Seeing Zhou Rubing about to fall, the palace attendants who had been prepared swiftly intervened, preventing a disaster.
The eunuch who had bumped into him, knowing he had nearly caused a calamity, quickly knelt to beg for mercy: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger! This servant did not lose his composure on purpose. Someone deliberately kicked me just now, which caused me to lose my balance!"
Unexpectedly, Jiang Fusheng's young apprentice came forward and said, "You there, your act of playing the victim is quite good. I saw with my own eyes just now how you deliberately tripped yourself with your left leg and lunged towards Physician Zhou."
Had he succeeded, Zhou Rubing would certainly have knocked over the silver basin.
His intention was clear without words.
The eunuch, not expecting that someone had witnessed his discreet action amidst the chaos, instantly turned pale with despair.
Emperor Jingxuan ordered, "Take him away and interrogate him under strict torture."
Meanwhile, Zhou Rubing had already reached a conclusion:
"Your Majesty, Your Highness, there is fine oil in this water!"
He explained to the crowd, "If there is fine oil present, any blood dropped into the water will not mix. Moreover, this oil is fine, clear, colorless, and odorless, used in just the right amount. Under the candlelight at night, it is almost impossible to detect."
And it happened to be night at that moment. Even though the hall was brightly lit with lanterns and enhanced by luminous pearls, its clarity and brightness could not compare to daylight under the sun. The fine oil mixed in the clear water, combined with the silver basin, made it undetectable to the naked eye of an ordinary person.
Princess Yongshou exclaimed in surprise, "Oil and water do not mix to begin with. No wonder the blood drops seemed to have a barrier between them, not merging at all."
Upon hearing this explanation, everyone suddenly understood.
Yun Wan, having soothed Sui and learned that the water had been tampered with, thought to herself that it was indeed as she suspected.
Tears welled up in her eyes, her voice choked with sobs, "Your Majesty, the person behind this has malicious intentions. If not for Your Majesty's trust in this consort, who knows what slander and gossip Sui would have had to endure in the future..."
As she spoke of her sorrow, her slender frame swayed as if about to fall.
Emperor Jingxuan hurriedly supported her, his expression filled with anxiety.
Leaning against his chest, Yun Wan wept uncontrollably, "Today was supposed to be a day for family reunion, yet it has come to this. This consort implores Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly and restore the innocence of this consort and her son, Sui!"
Seeing his mother cry, Sui let out a wail and also began to cry, hugging Emperor Jingxuan's leg and sobbing, "Father Emperor, didn't you say you would protect Mother Consort and me, that no one would bully us from now on?"
He pounded his father's leg like a heartbroken and angry child, with no real force behind it.
Outsiders who saw this, especially mothers with children, had already covered their faces to wipe away tears.
Only Emperor Jingxuan knew full well how much strength this boy Sui possessed. Even through the thick fabric of his robes, he could feel the pain in his thigh.
He suspected the boy was using all his ox-like strength on him.
He endured the pain without changing his expression.
Lu Yuanduo spoke up at this moment, "Your Majesty, this subject suspects Chen Jieyi and Li Bohong are involved in this matter."
"One of them deliberately publicly questioned the young prince's lineage, and the other proposed the blood test method. Now that the water is problematic, it likely has something to do with them!"
Li Bohong glared angrily, "Lu Yuanduo, don't you dare make false accusations!"
He knelt before Emperor Jingxuan to defend himself, "Your Majesty, when you asked this subject, I merely stated a feasible method. I never imagined it would be exploited by those with ill intentions!"
As Li Bohong finished speaking, an official beside him whispered, "Your Majesty, this subject just witnessed a palace attendant from Minister Chen's side sneak out through the back door..."
"Don't talk nonsense! What does a palace attendant leaving have to do with me?" Chen Jieyi stared fixedly at him.
At that moment, Concubine Hui from the consorts' seating area suddenly asked with a smile, "Indeed, what does it have to do with you? Why are you so agitated?"
Chen Jieyi's expression stiffened, and regret welled up in his heart.
Just as he was thinking of how to explain, with a thud, another person appeared beside him.
