This is Bo Ruoyou's first time entering Anqinghou Mansion.
The snow is coming, the sky is blue, the continuous pavilions and pavilions are colorful with vermilion lacquer, the nobles are grand, the snow is pressed with pines and cypresses in the distance, and Qiongzhi jade hangs, and under the white wall nearby, two clumps of wintersweet are blooming in the cold, and the fragrance is overwhelming.
While looking at Kuoda and Grace's mansion, Bo Ruoyou walked slowly behind He Cheng, the prefect of Qingzhou.
Today is the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, and the weather is extremely cold, but He Cheng took a handkerchief in his hand and wiped the thin sweat on his forehead as he walked, "I called you here because there is really nothing to do. This case is very difficult. In the entire Qingzhou Prefecture, I can't think of anyone else who can help except you."
Two days ago, the arrests from the government office of the state government arrived at Qingshan County. That night, Bo Ruoyou got into the carriage that came to Qingzhou City, and drove for two days non-stop, before arriving at Hou's Mansion a while ago.
Needless to say, He Cheng encountered another troublesome case.
He Cheng is five feet tall, middle-aged and well-fed. Today he is wearing a fur-collared fur coat, and he walks more and more roundly. But he was found dead in the Buddhist hall. When he was found, he was frozen. Now almost half a month has passed, and the cause of death is still not found. Not only that, but strange things happened in the house... "
Bo Ruoyou didn't expect that it was the old lady of Hou's mansion who died.
Qingzhou is an important town in the south of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Although it is hundreds of miles away from Kyoto, it is home to many aristocratic families. The Zheng family in Anqinghou's mansion is one of the aristocratic families in Qingzhou. She has never heard of the old lady's death from the time she left to the city. The Hou Mansion kept this matter very strict.
Seeing that He Cheng didn't continue, Bo Ruoyou asked, "Something strange happened?"
Bo Ruoyou opened her mouth with a soft and clear voice. When He Cheng looked back, she saw her bright eyes were like stars, her eyebrows were like black, she was wearing a blue Hunan skirt and a moon-white bamboo cloak. Calm, with a strong character.
He Cheng withdrew his gaze and sighed, "Let's do the autopsy first, the old lady's death is very strange, she has no old diseases, and there is no trauma after death, nor poisoning, you know, the cause of death can't be found out, and the Without other clues, there is no way to start the case, and I have been really overwhelmed these days."
Bo Ruoyou felt that He Cheng hadn't finished his sentence, and when he saw that he was sweating profusely, he comforted him, "Everyone must die for a reason. Don't worry, my lord, women will do their best."
He Cheng smiled wryly, "I believe you, but you must be quick."
At this point, He Chengyu's voice became more serious, "You are my own, so I will not hide it from you. You should know that the Anqinghou Mansion has a noble status, and the old lady was originally from the Xinyang Hou Mansion. Looking back, she is still Xiaoyi who has passed away. The empress dowager's cousin, so the death of the old lady is very important, after the incident, the capital got the news that the Xinyang Marquis Mansion has sent people to Qingzhou, and I'm afraid they will arrive tonight."
He Cheng took a breath, "The news of this case is tightly sealed. According to the intention of the Marquis Mansion, it is best to find out the murderer silently. Right now, I will take you to examine the old lady's body. You'd better find out before dusk." When the result comes, no, we can’t wait until dusk, it’s best to find out the cause of death within an hour—"
Only then did Bo Ruoyou understand why He Cheng was in such a panic.
Although she is not from Qingzhou, she grew up in Qingshan County under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou. Later, by chance, she became a government official in Qingshan County. Normally, He Cheng would only invite her to come for long-delayed unsolved cases or tragic cases with many casualties.
Seeing He Cheng's burning eyebrows, Bo Ruoyou lifted his spirits, and the two turned around two flower beds. The further they walked, the more remote the location was. Just when Bo Ruoyou was about to ask how far away the mortuary was, A secluded small courtyard came into view.
