Chapter 219 A Man Full of Suspicious Points
Glancing at the white, smooth "five" in her palm, Li Jin took a deep breath and chuckled self-deprecatingly, "What a generous Mid-Autumn Festival gift."
Half a month ago, the case of the number "six" with a map hidden in the scroll was finally closed by Xu Weiyou of the Ministry of Justice, who found a few innocent scapegoats.
However, the unfinished case summary in Li Jin's hands was filed in the summary room of the Six Doors as an unsolved case to be investigated.
Before even the dust had settled, the number "five" appeared before him.
Li Jin stepped forward and picked up the white jade from Jin Shu's palm.
It is smooth and white like grease, with a uniform color and very fine carving. Neither the jade pendant itself nor the craftsman's work is cheap.
“I don’t see any value in this, but…” Jin Shu frowned and glanced outside.
After leaving the house, Xu Lin continued to hold onto Yang Defa, relentlessly questioning him about why he had killed someone.
Yang Defa, however, remained unmoved, sitting indifferently against the wall.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to her and Li Jin, Jin Shu continued, "The body did not die last night. If it had, it should be at its peak of rigor mortis at this hour." She shook her head, "But no, Madam Yang's rigor mortis has completely subsided. Her fingers, toes, and all the major joints are completely relaxed."
“If anyone wanted to put this jade in her mouth during this process, it would be at the earliest the night before or after that.”
The day before yesterday and the night before, less than two hours after she died, when rigor mortis had just begun, she put this jade stone in her mouth, which is why it didn't fall out when she was discovered last night.
Li Jin nodded as he weighed the jade in his hand: "Mr. Jin, how much do you think this jade is worth, considering its quality and craftsmanship?"
He smiled slightly, looking at Jin Shu's face.
Jin Shu pondered for a moment, then stroked his jawbone with his fingers and tentatively asked, "Ten taels of silver?"
Li Jin held the jade in his hand, held it up to the sunlight, and presented it to Jin Shu: "This kind of texture is semi-transparent yet oily, with only a few cloud-like inclusions. The texture is like white rice that has just begun to melt, and there is only a trace of yellow at the edges. It is an extremely precious 'pebble jade' material."
After saying that, he smiled and held the white jade "five" in his palm: "The material alone, not counting the value of the craftsman's workmanship, is enough to cover half a year's salary for you, sir."
Half a year's salary was more than one hundred taels of silver.
Jin Shu was stunned for a moment, her mouth opening and closing as she pointed at his palm: "This..."
Li Jin raised her index finger, making a "shh" gesture.
"In the Great Wei Dynasty, when a person died and was buried, it was customary to 'hold food in their mouth,' as a funeral ritual. People believed that having enough space in the mouth would allow them to recount their life story clearly in the King of Hell's court and be judged."
"However, the items buried with the deceased are closely related to their status during their lifetime."
He took out a handkerchief, placed the number "five" in the center, and carefully wrapped it up.
Jin Shu had already read about the relationship between being held in one's mouth and one's status in the historical book "Shuoyuan Xiuwen" from his previous life.
The emperor received pearls as gifts, feudal lords received jade, high officials received precious stones, scholars received cowrie shells, and commoners received grains.
This is a rule that is almost insurmountable.
But this deceased Madam Yang, a girl from an ordinary gentry family who later married far away to the capital, a family that was penniless, was given a jade stone in her mouth after her death...
Neither Li Jin nor Jin Shu dared to make a definitive judgment about the purpose of the jade.
If the only thing to do is to give Li Jin a hint, this is the fifth case in a series of cases. Compared to the previous cases where a large character was written on a blank sheet of paper, the cost of this case is far too high.
After putting away the jade, Li Jin slowly walked outside. He stood under the eaves, glancing at the two men who were still confronting each other like enemies. He walked up to Yang Defa and looked him down.
The man's clothes were tattered, yet remarkably neat.
In his eyes and demeanor, there was a hint of disdain for the world that made Li Jin sense a touch of the pride of a scholar.
"Yang Defa, where did you go all day the day before yesterday?"
The man showed no fear of Li Jin's princely status, and continued to lean there, looking up at Li Jin's face.
After a long pause, he chuckled softly and actually spoke: "Before dawn, I went to Suizi Village, five miles south of the city, to do odd jobs, picking corn all day long." He spread out his hands, revealing layers of calluses and newly formed blisters on his palms, which were clearly visible to Li Jin.
“I earned 80 coins in one day.” He paused for a moment, “then I rushed back and saw that the girl had already gone to sleep, but I didn’t see her.”
Yang Defa raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the coffin: "I haven't seen it all night."
He pursed his lips and smiled again: "The next day, I took my two children to Suizi Village again, picked corn all day, and earned another 80 coins."
At this point, he took a deep breath: "When I came back tonight, the Jingzhao Prefecture had already surrounded the courtyard, so I've been waiting until now."
Jin Shu stood behind Li Jin as Yang Defa spoke.
She looked at the calluses on Yang Defa's hands, then at his eyes, pondered for a moment, walked to Xu Lin's side, and pulled him a few steps to the side.
"Young Master Xu," Jin Shu asked softly, "may I ask how old your two nieces are?"
Seeing Jin Shu's respectful and polite demeanor, Xu Lin also bowed and replied politely, "The older one just turned six last month, and the younger one is just over four years old."
Upon hearing this, Jin Shu nodded knowingly and then asked, "Then... do your two little nieces have single eyelids?"
This question surprised Xu Lin.
He blinked, thought for a moment, and shook his head in confusion, saying, "No, they all have double eyelids, and their eyes are big and bright."
When Xu Lin mentioned his two nieces, his earlier hostility subsided by half.
He glanced at the direction of the coffin and sighed, "The two children look just like their mother, and my parents adore them. If it weren't for the fact that the children are doing alright, they would have forcibly taken my sister back long ago."
Hearing this, Jin Shu was puzzled. She glanced at the bare courtyard and asked doubtfully, "Is life alright?"
At this point, Xu Lin felt very guilty and shook his head: "My parents have bad legs and have never been to the capital. After my sister got married, I took care of all the big and small things at home and we have been neglecting to keep in touch."
“Every time my sister takes her two children back to visit her family, she always brings back more than ten taels of silver. She and her children are well-dressed and look healthy. You would never guess that they live such a life in the capital!”
Xu Lin sighed, "Every time my sister goes back, she always cries when she mentions that bastard. Only after we pressed her for details did we find out that he had actually hit someone."
"The first two years were fine; I never saw her with any injuries. But these past two years, every time I go back, she's covered in bruises." He clenched his fists, his forehead veins throbbing with anger. "Several times I wanted to personally confront this bastard and teach him a lesson, but my sister knelt down, tears streaming down her face, and stopped me..."
Xu Lin's nostrils trembled slightly, and his eyes became misty.
"If I had come sooner, I would have seen her living this kind of life." He pursed his lips, took a deep breath, "...at least I wouldn't have let her die here!"
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