Chapter 272
Chapter 272
At last, Ning Zheng stepped forward and spread his hands, showing everyone clearly that he was hiding nothing. Then, he took the two little girls’ fingertips and rubbed them gently, numbing the nerves until they could feel nothing.
“It is done.”
With the physician’s words, the paternity test began. The Gang Leader was brimming with confidence. He had already performed a paternity test with his two daughters more than once. The result was always the same. His blood and his daughters’ blood would merge, proving with one hundred percent certainty that they were his biological children. Someone brought a bowl, half-filled with clear water. The Gang Leader pricked his own finger with a needle and let two drops of blood fall into the bowl.
Next, the physician lightly pricked the fingers of the Gang Leader’s two daughters. After a moment, he squeezed out a single drop of blood from each and let them fall into the bowl. Children of that age had yet to develop a strong sense of pain, so neither of them woke up.
Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the three drops of blood in the clear water. The Gang Leader was confident, as his numerous previous tests had all been successful.
‘Shen Lang, you fool. To speculate that I borrowed another’s seed just because I had children late in life. And you want to prove it with a blood test? How utterly laughable. Aren't you just handing me concrete evidence? Everyone said Shen Lang was brilliant, but this is all he amounts to.’
But soon, the Gang Leader was dumbstruck. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The three drops of blood in the bowl did not mix at all. He looked as if he had been struck by lightning. Not only did the blood of the father and two daughters fail to merge in the water, but they actively repelled each other before completely dispersing, turning the water red.
‘How can this be?’
In the past, when the Gang Leader had performed the blood test multiple times, there had never been a problem. He had tested it three times, and the blood had always mixed. So why was this happening now? It was impossible.
Of course, the blood wouldn't mix. Shen Lang had made several arrangements to ensure it. One of them was to have Prince Ning Zheng coat his hands with alum. Prince Ning Zheng looked at the two children with a pained expression and said.
“The test is over. Quickly take the children and let them sleep.”
“Yes!”
A eunuch and two warriors then carried the two girls away. From beginning to end, the children remained in a deep slumber, never once stirring.
* * *
After waiting until the two children were far enough away that they could no longer hear the proceedings in the court, Shen Lang suddenly burst into a loud laugh, making everyone flinch and shudder.
“Did you all see that? Did you see? The three drops of blood did not mix! Gang Leader, it’s one thing that your blood did not mix with your daughters’, but what’s crucial is that your daughters’ blood did not mix with each other either! What does this prove? It proves that not only did you borrow another man’s seed to have children, but you sought out two different men on two separate occasions! Therefore, the two children do not even share the same father! How shameful! It’s too disgraceful to watch. The children are innocent, but you are sinners. Your family is utterly filthy.
You wicked vixen! You’ve had countless husbands! The evidence is now irrefutable, what more do you have to say? What more is there to say? It’s clear you coveted the noble bloodline of our Jin Mucong and schemed to use his seed to bear a child! You got him drunk, drugged him, and took that opportunity to defile him! Yet you dare to turn the tables and accuse Jin Mucong of forcing himself upon you!
How can a woman so vile, so shameless, a woman who has had countless husbands, have the nerve to live in this world? Go and die! You deserve to die! If you have even a shred of shame, smash your head on the floor of this court and die right now!”
Shen Lang bellowed as if he had discovered the truth and obtained justice, and watching him, the Magistrate of Wannian, Wang Jiegua, felt his hair stand on end.
‘Damn it! How did things come to this? This was clearly a case to try Jin Mucong for forcing himself on a woman, so why are we doing a paternity test, and how did Shen Lang seize control without me even realizing it? I’m truly doomed now!’
* * *
Shen Lang had single-handedly pacified the entire courtroom, but in truth, this was no great feat. The crux of this battle was not what happened in the Wannian County court, but what would happen in the royal court tomorrow. Countless censors and officials had already drafted memorials to impeach the Jin Clan and Jin Mucong. Under the piercing verbal attacks from so many mouths, the Jin Clan would be sunk in an instant.
No one cared about the truth; not even Shen Lang cared. The deciding factor in this battle depended on how he could reverse the situation in the royal court tomorrow. The key to this entire affair was to pressure the civil and military officials to quietly put away their prepared memorials and instead write new ones impeaching a single person. How could he accomplish that? How could he win this battle? To do so, several things were essential.
First, this incident must generate public opinion with such tremendous force that it shakes the world. It must enrage all the civil and military officials of the realm to such an extent that everyone speaks out, pushing aside all other matters to focus solely on impeaching this one case. Any official who speaks of anything else must be deemed a traitor of the highest order, a man without principles, and judged unfit for politics.
Second, this incident must incur the wrath of the realm’s civil officials, but it must not provoke the King’s anger. On the contrary, it must make the King feel secretly gleeful.
