Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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“Surround this area! Everyone must be questioned before leaving.”
Wei Ling approached, carrying her toolbox, and coldly surveyed the area before her gaze settled on Yu Qiuping, who was furtively looking away.
Governor Yu glared at Yu Qiuping and her maid, and yelled at the little maid Hong Lai, “Aren’t you taking your young lady back?”
A proper young lady from a respectable family, standing in front of the gambling den watching the trouble— what kind of behavior was this!
“Wait.” Wei Ling raised her hand to stop her, looking Yu Qiuping up and down. “When did Miss Yu arrive? Did you see anything just now?”
The maid Hong Lai became anxious and stood in front of her young lady to explain, “My young lady was just out for a stroll when she heard someone shouting ‘Someone’s dead!’ We didn’t see anything! We were just blocked here by the crowd.”
“Miss was just taking a stroll to the gambling den?”
Yu Qiuping’s face turned pale and then red, and she bit her lip, lowering her head in silence.
Wei Ling didn’t press the matter further. Instead she turned to Governor Yu and smiled, “Governor, let’s go in and check the condition of the bodies first. Let the brothers stay here and interrogate everyone thoroughly.”
Governor Yu glared at his daughter, then turned and called out “Lord Chen,” before quickly following Chen Buyu and Wei Ling into the gambling den.
The steward, sweating profusely, stepped forward and bowed repeatedly, saying, “Sir.”
“Who is this corpse?”
The steward replied with a wry smile. “I don’t know, sir. So many people come and go here every day; I really don’t recognize this person.”
“Besides, this person’s face… sigh, sir, please, you’ll know once you see it.”
“The corpse is hidden under a table in the main hall. If someone hadn’t been fighting and knocked the table over, we might not have found it until tomorrow.”
He stopped, pointing ahead with a fearful expression. “Sir, it’s right there. I just glanced at it and vomited. Please be careful when you go over there.”
Governor Yu remained calm. “Was the abdomen ripped out?”
He had already seen three corpses with their abdomens ripped out, and his courage had grown considerably.
He thought that seeing a fourth corpse wouldn’t be a problem, but he had overestimated his tolerance.
A moment later, Governor Yu rushed out the door, leaning against the doorframe and vomiting repeatedly.
Wei Ling applied sesame oil to her nose, put on a pair of silver-threaded gauntlets, and squatted down beside the corpse to examine it. “Based on the complexion and stiffness of the body, the time of death should be more than six hours ago.”
Several yamen runners from the governor’s mansion standing behind Wei Ling looked at her with respect as she intently examined the corpse.
The body was in such a state of disarray, yet this female official remained unfazed, while these grown men were still struggling to suppress their nausea.
They truly admired the calm and composure of this female official.
“The abdomen was ripped open, just like the previous three corpses, the heart and liver were removed.”
“The deceased’s face was smashed. Judging from the marks on the body, the murderer must have used two machetes to repeatedly slash at the deceased’s face.”
“There are no obvious wounds on the neck.”
Wei Ling lifted the corpse’s arms and legs to examine them one by one: “The hands and feet are broken. Judging from the degree of force, it should have been caused by being hung up and pulled backwards at the hands and feet.”
Governor Yu slowly walked over, watching from a distance without daring to approach.
Hearing this, he quickly raised his voice and asked, “Lord Wei, then, was this corpse killed by the same person as the previous three corpses? Is it the work of a demon?”
Wei Ling stood up, “We still need to take it back for further examination. But this repeated mutilation of the victim’s face seems to me like an attempt to conceal the victim’s true identity. Demons usually kill directly, not in such a roundabout way.”
Governor Yu’s eyes lit up, “So Lord Wei thinks this is a man-made serial murder case.”
Chen Buyu stepped closer to the two men. “Let’s take the body back and examine it. But with the face so badly shattered, how can we identify the deceased?”
Wei Ling frowned. “It’s indeed difficult to identify. Even if my master were here, I’m afraid he wouldn’t be able to fully reconstruct the deceased’s appearance in a short time.”
“What’s so difficult about that? The governor’s family has a master bone reader. What kind of bone structure can’t he discern? Maybe she can help you.” Mu Feng casually strode in and blurted out.
But after glancing at the body, his expression immediately changed, and he felt nauseous.
His attendant, Chang Qing, expressionlessly took out a jade bucket from behind him and had his young master hold it and squat down to vomit.
He knew it, he knew it, he knew it. He liked to join in the fun, and this is how it turned out.
“Greetings, Your Highness.” Everyone bowed in unison.
Mu Zhao waved his hand, “Let’s get to work, no need for formalities.”
“The second batch of disaster relief grain has arrived. The young master and I were just about to take people to the city gate to count the grain when we passed by this place and learned that something else had happened.” Lu Qian glanced at the corpse, pondered for a moment, and said, “What Xiao Feng said earlier was not wrong.”
“Governor Yu, your daughter Linlang is quite skilled in bone examination, perhaps she can help us.”
“The murderer deliberately smashed the victim’s face to confuse the investigation and make the investigators lose their way.”
“If we can restore the victim’s face, we can gather more clues.”
“My lord.” Chen Buyu’s guards rushed over and handed over a large red cloth, “This thing was found not far from the corpse. The manager said it didn’t belong to Chang Le Gambling House.”
Wei Ling took it and looked at it, then sniffed it, “The material isn’t particularly good, but it’s silk. This thing looks like a swaddling cloth used to wrap a baby.”
Everyone looked at each other, completely bewildered.
As the body, covered with a sheet, was carried out, Yu Qiuping felt an overwhelming sense of unease, and she took several steps back, supporting Hong Lai’s hand.
Governor Yu, accompanying Prince Mu and Lord Lu, came out and, seeing his eldest daughter had just been questioned by the guards of the Demon Suppression Bureau, glared at her fiercely, signalling her to hurry home.
Yu Qiuping tightly gripped her handkerchief, watching Prince Mu and the others leave.
She then walked out of the crowd, dejected.
Hong Lai followed behind her young mistress with envy in her eyes, muttering, “Ah, the second young lady is so lucky, having her mother arrange her marriage. If the marriage with the Lu family in the capital is settled, the second young lady’s status will rise even higher.”
Yu Qiuping pursed her lips, remaining silent.
She had left in high spirits but returned utterly dejected.
Yu Qiuping was filled with worry, knowing her father would surely scold her, and her face remained tense.
A body covered with a white sheet lay before the governor’s mansion, surrounded by a noisy crowd.
Just as Yu Qiuping arrived, she heard someone shouting and cursing outside, “Get your Governor’s daughter, Yu Linlang, out here!”
Two burly old women stormed the door, forcefully shoving the gatekeeper. “Get her out here right now!”
Yu Qiuping’s eyes lit up instantly.
With this country bumpkin, Yu Linlang, being called out to cause trouble, the master and mistress would have no time to care whether she went out for a stroll or not; they would definitely have to deal with Yu Linlang first.
This was just the right thing to do!
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