Chapter 171 Investigation

Most women in ancient times were petite, with the average height being between 1.56 meters.Most of the maids in the Prefecture Villa are beautiful and light. They have obviously been carefully selected. The average height is about 1.62 meters, and they are all well-proportioned.

As for the corpse parked nearby, Gongsun Zhuoyu visually inspected it and found that it was about 1.8 meters tall, which was obviously too tall.

In order to confirm his suspicion, he casually pulled out a long flower branch from the vase next to him, then stepped forward and lifted up the white cloth little by little.

Although the body had decomposed to the point where only bones were left, the important male and female organs could not be distinguished at all.However, Gongsun Zhuoyu observed it and found that the mandible of the skull was thick, and the pelvis was narrow and high in shape. The pelvic cavity was narrow and deep, and the lower opening was narrow. It was clearly the bones of a male.

Anyone with some experience can see this.

Gongsun Zhuoyu stood up from the ground, pointed at the magistrate with the flower branch, and clicked his tongue: "As soon as I saw you, you didn't let me do the autopsy."

The corpse smelled quite pungent for some reason. The magistrate covered his nose and avoided it in disgust, and said angrily: "You bastard, it's already rotten into a pile of bones. What's the point of testing it?"

Ancient people believed in ghosts and gods.The corpse was dressed in red and fell into the ancient well. The death was too tragic. Naturally, I could avoid it as much as possible. I just found a scapegoat to calm the matter. Who would have thought that Gongsun Zhuoyu would be killed halfway.The prefect wanted to strangle him.

Gongsun Zhuoyu threw away the flower branches, patted the ashes on his hands and said: "Report to the company, this corpse has a narrow pelvis and is eight feet tall. It is obviously a man. It cannot be the missing maid Danqiu. If you don't believe it, call meCome and do a test and you will know."

After hearing this, Du Lingchun visually measured the height of the corpse and found that it was exactly as Gongsun Zhuoyu said. He frowned and asked without emotion: "Su Daofu, how do you explain it?"

Du Lingchun didn't care who died, nor how he died, but Su Daofu and his party tried to fool him under his nose, clearly treating him as a fool.

Cold sweat dripped down the magistrate's head, but he hesitated for a long time and couldn't say a word: "I'm the official... I'm the official..."

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Gongsun Zhuoyu watching the excitement. He secretly resented it, gritted his teeth, and simply knelt on the ground: "I'm sorry, but I'm really incompetent. I failed to find out the truth. Why don't you turn this case over?"Yu Gongsun Zhuoyu is on trial, he is extremely intelligent, I think he will be able to get to the bottom of it!"

The phrase "extraordinarily intelligent" was praised so reluctantly that it could be described as gritting one's teeth.

Du Lingchun thought to himself that they were just a bunch of wine bags and rice bags. He put the tea cup aside, wiped his palms with a handkerchief, and asked casually with his eyes lowered: "Since everything must be investigated by Gongsun Zhuoyu, how can you, the prefect, have the knowledge?"What’s the use, huh?”

The magistrate kowtowed and did not dare to raise his head to answer.

Gongsun Zhuoyu didn't care, since he had a headache anyway, there were too many lice but he didn't itch, and he didn't have to worry about too many debts.He cupped his hands and said to Du Lingchun: "Although I am incompetent, I am still a county official. I don't want to see an innocent person being wronged. I am willing to take a chance and ask the company for permission."

Among all the people in the hall, he was the only one who stood in the hall neither humble nor arrogant, which only made people think of the four words "righteousness and awe-inspiring".

Du Lingchun had never seen such a person before, and his eyes deepened for a moment.If Gongsun Zhuoyu is upright, he is more flexible than those civil servants who insist on being honest. If Gongsun Zhuoyu is flattering, he is incompatible with the corrupt people around him.

Du Lingchun asked him seriously: "Do you really want to investigate?"

Gongsun Zhuoyu bowed his head: "Of course we have to investigate."

Du Lingchun's thoughts moved slightly and his voice was deep: "Just for a slave?"

Gongsun Zhuoyu: "Slaves are also human lives, and they are my people in Jiangzhou."

As soon as he said this, the servants standing next to him had moved expressions.

This is a dynasty where life is as cheap as grass, and countless people die every day.Slaves are the lowest kind of people. Their wealth and life are all tied to a selling contract, and their masters will kill them whether they live or die.

The reason why the prefect would push Ling Shuang out as a scapegoat is simply because she is a slave, a slave who is insignificant and has no power to resist. A slave who will die if she dies and no one will care.

Life is lighter than a feather and heavier than Mount Tai.It would be too sad to be a slave all your life and die without a clean reputation.

Du Lingchun took a deep look at Gongsun Zhuoyu and said after a long while: "In that case, we will let you investigate."

He stood up from his seat, brushed his sleeves against the seat, and made the unique sound of silk, and slowly walked to Gongsun Zhuoyu: "It's just that after our company wiped out the rebellious parties of the previous dynasty, we will return to Beijing to resume our duties in the near future. NoToo much time for you, if no clues are found within three days, the slave named Ling Shuang will be the real culprit."

Du Lingchun will not waste time on an insignificant case. It does not matter who the real culprit is. What is important is that there is an explanation.But he suddenly wanted to test Gongsun Zhuoyu's depth and see if he could find out the truth.

Du Lingchun approached him and lowered his voice: "But if you can really find out the truth, our company will definitely reward you for your outstanding ability. You will be an official in the capital soon..."

Being so close, Gongsun Zhuoyu could even faintly smell the precious submerged spices on Du Lingchun's body, which was lightly refreshing.Hearing this, his eyes lit up even more. The chicken blood injection was just that. The officials in the capital were much better than a small place like Jiangzhou!

