What do you mean Liu Huai poisoned Concubine Liu? Who knew that your Liu family had this sort of secret!”
The Emperor slightly closed his eyes, as a gloom appeared on his face.
Liu Huai never thought that his third daughter would say this sort of thing, and he could not help but become furious: “What nonsense are you spouting? When has father sent people to poison your aunt? Stop this nonsense!”
“I am not speaking nonsense!” That third young miss dropped to her knees in front of the Emperor. Looking up, she loudly said: “Your Majesty! It’s not this girl being unfilial. It’s just that father truly does not view his children as people! Half a month earlier, this girl heard father speaking with a stranger in the manor. The contents of that discussion were about how to worsen Her Highness Concubine Liu’s condition to the point that it could no longer be treated. Like this, they would have an excuse to bring Princess Yu into the palace. As long as Princess Yu entered the palace, they would administer another dosage of medicine to have Her Highness quickly die. Like this, they could pin this death on Princess Yu. Father also said that he had already contacted many officials. They were just waiting for Her Highness Concubine Liu’s death to work together. They would all cooperate in blaming Concubine Liu’s death on Princess Yu! Everything that this girl said was the truth. Would Your Majesty please show clarity!”
With these words coming out, they illuminated the Emperor’s heart. Although this sort of outcome was within his expectations after repeated reminders from Feng Yu Heng, when he personally heard it, he felt a different emotion.
“Family ties that are thoroughly ignored.” He muttered to himself, “We originally thought that only the imperial family was like this; however, who knew that you people were no good either.” Finally, the Emperor opened his eyes and fiercely glared at Liu Huai. Liu Huai wanted to refute it a bit more; however, he heard the Emperor continue to angrily say: “You vile thing! Concubine Liu married into the palace, which means she is Our woman. As a subject, you moved to take action against Our woman. Someone like you should not be allowed to live in this world!”
These words were booming, and the people standing outside the hall could hear it clearly. Li shi felt panicked and was thinking about how the Liu family should get over this crisis; however, she then heard the Emperor’s voice come from the side hall, announcing the death penalty for the entire Liu family: “Liu Huai! For the crime of poisoning a member of the imperial harem, the penalty is death. You will be stripped of your position, and all of your relatives will be executed!”
“This…” Everyone in the Liu family was completely dazed. All relatives executed? Did that not mean that nobody would survive?
The third young miss in the side hall was relatively calm. She even faintly laughed then said to herself: “I knew that it would be this sort of an outcome. When I heard father scheming with someone about this sort of thing, I already knew that there would come a day when the Liu family would fall to ruin at his hands. It’s fine. This family was always his. If he let us live, we would live. If he wants us to die, we will die. I just hope that when I reincarnate, I don’t reincarnate into this sort of family. I don’t want to have this sort of father ever again. Even if I am born into a commoner’s family and need to be poor, that’s fine. At the very least, I can live comfortably.”
Liu Huai kneeled on the ground and repeatedly said that he was framed; however, the Emperor did not want to give him a chance to address the issue. There was no need to try this matter. He understood at heart what was going on. He just told Liu Huai: “The master that you chose is not the one that We favor. We just cannot understand. Instead of going along with Our clear intentions, you insist on going with some questionable choice. Why exactly is this?”
After the Emperor finished speaking, he did not want to stay any longer. Standing up, he did not say anything to anyone and left An Ju Palace with Zhang Yuan’s support.
As for Feng Yu Heng, she spoke up, and her words caused Liu Huai to feel even more remorseful. She said: “There is indeed a surgery for a kidney transplant, but Concubine Liu’s condition is such that she cannot endure this sort of surgery. Finding a kidney is also not such an easy thing to do. This play that I put on was nothing more than cooperating with Assistant Minister Liu’s request. To ensure that your play was not too lonesome.”
“Feng Yu Heng!” Liu Huai gnashed his teeth, hating that he could not go forward and kill this woman. But in the end, he was just a government official. Feng Yu Heng even dared to set foot on the battlefield with her abilities. She was not someone that he could even get close to. Moreover, there were still the two princes at her side! In practically the moment that he put on a fierce expression, Xuan Tian Ming’s whip was already wrapped around his neck. Unable to breathe, he was nearly strangled to death.
“What did Assistant Minister Liu want to say?” Feng Yu Heng smiled and casually said: “Pass on without any worries. Take your time on the road in the underworld. It’s possible that you will be able to meet up with your co-conspirators. This princess will eventually send them all to hell. You wanted to repeat the event with the Yao family that had occurred back then? Dream on!”