The head constable wiped his face, perhaps because he felt that he was too embarrassed. After he stood up trembling, he said, "Your Excellency, you don't know that we have a custom in Wanping. Generally, young men and women who die young without getting married will cover their faces with a mask after they die, in order to pray for peace, wealth, happiness and longevity in the next life."
"Poor families use ordinary cotton and linen cloth, and close relatives will embroider simple patterns on them, usually with bats, gourds, etc. There are also elders who choose patterns for the younger generation, such as peonies, plums, clivias, etc." The captain spoke more and more smoothly. He pointed to the peony embroidery on the back of the deceased and said, "Look at this thing, whether it is the petals or leaves of the peony, they are all in bright red, in order to pray for good luck in the next life."
Jiang Lingyao said thoughtfully, "According to what the captain saw, the deceased should be a woman?"
The captain seemed to have just noticed Jiang Lingyao was still there. He widened his eyes in surprise and asked hurriedly, "Why is Madam still here? Can I take Madam back to the mansion? This is a murder site, it's eerie and scary, don't scare Madam."
Jiang Lingyao's heart tightened. The crime happened suddenly and the crime scene was so bizarre. Jiang Lingyao was so focused on the case that she forgot that she was now the wife of Duan Zhen's messenger, not Qiao Tuiguan of Shuntian Prefecture.
She subconsciously looked towards Duan Nanqi's face, but saw that Duan Nanqi was looking at her quietly, with a deep smile in his eyes.
Jiang Lingyao took a deep breath, and she walked over to Duan Nanqi and hugged his arm: "I am never afraid when I am with my husband. My husband will protect me, right?"
As she said this, Jiang Lingyao buried her face in Duan Nanzhu's arms to prevent the captain from remembering her face.
Duan Nanqi watched her acting leisurely, and at this moment he was quite cooperative, reaching out and patting her shoulder gently, "Captain, don't worry, my wife often accompanies me in handling cases, she is not comparable to other daughters. Besides, my wife... is proficient in both civil and military strategies, and with her around, she might be able to find new clues."
After Duan Nanqi finished speaking, he lowered his head and looked at Jiang Lingyao, as gentle as the spring breeze in March: "Madam, is what your husband said true?"
Jiang Lingyao: “…”
Jiang Lingyao rolled her eyes at him, knowing that he had already guessed her identity, but since she didn't say anything, he just played along. He was extremely happy to be able to mock her like he was doing now.
Jiang Lingyao gritted her teeth and hummed, saying, "My husband is right."
Duan Nanqi then asked: "Then I understand now."
Duan Nanqi glanced at the captain, thought for a moment, and said, "Send someone to inform the county magistrate that this place is under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture. Please also ask the Shuntian Prefecture prosecutor and coroner to come here to help with the investigation. We must close the case before the Lantern Festival."
The rank of the Jinyiwei was much higher than that of the county government, and since Duan Nanzhu was under the jurisdiction of the Beizhen Fusi, no one dared to disobey him. The head constable immediately said, "Yes, I will go right away."
After the captain left, Jiang Lingyao immediately let go of Duan Nanqiao's hand. They stood on either side, their minds fixed on the dead man.
Since there was no one around, Jiang Lingyao stopped pretending. She whispered, "The peonies here are too dense, so we can't see the front of the deceased. We have to pull out all the peonies before we can see the deceased's entire body. But according to what the captain just said, the deceased should be a woman."
"Just looking at her shoulders, waist and body length, it is clear that she is not a man. If this peony embroidery piece is really the top garment that the police chief said, then the deceased is probably no more than 20 years old, and should be an unmarried young woman."
Duan Nanqi did not joke with her anymore, because the flower bed was more than half a person's height higher than the ground, the two of them could only stand outside the flower bed to explore and could not get close to the deceased.
Duan Nanqi thought for a moment and said, "I'll go up and check it out. Pei Yu and the others will come over later and mark the scene and other things. We'll discuss it again after we've checked all the details of the scene."
