Chapter 24
Yunshui County, outside the city.
A woman wearing a dyed red short shirt, a garland on her head, and loose hair was riding a black horse and stopped by the side of the road.
She had a large bundle hanging by her side, a short flute on her waist, and a golden bell tied around her ankle, giving her a slightly exotic look.
The woman sat on the horse and watched the passers-by around her. After a moment, she pulled the reins in her hand and the black horse galloped towards the city gate.
A layer of mud and sand was raised from the ground.
In Tianshui Lane, Lu Tong and a group of police officers carefully ambushed outside the murderer's yard.
A few days ago, a murder occurred at Yunshui Academy. The deceased was a fifty-three-year-old teacher.
The deceased's body was floating on the surface of the pond and was discovered by a group of students playing in the water.
The students were so frightened that they all asked for leave to go home. Most of them developed high fevers that day and became delirious. The remaining students who did not have a fever were also in a much lower mood than usual.
This incident caused a lot of discussion among the people of Yunshui County, and the academy was suspended. It was hoped that classes would resume when the murderer was caught.
Zhou Hanzhang was naturally under a lot of pressure. After three days of investigation, he finally found some clues about the murderer. The murderer was a student of Yunshui Academy and now lived in Tianshui Lane.
As soon as he received the news, he asked Lu Tong to catch the murderer.
At this time, the people living near the yard had already been moved to a safe place, and they only had to wait for the murderer to come out and catch him.
After waiting for about half a minute, Lu Tong and others still did not see the murderer.
He frowned slightly, thinking that someone was watching this place and the murderer would not escape. When he was about to continue waiting, he heard the sound of horse hooves not far away.
"Da da, da da, da da..."
This sound doesn't sound very good at ordinary times, but now it makes the quiet Tianshui Lane noisy and ripples on the calm water surface.
At the same time, the sound of something heavy falling was heard in the house.
Lu Tong was startled and shouted, "Go in quickly!"
At the command, the two officers ambushed at the gate kicked it open and ran inside, followed by the others. Lu Tong, who didn't know martial arts, had been guarding the outermost area and was the last to go in.
When he entered the house from outside, he saw a male corpse lying on the ground with a torn white cloth around his neck.
Next to the male corpse, a wooden bench fell to the ground, and the other half of a white cloth was hanging on the beam, which was clearly a scene of hanging.
"Master Lu, I've checked and there's no one else in the house. The doors and windows are all closed, and there's no sign of damage."
A young constable walked up to Lu Tong and said.
Lu Tong's expression was a little complicated. He looked at the man's distorted face and seemed to feel the pain of suffocation. He turned his head slightly and looked away.
This was the murderer he wanted to catch, but now he is dead.
Committing suicide out of fear of punishment?
He looked up at the furnishings in the room, which were very simple. "Leave two people to search the house, and the rest of you to take the body back to the county government office and have the coroner perform an autopsy first."
"yes."
After receiving the news, Zhou Hanzhang hurried to the coroner's morgue.
As soon as he entered, the smell inside made his face frown. He had to retreat, cover his face with a mask, and go back in.
Coroner Xu watched the incident from the side and couldn't help laughing. His voice was a little hoarse, but not unpleasant.
Zhou Hanzhang ignored the laughter. He raised his hands to cover his mouth and nose and walked to the male corpse.
Coroner Xu stopped smiling and told the results of the examination, "After examination, it was confirmed that this person died of asphyxiation due to hanging. There were no other causes of death."
"Not poisoned? I see the color of his lips seems different from that of normal people."
Coroner Xu shook his head and walked leisurely to the body.
"This man was indeed poisoned when he was alive, but he died of suffocation. The toxins in his body were not enough to threaten his life; at most they caused a headache."
"Can you find out what poison he was poisoned with?"
"Sure, it'll just take a moment."
…
After learning from Pang Guan until dusk, Shi Yanqing wanted to go back for dinner, but he couldn't resist Pang Jiuan's "request" and stayed.
By the time she finished her meal and went out, it was already dark and there was no trace of sunset.
Qingjiu had already been waiting on the road outside in a carriage. She walked to the carriage, turned around and said goodbye to Pang Jiuan who had followed her out with a smile.
"Thank you, An An, for sending me out. I'll bring you some pretty little flowers tomorrow. They'll look so pretty when you tie them on your hair."
Hearing this, Pang Jiuan's eyes lit up.
Her favorite things are all kinds of beautiful small flower jewelry, and the jewelry that Sister Yanqing gave her is particularly beautiful.
The light pink peach blossom velvet flower she wore on her head today was given to her by Sister Yanqing.
When I returned home, it was already completely dark. The sky was twinkling with stars, and the cold moonlight was scattered on the flat stone ground, revealing the reflections of passers-by.
Shi Yanqing walked quickly through the front yard. When she passed through the hanging flower gate, she saw a figure sitting in the octagonal pavilion. He was facing the pond with a dull look in his eyes.
There are several lotus plants planted in the pond. At this time, there are only green lotus leaves. The surface of the pond reflects the moonlight, and the breeze blows through the ripples.
Shi Yanqing stood there and watched for a while, but did not move forward. She felt that Zhou Hanzhang was in a low mood, as if something had happened to him.
In this case, it would be better to let him be alone for a while.
Thinking of this, she walked back to her room, took off the pearl hairpin on her head, and let down her hair.
Yuanhong and Yuanlu had already prepared hot water in the bathroom and put clean underwear and cotton cloth inside.
Shi Yanqing closed the bathroom door and walked to the bathtub. There was a medicine bag inside, which was specially used for bathing.
