Chapter 45 - 44: The Calmest Face Says the Boldest Words

Chapter 45: Chapter 44: The Calmest Face Says the Boldest Words

Xu Jing said calmly, "Vice Minister Xiao, provocation tactics won’t work on me. The corpse inside has been left in this summer heat for half a month. Its stench is enough to scare off rats, let alone a delicate woman like myself."

Xiao Yi: "..."

Every time he heard this woman refer to herself as a "delicate woman," Xiao Yi couldn’t help but have a subtle feeling.

"We’re all here now, so there’s no rush. Let Chen Hu bring the items over first.

What I’m more concerned about now is..."

Xu Jing pondered, "How did the murderer know when the victim would be alone, and follow up to commit the murder?

Just like today’s case, he clearly knew that the victim, who would usually be out during the day selling pork, stayed home alone due to feeling unwell, and also knew that Lady Cheng would pass by near the victim’s house at that time every day.

Thus, he was able to set up such a perfect trap."

Xiao Yi raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "Miss Xu is right. The murderer was well aware of the victim’s whereabouts and must have conducted extensive investigation beforehand or tracked the victim for some time.

The circumstances of the victim from four days ago were similar. He was Old Master Fang from Anping County, who had served as an official in the court during his younger years, reaching the position of Inspector of Sui Province. After retiring from officialdom, he returned to Anping County.

According to his family, he had been quite irritable due to health reasons recently. Four days ago, while recuperating at the Fang Family’s estate outside the city, he had a conflict with his eldest son who had come to visit him, and stormed out alone, never to be seen again."

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback and said, "This isn’t the first time he’s stormed out, is it?"

"That’s right," Xiao Yi sighed slightly, "His family says he’s been residing at the estate for some time, and whenever younger family members come to visit him, he almost always ends up quarreling with them.

Especially with his eldest son, who, at forty, still hasn’t achieved an official position. The old man becomes particularly irritable whenever he sees him, almost always resulting in arguments nine times out of ten."

Although he’d already anticipated it, Xiao Yi was still occasionally amazed by the woman’s keen insight into the case.

"So the murderer was well-versed with the Fang Family matters, knowing precisely that Fang Dalang would visit Old Master Fang that day."

Xu Jing raised an eyebrow and suddenly said meaningfully, "Such visits to elders are generally only known to family. The murderer seems to have very sharp information."

This isn’t something that could be discovered by merely following the victim around.

Xiao Yi nodded, "Indeed, I later confirmed with the Fang Family that Fang Dalang’s visits to Old Master Fang were not fixed. In fact, due to the poor relationship between father and son, Fang Dalang was quite resistant to visiting Old Master Fang.

That day, it was his wife who insisted that Fang Dalang hadn’t visited Old Master Fang for over half a month, persuading him to go when he had some free time in two days."

Xu Jing immediately looked at Xiao Yi, and Xiao Yi seemed to know what she wanted to ask, so he continued, "I asked the Fang Family who knew about Fang Dalang’s visit to Old Master Fang. Such matters were mostly known only to the Fang Family because the poor father-son relationship wasn’t something respectable, and the Fang Family never discussed matters between Fang Dalang and Old Master Fang outside.

However, many of the Fang Family servants knew about it, so it’s hard to say whether they’ve leaked it outside or mentioned it during idle chats."

Xiao Yi’s point was that if the murderer had a vested interest, it wasn’t entirely impossible to gather such information.

Xu Jing, however, said coldly, "Indeed, where there’s a will, there’s a way. If someone is determined, nothing is impossible.

But what Vice Minister Xiao just mentioned are private matters within the Fang Family residence. Even if some loose-lipped servants talked outside, they wouldn’t say it so completely. And if someone constantly pressed the servants about these matters, they would certainly notice something was amiss."

Xiao Yi’s eyes glinted slightly, "So what’s Miss Xu’s suggestion?"

"I suspect the murderer might have been able to enter the Fang Family residence freely, and not just once, so he could have overheard many private matters without arousing the Fang Family’s suspicion."

Xiao Yi’s brows furrowed tightly, "Are you suggesting the murderer might be someone from the Fang Family?"