The small courtyard has white walls and gray tiles, the snow outside the walls has not yet melted, and the two clumps of purple bamboo are as green as Daisy. He Chengdao: "This is the place where the old lady rests."
He Cheng took Bo Ruoyou into the courtyard gate, and Bo Ruoyou frowned as soon as he entered the door.
There are plain spirit banners hanging in the courtyard, but what is strange is that there are also two wooden gourds smeared with cinnabar under the eaves. , two bright yellow talisman papers were firmly attached.
There were only two yamen guards in the courtyard, and when they saw He Cheng bringing a woman, they didn't see any surprises, and even bowed their hands to Bo Ruoyou, "Miss Bo."
Bo Ruoyou came to the state government government office for autopsy many times, and he was already familiar with these government servants.
Bo Ruoyou nodded, and He Cheng asked, "Is anyone here today?"
The yamen servants shook their heads in unison, and He Cheng seemed relieved, and led Bo Ruoyou to the main room. When he reached the door, he stopped, his chubby body bulged, and took a deep breath.
Bo Ruoyou: "..."
It had been many days since the crime happened, how could He Cheng still be afraid of the old man's corpse
As soon as this idea settled down, the door was pushed open by He Cheng, and Bo Ruoyou naturally looked into the door—
The next moment, her face froze slightly.
She knew that He Chenghe had taken such a deep breath.
The main room was square and dim, and the coffin bed for the morgue was placed in the center. The old lady of the Hou Mansion was lying quietly in a black mourning gown with blessings and longevity patterns, vaguely wearing five collars and three waists. Nearly half a month after his death, the head and face exposed from the collar of the mourning clothes and the hands exposed from the cuffs are all bruised and swollen, covered with scars, and have long since lost their human form.
But it wasn't these things that changed Bo Ruoyou's face.
The room was originally spacious, and the coffin bed was a bit empty, but at this moment, in addition to the corpses on the coffin bed, there were more than a dozen red and green paper-made boys and girls parked on the left and right sides of the coffin bed.
These paper children are half the height of a human being, the boys are dressed in red brocade robes, and the girls are dressed in dark green skirts. They surround the coffin bed like real children. , the old man is dead, and the grandson is fake.
This situation is horrifying for anyone who sees it.
Bo Ruoyou gathered the cloak: "My lord, this..."
He Cheng also seemed helpless, "It's a long story, don't be afraid, it's all fake, let's do an autopsy first."
Bo Ruoyou felt that if they were all true, they would be equally terrifying.
Stepping into the door, Bo Ruoyou sniffed, first smelled a faint smell of blood, and then took a closer look, in the dim light, the coffin bed was covered with spells, and the bodies of those boys and girls were covered with spells. The blood-red cinnabar was painted with strange runes, and Bo Ruoyou frowned, "My lord, do people in the house feel that it is inauspicious for the old lady to die during the Chinese New Year?"
The bloody smell she smelled was dog blood, coupled with the gourd copper tripod in the yard, the cinnabar talismans and paper-tied children in the house, it was no longer as simple as a simple way for the dead to ward off evil spirits. Evil.
He Changchang sighed, "If it's just like this, it's easy. You should do the autopsy first, Xiao Bo, this time it's really up to you. If people from the capital come, I still have nothing to say. It's really unreasonable." .”
The utensils are all ready, and Bo Ruoyou is ready for an autopsy at any time, but looking at these boys and girls, Bo Ruoyou is somewhat intimidated, "My lord, can these things be removed?"
With a wry smile on He Cheng's face, he was obviously a little apprehensive towards the paper boy, but he said, "I can't move—"
Bo Ruoyou sighed helplessly, "Then please add two lamps, sir."
The lamp was quickly lit, and when the light was on, the boys and girls made of paper made a frightening beauty.
Making paper sticks is also called fishing for Yinmen. It is the most sinister, and the paper figurines have the rules of not touching eyes. At this moment, Bo Ruoyou is stared at by more than a dozen pairs of black eyes. Calm and steady, she first lit atractylodes and other things in the house to decontaminate and deodorize, and then took Suhexiang pills in her mouth, and then walked to the coffin bed to observe the corpse.
