Chapter 17 The Amazing Lychee Garden (Seventeen) He allows her to make friends, yet he can't stand...
When they arrived at the room, Yu Qiyi had just returned from seeing patients. He had changed into a clean, light blue robe and was sitting in the outer room drinking tea. Xu Bai told him what Rouge had said as soon as he entered, so that he could feel at ease.
Unexpectedly, Yu Qi seemed to know more about officialdom than he did. After listening, he only smiled lightly and said, "I don't think your Lord Wang will be so understanding. As long as the Lin family keeps pestering you, the Ministry of Justice is pressing you, and you still can't catch the real culprit, he won't bother listening to these testimonies. He will only make a big fuss about the grudge between Yu'er and Lin Mo."
Since Lord Wang was Xu Bai's superior, he couldn't comment casually in front of outsiders, so he just smiled cautiously and said, "It sounds like you know Lord Wang quite well."
"Aren't most officials like this?" Yu Qi sipped his tea with drooping eyelids, then slowly put down his teacup. "Let's get back to the point. In my opinion, Lord Qi should summon the Li family, the owners of this garden, for questioning. The yellow talismans and incense sticks that Yu'er found are very important. They indicate that someone offered sacrifices to the spirit of the Li family's prematurely deceased infant in the small bamboo grove that night. If the coroner can determine the exact time of the death and it matches the time of the sacrifice, then the person who offered sacrifices could be an eyewitness to this case."
Jiuli hurriedly walked around the round table to Xu Bai's side and added, "Perhaps he is the murderer!"
She wore a peach-colored skirt and a pink blouse, and walked with a light, airy gait, like a sunset. Xu Bai looked at her mysterious demeanor and couldn't help but want to laugh, but seeing Yu Qi sitting at the head of the table with an indifferent expression, he suppressed his laughter.
However, she was not to be underestimated; her doubts yesterday were not without merit. He replied, "According to the coroner's examination, Lin Mo died before dawn that night. Even if we ask for confirmation, he cannot determine the exact cause."
Yu Qi asked, "Is the body still kept in the garden?"
"He's still in the garden." Seeing him rise from his seat, Xu Bai quickly stood up as well. "Sir, would you like to examine the body?"
Jiuli got excited as soon as she heard this and insisted on going.
She jumped and bounced around Xu Bai, and Yu Qi felt an inexplicable sense of disgust at this. Without even looking at her, he picked up his teacup to drink, but then complained that the tea was too cold, so he splashed it towards the door, splashing it all the way to the corridor. "What's so special about dead people? You've seen them before."
Jiuli hurried over to his side, "Before, I only saw people who died of illness, but this time they were killed. It's different."
He said indifferently, "It's all the same when people are dead."
"It's different!" she stubbornly tugged at the fabric of his shirt, "Please let me go, please let me go! Maybe I can even help you."
He finally managed a faint smile for her, his eyes glancing at Xu Bai.
Xu Bai's eyes were sweeping across the ground outside the door. Despite the great distance, he had managed to pour tea with just his wrist strength without spilling a single drop inside the room. Just as he was wondering about this, he caught Yu Qi's gaze, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
It was still cold at this time of year. Lin Mo's body was placed in an empty room in the southeast corner of the garden. The room was empty except for a door panel supported by two long benches in the middle, where Lin Mo had slept. Although it hadn't decomposed after a few days, it still had a foul odor. When Jiu Li first entered, she was almost overwhelmed by the smell. She quickly took out a handkerchief to cover her mouth and nose and followed Yu Qi in step by step.
Lin Mo was no longer the same Lin Mo she knew. She almost didn't recognize him. She remembered that he had spoken to her not long ago. Even though he was a man of few words, his tragic death was still heartbreaking. The wound on his neck had a bit of white flesh turned outwards, easily reminding one of pigs, dogs, cattle, and sheep. Weren't dead people just like animals, a pile of dead flesh?
She clung to Yu Qi, who was only focused on slowly pacing around the bed. It wasn't surprising that a doctor could examine corpses, especially him. In fact, even Jiu Li didn't know how skilled he really was, but she wouldn't be surprised by anything he was capable of. In her heart, he had always been unfathomable.
He moved the corpse's head aside to look at the lividity on the back of the neck. Lin Mo had lost too much blood suddenly because his neck had been cut, so the lividity was light in color and not easy to distinguish. No wonder the coroner couldn't calculate a more accurate time.
"He died around midnight that day." He turned Lin Mo's head back to its normal position, then gently examined a four-inch-long wound on his neck with two fingers for a while before turning to Xu Bai and asking, "Did the coroner find the murder weapon?"