Third, Princess Ning Yan must be so thrilled by this that she wants to carry it out herself.
Fourth, this incident must lead the Su Clan to dig their own grave.
To satisfy all four of the above conditions with a single act would be exceedingly difficult. Indeed, it seemed as difficult as ascending to the heavens, almost impossible. There were only three hours left until dawn. The officials would soon be washing up and leaving their homes for the morning court. However, for Shen Lang, this was not difficult at all. He had planned this world-shaking event with the precision of a surgeon wielding a sharp scalpel. This incident would cause an explosive reaction throughout the entire capital!
* * *
A ‘political red line’ was a fearsome phrase. It was something no one could defy, something you must never publicly oppose, no matter your private thoughts. To do otherwise was to be shattered to pieces, regardless of how high your status or how immense your power.
It was like the divine authority of the church in medieval Europe. Anyone who dared to express doubt in God was certain to die. How many scientists were burned at the stake during that dark age? Even the emperors and kings of Europe needed the Pope to place the crown on their heads at their coronation to be recognized.
It was also like Confucianism in ancient China after the establishment of the imperial examinations. No one could deny Confucianism, and anyone who did was finished. Even the emperor of a highly centralized state like the Qing Dynasty had to enfeoff the direct descendants of Confucius with the title of Duke Yansheng.
In the world of the Great Yan Dynasty, the imperial examination system had been in place for hundreds of years. Although both literary and martial pursuits were valued, civil officials occupied at least sixty percent of all government posts in the bureaucracy. The martial path also flourished, for even scholars practiced martial arts. In fact, Zhang Chong’s martial skill was quite formidable; he simply never had the opportunity to use it against an opponent during his lifetime.
After the destruction of the ancient world, the civilization of this world was built entirely upon the books and records of that era. The Four Books and Five Classics were the embers of civilization for the entire Eastern world, akin to sacred scriptures. After the imperial examinations were established, countless civil officials rose to power, and as was common in Chinese history, they had to elevate the status of the sages to serve their own interests. Since they passed the exams by studying the Four Books and Five Classics, elevating the sages within them legitimized the very foundation of their learning. From China’s Song Dynasty onward, Confucius was no longer a man but deified as a god. In China before the mid-19th century, no one could insult the sages; for those who did, death was the only path.
Of course, the Great Yan Dynasty did not exclusively revere Confucianism while rejecting other schools of thought. Nevertheless, Confucianism held absolute superiority among the many disciplines. As a reflection of this, what was the most sacred and inviolable structure in the State of Yue? Not the royal palace, nor the royal tombs, but the Temple of Sages. Enshrined within were the sages of Confucianism. They were no longer humans but had become the gods of the Great Yan Dynasty. Among the sages, the Sage Confucius was the supreme deity.
Every year on the first day of the first lunar month, the King had to come to the Temple of Sages to offer sacrifices. This temple was like the pyramids of Egypt, or the Washington Monument on Capitol Hill in America. What would happen if someone set fire to the Temple of Sages? The entire State of Yue would be shaken, and every civil official would rise up in arms.
‘How can we let this stand? To dare burn the Temple of Sages! That is an act of uprooting our very foundation! To commit such a heinous crime of insulting the sages!’
We can imagine: if a bomb went off at the pyramids, how would Egypt react? If Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument were torn down by someone, how would America react? At that point, who would care about a minor incident like Jin Mucong forcing himself upon a common woman? Everything would have to make way for the burning of the Temple of Sages. The scholars would have to submit memorials only about the temple, if only to provide some sort of excuse to the scholars of the realm.
The King would also express his rage, but would he be truly angry? No, he would not. Every year on the first day of the first lunar month, he had to kneel before the Sage Confucius in that temple; wouldn’t he feel a sense of secret satisfaction? Ning Yuanxian didn't actually like Confucianism very much, but he had no choice. His Majesty, the Yan Emperor of the Great Yan Empire, had already set a trend of exclusively valuing Confucianism, so the other states had no choice but to follow. He had to at least maintain the appearance of deeply revering the sages.
And would the scholars truly revere the Temple of Sages? They wouldn't either. It was merely a signboard. A signboard for obtaining official positions, getting rich, forming factions, and excluding others. Did such officials truly believe in their hearts that Confucius was a sage? They only saw him as a tool for their own benefit.
But regardless of their inner thoughts, if the Temple of Sages were to burn, the scholars would have to be outraged. They would have to display a grief as profound as if their own ancestral tombs had been desecrated.
So, who should burn the Temple of Sages? He couldn't ask the Big-Bottomed Princess to do it. She would be unable to withstand the resulting backlash. This was a political red line; whoever touched it was doomed to die. Then who would burn it? He would have the envoy from the Qiang Kingdom burn it! This was the most vicious stratagem in Shen Lang’s plan.