Gongsun Zhuoyu felt happy in his heart, but he still wanted to be humble and modest on his face: "I only want to find out the truth and restore the innocence of the deceased."

Du Lingchunfu looked at Su Daofu and others again: "Then this case will be handed over to Gongsun Zhuoyu for investigation. You will listen to his arrangements and make sure there are no mistakes."

It actually gave him the greatest convenience.

The magistrate frowned, thinking what the hell was going on.He was really suffocated that he, the dignified magistrate, was going to be trampled under the feet of Gongsun Zhuoyu, a small magistrate of the county. However, because of Du Lingchun's words, he could only respond bitterly: "I obey my order."

To find out the truth about a case, an autopsy must first be conducted.This unnamed corpse is obviously that of a man, but it was wearing women's clothes when it died. Moreover, it was the clothes of Dan Qiu, who had been missing for three days. There must be something fishy about it.

A transvestite?Or did someone do it on purpose?

Gongsun Zhuoyu borrowed a pair of cloth gloves from the yamen clerk and carefully inspected the corpse. Finally, based on the epiphyseal line position of the ends of the long bones and the overall shape of the pubic symphysis, he roughly deduced that the corpse was an adult man. His ageAround thirty-two years old.

There was a slight crack on the back of the skull, as if it had been hit by a heavy object, there were multiple sharp scratches on the facial bones, and the neck bone was broken. It was difficult to determine the cause of death.

He was probably killed by someone and pushed into the well. It is also possible that he accidentally broke his neck bone when he fell to the bottom of the well and hit the back of his head to death. Or, more simply, he was drowned in the well water.

Because the body was in such a horrific state of death when it was first recovered, no one dared to touch it. Zhang Jiji only ordered people to remove the clothing and jewelry, but kept everything else as it was.Gongsun Zhuoyu looked at the corpse's hair and found that although it was a bit messy, it was not difficult to see that it had been carefully combed into a bun, and it was a woman's bun.

This is strange...

Gongsun Zhuoyu had indeed never encountered such a bizarre case, so he could only eliminate it in his mind.

First, the deceased was most likely not a transvestite, because Danqiu's clothes were too short for him.For example, the skirt of this wedding dress only reached half of his knees. If he actually put it on, he would not be able to walk at all, which is really funny.

Second, what was the purpose of the perpetrator deliberately dressing the deceased in Danqiu's clothes?The person who made others think he was dead was actually Dan Qiu?

After all, there is actually no one person that can be avoided.

Gongsun Zhuoyu took off his gloves, and after cleaning his hands, he ordered people to gather together all the maids who were familiar with Danqiu and who lived in the same room, and questioned them one by one, trying to find any clues.

Maid A: "Sister Danqiu is a daughter of the family. She is always very agile and kind to us maids who have just joined the house. If she makes a mistake, she teaches her carefully and never loses her temper."

Maid B: "Sister Danqiu lives in the same room as me, but after she entered into an engagement with Deputy Housekeeper Lei, she lived in a separate room. I looked for her early one morning, and that's when I realized she was missing."

Only then did Gongsun Zhuoyu realize that there was someone missing: "Where is Lei Quan?"

Immediately a servant replied: "Deputy Butler Lei went home to visit relatives."

Gongsun Zhuoyu's eyes twitched: "When did you leave? How old is he?"

The servant thought for a moment and said: "Yue Mo left three or four days ago. Deputy Butler Lei is the same age as the villain, thirty years old."

The person Gongsun Zhuoyu wanted to die was not Deputy Butler Lei. Judging from the degree of corruption of the body, he had been dead for at least fifteen days: "Did he say when he would be back?"

The servant shook his head: "I don't know. I just heard that he asked the housekeeper for six or seven days' leave, and he will probably be back the day after tomorrow."

Gongsun Zhuoyu said: "When he comes back, bring him over to see me. By the way, where is Danqiu's house? I'll go and have a look."

Since Danqiu is missing, he must first find his whereabouts.

A maid in pink clothes heard the words and said, "Sister Danqiu lives in the south courtyard. Sir, please come with me."

After she finished speaking, she led the way, walked through the corridor, and walked to a secluded courtyard door. She gently opened the door and raised her sleeves to block the oncoming dust while explaining: "Sister Danqiu has a good temper.", but she doesn’t like others touching her things, she is a person with big ideas, so even though she is missing, we don’t dare to clean her house rashly.”

Gongsun Zhuoyu said: "No problem, I'm sorry to bother you, girl."

This is an ordinary women's boudoir, with neat bed quilts and a strong aroma of incense.There were several bottles of commonly used rouge and gouache on the dressing cabinet, and hairpin rings and jewelry were piled in a box. Everything was normal and normal.

Gongsun Zhuoyu opened the drawer and found several exquisite sachets inside, as well as a sweat towel belonging to a man. He smelled the faint medicinal fragrance and couldn't help but ask aloud: "How is Danqiu's health?But are you sick all the time?"

The maid in pink clothes said: "Sister Danqiu does have heartache. It was brought out in her mother's womb. The doctor said that it cannot be cured and can only be treated with medicine to keep it warm."

Gongsun Zhuoyu said "Oh" when he heard this. He seemed to just ask casually and didn't mention it again.He carefully touched the bed, and finally found a handkerchief under the pillow, embroidered with mandarin ducks and two butterflies. The corners were faintly tangled and a little worn. If he looked carefully, he could even see a few blurred tear stains around the edges.

The mandarin ducks and butterflies are all in pairs, which shows that the love is endless, but why are the tears stained so much? Could it be that they are trapped by love?