Zhong Li ran to the backyard of the Dali Temple and found the carriage pulled back from the southern suburbs.
The carriage was half dry and half wet, but the stench inside still made it difficult to get close.
Zhong Li first circled the outside of the carriage, paying special attention to the bottom. Her fingertips explored every gap, getting a clear sense of how thoroughly the water had soaked the carriage. Then, she crawled inside.
They say that whether it's an ancient coroner or a modern forensic doctor, neither job is for the faint of heart. When she emerged, she felt that the air outside was sweet.
Fortunately, she had found some clues.
Zhong Li rubbed her fingertips. She found saltpeter powder in a crack in the window. This was enough to prove that the corpse inside the carriage was not as recent as they had thought, perhaps dead for much longer.
Having reached this conclusion, Zhong Li quickly covered the carriage with the white sheet and hurried towards the dissection room.
Just as she was about to push open the door to the dissection room, she heard Hua Yao's hysterical wail from inside.
“Yao’er!” Zhong Li rushed in.
She thought Hua Yao was under attack or had suffered an accident. To her surprise, she saw Hua Yao holding a scalpel, staring intently at the female corpse on the examination table.
“What happened?” she asked, walking over to Hua Yao.
Hua Yao came to her senses, realized Zhong Li had returned, and pointed to the corpse in front of her. “Li’er… you… look!”
Zhong Li lowered her gaze. When she saw the scene before her, her pupils contracted sharply.
The female corpse, with its abdomen cut open, was completely empty of organs. Instead, it was filled with small pouches. Although the pouches were stained with blood, she could still tell that they contained khat.
“How can this be? Where are the organs?” Zhong Li asked Hua Yao.
Hua Yao shook her head like a rattle. “It was like this when I opened her chest cavity.”
“That’s not right. I remember there were no suture marks on her body. How did these things get inside?” Zhong Li asked again.
Hua Yao replied tremblingly, “That’s what puzzles me, and that’s why I screamed in fear.”
Zhong Li said nothing more and began to examine the outside of the female corpse lying on the wooden bed.
In her opinion, there was no more absurd thing in the world.
“Li’er!” Seeing her like this, Hua Yao couldn’t help but tug at her clothes. “This case is too strange, we…”
“I know.” Before Hua Yao could finish speaking, Zhong Li had already reached her conclusion.
Hua Yao saw Zhong Li opening the female corpse’s legs and examining them closely, and she also came to her own conclusion.
“Li’er thinks the khat was stuffed in from here?” Hua Yao asked, disbelief in her eyes.
Zhong Li glanced at her and asked, “Have you heard of mummies, Yao’er?”
Hua Yao looked blank.
Zhong Li continued, “When ancient Egyptians made mummies, they would use a hook to go into the nostrils, churn the deceased’s brain, and then use a tube to extract the churned brain. So…”
“So Li’er suspects someone used the same method to churn this female corpse’s organs, extracted them with a tube, and then stuffed the small pouches of khat into her body?” Hua Yao finished Zhong Li’s sentence.
Zhong Li said, “It’s not a suspicion, it’s a certainty.”
As she spoke, she pointed to the corpse’s vulva. “I examined this area earlier. Although the person who did this was skilled, their technique was beyond ordinary, and they still left subtle scratches on the flesh.”
Zhong Li opened it up and brought it closer to the sunlight for Hua Yao to see.
Hua Yao looked at the scene before her and swallowed hard twice. Sometimes, she truly admired Zhong Li. Seeing a fellow human’s corpse, especially in such a private area, and remaining so calm.
“Wait, here!” Hua Yao intended to look away, but her sharp eyes spotted another wound. “This… looks like a tear.”
Zhong Li nodded. “Yes, and judging by the appearance of the wound, it occurred after death. So, the deceased was likely violated after death.”
“What a scoundrel!” Hua Yao clenched her fists in anger after hearing Zhong Li’s explanation. “The deceased was already miserable, disfigured, and then to suffer such torment after death. Worse than a beast! This is trying to send the deceased to hell, to disturb her soul!”
Zhong Li remained silent, continuing to examine the female corpse. In the ancient understanding, burial was a form of rest, and purity after death was a prerequisite for reaching the blissful afterlife. Hua Yao’s indignation was entirely understandable.
She took out all the khat stuffed inside the corpse, counted them, estimated the weight of the khat, and then thoroughly checked the abdominal cavity again to ensure nothing was missed. She took off her gloves and mask, picked up the outer garment placed by the door, and prepared to leave.
“Where are you going again, Li’er?” Hua Yao asked.
Zhong Li folded the dried autopsy report and tucked it into her怀, replying, “Yao’er, I need to ask you a favor. You handle the subsequent suturing and disposition of the corpse. I need to go to the Judicial Inspection Office.”
“Looking for the Young Lord?” Hua Yao’s first thought was Lu Wu Xie.
Zhong Li nodded. “Yes. Mo Cang, on imperial order, has been thoroughly investigating the matter of khat at the Bietian Nunnery. Although the Wu family's silver house has been mostly confiscated, there hasn't been a major breakthrough. Now, with the discovery of the female corpse containing khat in the suburbs, it might provide him with some clues.”
With that, she lightly patted Hua Yao and turned to leave the room.
Hua Yao looked at the crowded dissection room, but only she was breathing. Her body shivered a few times, and she picked up Zhong Li’s small medicine box and began to work.
-------------------------------------
Zhong Li sat in the carriage, looking at the man opposite her examining the autopsy report in his hand.
After a long while, Lu Wu Xie said, “During this period, the Judicial Inspection Office has almost searched the entire Jin Cheng for the khat matter. We have indeed uncovered quite a few cases involving the transport of this substance using corpses, but I’ve examined all those corpses, and none of them died unnaturally.
As for the corpse discovered by Li’er on a small road in the outskirts of Jin Cheng, it’s an anomaly.”
Zhong Li nodded. “I also examined the carriage used to transport the corpse. The material of the carriage is water pine wood, found only in the southern part of the Yue Kingdom. Combined with the sea fish inside the carriage, I concluded that this carriage should be from the vicinity of Jin Zhou or Yong Cheng.”
“Jin Zhou, Yong Cheng?” Lu Wu Xie seized on Zhong Li’s point. “Speaking of these two places, the Wu family’s silver house has an unusually large number of branches in Jin Zhou and Yong Cheng.
Since the incident at Bietian Nunnery implicated the Wu family’s silver house, I have ordered the local prefectures to conduct thorough investigations. The Dali Temple and the Judicial Inspection Office have also dispatched officials to supervise. However… it’s been over a month, and these people still haven’t returned. I don’t know how the investigation is progressing.”
Zhong Li’s eyebrows rose slightly. A normal imperial investigation and sealing of a silver house would take only a few days. If it had been over a month without results, it seemed…
Lu Wu Xie smiled and placed the autopsy report on the table. “That’s why when I saw this report, I decided to come to the Dali Temple with you. Something must have happened in the vicinity of Jin Zhou and Yong Cheng.”