Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 333 I almost thought he was lying

Shen Qingzhou was currently in Lu Jie's office.

"The Yan family hasn't reacted much to the military pay case so far, which shows that they had already made proper arrangements for this matter back then. It's hard to say whether the Jin family has any evidence against the Yan family now."

After Lu Jie visited the Yan residence, his words were not very optimistic.

"But Jin Huai did indeed die of poisoning, and only eight years have passed. I believe that with the methods of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it would not be difficult to prove this. As long as the Emperor decides to investigate this case, we still have hope."

Shen Qingzhou, pen in hand, sat down behind the plan and helped Lu Jie revise official documents.

Lu Jie stroked his beard, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "I hope so. Sitting in that position, perhaps the Emperor will also have his own stance."

Shen Qingzhou frowned upon hearing this. But his gaze then fell upon the guards outside the door.

The guard came in and presented the letter: "The young mistress instructed me to forward this letter to the young master."

Shen Qingzhou took the letter, read it, and quickly handed it to Lu Jie: "This is a letter from Lu Ying. Madam Yan wants to kill Jin Shi!"

Lu Jie paused after reading the letter, then exclaimed, "This is an excellent opportunity!"

Shen Qingzhou walked out from behind the case: "In any case, the Yan family has already put a knife to the Jin family's throat, and they have no reason to tolerate it."

Lu Jie nodded.

Shen Qingzhou turned around, took a new pen and paper from the table, quickly wrote a few lines, and instructed the guards: "Keep this with you. After nightfall, find a way to sneak into the Yan residence, get as close as possible. If you find that the Yan family is going to make a move against the Jin family, immediately try to stop them, and at the same time send this letter to the Jin family."

After the guard received the letter, he added, "How did He Ping's inspection of the Jin family cemetery in the western suburbs go? Send someone to check on it immediately."

The guard took the order and left.

Shen Qingzhou returned and said, "Once He Ping has found solid evidence, he will immediately report to the Emperor. When the Yan family learns of this, they will surely stop their actions against the Jin family, which would be disastrous."

"I don't know if there's any other news from Jiajia yet, so I'll go back to the manor to make arrangements."

After saying this, he bowed and took his leave.

Lu Jie watched his retreating figure, stroked his beard for a while, and then picked up his pheasant crown and walked out.

……

The Jin family had lived in the capital for generations, and their ancestral graves were located outside the city in the western suburbs. Jin Huai's grave was in the newest row, not far from the entrance of the cemetery.

As dusk gradually enveloped the surrounding manor, the cemetery was filled with imperial guards. Several men tucked the hem of their flying fish robes into their belts, held iron shovels, and looked around at the coffin, whose true form had been revealed.

"Open!"

At He Ping's command, the imperial guards threw down their shovels, jumped into the pit, and together lifted the heavy coffin lid.

The stench of decay was overwhelming, and even the most worldly-wise people couldn't help but turn their faces away and hold their breath.

The coroner, who had been eager to try, covered his nose and lips with a piece of gauze, jumped down, took out his tools, and began his work.

The servants of the Jin family, who were guarding the grave, stood by, watching all this with bated breath, trembling and not daring to speak.

The last rays of the setting sun grew weaker and weaker until finally the last ray of light jumped below the western mountains, and the sky became completely dark. At this time of day, my wife would usually be preparing dinner and waiting for us to eat together.

The coroner was a highly skilled coroner who had followed He Ping for many years. Whenever he was on duty, things were always done quickly and well.

They can finish their work and report within half an hour at most.

He Ping lit a tinderbox, and the imperial guards brought out makeshift torches, making the cemetery bright again.

"Sir, the body is not poisoned!" The coroner, sweating profusely, looked up.

He Ping's gaze suddenly sharpened: "Examine carefully!"

"The body was just bones, which made it easy to examine. Not only were there no signs of poisoning on the bones, but even the burial clothes and the rotting soil underneath contained no poison!"

He Ping fixed his gaze on him, then took two steps forward. The skeleton had been completely stripped of its clothing and was exposed before his eyes, gleaming with a sinister cold light in the firelight.

He looked at the inscription on the tombstone again, and it was indeed Jin Huai.

Non-toxic?

Why did Shen Bo insist that Jin Huai died by poisoning?

He jumped into the pit, drew his sword, and carefully began to pry open the bones.

The bones of a poisoned person are supposed to be dark in color, but none of them were visible.

Is Shen Bo lying?

“There’s one more thing,” the coroner added, “According to our investigation, Jin Huai was fifty-four years old when he died, but this skeleton looks to be at least sixty.”

He Ping frowned: "Sixty years old?"

"That's right. The age doesn't match. But there are exceptions. If Jin Huai's physique is extremely weak, his bones may age prematurely."

Jin Huai was a scholar; if he were extremely weak, how could he bear the responsibility of escorting military supplies?
He Ping looked up at the cluster of graves in front of him, then leaped onto the ground and walked to the grave keeper: "When Jin Yun comes to offer sacrifices during festivals, which graves do he visit first?"

The grave keeper hesitated and remained silent.

The sword that had just been turned over was suddenly placed in front of his chest!
"My lord, spare my life! It's these few, it's these few!"

The latter knelt down with a thud and pointed to several ancestral graves not far away.

He Ping walked over, looked them over, and said, "Open all of these!"

The guards split into five groups and simultaneously raised their shovels to dig at the grave mounds pointed to by the grave keeper.

This operation was much faster. Before long, five coffins were revealed one after another. The coroner examined them in turn, and when he reached the third coffin, he exclaimed "Eh!" while still at the pit entrance. He then went down into the pit and, after a short while, immediately stood up: "Sir! There are two corpses in the coffin!"

He Ping stepped forward. The coroner had already moved the body on top, and sure enough, a skeleton was exposed underneath!
He pointed to the skeleton below and said, "And the chest of this skeleton is black, which is a clear sign of poisoning!"

"How old was the deceased?"

"It matches! It's a man in his early fifties! And the skeleton has multiple fractures in the upper right arm, left palm, and coccyx, all of which are wounds left shortly before death, consistent with the injuries Jin Huai sustained on the cliff before his death!"

He Ping stared silently at the tombstone in front of him, which bore only the name of Jin Yun's grandfather, for a moment, then stood up and pointed to the other two coffins: "Let's take a look together!"

Accusing an official of embezzling military funds in front of the emperor is a serious crime. Shen Bo was accusing a relative of the Yan family by marriage. Given Shen Bo's shrewdness, it's impossible for him to make such a mistake.

Therefore, unless the Shen family has other intentions, Jin Huai must have committed suicide by poisoning himself.

Faced with the questioning that came to his door, Jin Yun still insisted that his father had not taken poison. His ability to be so adamant was obviously due to the fact that he had tampered with everything. He even dared to covet 300,000 taels of military pay, so finding a corpse of similar age to take the place was nothing new to him.

But since this body doesn't match, Jin Huai's body must be hidden somewhere else!
The Jin family's descendants would not bury him elsewhere, and they would not fail to worship him, who brought great wealth to the family, during every sacrificial ceremony. Therefore, his remains are not only here, but will also be among the first to be worshipped by the Jin family members every time they come to pay their respects!
"The other two are fine!"

Before long, the coroner strode in to report.

He Ping sheathed his sword: "Leave a few men to guard the body, the rest of you wrap it up and come back to the city with me!"