"Minister Zou, Lord Zou, you just let him go like that?"
Liu Yujing strode out from behind the hall, furious. He was deeply dissatisfied with Zou Cheng Yi's decision to let Feng Luan go. Zou Cheng Yi understood Liu Yujing's anger and grief over the loss of his beloved son. He had granted Liu Yujing's request to allow him to observe the proceedings from the inner hall, but that did not mean he would permit Liu Yujing to dictate to him or make unreasonable accusations. "Lord Liu, I also deeply regret your son's unfortunate demise. Allowing you to observe is already an act of camaraderie between colleagues. As for how the case is to be tried and judged, you need not say more!"
Liu Yujing had bumped into a rather unpleasant social snub. The snub lodged in his throat, impossible to spit out or swallow. His face shifted from pale to flushed, his wide eyes bloodshot, and even his brows seemed to burn with rage. However, the man before him was no minor official but a Minister of the same rank. Despite his simmering resentment and surging anger, he could not afford to fall out with him.
"Brother Zou, I misspoke, but..."
"Brother Liu, I went to see your son's body earlier. The wound on his chest was already festering. If this were a beggar, such a wound would be considered normal. But Brother Liu, this is your legitimate son, the son of a first-rank official in the imperial court. Would he let a wound fester to this extent without seeking treatment?"
Hearing his living son referred to as a corpse brought a fresh wave of grief upon Liu Yujing. Although his son had long disappointed him, he was still his own flesh and blood. Now, facing the tragedy of a parent outliving their child, his sorrow was irrepressible. Yet, even with his heart in turmoil, he immediately understood Zou Cheng Yi's implication.
"So my son's death has another cause?"
Zou Cheng Yi nodded, then shook his head. "We cannot jump to conclusions yet... Lord Liu, the Ministry of Punishments will re-examine your son's body. I hope you will bear with us."
"I understand!"
"However, Brother Zou, if it is ultimately proven that my son was indeed killed by Feng Luan, then..."
"I will handle it impartially. But Lord Liu, even so, Feng Luan will only be charged with negligent homicide. I hope you can prepare yourself mentally for this."
Liu Yujing fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
...
The coroner from the Ministry of Punishments re-examined Liu Ling's body.
"My lord, we have a discovery!"
The coroner sliced open the wound on Liu Ling's chest, took some flesh and blood, and placed it in a cup filled with clear water. He pointed to the cup and said to Zou Cheng Yi, "The color of the blood is wrong!"
He then picked up the cup and brought it to his nose to sniff.
"My lord, please smell this!"
He detected an unusual scent and held the cup out to Zou Cheng Yi. Zou Cheng Yi leaned in to sniff, his brows furrowed.
What was this smell? A faint fragrance with a hint of bitterness.
"It's almond!" the coroner declared.
Zou Cheng Yi's eyes lit up with understanding. "Yes, it is the smell of almond!"
"So?" Zou Cheng Yi asked.
The coroner put down the cup and said, "My lord, after a normal person dies, even if their blood coagulates, the smell of the blood will not change. The blood within Liu Ling's body has an almond scent, which can only mean that something was on the wound or something entered his body, altering the smell of the blood."
"And more..."
As the coroner spoke, he walked to Liu Ling's body and pulled aside his clothes. "My lord, please look at these lividity marks!"
"The placement of the lividity marks on the body is incorrect!"
"If young Master Liu died suddenly in the dead of night, then there should be no lividity marks on his back. But as you can see." The coroner turned Liu Ling's body over, and Zou Cheng Yi could clearly see the lividity marks on his back.
"The presence of lividity marks on young Master Liu's back indicates that he was certainly not lying flat when he died. Furthermore, based on the direction and location of the lividity marks on his body, he must have rolled and fallen to the ground before his death. My lord, I have reviewed the documents released by the Jingzhao Fu (Capital Prefecture Office). They state that Liu Ling's body was discovered lying flat on the bed. This implies that Liu Ling's body must have been moved after his death."
"My lord, I have only one question now."
"What is it?"
"When the coroner of the Jingzhao Fu conducted the autopsy, were there any lividity marks on the body? If not, then I can be one hundred percent certain that something in Liu Ling's body delayed the appearance of the lividity marks. But if there were..."
The coroner did not finish his sentence, but the implication was clear: if the Jingzhao Fu's coroner had also found lividity marks but presented such a ridiculous conclusion, then that coroner was undoubtedly compromised.
Zou Cheng Yi nodded and immediately ordered the interrogation of the Jingzhao Fu's coroner—Yuan Yi!
The bailiffs from the Ministry of Punishments rushed to Yuan Yi's home, only to find him gone!
"He's gone? Fled to avoid punishment?" Zou Cheng Yi never imagined that the other party would indeed have a problem.
But he distinctly remembered that Yuan Yi had once been someone who had left in righteous indignation for the sake of fairness and justice. Had only a few years caused such a drastic transformation?
Zou Cheng Yi could not articulate his feelings, only annoyance that he had made such a grave mistake. He should have re-examined Liu Ling's body the moment he received it.
But it was too late to dwell on such thoughts now.
"Post a notice, issue an all-points bulletin for Yuan Yi. Even if you have to dig three feet into the earth, find him for me!"
The Ministry of Punishments moved quickly, but the Prince's manor moved faster.
The moment they received the news, they launched a full-scale search for Yuan Yi.
That very night, news arrived.
"Dead?"
The shadow guards had indeed found him, but they found Yuan Yi's corpse. The body had been sunk in the river, and the current carried it downstream. Whether it was the killer's bad luck or Yuan Yi's unfulfilled dying wish, within half a day, it floated to the surface.
"Cause of death?" Nan Shiying inquired.
"A single fatal stab!"
"The blade pierced only the heart. Look at the wound; this is the work of a skilled knife-wielder."
Nan Shiying tutted, then turned to Ji Jin Mo. "My lord, do you think their methods are too crude, or are they just terribly unlucky, to reveal their flaws so quickly?"
Ji Jin Mo fiddled with his coral bracelet, his lowered phoenix eyes revealing no emotion. Xiao Man was squatting on a soft stool nearby, struggling with the medical texts Nan Shiying had thrown at her, her appearance strikingly similar to Gouzi's.
Catching sight of her, the sarcasm in Nan Shiying's eyes seemed to soften into a gentle glow.
Ji Jin Mo's eyelids drooped further, the shadow cast by his lashes under his eyes making him appear somewhat sinister and cold. His aura grew even colder.
He remained silent, ignoring Nan Shiying.
Nan Shiying shivered, her pupils dilating as she looked at Ji Jin Mo, her eye twitching as if she had seen something extraordinary.
"My lord, it is winter now!"
There's no need for a 'cold front,' darn it!
If you're so good at generating cold, couldn't you save it for chilling watermelons in summer?