Blood Will Tell
Ouyang Qiangang slowly extended his hand toward the white jade cup filled with blood.
In that instant, a mysterious blue light kindled at his fingertips, and a frostlike chill that seeped into the very marrow of the bones began to flow from them. It was the pure Yin true qi of the Transcendent Supreme Divine Art. But he was controlling the energy with such exquisite precision that the blood did not freeze — after all, all he needed was a display of mystery and awe.
The candle flames swayed in unison, and the air within the hall turned as cold as ice. The court officials shivered without realizing it as they watched the supernatural phenomenon unfold.
Ouyang Qiangang spoke in a solemn, resonant tone.
"The principle of the Bloodline Origin-Tracing Art is this. When two people are truly father and son, their blood seeks each other out like branches growing from a single root. But blood that defies the natural order will reject its counterpart with opposing energies."
As his voice rolled through the hall, the Empress's face grew paler still. The Second Prince stood clenching his fists, cold sweat beading on his brow, while only the Crown Prince gazed at his father with an unwavering expression.
"First, I shall demonstrate the Bloodline Origin-Tracing Art with the blood of His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince."
The blue aura at Ouyang Qiangang's fingertips deepened, wrapping in turn around the white jade cups that held the Emperor's blood and the Crown Prince's.
'Akasha, begin.'
Yes, Doctor. Synchronizing the nanobots with the DNA data within the blood and initiating visual rendering.
The nanobots began bonding with the fundamental elements of life within the blood. Soon a faint crimson glow rose from the two white jade cups, and slender threads of red began tracing themselves through the air like living bloodlines.
"Oooh...!"
Mun Hong-seo murmured in a voice thick with awe. The other officials stared open-mouthed, utterly entranced by the wondrous sight.
The branch of red light extending from the Emperor's blood curved gently through the air, reaching naturally toward the Crown Prince's. And the moment the two bloodlines met, brilliant golden light burst forth as they merged into one. Like the root and branches of a single tree joining, it was a mystical spectacle of a father and son's blood achieving harmony in accordance with the order of heaven and earth.
"Heavens..."
Left Chancellor Jo Mun-gyeong gasped, his breath caught in his throat.
Ouyang Qiangang declared in a grave voice.
"It has been proven beyond all doubt, before Heaven and Earth and all the divine spirits, that Your Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince are father and son."
The Emperor's eyes met the Crown Prince's. The Crown Prince bowed his head in respect, and for a moment a warm current seemed to flow through the hall.
But that warmth lasted only an instant. Ouyang Qiangang's next words turned everything to ice.
"Now I shall unfold the Bloodline Origin-Tracing Art upon the blood of His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Second Prince."
The Empress shot to her feet with a cry.
"Th-there is no need for that! This is already quite enough—"
"Empress. Sit down."
The Emperor's cold voice cut her off. Suspicion and disappointment warred in his eyes. The Second Prince could only tremble, his face ashen, unable to utter a word.
Ouyang Qiangang's hand moved again. Blue frost enveloped the blood of the Emperor and the Second Prince, and a red glow rose from both cups. But this time, an entirely different scene unfolded.
The moment the red branch extending from the Emperor's blood moved to approach the Second Prince's, a violent repulsion erupted. A dark crimson energy spewed from the Second Prince's blood, rejecting the Emperor's and shoving it away.
Hissssss—
Like water and oil refusing to mix, the two bloodlines repelled each other with ferocious force. The crimson energies collided midair, scattering sparks, until at last the aura from the Second Prince's blood turned black and began to writhe and twist.
The Emperor gripped the armrest of the throne hard enough to shatter it, watching the dreadful sight as though he would not miss a single moment of it.
"Ugh...!"
A desolate groan escaped through the Second Prince's gritted teeth.
"Th-this cannot be..."
Muk Cheol-gang murmured, struck dumb with horror. The Second Prince — the man he had supported so devotedly — was not the Emperor's true son. Everyone in the hall watched the shocking spectacle with bated breath. It was as if they could hear the truth they had believed for decades crumbling to pieces in a single instant.
Ouyang Qiangang spoke in a heavy tone.
"Bloodlines that defy the natural order reject one another. Such is the will of Heaven — and the truth revealed by the Bloodline Origin-Tracing Art."
The Empress let out a scream of pure despair.
"No! This is a trick! A charlatan's sorcery!"
But no one paid her words the slightest heed. The phenomenon they had just witnessed was absolute proof that no explanation could undo.
The Emperor remained silent for a long while. Betrayal, fury, and deep, festering wounds crossed his eyes. The Second Prince, whom he had believed to be his own son for more than thirty years... was another man's blood.
"Empress. How do you explain all of this?"
The Emperor's frigid question rang through the hall. A silence like death itself settled over the chamber. His voice was deep and heavy, like a bottomless abyss.
In that instant, Muk Cheol-gang's face drained to a deathly pallor. A chilling realization flashed through his mind like lightning.
'We... we've learned what we must never know.'
The shocking truth that the Second Prince he had backed was not the Emperor's true son. This was the imperial family's most lethal secret. And they had made themselves witnesses to it.
The Left and Right Commanders were no different. Every trace of color had vanished from their faces. Their lips quivered, and cold sweat trickled down their spines.
'We threw our weight behind the one man we could never afford to back...'
They had upheld as heir to the throne a man who was not the Emperor's blood. This was no mere political failure — it was high treason against the imperial lineage itself.
Muk Cheol-gang murmured with trembling lips.
"Th-this cannot be happening..."
But terror strangled his voice before the words could properly form. He could feel their fate in his bones.
The Left and Right Commanders trembled like aspen leaves as well.
