Chapter 72: Swaying, wearing such thick pants, going to the ground, close...

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Chen Xu told him that his sister Chen Yue's residence was in Liujia Village, and her husband Liu Guangzhi was from the same village. Generally speaking, in such a large village with one surname, people with the same surname have a lot of say. Unless they are very unpopular or cause some trouble that harms the interests of most villagers, otherwise, if Chen Yue died in this village, the villagers would basically try to calm the situation down, not wanting to cause trouble, and would also protect Liu Guangzhi.

Before coming, everyone was used to this kind of thing, because the several Liu family members who were with Liu Guangzhi in front of the Dali Temple came from different families. The fact that they could come here meant that they were of the same clan.

Xiaoyun saw from afar a village shrouded in mist at the foot of Lushan Mountain after leaving the city. It was neither big nor small, with hundreds of households. It was indeed a small village among the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of the wealthy outskirts of Kyoto.

But seeing that the farmland is fertile and close to the capital, and not disturbed by wars, the locals should have no worries about food and drink and live a good life.

"Chen Yue's case is a big deal for them."

After a pause, Xiaoyun muttered, "If he was killed."

If the daughter-in-law of a certain family commits suicide, it is nothing unusual. In any village, town or city, such things are common and no one takes it seriously.

Yan Siqing hummed, looking at the bits of paper money hanging on the weeds by the roadside outside the window, "They really are preparing to bury the person in a hurry."

"Yes, what's that sound? Is it a suona sound? It seems to come from the path above." Xiaoyun pointed, and everyone found that the path leading into the village went up. In the narrow hidden part of the woods, there were messy shoe prints, and occasionally there were paper money flying or hanging on the grass leaves on the roadside.

The ancients believed in ghosts and gods. No matter how anxious they were to bury a body, they would not dare to bury it without offering sacrifices. Even if the Liu family dared to do so, the villagers would not be happy. After all, if something happened, the entire village would suffer.

So they could help suppress Chen Xu, a girl from another village, and prevent her from causing trouble with the government and causing a big incident. But they also couldn't allow Liu Guangzhi to bury the body casually, so there was this process of scattering paper money on the roadside to offer sacrifices, which was just right...

These mud shoe prints were also covered with horse hoof prints.

Li Yu and the others finally caught up.

But the suona is still there, so it probably hasn't arrived yet to stop it...

Jiang Hui pulled the reins and prepared to go up first. His horse was good and could take a shortcut through the rugged mountain road.

As a result, the horse was about to leave.

"Need not."

Yan Siqing stopped him, and Jiang Hui turned his head to look at her.

"It doesn't matter if he's buried."

Um?

Jiang Hui was surprised, but didn't ask.

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There are cemeteries for each household on the mountain, but most of them are next to a piece of land, with a grave there and a grave here. If there are indeed many people in the family who have passed away over several generations, there will be a bunch of graves next to each other.

Liu Guangzhi's family was much more hastily built. It was a lonely wild grave with no tombstone yet. Although the grass and trees were lush, it was really messy from the perspective of feng shui. The front was covered by dense weeds and deep wild forests. At first glance, it looked a bit like a hidden pit.

Li Yu and his companions rode up in a hurry and saw that there were no messy footprints on the small path that was wide enough for horses to pass. After searching for a while, they finally saw the wild forest among the weeds. When they pushed aside the grass and went in, they saw the people from Liujia Village who were busy digging a hole to bury someone.

My goodness, those who know think it is a burial, and those who don’t think it is hiding a body.

Li Yu immediately felt that Liu Guangzhi and his gang were behaving improperly and suspiciously, as if they had something to hide.

After the Dali Temple officials used their official authority to order everyone to stop, Chen Xu held back and waited for Li Yu and others to control these people and watch the corpse. After getting their approval, Chen Xu staggered towards the corpse.

In fact, the body had been in the well for many days and had already smelled of decay. There was no coffin, only a straw mat wrapped in it. Li Yu lifted the straw mat and looked at the body, frowning. She was a disciple of the Dali Temple and was not superstitious about corpses, but most ordinary people were superstitious about them.

Only a few relatives don’t.

