Case One: Twin Corpses in the Flowerbed
Jinzhou was the southernmost city in the Nanyue Kingdom, second only to Yongcheng.
The women here, unlike the cold and sharp demeanor of Zhong Li, possessed a natural softness and gentleness that even men found appealing. This was why a significant portion of the concubines of the noble families in Jincheng hailed from Jinzhou.
After four days of bumpy travel, seeing a place that could rival Jincheng, Zhong Li couldn't resist lifting the curtain to gaze at the scenery outside.
Besides silk and porcelain, which formed the main businesses of Jinzhou and the neighboring Yongcheng, tea also accounted for the largest proportion of tax revenue for both cities.
Yonghua Street was lined with an array of tea shops, the most conspicuous being Jinzhou's largest tea house β the Fragrant Blossom Tower.
Lu Wuxie followed Zhong Li's gaze and looked outside. Seeing her eyes lingering on the Fragrant Blossom Tower, he said, "The Fragrant Blossom Tower is a well-established establishment in the Nanyue Kingdom. If I'm not mistaken, it's managed by the Yue family from Yongcheng, who also supply most of the country's tea."
"So, they are imperial merchants?" Zhong Li asked.
Lu Wuxie nodded and his gaze fell on the next corner. "We're almost at the yamen. I'll take you there and won't be stopping. If you need anything, you can find me at the Xie residence."
Zhong Li curved her lips, acknowledging his words. In her opinion, unless it was something important, she might not seek him out.
"Oh, right," Lu Wuxie suddenly remembered something. He took out a small red cloth bag from a small cabinet beside him and handed it to the woman opposite him.
Zhong Li took it and felt the contents with her fingertips. She seemed to have guessed what it was.
As the cloth bag was slowly opened, a dissection knife appeared in her hand.
"It was confiscated by the Dali Temple before. After the Joyous Tower case was concluded, I got it back from Lan Heng. Now... it's returned to its rightful owner!" Lu Wuxie said, pausing his tone. He looked deeply at Zhong Li, emphasizing the last four words, "returned to its rightful owner."
Zhong Li took it and ran her fingers along the sharp edge of the dissection knife. Due to the limited conditions in ancient times, her previous dissection knife was made of bronze and iron. This one, gifted by Lu Wuxie... was sharper than the one she had lost, but she couldn't quite tell what material it was made of.
"Meteorite iron," Lu Wuxie explained, sensing Zhong Li's confused gaze. "The prince's manor had a piece of high-quality meteorite iron lying around, so I had someone forge a knife. Is it to your liking?"
"Thank you," Zhong Li said, examining the object in her hand carefully. Seeing that the handle of the knife was also engraved with the character 'Li', she thanked him wholeheartedly.
Zhong Li's sudden politeness made Lu Wuxie a little flustered. He opened and closed his thin lips, wanting to say something more. His gaze fell upon the woman's smiling, beautiful face. It was the first time he had seen her smile so genuinely, and he found himself momentarily lost in thought.
-------------------------------------
Zhong Li alighted from Lu Wuxie's carriage. A young constable was already waiting for her at the entrance.
The constable paced back and forth, constantly looking towards the entrance of Jinzhou city. It seemed he had been waiting for a long time. Fortunately, Jinzhou wasn't as cold as Jincheng, otherwise, he would have been shivering uncontrollably.
"Excuse me, young man," Zhong Li said, tucking the dissection knife into her sleeve and tightening her grip on her satchel and medicine chest before stepping forward to greet him.
The constable glanced at her, his brow furrowing. He sidestepped Zhong Li and continued to look towards the city gate.
Zhong Li took out a signal token from herζ. "Are you looking for someone?"
The constable caught sight of the object in her hand and thought he was mistaken. He rubbed his eyes. "A signal token? Are you from the Dali Temple?"
Zhong Li nodded. "Zhong Li, Prefect of the Dali Temple."
Upon hearing this, the constable's expression changed immediately. He sized up Zhong Li from head to toe, disbelief evident in his eyes. Seeing that there was no one else behind her, he conceded, "Please wait a moment, Miss."
