She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

Due to the different terrain, the climate between mountains is also different.

Wuling is a mountain range formed by the active compression of earthquakes tens of millions of years ago. Dangshan is located in the middle of it, and the groundwater is also very rich, which has formed many hot springs.

The soldier who died was named You Tong, and he was 46 years old. He was introduced by someone and paid to be arranged to be a guard in the palace.

You Tong worked for a few years and spent the money he saved on the Changqiu Prison. The commander of the Changqiu Prison at that time was He Qin, who was still close to Emperor Wu'an.

Chong'an Palace was about to change a group of guards, so You Tong was arranged to stay in the emperor's bedroom. After several decades, he finally became the chief guard of Chong'an Palace.

During the Linghui period, a strange thing happened.

One night, Shen Cong was having sex with a concubine in the palace when thunder suddenly sounded in the sky. Heavy rain poured down, and soon the smell of mud could be smelled outside the palace.

Thunderstorms are often accompanied by violent lightning. When the hall suddenly lit up, Shen Cong was busy on the bed and didn't pay any attention to anything unusual.

But just as the emperor was about to stop and the beauty got out of bed to pour tea, her shrill scream woke Shen Cong from his nap.

"Ah——!" The teacup fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.

The eunuch who was waiting outside the hall suddenly woke up from his sleepiness and crawled in to check the situation.

The beauty stared blankly at the wall in front of her, and then her eyes rolled back and she fainted. When she fell, the debris cut her calves in several places, and the bright red blood flowed, reflecting with the lightning outside the window.

Shen Cong was also very angry and got off the bed.

"Bitch! Shouting in the middle of the night..." Before he could finish his words, Shen Cong froze in place.

At the same time, You Tong came into the palace in a hurry, brushing off the rain, after being informed by the eunuch.

No one knows what was reflected on the wall by the light of lightning.

After daybreak, the beauty was told to commit suicide and was buried in the mausoleum under the pretext of dying of an acute illness. The young eunuch also died mysteriously of an epidemic several months later.

Shen Cong endured for quite some time, and finally, on the pretext that it was old and outdated, he renovated the Chong'an Hall.

A few years later, Shen Cong passed away.

That night, only You Tong was still alive and knew the reason.

When the new emperor ascended the throne, Chong'an Palace also had to replace its own power. You Tong had no one to rely on, so he asked to leave the palace and be exiled to the bitter and cold Yuanzhou.

"You mean, You Tong's death is related to the incident in Chong'an Palace?" Hengzhi lent an arm to A'ao so that she could lean on it and jump.

A'an's ankle still needed to heal for a few days, and it was not convenient to take Yunli with her when investigating a case, so they had to use the young marquis as a crutch.

The place where You Tong died was a small mountain village in the valley of Dangshan Mountain. The mountain village was surrounded by a group of soldiers sent by Li Chongxuan. Fortunately, the weather was cold and You Tong's body was covered with a white cloth, so it could still remain in its original state.

"I'm just guessing." Three people stood in front of the corpse. One was wearing a green official robe, and the other two were dressed as attendants. A'ao was afraid of being heard, so she lowered her voice and approached Hengqi and said, "Li Chongxuan may not know about this, so let's not make it public for now."

Ah'ao also changed into a simple official uniform today, playing the role of the provincial coroner who was repeatedly invited by Hengzhi.

Hengqi's sleeves were wide and tied tightly with leather cuffs. Ah'ao grabbed his forearm, the cold leather rubbing against her palm, and the two exchanged glances.

The man in green heard the noise and turned around.

"I am allowed to stop the boat to pay my respects to the Marquis." He stretched out his long arm in a neat salute.

"Yes." Even though Hengzhi was supporting someone, he still accepted the greeting with dignity.

Judging from the clothes they wore and the brocade bag hanging around their waists, Xu Tingzhou and the three men behind him combined did not hold as high an official position as Hengzhi.

It has been such a long time, but I have never seen Hengzhi wearing official uniform.

It was rumored that the new emperor was a man who did not follow the rules. After ascending the throne, he changed all the rules that he did not like according to his own temperament. The official uniform was one of them.

According to this theory, the official uniform of Hengzhi should be dark blue with a curved collar and wide sleeves, a round auspicious pattern on the chest, a horizontal leather belt, and black leather boots.

Fortunately, this was not for the court, otherwise asking him to support it would really be an act of usurpation.

"Who is this?" Xu Tingzhou pointed in the direction of A'ao and asked.

"Since someone has died, I have invited Zhang, the coroner from Kezhou Prefecture, to come." The young marquis raised his chin slightly, looking unhappy. "Why, does General Li also care about this?"

When Xu Tingzhou heard this, he immediately bent down and said respectfully, "I dare not." When he stood up again, he stretched out his arm to lead the way, "Young Marquis, Lord Zhang, please."

Looking at this Mr. Zhang, with his slim waist and fair complexion, he did not look like a man from Kezhou. Xu Tingzhou had doubts in his heart, but now was not the time to ask questions.

A'ao crossed her legs and bent over to open the white cloth.

Although it was winter, an indescribable stench still went straight to the top of my head.

A'ao almost felt like vomiting, and quickly took the towel handed to her by Hengzhi and covered her mouth and nose.

"Can you do it?" It was a question but not quite a question. Heng Zhi said in a low voice, as if he was teasing her.

Although she was not a professional coroner, Ah-yi was good at mourning and painting. She assisted the coroner several times and helped to compose the remains of the deceased.

Sometimes it was a homicide or an accident, and after the autopsy the relatives would request burial, so Ah-yi would watch from the side.