But Chen Xu was not like that. She was so sensitive to smells, but she knelt in front of Chen Yue's swollen and embarrassing body, whimpering like a little animal, and wanted to reach out to hug and caress her, but was stopped by Li Yu.

"If you want to investigate the case, it's best to keep all the clues at their original state. Even if they've been tampered with, it's not advisable for you to do that now. Do you understand?"

Chen Xu was smart. She nodded, withdrew her hand, and just knelt beside him. She knew that Li Yu was also waiting for someone.

After Liu Guangzhi was ordered to stay, his face was full of impatience. He wanted to communicate with the people in the Dali Temple, saying that the official verdict had been made, which was suicide.

"My wife left because she was upset. Everyone knows this. The officials saw it too. She jumped into the well herself. Why would you help such a little liar and a liar?"

"What are you doubting?"

"It's not easy for our family either, you guys..."

Li Yu was originally examining the corpse, trying to find some clues. She didn't want to lose face for the Dali Temple in front of Yan Siqing, but these people were too noisy. She turned around and glanced at Liu Guangzhi.

When Yan Siqing and the others arrived, Yingshanhong, who was at the corner of the mountain road, happened to hear Li Yucui's angry scolding from the other side.

"When handling cases at the Dali Temple, we only need to report to the higher-ups."

"Since when did a gambler like you dare to make such a fuss?"

She knew at a glance that this bastard was a gambler - the marks on his knuckles were not from long-term farm work, but from repeated touching of black gambling cards.

Maybe the Dali Temple has been facing either princes or princesses, or the Jinwu Guards recently, which makes the Dali Temple very depressed.

The only person he met who he thought was easy to bully was Madam Yan, who Jian Wuliang thought he could control at the beginning. But the result... was simply too unbearable to recall.

But if you really think about it, the Dali Temple is in charge of judicial affairs and has insight into all officials. How could it be kind and gentle? Most of the cases sent to it are criminal. No matter whether it is the victim or the victim's family, or the suspect or even the real murderer, they must be dealt with with thundering means.

They were so polite in front of the Dali Temple...it was because Yan Siqing was gentle and Li Yu and the others didn't want to leave a bad impression of oppressing innocent people.

Now.....

Yan Siqing didn't go up, but stood at the narrow entrance of the path. The rhododendrons were blooming beautifully. She took a look and began to observe the scenery in the mountains.

In fact, it is so messy and desolate that there is no scenery to see.

If you really want to see the scenery, there are other villages and towns nearby for you to enjoy, and it is also a good place for the nobles of Chang'an to go for an outing.

However, the grass and trees have also been cut down, leaving some paths.

It seems like someone has been here before.

Her gaze lingered for a moment on a broken branch of an old bayberry tree growing fiercely by the roadside.

I was a little distracted when I heard some noise. I turned my head and found someone was bored, swinging the thin branches of a rhododendron up and down.

This is the wildest and most scattered mountain flower, growing scattered all over the mountains, unrestrained and proud, and not precious. The injured and idle prince hooked it up and down with his slender but powerful fingers and shook it, causing the petals to tremble.

Again and again.

The action is really... Anyone who has experienced some life or is not so gentlemanly might think it is wrong.

Xiaoyun, who was standing next to them, wanted to say something but hesitated, and couldn't help looking back and forth between Jiang Hui and Yan Siqing.

The prince is too...does he understand?

That's too outrageous.

Madam, won’t you be so angry that you will die?

It was not easy to "clear up" the relationship between the two. His Highness was so polite and respectful, but he did this again.

Xiaoyun was confused.

Yan Siqing didn't think too much about it when she came back to her senses, but the atmosphere was weird, and she saw through Xiaoyun's expression at a glance.

Blame her for being so perceptive and understanding of people's hearts. She was stunned for a moment, then looked at the swaying red branches and the fingers.

I couldn't control myself and thought about that person pinching my waist... During that time, I gasped for breath, hesitated and endured several times...

He said he was a bad guy.

She looked serious, her lips slightly parted, but she didn't say anything in the end, just turned away.

Jiang Hui, who was still thinking about how to trick people to some beautiful outing spots and eat some local snacks and delicacies, noticed something unusual and became puzzled.

He also looked at the flower branch he was playing with, and was stunned, even more confused.