The moment his eyes fell on the corpse, Bo Ruoyou's whole body changed.
The gentleness faded away, and solemnity and concentration floated up from her eyes. The delicate and friendly surroundings seemed to be instantly covered with a layer of frost that strangers should not get close to. It was He Chengcheng who held his breath and did not dare to disturb her.
Seeing Bo Ruoyou like this, He Cheng couldn't help but think of the situation when she was called for the first autopsy.
It was two years ago in the cold winter. There was a massacre in the city of Qingzhou. The autopsy conducted by the state government office for several days could not find out the cause of death. She was a powerful maid who could make the dead speak, so she was summoned half-believingly.
After waiting for five days, I saw the legendary female widow. It was a pretty girl. He Cheng was furious. He felt that he had been deceived by the rumors. He broke the murderer's method of killing, and even pushed the murderer's appearance seven or eight points. Later, the case was solved three days later, and when the results are evaluated at the end of the year, it will be a highlight in his credit book!
At that time, Bo Ruoyou was only sixteen years old, but she was as calm and steady as she is today.
Bo Ruoyou's eyes were deep and deep, and she swept over the corpse with every detail visible. The shroud was tightly buttoned, and the collar was soaked in the rotting corpse water at the neck. Although the head and face were not human-shaped, there was no trace of trauma. He pondered for a while, She leaned over and untied the shroud.
The decay of the corpse exceeded Bo Ruoyou's expectation, because joss sticks were lit in the house.
The hotter the house, the faster the corpse rots. Now not only the head, face, lips and nose are dripping with water and dirt, but there are green mold marks and tiny maggots on the chest, abdomen and vulva, and the rest of the corpse is green and swollen visible to the naked eye. With the lights on, you can still see the branch-shaped purple blood veins protruding under the skin.
Even so, it can still be seen that the body of the corpse is intact, there is no bruise on the neck, no suspicious marks on the chest, abdomen, legs, back, etc., and there are only ordinary rotten green stains on the hands and feet. Looking at these, there was no abnormality found. After checking the body surface, Bo Ruoyou pressed the five internal organs carefully, and finally checked the top of the skull that had begun to rot and lose hair.
After two hours of incense sticks, Bo Ruoyou straightened up and said solemnly: "It is true that there is no sign of poisoning, no trauma, and there are no implants in the top of the vulva to kill."
Bo Ruoyou said one more word, and the frustration on He Cheng's face deepened. When Bo Ruoyou finished speaking, He Cheng was about to cry, "This means...you can't find out the cause of death?"
"Not having these kinds of causes of death does not mean that there is no cause of death." After a slight pause, Bo Ruoyou said calmly: "The daughter of the people suspects that the old lady died suddenly due to a hidden disease. To be sure, an autopsy is needed."
He Cheng was startled, "The old lady was always in good health, not to mention the old lady's status is noble, how could she let the autopsy be done?"
Dazhou's funeral customs are not civilized. Even after death, the hair and skin of the body cannot be damaged. Bo Ruoyou has been doing autopsies for so long, and she is not surprised if she encounters such a situation.
Bo Ruoyou said calmly: "There are many hidden diseases that usually show no abnormalities, but they can cause sudden death. If you want to have a conclusion, you can only dissect the corpse. The old lady is old, and it is extremely serious to have hidden diseases in the body organs. It's possible, but what kind of hidden disease it is, it's hard to tell just by looking at the corpse table. If you know what kind of hidden disease it is, and then ask the old lady's condition when she died that day, you can infer that the death of the old lady is related to whether there are other people around. related."
The method of autopsy is not known by everyone. In the entire Qingzhou City, only Bo Ruoyou dares to dissect a corpse no matter how long it has been dead to examine the internal organs and bones. He Cheng knew that Bo Ruoyou's words were justified, but he also had difficulties, "I don't care whether the autopsy can be performed, but now the masters of the Hou's Mansion are in charge. If the autopsy is to be done, they must agree."
