Chapter 190 Too thin to withstand a hail of arrows
Inside the coroner's room, Jin Shu put down the knife in her hand and turned around to see Li Jin, whose brows were furrowed like a rope.
He pursed his lips and squeezed out a sentence: "Sir, your technique is still quite wild."
Jin Shu shrugged it off, took off her gloves, and untied her hands: "It works."
Looking at her face, Li Jin chuckled and asked, "How is it?"
The woman who had been carried out of the camphor wood box was lying on the bed in the center of the coroner's room.
Jin Shu glanced at Li Jin and said solemnly, "The victim was about 55 years old, with a well-proportioned figure and a height of five feet. One of the causes of death was chronic arsenic poisoning."
After saying that, she added, "It's exactly the same as the body of Lin Zhongyi that we examined before."
The woman has numerous erythematous spots and small blisters on her chest, back, corners of her mouth, and armpits. The spots are loosely and asymmetrically distributed with very clear borders.
Her skin was abnormally dry, severely keratinized, and even showed signs of erosion. Her hands and soles had obvious peeling, and the ulnar side of her palms had many grain-like keratotic bumps, which were visibly ulcerated due to abrasion.
These are typical characteristics of arsenic boils.
"In addition, the pupils were completely cloudy, rigor mortis had completely subsided, the body surface was blackened, and large areas of green spots had appeared. There were no external injuries on the body surface, but the death was painful, the face was ferocious, and drool was dripping from the corner of the lips."
Jin Shu paused for a moment: "There was grayish-white undissolved matter in the stomach. In summary, the cause of death was arsenic poisoning. After a long period of chronic poisoning, he finally died from an acute outbreak."
Outside, the setting sun had slowly turned from a brilliant gold to a fiery red.
The blood-red color splashed onto Li Jin's body, making the golden ginkgo leaves on his clothes stand out dazzlingly.
He held the fan handle and tapped his palm repeatedly, lost in thought.
"Is there anything else?" he asked after a long while.
Jin Shu nodded: "Yes." She pointed to the woman's clothes that she had taken off, as well as the various pieces of jewelry placed on them: "She is definitely not from an ordinary family."
She said, "The gold hairpin, the silk, the large floral embroidery, the color and quality are all top-notch. From the outer garment to the undergarment, all are made of this material, with excellent workmanship and neat edges."
"Putting aside the arsenic boils on her body, her fingers are delicate, but there are tiny bleeding points on the first joint of her left index finger, which are common marks in embroidery."
"Women who can wear clothes of such quality and do some embroidery in their spare time must be the wives of officials."
After she finished speaking, she took the burlap sack covering the corpse from the shelf beside her and slowly covered the woman's face from the ground up.
At this point, Li Jin's face showed an unprecedentedly serious expression.
He leaned against the wall of the coroner's office, his eyes fixed on Jin Shu's profile: "This case... let's leave it at that, sir."
Jin Shu was taken aback: "Is this the end?"
Li Jin glanced at her surprised face and nodded, saying, "That's enough for now. Yunfei and I will take care of the rest."
His solemn tone left Jin Shu momentarily dazed.
"Lord Yun is not good at reasoning and solving cases," she said.
To everyone's surprise, Li Jin chuckled and said, "You're not so kind either."
“I am better than Lord Yun.” A stubborn light flashed across Jin Shu’s face.
She knew that this case was definitely related to the Crown Prince, and that the future was bleak and unpredictable.
If you're lucky, you might escape unscathed; if you're unlucky, you might have to fight to the death.
Li Jin didn't want her to get involved; he was protecting her.
But who will protect Li Jin?
Seeing that she refused, Li Jin took a deep breath and took two steps forward: "Stop messing around."
As soon as the words were spoken, not only Jin Shu was stunned for a moment, but Li Jin herself was also stunned for a moment.
Looking at the blush on Jin Shu's cheeks and seeing her suddenly at a loss, he felt a sense of reassurance.
These two words, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, carried an endless tenderness, enveloping Jin Shu, who was dressed as a man, in their presence.
