The Marquis of Changxing was struck by lightning, and it took him a while to recover. He strode forward and said, "Master Zhen, what is going on?"
Zhen Shicheng wiped his hands with a handkerchief and said seriously, "My Lord, please wait until we are done with this."
"This, this--" Marquis Changxing was sweating profusely, with countless thoughts running through his mind.
He was not a fool. His son seemed to be too nervous just now, as if he had known that a body would be dug out here.
Could it be that the man was killed by his son?
The wife of Marquis Changxing had heard the noise and rushed over. The moment she saw the body, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
The maid who followed was so frightened that she lost her mind and the garden was in chaos again.
Jiang Qian hid inside, her face as pale as a ghost.
She knew that the pervert had killed so many people, and it would be impossible to hide it sooner or later!
She subconsciously looked at the Prince of Changxing, but saw that the Prince of Changxing was looking at her calmly, his eyes were like a cold pond, and contained a strong warning.
Jiang Qian hurriedly looked away.
The Prince of Changxing curled the corners of his lips.
This stupid woman has covered for him many times. Does she think she can get away if something happens to him?
Next to the flowers, Jiang Qiao gently touched Jiang Si: "Fourth sister——"
"What's wrong?" Jiang Si looked at Jiang Qiao.
Jiang Qiao's lips turned pale: "That corpse——"
She felt something was wrong and shook her head again: "Forget it, let's talk about it after we leave this troubled place."
Although many ladies thought so at this time, no one suggested leaving despite their fear.
When everyone faces a terrifying thing in broad daylight, the shock seems to give way to curiosity.
Another body was dug out.
Zhen Shicheng was silent for a moment, then ordered one of his subordinates, "Go to the government office and call someone over!"
Although he said he was going to the government office to call for help, Zhen Shicheng had actually already arranged spies outside the Changxing Marquis' Mansion. Once the body was really found in the mansion, the spies would immediately go back to call for help as soon as the subordinates left the mansion, in order to prevent the Changxing Marquis' Mansion from making desperate moves.
Fortunately, he arrived at the Changxing Marquis' Mansion for the flower viewing banquet today. Unless the Marquis' Mansion silences all these noble ladies, they will never dare to stop him.
"Lord Zhen..." Faced with this situation, Marquis Changxing didn't know what to say.
He wanted to stop it but he had no reason to. If he didn't stop it and made a big deal out of it, the reputation of the Marquisate would be ruined.
"My Lord, a murder has occurred, two lives at that. You'd better cooperate with me to find out the truth." Zhen Shicheng stood with his hands behind his back and said lightly.
The two subordinates who were digging the pit held shovels in their hands, waiting for Zhen Shicheng's next instructions.
At this moment, the big dog suddenly came out and continued digging the deep pit.
Zhen Shicheng's heart moved, and he immediately said, "Keep digging!"
"Yes!" The two subordinates picked up the shovels and continued digging. Soon they were sweating profusely.
"My Lord, please ask the servants to bring some hoes. Hoops are more useful than spades."
Marquis Changxing's expression changed several times, but he finally nodded.
The diggers changed the hoe and indeed sped up the work.
Soon, a body was dug out.
It is called a corpse, but in fact only the bones can be seen, with flesh still hanging on the bones.
Later, another body was dug out.
Everything was silent and everyone forgot to breathe. As they watched the bodies being dug out, they felt a chill run down their spines.
The Shuntian Prefecture's yamen runners had already arrived and took over from their two subordinates to continue digging.
Large patches of peonies had already been dug up and shredded, and a foul smell filled the entire garden.
Those noble ladies who still wanted to watch the excitement had already turned pale with fright. Some of them fainted one after another and were sent back to the mansion by the maids who followed them. However, there were a few brave noble ladies who waited for the result with pale faces.
There are so many corpses, who did the killing?
Is he the eldest son of Marquis Changxing?
There are always smart girls in the world. The girl with a calm expression before looked at the Prince of Changxing from a distance.
Even without evidence, she felt that this man was the murderer.
Soon it was noon, and the diggers had already taken turns several times, but their hoes never stopped swinging.
After searching the mud for so long and finally finding nothing, the runners finally stood up straight.
One, two, three...
There were ten corpses lying on the ground. What was dug out later were only broken bones. Only the skulls with deep hollows gave people a clue that this was once a living person, or perhaps a beautiful woman.
Zhen Shicheng remained silent.
He knew that human hearts were evil, but the truth often went beyond people's imagination.
Ten bodies, ten victims.
If it weren't for the ghost of Lady Xiu and Mr. Chi's bizarre daughter who appeared in his dreams, if it weren't for his idea of preferring to believe it than not, would these people have never seen the light of day and become fertilizer to nourish the peonies?
The only sound that could be heard in the entire garden seemed to be the busy work of the coroner, and everyone was silent.
Marquis Changxing could no longer hold on and finally broke the silence.
"Master Zhen, I really don't know anything about this. You must believe me—"
Zhen Shicheng smiled and said, "I believe that the Marquis is unaware of this, but we still need to see the evidence."
"It must be some daring servant who did this!" Marquis Changxing said anxiously.
"My Lord, I have already said that I want to see the evidence of who the murderer is."
"Evidence?" Marquis Changxing narrowed his eyes. "How can there be evidence when the person is already like this? If there is no evidence, Lord Zhen will not suspect the masters of the Marquisate, right?"
Zhen Shicheng smiled slightly: "My Lord, don't worry. I have been investigating cases for many years and have never handled a wrongful case. I have always believed that as long as something has been done, it will always leave traces. Even if the murderer is very careful, the victim will tell us some information."
"What? The dead can speak?" Zhen Shicheng's novel remarks made many people forget their fear for a moment and they couldn't help but talk about it.
"Of course the dead can speak, but only those who truly want to seek justice for them can understand!" Zhen Shicheng strode to the corpses and reminded the coroner, "Check the freshest corpse first!"
The coroner gave up his job of examining the causes of death of all the bodies and ran to carefully examine the first body that was dug out.
The smell emitted by this corpse is also the most unbearable.
The coroner was not affected at all and continued to examine the body from the hair down diligently.
Jiang Si stood not far away and watched coldly, quietly clenching his hands.
Will the jade button in the female corpse's hand be discovered?
The coroner finally checked the corpse's hands and saw that one of her hands was clenched tightly. Based on his experience, he carefully unclenched the hand and his eyes lit up.
"Sir, we have discovered something!" the coroner shouted excitedly.
"What did you find?"
The coroner opened his hand, and a button was lying on the palm of his hand.
It was an emerald button with a bat pattern, emitting a noble glow in the sunlight.
A button like this is not something a servant in the marquis's mansion should have.
Zhen Shicheng stared at the button and suddenly curled the corner of his lips.
He had just seen a button like this!
Zhen Shicheng slowly looked towards the Prince of Changxing.
The Prince of Changxing subconsciously covered his collar.