Seeing Bo Ruoyou's eyes full of blankness, He Cheng knew that she didn't understand the Marquis of Anqing, so he said: "After the old lady married the old Marquis, she had five sons under her knees. The eldest son inherited the title of Marquis after the old Marquis passed away, but three years ago He died of illness, and because he had no children, the title of marquis has never been renewed. Later, the old lady was the head of the mansion, and the other four masters also lived in the Marquis' mansion. After the old lady passed away a few days ago, now it is The third master and the fifth master are in charge, and most of them will not agree."
Bo Ruoyou subconsciously asked, "Where are the second and fourth masters?"
When Bo Ruoyou asked, He Cheng's eyes suddenly became a little strange. His eyes swept over the old lady's body, and he subconsciously took half a step back in the direction of the door, as if he was afraid that the old lady's body would suddenly stand up.
"Fourth master is traveling abroad, and now he is on his way back."
After talking about the fourth master, He Bencheng should continue to talk about the second master, but as soon as he stopped speaking, he took another half step towards the door, "I just said that after the death of the old lady, something strange happened in the house—"
Bo Ruoyou didn't know why He Cheng would repeat the old story, but she also wanted to know what happened in the house, so she looked at He Cheng quietly.
The corners of He Cheng's lips were tightly pursed, and there was a bit of shock in his eyes, "The old lady was found on the morning of the first day of the new year. After the autopsy, it was deduced that the old lady should have passed away between midnight and Mao. Others said that the death of the old lady had nothing to do with the second master. Because the whole year of last year, the relationship between the second master and the old lady was extremely bad because of the renewal of the title. And on the night of the New Year's Eve, They also had a big fight."
Bo Ruoyou subconsciously said: "Then now... the second master is in custody?"
He Cheng's eyes froze, "No, he's dead."
"Not only died, but was pushed down by the old lady from the third floor of Yaoyue Pavilion in the mansion under the eyes of everyone."
Bo Ruoyou frowned instantly, "But the old lady has..."
"That day was the seventh day of the first lunar month, the seventh day of the old lady's first day." He Cheng couldn't help looking at the old lady's body, "So, everyone in the house said that it was the ghost of the old lady who came to kill the old lady for revenge. Lord."
Bo Ruoyou was facing away from the old lady's body at the moment. After He Cheng said this, even though she was always calm, she felt a chill down her spine, and instantly understood why so many paper children were placed. There is a saying among the masters who practice things , after the death of the elderly, the spirits of the dead were disturbed, and evil spirits were born, and the young ghosts were offered to appease or suppress them.
Bo Ruoyou calmed down, "So there are actually two dead in this case, does your lord believe in ghosts killing people?"
He Cheng smiled wryly, "If you believe me, there are excuses for so many cases earlier, why call you here when you encounter difficulties?"
Bo Ruoyou said in a deep voice: "I don't know if ghosts can kill people, but it's very easy for people to pretend to be ghosts and harm others. My lord, do you want to examine the second master's body as well?"
He Cheng sighed, "It's a test, but it's a little difficult right now. After the death of the second master, Mr. Zheng still insisted that the murderer was the second master. Now the second master's body is parked elsewhere. As long as the government finds out that the second master was the murderer The old lady's evidence, therefore, the government has not yet inspected the second master's body."
There are many aristocratic families in Qingzhou City, and the Marquis of Anqing is especially distinguished. Although He Cheng is the magistrate of a prefecture, he comes from a poor family and has no background. Therefore, he has to be cautious as a magistrate, so that in this case, he was completely constrained. live.
He Cheng was sweating non-stop on his forehead, which showed that he was extremely anxious, but looking at the sun that had already slanted to the west outside, he knew that he could not hesitate any longer. People from the capital would only be more troublesome if they arrived after dark, " Forget it, I will go to the third master to discuss it now, if it is approved, I am relieved of your autopsy—"
He Cheng was sometimes overly cautious and timid, but he was seldom negligent and contemptuous when it came to errands. He could be regarded as a good official pleading for the people, so Bo Ruoyou said: "Okay, the girl is waiting here."
