Chapter 2 Blood Letter
When Qiandeng arrived at Caoqu Wharf, Cui Fufeng was already there. All outsiders had been cleared away, and he was leading the Dali Temple officers in an on-site inspection.
This immortal figure who was above the mortal world was now approaching the ominous blood writing. His bright eyes examined the horrifying strokes inch by inch, and his expression was slightly cold.
Qiandeng's eyes swept over the six bloody words "Lingling County Lady, kill me", paused, and walked behind Cui Fufeng.
"So, has the deceased's identity been confirmed? What's the origin of this blood letter?"
"Let's wait and see. It's hard to say at the moment." Cui Fufeng turned around and stood shoulder to shoulder with her, whispering, "But it's obvious that this matter is definitely aimed at you, the county lady."
At the nearby dock, the Crown Prince had finished his duties. Turning back, he saw her approaching and left the others behind, approaching her. Lowering his voice, he asked, "Lingling, have you had any issues with anyone recently?"
"Probably not." Qiandeng shook his head.
Princess Gao and Princess Changyi, who had a grudge against her, are no longer alive. She rarely even leaves the palace now, and she can't think of anyone she has come into contact with, let alone anyone with whom she has developed such a deep grudge.
"Today's turmoil has already stirred up a storm, and I'm afraid it's bound to spread throughout the city. In short... you should be careful." Through the veil, the prince stared at her hazy face. "If you need anything, please come to me."
Qiandeng expressed her gratitude deeply. After the prince led the various government officials away, she approached the ship and personally checked the traces of the blood writing.
The boat had been towed to the shore. After the people on board got off, the boat took up less water, the blood words rose, and the traces that were originally hidden under the water surface were also revealed.
The strokes of the bloody words were of varying thicknesses, and there were messy bloody palm prints around them. It seemed that the words were not written by the other party biting their fingers, but were smeared on the boat with their blood-soaked palms. Therefore, the words were written larger and appeared more terrifying.
Cui Fufeng said, "Judging from the traces of blood and calligraphy, the person who wrote the words must have swum to the side of the boat and then wrote on the hull... But the ups and downs of the handwriting indicate that their body was unstable in the water. With such a strong aquatic ability, it would be difficult for them to support the blood they prepared in advance and write in the water..."
Therefore, the blood used for writing is most likely his own, and he uses it immediately.
In other words, the other person should have had a large wound on the upper part of his body, or was vomiting blood.
Qian Deng looked at those horrific blood words, wondering why the other party was willing to risk his life to leave a message slandering her under such circumstances. Where did this overwhelming hatred come from?
Originally, rumors had been spreading in the capital that she had no relatives and was unlucky in marrying her husband. Before her death, Yan Penglai refuted the rumors with a series of confessions, intending to change her fortune.
But now that these blood words have appeared, everything he has done will be in vain.
Qian Deng's eyes turned slightly cold as he turned towards the corpse in the pavilion and asked, "Is Ling Tianshui not here yet?"
"As soon as I received the news, I sent someone to notify the Northern Yamen Forbidden Army. Looking at the time, he should be here by now..."
Before he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves along the shore came closer and closer, and a man in black clothes and a black horse came galloping towards him swiftly.
The early summer sun was blazing, but he was more oppressive than the sun. He was cold and fierce when he rode his horse, and powerful and fierce when he dismounted. The yamen runners and sailors on the shore felt that his captivating gaze seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, and they lowered their heads involuntarily, not daring to look him in the face.
Just as they were wondering in panic who this imposing man was and what he was doing, they saw him take a small rattan box from his horse and stride towards the corpse in the pavilion.
It turned out to be the coroner who came to perform an autopsy.
The water temperature was already high in early summer, and the corpse had been soaked in water for many days. The white cloth could not cover the obviously swollen body, nor could it cover the rotten smell that made people want to vomit.
Ling Tianshui opened the box and turned around to see Qian Deng and Cui Fufeng coming over. He took out the masks and gave them to them, indicating that one of them would record while the other would assist, and began to examine the body.
Seeing him ordering the Princess of Lingling County and the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple around him so naturally, the people around him looked at each other in surprise, and felt that this man was even more weird.
When the white cloth was lifted, the corpse beneath was already rotten and bloated. Its abdomen was bulging, its face was pale and swollen, its eyes and tongue protruding, and its flesh had rotted and been eaten by snails, turtles, fish and crabs. It lay on the ground like a huge pile of rotten meat, its original appearance no longer recognizable.
