Chapter 211 - 209: Has This Woman Ever Ceased to Astonish? (2 Updates)

Chapter 211: Chapter 209: Has This Woman Ever Ceased to Astonish? (2 Updates)

Madam Cen was slightly taken aback, her face darkening once more, she said: "Vice General Sun is one of the two deputy generals who have been with the Lord for nearly twenty years. The Lord has always trusted them deeply.

Who would have thought that a while ago, the Lord discovered that Vice General Sun had been secretly embezzling military funds to gamble. The Lord always knew he was addicted to gambling, but didn’t expect him to be so bold as to embezzle even military pay. Although the amount he embezzled wasn’t large, it was still a violation of military regulations. The Lord, considering how long he had been with him, didn’t disclose this matter. He personally covered the embezzled amount out of pocket but demanded that Vice General Sun leave the camp from then on, never to appear before him again.

Vice General Sun, however, was unwilling to leave, and had been causing trouble during this time. Unexpectedly, he broke into my and the Lord’s room during the old madam’s birthday celebration today. The Lord, in a fit of anger, gave him an ultimatum—if he caused trouble again, he would report his embezzlement to higher authorities. With the amount embezzled, he’d surely be imprisoned for several years, and it might even implicate his descendants. Only then did Vice General Sun leave, but from the look on his face, he was not leaving willingly."

After Madam Cen finished speaking, Qingyi added: "But there’s something Miss Xu might have misunderstood. Although the Lord was angered by Vice General Sun, the Lord has a habit of drinking a cup of tea upon returning to his room. Today, due to his anger, he drank two cups. Thus, we always change the tea in the room before the Lord returns. Today Qingyun, who was on duty, didn’t change the tea and was scolded by the madam for it."

Qingyun, still kneeling on the ground, hurriedly said: "That... that was because Vice General Sun..."

Qingyi glanced at Qingyun with some sympathy and said: "I know, it’s because Vice General Sun suddenly barged in, leaving you unsure of what to do. Later, in your haste to find the madam, you didn’t have time to change the tea, so the madam didn’t scold you too harshly."

In her view, Qingyun was just dragged into the matter by bad luck.

Xu Jing suddenly looked at Qingyun, "When you went to find the madam, was Vice General Sun alone in the room?"

Qingyun shook his head and said: "No, Guard Chen and Guard Feng were worried Vice General Sun would cause trouble, so they followed him into the room when he entered. Later, when I went to find the madam, they were watching Vice General Sun the whole time."

Xu Jing looked at the two guards and said: "When Vice General Sun was in the room, were you watching him the entire time? Did he do anything strange?"

This clearly implied suspicion towards Vice General Sun.

Indeed, the person with the most motive who had entered the Lord’s room recently was Vice General Sun.

Chen Sheng and Feng Zhao instinctively exchanged glances. It was Feng Zhao, who was more articulate, who spoke: "We were indeed watching Vice General Sun, but if Miss Xu insists we didn’t look away for even a moment, we can’t guarantee it. Vice General Sun was sitting by the table in the small hall of the madam’s room at the time, the teapot right there on the table. If Vice General Sun wanted to poison it, it would have taken only a few moments.

Speaking of which, when Qingyun brought the madam back, we instinctively looked outside for a moment. The madam hadn’t been back long before the Lord returned too. What happened after that, the madam knew."

Zhao Shaohua, hearing this, frowned: "Could it really have been Vice General Sun who poisoned it? Uncle treated him so well; the current madam was also introduced to him by my aunt. If he really did such a thing, he’d truly be lower than pigs and dogs!"

Xu Jing pressed her lips together.

The current most suspicious person was indeed Vice General Sun.

However, just looking at the motive and presence at the crime scene wasn’t enough to completely convict him.

But earlier, Madam Cen had already sent someone to find Vice General Sun. Once he’s here, things will become easier to handle.

After waiting for about another fifteen minutes in the courtyard, Zhao Jingming suddenly strode in, his face tight, taking a deep breath: "Mom, Second Brother and I found Steward Liao at the storeroom in the back. However, by the time we found him..."

Zhao Jingming paused, his voice becoming unusually hoarse, "He was already dead."

Everyone was shocked.

Zhao Jingming then revealed another shocking piece of news, "While looking for Steward Liao, we also found Vice General Sun hiding in the mansion. When Father earlier asked him to leave, he secretly slipped away from the person Father sent to escort him and hid in the mansion. The servant responsible for escorting him, out of fear of being punished by Father, didn’t immediately inform him and was secretly looking for Vice General Sun all along.

