"For your humble duty, please see the Second Prince." He knelt down on one knee, his body straight and his eyes deep and lively, displaying the majestic aura he had gained from his military experience.
As the first martial arts champion in Daye, the second prince met Qi Shang. This man was young and promising, and had made great achievements in the military. He had always been a wooing target in the heart of the second prince, but because of a previous case, the emperor grew disgusted with him.
The second prince's calculations flashed through his mind, and he smiled calmly and said: "Qi Shen has received the exemption gift, and I have not yet congratulated Qi Shen for his promotion."
Qi Shang stood up abruptly, his figure upright and as steady as a mountain, he lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, I have your grace."
The second prince smiled and stopped talking. Qi Shang ordered people to seal the inside and outside of the village tightly. No one was allowed to leave the village. The people who cooperated with the punishment department separated the entourage for questioning.
After giving the instructions, he seemed to notice his fiancée, who had been standing next to her with a stiff face. Her stern face softened slightly, and he nodded to Su Xiangxiang, who lowered his eyes and avoided her.
Lu Anran had already inspected the head and untied the deceased's clothes without hesitation. His eyes were open and there was no trace of shyness, as if he was looking at an object rather than a male corpse.
Body parts jumped out from her mouth one after another, "chest, breasts, confidant, navel, belly..." Even when they got to the private parts at the back, they actually read them out in front of everyone. She was not embarrassed, and everyone present Instead, he felt ashamed.
Xu Wuzuo acted as the recorder, and his shock could be seen in his trembling hands. Knowing that this is a necessary test for marriage, a woman who has not left the court, especially a lady from a noble family, is still surprising.
The eldest princess and Princess Ding'an had retreated a little while Lu Anran was stripping off the dead man's clothes. Su Xiangxiang took a step slowly and saw the rotten flesh turned into a pile of white flowers. He almost vomited indecently on the spot. He covered his mouth with a handkerchief and hurriedly Take shelter under a nearby tree.
Others were equally uncomfortable. Even Nangong Zhi's eyelids twitched when he saw Lu Anran moving between the deceased's thighs. He took a breath and said, "Miss Lu... is different from ordinary people."
Yun Qi said nonchalantly: "Nangong Shaofu doesn't stay here just because he likes this."
"People in the capital say that Lei Weng is responsible for the soul-inducing case, but I met Miss Lu today and I don't think so."
"oh?"
Nangong Zhi did not say it clearly, but said: "Lei Weng has been hiding from the world for several years and has never accepted any more disciples except Zijie. Now he has set a precedent for Miss Lu."
Yun Qi raised his lips and smiled without a smile, "Maybe the ugly girl really has some special talents."
Nangong Zhi glanced at him sideways. For some reason, he always felt that the words "ugly girl" were not sarcastic, but rather showed a bit of intimacy.
When Lu Anran straightened up, besides Xu Zuozuo who was helping to take notes, only Nangong Zhi and Yun Qi were left by the lake. Farther away was Qi Shang and Wu Captou who were leading the government officials to interrogate all the followers in the village.
"What did you find?" When Yun Qi asked, others gathered around.
Lu Anran sprinkled medicinal powder on his deerskin gloves and rubbed them carefully, raised his eyes to look at everyone, and gave the same answer as Xu Zuo, "There is a slight crack in the hyoid bone."
Princess Ding'an heard this from a distance and snorted disdainfully: "I thought it was something special. I was just pretending, but it's not the same as before."
"Is it really suffocation?" The person who spoke was Captain Wu. He had been handling cases all year round, so he had some knowledge.
After hearing this, the manager of the village hurriedly said: "That's right, it's suffocation, it's drowning."
Yun Qi said coolly: "The dead man's chest was tied with a big stone. Why didn't you say that someone strangled him and dumped his body in the lake?"
"Well... maybe his desire to seek death is too strong, and he is afraid that he will not drown..." The steward's forehead went cold, and he broke into a cold sweat. A murder case was revealed. Even if Zhuangzi was cleared of suspicion, it would be difficult to do business in the future. .
"There is a way to test it." Lu Anran's brows were calm and his black eyes were bright, "Pour hot water into the skull and enter it through the forehead hole. If you fell into the water before you were alive, you would inhale sand and soil through your nose, but not after death."
Xu Wuzuo was surprised when he heard this, "How do you know this method, young lady?"
Lu Anran said calmly: "Master taught me."
The Daye Dynasty did not value the work of coroners and regarded them as lowly positions. Except for the officials in charge of prisons in the royal capital, who had coworkers serving in the palace, other places had officials perform inspections on their behalf, so the results were uneven. It also depended on whether the other party was doing their best. For example, in Mengdu That Doctor Gu.
On his journey to work, there are no various medical classics to guide him. Life is more valuable than gold, and death is as small as a piece of grass. Together with this, his status is low. No one has ever carefully repaired the classics and passed them down to the world. Even if there were, they have never been passed down to immortality.
Although Lei Weng did not teach them personally, these methods came from the books he left behind. Lu Anran pondered day and night, not knowing who the recorder was. He often lamented that the ancestors were so outstanding that he feared that he would spend his whole life mastering this skill.
After burning the incense, I watched the hot water steaming up and the smoke rushing out from the remaining features of the deceased's carrion, then slowly soaking into the ground and disappearing invisible.
"There is no sediment." Lu Anran's cold voice sounded a little cool in the late spring.
The steward closed his eyes, his face gloomy.
Wu Captou said with a serious face: "There is no sand, which means that the body was thrown into the lake after death, and it was murder."