Jiang Lingyao said, "Be careful."
Duan Nanqi stretched out his hand swiftly and jumped onto the flower bed with one kick. He stood carefully at the edge of the flower bed and did not take even a single step towards the center.
Duan Nanqi squatted on the spot, pointed at the base of the flower bush and said to Jiang Lingyao: "There are footprints here."
Jiang Lingyao nodded and asked, "Are the footprints deep?"
"It's about an inch deep in the ground. Judging from the footprints, it must have been caused by slipping after climbing up," Duan Nanqi slowly measured the size with his hands and said, "The footprint is about seven and a half inches, about the size of an adult man."
"It seems that the murderer dumped the body here after the death of the victim. Because the road is slippery after rain, it is easy to leave footprints, but the murderer did not notice it. Or it was raining when the murderer dumped the body, and the murderer thought that the rain would wash away the footprints, so he did not deal with it."
As a carefully arranged corpse dumping scene, whether it is the appearance of the deceased, the choice of this flowerbed, or even the exquisite peony embroidery, it is clear at a glance that it was a long-planned plan. If so, there would not be many clues left at the scene.
The reason why the evidence was retained was either because the murderer was careless or because he thought it was not a clue.
Jiang Lingyao stood on tiptoe, looked up and asked Duan Nanqi: "Can you see the face of the deceased?"
Duan Nanzhui stood up lightly and walked to the other side along the flower bed. When he was halfway through the journey, Duan Nanzhui suddenly stopped.
He pointed in a direction and asked Jiang Lingyao to go carefully: "Look carefully into the flowers from there and see if you can see anything clearly."
Jiang Lingyao slowly moved to the direction Duan Nanzhuo pointed, but no matter how she looked, all she could see before her were the lush peony stalks. Among the tender green leaves, the peony petals that had been blown down by the rain were silhouetted, like a beautiful flower wall.
Jiang Lingyao moved slowly, looking and searching.
Suddenly, a pair of glaring eyes appeared among the flowers.
The eyes were dark and wide open, with large black pupils and upturned corners, which gave him a lively look.
If he were still alive, he would be full of energy and his eyes would be full of energy.
But she had been dead for a long time, and her eyes, like black grapes, seemed to be filled with mist, leaving only a cold and indifferent look.
It no longer has the same vigor as before.
Jiang Lingyao was startled. She subconsciously took a half step back and her face turned pale. "The dead man opened his eyes?"
In the flower wall, there was a gap that was overlooked by someone, allowing the dead man's eyes, which were still open after death, to appear in front of Jiang Lingyao.
Duan Nanqiao walked to Jiang Lingyao's side, jumped down, and then looked forward along the dead person's eyes.
The deceased was looking in the direction of an octagonal pavilion with four revolving lanterns hanging in it. Although they were not lit, they were extremely exquisite and could be seen as the latest masterpieces of the lantern market.
Jiang Lingyao also noticed the four lanterns and asked, "Is she looking at the lanterns?"
Both of them were puzzled. Duan Nanqi said, "The deceased was covered by flowers, and we couldn't see what was in the flowers. But this patch of peonies must have been very meaningful to the murderer, so he chose such a place for the deceased to be...displayed?"
Jiang Lingyao sighed and said, "We can only wait for the captains to look for clues."
Duan Nanzhi saw that the runners of Wanping County were quite good. They had already cordoned off the scene and were guarding outside the three gates of Jingye Garden in high spirits. It seemed that the county magistrate was able to control his subordinates well.
"It will take about half an hour for the Jinyiwei to arrive. Why don't we go back and rest first?" Duan Nanqi said meaningfully, "After all, my wife still needs to wash and change clothes, right?"
Jiang Lingyao paused slightly. At this moment, she felt that what Duan Nanqi said was very true. With Jiang Lingyao's identity, she would not be able to investigate the case properly. Even if she said more, people would be suspicious. Therefore, she could only let Qiao Tui investigate carefully.
