Exactly Who Is Harming Whom?
Only relatives could provide a kidney. This caused the members of the Liu family to struggle to react for a while, as they heard a young man say: “Could it be that it will be taken from our bodies and transplanted into Concubine Liu? Isn’t that quite painful?”
The citizen that had received a transplant spoke up: “The pain is a minor concern. The most important thing is that the person who gives up a kidney will need to take medicine for the rest of their lives. Also, they cannot engage in any physical labor. It’s guaranteed that the body will feel weak, and there will be a certain amount of impact on living. This is especially the case for young men who have not yet gotten married. It would be best to not transplant a kidney. This was something that Princess Yu personally said to this lowly one.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded and said: “That’s right. Although it’s possible to live with only one kidney, you will not be able to live as freely as before. Not to mention needing medicine for the remainder of your life, but your physical strength will not be able to keep up. For the young men who have not gotten married, there will be at least a bit of an impact on your life.” While she spoke, she looked around at everyone in the Liu family and covered up a smile: “But earlier, Liu Huai, Assistant Minister Liu, had already said it. His relationship with his younger sister is profound. Giving up everything would be for the sake of curing Her Highness Concubine Liu’s illness. He also said that the members of the Liu family would do everything possible to cooperate and would not be selfish. That’s why this princess was thinking that the Liu family would not just sit by and watch Concubine Liu pass away because of this, right? Come, come, come, everyone line up. This princess will pick a room, and you will go in one at a time. I will check your kidneys to see which one of you has the kidney most compatible with Her Highness. Like this, Her Highness would be able to live without any concerns.”
“No!” Li shi suddenly screamed then pointed at Liu Huai: “Why should we give up our kidneys for her? Are you willing to give up anything for your younger sister?”
Feng Yu Heng laughed and said: “Madam, don’t worry. Though you are Assistant Minister Liu’s wife, you are not a member of the Liu family. Without any blood relations to Concubine Liu, there’s definitely no need to test you.”
This did not help calm Li shi down in the slightest. She was so scared that she was on the verge of crying: “I am not originally from the Liu family, but my children are from the Liu family! They’re still young. How can I just sit by and watch them give up their kidneys?”
“Having one less kidney will not endanger their lives.” Feng Yu Heng continued to remind her, “It will just affect their lives in the future. That’s all.”
“If there’s an effect, it’s no good!” Li shi loudly said. At the same time, the other members of the Liu family endured the horror and summoned some courage to voice their opposition: “Why should we give up our kidneys? We still want to live our lives in the future.”
There was even one who said: “I am only from the Liu family. I have never even met Her Highness Concubine Liu. Why should I give up a kidney for her?”
Feng Yu Heng said with an innocent expression: “What? The Liu family doesn’t want to? But Liu Huai, Assistant Minister Liu, said that the Liu family would be willing to pay any payment for Her Highness!” After saying this, she asked Liu Huai: “Lord Liu, why is it that you aren’t saying anything? At a time like this, you should be providing some sort of judgment.”
Liu Huai was soaked in a cold sweat. He never thought that Feng Yu Heng would actually come up with this sort of method. She wanted a kidney from someone in the Liu family? Whose body would this kidney come from? Him? Or his son? His daughter? But none of those were fine! His children had not even gotten married. Even if it was himself, he definitely did not want to give up a kidney for Concubine Liu. Not to mention any threat to life, but even if there was none, who would not want to live the latter half of their lives in happiness? Who would want to live without being able to do even the slightest thing? And he would need to take medicine for the rest of his life? At that point, what difference would there be from being a patient? This younger sister had not made a single contribution to the Liu family. Why should she now take away a kidney from the Liu family?
Seeing that Liu Huai had not spoken for a long time, Concubine Liu could no longer sit still. With her eyes opened wide, she looked at Liu Huai in confusion and asked: “Elder brother, why aren’t you saying anything? It’s just a kidney. It’s already been said that it won’t kill anyone. One can still live with one kidney. Why is it that none of you are willing to agree? Could it be that the profoundness of our feelings was a lie? Saying that the Liu family would always stand at this One’s side, was that also a lie?”
“We also want to hear what dear official Liu has to say.” The Emperor spoke up, “Liu Huai, it was you who kneeled and begged Us to bring A-Heng into the palace to treat Concubine Liu’s illness. It was also you yourself who said that regardless of the cost, the Liu family wanted for Concubine Liu to continue living. Why is it that you’ve now shrunk back after hearing the method?”
“Your Majesty!” Liu Huai kneeled on the ground and opened his mouth, but he had nothing to say. He truly did not know what to say. After pondering for a long time, he finally glared at Feng Yu Heng then loudly said: “Princess Yu, why are you bothering with harming the Liu family?”
“I’m harming your Liu family?” Feng Yu Heng was extremely puzzled, “Originally, I was happily staying in the Yu Palace. It was Assistant Minister Liu who sought to make a scene out of nothing by bringing this princess into the palace. This princess wants to ask if there really was harm, would it be you doing it or me? This princess just does not understand. Since your sibling relationship is so profound, why is it that you’re not even willing to part with a single kidney? Assistant Minister Liu, what exactly do you take Her Highness Concubine Liu for?”
“Right! What exactly do you take this One for?” Concubine Liu became furious, as she summoned all of the strength in her body to loudly say: “Your Majesty! This concubine does not want to die! This concubine wants a kidney transplant and wants a kidney from the Liu family!”
“How can such a treatment method exist in this world!” Liu Huai lost his temper, “Princess Yu, do not spout nonsense!”
