The Dream of the Red Chamber Case
The following morning, the prison was still dimly lit even during the day.
Oil lamps burned on both sides of the wall, casting the shadows of Xu Lanxin and the others onto the wall, adding to the sense of fear in this cold prison cell.
A constable was leading the way. Unlike yesterday, who was fierce and menacing, this constable now had a smile on his face and was very careful as he led the way, constantly telling people to be careful.
The woman in red from yesterday was now lying prone on the ground, and the rattling of the chains did not disturb her at all.
If it weren't for the slight undulations on her body, indicating that she was still alive, Xu Lanxin would have thought it was a corpse.
She slowly approached and brushed aside the hair that was covering the woman's face.
Her face was pale, her lips were bloodless, and her forehead was burning hot, so she quickly withdrew her hand.
"Qinglu, come quickly and take a look at her."
Qinglu quickly stepped forward to take her pulse.
The moment she lifted her sleeve, her finger joints were all red and swollen, a sight that made one's heart ache.
"The stagnation of qi and blood, coupled with the unresolved liver stagnation, and the extreme cold and dampness of this prison, caused the fever due to the invasion of wind and cold."
Qinglu untied her pouch from her waist and took out a roll of silver needles.
"Madam need not worry too much. I have given this young lady acupuncture and prescribed some medicine. She will recover soon."
"Okay, then you treat her first."
Xu Lanxin stood up and looked at the constables beside her, saying, "You tortured her?"
The constable who brought them in was somewhat embarrassed and replied:
“Madam Cen, you see, this is not something I can decide. It was the adults who interrogated her last night, and Miss Hongfu has already confessed and signed the confession.”
"What?"
She could hardly believe her ears. It was over so hastily?
"Is this torture to extract a confession? Where is Lord Wei's body? Has the coroner examined it?"
"Reporting to Madam, based on Miss Hongfu's testimony, we also found poison in her room. Lord Wei's body is temporarily being kept in the back hall of the yamen,"
However, before he could finish speaking, Xu Lanxin interrupted him.
"Take me there and let me see!"
The constable looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated, and in the end, he didn't say anything and turned to lead the way.
Passing through the back hall of the yamen, we came to an empty room where the deceased Lord Wei lay supine, his head covered with a white cloth.
As soon as Xu Lanxin lifted the white cloth, a sharp shout came from behind her.
"what you do?"
The entrance was crowded with people dressed in white cloth. In front of them were a yamen runner and a woman also dressed in white cloth with a white flower in her hair. She was the one who had spoken earlier.
It seems they are the deceased's family members.
"Who are you? Why are you disturbing my master's corpse here?"
She stormed up to the corpse and shoved Xu Lanxin aside.
Qingyu caught Lanxin, who was losing her balance, with quick reflexes.
The woman lay on the corpse, wailing, "Is this how you treat my master? His body is barely cold, and you allow strangers to desecrate him here."
He's devoted himself to the government and the people, working tirelessly for them—it's outrageous! It's truly outrageous!
Xu Lanxin stepped forward and explained, "Madam loves Lord Wei so deeply; this affection deserves our respect."
However, the true cause of Lord Wei's death has not yet been determined. If he knows this in the afterlife, and we cannot seek justice for him, wouldn't he die with regrets?
She bowed and then said, "Please allow me, Madam, to examine the true cause of the man's death."
The woman who had been lying on the corpse and crying looked up. Her eyes, which had been filled with tears, were now filled with contempt after hearing Xu Lanxin's words.
"You woman, doing such filthy work as a coroner, where did you come from, you slut? Get her out of here! Men, carry the master away!"
Xu Lanxin stepped forward to stop her: "Madam, why are you acting so filthy? Find the murderer, seek justice for the deceased, uncover the truth of the case, and uphold justice. Why are you so eager to stop this? Is there some other reason?"
The woman looked somewhat uneasy, but still defiantly ordered people to carry the body away.
Xu Lanxin didn't want to interfere any further, since it was someone else's territory.
After Qinglu came out, the three of them returned to the post station.
Cen Yan and Qingyun seemed to be discussing something inside the room. Xu Lanxin didn't go in to disturb them until Qingyun left, at which point she went in herself.
Cen Yan beckoned her over.
"What's wrong?"
As he spoke, he pulled her onto his lap and placed his hand on her slender waist.
“Zijin, in yesterday’s case, they tortured him into confessing and closed the case so hastily. When I arrived, Hong Fu was already on his deathbed.”
He held her hand in his palm and played with it. After listening to her finish speaking, he looked at her and comforted her:
"Don't worry, I already had Qingyun handle it."
He kissed her fingers.
Qingyun's efficiency was admirable; he knocked on the door in less than two hours.
Xu Lanxin followed Qingyun to the room in the yamen where the corpses were kept, but this time Cen Yan also accompanied them.
