Chapter 13 Slip and Drown

Author: Bai Xiaoyuan

Chapter 13 Slip and Drown

When the prefect Zhao Cheng received the report and heard that it was about the Xuanping Hou Mansion, he hurriedly led his people to Mingyue Lane.

The Yamen is only two streets away from Mingyue Lane. It only takes two cups of tea to arrive quickly.

It was neither too early nor too late, and Liu Si's body had just been fished out of the well.

The commotion was so loud that it alarmed the whole family.

Although the housekeepers from each house had not shown up, they all sent people to inquire about it.

There were only a lot more people watching than before.

The porter led the magistrate and the government officials to the well. Zhou Ping, the chief steward next to Xuanping Marquis Shen Ji, also arrived at the scene almost at the same time.

The discovery of a dead body in the heavily guarded military commander's mansion is not a glorious thing after all.

Mother An stepped forward and told Manager Zhou about the matter in a concise and concise manner.

Manager Zhou ordered people to drive away the irrelevant servants, and at the same time had tables and chairs brought in, refreshments served, and flattering whispers in Magistrate Zhao's ears.

"...My Lord Marquis, please raise your hand and turn big things into trivial matters, and trivial matters into nothing. I accept this favor from you, and I will repay you with a spring in the future..."

Zhao Cheng hurried over, just for this sentence, he chuckled and said, "I'll tell Marquis Shen for me, it's a small effort, it's not worth mentioning. In the future, the Shen family and the Zhao family will move around more, and the noble concubine will also be thinking about the Marquis." It’s good.”

Zhou Pinglian claimed that it was.

Then I saw Zhao Cheng winking at Wu Zuo and Ya Chai, and I was completely relieved.

Shen Lingxi watched with cold eyes, taking in all their expressions.

After seeing that the man had taken Zhao Cheng's hint, he hastily conducted an autopsy on the body.

Another chancellor picked up a wine bottle by the well, and he concluded, "The deceased had no external injuries on his body. He accidentally fell into the water after drinking and drowned accidentally."

He lost his footing and fell into the water, accidentally drowning.

Once such autopsy results come out and the identity of the deceased is known, the government can directly close the case.

In this way, the discovery of the body in the Xuanpinghou Mansion today will be lightly exposed, and the face of the Xuanpinghou Mansion will be saved, and it will not become a topic of conversation in the capital.

Since Shen Lingxi had put on a great show with all his troops, he naturally wouldn't let them fool him like this.

She walked up to the body, looked at Wu Zuo, and asked in a soft and clear voice, "May I ask Mr. Wu Zuo, the deceased was more than seven feet tall and accidentally fell into the well. There should be footprints or scratches around the well. There should be bruises on the head and legs of the deceased. There are neither of these two things, so how can we conclude that he slipped and fell into the well?"

Wu Zuo's expression changed slightly.

The girl in front of me sounds like a knowledgeable person.

Wu Zuo: "If you were drunk and wanted to die, and you jumped off by yourself, there would be no scars on your body. As for other traces... this body should have been salvaged by the government, but your government took the initiative to salvage the body and destroyed the scene, making it impossible to verify it. .”

Shen Lingxi chuckled, "If he died by suicide, his identity must be determined first. The government should verify the motive of his suicide before making this conclusion. If you don't even know his identity, how can you judge that he committed suicide after drinking? What about a non-drunk stumble?”

"That's why I just said that he stumbled after drinking." There was a hint of impatience in the man's eyes, and he clasped his hands in the direction of the prefect, "As for whether he committed suicide, naturally it is up to the prefect to judge."

Magistrate Zhao was on the side, chatting happily with Manager Zhou. He heard the two talking and looked at them suspiciously.

Seeing this, Manager Zhou said in a low voice: "This is the sister-in-law who was invited to the Jinxian Temple today for a ritual ceremony. The body was discovered by her when she was doing the ritual."

"How?" Magistrate Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly, stood up, and took two steps towards Shen Lingxi, his eyes full of scrutiny.

Shen Lingxi didn't realize it at all, and asked Wu Zuo for advice, "Since he made a mistake, according to common sense, 'the deceased had water foam in his mouth and nose, water in his belly, and his belly was slightly bloated. He really drowned and died.' 1, you said he died of water." If he loses his footing after drinking, it means that he can still move before death. Since he can move, after drowning, the person will inevitably struggle in the water and choke into the well water. The well is narrow, and given his size, his hands and feet will definitely be with him when he struggles. There is some friction on the well wall..."

At this point, she paused, pointed to the body, and asked pretending to be ignorant: "But this person's abdomen is not bloated, there is no water foam flowing out of his mouth and nose, and the gaps between the fingernails of his hands and feet are clean, with no trace of sand or mud." There's no moss on it. With just a wine bottle, how can you tell whether he fell into a well and drowned or was harmed by someone else?"

What Shen Lingxi said was so clear and logical that even people who don't know how to do autopsies can understand it.

Although it is not stated clearly, it is more convincing than Wu Zuo's hasty conclusion.

Although some of the onlookers present had been driven away by steward Zhou, those who were left behind were all distinguished stewards from each room.

Everyone originally thought that the masked Taoist nun only knew some divination and exorcism techniques.

Unexpectedly, she actually knew how to do autopsies.

Wu Zuo always acted based on the prefect's eyes, but Shen Lingxi's questioning hit the mark every time. If he continued to quibble, he would definitely expose bigger flaws, so he had no choice but to look to the prefect Zhao Cheng for help.

"Wait a minute." Zhao Cheng finally heard that it was Shen Lingxi's voice.

His eyes widened, and he walked up to her angrily, pointing at the mask on her face, "Okay! Shen Lingxi, do you think I can't recognize you with a mask on? I haven't told you about Yao Niang's case yet. It's time to settle accounts, why don't you just stay in your coffin shop and come out again to cause trouble for me?"

Zhao Cheng now wanted to strangle Shen Lingxi to death.

Everyone in the capital knows that Xuanping Marquis Shen Ji is the most important person in terms of face. If word gets out that a dead body was found in the Marquis's residence, it, along with Yao Niang's case, will completely turn the Xuanping Marquis's mansion into a laughing stock in the capital.

Shen Ji didn't want the government to investigate, and Zhao Cheng, the prefect, didn't bother to take care of it.

Let the two people experience a "slip and drowning", everyone will be happy, and it can also give Shen Ji a favor and promote a good relationship between the Zhao and Shen families.

But now, Shen Lingxi suddenly came out and interfered. The favor was gone, and there was even a possibility of enmity. It was like putting him, the prefect, on the fire!

Shen Lingxi had ruined so many good things for him in the past two years, both overtly and covertly. Today, Zhao Cheng really couldn't bear it anymore.

Today, he will definitely take this dead girl to the government prison and let her taste the pain.

"Come here, arrest this evil woman who has deceived the public with her evil words and repeatedly obstructed the officials from handling the case!" Zhao Cheng ordered angrily.

Since the officials were brought to the Hou Mansion by Zhao Cheng, they were Zhao Cheng's close confidants. Knowing that he hated Shen Lingxi deeply, they surrounded him directly, drew out their sabers, and put them on Shen Lingxi's neck.

He also roughly removed the mask from her face.

Everyone gasped when they saw Shen Lingxi's beautiful and beautiful face.

This is the Xuanpinghou Mansion.

Everyone knows that "Shen Lingxi", who was born in a coffin shop, is the real daughter who was brought back to the house by the Marquis yesterday.

What's more, she also has a pair of eyes that resemble the late Madam Hou An's eyes...

1. From Song Ci's "A Collection of Cleansing Wrongs"
Chapter completed!