“How is there not?” The person that spoke was the seventh prince, Xuan Tian Hua. His voice was neither urgent nor lax. It was very even. It did not sound as though he was speaking about something important. Instead, it sounded as though he was talking about some common occurrence. He said: “There are so many imperial physicians present. Just have one of the imperial physicians speak. Does such a treatment method exist in this world?”
With the seventh prince speaking, the imperial physicians present finally had a purpose. The head imperial physician was the first to speak: “Your Majesty, such a treatment method does exist. This official once saw the doctors of Hundred Herb Hall perform this sort of surgery. Aside from this, there were mentions of organ transplants in ancient medical books. Although there was an exceedingly low number of people capable of this, such that there have not been any in the past hundred years, it does not mean that such a treatment method does not exist.”
With the head imperial physician having spoken, the other imperial physicians also agreed. This included Sun Qi, who nodded along.
Feng Yu Heng had noticed Sun Qi in the group of imperial physicians, thus she spoke up: “I heard that the one that had recommended this princess for Her Highness Concubine Liu was Imperial Physician Sun Qi. Thinking about it, Imperial Physician Sun should also have known about this method, right?”
Sun Qi felt his heart go “thunk” when Feng Yu Heng asked this question; however, he had no choice but to nod and say: “Indeed, this official once went to Hundred Herb Hall and indeed knew that Princess Yu knew how to perform kidney transplants, thus I suggested you to Lord Assistant Minister Liu.”
“Assistant Minister Liu.” She looked at Liu Huai, “Do you have anything else you would like to say?”
Liu Huai remained silent. He really did not know what to say. He just knew that he had fallen into Feng Yu Heng’s trap. He was thinking about how he should escape.
At this time, however, he heard the Emperor say: “Since it’s to treat Concubine Liu’s illness, don’t delay. A-Heng, immediately begin checking the compatibility of the kidneys from the members of the Liu family. Find out who has the most suitable kidneys. We will be staying in An Ju Palace to act as a witness for this matter.”
Hearing the Emperor say this, Concubine Liu felt completely at ease. Weakly leaning back in her seat, she slowly said to the people of the Liu family: “Line up and accept the kidney testing! To be able to provide a kidney for this One’s kidney transplant is your good fortune. Regardless of who is chosen, this One will not treat you poorly.” After saying this, she glanced at Liu Huai and said: “Elder brother, go and stand in the line too. We are siblings. Thinking about it, the chance that our kidneys are compatible is higher.”
Liu Huai felt his scalp tingle from hearing this. Li shi was also wanting to say a bit more, but the Emperor was present. The words had come from the Emperor’s mouth. No matter how bold they might be, they did not dare oppose the Emperor. Thus Liu Huai accepted his fate and stood in the line of people from the Liu family. In his heart, he secretly hoped that there would be someone in this line who would be more compatible with Concubine Liu.
Liu Pin was carried back to her room by the servants to rest. Feng Yu Heng chose a side room to begin “testing” the people of the Liu family. Xuan Tian Ming, Xuan Tian Hua and the Emperor also went inside. Finding chairs for themselves, they sat down and watched with curiosity.
This so-called “test” was nothing more than just drawing a tube of blood from the person then using an “instrument” from her medicine kit to go through the motions of a test. To outsiders, it looked quite high-tech; however, only Feng Yu Heng understood that this was just going through the motions. A true kidney compatibility test was very complicated. It was not something that could be determined in just one or two days. When it came to finding a kidney and transplanting it into Concubine Liu, she definitely did not believe that it could be done within a month. To put it bluntly, with Concubine Liu’s health in its current condition, she was certain to die. Her doing this was just to apply some pressure on the Liu family to draw out the hidden conspiracy.
Xuan Tian Ming and Xuan Tian Hua understood her methods, and the Emperor knew at least a bit. The three tacitly cooperated. They watched the members of the Liu family walk in while looking upset then reveal looks of joy when hearing that they were not compatible. There were even some that ran out of the room in jubilation.
Xuan Tian Hua watched this scene then suddenly said: “If it was me, I would want to provide a kidney for my relatives.”
Xuan Tian Ming then said: “That would depend on which relative. There are some who are all too eager to see you die and hate that you can only die once.”
The exchange between the two caused the Emperor to let out a long sigh. He was both moved by Xuan Tian Hua’s words and lamented Xuan Tian Ming’s words. He had no way of saying who was right and who was wrong. At the root of it all, these children should not have been born into the imperial family. If they were normal citizens, even if the brothers did not get along well, they would not plot against each other to such a degree. He had truly gotten old, hadn’t he? Had he gotten so old that his heart had become merciful? He, Xuan Zhan, had not been like this in the past. In the past, he could protect old ninth to the point of widespread indignation. He really could be completely biased when determining who was right and who was wrong.
But now, he was always thinking about the children that had his blood flowing through them. He would always think about the pitiful women in the palace that had suffered over the past 20 years. He could not provide those other children with the same fatherly love that he did old ninth, nor could he show the same favor to those women that he did to Imperial Concubine Yun. He just remained in between these worries and felt conflicted. When his long life came to an end, and his eyes closed, the world would fall silent.
The first people from the Liu family to come in for the tests were distant relatives. Gradually, close relatives from the Liu manor began to enter. At this time, Feng Yu Heng looked at a young man that had come in. While drawing his blood, she asked: “What is your relation to Her Highness Concubine Liu?”
The youth replied: “Her Highness Concubine Liu is my aunt. I am the son of the first wife of Lord Assistant Minister Liu.”
“Oh.” She nodded then put the tube of blood into the instrument. Her eyes then lit up, as she turned around and said to the Emperor: “Father Emperor, good news! The kidney of young sir Liu is 60 percent compatible with Her Highness Concubine Liu!”