CHAPTER 137: CHAPTER 117 VERIFICATION OF KINSHIP

Li Ang and his two companions once again politely declined the Jing Monk’s invitation to listen to his sermon and left Jing Temple.

When they boarded the carriage, Yang Yu was still muttering, "How come even Jingjiao has started to adopt street fortune-telling tactics, telling people right upon meeting that they have a dark hall and a bloody disaster looming..."

Li Wei curled his lips and said, "How else could they attract followers and earn incense money?"

The three of them still carried the waist tokens of the Academic Palace. For Jingjiao, having Academic Palace Disciples as followers surely held more value than ordinary believers.

Li Ang didn’t believe in the prophecy of a bloody disaster either. He took the carriage home, then decided to take Chai Chai out, call Song Shaoyuan, You Douzhi, and some other friends to dine out at a restaurant, treating it as celebrating Christmas.

"This Golden City Square restaurant’s radish pork bone soup is quite good. You should try it when you have the chance. Eating radish in winter and ginger in summer, right?"

Li Ang served himself and Chai Chai a bowl of soup, saying, "Drinking soup—now that’s a fine thing."

"Eating more radish in winter?" Yang Yu’s eyes brightened. "Is this also medical theory?"

Song Shaoyuan pondered and said, "The *Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders* states: In November, the yang energy is within, the stomach feels irritable heat due to the weakness of the yin energy inside, unable to overcome the heat. Perhaps eating radish in winter can clear away the accumulated heat?"

Can’t it just be because radishes are delicious? Speaking of which, Brother Song, you’ve been reading quite a diverse range lately.

Li Ang smacked his lips together, deciding to remain silent—judging by the expressions on Yang Yu and the others’ faces, it seemed like their families would also start serving radish soup back home.

Ever since passing the examination at the Academic Palace, Li Ang’s lifestyle habits had been mysteriously imitated by families in Chang’an. For example, never eating uncooked river and seafood, insisting on washing hands with soap before and after meals, and only drinking filtered and boiled water. Even the cotton masks Li Ang occasionally wore had started to see imitators on the streets.

It gave him a strange sense of leading a fashion trend in Chang’an City.

Li Ang originally wanted to correct this peculiar trend, but then thought that it at least helped promote public hygiene habits, so he decided to let it be.

Speaking of which, it seems there isn’t any sour cabbage and potato starch noodles stew on the table...

The potato starch noodles could be made from mixed grains. The sour cabbage, whose main ingredient should be Chinese cabbage, apparently didn’t exist in Yu Country yet; it would need a hybrid from cruciferous Southern kohlrabi and Northern rutabaga to produce.

Li Ang ate the radish pork bone soup while thinking about ways to improve the recipes.

The main vegetable in Yu Country currently was still kui cai, a kind of mallow whose taste was somewhat greasy, mimicking a lipid texture, with a slight astringency. Many Agricultural Doctors in the Academic Palace had tried to improve the taste of kui cai, but without success. They then turned their attention to the rich varieties of vegetables beyond the Endless Sea.

Maybe one day I should hybridize Chinese cabbage?

Li Ang thought about various methods to improve the diet when suddenly, from the next compartment, a slight crying and talking sound was heard.

Yang Yu and the others glanced at each other. Originally planning to continue eating, they listened carefully and heard a voice that seemed... to belong to a female student from the Academic Palace?

"Risheng." Yang Yu stood up subconsciously, anxiously glancing at Li Ang. "Should I go check it out?"

"I’ll go too." Li Ang stood up helplessly, leaning on the table. The voice seemed to belong to a female classmate named Zhang Yuyan, from an official family, and Yang Yu seemed rather fond of her.

Li Ang and Yang Yu exited and knocked on the door of the next compartment. After they introduced themselves, the door was opened by Qiu Feng, the daughter of an Imperial Physician. Inside were several other Academic Palace classmates and a mother and son.

"So, uh, we were just eating next door. What happened here?" Yang Yu began to inquire. Through conversation, he learned that it was once again one of those issues common within large families.

Zhang Yuyan’s father was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and her grandfather had once been the Prime Minister of Yu Country, bearing the title of Duke. The Zhang Family in Chang’an might not be of the highest nobility, but they were certainly a prestigious household.

The Zhang Family had one main wife and seven concubines. Vice Minister Zhang favored one particular concubine. However, recently, he began to feel that the seven-year-old son born to this concubine increasingly did not resemble him.

