Chapter 200 If Soft Measures Don’t Work, Use Hard Measures

The autopsy required light, so the villagers carried all the oil lamps, candles and other items from their homes to a makeshift tent.

The inside was bright, and Jiang Yuzhu saw it clearly. She dismissed the others and only left Hong Jin as an assistant.

"The rigor mortis has not subsided yet. The time of death is less than twelve hours."

Jiang Yuzhu observed Miss Xu's fingernails and found a mass of flesh and blood inside. It must be that she used all her strength to scratch the other person during the struggle.

"Ma'am, look..."

Hong Jin helped Miss Xu take off her clothes. As a woman, Hong Jin didn't even have the courage to look.

Except for her face, Miss Xu's body was covered with purple scars of varying sizes, and there were still remnants of rope in her flesh.

"You beast! You still slandered Miss Xu by saying that she volunteered..."

Hong Jin bowed to Miss Xu and said, "You are a good girl. With my wife here, she will definitely do you justice. Go with peace of mind. In your next life, find a good family to learn martial arts and kill those beasts!"

Hong Jin felt extremely heavy-hearted. After a moment of calming down, she asked, "Madam, what was the cause of Miss Xu's death?"

The skin injuries are not fatal. Looking at Miss Xu's face, there are no marks of strangulation on her neck, and it doesn't look like she was strangled to death.

"Not sure, we need to perform an autopsy, but she..."

Jiang Yuzhu closed her eyes, revealing a look of heartache and pity, "It is certain that Miss Xu was raped. Not only that, those criminals also used tools."

The best evidence is that Miss Xu had multiple lacerations on her lower body and there were foreign objects inside.

Inside the tent, only a thin layer of light remained from some of the oil lamps, and the light was slightly dimmer than before.

Jiang Yuzhu decided to perform an autopsy on Miss Xu to find out the cause of death.

After half an hour, Jiang Yuzhu came out of the tent. Liu the blacksmith and others immediately went to greet her and asked, "Mrs. Xie, Miss Xu..."

Old man Xu has slowly woken up and is waiting to know the cause of his daughter's death.

Everyone knew that it could not be the unexpected emergency that Manager Cao had mentioned.

Jiang Yuzhu hesitated for a moment and spoke softly, "Miss Xu died of abdominal hemorrhage caused by a ruptured corpus luteum. It was murder, and it was exactly as you guessed. She was raped to death and suffered torture and abuse before her death."

After getting a positive answer, Liu the blacksmith could no longer hold back and squatted on the ground, covering his face and crying.

They clearly knew that Miss Xu's death was related to Shi You, and they clearly knew that she had suffered a lot of injustices, but they could not do anything for Miss Xu. They felt ashamed of themselves!

"Please rest assured, folks. I will take care of everything. Where there is purity in this world, there will be filth. I will punish evil and promote good, and serve the people. No matter where I sit, my original intention will not change."

Jiang Yuzhu comforted people for a long time but there was no response. Xie Zhao's few words had the power to inspire people, and the people united and cheered up.

In the middle of the night, the sound of horse hooves was heard at the entrance of Zhaijia Village, followed by flames shooting into the sky.

The yamen runners and Cao's minions gathered together and came with torches in their hands.

Magistrate Cao showed up with his brother-in-law Shi You, and said hypocritically, "Is old man Xu here?"

Miss Xu's body was taken away, and Magistrate Cao was furious.

After returning to the government office for reflection, he thought that blindly suppressing the people might trigger a rebellious mentality among the people, and those who are poor and barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes.

Manager Cao came up with an idea and decided to use silver as a stepping stone to disintegrate the group from within.

"Here is one thousand taels of silver, enough for Old Man Xu to sell tofu for two lifetimes. As long as you hand over Miss Xu's body, the silver will be your retirement money!"

If she continues to resist stubbornly, there is no way Miss Xu will be resurrected. How can justice and right and wrong be more important than being alive?

Old man Xu should just take the silver and get out of Ruyang. Let’s make a big thing small and pretend that nothing happened.

Magistrate Cao said disdainfully: "You made such a big scene, isn't it just to get more money?"

"you……"

Old man Xu had been beaten and was still very weak. He had been holding on after learning the cause of his daughter's death, but was provoked by County Magistrate Cao, rolled his eyes and fainted again.

Magistrate Cao ignored Old Man Xu and began to tempt the villagers of Zhaijia Village, saying, "Tomorrow morning is the date agreed upon by the government and Zhaijia Village to move out. If you help me hand over Miss Xu's body, we can discuss the relocation. Not only that, I will also give you some compensation."

Old man Zhai snorted without thinking and said, "Sir Cao, the government wants to blast the mountain to make way, leaving no time for the Zhai family to move the ancestral graves. The descendants of the Zhai family have already let down their ancestors. If they really help to do evil, then the coffins of our ancestors will not be able to cover their graves!"

Old man Zhai admitted that the conditions proposed by County Magistrate Cao were exactly what Zhaijia Village needed most at the moment, but they were human beings, not animals!

After learning the cause of Miss Xu's death, everyone wanted to do their part.

Every word that dog official says is bullshit!

Thanks to Lord Xie’s example, the people of Zhaijia Village know that there are such fair and just officials in this world!

"Oh, you are all strong-willed? You are so tough. Who gave you the confidence?"

Magistrate Cao had not yet received the news that the imperial envoy had arrived at Zhaijia Village, and he was still very arrogant.

"Since you won't take the soft approach, then take the hard approach. I think you won't cry until you see the coffin!"

Before going out tonight, Magistrate Cao made two preparations.

After failing to persuade him, he ordered his men, "Come here, pour tung oil!"

It would be troublesome to take the body back, so it would be better to solve the problem on the spot.

After Magistrate Cao finished speaking, he could not help but scold Shi You, "Look at what you have done. Do you still expect me to clean up your mess in the future?"

If it hadn't happened, how could these ordinary people who dared not even fart have the courage to rebel? They were as honest as quails.

Magistrate Cao had been in charge of Ruyang for many years, and this was the first time he had to fight against the people to seize the corpse.

Shi You chuckled and said flatteringly, "Brother-in-law, just this once. I'll learn my lesson and won't play such a fierce game again!"

As long as you have money, you can get any kind of woman!

Shi You was rejected by Miss Xu many times, and no one knew why he had such feelings for her and did not handle the aftermath properly.

Otherwise, he could just pretend he knew nothing and wait for Miss Xu to disappear so that she wouldn't be exposed.

A team of hundreds of people surrounded Zhaijia Village with ill intentions.

The people spontaneously gathered around the tent, gritting their teeth and refusing to give in.

Xie Zhao's sharp eyes fell on Magistrate Cao, and his voice was cold: "Cao Lian?"

"You, who are you?"

Being called by his name, Magistrate Cao looked around and became suspicious.

The man in front of him had an outstanding appearance, dressed in casual clothes, with an indifferent expression, as if he didn't care at all about the siege of hundreds of people. However, the majesty he exuded was the aura of a superior, and even County Magistrate Cao couldn't help but feel awe.

Xie Zhaoru stood high up and looked down at an insignificant person, and said coldly: "You are not qualified to know."

The flare rose into the air and exploded in the air, making a crisp sound.

Afterwards, a team of thousands of people appeared from all directions and surrounded the hundred or so people brought by County Magistrate Cao.

Magistrate Cao's legs went limp and he fell to his knees, asking absentmindedly, "The imperial envoy is here?"