You can still smell the bitter aroma of medicinal herbs in the water, and the color of the water is also light brown.
Shi Yanqing reached his hand into the water, feeling the temperature of the water, which was warm.
She undressed and entered the water, only to feel warm and comfortable all over.
After she soaked for a while and went out with her wet hair wrapped in clean cotton cloth, Zhou Hanzhang was no longer in the octagonal pavilion.
Tan Ye had been guarding outside the door the whole time. Seeing this, he said, "The master just returned to his room and seemed to be in a much better mood."
Upon hearing this, Shi Yanqing was no longer in a hurry to return to her room. She walked to the pear tree and sat down.
Dan Ye walked behind her, took the cotton cloth and wiped her hair.
"Dan Ye, do you think there will be any patients coming to see you tomorrow?" Shi Yanqing asked, looking at the night sky. She thought she would not care about these things, but she was a doctor and wanted to cure people from the bottom of her heart.
This is what she has been doing since she was a child. Even on the eve of her marriage, she was still treating patients.
But after arriving in Yunshui County, she only treated a few people, less than ten.
She doesn't like this.
"There will be." Tan Ye said with certainty.
Shi Yanqing didn't say anything for a while. She looked up at the bright moon in the sky and suddenly thought of her grandmother and her master.
"Yes, there will be," she murmured.
The voice was too soft and Dan Ye, who was standing behind, didn't hear it.
But it did not prevent Dan Ye from continuing to encourage his young lady.
"Maybe there will be more than one tomorrow. Perhaps, Madam, you can also see patients outside randomly as before. We don't have to stay in the clinic to see patients."
"I still remember that every time you went to see a doctor, there were not many people at the beginning, but later more and more people came to see the doctor, and there would always be a long line at each free clinic."
"I think it will be the same this time."
Shi Yanqing felt a warm feeling in her heart. She reached out and held Dan Ye's hand, but she only felt her fingertips were cold. She changed what she was about to say.
"Why didn't you tell me your hands were so cold?"
She stood up and took the cotton cloth from Dan Ye's hand.
Dan Ye felt a little happy and a little embarrassed. She shook her head and said, "I'm not cold. My hands are just cold."
"What are you talking about? Go back and take a bath to warm yourself up." Shi Yanqing pretended to be stern, but his eyes were very gentle.
When she returned to her room, her hair was still a little wet.
Zhou Hanzhang had not yet gone to bed. He was half lying on the couch. When he heard the door open, he immediately opened his eyes and looked towards the door.
"Is your hair dry?" He stood up and walked towards Shi Yanqing.
Shi Yanqing shook his head: "It's still a little wet."
"Let me help you wipe it," Zhou Hanzhang held Shi Yanqing's sleeve.
The two of them walked to the couch and sat down together. Shi Yanqing turned his back to Zhou Hanzhang and half-lay on the small table.
Behind him, Zhou Hanzhang's warm breath gradually approached.
The fragrance of paper and ink became stronger, and my hair was wrapped in a piece of dry cotton cloth, followed by a pair of big hands.
Shi Yanqing's cheeks wrinkled slightly, then relaxed.
Her eyes were half closed, and she felt very comfortable.
At this time, Zhou Hanzhang suddenly spoke.
"Why are you back late today?"
Shi Yanqing's half-lost thoughts suddenly came back to her mind. She exclaimed "Ah", and then remembered what she had just heard.
"I played with An An for a while today, and then had dinner at the teacher's place. I'll bring some velvet flowers for An An tomorrow, she loves them."
"Next time I have a day off, I'll go to class with you and buy some winter clothes for the teacher and An An."
Shi Yanqing rested her head on the back of her hands and nodded, expressing her full agreement.
Halfway through ordering, she suddenly remembered that Zhou Hanzhang was in a bad mood just now, and asked, "Did something happen today? When I came back, I saw you sitting alone in the octagonal pavilion, and you didn't ask Shi'an to accompany you."
Zhou Hanzhang paused what he was doing.
Shi Yanqing sensed that he was unwilling to talk about it, so he changed the subject and said, "I saw a patient at the clinic today. He fainted due to blood loss. Although it's not serious, if he doesn't take care of his body afterwards, he will suffer from chronic illness."
"I prescribed three doses of medicine for him, but I don't know if he will come back for a follow-up visit after he finishes taking the medicine."
After Shi Yanqing finished speaking, he couldn't help feeling depressed.
"I went into the autopsy room today."
Zhou Hanzhang spoke as he continued to wipe his hair with both hands.
"It was my first time seeing a dead body, and I didn't behave very well. The coroner even laughed at me."
"I didn't tell you right away because I was hesitant about whether to tell you. After all, I'm a man, but I'm so timid, not even as brave as you."
Zhou Hanzhang remembered everything he said to Shi Yanqing clearly.
He remembered that she once said that she started studying medicine at the age of four and saw blood at the age of five. From childhood to adulthood, she had seen many strange diseases, many unimaginable wounds and sores, and even corpses.
He didn't say it just now because he was afraid of ruining his image in Shi Yanqing's mind.
But, it seems that nothing happened after I said it.
After listening to this, Shi Yanqing quickly sat up and faced Zhou Hanzhang.
Seeing that he was evasive and didn't dare to look at her, she couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips.
"Why compare yourself with me? You should compare yourself with those who have never seen a corpse. Compared to them, you are really brave."
"Next time I see that coroner, I will definitely smile back on your behalf!"
Under the warm yellow candlelight, Shi Yanqing's eyes were curved like crescent moons, making people unable to look away.
Zhou Hanzhang's heartbeat suddenly became heavier, and he felt that his whole body was unreal, as if he was illusory.
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