No matter what he did, she acted as if she didn't want to pay any attention to him.

It was not until he saw the slight blush on Yan Siqing's delicate little ear that he realized it and let go of his hand.

His ears also turned red.

He wanted to explain, but it was difficult to do so.

That's not what he meant.

What should I do? This is so unfair.

What has he become in her heart?

Jiang Hui was once again troubled by the previous offense. At that time, he really thought that he would never see her again. He thought that even if she felt a little disgusted when she thought of him for the rest of her life, it would be enough to make him feel that his life was not in vain, rather than forgetting each other forever.

As a result, there was a sudden turn of events.

Has she already classified herself as a despicable person?

In her heart, she is not as good as that guy surnamed Shen?

At least she understood his unbearable situation and did not blame him at all.

I was so angry at myself...that I called him names and called him a bastard.

When she compared her height with that of County Magistrate He, she felt like a frivolous and eccentric peacock, with a distant look in her eyes.

The scary thing is that her judgment at that time was right!

Because he was just entangled and had no regrets.

Only this time it was truly unfair.

Jiang Hui was anxious and scratched the scar on the back of his hand subconsciously, which felt itchy.

He scratched her until she turned red.

——————

After Li Yu and others became furious and intimidated the group of villagers who had the same surname, Yan Siqing slowly walked up.

Li Yu didn't know he had been exposed, and he ran towards Yan Siqing on the small essay, as cute and adorable as a rabbit, "Miss Yan, fortunately, the body hasn't been buried yet. It's right there."

"Just wrap it in a straw mat."

She emphasized the words "wrapped in a straw mat" and glanced at Liu Guangzhi.

Liu Guangzhi probably felt guilty and kept his head down without saying a word.

Yan Siqing also realized that this man was a gambler and agreed with Li Yu's observation. When the straw mat was spread out, the corpse was a little swollen than the original body, but only slightly.

There were wounds on his body, including on his forehead, legs and feet, but they didn't look like fighting injuries.

The coroner from the Dali Temple first conducted a rough examination of the body, while Yan Siqing watched the process from the side.

Chen Xu looked at the injuries all over his sister's body and asked in sign language, "Was she beaten?"

The coroner couldn't understand it, but Li Yu used her half-crude sign language to understand a little and asked the coroner for her.

But Li Yu was puzzled: Chen Xu suddenly asked this, was it because Chen Yue had been beaten by Liu Guangzhi before?

She lifted the hem of Chen Yue's sleeve and looked up at her pale arm with blue veins from corpse decay, and found that there were no old scars or bruises on it.

Liu Guangzhi, who was not far away, heard this and was furious. He denied it loudly and started scolding Chen Xu again, "You little girl, you meddle in other people's business. Your sister has already married me. Why do you have to meddle in such a rubbish? I haven't even told her that she wasted money and didn't lay an egg, and you dared to commit suicide. What bad luck..."

His face flushed red, he cursed non-stop, and his expression was a bit crazy. Seeing Chen Xu staying with Li Yu, Yan Siqing and other women, with at most an old coroner beside them, he lost his mind and was not afraid at all. He wanted to move closer, but he didn't even take two steps.

The naughty Crown Prince walked out from behind Yan Siqing.

The smell of medicine is approaching.

But behind the extremely beautiful appearance there is another beautiful appearance.

The perspective seemed to rotate, and Yan Siqing smelled a similar scent. She moved sideways, one step, two steps, and the person who moved behind her naturally stood in her position, as if to protect Chen Xu, who was glared at by the entire village. She also broke off some wild branches on the roadside and threw them away.

call out!

The branch was stuck directly in front of Liu Guangzhi's shoes like a small arrow, three inches into the ground.

Jiang Hui was a proud person. He treated everyone equally, except for a few special people. He had long been impatient with this man who kept coming forward and making advances on him.

The truth of the case is one thing, but since the Dali Temple has intervened, Chen Xu, as the victim's only close relative so far, also has her own demands for an investigation. These people are so cruel simply because Chen Xu is a woman, young and unmarried. In their eyes, she is not like a human being and has no legal rights at all.

