"When did I change? Perhaps by the time you used me as a tool to gain power, I had already ceased to exist."

——Yu Qinglan

***

So the most pitiful people are those who have contributed a lot to this plan but were sacrificed by this plan. They are the most innocent.

It's pathetic for those who are willing to be treated as pawns and played around with even though they know it's their turn.

After a few days of peace, another big event happened.

The wedding of Yu Qinglan and Helan Yinsheng was about to take place. On the morning of the sixth day of June, a corpse was hung on the west gate of Funing City. It seemed to appear out of thin air, with disheveled hair, bloody face and barefoot. There was no blood stain on the black clothes, but it gave off a strong stench of corpse. It was obvious that the corpse had been dead for a long time.

A sign that looked like a wooden board was hung on the body, with three big words written on it - Dishonest Person.

The West City Gate is connected to West Street. Although the flow of people in the morning is not as much as in the afternoon, there are still people pointing and talking at the city gate. The first person to see the body is Lao Zhang, the owner of a bun shop who goes out to the street to sell freshly ground soy milk early in the morning. As the prefect, Lu Mingxian rushed over as soon as he received the report.

Someone was sent to lower the body from the city wall. It was covered in blood and flesh, but the general outline could still be seen. There was a stench of corpse on the body, but it was not difficult to tell that the person had died not long ago and the body had not yet rotted.

Lu Mingxian squatted down wearing gloves specially worn by coroners and brushed aside the messy hair of the corpse on the ground. Many people gathered around and chattered non-stop. Although the corpse was covered in blood and flesh, the face could still be seen clearly, at least the general outline was visible. After he really brushed aside the hair, the crowd gasped.

The eyes were tightly closed, the blood on the eyelids had dried, there were several malicious scratches on the face, disgusting maggots were wriggling in the flesh, the mouth remained open in pain, and looking down at the neck there were obvious purple marks, obviously he had struggled before death.

Because the death was so tragic, there were bursts of sighs in the crowd, and the woman covered the child's eyes. Lu Mingxian always felt that he knew the dead person, but his face was so blurred that further verification was needed.

"Take it back to Shuntian Prefecture."

Lu Mingxian finally stood up, instructed the people around him, pushed through the crowd, and left with a headache.

The disappearance of Zhan Shaoang has not been fully investigated. No useful clues have been found on South Street, and Liu Dafen refused to let people from Shuntian Prefecture check Zhan Shaoang's room.

There has been no progress so far, and now something like this has happened.

But what he didn't expect was that the dead person was Zhan Shaoang who had been missing for eight days.

After the coroner cleaned the face of the corpse, it was obvious that the man was Zhan Shaoang. Lu Mingxian had only met him a few times, so he had to call Yu Xiangyuan to come and confirm.

Yu Xiangyuan was originally checking accounts at the inn on East Street, but was notified to rush to Shuntian Prefecture. When he entered the door, his legs were weak and his hair was covered with sweat, and he didn't know whether it was from fatigue or fear.

"Come and see if it's him." Lu Mingxian made way to allow Yu Xiangyuan to get closer to the corpse.

The stench of the corpse still filled the entire Shuntian Prefecture Court. Yu Xiangyuan walked very slowly, his hands trembling with nervousness or some other emotion. He finally reached the front of the corpse, and the disgusting face appeared in his eyes. The coroner looked at him silently.

Yu Xiangyuan's legs went weak, and he had to use his hands to support himself on the wooden bed. The eyes of the nearly forty-year-old man quickly turned red. This was his only son, his only son! Who was unwilling to let their Yu family go, unwilling to let his son go!

He lowered his head for a long time. Even though it was such a sad thing, he didn't shed a single tear. He supported himself and nodded twice solemnly.

This is his son, his eldest son who returned to him after many years of wandering.

Lu Mingxian understood, walked over to him and gently patted his shoulder, "My condolences."

Yu Xiangyuan was surprisingly calm. Perhaps because he had seen so many ups and downs over the years, his collapse was only a matter of a moment. But he controlled his emotions for the time being and asked, "When can we bury him?"

"I'm afraid it's not possible now." Lu Mingxian knew that this was cruel, but the cause of death and external injuries on the deceased still needed to be further identified by the coroner.

Yu Xiangyuan nodded hesitantly, then looked up at the coroner and said, "Please be gentle for a moment. Sorry for the inconvenience."

The coroner nodded. This was the old father's last wish for his son. Yu Xiangyuan knew that the case must be investigated further and he must find the murderer behind the scenes.

So let his child suffer for the time being.

He still couldn't believe that there could be such a vicious person who would do such a cruel thing to a young man who was only eighteen or nineteen years old. How great a hatred must he have? How great a hatred?

Lu Mingxian went to the palace and reported the progress of the case to the Queen Mother. He also mentioned the incident of Zhan Shaoang being hung on the city gate. She was already ill and was very angry.

Jin Suting often came to the palace to accompany her recently. Seeing that she was emotional, she quickly helped her calm down and handed the Queen Mother tea.

"check!"

The Queen Mother said this with great force. After all, the Yu family was a merchant family in Funing City, and most of the money in the national treasury was earned by the Yu family.

"Also, the young master of the Yu family must be buried with honor."

She had been ill on and off for the past few months, and Helan Ruizhe had been taking care of many things. He only knew that the Yu family had taken in a new young master, but he had no idea who he was or what he was doing.

So after Lu Mingxian mentioned that Zhan Shaoang worked under Helan Yinsheng, the Queen Mother became so angry that she coughed violently again. Jin Suting quickly signaled Lu Mingxian with her eyes to stop talking.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!