A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Doesn't Chapter 58 have any other tasks to perform?
Officer Liu fell into deep thought. Was this unusual?
Mu Qingcheng said he must have overlooked something, which was why he found nothing. But after listening to so much, there really wasn't anything unusual.

He tapped the handrail, deciding to give Shuanzi another chance. "Why don't you continue?"

Shuanzi then said, “Then we started to go up the mountain. The First Madam and Xia Yu were walking, so they lagged behind, but not too far. We could see them when we turned around. When we reached the northwest slope, the short, fat man had an upset stomach again, which delayed us for a full quarter of an hour. After that, we arrived outside the Guanyin Temple to make preparations for the almsgiving.”

Officer Liu could no longer contain himself. He snatched the whip and roared, "You scoundrel, how dare you deceive this chief constable?"

"Sir, spare my life! I... I was telling the truth, I didn't lie!"

Shuanzi knelt down with a thud, feeling as if he were hallucinating. The bloody image of Xie Da and the short, fat man being whipped to death filled his vision...

Liu, the head constable, finally snapped out of his daze. He grabbed Shuanzi by the collar and gritted his teeth, "Didn't you say that the First Madam was with you the whole time? Why did she die at the northwest gate of Yuntai Temple? If she really hadn't left your sight, then she should have died at Guanyin Temple!"

"Sir, Your Honor, I can't possibly follow the Madam to the outhouse, can I...?" Shuanzi's eyes suddenly widened as he spoke, "Could it be that in that short time she was in the outhouse, the Madam... died?"

Officer Liu immediately became excited, "No rush, speak slowly and in detail."

"As soon as we arrived at the Guanyin Temple, Xia Yu accompanied the First Madam to the outhouse. Then Xie Da instructed me and the short, fat man to go to the temple's cloth shed to move tables, while Sanhu stayed behind to watch over the things. Xie Da went to ask the temple keeper about the time when the alms-giving ceremony would begin. When the short, fat man and I returned with the tables, we found that Sanhu was gone, and Xie Da had not returned either. We assumed that Sanhu had also gone to the outhouse, so we didn't think much of it and started unloading things from the carriage."

"And what about the First Madam?"

"The First Madam isn't here; she went to the outhouse." "And then?"

"It's strange, Sanhu is usually quite diligent, but for some reason, that day he was hiding in the outhouse slacking off. The short, fat man and I were busy for about half an hour when we saw him stagger back, looking distracted and with red eyes, as if he had been crying. We asked him what happened, and he said he had a sudden bout of intestinal colic, which was so painful that he felt weak all over, so he stayed in the outhouse for a while. Afterwards, Xie Da came back, and when he saw that Sanhu was being unhelpful, he surprisingly didn't get angry or scold anyone. He just told us to be quick and not make any mistakes."

Hearing this, Officer Liu's large hand gripping the whip clenched so tightly that the veins stood out. "The First Madam hasn't returned since she went to the outhouse, has she?"

Shuanzi nodded. "Yes. At least, I haven't seen the First Madam again."

Officer Luo couldn't help but interject, "Then why did you leave the last words 'I'm sorry, Madam' on the wall?"

"I... I went up the mountain with the First Madam, but I failed to protect her. I am ashamed of myself!" Shuanzi said emphatically.

Suddenly, a female voice rang out from behind Constable Liu: "Didn't you come up the mountain with other missions?"

Shuanzi stiffened and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw the cook who delivered lunch slowly appear. Her face was calm and gentle, but her almond-shaped eyes revealed a hint of sharpness!

Updated! Thank you all for your support, see you in the next chapter!
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(End of this chapter)