"Spontaneous combustion?" Lu Jing'an frowned and asked, "You mean she committed suicide?"
Zhong Li shook her head and said, "Your Majesty, what this humble subject means by spontaneous combustion is not what Your Majesty has in mind."
"Oh? How so?" Lu Jing'an was clearly interested.
Zhong Li curved her lips and said, "What this humble subject means by spontaneous combustion is when the deceased's body suddenly catches fire and burns to ashes."
"This..." Lu Jing'an looked bewildered.
Zhong Li continued, "Your Majesty, this humble subject has been idle at home these past few days and has casually flipped through some related materials from the Nan Yue Kingdom and the former dynasty.
Guess what?"
"Continue," Lu Jing'an said.
"In historical records, there are as many as three cases of the Xiang Wangfei's condition, and all three occurred in the Lin Kingdom," Zhong Li said.
"Oh, were those cases solved?" Lu Jing'an asked.
Zhong Li shook her head and said, "These three were sudden phenomena that occurred among the common folk, and there was nothing strange about them. What I'm trying to say is that the Xiang Wangfei's situation is not an isolated incident, so please don't think it's the work of ghosts and spirits."
As she spoke, she glanced at Xu Qing.
Xu Qing lowered his head indignantly.
"Then if it's a sudden phenomenon, with only three occurrences in Lin Kingdom over a hundred years, and our Nan Yue Kingdom is barely fifty years old, how can it be..."
"Actually, this phenomenon has an explanation," Zhong Li quickly interjected, afraid that he would worry too much.
"How so?"
Zhong Li said, "The wick effect."
"What is that?"
Zhong Li curled her lips and said, "The so-called wick effect is when a person burns continuously like a candle under specific conditions. The fat in the body provides the fuel like wax, and the clothes, soaked in fat, become the wick."
"Fat?" Lu Jing'an frowned. He had never heard this word before. Where did it come from?
Zhong Li reacted quickly and replied, "Your Majesty, it is the 'fat' on a person's body. We coroners habitually call it adipose tissue."
"Oh? Is that so?" Lu Jing'an finally understood.
Zhong Li nodded, walked to a corner, took a lantern from a palace maid, opened the lantern, took out the candle inside, and continued her previous topic. "Your Majesty, look at this candle, and combine it with what I just said, isn't it clear?"
Lu Jing'an followed Zhong Li's voice and said, "So this can also explain why the clothes worn by the Xiang Wangfei were intact?"
Zhong Li nodded, glanced at Hua Yao, took the two drawings from her, and presented them to the Emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, these are the crime scene diagrams of the Xiang Wangfei and the Shu Fei's murders drawn by Hua Yao. You can look closely. There are many yellowish, sticky substances on the ground where they were burned to death."
"Yes, there really are," Lu Jing'an replied after looking for a while.
"This is precisely the fat that flowed from their bodies and was not completely burned."
"Then what I'm curious about is that a candle cannot burn by itself without an external fire source. According to Minister Zhong's explanation, the Xiang Wangfei is the same. So who made this fuse?" Lu Jing'an asked again.
Zhong Li handed the candle back to the palace maid and quickly knelt on the ground, saying, "Your Majesty is wise. This is also the key point of the entire case. Ignition is one aspect, and the human body has skin protection. Only under specific conditions can this wick effect occur. Therefore, this humble subject believes this case is extremely strange and the methods used are exceptionally concealed. I beg Your Majesty to order this humble subject to thoroughly investigate this case."
"Hearing what Minister Zhong says, you believe this was man-made?" Lu Jing'an did not agree to her request but asked instead.
Zhong Li nodded. "Yes, this humble subject believes so. If only the Xiang Wangfei had such a condition, this matter could be called a coincidence. Now that the Shu Fei has been added, how can there be such coincidences in this world? Someone must have tampered with it."
"Good!" Lu Jing'an nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then I officially order you to review this case and grant you a warrant to facilitate your normal entry and exit of the harem. No one is allowed to make things difficult or obstruct you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zhong Li said as she got up and took the warrant handed to her by Eunuch Hua.
"You may withdraw," Lu Jing'an waved his hand.
Zhong Li nodded and was about to leave when Xu Qing suddenly spoke, "Your Majesty!"
All attention was focused on Xu Qing.
"Your Majesty, this Minister Zhong she..."
"Minister Xu, you begrudge me handing over matters you cannot handle?" Lu Jing'an was already annoyed by Xu Qing and said with a sneer.
Xu Qing quickly knelt and shook his head, "This humble subject dares not. This humble subject merely feels that this case is extremely bizarre, and entrusting it to Minister Zhong is not a bad decision, especially since Minister Zhong is already famous in Jinzhou and Yongcheng."
Hearing this, Zhong Li narrowed her eyes. In her opinion, Xu Qing was not usually this kind to praise others.
As expected, his next sentence popped out, "But no matter how smart Minister Zhong is, this case involves the royal family. If she investigates for half a year or a year without a deadline, Your Majesty..."
"Xu Qing, you..."
Zhong Li pulled the about-to-erupt Hua Yao to her side, then looked at Xu Qing and said, "Then how about we set a deadline of half a month, Minister Xu?"
Xu Qing raised his eyebrows and looked at Zhong Li, smiling triumphantly, "Good, then..."
"Don't get too happy too soon, Minister Xu. If I crack this case and prove that you are unworthy of your position, I hope you will resign from the Dali Temple yourself. How about that?" Zhong Li interrupted Xu Qing and asked.
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and said, "Good!"
"Good. It's happening right in front of the Son of Heaven. Minister Xu, do not go back on your word," Zhong Li said, cupped her fists towards Lu Jing'an, and added, "I trouble Your Majesty to be a witness."
Lu Jing'an raised his eyebrows and nodded, appearing to be watching a good show.
Zhong Li wasted no more words, bowed to Xu Qing again, and turned to leave the imperial study.
Seeing this, Xu Qing knew that staying longer would be meaningless, and he might even provoke the Emperor and cause unnecessary trouble. He also withdrew from the hall.
When the grand imperial hall was left with only Lu Jing'an and Eunuch Hua by his side,
Lu Jing'an leisurely picked up his brush and began to revise a memorial.
"Your Majesty," Eunuch Hua said, looking at the place where everyone had left, "Does Your Majesty really intend to be the guarantor for Junior Minister Xu and Minister Zhong?"
Lu Jing'an put down the brush in his hand and reprimanded, "Xu Qing is an idiot. Zhong Li is so intelligent, yet instead of utilizing her, he opposes her. It is in vain for him to hold the position of Junior Minister of Dali Temple."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Eunuch Hua said.
"However..." Lu Jing'an narrowed his eyes, his expression darkening, "If Zhong Li were recommended by someone else, I might consider using her. But she is Lu Wu Xie's person..."
"Your Majesty..." Eunuch Hua said timidly.
Lu Jing'an shook his head, sneered, and picked up his brush again, resuming his work.
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