Fortunately, he had seen corpses in worse conditions before, so Ling Tianshui just frowned and signaled Qiandeng to record the autopsy file.
"Investigation: The deceased is a male of medium height, approximately five feet six inches tall. He had white, even teeth and shiny black hair. He was in good health. He was approximately twenty years old. He died between three and five days ago."
After determining the basic situation, he checked the deceased's neck - large pieces of skin and flesh there had been bitten off by fish and crabs, and the throat was exposed, which saved him some trouble.
He cut open the wound, untied the dirty and messy clothes, and looked down the esophagus to the stomach and intestines. He said, "The cause of death was poisoning and then falling into the water."
Cui Fufeng was a little surprised: "He was poisoned before drowning?"
"The man who was able to hold onto the smooth hull and write in blood before dying was clearly water-smart. However, due to the poisoning, he became unconscious and his limbs were convulsed, so he was unable to save himself and ultimately drowned."
Qian Deng asked, "Are you sure this is the person who left the blood letter on the boat?"
"It's basically confirmed. Although the skin on the deceased's hand is swollen from blisters, it still bears traces of being scraped and pulled against a hard object." Ling Tianshui said, raising his hand and pointing towards the boat next to him. "Diagonally below the bloody words, there's a raised wooden edge of the boat, and there's blood on it. It's obvious that the deceased's hand gave way during the final strokes of writing, and his fingers caught on the sharp tip, leaving these cuts."
Cui Fufeng examined the barely discernible marks on the body, and then compared them with the bloodstains on the wooden edge next to the bloody words, and they indeed matched.
"Also, the bloody writing was sloppily written, clearly indicating he was nearing coma, his limbs numb and unable to control his body. There were no obvious signs of trauma on his body, and the broken skin was likely caused by minor abrasions or bites from fish or shrimp. Therefore, the blood he used to write must have been vomited. Clearly, the poison must have been acute and highly toxic, likely something like Aconitum."
The yamen runner from the Dali Temple nearby immediately responded, "I'm a medical practitioner in the yamen. Judging from the symptoms and the condition of the body, it's undoubtedly Aconitum."
Ling Tianshui nodded, twisting the corpse's clothing with his thinly gloved fingertips. He said, "The deceased was wearing a single layer of clothing. The material... I don't know if it was linen or silk, but it should have been a bamboo green before entering the water. Also, there are no signs of fatigue on his body. Since he could write and wore a green dress, he must have been a student. However, I don't know the quality of the material, so I can't tell what his family background was."
Qian Deng noted them down one by one, carefully examined the deceased's clothes, and said, "It looks like a blend of silk and linen, but I'm not sure. I'll ask someone to go to the cloth shop later."
After checking the hands, Ling Tianshui went to check the deceased's feet. After pinching the left foot, he raised his eyebrows slightly, cut open the skin and flesh, and checked his tibia.
"The body's left foot shows signs of being broken and then healed. The doctor's skills are quite good, but movement should be slightly affected. Judging from the condition near the bone joint, the wound must have been inflicted last year—around eight or nine months ago."
Cui Fufeng said, "Then the deceased's identity is not difficult to determine. He was a young student, about twenty years old, five feet six inches tall, who injured his leg last summer or autumn and has had some minor mobility issues since recovering. Considering the clothes he was wearing, we can simply post a notice and invite his family to come and identify the body."
Qian Deng also agreed with their opinion. Although this person's face was no longer recognizable, the clues to his identity were clear. Once his identity was found, the grudge between him and her would be immediately known.
After Ling Tianshui had examined the body and was putting the clothes back on to cover it up, he suddenly heard a slight "ding" sound.
He raised his hand and squeezed, and found a hard metal object hidden in the sleeve pocket of the deceased's clothes.
Because the sleeve pocket was hidden and secure, the thing was not lost underwater and made a sound when it hit the ground.
He opened his sleeve pocket, took out the thing and took a look. It turned out to be an exquisite silver stick, two fingers wide and three inches long, with a seven-petal lotus as the head and a narrow stick body below, engraved with a pattern of blowing a flute to attract a phoenix in gold wire.
Cui Fufeng was very familiar with this thing. He frowned and whispered, "This is a phoenix-attracting stick specially made by the Ministry of Rites for the county lady to choose a husband!"
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