FID – Chapter 543

Chapter 543: Advise You To Do Good Deeds

  And that text was precisely the record about Liu Hesheng, the ancestor in Xinghua Village!

  ”Th-That’s impossible! Impossible! It’s obviously genuine. How did it become fake?” Liu Huai shook his head, his fury turning his eyes red. He fixed his gaze at Elder Jiu and Feng Qingbai and accused, “It’s you, you did it on purpose! You dare to frame people in front of His Majesty’s eyes! And this Elder Jiu, he is a master of altering handwriting and making them appear old. He said so himself! Then, if he wants to do something to make a handwriting look new, it’s all too easy! This is clearly a trap, a trap to harm my Liu clan! I am not convinced! Please see the truth, Your Majesty. Please see the truth, Your Majesty!”

  ”Whatever comes out of your mouth lacks virtue. Who has the spare time to frame you? Do you think this old man doesn’t know anything? Do you think I dare lie in front of His Majesty? That’s asking for a beheading. Do you think I will commit suicide for your sake? Who are you to me? Don’t put gold on your face!” Elder Jiu jumped to his feet and cursed, his dry finger almost pointing to Liu Huai’s nose.

  He lived comfortably all his life, but he had never been wronged.

  He took a long and arduous journey from afar to the capital to drink wine, yet this man had the nerve to think highly of himself!

  ”Patriarch Liu, don’t worry. I have my own way to judge whether something wrong has been committed or not.” Feng Mohan said in a deep voice, “I don’t know what Elder Jiu used to smear on the paper just now. Elder Jiu, explain this. This is a trial before the court. Everything must be justified and doubts are out of the question.”

  ”This one?” Elder Jiu raised the finger-like object in his hand that looked like white congealed fat and handed it over. “This is a secret recipe passed down by the ancestors of this old man, and it is specially used to distinguish the authenticity of handwriting. This is something that this old man normally doesn’t tell ordinary people, but it is an exception in Your Majesty’s presence. When this is smeared on the handwriting, as long as it is written within half a year, it can be distinguished. If Your Majesty doesn’t believe it, feel free to test it. However, this old man can’t share the secret recipe for this stuff. It’s my way of living.”

  Everyone in the hall, “…”

  Who do you think still covets something of yours?

  Feng Mohan immediately ordered someone to bring some files from the imperial study, and each file had a date note on it.

  They smeared the white gelatin on several files with different dates one by one, and each showed different colors.

  The handwritings dated more than half a year have changed slightly, but it was not very obvious.

  However, in the files within half a year, the handwriting looked totally new. It was as if the texts had just been written, and the ink was not even dry.

  There was no exception.

  It was apparent that this gel did have a discriminatory effect.

  In order to provide enough evidence, Feng Mohan had the information retrieved from Yunzhou smeared with gel, and the results showed that all the data about Liu Hesheng was added within six months.

  ”Now, does Patriarch Liu have anything to say?”

  Liu Huai and other people from the Liu family in Kyoto lay prostrate on the ground with ashen faces, unable to say a word.

  Deceiving the Emperor was a capital crime punishable by decapitation.

  They were done, and this time they were really done.

  When Consort Liu arrived, what she saw was the expressions of the family members, looking like they were facing death.

  Her heart skipped a beat, and it sank in an instant.

  ”Consort Liu, Consort Liu, save us, save the Liu clan!” As soon as the descendants of the Liu family saw her, they immediately rushed beneath her feet and burst into tears, fear overflowing within their eyes.

  ”We didn’t do it, we didn’t do this! Yes, it’s the Patriarch! He came up with such a wicked idea in order to plot against the Liu family. We were all forced, and no one dared to resist him! Your Highness, save us. Your Majesty, please have mercy!”

  When the matter came to an end, the Liu clan members shirked their responsibilities and dumped all the charges on Liu Huai’s head.