The second prince's expression also became a little colder, "Qi Shen will lead the people to cordon off Ya Xianju and conduct a thorough investigation."
Qi Shang accepted the order and said: "All the noble families in Luotingxuan are waiting for the second prince to speak."
The second prince rubbed his brows, remembering that today was a spring banquet, tea and chess game on a whim. He didn't expect this to happen, and couldn't help but have a headache.
Lu Anran: "The deceased has been dead for at least a year." The implication is that it has little to do with the people who are here today.
Seeing the corpse rotting like that, the second prince didn't think he could be involved. However, the previous soul-inducing case had just been concluded, and another one was reported here. There were many people here, and sooner or later there were rumors that he was involved. It’s not always good.
Waving his hand, "Leave the people from the Criminal Division and Patrol Battalion behind, and the others will go back first."
A good banquet, everyone is smiling when they arrive, but only all kinds of suspicion and fear are left when they leave.
Before leaving, the eldest princess unexpectedly walked up to Lu Anran and said in a warm manner: "Miss Lu is surprising and pleasant. No wonder Prince Deyun looks at her differently."
Lu Anran finally confirmed that the eldest princess was really interested in Yun Qi.
Until when he left Zhuangzi, Lu Anran was still frowning slightly. He got angry and joked: "It's good to hide your clumsiness, but you will eventually go down this road. It will happen sooner or later. There is no need to be depressed."
Lu Anran turned her head and took a deep look at him, which made Yun Qi a little confused, and then she said: "In order for me to have a chance to do an autopsy for others instead of being examined by others, it is better to stay away from the prince."
Yun Qi touched his chin, his peach-blossom eyes half-squinted: "This prince is so magnificent and magnificent, are you going to hit the wall with shame and anger?"
Lu Anran ignored him and walked towards the carriage, but was stopped by Lu Jianyu halfway, sobbing and crying: "Sister, the spring banquet failed, and a murder occurred. If grandma knew that my sisters were not doing things properly, would she have done it?" Will blame..."
Lu Anran looked at the tears and snot stained on her sleeves. She was silent for a moment and said, "Grandma held a banquet in the name of the Lu family. Now everyone in the capital city knows about the spring banquet of the Lu family. You have made the Lu family famous. You should be happy. "After that, he pulled away and left.
Lu Jianyu froze on the spot, and after a while she came to her senses. Was Lu Anran mocking her just now?
The second prince and Nangong Zhi came out last. Before getting on the carriage, the second prince patted Nangong Zhi on the shoulder, "You don't know that the murder case in the capital city earlier made people panic, and it didn't last long. Although the incident was not serious, it was reported back to In the ears of Father, I am afraid of disturbing him."
Nangong Zhi was thoughtful and heard the true meaning from the second prince's words, saying, "I shouldn't force the second prince to come here. I will go and accuse myself tomorrow."
The second prince settled his heart and said with a smile: "As for the confession, the case should be handed over to the prosecutor." If he insisted on coming to the Spring Banquet and another murder occurred, his father might be suspicious. His purpose could be avoided if he replaced Nangong Zhi and relied on his father's trust in him.
The carriages left one after another, and the road became empty again. However, a carriage went in the opposite direction, stopped at the gate, and a green figure emerged.
"Hey... why are you all leaving?" Su Zhi stretched out his neck and stomped his feet, "I thought I could have a seat at the end of the table, but now they're gone?"
He asked his brother to stay at home for a few days, and finally got out. He was planning to come to the spring banquet to join in the fun, but he didn't drink the wine and only ate a few mouthfuls of dust raised by the horse's hooves?
—
As the Spring Banquet spread in an alternative way, Lu's name was mentioned all the time, but Lu Jianyu was not happy because no one talked about how elegant the banquet was and the focus was on the murder case.
The Criminal Division interrogated everyone in Yaxianju and found that no one had disappeared in Zhuangzi, so they did not know the identity of this person. They also searched among the missing persons registered after reporting the case a year ago. However, the number of people was large and difficult to compare. I'm afraid It will take some time.
Furthermore, if the person has no family, or if the family does not know that he is missing and does not report it, it will be impossible to find him.
So there was no news for a while. Except for the people who brought the case and were still looking for evidence, the rumors gradually stopped, as if there had never been any waves.
In the end, Xu Zuo used the method of 'steaming bones to examine injuries', and Lu Anran also went there that day.
At first, the officials in charge of the punishment department were quite interested, and helped set up a large pot, and when the water boiled, they carried the bones in. But when the bones started to smell, especially when Lu Anran and Xu Zuzuo stirred them with sticks like they were making bone soup, the government officials rushed out en masse to vomit.
For three months now, Ti Xing Si has stopped making meat and bone soup.
"There were minor injuries on the bones on the chest and the hyoid bone was broken. It is suspected that the murderer grabbed his throat after restraining him and penetrated his chest with a sharp weapon." Lu Anran informed Yunqi of the results.
After hearing this, Yun Qi tapped his fingers on the table and said, "This is unnecessary. The murderer is either cruel or afraid of not being able to kill people."
Lu Anran completed her part, and all that was left was to mention the punishment department. Just as Jixia Palace's mid-term break was over, she started running around in the morning and evening again.
However, I occasionally worry about the progress of the case. There has been no news from Yunqi, so there is probably no progress.
The days are turning into early summer, pomegranate flowers are blooming, and the morning sun shines on the green trees.
Early that morning, Chun Miao took a basin to the well to fetch water. When she looked at the ground, she suddenly became furious and said, "What kind of evil spirit is throwing things into our yard again!"