She was Magistrate Xiao Qiao, and it was an unspoken secret between the two of them. She denied it, and Duan Nanqi did not ask any more questions.
Jiang Lingyao thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go back first. After all, I don't know if there is a coroner on duty at the county government office. If there is no coroner, we have to wait for Uncle Xu or Brother Zheng to rush to Wanping. It will take more than two hours to go back and forth."
Riding a horse is definitely much faster than a carriage. They came here in a carriage, and with so many gifts, it took them almost two hours for the one-way trip. But if they rode a horse at full speed, they could arrive in one hour.
Duan Nanqiao nodded, looked down at Jiang Lingyao, bent his right hand slightly, and hummed softly.
Jiang Lingyao looked at him in confusion: "What?"
Duan Nanqi smiled softly, "Didn't you just tell that captain that you wouldn't be afraid as long as I was by your side? But the captain didn't leave."
Jiang Lingyao: “…”
Jiang Lingyao immediately came close to him, gently holding Duan Nanqi's arm, and said softly, "Husband, if you can help solve the case this time, what will you give me as a thank you?"
Duan Nanqi smiled gently, "My lady, it's not what you said. Everything in the house belongs to me and also to you. If you can help solve the case and keep the market going smoothly, His Majesty will definitely reward you. We will all be judges from Shuntian Prefecture and will also receive rewards."
What you mean is, if I have something, you also have it, so why are you asking me for something?
Jiang Lingyao narrowed her eyes and smiled even more coyly: "I am not a magistrate, so what does the reward of a magistrate have to do with me?"
The two of them walked slowly, snuggling together, and in the last rays of sunset, they expressed their tenderness and love to their heart's content as newlyweds.
The patrolmen guarding the door looked at each other with envy on their faces.
Look at the town caretaker. Not only did he enter the North Town Caretaker Department at a young age, he also has a lovely wife in his arms. It can be said that he is enjoying a glorious life.
When they arrived at the door, Jiang Lingyao timidly let go of Duan Nanqi's hand. She seemed very embarrassed and hid behind Duan Nanqi.
Duan Nanqi asked the captain, "When did the rain start yesterday?"
The head of the police said, "Reporting to the lord, there was a heavy rain yesterday, which started at about twilight hour and lasted for more than half an hour. Then the rain stopped suddenly and it started to drizzle, which did not hinder walking."
Duan Nanqi nodded and said, "You keep an eye on this place. I will go back and send my subordinates to see the county magistrate. If it rains, quickly put up a shed. We don't want the flowerbed and the dead to get wet."
The captain of the police said with a high spirit: "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely do a good job."
Duan Nanqi was very tolerant and kind: "Thank you for your hard work."
Having said that, he turned around and held out his hand to his wife behind him: "Madam, please wait a minute. The road is slippery. Be careful not to fall."
So, under the envious gaze of the young policeman, the two men jumped on their horses and rode away at full speed.
The two of them went into the city, and when they returned to Jiang's house, Jiang Lingyao washed up and found that her stomach was empty as it was already past dinner time.
The Jiang residence has three courtyards, and the main courtyard is vacant. Jiang Lingyao and Duan Nanzhu only chose the west courtyard to live in temporarily. The main house in the west courtyard has bedrooms and a study. Duan Nanzhu was very smart and chose the study to live in.
She came out of the bedroom and saw Duan Nanqi had also changed his clothes, so she said, "Let's have dinner first."
Duan Nanqi had just instructed his servants, and he said, "Pei Yu and the others are still on their way. We need to wait for another two minutes. Let's eat first."
So the two of them sat down to eat in peace.
Dinner was again prepared by the chef of Xinghuangyuan. Both of them were a little hungry, so they each held a bowl of shredded chicken noodle soup, one drank the soup while the other ate half a bowl of noodles in one go.
When she was no longer hungry, Jiang Lingyao asked, "Tell me, is this murderer a first-time offender or a habitual offender?"
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