Such matters were usually dealt with rather coldly and ruthlessly by the noble families of Chang’an, but Zhang Yuyan, being the daughter of another concubine, had a special relationship with that favored concubine, whom she regarded as her own aunt. So even if the Zhang Family wanted to discreetly dispose of the concubine, they had to consider the sentiments of Zhang Yuyan, who was a Disciple of the Academic Palace.

Somehow, the affair leaked out around the workshop. Consequently, Vice Minister Zhang, to rid himself of the stigma of being cuckolded and to allow the concubine to prove her innocence, resorted to the Blood Test.

As for the results of the test... the blood did not merge, resulting in the concubine and her son being thrown out onto the streets.

At this moment, Zhang Yuyan was weeping and grieving over this affair.

It’s just typical of noble families, always embroiled in scandals.

Li Ang rubbed his temples, glanced at the tearful Zhang Yuyan, the concubine and her son, and their consoling classmates Qiu Feng and Yang Yu among others, and sighed.

Zhang Yuyan, coming from an official family, had ample pocket money and could secretly save enough to rent a house and support the concubine and her son. But without a recognized identity or social status, the life of the concubine and her son would inevitably be full of scorn and hardship.

Li Ang pondered for a moment. "May I ask something," he inquired, "the Blood Test the Zhang Family used—was it the Blood Merging Method or the Bone-Dropping Method?"

Both were methods of the Blood Test. The former involved dropping blood from two individuals into a bowl to see if it would merge. If it merged, it proved a blood relationship; if not, there was none. The Bone-Dropping Method involved dropping the blood of a living person onto the bones of a deceased one to see if it would seep in. If it seeped in, it confirmed a blood relation.

During the Southern Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Liang got a concubine from Dong Hun Hou, and she gave birth to Xiao Zong seven months after entering the palace. The court suspected that Xiao Zong was not the biological son of Emperor Wu. Even Xiao Zong himself had doubts, so he secretly exhumed Dong Hun Hou’s grave, took the bones, and dropped his blood on them, which indeed merged. To further verify, he even killed his own biological son and repeated the experiment. After confirming, he then fled to Northern Wei.

Additionally, there were stories of seamen who died at sea, where the bodies decomposed, and their families used the Blood Test to identify their loved ones’ remains.

Seeing Li Ang addressing her, Zhang Yuyan wiped her tears and said, "It was the Blood Merging Method."

Li Ang looked down, lost in thought. "The Blood Merging Method, huh..."

Yang Yu, seeing his contemplative expression, instinctively asked, "Risheng, what are you thinking about?"

"I’m thinking that the entire Blood Test is flawed and cannot actually prove any blood relation." Li Ang looked up and continued, "Let’s wait until school tomorrow. I’ll prove this then."

It was time to bring the blood type theory to the forefront.

Upon hearing Li Ang’s promise, Yang Yu’s face lit up with joy, and the other classmates also felt greatly relieved—everyone knew that Li Ang was a man of his word and that his actions were always fruitful. He said he had a solution, and it was likely that he truly could resolve the issue.

The meal was hastily concluded, with Yang Yu funding accommodations for the Zhang Family’s concubine and her son at an inn, while Li Ang returned home, took out pen and paper, and wrote down his experimental plan.

The next morning, Yang Yu rode in a carriage early to Golden City Square and immediately inquired about Li Ang’s progress.

Li Ang rolled his eyes. "What’s the rush? The misguided notions about the Blood Test have persisted for so many years. To overturn them, we need a more reasonable proof method. It’s not something I can achieve just by writing an article at home."

"Isn’t this showing trust in you, Risheng?" Yang Yu rubbed his palms together, saying obsequiously, "Risheng, how do you plan to prove it?"

"Consult Dr. Su Feng, apply to conduct a large-scale experiment, and publish a paper in the Academic Palace journals," Li Ang casually said. "But this will only prove that the Blood Test is entirely ineffective. It’s still very difficult to use blood for paternity proof."

Yang Yu instinctively asked, "Eh, why?"

Li Ang countered, "It’s a complex process. Are you sure you can understand?"

"...Alright." Yang Yu thought for a moment, somewhat sheepishly waved his hand, and did not continue to inquire—he was also an elite student who had tested into the Academic Palace, yet Li Ang’s question had inexplicably robbed him of his confidence.