Vice General Sun said he didn’t want to leave because he still had things to say to Father. He also claimed that he wasn’t the one who poisoned Father, nor did he kill Steward Liao..."

Madam Cen bit her lip, suddenly standing up: "Where are they? Take me there immediately!"

Zhao Jingming quickly led them to the storeroom at the Duke Liang Mansion, where Steward Liao’s body was found at the back of the storeroom, hidden in a pile of bushes that weren’t noticeable unless one looked closely.

Zhao Jingming’s second brother, Zhao Jingyi, greeted Madam Cen and the others upon their arrival, pointing the way, "Mom, Steward Liao is here. Hardly anyone comes by this area regularly, let alone on a day like today. The culprit was cunning, hiding the body here. Once Grandmother’s birthday banquet ended and the mansion’s guards were less vigilant, they could find a way to dispose of the body."

At this time, Steward Liao had already been carried out and placed on a piece of white cloth laid on the ground.

With a murder case involved, Xiao Yi couldn’t just wash his hands of it. He stepped forward and knelt in front of the deceased, carefully inspecting. Xu Jing also stepped up beside him.

They saw the tall, rotund middle-aged man lying lifelessly on the ground. His usual gentle smile replaced by the dead stillness, his hands tied behind his back with hemp rope, and his feet bound together.

Madam Cen looked at Steward Liao’s corpse, trembling with rage and her eyes turning red, "Which bastard did this! Once I find out, I won’t let them off easily! Yanci, you’re with the Ministry of Justice and experienced in investigations; please help us find the murderer!"

Xiao Yi nodded but suddenly looked up at Xu Jing and said: "There’s no forensic doctor present right now; I’d like to trouble Miss Xu to help examine the body."

Everyone but Zhao Jingming was left with a look of astonishment.

Miss Xu? Examine a body?

Was it they who were crazy, or Xiao Yi?

Xiao Yi remained calm, stood up, and said: "Miss Xu is proficient in medical skills, so she has some insight into autopsies. However, as she is soon to be my fiancée, I only asked Miss Xu to help with the examination as I’m eager to solve the case."

Madam Cen quickly understood Xiao Yi’s intention and said: "Don’t worry, there won’t be anyone here who’ll spread the word about Jing helping with the autopsy."

She was initially surprised too, but thinking about it, this woman had done plenty of surprising things already.

No wonder Yanci, always indifferent to women, cherishes this woman like a treasure and is even willing to seek an imperial decree to remarry her.

Xu Jing gave Xiao Yi a glance before squatting down to begin the examination.

Since she was in the presence of the Zhao Family, she couldn’t just disrobe the deceased at the start, but thankfully, the cause of death was quite evident, almost obvious at a glance.

As she inspected the body, Xu Jing spoke: "The body’s already beginning to stiffen, but rigor mortis has only appeared in the masseter and neck muscles. Preliminary judgment is that the deceased was killed about half an hour ago. It is now approximately 5:30 PM, so the deceased was murdered around 5:00 PM. Considering the weather’s cooling recently, causing rigor mortis to appear later, the actual time of death might be earlier."

5:00 PM!

Duke Liang had been poisoned shortly after 5 p.m. They brought Duke Liang back to his room around 5:30 PM.

Miss Xu’s suggestion that the actual time of death might be earlier means the murderer likely killed Steward Liao before they returned Duke Liang to his room.

In this case, among the four people kneeling earlier in the courtyard, aside from Shen Jie, who was always by Duke Liang’s side, all are suspects.

The suspects naturally include Vice General Sun, who had been hiding in the mansion!

When Madam Cen arrived, she brought those four people over too. Noticing the gazes they received, aside from Shen Jie, the others turned pale.

Xu Jing continued: "The deceased’s face was cyanotic and swollen, with clouded corneas and petechiae. There were petechiae on the face and neck, along with obvious strangulation marks on the neck. Judging by the patterns on the strangulation marks, the murder weapon was likely a piece of hemp rope.

The places on the deceased’s wrists and feet tied with hemp rope had abrasions indicating struggle, showing that the deceased was bound before being killed. However, there were no defense wounds on the deceased’s body..."

As Xu Jing spoke, she carefully examined the body, pausing slightly as she reached the head.