Chapter 324 Corpses
Upon hearing Guan Yi'an's name, Lu Shui remembered that he was the culprit who had harmed her elder brother, and instantly gritted her teeth in hatred.
My elder brother is too kind; even if he were skinned alive and killed, he would not harbor any resentment.
But she wasn't like that. She had lived a life of hardship in brothels since childhood and had always hated evil. If it weren't for Young Master Du rescuing her, she certainly wouldn't be a good person now.
Young Master Du and her master saved her, awakening the goodness within her. But her elder brother was her last remaining family member, and the person who killed him naturally stirred up her evil side.
She must make those who killed her brother pay with their blood.
Lu Shui stopped and said to Meng Lingge, "I will listen to Miss."
Since our enemy is currently nowhere to be found, we should listen to Miss first and make further plans after we catch him.
"Notify the Censorate to come and investigate," Meng Lingge said to the official. "Also, inform the patrolling officials to intensify their efforts and conduct a city-wide search for Princess Qiongxiao, Han Cui, and Elder Fu. Make sure to bring all three of them to justice."
"Yes," the official replied, and was about to leave when panicked shouts from the soldiers outside came from outside.
"Sir... there's something wrong with the well in the courtyard. There are corpses in it, lots of corpses..."
Everyone was shocked upon hearing this. The blood and human skin in the dark room were already frightening enough, but now there were still many corpses in the well. Just how many people had died here?
Just how many sins did Princess Qiongxiao commit?
Meng Lingge had already set off for the well. The official dared not leave without permission, so he sent his confidant to invite people from the Censorate. He was terrified, but he still bravely followed behind Meng Lingge and her entourage.
This is a dry well.
The guards had already dug out a little soil. One of them, standing beside the well, reported, "We searched this far and saw the well wasn't very deep, so we found a ladder to go down and check. Who knew we'd find a bone... I just dug a little deeper and saw there were many more below..."
He didn't know the exact amount, but it certainly wasn't just one person's.
In a panic, he climbed up to explain the situation. When the messenger heard that there was more than one person, he ran in and incoherently said that there were many corpses.
He was also quite frightened.
Actually, these can no longer be considered corpses; they've all rotted away to the point where only bones remain. At most, they're considered remains.
These people have obviously been dead for at least six months.
Judging by the time, Zheng Qingshan has been dead for about five or six months. I wonder if his remains are among them.
Meng Lingge looked at Lushui with concern and saw that she was staring at the well with her eyes full of grief, so she knew that Lushui had also thought of this place.
The official walked up to Meng Lingge and said, "Your Highness, it will take some time for the Censorate to arrive. I have sent someone to guard this place. Please go to the front hall to wait and have some tea and snacks. I will send someone to invite you when they arrive."
Judging from Meng Lingge's attitude, she would definitely wait until the Censorate came to investigate before leaving.
In the past few days, besides discussing the bravery and popularity of the Northern Frontier King, the people of the capital have been talking most about the Northern Frontier Queen.
It is said that the King of Northern Frontier treated her with unparalleled affection, and that she and the King of Northern Frontier shared hardships and joys, a match made in heaven.
He had assumed that a heroic figure like the King of Northern Frontier would be attracted to delicate beauties. However, upon seeing the Queen Consort of Northern Frontier today, he found that while she was indeed beautiful, she was not at all weak or timid. Despite the frightening and terrifying sight, which made all the men present feel apprehensive, she never showed the slightest fear.
She was clearly a worldly woman.
Although the official admired her, he was worried that if something happened to the princess of the Northern Frontier, he would not be able to bear the responsibility. So he tried to persuade her to leave the place.
Meng Lingge felt anger and shock, but she was not afraid.
In her view, the living are far more dangerous than the dead.
A vicious person is many times more terrifying than an innocent ghost who died unjustly.
Even if these dead people have become vengeful ghosts, knowing that she came to help them, these vengeful ghosts have no reason to harm her.
Moreover, this matter concerns Guan Yi'an, who has been her enemy on several occasions, and involves multiple lives. She must wait here and use her current position to urge officials to investigate the situation as soon as possible, bring the wicked to justice, and let the wrongfully deceased rest in peace.
"I will wait here. Have someone prepare tea and bring it here."
After saying this, she ordered Chunhong and Xiazi to bring stools from the room and sit by the well in the courtyard to wait.
"Yes." Unable to dissuade him, the official had no choice but to obey.
Soon a table was brought over, and tea and snacks were laid out.
The officials were thinking that Meng Lingge was pregnant and shouldn't go hungry, but with human skin and blood in the dark room and bones piled on top of bones in the well, who could stomach it?
Meng Lingge hadn't left, so no one else dared to back down.
A large group of people waited in the courtyard.
When Lord Liu of the Censorate arrived, he secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, he rushed over at the first opportunity; otherwise, his official hat would have been in jeopardy before the new emperor even ascended the throne.
Although he arrived just in time, he still couldn't stop sweating when he met Meng Lingge's sharp gaze.
Princess Lingxiao's residence has always been a place of singing, dancing, and decadent revelry. Even though she went missing this time, everyone guessed that she was afraid of being implicated by the emperor, and no one even considered the possibility of a murder.
Who could have imagined that such a horrific case could have occurred in this humble corner of the princess's residence?
And what a coincidence that the case was discovered by the princess who was about to ascend to the throne. If this case is not solved, how could the current King of the Northern Frontier and the future emperor spare him?
Lord Liu, having handled numerous major cases, quickly regained his composure after a brief moment of panic. He first bowed respectfully to Meng Lingge, and then sent men to the bottom of the well to remove the remaining remains one by one.
The two pestle-wielders prepared their tools and carefully verified the contents in front of everyone.
The well doesn't look deep, but it has actually been covered multiple times.
It took about an hour to finally clean everything up.
The crowd was terrified as they looked at the corpses scattered on the ground.
Thinking that her elder brother's body might be among them, Green Water couldn't help but remind Chu Zuo to be gentle, even gentler, when handling the remains.
The pestle divided a large pile of bones into five heaps according to their color and degree of decay.
"Your Highness, Lord Liu, there are five bodies in total, two men and three women. The oldest one died more than ten years ago, and the one on the left is the most recent, about five or six months ago."
Clearly, the body on the left is very likely Zheng Qingshan's.
Meng Lingge stood up and said to Lushui, "The government needs time to investigate cases, and it needs evidence to arrest criminals. Let the government take these bodies back as evidence first. If it is confirmed that this body is your elder brother after the case is closed, you can take it back for burial."
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