Not to mention that these people kept saying that Chen Yuesheng was a member of the Liu family and would be the ghost of the Liu family after his death, and they would not tolerate others interfering in Yunyun. These words completely angered Jiang Hui.

He hasn't forgotten what happened in the Dali Temple just now.

I also remembered that after Yan Siqing married into the Shen family, although she had made several decisions on her own, the world was like this. If Zhou had not been a kind person and agreed early, no matter how strong her own ideas were, it would have been difficult for her to get out given that the Xu family was also in decline at that time.

Jiang Hui thought of Yan Siqing's difficulties, and then remembered that he had just seen that Chen Cangyu's inner world was more embarrassing than he had expected, which made him even angrier.

This Liu Guangzhi doesn't understand what people say, and I don't know where he gets the confidence from. He even seems to be somewhat provocative towards the Dali Temple. Is there someone behind him?

Jiang Hui didn't care.

Even the elegant flying dance dress of a woman couldn't conceal her hostility. She glanced sideways as if looking down at him, her tone as soft as ice, "Did you dig that pit for yourself?"

"Li Yue's death may not be suicide. I think you have this idea."

"Your Highness can help you!"

Liu Guangzhi didn't even dare to put one foot on the ground.

Ruozhao and the others glanced sideways and drew their swords. In a flash, he and his cousins ​​broke out in cold sweats and retreated in fear. They retreated in a panic, knocking down others, some falling to the ground, and some even kneeling down to beg for mercy.

The villagers also became quiet.

The self-proclaimed title of "Your Highness" is really universal.

Yan Siqing had first experienced this man's self-righteousness and intimidating power as soon as he opened his mouth, and she was also the one who was crushed, but what she felt later was different - he was on her side.

There is absolutely no need for any other unnecessary self-introduction.

Li Yu and others no longer needed to scold them.

It suddenly became extremely quiet.

Imperial power is a really good thing.

——————

Li Yu stopped his insults, and the coroner explained to Chen Xu, "It shouldn't be."

The coroner said, "It's an impact wound. There are still bits of broken stone and sharp edges in the flesh."

"After jumping from the ancient well, there may be some hard rocks below, which caused injuries to the skull and flesh. The injuries are very serious."

"If there were no effects beyond the effects of the drug, the cause of death was probably excessive blood loss. Furthermore... she might have stayed in the well for too long. It's very cold in the mountains at night, especially down there. The cold air is strong. If someone has lost too much blood, they're already weak and cold, and then they're subjected to this cold, and this is the result."

The coroner was very objective and made a judgment based on the autopsy, which was consistent with the conclusion of the government.

It looked like the man was not murdered. The cause of death was that he fell into the well and was seriously injured. He was not rescued for a long time and died in such a lonely and miserable way.

This is tragic and unacceptable to the family.

Because she stayed in the well for a long time before slowly dying.

How painful that process was.

Chen Xu suppressed her tears. She knew that many people would cry and scream and ask the government officials to investigate the matter after their relatives were harmed. But she also knew that few people in the world could empathize with others. Moreover, these judicial officials had witnessed countless tragic cases. How could they empathize with the victims every time? They would only feel impatient and resentful.

So, she tried hard to suppress the pain and ignored Liu Guangzhi's sneers and accusations.

The people in Liujia Village felt justified after hearing this and complained to Li Yu.

Li Yu also had a headache. Was it really suicide?

She observed Yan Siqing's calm expression, but found that Yan Siqing was also looking at Chen Xu, as if thinking about something.

Li Yu was a little confused: Did he know her? Or was he feeling pity for her? Or was he observing any changes in the case from her few words?

During the White Horse Temple case, she stayed in Chang'an and waited for her followers to return. She spread the details of the case widely, which not only saved the Dali Temple from serious crimes, but also made them admire her ability to solve cases and feel sad that they did not go to the White Horse Temple. However, she also tasted three points from these details and rumors: this investigator did not like to drag things out, and once she opened her mouth, the matter was settled. It was said that she liked to "finish one day's work in one day". If there was a conclusion, no matter who it was, what their feelings were, or what grudges there were, she would not change her attitude.

Therefore, if Li Yue really committed suicide and it has been confirmed, then she should tell Chen Xu the result directly, give her a decent answer, and bring the matter to a close.

No need to waste any more energy.

