Upon hearing this, Minister Geng glanced at Hong Xiaoduo and saw her looking at him with a half-smile. He, who had never shown his emotions for many years, was affected once again: "Have you questioned me about when the burn occurred, how it occurred, and whether anyone was present when the burn happened?"
I just don't believe it's such a coincidence that it happened exactly on the day the case occurred and afterward.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, we have inquired. The person was scalded the morning after the murder. They said they accidentally bumped into a servant who was delivering a soup pot to the Juyuan Music Hall. The hot soup in the pot scalded them. Besides the servant carrying the soup pot, there were also two guests present. Prince Mu has already sent people to find and question those three," the constable replied.
Minister Geng frowned slightly, signaled the yamen runners to step back, and then watched as Hong Xiaoduo walked toward the gardener the yamen runners pointed to.
The gardener looked to be in his forties, with a square face. Although he didn't show any panic on his face, the way he looked at Hong Xiaoduo made her feel uncomfortable.
Although the other person's gaze did not linger on her for long, Hong Xiaoduo keenly sensed that the gaze had paused on her chest area and caught a hint of disdain in that gaze.
Hong Xiaoduo subconsciously looked down and thought, "Damn it, am I being looked down upon for not having a good enough figure?"
Her body isn't bad; it's well-proportioned and shapely, but it's not exactly voluptuous.
Hong Xiaoduo immediately recalled the body of the deceased Meiniang, which was already somewhat swollen. She was not a forensic doctor and had no experience in deduce what Meiniang's figure was like before she died.
Hong Xiaoduo had an idea in her mind and was just about to speak.
"Young Lady Hong, shall we begin now?" Minister Geng urged.
The Ministry of Justice has more than just this one case, and his time is also very precious. If it weren't for His Majesty's decree, he wouldn't have needed to come in person today. It would have been enough to just send a junior official or a clerk.
Hong Xiaoduo turned and glanced at Minister Geng, then returned to the center of the hall and said, "We can begin."
Just then, a constable led a man in hurriedly, the man carrying a food box.
“Your Excellency, this is my person. You may not know this, but the person who performs the secret arts suffers greatly. So, could you please let Miss Hong drink a bowl of nourishing soup first?” Mu Rongjing said before the constable could speak.
Since he had already said so, Minister Geng couldn't very well disagree, so he could only nod, but in his heart he thought that people in the martial arts world loved to make things mysterious and mystical.
Seeing his master nod, the person carrying the food box quickly stepped forward and placed it on the small table next to him. After opening the lid, he wiped his hands with a damp cotton cloth inside, then scooped out a bowl and handed it to Hong Xiaoduo.
Looking at the nourishing soup in front of her, Hong Xiaoduo looked at Murong Jing beside her with mixed feelings: "I'm young and in good health, so there's no need for this."
Good heavens, she's the person who dislikes soup the most; she's never liked it since she was a child.
Especially since this is a tonic soup. Given Mu Rongjing's status, the tonic soup he ordered to be made must have been made with the best ingredients. The key is, doesn't she know her own body condition?
While nourishing soups are certainly good, you shouldn't take them indiscriminately if you're perfectly healthy and not weak. Otherwise, you might end up with some side effects, like nosebleeds.
"You don't need to be so polite with me. You can't take your youth for granted and neglect your health. It'll be too late to fix it once it's ruined," Mu Rongjing advised, assuming she was just being shy.
For Kaiyang's sake, she used secret techniques at the Wei residence, and not just once. Only today did she learn that His Majesty also went to find her, and used the secret techniques again.
Now, for the sake of that good-for-nothing son of the Dong family, that secret technique is going to be used again. The Dong family seems unaware of this. Since I know that using that secret technique will hurt her heart and spirit, of course I can't just do nothing.
Faced with Mu Rongjing's sincere and thoughtful kindness, Hong Xiaoduo really couldn't refuse. Helplessly, she reached out and took the bowl of tonic soup, and in the main hall of the Ministry of Justice, surrounded by a group of adults, yamen runners, and those who had just been summoned, she forced herself to drink it.
This tonic soup wasn't sweet or salty, and it wasn't too bad to drink.
However, Hong Xiaoduo felt that the tonic that Kaiyang's family gave her was more to her liking. They stewed pigeon, but they didn't say what kind of tonic they used. She didn't ask, and she couldn't tell either. It was just very delicious, and the pigeon in the soup was also very tender.
Mu Rongjing reached out and took the empty cup, handing it to his subordinate. He instructed him to cover the rest and wait for Hong Xiaoduo to finish her secret technique before drinking it.
"Want to drink more?" Hong Xiaoduo felt a pang of regret for her own actions. Maybe she should tell him privately later that what she said about using the secret technique causing mental distress wasn't true.
Seeing that Hong Xiaoduo had finished drinking the nourishing soup, Ding Zhiyuan immediately carried two cushions and laid them in the middle of the hall. He smiled and gestured for Hong Xiaoduo to sit down, knowing exactly what he was doing!
When Minister Geng, who was sitting at the head of the table, saw this scene, he couldn't bear to watch. How could the dignified Minister of the Court of Judicial Review act like this for such a young woman? Didn't he feel that it was beneath his official dignity?
Minister Geng also recognized the two cushions; they were from the chairs in the back hall. He hadn't noticed when Ding Zhiyuan had brought them over.
"Thank you, Lord Ding." Hong Xiaoduo thanked Ding Zhiyuan and stepped forward to sit down cross-legged.
Ding Zhiyuan then took the initiative to direct the yamen runners to put the things they had collected from the dead, as well as the paper packets containing hair and fingernails collected from the twenty-one people they had just taken, into a large brocade bag and placed it in Hong Xiaoduo's hands.
Inside the main hall, the yamen runners from the Ministry of Justice looked at Lord Ding, who had taken their job, and were at a loss for words. However, given Lord Ding's status, they were not worried about losing their jobs.
Hong Xiaoduo entered the space through her thoughts, and she is now quite proficient at operating the DNA testing instrument.
Hong Xiaoduo first compared the samples collected from the deceased's fingernails with those from Dong Yuefan's fingernails. When the test results showed that the skin flakes and bloodstains in the fingernails did not belong to Dong Yuefan, Hong Xiaoduo smiled and said that she would not be wrong about people.
Only then did they begin collecting hair samples from the victim. After the results came out, it was determined that four of the five hairs belonged to the deceased, and the other belonged to someone else.
There were a few short, curled strands, and two of them did not belong to the deceased.
And that one strand of hair, along with the two shorter ones that are clearly from the private parts, belongs to the same person—that's enough.
Next, they began testing the three hairs and the twenty-one people.
Shortly after, the test results came out. Hong Xiaoduo flicked the test report in her hand with her finger, and the three hairs—one long and two short—found their corresponding owners.
Hong Xiaoduo finally breathed a sigh of relief. She lay on the massage chair for five minutes, and when she felt it was about time, she left the space.
Slowly opening his eyes, Ding Zhiyuan's expectant face loomed close, and Mu Rongjing, who was standing to the side, didn't even have time to stop him...
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