The Queen received the file on her light screen and opened it with confusion.
When her eyes landed on the test results, she froze in shock for a moment.
A few seconds later, she couldn’t help but exclaim:
“One hundred percent?! How is that possible?!”
“I’ll confirm with Zhuo Feiyue immediately.” The servant didn’t dare delay and prepared to call him.
After a brief daze, the Queen pushed the servant aside:
“Move. I’ll ask him myself.”
As Zhuo Feiyue appeared on the other side of the screen, the Queen urgently demanded, “Is the compatibility test result you sent me real?!”
“Of course it’s real, Your Majesty.” Zhuo Feiyue, still recovering from his own astonishment, replied with disbelief in his eyes. “This is utterly unbelievable! The research team ran multiple tests. Each result was 100%. Only then did I dare inform you.”
The Queen’s gaze lingered on the report. For the first time, her dignified composure showed signs of faltering.
The number “100%” filled her with overwhelming joy.
It meant that if Luo Wenchuan and Yun Xingze were together, they would undoubtedly lead a blissful life.
After a long pause, the Queen finally regained her senses.
But then, reality struck. Her joy quickly turned to panic, her voice trembling as she asked, “What about Yun Xingze? How, how is he now? How severe is his gland injury?”
Zhuo Feiyue fell silent.
The servant beside her also lowered his head, not daring to speak.
“Answer me!” The Queen turned and glared at the servant.
The servant nearly collapsed in fear, stammering, “Y-Yun Xingze… his gland is severely damaged. The doctors at Polis Hospital said… said…”
By now, the servant was shaking uncontrollably.
“What did the hospital say?” The Queen’s eyes flashed with alarm, though she struggled to maintain her composure. “Tell me now.”
“They said Yun Xingze has become a Beta.”
The servant’s voice cracked with terror as he spoke.
The Queen stood frozen, her expression shifting through a storm of emotions.
Zhuo Feiyue, witnessing the Queen’s unprecedented agitation, hesitated before carefully asking, “Your Majesty, I haven’t informed the Second Prince yet.”
The Queen staggered back and sank onto the edge of the bed.
She braced herself against the mattress, breathing heavily from the shock.
After a moment, she looked up at Zhuo Feiyue and said in a trembling voice, “Don’t tell him yet. I’ll handle this myself.”
Once she spoke, she forced herself to steady her nerves.
“Zhuo Feiyue, first investigate the pheromone compatibility database,” the Queen commanded, her regal poise reasserting itself. “And this matter must remain confidential, absolutely no leaks.”
After giving her orders, the Queen reflected on her own actions, regret washing over her.
Her fingers clenched the bedsheets so tightly her manicured nails nearly snapped.
“One hundred percent.” Her voice quivered as she whispered to herself. “How could such a high compatibility rate exist? If this is true then I’ve personally destroyed Luo Wenchuan’s lifelong happiness?”
Her lips turned deathly pale.
Not only had she ruined Luo Wenchuan’s future, but she had also destroyed the future Crown Princess.
If Luo Wenchuan knew about this, how much would he hate her?
What’s worse, if the king found out.
The queen’s back stiffened, cold sweat breaking out.
She had leaked the information to Chi Yin without the king’s knowledge.
Her plan had been to “seek forgiveness rather than permission” after all, disposing of an Omega with low compatibility to Luo Wenchuan wouldn’t have drawn the king’s objection.
But now…
The queen swallowed hard, her throat painfully dry.
She stood up and ordered a servant to bring her water.
Then, regaining her usual composure, she quickly applied a full face of makeup to conceal her pale, anxious expression before changing into more understated clothing.
Outside the window, night had fallen, and the city lights began to twinkle.
“Prepare the aircraft,” the queen said sternly to her attendant. “I’m going to Polis Hospital.”
En route, the queen placed a call to the director of Polis Hospital.
As the largest hospital in the affluent district, its director had participated in a research project year prior and had once met the queen. He answered the call with trepidation.
Frowning at the director’s image, the queen asked, “What’s Yun Xingze’s current condition?”
Having recently learned that the royal heir Luo Wenchuan had rushed his beloved to the hospital with a completely destroyed gland, the director had braced himself for royal interrogation.
Yet when the queen’s imposing visage appeared on the screen, his legs nearly gave way, sweat beading on his brow.