If you have seen pigs run, you will have some idea of ​​what a pig looks like.

If all else fails, there is still the young marquis to back him up. Ah-yi picked up a wooden brush from the side and carefully searched the body.

Xu Tingzhou came in with two followers and explained, "Before the young marquis came, Tingzhou took the initiative to look through the body with his followers. The cause of death is currently unknown, but there are no obvious external injuries on the body."

Hengzhi looked at A'ao who was squatting. A'ao nodded to him, confirming what Xu Tingzhou said.

Hengzhi would never touch things like corpses in front of others. He couldn't appear to be too concerned, nor too indifferent, in front of Li Chongxuan's subordinates.

So this is not just bringing someone to do the work for him, Hengzhi is only responsible for using his power to provide convenience.

"According to Lord Xu, what are the doubts in this case?"

It is not known whether Xu Tingzhou had any reservations, but what he said was coherent and reasonable.

"After his death, You Tong's servant immediately passed the news back to Yuanzhou to let the general know. The general had been his superior for several years, so he immediately ordered us to cooperate with the young marquis in the investigation."

Ah Yi carefully looked at the several acupuncture points on You Tong's body and said, "Oh? Then why didn't you report it to the police immediately and ask the court in Wuling Road to help?"

"This..." Xu Tingzhou paused and was really speechless.

Who knows.

Ah'ao also had doubts about this question in her heart.

If You Tong himself had not been ill and died of illness, why would the master suddenly die and the servant not remember to report to the authorities but instead travel all the way to Yuanzhou to deliver the letter?

There were no traces of needle piercing or acupuncture on several major acupoints, which meant that there was no murder using such means.

Perhaps in Xu Tingzhou's view, You Tong was just a small soldier, and no one would try to murder him in this way, but A'ao didn't think so.

"Young Marquis, Lord Xu, I will destroy the skin to test for poison, is that okay?" Ah'ao took the tools, looking so calm and composed that it was hard to tell what was going on.

Hengzhi raised his chin slightly to show his approval.

This matter will require the help of others.

Under A's gaze, Xu Tingzhou finally rolled up his sleeves and used a towel to clean the corpse.

"Wipe here."

Ah-yi was quite good at commanding people. During the days when she was painting in the study, she even commanded Heng-chi without hesitation, not to mention Xu Ting-zhou, a minor official at present.

Even his official position should be much higher than that of the coroner dressed as Ah'ao.

The skin of the corpse had already started to turn blue, and if there were any minor wounds, they would need to be smeared with scallion water and vinegar to make the wounds more visible. Although it was a poison test, Ah-yi was still unwilling to do so, so she went through the procedure together.

The strange thing was that it was found in the navel.

"Wait!" Ah-yi stared at the tiny knife mark and stopped Xu Tingzhou's action of cutting open his abdomen. "Young Marquis, look here."

Hengzhi followed the direction she pointed and squatted down to look.

You Tong's abdomen was slightly bulging, and everyone thought he was fat. However, the wound was not obvious at the navel, and if it had not been smeared with scallion water and vinegar to reveal a brown-red blood color, this wound would not have been discovered.

Hengzhi condescended to offer his services and reached out to press You Tong's abdomen.

Ah-yi met his gaze and understood what was going on. She quickly checked You Tong's mouth and nose, wiping them with cotton wool and water, and indeed found dried blood clots in his nasal cavity.

Although there were signs that the mouth had been cleaned, the disgusting smell almost proved that there was vomit surging in You Tong's mouth.

As for the cause of death.

"Internal organs ruptured and bleeding?" Although Xu Tingzhou could not understand the two people's unanimous opinions, the strange feeling he felt on the abdomen made him make such a judgment.

Hengzhi clapped his hands and stood up, "Master Xu, I have some thoughts on the autopsy.
"No, no, thank you for the compliment, young marquis."

When he came, Hengqi saw that Xu Tingzhou had calluses on his hands from writing. The calluses were dark in color and thick, and it was obvious that he had been writing for many years.

Hengzhi didn't know all the local officials in Dachong, but he knew more than the new emperor and was confident that he could boast about it. Especially in Yuanzhou and Shuzhong, Hengzhi knew all the civil and military officials.

Xu Tingzhou was not an official who had made a name for himself through the imperial examinations. In fact, it can be said that he was promoted out of the ordinary by Li Chongxuan because he saw that he had some talent.

This inference is simple. Yuanzhou is a place that values ​​military power over culture, which is very similar to Kezhou. Because both are for defending the city, it is easier for military generals to excel in such a border and have a place to use their skills.

Looking at Xu Tingzhou's body, he was unable to lift a sword or a gun. There was no sign of him drawing a bow or drawing an arrow. He was wearing an official uniform with wide sleeves when he came to examine the body, which showed that his official position had nothing to do with the incident.

If my guess is correct, he might be Li Chongxuan's literary disciple, commonly known as a person who comes up with ideas.

Many military commanders had this habit of choosing a trustworthy scholar to advise them and write memorials and letters for them, in order to prevent themselves from thinking too superficially and making mistakes.

The most famous among them was Shi Maoyun, a literary disciple of Hou Wangxuan of Shuzhong, who was famous for his resourcefulness in Shuzhong.

Then why didn't Li Chongxuan send a criminal justice officer, but instead sent a scribe?
Hengzhi's scrutinizing gaze fell on Xu Tingzhou, who was still studying You Tong's wound.

A'ao was behind again, looking at Hengzhi.

The three of them were silent for a long time, each with their own thoughts.

(End of this chapter)