Chapter 39 Lifting the Siege

In an instant, Xie Yunyu's mind was filled with a myriad of thoughts, and all sorts of conspiracy theories came to mind.

But then they heard the heir of the Marquis of Guangping say to the captain, "Could you please let the coroner examine the body first, for my sake?"

If the person was indeed poisoned, then please take them away.

If he wasn't poisoned, then there's no need to involve the Xie family in this matter.

The captain remained unmoved upon hearing this.

Ye Jing had no choice but to continue, "Although I don't know who is targeting the Xie family, it is a fact that Grand Tutor Xie was once the Crown Prince's tutor."

With the imperial examinations approaching next spring, and Grand Tutor Xie having been ordered to assist in setting the questions this year, targeting the Xie family at this time would not be a wise move.

Besides, you're a nobody; if something happens to you, they'll make you the scapegoat first.

The captain hesitated for a moment after hearing this, then nodded and said:

"Alright, then for the sake of the young master, I'll let you see the corpse."

Xie Yunyu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and first bowed to Ye Jing:

"Thank you, Prince Ye."

Then he reached out his hand behind him and said, "Court Attendant, please."

Upon hearing this, Yue Shan stepped forward and reassured the old man:

"Don't worry, poisoning is easy to detect, no need for an autopsy."

He stepped forward and ripped the cloth off the corpse.

After glancing at it twice, a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Then I briefly looked at my eyelids, neck, throat, fingernails, and other areas.

Then he came back and whispered a few words in Xie Yunyu's ear.

Xie Yunyu laughed after hearing this.

He took two steps forward and asked the old man, "You said your daughter died from food poisoning after eating my family's pastries yesterday, is that right?"

The old man, not understanding, nodded.

"What time did you buy the pastries? When did your daughter fall ill with the poison?"

The old man thought for a moment and said, "The pastries were bought at 9 am, and the poisoning occurred in the afternoon?"

"Did she have lunch at noon?"

The old man, puzzled, wiped the sweat from his brow and hesitated before saying:

"I...I ate..."

Then he looked up at the crowd and shook his head, saying:

"I...I didn't eat..."

The people around couldn't stand it anymore:

"Did you eat it or not?"

"Exactly, why are you talking so incoherently, old man?"

"He seems guilty to me."

After hearing what the people around him were saying, the old man sweated even more.

"I didn't eat anything, not even a little bit."

"Since your daughter already suffered from the poisoning yesterday morning, why are you only coming here now to demand an explanation?"

The old man lowered his head and said, "My daughter died. At first, I was grieving, but today I remembered that she ate something from your shop yesterday, so I... so I thought of coming here."

Upon hearing this, Xie Yunyu addressed the people around her in a loud voice:

"Everyone, listen carefully. He said he bought the pastries from our shop at 9 am."

Everyone around nodded.

Xie Yunyu then asked the man, "What kind of pastries did you buy?"

The old man replied, "Nine...nine-layer cake."

Xie Yunyu said, "Speak louder, so that everyone around can hear."

"Nine...nine-layer cake..."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone nearby immediately said:

"This old man is lying."

I come here every day to buy pastries. The nine-layer cake is complicated to make, so it's not sold in the morning; it's only available in the afternoon, and it sells out very quickly.

The regular customers who were watching the spectacle all nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

"Yes, yes, the nine-layer cake is only sold in the afternoon."

Upon hearing this, the old man turned pale and said, "I came here to buy nine-layer cake, but the shop doesn't have any."

So I bought peach shortbread instead. Yes... I bought peach shortbread.

Xie Yunyu laughed again after hearing this: "Okay, let's just say you bought peach shortbread."

Your daughter fell ill around noon, but what was the exact time she died?

The old man was completely baffled by the question.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "I can't remember exactly, but it should have been in the middle of the afternoon."

Xie Yunyu replied, "Have you thought this through? Was it yesterday afternoon?"

"Yes...yes..."

As the old man spoke, he looked up at the crowd again.

Gu Yu and Xia Zhi came along. Xia Zhi was observant and noticed that the old man kept looking into the crowd, so she followed his gaze.