The carriage entered the Academic Palace. After attending a class in Natural Science, Li Ang found Dr. Su Feng.

"Oh, Risheng," Dr. Su Feng said. "Yesterday, the representative of the West Jing Chamber of Commerce in Chang’an also came to see me. They’re hoping to obtain partial resale rights for soap made in Yu Country to sell it back to West Jing. The Hu Shang Chamber of Commerce has the same idea. When do you think you can meet them and talk about it?"

"Uh, that’d be possible." Li Ang nodded in agreement. Yu Country did not allow technology to be exported but was completely open to selling goods abroad for profit.

"By the way, Dr. Su Feng, this is the paper I wrote yesterday. I hope to apply for a large-scale experiment this afternoon." Li Ang took out the papers filled with text from his bag and handed them to Dr. Su Feng. The Academic Palace had always held a tradition of conducting large-scale experiments. If an Academic Palace Doctor had a new theory, a new invention, or a new experimental plan, they would invite other Academic Palace Doctors and Disciples to observe. Examples included new water wheels, agricultural tools, and even the model aircraft that had recently become popular at the Academic Palace.

"You want to refute the Blood Test?" Dr. Su Feng scanned the paper, and his eyes lit up. After confirming there were no obvious flaws in the experimental process, he immediately agreed to the experimental request.

The location was set at the Academic Palace Square, and the time was set for the afternoon.

Soon, the notice for the large-scale experiment to refute the Blood Test at the Academic Palace Square was posted in every corner of the Academic Palace.

By the afternoon, a considerable number of Academic Palace Doctors and classmates had gathered. Those bold enough to apply for large-scale experiments were typically Academic Palace Doctors with credentials, prestige, and achievements; it was unheard of for freshmen. This was especially true considering it was a freshman who had recently invented the model aircraft.

"Have most people arrived?" Li Ang glanced at the number of people sitting on the chairs. Not wanting to waste time, he instructed Yang Yu and Li Wei to distribute stacks of freshly printed papers, and then he himself stood at the podium.

"Fellow teachers and classmates, today I am here to refute the Blood Test method that has persisted for hundreds of years."

Li Ang took out five bones from beneath the podium and announced loudly, "These ten bones are from pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, and donkeys, both new and old. The new ones were slaughtered yesterday at the Academic Palace’s cafeteria, and the old ones were taken from the slaughtering grounds of Chang’an City, aged for at least six months or more."

Then, he took out five jars filled with blood and showed them to the Academic Palace Doctors and Disciples.

"These jars contain fresh blood from pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, and donkeys."

Li Ang said, "According to the description of the Bone-Dropping Method in Blood Test records, you only need to drop fresh human blood on human bones and observe whether it seeps in to prove if there is a blood relation. Now, I will drop the livestock blood into bones from different livestock, and let’s see what happens."

With the help of Yang Yu and Li Wei, Li Ang dabbed some livestock blood from the glass jars and dropped it onto old animal bones, finding that all could integrate.

"Pig’s blood can penetrate into cattle’s bones. Sheep’s blood can penetrate into donkey’s bones. This obviously doesn’t make sense. Could it be that pigs and cattle, or sheep and donkeys, have blood relations?

"I just used old bones, so what about the new ones?"

Li Ang then took fresh blood and dropped it onto the fresh animal bones. The onlookers, however, found that this time the blood seeped in much slower and, in some cases, even failed to penetrate.

"Why is this?" an Academic Palace Doctor asked.

"Quite simple: bone gaps," Li Ang explained. "Old bones can allow blood to seep through, while new bones cannot. It is entirely a difference between old and new bones. The muscles and fascia on the surface of old bones fall off. The bones themselves weather, creating micro-cracks, allowing most liquids to easily penetrate. Fellow teachers and classmates can also try similar experiments at home; even using water stained with paint dropped on old, damaged animal bones will allow it to penetrate. Thus, the Bone-Dropping Method, as part of the Blood Test, is utterly useless."

Livestock and humans are not much different; if livestock bones allow penetration, human bones operate on the same principle.

"The Bone-Dropping Method is useless? Then Xiao Zong’s son died in vain?" another Academic Palace Doctor muttered softly.

"One could say he was wrongly killed," Li Ang declared. "Next, I am going to prove that not only is the Bone-Dropping Method useless, but the Blood Merging Method of the Blood Test is equally ineffective."