“Y-Your Highness, Yun Xingze, he…” The director faltered, avoiding her gaze. “We… I… apologize…”
At the word “apologize,” the queen’s expression turned icy. “The royal family funds your hospitals generously each year; not to hear apologies from you, understand?!”
The director nearly collapsed, saved only by quick-thinking doctors who steadied him before he vanished from view.
“Your Highness, I dispatched our finest physicians immediately upon Yun Xingze’s arrival,” the director stammered. “But the gland was too fragile, the cuts were too deep…”
“I grant you special authority. Within three days, assemble the nation’s top specialists to devise a solution.” The queen spoke each word deliberately, urgency barely concealed. “Spare no expense in his treatment or face the consequences.”
Though the queen typically maintained an elegant, dignified public image, the severity of her tone left no room for refusal. The director acquiesced, trembling.
Upon the queen’s arrival, the hospital swiftly cleared nonessential personnel.
Yun Changsheng and Qin Shuang would have been removed too, but exceptions were made given their relation to Yun Xingze.
When the couple saw the queen, a figure they’d only ever encountered in news reports; personally visiting for Yun Xingze, their eyes widened in disbelief.
Acknowledging their greetings with grace, the queen said solemnly, “I’m deeply saddened by Xingze’s condition. Rest assured, the royal family will do everything possible to help him recover.”
With that, her entourage signaled for Yun Changsheng and Qin Shuang to temporarily withdraw.
The queen walked towards the ward. Yun Changsheng stared at her retreating figure for a good ten seconds before turning to Qin Shuang with disbelief. “The queen actually cares this much about Xingze?”
Qin Shuang hadn’t expected Yun Xingze to receive such high regard either.
However, the queen’s tone was somewhat peculiar almost as if…
She harbored feelings of guilt towards Yun Xingze?
When the queen entered the ward, the hospital director and others were discussing countermeasures, studying the scan images of Yun Xingze’s gland on their light screens.
Luo Wenchuan sat to the side, his eyes lowered, most of his face hidden in shadow.
Seeing Luo Wenchuan so despondent made the queen’s heart ache unbearably.
And when she saw Yun Xingze in the medical pod, her fingers trembled. An overwhelming sense of remorse nearly suffocated her.
Yun Xingze lay quietly with his eyes closed, the right side of his neck neatly bandaged.
Faint traces of red seeped through the white gauze, a stark reminder to the queen.
The gland that had matched Luo Wenchuan’s at 100% had already been excised.
And she was one of the culprits responsible.
Upon noticing the queen’s arrival, the director of Polis Hospital immediately stepped forward to bow. “Your Majesty, we can attempt another surgery. However, the current situation isn’t optimistic. We can only perform minor procedures for now; major surgeries are still out of the question.”
The queen fixed her gaze on the director and asked urgently, “What are the chances of success?”
“Well, the gland likely won’t recover immediately, but we can improve the healing of the wound site to prepare for future procedures.” The director broke out in a cold sweat.
He used the word “immediately” for fear of the queen’s wrath.
In truth, for such a complex and unique organ as the gland, restoration in the short term was nearly impossible.
The queen solemnly declared, “No matter what, we must not give up.”
Perhaps because the queen’s concern for Yun Xingze took everyone by surprise, Luo Wenchuan glanced up at her, an inscrutable emotion flashing in his eyes.
The queen approached Luo Wenchuan and looked at him apologetically. “Xiao Chuan, I’m sorry. This is my fault.”
The woman who once wielded immense power now, despite her best efforts to conceal it, couldn’t hide the exhaustion and regret on her face.
“You’re not wrong,” Luo Wenchuan met her gaze. “You and Father are never wrong.”
“The Marriage Law was a last resort. With tensions between the Federation and the Empire, boosting the birth rate was imperative.” The queen pressed her lips together helplessly. “I never imagined things would turn out this way.”
“You should be apologizing to him.” Luo Wenchuan glanced at the figure in the medical pod and said slowly, “Not to me.”
The queen replied earnestly, “Rest assured, I’ve already instructed the director to gather the best doctors. We will find a way to heal Xingze’s gland.”
“If you knew this would happen, why did you act as you did?” Luo Wenchuan said coldly. “You were the one who leaked the news about amending the Marriage Law to Chi Yin in advance, emboldening him to force the marriage. And now you come with these words. Don’t you find your actions hypocritical?”
The queen grew agitated. “That’s because I didn’t know at the time.”
In her distress, she nearly let slip the truth about Luo Wenchuan and Yun Xingze’s 100% compatibility.
