Bone Painting Coroner

She put on the gloves she prepared and gently lifted Li Yuan’s chin. She pointed at the exposed wound on the neck and said, “It’s impossible for an ordinary blade to make such a neat and clean cut; thus, the weapon used in the murder must have been extremely sharp.”

She exerted more force as she spoke and lifted Li Yuan’s chin even higher. A faint tearing sound could be heard as the clotted blood sealing the wound closed became unstuck. More blood that had yet to fully dry seeped out and stained the edge of her clean sleeve. Simultaneously, a small piece of blood-stained hyoid bone was unveiled.

Ji Yunshu continued, “Logically, a sharp blade like that would have easily cut the hyoid bone into half. This suggests that the murderer conducted the crime from an extremely close distance, preventing him from putting enough force into the blade to fully decapitate the victim.

Fang Mingshan asked, “How do we determine the murderer then, Teacher Ji?”

“There is no rush, Lord.” She reached into Li Yuan’s throat with her fingers and pressed against the joint of the hyoid bone, “There is an obvious knife mark on the hyoid bone. If the blade were sharp and straight, it would not possibly leave an uneven knife mark on the hyoid bone. Curiously, the mark on Li Yuan’s hyoid bone appears as if it was bitten by a small animal.”

As she said, Fang Mingshan lifted his buttocks from his chair and leaned his upper body on the table to take a look at Li Yuan’s neck. Everyone else looked at his neck curiously too. There was actually an uneven knife mark that looked almost like a bite and could not have possibly come from a normal knife.

“What can this tell us?” Fang Mingshan asked.

“It shows that the weapon the murderer used was not a sword, but a sabre. A sharp sabre with a saw-toothed blade.” Everyone turned their gaze at Yun Tongyang as Ji Yunshu made the conclusion.

It was well-known that the sabres of Longyang Escort Agency had saw-toothed blades!

Yun Tongyang sneered and retorted defensively, “Longyang Escort Agency is not the only place with people using saw-toothed sabres.”

His words were reasonable! Ji Yunshu was not anxious. She pulled out some thin fibres, which were soaked with blood, from Li Yuan’s throat.

She exhibited it and said, “The humble one found fibres like this in Li Yuan’s mouth, throat and fingernails during the autopsy. Besides, I realised that there were scratch marks on his pillow, which indicates that the murderer planned to suffocate him with his pillow initially. However, the murderer did not expect that Li Yuan to be so strong. Anxious and worried that Li Yuan might escape, the murderer killed him in the heat of the moment with his knife from a very close distance. That was why the murderer failed to decapitate Li Yuan.”

Yun Tongyang’s eyes shifted.

Next, Ji Yunshu lifted Li Yuan’s curled fingers and pulled some fibre out from his fingernails. She stood up slowly and said, “It might be a sign from God, to let him grab all the evidence that point towards the murderer in his hands.”

Fang Mingshan asked, “Can this fibre turn into an evidence?”

“Of course.” She turned around and faced Yun Tongyang, “This fibre was different from the one in Li Yuan’s mouth and the one on his pillow. This is not from his shirt or any other item in his room. This is from Escort Yun.”

“Mine? What nonsense is this? I have never met Li Yuan.”

“You can lie, but the evidence will always tell the truth,” she said, “This fibre is from Escort Yun’s clothes. If I am not mistaken, there will be scratches on your shirt at the area behind your arm.”

Yun Tongyang retreated as she spoke and tried to hide his arm. Constable Zhang acted quickly and took a look at the back of Yun Tongyang’s arms before he exclaimed, “Teacher Ji, there’s really snagged thread on that area of his shirt. Those fibres belong to him.”

Yun Tongyang’s face turned solemn as his eyes shone with ferocity. He said, “Are you saying that whoever has snagged thread on their shirt is the murderer?”

“Escort Yun can stop denying or hiding the truth. Fabric made of this kind of fibre is undeniably common. You are not the only person who has shirt made of this fabric. Hence, this cannot prove that you’re the murderer. The real evidence is the smell of the fibres.”

Smell? Smell of the fibre? The audiences were curious.

Ji Yunshu rubbed the fibre on her fingers as she lifted her chin and said, “The fibre smells like flour.”

Flour?

“This isn’t ordinary flour. The smell of the flour was mixed with the fragrance of the agarwood. I reckon that Longyang Escort Agency had recently transported a batch of flour, which was to be used in the imperial tribute, from Liang City to the Capital right? Everyone knows that the flour from Liang City is soft but not loose and is noted for having the fragrance of the agarwood. Escort Yang apparently was in contact with the flour, hence the scent accidentally lingered on his shirt.”

Constable Zhang approached him and took a good sniff, “That’s true.”

Ji Yunshu continued, “Escort Yang, the weapon, the fibre, and the passageway in Li Mingzhou’s room. All the evidence proves that you’re the one who killed Li Yuan. You can’t deny anymore.”

As she made the conclusion, Yun Tongyang unmasked his bloodthirsty eyes and distorted yet horrifying face. He resembled a beast who had been waiting in ambush inside the deep woods!

He smirked, “I thought I did a good job in hiding the truth. But you uncovered it eventually.”

Ji Yunshu said softly, “All the killers had the same foolish thought at one point.”

Again, he sneered.

Fang Mingshan ordered immediately, “Someone grab the criminal, Yun Tongyang.”

“Yes!” The yamen runner came forward.

However, the yamen runner was hit by Yun Tonyang and fell backwards before they could even touch him. “Yun Tongyang, you’re being impudent! How dare you hurt people in the yamen hall! Someone seize him, and punish him with thirty flogs.”

How could just anyone be able to compete with Yun Tongyang? Even Constable Zhang was not a match for him when he charged Yun Tongyang together with a few yamen runners.

Chink and clash!

All the knives fell on the ground together with the yamen runners. They were all injured and lying on the ground.

Yun Tongyang shrieked angrily, “You’re trying to kill me in a small county yamen. That’s ridiculous!” He was still surrounded by a few other yamen runners.

Ji Yunshu said, “Yun Tongyang, you will not be able to run away. Everything has been planned from the moment you were brought here. Once you walk out from the yamen, the archers will immediately turn you into a porcupine.”

He did not seem to be frightened. “You have underestimated me.”

“Do you expect your subordinates from Longyang Escort Agency to come and save you?” The corner of Ji Yunshu’s mouth rose, “All of the people from Longyang Escort Agency have been sent to jail right after you arrived at yamen.”

“Lies!”

All of sudden, a voice came from the front door. “Teacher Ji is not lying.” Liu Daren strode in.

Yun Tongyang was surprised, “Liu Daren?”

Liu Daren, who is in charge of the transportation of the imperial tributes in Yu Province? Why is he here?

Liu Daren said, “Escort Yun, have you not wondered what went wrong during the transportation of the flour from Liang City? Your Longyang Escort Agency has been gaining illegal profit from your dealings with the royal court. You have been stealing the imperial tributes and secretly altering the account of the imperial tributes. The royal court has been observing you for a long time. When I made the deal with your agency about the transportation of the flour, I did not reveal the content of the boxes because I wanted to find out if you would befoul the tributes. The box used during the transportation was made of superior elm wood, and water would never be able to penetrate through it. The flour was damp and turned into dough because you opened the tribute boxes discreetly and intended to steal it. Now that I have solid proof, none of you from Longyang Escort Agency will be able to escape from the charges. All of them have been locked up in the prison, and no one will come and save you.”

So…

This was all an elaborate scheme! Yun Tongyang’s face covered with shock and his previous hostility slowly drained away.

…

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