What's different this time is that there are two bodies in the room.
The foul, putrid stench emanating from the room when we entered was from another corpse.
Xu Lanxin first examined Lord Wei's body. His official position was in the Household Department, and Qingyun had already given him some brief information before he arrived.
The body had no visible injuries, but its corneas were cloudy, its irises had black spots, its lips were purplish, and its back had parchment-like markings.
The lungs and kidneys are congested and dilated, but there are no bleeding points in the gastric mucosa.
The yamen runner said last time that Hong Fu found poison in the wine, and that the poison was put in the wine, so he had to drink it. This shows that the claim is unfounded.
"Zijin, I need to go back to the crime scene again."
Cen Yan nodded, then said, "I'd like to trouble you, Madam, to investigate the other body."
Another one? Xu Lanxin looked towards the other half of the body covered by the white sheet and nodded.
A burst of fire shot through the window, grazed her cheek, and a burnt smell reached her nose.
With a "rip," the curtain tore open, and the rocket pierced straight into the wall.
Before Xu Lanxin could see clearly, she fell into a familiar embrace.
With a series of swift arrows, the fire spread rapidly inside the house, and the intense heat filled the air.
Even the corpses were not spared; they were hit by several more arrows and burst into flames.
Rockets were continuously fired into the house, which was unstoppable by humans, so they could only abandon the corpses and flee.
As soon as the group stepped out of the house, a volley of arrows rained down like shooting stars streaking across the sky.
Xu Lanxin was being led by Cen Yan to constantly dodge flying arrows.
The sounds of "ding, ding, dong" continued in succession.
The rain of arrows stopped, and Lanxin looked towards the source of the arrows, but there was no one shooting them.
The noise in the back hall was so loud, yet there were no yamen runners on duty, and not even the county magistrate had arrived. Was this done on purpose?
Just then, the yamen runners filed in carrying wooden buckets, and the magistrate's voice finally came.
"Lord Cen, oh Lord Cen, are you alright?"
Only then did Magistrate Xu waddle over, his plump body swaying gently.
He looked worried, but not too much, though I could sense something odd in his eyes.
"Please forgive me, Lord Cen. I went out on official business early this morning and am therefore late. I hope you will forgive me."
He clasped his hands together and bowed his body, as if apologizing.
Cen Yan did not soften his tone despite Cen Yan's apology, and said coldly, "It's a shame that someone would set fire to the county government office. Magistrate Xu should investigate this thoroughly!"
After saying that, he took Xu Lanxin and led the others away.
She was closest to him and could feel the oppressive atmosphere surrounding Cen Yan. His face was also extremely ugly, indicating that this matter had made him very angry.
Perhaps it has something to do with the body that hasn't been examined yet.
Inside the carriage, Cen Yan, who was supposed to return to the post station, chose to go to the Red Mansion with Xu Lanxin.
After getting on the bus, he closed his eyes and didn't say a word.
"Zijin, was the burned corpse your purpose in coming to Jiangnan?"
Xu Lanxin cautiously probed.
The man opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them, which made her heart skip a beat.
"The body belonged to the former county magistrate. According to the report, he died suddenly at home, and no wounds or fatal injuries could be found."
After suppressing the emotions in his eyes, he spoke softly.
"And it just so happened that at that time, the imperial court sent people to investigate tax collection."
"The fire today was set off very cleverly, so coincidentally that the officials from the government office only appeared after the fire was completely burned."
Xu Lanxin approached him and shared her thoughts.
"You can only blame Magistrate Xu for his dereliction of duty."
Cen Yan reached out and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a hug.
"There's plenty of time ahead, let's wait and see."
The carriage soon arrived at the riverbank where the painted boats were located. The red building, still incredibly luxurious during the day, stood in stark contrast to the small painted boats on the river.
During the day, these places have few customers, and some of the doormen are even dozing off.
Qingyun and the gatekeeper went downstairs to negotiate, and the gatekeeper turned and went back upstairs.
A short while later, the madam they had met the other day, yawning listlessly, walked towards them impatiently.
Not wanting to engage in further maneuvering, Qingyun directly revealed his identity card. The madam immediately shook off her fatigue and greeted him with a smile and utmost respect.
After explaining their purpose, the madam had a woman dressed as a maid lead them to the crime scene.
Xu Lanxin arrived at the room from that day, and just like before, there were no many clues.
On the way here, I asked the maid, and she said that the yamen runners had already searched the room and all the suspicious items had been taken away.
She had seen the evidence, but the results of her examination of the corpse did not seem to indicate that the poisoned wine was the cause.
After searching for a long time without finding anything, just as Xu Lanxin was turning around, a green sachet under the corner of the table caught her attention.
Just as she was about to open it, she was startled by Qinglu's exclamation.
"Madam, quickly throw away what you're holding."
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