A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 130 The Truth Revealed to the World (16)

"lady!"

Liu Changqing called out urgently, but Madam Liu did not respond. Liu Changqing picked Madam Liu up and rushed outside, shouting, "Someone, quickly fetch a doctor!"

Seeing this, Liu Heng whispered, "Coroner Mu, should we follow them? Liu Xiao isn't dead yet, so why did Madam Liu faint? Could it be that she's faking it, putting on an act for us?"

Mu Qingcheng remained noncommittal. "I believe in Madam Liu's love for her son. However, it's hard to say whether she was faking it or not. After all, this family is full of cunning people."

Outside the hall, Liu Changqing stood on the steps, scanning the row of servants in the front yard, heads drooping, not daring to breathe, and shouted angrily, "What are you all standing there for? Didn't you see that the madam has fainted? Go and fetch a doctor!"

However, no matter what orders Liu Changqing gave, under the intimidation of the constables' swords, no servants dared to move!
"General Liu!"

At this moment, Mu Qingcheng's voice slowly rang out from behind him, "I forgot to inform you, from now on, no one in the Ningyuan General's Mansion, whether master or servant, may enter or leave any place or do any thing without the permission of the Jingzhao Prefecture!"

"You scoundrel!" Liu Changqing whirled around, his eyes wide with fury, and said, "My wife has fainted; her life is at stake! Where did you get the audacity to dare..."

"Of course, we act in accordance with the law and will never treat human life as worthless as some heinous murderers."

Mu Qingcheng smiled coldly. She gestured, and the constable Wang Tianzhu stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Please give your instructions, Coroner Mu!"

"Go to Chunhui Hall immediately and ask a doctor to come and treat Madam Liu!"

"Yes!"

Wang Tianzhu was quick-witted; he took off running.

Liu Changqing glanced at the pale-faced Madam Liu in his arms, his anger rising instead of subsiding. "Coroner Mu, my household has a physician, so it's more convenient to see a doctor nearby."

Unexpectedly, Mu Qingcheng agreed very readily: "Sure, we can call the royal physician. Zhao Chengsi, you take the servants to fetch the royal physician. Remember, you must not let the servants or the royal physician out of your sight for even a moment!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Chengsi, a burly constable with a round face, took the order, grabbed a servant by the collar, and shouted, "Lead the way!"

"This is outrageous!" Liu Changqing's face turned red and then pale with anger. "What law of the Great Zhou has this general violated? How dare you treat the people of my general's mansion as prisoners? Do you have any ruling documents from the Jingzhao Prefecture?"

Mu Qingcheng replied calmly, "A prisoner is to be thrown into jail. Right now, we are just being monitored. Why is General Liu so angry? If General Liu does not want to be treated this way, then hand over Liu Pei as soon as possible. That way, neither of us will be in a difficult position!"

Liu Changqing's gaze was piercing. "I've already said that Liu Pei died half a year ago. Can't you understand human language?"

"Hehe." Mu Qingcheng raised his chin and let out a smug laugh. "General Liu, you really won't shed a tear until you see the coffin! Constable Liu and I have clearly ordered you to hand over the person four times, and you're still pretending to be confused? Fine, then I'll waste a few more words with you!" "It is a fact that my son is dead. No matter how much you lie, there is no such person in my general's mansion!" Liu Changqing spoke confidently, showing no sign of guilt.

Liu Heng spat, "You're so stubborn!"

Liu Changqing was furious: "How dare you, a mere constable, disrespect this general? Today, this general will make you taste the consequences of insubordination!"

Unfortunately, Liu Changqing had someone in his arms and couldn't free his hands. He wanted to call for his personal guards, but Mu Qingcheng stopped him in time. "General Liu, if we judge by official rank, Constable Liu is indeed insubordinate. However, General Liu has violated the law and is unwilling to cooperate with the investigation, so he will have to suffer some injustice!"

"you……"

"Since General Liu keeps saying that Liu Pei died half a year ago, then today, I am not here to question General Liu, but to take him back to the capital to be punished!"

"Why?"

Facing Liu Changqing's questioning, Mu Qingcheng approached step by step, his sharp eyes filled with frost. "According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, whenever someone in a family dies, it must be reported to the Jingzhao Prefecture. The Jingzhao Prefecture will then send a coroner to conduct an autopsy to confirm that the death was natural. Only after confirming that the death was natural will the family be issued a ruling document stamped by the Jingzhao Prefecture, and only then can the family proceed with the funeral arrangements! May I ask, General Liu, why did you fail to report Liu Pei's death? Concealing or lying about the matter is, according to the law, a crime punishable by law!"

Liu Changqing froze for a moment, then his expression turned somber. “My son died so suddenly, I… I can’t accept it, so I didn’t report it to the Jingzhao Prefecture or hold a funeral. I always thought that as long as he wasn’t buried, he wasn’t really dead.”

"That's quite a coincidence. According to our investigation, Liu Pei is indeed still alive, and the coffin of General Liu Pei, which is kept in the mortuary, is empty!"

At this point, Mu Qingcheng suddenly smiled, “The night before last, someone from your Liu family broke into the Mu residence and seriously injured Zhang Xingzhong, the registrar of my Jingzhao Prefecture, with a sword. A jade pendant with the character ‘Liu’ engraved on it was left at the scene of the crime. I was thinking, if Liu Pei is really dead, then the person who killed Registrar Zhang, could it be General Liu?”

"No!" Liu Changqing blurted out, "I have been seriously ill and bedridden for many days, and have only recovered a little today. I have not left the General's Mansion these days, so how could it be related to me?"

Mu Qingcheng's smile remained unchanged. "There are three of you in the Liu family, father and sons. Liu Xiao was imprisoned in the Jingzhao Prefecture prison the day before yesterday, and General Liu also denied it. That leaves only Liu Pei. So, General Liu, tell me, is Liu Pei alive or dead?"

Liu Changqing remained calm. He composed himself and asked in return, "How can you prove that the jade pendant engraved with the character 'Liu' definitely belongs to my family?"

"Because we arrested Liu Xiao!" Mu Qingcheng retorted calmly. "Liu Xiao is not like General Liu. Not only did he actively cooperate with our investigation, but he also put aside his own family and testified against his father and brothers in court!"

Liu Changqing was so angry that he coughed violently, almost knocking Madam Liu, who was in his arms, to the ground!

If Liu Heng hadn't been trying to maintain his dignity as the chief constable, he would have laughed himself silly on the spot!
Mu Qingcheng, however, was no pushover and added fuel to the fire at just the right moment, "General Liu, guess what? It's been five days since Li Yunyao died at Yuntai Temple on September 15th. Why haven't we gone to inquire about her? Why did we wait until today?"

Liu Changqing coughed so hard he was almost falling over, looking weak as if he had just recovered from a serious illness and had unfortunately been stimulated again!
Just then, Zhao Chengsi arrived with the family physician!
Liu Changqing looked at the royal physician with a deep gaze, "Doctor Xia, my wife has a history of heart palpitations. She fainted after hearing about Xiao'er's situation!"

The physician nodded, stepped forward with his medicine chest on his back, and said, "General Liu, please place your wife on the couch."

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all my little ones!
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(End of this chapter)