“They say it’s a one-hit kill.” As Xu Bai spoke, he called in the constable at the door, who swiftly drew his waist knife and held it up in front of Yu Qi, staring at him beside the gleaming blade. “It’s probably similar to the kind of knife the constables use, otherwise it wouldn’t have cut such a long wound.”
Yu Qi glanced at it up and down, but didn't take it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jiu Li standing at the foot of the bed, twisting up Lin Mo's thick undergarment with two fingers to examine it. The robe was covered in bloodstains. He frowned slightly and walked over, saying, "After seeing all this, will you still be able to eat lunch?"
Jiuli covered her mouth and nose with one hand, her brows furrowed with disgust. "If you can't eat, just consider it a cleansing of your stomach." She then turned to Xubai and asked, "Where is his outer robe?"
Xu Bai said, "When the body was found, he was only wearing his undergarments, and his robe was hanging on the dragon gate rack. It must have been so late that he was preparing to go to sleep or had already gone to sleep."
She nodded, about to drop her clothes, when she seemed to catch another faint stench amidst the overwhelming smell of blood. She lowered her hand and sniffed the clothes closely. Xu Bai was about to ask a question when Yu Qi blocked his way, preventing him from interfering.
Unfortunately, the taste was too faint, almost imperceptible, and Jiu Li couldn't quite make it out. He could only wring out his clothes and say, "Xu Bai, may I take these clothes back to my room to examine them more closely?"
Upon hearing her address, Yu Qi frowned and glanced at Xu Bai.
Xu Bai readily agreed, and then asked Yu Qi, "Sir, you laughed just now, was there something wrong with your wound?"
Yu Qi said: "The murder weapon was not a knife or similar weapon, nor was it a one-hit kill."
Everyone was taken aback, and Jiu Li also dropped his clothes and gathered around.
He went over, lifted the corpse's chin, and parted the wound. "There are fine, repeated bruises on the edge of the wound, which were caused by the murder weapon repeatedly cutting into it. With such repetition, even the shortest blade could create such a long wound. Moreover, as I can tell, the murderer was a first-time killer, inexperienced, and unsure whether a single cut would be fatal, which is why he repeatedly cut the wound."
Jiuli buried his head to examine it closely and indeed found that the wound had slight irregularities. When the coroner examined it, the blood had smeared the wound, making it impossible to see clearly. Later, the wound was cleaned, but no further detailed examination was conducted. How could those who draw a salary from the imperial court be so careless? Does having an iron rice bowl make them so reckless?
Xu Bai had probably thought of this as well, and said with an awkward smile, "Originally, I thought the murder weapon was a weapon, and the person who used the weapon probably had some martial arts skills. The murderer was probably a bandit or robber. In that case, it is quite different from my guess. Sir, you are right. We should start with the person who held the memorial service that night. I will send someone to summon the Li family for questioning."
After a while, they went out for lunch and split into several groups. Xu Bai went back to his room to find Zhang Da to give instructions. Before leaving, he wanted to say a few words to Jiu Li, but because of Yu Qi, he didn't say much. Du Zhong went to the kitchen to get the food, but Jiu Li only carried the blood-stained undergarment with two fingers. Thinking about carrying it back to his room, he hesitated under the corridor.
Yu Qi noticed her predicament, sighed slightly, and took the clothes from her, handing them to the guard at the gate. "Please find a clean cloth to wrap them up and then send them to us."
There was no need for the bailiff to obey his orders, but for some inexplicable reason, he didn't dare to contradict him and obediently nodded in agreement. Jiu Li glanced at the bailiff, secretly pleased with himself. Looking back, he saw that Yu Qi had already walked two zhang away, and hurriedly ran to catch up.
The sky was clear and bright, the sun had been shining for half a day, bringing warmth. The ground was covered with broken branches and leaves left over from last winter. She walked behind him with amusement, deliberately stepping on the brittle branches and leaves, as if intentionally making some noise.
After a while of crackling sounds, Yu Qi finally couldn't help but turn around, "There's a lot of moss on the ground, walk carefully, don't jump around."
Seeing that he had stopped and was waiting for her, Jiuli quickly ran to his side with a grin, "You're quick with your rounds today, usually you're not done until this time."
“Many patients have recovered, but because of the murder case, the yamen won’t let them go back.” Yu Qi slowed his pace and glanced at her. “You’re not in a hurry to go home, are you just enjoying the hustle and bustle here?”
Jiuli chuckled softly, "It's not just lively, but with you here and Du Zhong here too, it's just like being at home."
He felt a slight sense of satisfaction, but then snorted and said, "It's the same, I can make new friends here."
"A new friend? Who is it?"
He remained silent, gazing intently at the misty, verdant landscape ahead.
Jiuli glanced at him twice. His face was calm and composed, but his tone seemed to contain a hint of sarcasm.
A note from the author:
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Thank you for reading.
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