A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 215 Headless Female Corpse (9)

"We've overlooked something!"

Mu Qingcheng released Song Shuyu's hand, put her pigskin gloves back on, picked up the lamp, and held it close to illuminate the area two inches below the right shoulder of the corpse. "Look, doesn't this wound look different from the other wounds?"

Upon hearing this, the coroner immediately squinted and examined the area carefully. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he looked at it from every angle, he was still completely bewildered. "What's the difference?"

"My lord, please take a look." Mu Qingcheng had no choice but to find someone else, hoping to gain their approval rather than just her seeing things.

Unexpectedly, ever since Song Shuyu entered, he has kept his eyes fixed on the top of his head, looking only upwards and never downwards.

Hearing Mu Qingcheng call him, he struggled silently for a moment before finally saying, "You, you cover up the body, especially... the parts that should not be seen by others."

Mu Qingcheng frowned, "She is the deceased..."

“That was a woman. I am not an examiner, so it is best not to look at her.” Song Shuyu hurriedly stated his position.

During the entire autopsy process, he hardly looked at the body. However, when Mu Qingcheng was dissecting it, he couldn't help but glance at it, which caused him to lose his composure and almost repeat his embarrassing behavior of "fainting at the sight of a corpse".

Therefore, right now, he absolutely does not want to repeat the same mistake!

Mu Qingcheng didn't dare say it aloud, but he was full of complaints in his heart. When he was hugging and kissing her, he never said a word like "men and women are different", "do not look at what is improper", or "this is the behavior of a gentleman".

She pulled over a white cloth, covering the deceased until only his right shoulder was exposed, before pulling Song Shuyu down to squat down.

She asked, "Sir, can you paint?"

“Yes, of course I will,” Song Shuyu replied.

Mu Qingcheng readily agreed, "Then you'll definitely be able to see the superimposed pattern!" As she spoke, she lightly touched the bright red flesh with her finger, "Look, isn't there something under this wound?"

After her reminder, Song Shuyu carefully examined the wound and his dark eyes lit up. He said, "There's a pattern underneath the wound!"

"pattern?"

Surprised, the coroner rubbed his eyes and looked again, his face full of doubt. "Did the deceased originally have a tattoo on his shoulder?"

"it seems that."

Mu Qingcheng took the smallest fine-bristled brush, probed into the narrow gap of the wound, and gently brushed the skin of the pattern. Then, she dipped it in a little water and brushed it onto the white rice paper.

As expected, no crimson color appeared!
Mu Qingcheng showed rare excitement, "When examining the wound, I noticed that this area was a bit off. I didn't think much of it at the time, assuming it was an irregular layered wound caused by a stick. But it turns out it was a crimson tattoo covered by a bloody wound!"

"As expected of my advisor, Master Mu!" Song Shuyu's eyes lit up with a smile, his praise flowing freely. "His insight is like a torch, and his attention to detail is like a hair's breadth."

The coroner suppressed his admiration; with such a brilliant example before him, it didn't matter whether he spoke or not.

Mu Qingcheng found some paper suitable for making rubbings, covered the wound with it, then stuffed the brush into Song Shuyu's hand and said with a smile, "Sir, please lend a hand!"

"What?" Song Shuyu asked knowingly.

Mu Qingcheng explained in a very polite tone, "This tattoo is very important. I would like to ask you to transfer it onto paper, and then, with your superb drawing skills, remove the upper layer of marks and restore the original appearance of the tattoo!" Her attitude when asking for help was particularly proper, and she was generous with her smiles, praising and flattering her.

Unfortunately, Song Shuyu didn't give her much hope. "The tattoo is covered by seven or eight tenths of the scars. With only two or three tenths of the original image, even with my Midas touch, I cannot restore it."

“Uh…” Mu Qingcheng frowned, thought for a moment, and said, “It’s okay, let’s make a copy first.”

Song Shuyu had no choice but to comply.

During this break, Mu Qingcheng asked Tian the coroner, "Are there any tattoo artists, both inside and outside the capital, who specialize in tattooing people? Especially, those who specialize in tattooing women?"

The coroner said, "There should be such people, but I don't know where to look for them. If we're talking about the people who tattooed the deceased, they must have been women, since the tattooed areas wouldn't be touched by men."

“Not necessarily,” Song Shuyu offered a different perspective. “In this world, it is extremely rare for women to have tattoos, and correspondingly, it is even rarer for female artists to become tattoo artists. Since the deceased was able to have intercourse with a man, why couldn’t it be a man who was close to her who tattooed her?”

Upon hearing this, the coroner immediately cupped his hands in praise, "Your Excellency is wise!"

Mu Qingcheng made the final decision, "Since both possibilities exist, then investigate both. It's better to do more useless work than to miss any important clues!"

A short while later, Song Shuyu finished his sketch. Mu Qingcheng studied it for a while, then handed the drawing back to Song Shuyu, pleading, "My lord, I think you could give it a try. Draw along the edges and lines, try ten or eight versions, and perhaps one of them will resemble the original tattoo? That way, our screening process will be much more efficient!"

Song Shuyu was both amused and annoyed. "You certainly know how to order me around."

Mu Qingcheng smiled and said, "It's mainly because you are beautiful, kind-hearted, and exceptionally talented!"

This flattery pleased Song Shuyu greatly, and he readily accepted the task.

Mu Qingcheng then said, "Uncle Tian, ​​please take care of the aftermath. I'll go back to my room to wash up first."

"Okay, let's go."

As the coroner watched Mu Qingcheng leave, and was about to bend down to clean the body, Song Shuyu slowed down and asked in a low voice beside him, "Old Tian, ​​what did you see when I and Master Mu came in?"

"No, I didn't see anything." The coroner was startled and subconsciously denied it, fearing that he would be "silenced" by the adults for seeing something he shouldn't have seen.

To everyone's surprise, Song Shuyu's expression shifted between light and shadow upon hearing this, "Are you sure?"

Tian Wu nodded forcefully, "Confirmed!"

"Then what's the point of having two eyes if you don't know what they are?" Song Shuyu glanced at the coroner, not very pleased. "Sometimes, you have to be realistic and not always think about protecting yourself, understand?"

After he finished speaking, he lifted the curtain and went out.

The coroner was left standing there, bewildered for a long time. According to the master, should he have seen them holding hands, or should he not have seen them?
……

Mu Qingcheng washed away the filth and changed into a new set of clothes. Before leaving, she remembered that she had to accompany Song Shuyu back to the Duke's mansion that evening, so she went back into the room, took out some perfume powder from the dressing table, and sprinkled some on her clothes so as not to offend the old lady and spoil the festive atmosphere between the grandmother and granddaughter.

(End of this chapter)