A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 95 A Budding Thought

Song Shuyu asked doubtfully, "Are you sure this person is the one who's been tailing us?"

"It should be right." Xiao Linzi's discouragement finally subsided a little, and his eyes brightened with confidence. "I've observed everyone who has passed through the Jingzhao Prefecture, and only this person has gone back and forth outside the yamen three times in a short period of time! He didn't have anything in his hands, he's neither a vendor nor a resident of this area, so what is he loitering around for? And every time he walks to the yamen gate, he peeks inside a few times. Such suspicious behavior must be up to something!"

Upon hearing this, Song Shuyu's eyes were full of approval, and he praised her generously, saying, "Your analysis makes a lot of sense, and you have the potential to be a scout!"

"Thank you for your praise, sir!" Xiao Linzi was overjoyed.

Those coming and going in the kitchen, upon hearing that Xiao Linzi had gained the adults' appreciation, were happy for him but also cast envious glances their way.

Mu Qingcheng, however, thought of a possibility from the word "scout," and immediately asked, "Sir, has the Registrar gone off duty?"

Song Shuyu replied, "The military advisor is out inspecting the military personnel warehouse and has not yet returned to the office."

"This humble servant would like to request that the Registrar investigate two more people: General Ningyuan, Liu Changqing, and the eldest son, Liu Pei!"

"Very well, I will send someone to inform the Registrar."

Xiao Linzi was a quick-witted man, and immediately volunteered, "Sir, please assign this task to me!"

Song Shuyu smiled and said, "Alright, let's have a meal first, there's no rush. Once you leave the yamen, be extremely careful, and it would be best to bring a colleague with you so you can look out for each other."

"Thank you, sir!" Xiao Linzi suddenly choked up, his face full of emotion. "With your care, sir, I would gladly go through fire and water for you!"

Song Shuyu reached out and patted Xiao Linzi on the shoulder, saying earnestly, "Doing your duty is important, but you must first ensure your own safety. Only when you are safe can you protect the people of this region."

Upon hearing this, a large number of people immediately knelt down!

From the yamen runners eating to the old women serving food, everyone's eyes were red with tears.

Who would have thought that these lowly officials and servants, who came from humble backgrounds and struggled at the bottom, could not only be the henchmen of their superiors, but also receive courtesy, respect and care from them?

Mu Qingcheng's heart was stirred. She looked at the handsome profile of the man and was momentarily lost in thought, feeling as if he was radiating light from within.

The light was exceptionally bright, seemingly possessing a captivating power that held her gaze firmly.

So much so that when Song Shuyu finished calming everyone down and turned to look at her, she was still in a daze.

"Coroner Mu?"

Song Shuyu spoke up to remind them, "What are you thinking about? Eat first, and we can discuss things after we've filled our stomachs."

In his mind, the only things that could make Mu Qingcheng stunned were cases and corpses. In short, they were none of his business.

Therefore, he dared not presume to be romantic.

As Mu Qingcheng regained her senses, she inexplicably felt her face burning. She looked away, bewildered, and replied haphazardly, "Okay. I... I'll go get my food."

At this moment, the kitchen manager came over to invite you, "Sir, your meal has been arranged in the private room inside."

Song Shuyu then casually said, "Coroner Mu, you come with me."

Upon entering the inner room, the meal had already been laid out. Because there was an extra person, the steward added another set of chopsticks and a bowl opposite Song Shuyu.

There were many people here, and Song Shuyu, mindful of Mu Qingcheng's reputation, did not insist on arranging her to stand next to him.

Having been hungry for most of the day, and with a lot of work to do that night, the two barely spoke, focusing only on their food. Liu Heng and Song Li arrived just as they finished eating.

Song Shuyu looked at Song Li, "How is it?"

Song Li replied, "No, everything is normal at the moment."

"That's good." Song Shuyu nodded, then turned his gaze to Liu Heng, his tone turning colder. "Captain Liu, send more people to protect Liu Xiao. You will personally deliver his meals every day and keep a close watch on him at night. He must not be allowed to contact outsiders, and you must also prevent outsiders from breaking him out of prison or killing him to cover it up."

"A prison break?" Liu Heng exclaimed in surprise, "Liu Xiao didn't commit a capital crime, why would he need to be broken into prison?"

Song Shuyu's face visibly darkened. "Officer Liu, just do as I say. Don't think about anything else."

With Liu Heng's inflexible way of thinking, he couldn't possibly understand it!

Mu Qingcheng, being kind-hearted, feared that Liu Heng might not understand the reasons behind the matter and therefore not take it seriously enough, so she added, "Officer Liu, someone is watching us. Among the five people currently in prison, Liu Xiao has the most important status, so it's most likely that they're after Liu Xiao. Moreover, before the truth is clear, it's impossible to say for sure whether Liu Xiao has committed any other crimes."

Liu Heng suddenly realized, "I understand, I'll go arrange it right away!"

Liu Heng's decisiveness was one of his strengths. He turned to leave, but Song Shuyu quickly stopped him, "Check the carriages and donkey carts that have entered and left Yuntai Mountain again to see if any of them have been to the mortuary where Granny Yang lives!"

"Yes!"

"Summon Yuanbao tomorrow and have him identify whether the old man who deceived him is Liu Xiao!"

"Yes!"

Officer Liu left in a great hurry.

Song Li, fearing that Song Shuyu would assign him more work, spoke first: "Master, it's getting late, we should go back to the Duke's mansion. You were sick yesterday and have been busy all day today, the old lady must be worried."

Song Shuyu said, "I still need to go to the Li residence with Counselor Mu to investigate the situation. Send someone back to the residence to tell Grandmother that I am feeling very well and ask her to rest early and not wait for me."

Song Li was speechless. As long as Mu the coroner was involved, everything became a matter of course, so his advice became nothing but nonsense.

"Of course, you don't need to come along. I have other tasks for you."

What Song Shuyu said next truly broke Song Li, but he had no choice but to obey orders and reluctantly accept the task.

After Song Li left, Mu Qingcheng couldn't help but ask curiously, "My lord, is Song Li's martial arts skill very high?"

Song Shuyu took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "Of course, he was handpicked by my father. He is not only extremely talented in martial arts, but also unparalleled in wisdom. However, this kid is particularly lazy. He only cares about my safety and doesn't care about anything else."

"Then why did you send him..."

"There's no other way, the capable should do more work."

"That must have been a lot of hard work for Guard Song."

"Coroner Mu, what's the story behind your martial arts? When did you learn them? Who is your master?" Song Shuyu had wanted to ask this for a long time, but she had been busy with the case and hadn't had a chance to bring it up.

“I didn’t like learning martial arts, but my father said that being a coroner is an extremely dangerous profession, and it’s easy to be killed or retaliated against by criminals. So, my father taught me a few moves to use for self-defense.”

Mu Qingcheng thought that not mentioning his identity or revealing his name should not be considered a violation of his father's teachings!
Thank you all for your support! See you in the next chapter!
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(End of this chapter)