  At this juncture, how could they maintain their stance earlier, accusing others in tears and firmly vowing that they had been wronged? Liu Huai’s face turned black with anger, and the blood rushed up his throat frantically.

  Seeing these gestures, Consort Liu’s heart sank to the bottom. She realized that things had reached the point of no return.

  With a pale face, she kicked away the Liu family’s youngsters who were kneeling at her feet, walked forward to the front of the throne, lifted her skirt and knelt down in front of Feng Mohan.

  The entire court was in an uproar.

  Although Consort Liu was only a concubine left by the previous Emperor, she was also the elder of the new emperor. There was absolutely no need for her to kneel down in the court. Otherwise, the new Emperor would be regarded as unfilial!

  ”Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please quell your anger! This C-Concubine didn’t e-expect that they would do s-such a t-thing! Please, Your Majesty, be merciful! Please f-forgive the other innocent people of the Liu clan!” Consort Liu refused the hands that others extended to help her stand up. She looked up at Feng Mohan, and her broken bellows-like voice resounded in the courtroom, extremely harsh.

  Feng Mohan stood up and stepped forward to help her up in person. “What is Consort Liu doing? Even if there were crimes committed, these were also done by the Patriarch and the members of the Liu clan. Concubine Dowager lives deep in the harem, so we know that this has nothing to do with you. We would never pin the blame on Concubine Dowager. If you kneel, everyone in the world will condemn us for being unfilial.”

  ”Your Majesty, t-this Consort is g-guilty. The l-lack of s-supervision has spawned such e-evil in the clan!” Consort Liu obediently rose, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her face was as white as a sheet, and her eyes condensed into frost. For a moment, her age surfaced.

  ”Even if the Liu clan is guilty, this is also the matter of the court. Concubine Dowager stays in the harem, and you are in charge of the harem. You should not have entered the courtroom. We will ask someone to send you back.” The imperial harem was forbidden to interfere in politics. Feng Mohan stated his position as clear as day.

  ”Even though t-this c-concubine was u-unaware of the Liu clan’s crime, I am also p-partly to b-blame!” After saying this, Consort Liu walked to Liu Zhixia, Liu Yusheng and her party and bowed towards them in apology.

  How could ordinary people afford the courtesy of a consort?

  Liu Zhixia and Liu Yusheng immediately moved aside, revealing Grandpa Liu and the others behind. Thus, it was them who precisely accepted her bow.

  ”Are you Consort Liu?” Elder Jiu suddenly stepped forward from the side and looked at Consort Liu curiously. “It turns out that you look like this. It is said that appearance is formed by the heart. This old man has lived a few decades, so I advise you to do more good deeds in the future. Otherwise, you will grow uglier by day.”

  After a pause, he said again, “However, others deserve your bow. Isn’t it said that big households have distinct hierarchical classes from the main branch? It is only right for a Dowager Consort from a family branch to salute when meeting the main branch.”

  ”W-What do you m-mean?” Consort Liu’s whole body turned cold. Her eyes became sullen and she looked straight at Elder Jiu.

  Even Grandpa Liu and the others had inexplicable expressions on their faces.

  Only Liu Yusheng and Liu Zhixia looked at Feng Qingbai quietly, and could see something from his eyes. Could it be…

  ”Look at you. This old man just told you that ‘appearance is formed by the heart’ but you didn’t pay attention to it. Do you know how ugly your eyes are?” Elder Jiu grunted and pulled out an extremely old volume from his bosom. “This old man is not deceitful. My ancestor and the old imperial physician of the Liu family are old friends. They knew each other’s affairs all too well. My family genealogy also records that your imperial doctor ancestor was born out of a branch of the Liu clan. It is recorded here too that later when he achieved his ambition, he thought of establishing his own clan, and he didn’t even recognize his ancestors. Sure enough, an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. From the top to the bottom, none of your several generations have grown upright. You have the making of your ancestor, not recognizing your ancestor’s forebears. This old man looks down on you!”