Bone Painting Coroner

Stop investigating? The words that came out of Li Mingzhou’s mouth were shocking.

Ji Yunshu was dumbfounded too. She said, “Li Mingzhou, do you realize that this is a murder case and the murderer is still out there? Do you not want to find out the truth behind Li Yuan’s murder?”

He took a deep breath and shook his head, “I will find out the truth about his death. No one will die anymore… No one will die anymore…” He stood up shakily and wobbled out of the room as if he had just lost his soul.

Ji Yunshu did not think twice before she lifted the white fabric to reveal Li Yuan’s corpse. His neck had been sliced open, layers of skin and flesh exposed. The wound was covered in blood, but at least it had already coagulated and was not gushing everywhere. His head was barely attached to his neck, as if it would fall off and roll on the floor at the lightest touch.

She took out a piece of handkerchief and laid it on her palm before she gently lifted Li Yuan’s chin. As the angle between his head and his neck increased, the flesh that had been held together by the clotted blood, was also separated. Gradually, the hyoid bone was exposed.

She examined it as she reached out to the hyoid bone with her fingers, pressed against it and touched it softly. Then, she removed her hand from Li Yuan’s chin and placed it back down.

Afterwards, she inspected all his fingers. The fingers were bent and stiff, and there were a few thin fibres stuck underneath his nails. She extracted the fibre and rubbed them between her fingertips before she put it close to her nose and sniffed it.

Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to have figured something out. She covered Li Yuan’s body with the white fabric and started pacing back and forth in the room.

Fang Mingshan went forward and asked, “Teacher Ji, what have you found?”

No response.

“Was it done by the same murderer? But in the previous three murder cases, there were signs before their deaths. It seems different for Li Yuan’s death.”

Again, there was no answer.

“Teacher?” he called again.

Ji Yunshu had finished scanning the room.

At this moment, a lady appeared in front of the door. She was helped by a young girl as she walked towards Ji Yunshu. “Are you Teacher Ji?” Her voice was gentle.

Ji Yunshu looked at the lady, who was dressed elegantly and appeared gentle and graceful. She didn’t seem like a commoner. Ji Yunshu went up to the lady, then she cupped her hands and asked, “Yes. And who might this madam be?”

“This humble one is Li Mingzhou’s wife.”

“I see. You’re Madam Li.”

“Teacher Ji, may I speak with you in private?” Ji Yunshu agreed after some hesitation.

Jing Rong, on the other hand, signaled Shi Zijin, who was hiding in the shadows, to follow behind Ji Yunshu as precaution. Madam Li led Ji Yunshu to a pavillion, then ordered the maids to light up a lantern. The cold wind blowing through the pavillion in the dark of the night brought a definite chill to the air. As someone from a scholarly family, Madam Li had an aura and manner that was far more cultured and polite than other ladies her age.

“Why does Madam Li intend to speak to me in private?” Ji Yunshu asked.

“It’s about my husband.”

“Please go ahead.”

“A number of people have died in Yuzhou City recently. And the deceased just had to be old friends of my husband and leaders from the Liu Gang. My husband and I thought the three murders were carried out by Ah Yuan and were very afraid of the consequences. Hence, we had been planning to leave Yuzhou City with Ah Yuan. However, we found out yesterday that Ah Yuan actually did not kill anyone. I’m only a humble woman and I shouldn’t have interfere with the case, but I didn’t expect that even Ah Yuan would die as well!”

“Madam Li, you can be straightforward with me.”

Madam Li’s eyes were red as she clenched both her fists and said, “Teacher Ji, I don’t want anything to happen to my husband. Four of the leaders of Liu Gang have died.” She seemed frightened and worried.

“How can I help you?”

Madam Li looked around cautiously and said in a lowered voice, “To be frank with you, there are two secret passageways into my husband’s study. One is connected to the outside, and another is linked to Ah Yuan’s room.”

“Meaning?”

“I suspect that the murderer entered the study using the secret passageway, then went to Ah Yuan’s room from the study and killed him.” Madam Li was very certain with her statement.

Ji Yunshu felt a chill run down her spine.

Madam Li continued, “Other than my husband and I, there’s only one person who knows about the passageway.”

“Is that person Yun Tongyang from the Longyang Escort Agency?” Ji Yunshu asked.

Madam Li seemed shocked, “How did Teacher know?”

Ji Yunshu said calmly, “Li Yuan’s body told me. It was also Yun Tongyang who killed Li Yuan.”

What? Madam Li lost her balance as she almost fainted at Ji Yunshu’s words. Luckily, Ji Yunshu was quick enough to grab her and helped her to sit down at the side. After Madam Li felt better, she grabbed Ji Yunshu’s hand and said with teary eyes, “So he is the killer. But why did he kill Ah Yuan? Did he kill the three old masters too?”

“No.” Ji Yunshu denied with a firm tone and solemn expression, “He only killed Li Yuan. Someone else killed the others.”

“Someone else?”

“Madam Li, what happened to the Liu Gang twenty years ago? This humble one hopes you understand and confide in me honestly.”

“A few lives were involved in this. I really hope that you can help.”

Madam Li lowered her gaze as she hesitated for a long time. Eventually, she exhaled and lifted her head to look at the lonely moon that was hung in the dark sky.

“Money, it’s all because of money!” She was in tears.

In the time needed to burn one joss stick, Ji Yunshu’s questions had all been answered. Everything seemed clear to her now. She smiled in relief and returned to Li Yuan’s room.

She then whispered a few words to Fang Mingshan. His expression was frozen before he quivered. For a short while, he was dumbstruck, then waved his hand and gestured Constable Zhang to his side.

No one knew what she told Fang Mingshan, but at the same time, she was secretly examining Wen Lingyang who was taking notes.

His side profile was handsome. Under the light, his face was well defined and his fair skin had a rosy glow, almost like a piece of clear, fine jade. His thin lips were gently pressed against each other, his nose bridge was high and his eyelashes curled beautifully like a fan on top of his deep eyes. A man like him was a portrait of gentleness and politeness, the crème de la crème!

Mo Ruo, who was standing at the side, elbowed Jing Rong and said softly, “Be careful, or you might lose your Princess Consort to someone else.”

Jing Rong checked on Ji Yunshu and realised that her gaze was fixed on Wen Lingyang. Feeling jealous, he went up and pulled Ji Yunshu aside. “What are you looking at?”

Ji Yunshu said nonchalantly, “Do you want to know?”

“Just tell me “

“Everything will be revealed tomorrow morning in the hall of yamen.”

Jing Rong was confused. Ji Yunshu did not explain further. She turned around and was ready to leave. Simultaneously, she snapped her finger, and Shi Zijin appeared by her side.

“Do Teacher Ji have any other orders?”

She whispered by Shi Zijin’s ears. Shi Zijin nodded before she left. How odd!

That night at the Longyang Escort Agency…

Li Mingzhou left the Li Residence through the passageway and arrived at the agency.

Yun Tongyang seemed to be anticipating Li Mingzhou in his room. “Li Residence is full of people from the yamen at this moment. Are you not afraid of getting caught for coming here?” Yun Tongyang sat in his chair with two metal balls in his hand.

“Why?” Li Mingzhou asked. He looked like a zombie, standing in the middle of the room with his shoulders drooping and messy hair covering his bloodshot eyes.

…

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