'It's over... we're finished...'
Having witnessed the imperial family's darkest secret, only one road remained open to them. Eternal silence — and not just any silence, but the silence of the grave.
These were all seasoned veterans who had weathered the savage undercurrents of politics. And that was precisely why they understood, with terrible clarity, exactly which line they had crossed.
Ouyang Qiangang quietly stepped back, watching the final scene of this tragic family drama unfold. Truth, at times, cuts deeper than any blade. And today, that blade's point had pierced straight through the heart of the imperial house.
That afternoon, the imperial household was convulsed to its foundations. News that the Empress had died suddenly after taking her midday meal shook the entire palace to its core. It was said the court physicians never even had a chance to lift a hand.
But Ouyang Qiangang knew. Knew that it was no sudden death at all.
The Empress had quietly breathed her last over a cup of tea in her own palace. The one to discover her was Chief Seal-Holding Eunuch Sang On, and by the time he summoned the physicians, a full two hours had already slipped by.
The Emperor betrayed no emotion whatsoever upon hearing the news of her death. Ouyang Qiangang had that truth confirmed when he was granted a private audience with the Emperor that night.
The Emperor's face, lit by candlelight, was frozen hard as a bronze statue.
"I cannot allow private feelings to ruin the affairs of state. The moment the imperial family's shame leaks beyond these walls, the entire empire will be shaken."
Ouyang Qiangang spoke with care.
"Your Majesty, but with Her Majesty the Empress gone, it has become difficult to trace the forces behind her — those who pulled her strings all these years."
Regret laced his voice. The Empress had been the central link in a vast conspiracy.
The Emperor regarded Ouyang Qiangang with cold eyes.
"That matters too. But can hunting them down to their roots compare with the legitimacy of the imperial bloodline being thrown into question?"
Ouyang Qiangang had no answer.
The Emperor went on.
"The forces behind this will bare their fangs again someday. But imperial authority, once toppled, is a difficult thing to raise again. Do you think my choice was wrong?"
"...No, Your Majesty."
Ouyang Qiangang lowered his head.
"Only..."
The Emperor hesitated a moment before continuing.
"There is a good chance those forces will come for you. They will know full well that you saved the imperial family — and that you shattered decades of their planning."
Ouyang Qiangang's eyes hardened.
"I am prepared for it, Your Majesty."
"Be careful. You are now a man I cannot do without... no — a man this empire cannot do without."
Genuine concern lay beneath the Emperor's words.
Hard on the heels of the Empress's sudden death, an even greater storm broke. The Second Prince vanished from sight. No — to be precise, he was arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. It happened the very moment he appeared at the Empress's palace to confirm his mother's death.
"Second Prince Han Seo is hereby placed under arrest for the crime of high treason!"
The cold voice of Ha Jeong-guk, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, rang through the palace. In his hand was the Emperor's personal writ.
The Second Prince did not resist. He had neither the strength nor the will left to. With an empty laugh, he quietly gave himself up to the ropes.
"Treason, is it... So that is how it ends."
Resignation and bitter self-mockery were tangled together in his voice.
At dawn the following day, in the Hall of Great Ancestors, Minister of War Muk Cheol-gang and the other leaders of the Second Prince's faction were dragged in one by one. The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot had combed the entire imperial capital through the night to take them.
The Left and Right Commanders, the Vice Minister of Revenue, the Vice Minister of Justice... every high official who had supported the Second Prince was brought out in bonds under the identical charge of treason.
"Your Majesty! Your servant is wronged! I have never once plotted treason!"
Muk Cheol-gang screamed his protest, but the Emperor only looked down at him with cold eyes.
"Not treason, you say?"
The Emperor's voice was colder than ice.
"You, Minister, threw your weight behind the Second Prince and threw the imperial house into disorder, hatching every manner of scheme to check the Crown Prince — my rightful heir. And do you not deny it even now!"
Muk Cheol-gang's face went white. The Emperor's words were true. They had, without question, moved to place the Second Prince upon the throne.
"B-but how can that be called treason! Your servant merely—"
"Enough."
The Emperor raised a hand, cutting him short.
"I will not ask what reasons you had for doing what you did. I will make only one thing clear."
The Emperor's eyes glinted, cold as frost.
"If you keep your mouths shut and die quietly, I will spare your kin. But if a single unnecessary word leaves your lips..."
His voice dropped colder still.
"I will exterminate your entire clans."
The faces of Muk Cheol-gang and the other officials turned the color of dead earth. The Emperor's meaning was unmistakable. Choose one: die quietly, or die together with your families.
"So I advise you to choose wisely."
At the Emperor's wave, the guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard stepped forward as one.
"Drag them all out."
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Muk Cheol-gang wailed in desperation, but the Emperor never turned to look at them again.
Ten-odd days passed in that headlong whirl. The sweeping purge of the Second Prince's faction set off a tectonic upheaval across the empire's bureaucracy. New talents were elevated to fill the vacancies, and the Crown Prince's men claimed the key posts. Left Chancellor Jo Mun-gyeong became the most powerful man in the empire overnight, and Grand Academician of the Hanlin Academy Mun Hong-seo was appointed the new Minister of War. The political landscape had been redrawn from the ground up.
Watching all of these changes unfold, Ouyang Qiangang realized anew just how fearsome a creature the Emperor truly was.
'He kills his wife and cages his son... So the throne demands sacrifices this great.'
It left a bitter taste — and yet, in a way, it was a relief. Now the Crown Prince could safely assume his place as heir, and Princess Myeonghwa would never live under threat again.
'And... the salt license should come through now, too.'