With that, he didn't wait for Zhong Li's response and strode towards the governor's yamen.
Not long after, he reappeared and beckoned Zhong Li over unceremoniously before re-entering the yamen.
Jinzhou had a vast territory, and its city scale was second only to Jincheng, with a population of about one million. Therefore, the governor's yamen was considered the largest in the Nanyue Kingdom.
Zhong Li followed the constable through the winding corridors of the governor's yamen for a long time, finally stopping in front of a small courtyard at the deepest part of the yamen.
Before she could speak, the constable said, "Miss Zhong, our lord said the corpses are inside, in the largest room. Two by the wall. Please go in and take a look."
Zhong Li was somewhat taken aback. Although she had only recently entered officialdom, she had some understanding of the rules for official duties. The governor of Jinzhou not verifying her credentials and directly leading her to examine a corpse was quite unusual.
And this place...
She surveyed the small courtyard. There were three rooms in the courtyard. The roof ridges were covered in dust and dead leaves, and the beams were half-exposed. It looked like it was either scheduled for demolition or renovation. Could the corpses be inside?
Seeing Zhong Li's hesitant gaze, the constable sneered and muttered, "Just a coroner from the Dali Temple, and a woman at that. She's picky about where she examines a corpse. As the lord said, women are truly so sentimental?"
Zhong Li turned back, fixing the constable behind her with a gaze as sharp as a needle. Only when he began to nervously avoid her eyes did she tuck away her medicine chest. Before entering the morgue, she left him with a sentence: "So what if I'm a woman? With so many men in the Jinzhou governor's yamen, they still have to find me, a woman?"
As Zhong Li had expected, the rooms in this courtyard were abandoned. The moment her hand touched the door panel, the rotten wooden door, unable to withstand the pressure of opening and closing, swung inwards.
She put on her mask, fanned away the dust in front of her, and walked into the room, accompanied by a chill from within.
This room must have been the old morgue of the yamen. Scattered inside were several wooden beds, with bodies lying on them. Fortunately, it was winter; otherwise, no one could imagine how foul-smelling the corpses would be in such a place.
Following the constable's instructions, Zhong Li quickly found the two corpses placed in a corner.
She put down her medicine chest, put on her gloves, and pulled off the sheets covering the bodies.
Although Zhong Li had already read the file sent by the Jinzhou governor to the Dali Temple before arriving, she was still deeply shocked by the extent of damage to the two corpses on the beds.
Both corpses had their hands and feet bound with iron chains. Perhaps because they were discovered buried in the flowerbed, their bodies were covered in dirt. Their shattered skulls were exposed, and some reddish-yellow substance mixed with dirt clung to the victims' heads, reminding Zhong Li of strawberry cheese or mashed tofu with chili oil.
She found this thought somewhat amusing, shook her head, and began to examine the external appearance of the corpses.
Apart from severe head trauma, with one even being completely disfigured, the remaining torsos were intact with no fatal injuries. Excluding illness or poisoning, the cause of death for the victims was essentially determined.
Zhong Li shifted her gaze to the heads of the corpses. She had examined over a hundred bodies, and although she was still very reluctant to touch these heads, which resembled salad dressing, when she saw something shiny in the mouth of one of the deceased, she calmly reached her hand in.
Three keys?
Zhong Li's fingertips withdrew from the deceased's mouth, and in her hand were three thumb-sized bronze keys.
Next, her gaze fell on the iron lock hanging from the corpse's wrist.
She took out one of the bronze keys and inserted it into the keyhole, turning it a few times.
No, the lock didn't open.
She didn't give up and tried the second key. When the third key was inserted into the keyhole, with a 'click,' the lock opened, and the iron handcuffs on the deceased's hands slid off onto the wooden bed, accompanied by the sound of flesh.
Zhong Li placed the lock in her hand and its corresponding key aside, her gaze shifting to the other corpse whose hands were also locked.
As she had expected, another key opened the lock on the second corpse.
Now that two keys had found their 'homes,' what would the last key unlock?
She looked on, her brow furrowed.