Yu Chisu examined the man's body. The body was not cold and the blood had not yet coagulated. He had just died.
She hurriedly looked around, but found no clues or signs of the murderer. She even felt annoyed, thinking that if she had come in earlier, the man would not have died.
This person was a coroner. Her uncle and the Ye Mansion's Major General did not believe that Yuezhou Prefecture Governor Cheng Wenbo committed suicide out of fear of punishment. They investigated for several days before finding the coroner as a suspect.
This coroner was the one who examined Cheng Wenbo's body. He might be able to prove that Cheng Wenbo did not commit suicide out of fear of punishment.
In the inn, Ye Zelin was playing chess with Yu Xuanji. His white piece was sure to take down Yu Xuanji's black piece. He smiled at Yu Xuanji and said, "Master Yu, it's your turn."
Yu Xuanji surveyed the chessboard, thoughtfully picking up a black piece from the chess box. Unexpectedly, he felt annoyed the moment he made the move. This game was a dead end; no matter where he made the move, he would lose to Ye Zelin. Suddenly realizing the situation, he felt helpless. "From the very beginning, the young general has been setting a trap for me. Don't you think that's despicable?"
Ye Zelin smiled and said, "Master Yu, playing chess requires concentration. It's not that I set a trap, but you have been distracted since the beginning of the game."
Yu Xuanji smiled and said, "The Young General is a master chess player. Even if I were to concentrate on my game, I would certainly not be his match." He glanced at the sky and instructed the servant beside him, "Go prepare the meal. The Young General and I are a little hungry."
The servant then went back to prepare the meal.
Yu Xuanji was pondering how to make his move when Ye Zelin took the black piece from his hand and placed it on the board. "Isn't this solved? Master Yu, I really didn't set any traps. Your chess skills are not bad. If you observe carefully, you will know where to make the move."
Hearing this, Yu Xuanji smiled. "I heard that the young general was once Your Majesty's tutor and had a close personal relationship with Your Majesty. I wonder what Your Majesty said to the young general after that Japanese official left."
Ye Zelin was slightly stunned. He never expected that Yu Xuanji would ask him about this. Did he discover something?
He was on guard and was about to fool around when Yu Xuanji spoke again, "Young General, you come from a military family. When it comes to criminal investigation and handling cases, everyone in the Dali Temple is better than you. Yet, His Majesty chose you, who is not good at criminal investigation, to assist me. You said you were assisting me, but in fact you were just spying on me. Young General, am I wrong?"
Ye Zelin couldn't help but show admiration in his eyes. He finally understood why Yu Xuanji was able to remain unscathed and firmly control the Ministry of Justice amidst the intrigues between the party and the government. In addition to his talent, he also had a shrewd mind and a pair of all-seeing eyes.
Yes, just as Yu Xuanji said, His Majesty's ordering him to assist Yu Xuanji was fake, but the real purpose was to monitor him, and the ultimate goal was to recruit him for his own use.
Looking at Yu Xuanji's calm expression, Ye Zelin couldn't help but curl up a sarcastic arc.
Yu Xuanji asked without hesitation when she was not sure whether the person who was monitoring her would do anything bad to her. Was she brave or stupid and blindly confident?
Yu Xuanji seemed to see through Ye Zelin's speculation and said, "Are you wondering why I should reveal this matter, especially when you are not sure whether the person who is monitoring you will hurt you."
Ye Zelin raised his eyelashes slightly, looking at Yu Xuanji's calm face. Yu Xuanji smiled and said, "If the young general wants to do something bad to me, you don't really think you can kill me, do you? Not to mention the followers I brought with me, even young general Susu may not be a match for me."
Ye Zelin guessed the meaning behind Yu Xuanji's words, "So Lord Yu thinks I won't attack you."
Yu Xuanji nodded, "You really won't kill me, because you don't dare."
Ye Zelin became interested and asked, "Why shouldn't I dare?"
Yu Xuanji said, "First, His Majesty didn't send anyone to you, so you can't kill me by yourself. Second, the Ye family can't afford to be charged with murdering an imperial official. Third, you have other intentions."
He was sure that Ye Zelin would not kill him. If the people behind him wanted to kill him, they would have done it on the way to Yuezhou. He was sure that Ye Zelin had a reason not to kill him.
As for what the reason was, he had no idea, but he was sure that the reason must be closely related to the situation in the court.
Hearing this, Ye Zelin was very happy. He really admired Yu Xuanji's ability to see through things like seeing through fire. He thought he had never revealed his true identity, but Yu Xuanji still noticed it.
Yu Xuanji is a talent that can be used. If you can subdue him, it will definitely be a great help to Your Majesty.
He was about to speak when Yu Xuanji's niece, Yu Chisu, came over. Her first words were, "That coroner is dead."
"What?" Ye Zelin and Yu Xuanji were both stunned and said in unison.
Yu Chisu recounted the entire incident from beginning to end. "This is what happened. I checked the surroundings and found nothing unusual. The murderer who killed the coroner had disappeared when I went in. I also brought his body back, and the coroner is performing an autopsy."
The two followed Yu Chisu to see what she had said. The coroner was examining the body, and soon he concluded, "This man was killed by a sword piercing his heart. The time of death should be between noon and the first quarter of the evening. His eyes were open, and his pupils were dilated, suggesting he may have seen something that frightened him."
Yu Chisu immediately said, "It's the murderer."
Yu Xuanji said: "The deceased may know the murderer."
Ye Zelin asked, "How did Lord Yu determine that the deceased knew the murderer?"
Yu Xuanji didn't answer, but looked at the coroner, "Old Qiao, anything else?"
The coroner, Lao Qiao, presented a jade pendant to Yu Xuanji and said, "This was found on the deceased."
Yu Xuanji took the jade pendant and examined it carefully. It was made of top-grade mutton-fat jade. "Mutton-fat jade on the market costs at least several dozen taels, sometimes hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands. This piece of mutton-fat jade is worth at least a hundred taels of silver. The deceased was just a small coroner, with an annual salary of less than seven taels of silver. Even if he lived frugally, he wouldn't have much left over year-round. How could he have afforded such expensive mutton-fat jade?"
Ye Zelin continued, "Your Excellency means that the murderer killed the victim to silence him. This means that the murderer is related to Cheng Wenbo's death, which further proves that Cheng Wenbo did not embezzle the 100,000 yuan in water conservancy project funds."
Yu Xuanji said, "Whether Cheng Wenbo swallowed the 100,000 yuan in labor fees remains to be seen. The most important thing right now is to find out the true cause of Cheng Wenbo's death."
He gave the mutton-fat jade to Yu Chisu, "Susu, check the interpersonal relationships of the coroner and see who he has been most closely associated with in the past month or two. Then, investigate the origins of this mutton-fat jade."
Yu Chisu replied with a "yes" and took the mutton-fat jade. Yu Xuanji turned her head and said to Ye Zelin, "Major General, go to the Cheng family and tell them that the coroner who performed the autopsy on Cheng Wenbo is dead. Try to convince the Cheng family to open the coffin and perform the autopsy. If the Cheng family really doesn't agree, don't force them."
Ye Zelin said: "Okay."
Yu Xuanji said, "You guys go ahead."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
