Proof by Blood
Fifteen days had slipped by like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
Princess Myeonghwa had made a complete recovery, returning to life with even more vitality than before.
And in the Eastern Palace, Crown Prince Han Do strolled beneath the sunlight with a lightness in his step. The shadow of death that had pressed down on him for thirty-odd years was gone, and his whole bearing now glowed with the majesty and vigor of a sovereign-in-waiting.
The officials watching him from a distance wore expressions tangled between awe and fear.
Ouyang Qiangang, meanwhile, remained under a semi-house arrest that kept him from leaving the imperial palace. The Emperor had confined him there to protect his most valuable blade from external threats.
Qiangang spent those days restoring the internal energy he had expended, all while working with Akasha to analyze every scrap of intelligence on the power standing behind the Empress.
Then, one night, the Emperor summoned him in secret to his private chambers.
"I've received reports that the Empress and the Second Prince have been meeting with growing frequency."
The Emperor's voice was low, but taut tension ran beneath it like a drawn bowstring.
"At the moment, I have the Dongchang and the Gold Guard mobilized in full to root out the rebels, so they'll be holding their breath for now. But the instant things loosen up even a little, the Empress will come for you first."
Qiangang asked,
"How far has the investigation into the Empress's backers progressed?"
The Emperor shook his head. "They appear to be connected to the Murim, but I haven't yet caught the tail. They've rooted themselves far too deeply within the palace for far too long — tracking them down is no easy task."
Qiangang's eyes darkened.
"Your Majesty, unless the serpent's head is severed, its tail will keep regenerating to plague us. We need something more fundamental than merely catching the tail — a way to pull out its venomous fangs entirely, so the snake can never raise its head again."
The Emperor's eyes flashed. "And such a method... exists?"
Qiangang fell silent for a moment, meeting the Emperor's gaze squarely where he sat upon the throne. It was an unthinkable breach of decorum, yet the Emperor tolerated the insolent posture — a measure of just how deeply the trust between the two men had grown.
At last, Qiangang spoke.
"Your Majesty, what I am about to tell you may... trouble your heart and shake the very foundation of the royal house. Even so, I must ask — are you prepared to bear the truth?"
The Emperor let out a hollow laugh, one devoid of any actual amusement.
"Heh heh... Very well. Speak. As if anything could be worse than what I've endured this past month."
Qiangang drew a breath. He did not look away from the Emperor's eyes. There was no turning back now.
Carefully, but with weight pressed into every word, he delivered the blow.
"The Second Prince... may not be Your Majesty's true son."
The Emperor's face hardened to stone under the staggering shock. But the emotion vanished in an instant, leaving behind only the frigid gaze of a monarch capable of freezing everything in its path.
"Can you prove it? If not, then even you will not escape death."
Qiangang's expression grew taut as well. Akasha's analysis is never wrong.
He answered with unwavering resolve. "I can prove it, Your Majesty."
"Mm..."
A pained groan escaped the Emperor's lips.
"At the moment of the proof, please seat the Empress, Their Highnesses the Princes, and the highest ministers of state — the Left Chancellor, the Minister of War, and the rest — in attendance."
The Emperor's voice turned ice-cold. "You would have me... expose the royal house's shame before my ministers?"
"Even if the shame is exposed, Your Majesty has nothing to lose. It is not something they would ever dare speak of aloud."
"But much to gain?"
"Yes. If it is proven that the Second Prince is not Your Majesty's true son, then the justification of all those who rallied to support him evaporates."
"The Crown Prince's position will be secured, and the royal house will be stabilized."
"Precisely, Your Majesty."
The Emperor kept his eyes closed for a long while, torn between the humiliation of dragging the royal house's shame into the light and the hope of tearing the rebels out by the roots once and for all.
Then he opened his eyes — and what burned in them was not anguish, but fierce, unshakable will.
"Good. Do as you see fit."
Three days later — Munyeong Pavilion.
Munyeong Pavilion was, by nature, a place steeped in the fragrance of brush and ink and the wisdom of ancient texts. But today it crackled with a tension more murderous than a battlefield where a thousand blades clashed, for the mightiest powers of the empire had gathered at the Emperor's summons.
Flanking the throne sat Ouyang Qiangang and the Empress, draped in resplendent court robes. Her beautiful face seemed serene, but deep within her eyes coiled unease and wary vigilance.
Beside her, the fully recovered Crown Prince sat with composed poise, while the Second Prince occupied a seat set slightly apart, staring blankly ahead with an expressionless face.
In the ministers' seats were Left Chancellor Jo Mun-gyeong and the Right Chancellor, Grand Academician Mun Hong-seo of the Hanlin Academy, Minister of War Muk Cheol-gang, and the Vice Commissioners of the Five Armies Command. None of them knew why they had been called, and beneath the heavy silence they did nothing but steal glances at one another.
The Emperor lifted his teacup and took a single sip. That brief moment of silence squeezed the breath from everyone present.
Then he spoke, his tone grave.
"Divine Doctor Hahu has told me a most intriguing story. It seems the Second Prince may not be my true son."
In that instant, the stillness of Munyeong Pavilion shattered into fragments.
The Empress's face blanched white in a heartbeat, and the Second Prince trembled, his fists clenched tight.
The Empress cried out, her voice shaking. "Your Majesty! How can you speak such devastating, absurd nonsense... The Second Prince is unquestionably your own flesh and blood!"
The Second Prince sprang to his feet and shouted. "Royal Father! I am Your Majesty's own blood! Why must I suffer such an insult!"
Only the Crown Prince regarded his father with a calm, unruffled expression. "Your Majesty! How can you let the wild words of a mere physician cloud Your Majesty's wisdom!"
