Before Su Yan could even lift the white sheet, heart-wrenching cries came from the doorway.
A graceful old woman was helped in by three or five old women. When she saw the corpse covered with a white sheet, she cried out in a heart-wrenching manner.
"My dear grandson! How could you bear to leave your grandma like this..."
The old lady suddenly threw herself onto the corpse lying on the ground, crying loudly, while Su Yan was pushed aside by the old lady's several old women.
Su Yan knew without guessing that the visitors were the deceased's family members, but the scene had not yet been fully examined, and family members were not allowed to barge in.
Su Yan stormed out of the room and angrily questioned the head constable guarding downstairs, "What's wrong with you? Don't you know the crime scene can't be disturbed?"
Generally, the scene of each murder is controlled by the authorities in order to prevent the crime scene from being disturbed. The fact that the victim's family members were able to break in means that they were let in by someone outside.
How could Su Yan not be angry at the thought of this?
As soon as Su Yan finished speaking, Sun San walked up to her with a troubled expression and explained, "Brother Su, that old lady is the mother of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Lord Meng is our superior. The brothers under him are also in a difficult position."
"Just because you're in a difficult situation doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!" Su Yan was furious. "Do you even know how much damage you can do to the case by disturbing the crime scene..."
"I know... but..."
Sun San hesitated, a helpless expression on his face.
Su Yan also understood that in the capital, if you try to pick a date, most of the people who will fall from the tree are either royalty or members of a powerful family. Being a low-level worker is the hardest job.
Therefore, Su Yan understood the suffering of Sun San and the others, and her anger dissipated. She stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, "Brother Sun, I didn't mean to blame you."
This is no ordinary case; a few constables won't be enough. I have a suggestion: go and summon the Imperial Guards to oversee the situation. And, make sure to call for Shen Yao.”
Sun San immediately understood Su Yan's intention, "Okay... I'll go right away..."
After saying that, he turned around, went downstairs, and left the scene of the crime.
Meanwhile, Xie Yu was busy persuading Princess Jingning, who had come along, to go back.
Seeing this, Su Yan picked up the trampled pastries from the ground and threw them at the love-struck Xie Yu.
The pastry flew through the air in a perfect arc and landed squarely on Xie Yu's head.
"Who... is so blind as to throw something at me, an official..."
After saying that, Xie Yu looked around, searching for the culprit.
Jing Ning, who had witnessed the whole process, covered her mouth and chuckled, pointing out the direction for the indignant Xie Yu.
"Xie Yu, stop looking, he's upstairs."
Xie Yu looked in the direction Jing Ning was pointing and saw Su Yan looking at him helplessly, her eyes filled with sympathy.
Enraged, she demanded, "Su Yan, are you crazy? Why are you throwing things at me?"
Su Yan sighed helplessly, "Academician Xie, we are at the crime scene now. I believe Princess Jingning is willing to come along because she knows what she's doing. You don't need to worry about the princess's safety. You should worry about whether the deceased's family will disturb the scene!"
Upon hearing Su Yan speak up for her, Jing Ning immediately chimed in, "Su Yan is right. I'm not a child anymore. If you keep trying to control me, Xie Yu, I'm going to get angry."
Xie Yu looked helpless. He knew he couldn't change Jing Ning's decision, so he could only let her walk towards Su Yan.
Jing Ning happily walked up to the second floor and came to Su Yan's side. She saw a group of people crying in the room, their expressions extremely sad.
Although Jingning was raised like a flower in a greenhouse, she was not ignorant of human relationships and immediately understood what had happened in the room.
"Su Yan, was the person who died really Meng Heng?" Jing Ning pressed.
She grew up in Chang'an and had met many sons of officials on many occasions. Meng Heng was a few years younger than her, and she had met him a few times. He didn't seem like the type to cause trouble.
Su Yan shook her head. "Not yet. I was just about to perform the autopsy when Master Meng barged in."
Why didn't you stop her?
"Lord Meng has not yet left court, and Old Lady Meng is so old. I cannot act rashly. If something happens, I cannot bear the responsibility."
Su Yan was explaining to Jing Ning with a smile when Xie Yu snorted and said something before she could finish.
"Keep bragging, you're clearly just afraid of Old Madam Meng's sharp tongue..."
To be honest, Xie Yu hit the nail on the head. Su Yan fears nothing in her life except her master Lu Yuanxiu and the mouth of Old Madam Meng.
The children of officials were either proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, or outstanding in needlework and cooking. Su Yan was a little different from other women from a young age. Her hobby of autopsies alone made her the talk of the town in the backyard of officials' families.
Su Yan didn't care about these gossips at first, but she couldn't stop others from spreading rumors and throwing mud at her family.
These matters inevitably involved Old Madam Meng, so Su Yan chose not to confront her directly when she barged in.
Soon, Sun San appeared downstairs with Shen Yao.
Upon seeing this, Su Yan waved to the two of them, "Lord Shen, you've finally arrived."
The Imperial Guards are the emperor's personal guards. With Shen Yao backing them up, Su Yanliang and Madam Meng dared not act recklessly.
Su Yan told Shen Yao about Old Madam Meng barging into the house. Soon, Shen Yao led a group of strong men to clear everyone out of the house.
Madam Meng appeared to have fainted from excessive grief and had to be carried out.
With Shen Yao's help, progress has indeed been much faster.
Su Yan was about to go in to continue the autopsy when she saw that Jing Ning also wanted to go in, so she advised, "Princess, it's not appropriate for too many people to be inside for an autopsy. You can wait outside."
Jingning had originally wanted to broaden her horizons, but after hearing Su Yan's words, she gave up the idea of going in. "Alright..."
In the end, only Su Yan and Shen Yao entered the house.
The white sheet covering the body had been lifted, and the deceased lay quietly on the ground, as if asleep.
Su Yan crouched down to examine the body.
A warm touch came from his fingertips, and the corpse seemed to be still alive. It was hard to believe that the boy was not asleep, but had left forever.
The deceased had been dead for only a quarter of an hour. He had multiple bruises and old wounds on his body, with the fatal wound on the back of his head. The cause of death was that something hit him hard on the back of his head, causing his death.
The ground was littered with broken vase shards, stained with blood, clearly the murder weapon used to kill Meng Heng.
The entire crime scene investigation was completed, and it was indeed as the eyewitnesses said: Meng Heng and Yan Shuo were arguing in the house and then got into a fight.
Yan Shuo accidentally dropped the vase and killed Meng Heng.
This was indeed just an ordinary case of a fight that resulted in death.
The strange thing is that Su Yan discovered something very special at the scene.
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