Ruan Chuqing suddenly turned her head, glaring hatefully at Shen Lixue. Her eyes flashed with fierce light, as if she wanted to devour her alive. "Bitch, a bunch of bitches!" she struggled and wailed, trying to fight Shen Lixue to the death, but she was held tightly by the guards and could not move.
"Throw her into a brothel. And tell the manager that she's the second most beautiful woman in the capital, so she must be taken good care of!" Shen Lixue said each word slowly and deliberately, her gaze towards Ruan Chuqing as cold as ice.
"Yes!" The guards dragged Ruan Chuqing over the high wall and flew towards the brothel. Even after they had gone a long way, they could still hear Ruan Chuqing's unwilling sobs.
"Back then, everyone involved in this matter was to be killed without mercy, not a single one spared!" Dongfang Shuo ordered angrily, his face grim.
After Lin Qingzhu's incident, Duke Wu ordered his men to kill all those lewd men. The people the War King mentioned should refer to the women Ruan Chuqing brought to Duke Wu's mansion to provoke Lin Qingzhu.
Ruan Chuqing had always been jealous of Lin Qingzhu. The girls she brought with her were definitely in cahoots with her. Every word they said and every action they took was pre-arranged to deliberately mock and provoke Lin Qingzhu. Of course, the War King would not let them off the hook.
"Yes!" The guards took to the air one after another, flying in all directions.
Fifteen minutes later, towering flames erupted in all directions, illuminating most of the sky...
In the black sky, the stars twinkled, like Lin Qingzhu blinking in her youth. Dongfang Shuo held the diary, tears streaming down his face again: "Qingzhu, I'm sorry. Only now do I understand your feelings for me."
If he had known back then that Lin Qingzhu loved him, he would never have let go, even if it cost him his life...
"Your Highness, what should we do with these two people?" a guard asked cautiously.
Dongfang Shuo turned his head and saw Su Lie looking utterly dejected, and Su Yuting standing two meters away, her eyes wide with shock...
---Aside---
(*^__^*) Hehe... Thank you everyone for the flowers, diamonds, rewards, and votes, mwah! Su Zha will be angsty tomorrow, and then it'll be the Prince's treatment. There will be a little bit of angst during the treatment, hehe, a little angst is good for the soul, la la la...
Chapter 136: The Ghost Doctor Arrives in Beijing
"Your Highness, I'm so sorry!" Duke Wen was dejected and confessed in a low voice, "If I had personally handed the scroll to Miss Lin back then, things wouldn't have turned out like this!"
"Go and accept your punishment!" Back then, the War King was a general, and the Duke of Wen was his deputy. Su Lie failed to complete the orders given by the general and was to be punished by military law.
"Yes!" Su Lie secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although the War King was furious, he still had his rationality. Otherwise, the punishment he would have received would have been much heavier than it is now.
"Father!" Su Yuting stretched out her arm and tightly grabbed Duke Wen's arm. Her beautiful eyes were filled with tears as she looked at him pitifully. Just now, when she was triumphant, she had tried to disfigure Shen Lixue. Now that Shen Lixue had the upper hand, she would definitely not let her go.
"I am not your father!" Duke Wen ruthlessly pulled away Su Yuting's hand that was tightly gripping his arm. He had heard Ruan Chuqing's words clearly; she was the daughter of a filthy beggar and had nothing to do with him.
"Mother was just saying that in anger, Father, don't take it seriously!" Su Yuting cried sadly. She was the noble daughter of the Duke of Wen's family, how could she be the lowly daughter of a beggar?
"Ruan Chuqing has lied to me for fifteen years, but those few words she just said were true!" Duke Wen sighed bitterly, flicked his sleeves, and turned to leave.
"Father!" Su Yuting lunged forward, grabbing the hem of Duke Wen's robe. Her slender body lay on the ground, her beautiful eyes filled with tears, pleading desperately, "Don't go!"
Shen Lixue watched her intently from the sidelines. She had placed all her hopes on Duke Wen. If Duke Wen left, she would surely die.
"Yuting, we are not father and daughter, so stop bothering me!" Duke Wen gave Su Yuting a cold look and turned his face away.
The daughter he had raised for over ten years had absolutely no relation to him; she was merely a tool his wife used to scheme against him. When he heard the truth, he was furious, but out of consideration for the fourteen years they had been father and daughter, he spared her life.
