That night, there was no chilling wind, only a moon like a jade plate, its outline blurred by the heat of the day.
The autumn heat in Chang'an in August is the most unbearable. Although the capital is hot, it remains bustling. However, the mortuary on the outskirts of the city is particularly deserted. From time to time, crows in the old trees in the courtyard let out cries that sound like the wails of babies, which sound particularly eerie in the quiet darkness.
Thump, thump, thump, thump thump thump...
A series of urgent knocks startled the crows that had built their nest in the tree in front of the house. They spread their wings in a panic, and in the blink of an eye, two or three of them flew into the mountains behind the house.
"who!"
Upon hearing the sound, Su Yan tensed up, like a bow being fully drawn. Her eyes narrowed as she cautiously watched the movements outside the window. Since being reborn in Chang'an three years ago, Su Yan had been working as a coroner in the Chang'an County government, hiding her identity as a man, in order to facilitate the investigation of the murderer who wiped out the Su family.
"Brother Su, I am Zhang San..."
Hearing the familiar voice, Su Yan lowered her guard. If the county officials had come to the mortuary, something must have happened.
Su Yan didn't dare to delay and quickly left the room, opening the door.
"Quick...quick...Brother Su Yan, grab your tools and come with me, there's a big case." Before anyone could speak, he anxiously urged Su Yan.
Seeing that Constable Sun was so anxious, Su Yan didn't bother to ask what was going on. She immediately went back into the house, grabbed her tools, and left the mortuary together.
About 15 minutes later, they arrived at the crime scene—the largest brothel in Chang'an.
Su Yan stepped into the Wan Hua Lou and walked inside. The brothel was in a mess, as if it had been ransacked by bandits.
Standing outside the dance floor, a pungent smell of burning raw meat assaulted my nostrils. I looked towards the source of the smell.
On the high platform, paper money was spread everywhere, and the light gauze fluttered in the wind, lifting a corner of the white cloth covering the corpse. The pungent smell came from this.
The guards around the area all looked worse than if they had eaten excrement, and their eyes were full of pity as they looked at Su Yan.
Upon arriving at the scene, Su Yan did not pause for a moment. She walked straight up to the platform, calmly opened the wooden box, put on a white apron and sleeves, and covered her face with a scarf. After completing the preparations, she walked towards the corpse on the ground.
Slowly crouching down, I lifted the white sheet covering the corpse. A strong, acrid smell filled my nostrils and hit my head. A corpse, burned beyond recognition, came into view.
The corpse was burned so black that its facial features were unrecognizable, revealing skeletal tissue. Its eye sockets were sunken, from which flowed a pool of dark brown liquid, which was the burnt brain matter and grease.
The skin was charred by the high temperature, the corpse lay on the ground in a fighting posture, bodily fluids seeped into the ground, the body length was shortened, and the stench of burning flesh lingered in the air for a long time.
Seeing the horrific state of the corpse, Su Yan finally understood why the constable had looked at her with pity.
As soon as I reached out and touched the corpse, a warm sensation spread to my fingertips. The body was still slightly hot and had not yet cooled down.
Su Yan frowned slightly. The charring of the corpse was too severe to determine the exact time of death. She had no choice but to examine the deceased's mouth and nose. She even took out a knife and cut open the trachea, finding a large amount of soot inside. It seemed that the deceased was not cremated after death, but burned to death by fire.
However, Su Yan was now puzzled.
Logically speaking, given the extent to which the bodies were burned, Wanhua Tower should have long been reduced to a fire-ravaged ruin. However, apart from the area around the bodies, there were no signs of fire damage.
Could this not be the scene of the crime?
Soon, Su Yan dismissed her guess.
Although the scene was filled with a cacophony of smells, she still managed to detect the odor of burning tung oil on the remaining scraps of clothing on the deceased's body.
Tung oil is flammable. If clothes are soaked in tung oil for a day and a night and then air-dried, they can be quickly ignited by just a spark. Even with water, it is difficult to extinguish, which is why the deceased died.
Besides the paper money scattered all over the crime scene, the tung oil was the most valuable clue.
On the way to the scene, Sun San had already given Su Yan a brief overview of the case.
The deceased, Yun Hua, was the most beautiful courtesan of Wan Hua Lou, renowned throughout Chang'an for her dance skills. Tonight was the night for the courtesans of various brothels to compete in their skills. When it was Yun Hua's turn to perform, she was at the height of her performance when suddenly flames erupted from her body, and paper money was scattered all over the brothel...
The incident happened so suddenly that before anyone could react, Yun Hua was burned to death in full view of everyone. The sight of paper money scattered all over the ground made it seem as if a ghost was haunting them. To outsiders, Yun Hua's death seemed eerie and sinister.
After the incident, the authorities immediately cordoned off the scene and investigated suspicious persons present. However, tonight was the day of the courtesan competition, and the number of people present alone reached more than two thousand, making the investigation extremely difficult.
The murderer has likely already escaped and is difficult to trace.
However, although Su Yan did not know who the murderer was, she already knew the murderer's method of killing.
"Tung oil?" Sun San took the remnants of cloth that Su Yan had taken from the corpse and sniffed them. Apart from a foul, burnt smell, he couldn't smell tung oil at all, not even excrement.
"As long as the clothes are soaked in tung oil, a single spark is all it takes to burn Yunhua alive in full view of everyone."