Muk Cheol-gang's face flushed crimson with fury, and the Vice Commissioners of the Five Armies clenched their fists so hard their knuckles turned bone-white.
"Your Majesty, that man's head must be struck off at once!"
The furious rage pouring from their bodies seemed hot enough to boil the very air of the hall. By contrast, the two Chancellors and Mun Hong-seo went utterly bloodless, swallowing dry gulps as an involuntary shiver ran through them.
They could already sense the great tide of blood this bombshell declaration would unleash. If the Emperor's words were true, it was a cataclysm that would shake not just the royal house but the entire empire.
Only two men remained composed — Ouyang Qiangang and the Crown Prince.
The Emperor raised a hand, silencing the uproar.
"Divine Doctor Hahu says he can prove it."
His voice that followed was calm to the point of terror.
"If he fails to prove his claim, I will take his head myself for the crime of defiling the royal house. Until the proof is concluded, all of you will watch."
The moment the Emperor finished, Chief Seal-Holding Eunuch Sang On entered as if he had been waiting for exactly this cue. In his hands he bore a stand adorned with the seven treasures, upon which four white jade cups sat in a row, each holding a few drops of blood. The deep crimson liquid caught the candlelight and gleamed softly, like gemstones.
Sang On carefully placed the stand upon the table and withdrew a single step.
Ouyang Qiangang spoke in a level tone. "What lies within these cups is the blood of His Majesty the Emperor, Her Majesty the Empress, His Highness the Crown Prince, and His Highness the Second Prince."
One hour prior, the Emperor had ordered the court physicians to draw blood from the Empress and both Princes. No one was pleased — least of all the Empress — but it was the Emperor's command, and none could refuse it.
Mun Hong-seo frowned and addressed Qiangang. "Divine Doctor, surely you do not intend to perform the Merged Blood Rite?"
The Merged Blood Rite was an age-old folk method of confirming paternity: drops of a father's and child's blood were placed together, and if the blood merged, the child was acknowledged as true kin; if it did not, the child was deemed not of the blood. It was a superstitious practice with no scientific basis whatsoever, yet in this era a surprising number of common folk swore by it.
Minister of War Muk Cheol-gang added his voice, his expression incredulous. "A man called the Divine Doctor would use a method so absurd — one fit only for commoners — within the sacred imperial palace? This would drag the dignity of the royal house through the mud!"
The Empress spoke up, hope flickering in her voice. "Your Majesty! How can the imperial bloodline be judged by such a superstitious method!"
The Second Prince shouted as well, relief showing plainly on his face. "Royal Father! The Merged Blood Rite means nothing at all!"
Distrust and indignation were written across every face in the hall. These were men of the finest education of the age. However limited their era might be, not a single soul present believed in folk tales like the Merged Blood Rite.
But Ouyang Qiangang merely smiled serenely, shook his head, and said in a calm voice,
"You misunderstand, honored ministers. What I intend to perform is not the Merged Blood Rite. How could I possibly judge the noble bloodline of the imperial house with such a crude technique?"
Silence fell. The ministers' eyes wavered with surprise, and the shadows of unease crept back across the faces of the Empress and the Second Prince.
Qiangang continued.
"What I intend to employ is a secret art known as the Bloodline Return-to-Origin Technique."
"Bloodline Return-to-Origin Technique?" Mun Hong-seo echoed. Even a scholar of his vast erudition had never heard the name.
"Indeed. It is a Daoist secret art that traces the wellspring of life dwelling within a person's blood, following the river of lineage back to its very source."
At Qiangang's explanation, the atmosphere in the hall shifted almost imperceptibly. Unlike the crude Merged Blood Rite, it carried an impression of mystery and refinement on an entirely different plane.
"Blood holds within it the whole of a person's life. The traces of vitality inherited from one's ancestors, the current of the bloodline, the fundamental qi passed down from one's parents — all of it."
Left Chancellor Jo Mun-gyeong, aligned with the Crown Prince's faction, asked cautiously, "Then... can this art truly discern a blood relationship with certainty?"
"It can, Lord Chancellor. The blood of father and child carries vital essence that resonates from the same source — much as branches grown from a single root recognize one another."
Qiangang's eyes deepened. "With this art, I will lay bare the truth of the bloodline as plainly as the blue sky itself."
Minister of War Muk Cheol-gang retorted, his face still etched with doubt. "Your words sound plausible enough, Divine Doctor, but how are we to believe them? Does such a miraculous art truly exist in this world?"
"It does. Which is precisely why I am able to perform it."
Qiangang's answer was resolute. Muk Cheol-gang's face reddened. "And if your art proves to be a fraud, what then?"
"His Majesty has already declared he will take my head if it comes to that. But it will not come to that."
Qiangang turned toward the Emperor upon the throne and bowed deeply. "Your Majesty, grant me leave to perform the Bloodline Return-to-Origin Technique."
The Emperor nodded. "Permission granted."
At his word, Munyeong Pavilion sank into a stillness as deep as the grave. The Empress clutched her hands tightly together, her face drained of color, while the Second Prince watched the proceedings, cold sweat trickling down his neck. Only the Crown Prince gazed upon Ouyang Qiangang with a tranquil expression.
Qiangang walked slowly toward the table where the white jade cups rested. Every eye in the hall fastened on his every movement.
Akasha — ready?
"Yes, Doctor. Based on the DNA analysis results, I can visualize the minute differences in blood composition. Using the nanobots, I will produce a resonance phenomenon between the specific proteins present in the blood samples."
A faint smile touched the corners of Ouyang Qiangang's lips.