Wei Tong, fierce and imposing, had brought someone and kicked him to the ground, declaring in a robust voice, "Your Majesty, the person has been brought. It was this young eunuch who smeared oil on the silver basin. This is the evidence found on him—a bottle containing fine oil."
He opened his hand to show the bottle of fine oil to everyone.
Someone with sharp eyes, recognizing the young eunuch's face, exclaimed, "Isn't that the young attendant who was just beside Minister Chen?"
Chen Jieyi was incredulous.
Emperor Jingxuan, while using a handkerchief to wipe Yun Wan's tears, questioned from above, "Who instructed you to do this?"
The young eunuch, pale-faced, hesitated and dared not speak.
Wei Tong threatened, "Tell the truth! Dare to lie and I'll slap you dead!"
Originally enjoying a rare break from duty and feasting happily, Wei Tong was furious that this person's misdeeds had forced him to chase someone down in the freezing cold.
Succumbing to the threat of his slap, the young eunuch trembled all over in fear, "It... it was..."
He glanced at the person beside him, gritted his teeth, and simply said, "I beg Your Majesty for mercy. It... it was Minister Chen who ordered this servant to do it."
"He said if the young prince were recognized into the imperial lineage, it would inevitably affect the Crown Prince's status, so he thought of this method. He also gave this servant a silver ingot."
The young eunuch proactively took out the silver ingot and kowtowed on the ground, "This servant's words are absolutely true. Everything was ordered by Minister Chen and has nothing to do with anyone else..."
Upon comparison, the silver ingot indeed came from the same bank as the ones on Chen Jieyi's person.
Chen Jieyi was dumbfounded. He couldn't understand how one of his only two silver ingots had gone missing.
He shouted, "Your Majesty! This subject is wronged!"
Chen Jieyi looked toward his father-in-law, but the other man did not even glance his way.
"Take him away and detain him pending judgment."
........
The New Year's Eve banquet, dramatic as a play with its twists and turns, ultimately did not affect the public revelation of Sui's lineage, and no one doubted it any further.
The banquet was only halfway through, yet it became lively again as if the events moments before had never happened.
And Sui, presented before everyone as a prince, became the center of attention wherever he went.
By the lakeside pavilion, the two who had left the banquet to get some fresh air finally found peace and quiet.
The wind swept over the water, bringing a chilling cold. Yun Wan burrowed into Emperor Jingxuan's chest, her body tightly wrapped in his large, dark cloak.
She tilted her head up, her small face peeking out from the fur collar, and asked, "Your Majesty already knew the water was problematic?"
His long arm encircled her waist. Emperor Jingxuan reached out to brush away the stray hairs on her cheek and chuckled upon hearing her question, "Did you think I was a fool, to believe in something like a blood test?"
When he was ten years old, hearing that people in the city used blood tests to find relatives had made him skeptical. Later, driven by curiosity, he tried chicken blood and dog blood, dropping them into water, only to find that the blood of two different species miraculously merged.
After that, he even tried his own blood and found the same result. From then on, he never believed in any blood test again.
If human blood and dog blood could merge, it was no surprise if a father and son's blood did not.
Yun Wan stroked the stubble on his jaw, slightly disdainful, "So you were adapting to the situation, deliberately putting on a show for everyone to see?"
"My wife is clever indeed."
Capturing her mischievous hand and holding it in his palm, Emperor Jingxuan lowered his head until their noses touched, teasingly praising, "My wife also performed quite well tonight."
Yun Wan gave a light hum, "Learned from you."
She had drunk fruit wine tonight, her breath carrying a clear, sweet, and intoxicating fragrance, her lips red and teeth white, her eyes shimmering.
His gaze lingered on the flushed rouge of her cheeks, then slowly descended to her glistening, plump lips. They parted slightly, the hint of a pink tongue visible within, the rich fragrance utterly intoxicating.
His eyes darkened instantly. Emperor Jingxuan's throat moved as he swallowed. He held back for only half a breath before his head gradually lowered, and he kissed her.
......
Night fell, and a light snow began to drift, like a silent blessing bestowed upon the lovers.
Lu Yuanduo watched the intimate pair under the snowy night from afar, the light in his eyes dim and extinguished.
"Uncle, what are you looking at?"
A childish voice suddenly sounded behind him.