She was initially surprised, and then seemed somewhat at a loss.
interesting.
Li Jin enjoyed watching her anger, her resentment, and her slight helplessness. He smiled as he watched her grit her teeth and look helpless, feeling particularly pleased.
He stood with his hands behind his back, and after a moment, he raised his hand to cover the corner of his lips, saying somewhat innocently, "Although Yunfei is not good at reasoning, he can at least lend a hand when there are assassins."
He laughed, his eyes narrowing into crescent moons: "Mr. Jin, you're not even going to lend a hand, you'd be lagging behind in escaping, so you'd better not drag us down."
Under the setting sun, the coroner's room glowed with a unique red hue.
Jin Shu really couldn't refute those words.
She knew nothing of hand-to-hand combat, nor was she familiar with swords, staffs, or other weapons. She couldn't be like Bai Yu, who moved with ease even on rooftops, nor did she possess the skill of Shen Wen and Zhou Zheng, capable of matching Li Jin's abilities.
Physically, he's the worst among all six members of the family, and he's also afraid of heights.
Her lips pressed into a thin line, her hands clenched tightly. After a long while, she looked away, making a final, unwilling struggle: "At least, I can protect the prince..."
Before she could finish speaking, Li Jin pressed his black fan against her lips.
He leaned forward, smiling broadly: "I am the God of War of this era, and my reputation is well-deserved. It is not my place to be your shield."
He raised an eyebrow: "Besides, you are a head shorter than me and much thinner. If you stand in front of me and we are caught in a hail of arrows, we will both be going to meet the King of Hell."
Seeing Li Jin's sly smile, Jin Shu's temples throbbed.
Damn it, I just can't find a reason to refute it.
Seeing that she had finally given up, Li Jin gently removed the fan that was pressing against her lips and turned to leave.
He took only two steps and stopped at the doorway, facing the setting sun.
The setting sun was like blood. Li Jin turned to the side, half his face in shadow and half in light, and smiled: "If you are really unlucky and encounter a day when ten thousand arrows are fired, please do not be reckless."
He smiled, his handsomeness irresistible: "Let me stand in front of you, that way, there's still a chance for one of us to live."
After saying that, he walked away with his hands behind his back and disappeared from Jin Shu's sight.
Inside the room, the candlelight flickered. Having finished writing the protective book, Jin Shu felt both frustrated and distressed.
Li Jin had once forbade her from using herself as a metaphor, saying it was unlucky. At the time, she didn't see anything wrong with it. But now that it was Li Jin's turn to use herself as a metaphor, Jin Shu felt incredibly stifled.
She now truly understands what bad luck means—it's incredibly bad luck!
She sat alone in the coroner's room for a long time before letting out a long sigh.
As he was about to leave, he saw Yan Zhao standing by the door, carrying a jujube flower cake brought out by the imperial kitchen, his face very serious: "It's for your own good that I'm not letting you get involved in this case."
He picked up the pastries in his hand and said, "Just in case, you should stay at my residence for a few days."
Jin Shu was stunned. Looking at Yan Zhao's solemn expression, she pursed her lips: "Is this case really that dangerous?"
Yan Zhao shook his head: "No, not exactly."
He stepped across the threshold and placed the jujube blossom pastry beside Jin Shu's hand.
"The prince not only has to protect you, but also Song Zhen." He clicked his tongue. "Aren't you still carrying his flute?"
Jin Shu was a little confused: "What does this have to do with the flute?"
"The person with Song Zhen's flute is wholeheartedly helping Prince Jing solve cases," Yan Zhao sneered. "Shouldn't the Crown Prince be the first to target Song Zhen?"
He paused for a moment: "The reason I invited you to stay at my residence for two days is for the same reason."
Jin Shu was stunned. She understood the first half of the sentence, but she didn't understand the second half.
Seeing that she was confused, Yan Zhao's tone softened considerably: "What? Didn't Song Zhen mention to you that I'm also one of the Crown Prince's confidants?"
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