After all, neither she nor the prince are idle people, and they have a lot of things on hand.

Such a big case is closely related to them, so how could they easily investigate a small case?

The fact that he came in person says it all.

Li Yu's eyes rolled as he asked the coroner, "If the cause of death is clear, then the question is—did she jump down on her own, or was she disturbed by someone and fell into the well?"

She not only asked the coroner, but also asked the villagers where the ancient well was, who discovered it and when.

Regardless of whether it is about the place of life or death, it must be explained in detail.

These are all necessary procedures for investigating a case. When all the results point to suicide, then it is a true suicide.

The person who discovered the body was present.

The old woman was timid and submissive. She was not as daring as the gambler Liu Guangzhi, who challenged the Dali Temple at every turn. She answered all of Li Yu's questions as if she had drunk fake wine.

It has been cold at night recently and the old lady couldn't stand the cold. There was not enough firewood at home, so she stayed up all night and went up the mountain to chop firewood early in the morning. Firewood is not something that ordinary people can easily get. Every household has its own forest and timber, and every tree has its own owner. She was afraid of causing trouble, so she walked a little further away and came to the remote wild forest here, so that there would be no conflicts of ownership.

This is also the path chosen by the poor elderly people in the village who lack foundation.

"I met other people, but they were all over there, complaining that the road here was difficult to walk on. I ignored them and came here to cut some dry branches to take home for the night. Unexpectedly, I smelled a smell..."

She is very old, in her seventies or eighties, which is considered to be a long life, and her physique is much better than other elderly people. Not to mention it, she would not dare to walk alone on the rugged mountain road to such a desolate place.

As he was old, he had seen many people born and died in this village and had seen many corpses. He was not as shy as the young people. He raised his hand and pointed to the wild forest in the east with trembling hands.

"Over there, there is a dry well..."

"I remember this place because during times of war, our village would come to this hillside to avoid bandits. There are a few wooden houses up there, built by us when we were young. We'd hide in them, waiting for the trouble to pass before we dared to go down the mountain... We used them a few years ago, when the emperor was still fighting..."

Her mind was in a trance, and she wanted to mention the founding of the country, but Li Yu silently changed the subject. Then she said, "I smelled something wrong, and I realized it was coming from a dry well."

"I know that well. We chose to build a wooden house there to avoid disaster because there was a spring there. In the early years, the villagers used it to build a crude well. Later, the village moved down and developed, and the spring was blocked. So we changed the route to the new well below..."

"I'm wondering, could a wild animal have accidentally fallen down?"

“At first glance…”

The old woman looked at Chen Xu carefully and said nothing more.

Chen Xu looked at Yan Siqing and Li Yu and made some sign language. This time, Li Yu didn't need to understand her, she also asked.

"Is the ancient well originally empty, without a cover?"

This is the key question.

If it was covered, it is unlikely to be suicide.

Just like people cannot strangle themselves.

The old woman shook her head. "No, I can see through it at a glance."

"But it was very deep down there. I only knew there was someone there, but I didn't know who it was. It was pitch black, and all I could see was that the person's skin was white..."

She felt a little uncomfortable when she talked about it, so she said no more.

But his gaze drifted over and landed on Chen Yue lying on the straw mat. He sighed, looking listless.

A rough visual examination of the corpse can only give the same judgment as that of the coroner. Besides, there are too many people here, and we are in the wild, and there is a lack of equipment, so it is not suitable.

Jiang Hui was still thinking that if Yan Siqing wanted to personally inspect it here, he would have to disperse these villagers to other places to avoid disturbing them.

The most important thing is that these people are gossipy.

However, he saw that Yan Siqing didn't seem to have such intention, and his eyes lingered on the pants of the deceased Li Yue several times.

Those cotton and linen pants are a bit thick.

Is it because of the cold?

But the shirt was not like that. Although it was dirty because it fell into the bottom of the well, it was still thin.

Moreover, this woman looked like a very efficient and hardworking person. Just now, when Yan Siqing and the coroner were performing the autopsy, Chen Yue's ten fingers were covered with calluses, and her nails were dark in color and stained with some dirt, which showed that she was busy all day long.

So, is it reasonable to go out wearing such thick pants?