"No, the only victim related to the Fang Family is Old Master Fang. I lean more towards someone from outside who can come and go from the Fang Family, such as guests, business partners, doctors, or various craftsmen and workers." Xu Jing mused.

While this widens the scope considerably, investigating it would indeed require a lot of effort.

At this moment, Chen Hu returned excitedly with the items Xu Jing requested: a copper basin, cangzhu, soap, a small tub of soap water, forensic gloves, and several clean cloths.

She first placed the cangzhu and soap in the copper basin and lit it, instructing Chen Hu to place the basin in the room and let it burn for a while, then covered her mouth and nose with a cloth and put on gloves.

Xiao Yi watched Xu Jing intently, as some doubts he had dismissed when deciding to stop having hidden guards follow her started creeping back into his mind.

Many forensic doctors would do similar preparatory work before examining a corpse.

Judging by her proficiency, it was hard to argue against the notion that she might have made a living from corpse examination before.

As Xu Jing was prepared to enter, Xiao Yi withdrew his gaze and also covered his mouth and nose with a cloth, following her inside.

The not-too-large room contained only three corpses, surrounded by several barrels filled with ice, making the room feel chillingly cold when entered.

Xiao Yi explained, "This is a major court case. To facilitate the investigation, a room was specially cleared to store corpses related to the case, hence only these three corpses are placed here.

From left to right are Mr. Lv, murdered half a month ago; Old Master Fang, murdered four days ago; and Zhu Dalang, murdered today."

The corpses were all covered with white sheets. Without Xiao Yi’s explanation, Xu Jing would’ve been hard-pressed to identify each.

After listening to Xiao Yi, she promptly moved towards the middle corpse, saying, "Zhu Dalang’s corpse was half burnt, erasing some of its features.

Mr. Lv’s corpse has decayed considerably after so many days.

The easiest one to examine is Old Master Fang’s corpse."

With that, she deftly lifted the white sheet covering it.

Chen Hu was immediately astounded, "How did Old Master Fang’s corpse... end up like this?!"

For having assisted Xu Jing during the previous Peng Shian incident, he was summoned by Xiao Yi this time.

As a Government Official at the county government, he had indeed seen many corpses, but being far from a professional forensic doctor, he was unfamiliar with the various changes that occur in corpses.

He remembered that when Old Master Fang’s body was first brought back, it appeared quite normal. How did it... how did it suddenly seem swollen, especially around the chest and abdomen, almost resembling a pregnant woman?

The eyes were bulging, lips appeared enlarged and turned inside out, the tongue... the tongue was hanging out!

The skin was also a faint greenish color, looking disgustingly sick.

Xu Jing, however, said calmly, "The corpse has been here for four days in this weather; it’s quite remarkable that it only changed to this extent."

The corpse had only a mild stage of putrefaction; fortunately, the room was generously filled with ice blocks.

Being the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Xiao Yi was aware that this was the normal change in corpses, gazing deeply at Xu Jing, "Miss Xu, do you know what this phenomenon is called?"

"Putrefaction," Xu Jing commenced, ever pragmatic, already meticulously examining every inch of the corpse starting from the head, "In simple terms, it’s when a person’s internal organs begin to decay after death, emitting large amounts of a greenish putrid gas that fills the body, causing it to inflate like a balloon.

This corpse is in the early stages of putrefaction; in severe cases, the skin can even burst apart, much like a balloon being blown apart."

Chen Hu was dumbfounded, not knowing what expression to use to convey his feelings.

How did Miss Xu manage to say those fierce words with the most composed expression?

He thought he might never be able to look at a balloon the same way again!

Xiao Yi’s gaze deepened significantly.

However, he knew, even if he were to question her on how she learned such things, he would likely only get a reply of "Vice Minister Xiao should read more books."

Ah, if such books indeed existed, how could the court let them circulate among the populace, they would have long been reproduced and distributed to major yamen as treasures!

By this time, Xu Jing had already finished examining the victim’s head, stood upright, and naturally said to Chen Hu, "Mr. Chen, please remove the deceased’s clothing."