He saw a man with a full beard in the crowd, staring fiercely at the old man.

Xia Zhi whispered a few words to the servant who followed her, and the servant led the group slowly into the crowd.

After listening to the old man's words, Xie Yunyu continued to ask, "Is it or isn't it?"

The old man was sweating profusely from Xie Yunyu's questions, wiping his brow repeatedly.

"Yes...yes..."

Xie Yunyu then addressed the crowd around him, saying, "Everyone heard that. He said his daughter died yesterday afternoon."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Xie Yunyu added, "But the coroner said that, judging from the lividity of his daughter's body, she had been dead for more than twelve hours."

Looking at the time now, it's around 9 AM, so your daughter must have died before 9 AM yesterday morning.

Not yesterday afternoon as you said.

Upon hearing this, the crowd gasped in surprise, and a commotion broke out among them.

The old man, however, stubbornly insisted, "How can you prove that what the coroner said is true?"

Perhaps you and he conspired to deceive me?

Then she started crying again: "I'm just an ordinary man, my daughter was murdered, and I have nowhere to seek justice..."

When Yue Shan heard that someone doubted his skills, he immediately quit.

"Sigh, you old man, you're being unreasonable."

I am a coroner at the Dali Temple, and I have examined countless corpses. How dare you question me like this?

I didn't want to call you out, but since you've put it that way, I won't hold back.

He stepped forward and yanked off the white sheet covering the corpse, pointing at the deceased's neck and saying:

“Your daughter clearly hanged herself; it has absolutely nothing to do with poisoning.”

He pointed to the crowd nearby and said, "Look at the ligature marks and bruises on this woman's neck. I checked her throat, and she was hanged."

"How dare they doubt my autopsy skills!"

Upon hearing this, everyone craned their necks to look, and sure enough, there was a purple mark around the neck.

Suddenly a commotion broke out in the crowd, and someone said:

"Isn't this old man Old Man Sun from Elm Tree Lane in the south of the city?"

Immediately, someone nearby spoke up: "How come you know them?"

"Hey, we're on the same street."

He owed money and didn't pay it back. Yesterday, people came to his door to collect the debt, saying they wanted to sell his daughter to a brothel to pay off the debt.

His daughter refused, so she hanged herself.

"Oh, so what the coroner from the Dali Temple said was true?"

"He really hanged himself?"

"That old man Sun is too audacious. He dares to try and extort money from people. He's really asking for trouble..."

When Old Man Sun realized he had been discovered, he hurriedly covered the body with a white cloth.

Then she lowered her head and began to cry sadly.

This was a sudden change in public opinion in the capital, and they shouted:

"Hmph, now that this case has come to our Jingzhao Prefecture, we will handle it ourselves, so there's no need to trouble the Dali Temple."

As he spoke, he called to his men to prepare to take the owner of Jiuzhou Pastry Shop and Old Man Sun away together.

Seeing this, Xie Yunyu's face darkened, and she shouted sternly:

"It seems that this Commandant of the Capital Prefecture is determined to solidify the guilt of my Xie family today."

"I wonder if your Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, Lord Liu, is aware of your actions?"

The captain grinned menacingly and said, "Whether the charges can be substantiated or not, we'll have to wait until we've finished our investigation. Besides, we're here on the orders of the Prefect."

Xie Yunyu was about to speak when a cold, hard voice suddenly came from outside:

"Is this how the Jingzhao Prefecture handles cases nowadays?"

Everyone was drawn to the man's voice and looked over.

After glancing at him, Yue Shan stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Lord Shaoqing."

Upon seeing the newcomer, the Commandant of the Capital Prefecture finally became serious and respectfully bowed, saying:

"I have met Du Shaoqing."

Xie Yunyu then realized that the stern-looking, handsome, thin-faced, upright, and magnanimous man before her was none other than Du Zhengming.

So he also bowed and said, "Greetings, Vice Minister Du."

Du Zhengming didn't even glance at Xie Yunyu before walking straight toward the corpse.