He Cheng nodded, and pointed to the side room, "Go over there and stay warmer."
After finishing speaking, He Cheng turned around and went out, gave orders to the Yacha, and took one of them out of the courtyard.
As soon as He Cheng left, the yamen servant was outside the house again, and Bo Ruoyou was the only one left in the house in an instant, but she understood the purpose of setting up the mourning hall in such a way, and she lost the feeling of horror when she first came here.
She turned to look at the old lady's body.
She has never seen a ghost, and she doesn't believe that ghosts kill people. She just wondered who would pretend to be an old lady to kill the second master in this magnificent Hou's mansion, and then disappeared without anyone noticing, making everyone think It's ghosts that kill people...
As for the old lady whose cause of death is hard to find, did she die from a hidden disease, or was she killed by others
It took He Cheng longer to go than Bo Ruoyou imagined. She waited until the sun set, and then saw that the sun was covered by a few clouds, and the cold wind in the yard seemed to be snowing again.
After waiting for too long, and the weather was about to change again, Bo Ruoyou also became a little anxious, and she couldn't help pacing in the courtyard.
Layers of plain snow in the yard, like white silk on the ground, contrasted with the spirit banner on the beam, made the small courtyard look even more bleak for no reason, and seeing that He Cheng still hadn't appeared, her heart sank to the bottom of the valley.
He Cheng's delay for so long must be because he couldn't convince the two masters.
Is there any other way besides autopsy
Just when she was lost in thought, footsteps finally sounded outside the courtyard.
There are many footsteps, and there are many people coming!
With a brightened complexion, Bo Ruoyou hurriedly went to the gate of the courtyard, but as soon as he reached the gate, Bo Ruoyou's footsteps stopped.
There were indeed a lot of people who came. Before she saw He Cheng, she bumped into a pair of phoenix eyes that looked like a cold pool. With the aggressive aura of the unruly nobleman, the cold wind whipped up the snow particles on the ground and flew up, and also lifted the golden coiled dragon pattern on his robe.
Bo Ruoyou's heart skipped a beat, it's the royal family!
When Bo Ruoyou was in a daze, the pair of phoenix eyes on the opposite side had already sunk the moment she saw her, and then, a chilling voice sounded gloomy, "How can there be a woman?"
There was obvious displeasure in this voice, and He Cheng hurriedly stepped forward from behind, his voice almost frightened, "Master Hou, calm down... calm down, this is a job invited by the lower official." He looked at Bao Ruoyou, his eyes With a warning, "What are you doing in a daze, this is Marquis Wu Zhao, why don't you pay homage to Lord Marquis?"
The accident happened too suddenly, but fortunately Bo Ruoyou was always calm, she regained consciousness in an instant, lowered her eyes and knelt down.
The moment she knelt down, her expression became serious.
It was Wu Zhaohou!
She grew up in Qingshan County, even the dignitaries in Qingzhou City, she knows very little, but she is very familiar with the word "Wu Zhaohou". He is like the sun and the moon in the sky, shining on every inch of Dazhou. above.
Huo Weilou, Marquis of Wuzhao, whose mother was the eldest princess of the current dynasty, and whose father was the hereditary Dingguo Duke, was granted the title of marquis by military exploits at the age of eighteen. Later, he took over the embroidered clothes envoy of the emperor of Shangqin and Xia Chabaiguan for his majesty, and took charge of the criminal department.
He is one person under ten thousand people, not only ordinary people are afraid of him, but even in the officialdom, everyone fears him like Yama. It is said that in only one year of last year, he was dismissed and investigated for nearly a year because of poor performance by various officials. Hundreds of people…
Bo Ruoyou was extremely shocked, at this moment, she heard Huo Weilou asking in a deep voice: "Your secretary of the Qingzhou government office is a young girl?"