“But…” Sun San felt this explanation was not very convincing. “My men have questioned everyone present, and according to them, they didn’t see anyone throw a tinderbox or anything like that at the deceased. The fire suddenly broke out. Although tung oil is flammable, it couldn’t have spontaneously combusted without a spark, could it?”
Su Yan pondered, and when her gaze returned to the corpse, she seemed to have realized something. "Unless the deceased was carrying something that could spontaneously combust, in addition to his clothes being soaked in tung oil."
Sun San listened, increasingly finding it unbelievable. "Spontaneous combustion? Does such a bizarre thing even exist?"
"The world is vast and full of wonders. I remember there was a record in the book about something called 'phosphorus powder,' which can spontaneously combust and is commonly known as 'ghost fire.' It is most commonly found in cemeteries. However, this is just my guess. As for whether the murderer used phosphorus powder, that still needs to be investigated."
Sun San nodded in agreement, his gaze towards Su Yan filled with admiration. If he had to say who he respected most in the county government, besides his brother Su Yan, there was no one else in his life.
The young man was not only handsome at a young age, but also intelligent and knowledgeable, and a brilliant judge of cases. He was undoubtedly one of the most outstanding young men in Chang'an. It was a pity that he married young. If the county magistrate had not been reluctant to let him go, Su Yan would have been admitted to the Dali Temple long ago with his abilities.
"Brother Su Yan, what exactly does this 'phosphorus powder' look like? I've told the brothers at the site to keep a close eye on it."
"Hmm... It looks similar to the face powder that women use to wipe their faces, smells like garlic, and sparks when you throw it into the air."
"Alright, I'll go tell the brothers right away..."
After saying that, Sun San turned and left.
After Sun Sanyi left, Su Yan walked to the table under the platform, took out a pen and paper from the wooden box, ground ink, and began to write the autopsy report.
After finishing writing and preparing to hand it in, he looked around and realized that there was no sign of Magistrate Guo Huan in the building.
"Brother Su Yan, what are you looking at?"
Sun San quickly finished explaining things to his brothers and returned to find Su Yan standing there with a blank expression.
"Has Lord Guo not arrived yet?"
"The government arrived early this morning after receiving the report..." After saying that, Sun San secretly pointed to the private room on the second floor.
Su Yan instantly understood and went straight to the second floor. At that moment, Guo Tuzi, the magistrate of Chang'an County, was embracing Xin Yunniang, the manager of Wanhualou. His expression was calm on the surface, but in reality, while the beauty was crying in his arms, his heart was already soaring to the heavens.
Su Yan raised an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed by the sight of Xin Yunniang's eyes. The county magistrate, Guo Huan, was known privately as "Baldy." He was very successful in the officialdom and had few faults, except for one thing—he was extremely lecherous.
No one knows how many mistresses they keep outside; such scenes are commonplace for the people in the county government.
If it weren't for Guo the Bald's lecherous habit, Su Yan would have had no choice but to disguise herself as a man to avoid getting into trouble.
Although the original owner came from the countryside, her appearance was impeccable. Without makeup, she was as beautiful and charming as a summer lotus. Although she was not a beauty that could topple kingdoms, she could be considered a beauty that was one in a million.
Just as Guo Huan was so engrossed in the beauty that he forgot everything else, Su Yan coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem... Magistrate Guo, the autopsy report is ready."
Guo the Bald's expression turned slightly unpleasant when his pleasant mood was suddenly interrupted, but it quickly disappeared. He was still counting on Su Yan to help him solve the case and earn merit, so he couldn't lose his temper.
He quickly squeezed the soft woman in his arms twice, then distanced himself from her, coughed twice to clear his throat, and tried to cover up his previous lewd behavior.
He took the autopsy report from Su Yan, glanced at it quickly, and then a cunning smile appeared on his face. "Brother Su, you've worked hard. Once this case is solved, I will personally recommend you for a position in the Dali Temple..."
Seeing the look in Guo the Bald's eyes, Su Yan knew what he was planning, and forced a smile, "Don't worry, Lord Guo, I will certainly live up to your expectations."
Guo Huan smiled with satisfaction upon hearing Su Yan's agreement.
With a serious heart, Su Yan's gaze fell on Xin Yunniang. "Miss Yunniang, I would like to know more about the deceased. May I speak with you in private?"
Unexpectedly, before Xin Yunniang could reply, Guo Huan interrupted Su Yan first.
"No need, Su Yan... I can handle the questioning of Xin Yunniang. If there's nothing wrong, don't let anyone disturb my investigation." Guo Huan raised an eyebrow and blinked frantically, clearly trying to get rid of Su Yan.
At the same time, Xin Yunniang looked at Su Yan and could only smile helplessly to express her apology. The blue glass gemstone ring on her hand immediately caught Su Yan's attention, and it was very dazzling in the candlelight.
However, Su Yan had never been interested in jewelry, and quickly looked away.
Because of his official position, Guo the Bald dared not openly frequent brothels. This time, he finally got a chance to "communicate" with a beauty, so he was not about to let Su Yan ruin it.
Seeing Guo the Bald's eager look, as if he couldn't wait to pounce on her right now, Su Yan wanted to roll her eyes in disgust.
Since Lord Guo had already said so much, it would be unreasonable for her not to leave. Su Yan wisely left the room, closing the door behind her.
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