"Father, you have doted on me for fourteen years, and I want to repay your kindness in raising me!" Su Yuting's eyes flashed, and a relatively suitable reason came out.
"No need. Staying far away from me is the best way to repay your kindness!" Su Lie's eyes were dark and full of impatience. She was the daughter of a beggar and had committed a serious crime, about to be beheaded. How could he have any intention of expecting her to repay his kindness?
"Father, what if we really are father and daughter? What if Mother is just saying that out of anger? If you don't want me, wouldn't you be destroying the Su family bloodline with your own hands?" Su Yuting grasped at the last glimmer of hope. The Duke of Wen could no longer have any descendants, and he valued her very much. Based on Ruan Chuqing's few words, her identity could not be completely denied.
"This?" Su Lie hesitated for a moment. Ruan Chuqing's words were indeed ambiguous, making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood. Yu Ting might very well be his daughter...
"Since you have doubts, why not use a blood test to prove kinship?" Shen Lixue suddenly spoke, her cold gaze sweeping over the hesitant Su Lie and the expectant Su Yuting. Simple disappointment is not terrible; what is terrible is to be full of hope but end up in despair, falling heavily from the high clouds to the ground and being smashed to pieces.
"Father!" Su Yuting looked at Su Lie with expectant eyes.
Su Lie frowned and pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, let's do a blood test to prove our kinship!"
Shen Lixue waved her hand, and a guard quickly brought over a bowl of water.
"Is this water alright?" Since it concerned Su Yuting's noble status and life, she was extremely cautious. Shen Lixue was her mortal enemy, and she dared not use the water that the guards brought.
Shen Lixue glanced at the bowl of water indifferently: "If you suspect me, then check it carefully!" She had plenty of ways to deal with Su Yuting; there was no need to tamper with this bowl of water.
Even if Shen Lixue didn't remind her, she would carefully examine the bowl of water. If she found a problem, she would have a good reason to exonerate herself.
Su Yuting stared intently, checking repeatedly. The water and bowl were fine. She pricked her and Su Lie's fingers with a silver needle, squeezing out a drop of blood from each and dripping it into the water bowl.
Two drops of blood fell into the water, splashing out shallow ripples, and then bobbed up and down, rising and falling in the water.
Su Yuting stared intently at the blood in the water, praying desperately that the blood would dissolve quickly, and once dissolved, she would be the noble legitimate daughter of the Su family.
Su Lie also focused his attention, staring intently at the two drops of blood. Would the blood mix? Would the Su family have a sole descendant?
In the bright light, the blood slowly stopped flowing in the water. Instead of mixing together, it remained separated like the Chu River and Han Border, and the result was obvious.
Su Yuting was suddenly jolted, her slender body instantly collapsing to the ground, her eyes ashen. How could this be? The blood wouldn't mix! The blood wouldn't mix at all!
Duke Wen's face was also terribly gloomy. This time, Ruan Chuqing did not lie to him: "Su Yuting, the results are out. We have nothing to do with each other. Farewell!"
"Father, I've been your daughter for fourteen years! Even if we're not related by blood, we're still family. Don't abandon me!" Su Yuting clung tightly to Su Lie's sleeve, sobbing uncontrollably. She was sentenced to be executed in the autumn and had offended Shen Lixue. Duke Wen was her only hope. If he left, she would be doomed.
Looking at Su Yuting's ferocious little face and the dark handprint on his sleeve, Duke Wen's eyes flashed with indescribable disgust. She was not a member of the Su family; she was a tool used by Ruan Chuqing to scheme against him. When the truth came out, she enjoyed fourteen years of wealth and honor. If she were smart, she should have gone as far away as possible, instead of clinging to his sleeve and begging to be the eldest daughter of the Su family.
For the first time in his life, he realized how utterly detestable Su Yuting was: "Let go!"
"Father!" Su Yuting pleaded, clutching his sleeve tightly.
"Get out!" Duke Wen waved his hand and tore his sleeve.
Su Yuting lost her support and fell heavily to the ground, her body aching, her eyes glazed over, a single thought flashing through her mind: Su Lie hated her, he didn't care about her anymore, and he didn't care whether she lived or died.