Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 269 - 268: Bloodstains

"Who was the person who had just left your house when you found Jia Jun dead?" Zhu Cheng asked, furrowing his brows.

"The Chief Historian Zuo." Lady Jia Jun replied, crying.

"Is this true? Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?" Zhu Cheng questioned, doubting that a mere housewife like Lady Jia Jun could recognize the Chief Historian Zuo so clearly, making her words seem less credible. "Where is the family steward? Did you see the Chief Historian Zuo visit today?"

"Your Highness, yes, I did see him..." The Jia family steward quickly came forward, trembling, and nodded. "Today, the Chief Historian Zuo came to visit, saying that my master invited him to the study for a discussion. So, I took him there.

Once we reached the courtyard, he instructed me to leave. I dared not be negligent and quickly withdrew. It was only after the madam returned that I learned the Chief Historian had already left, and my master... also..."

He shivered, his face pale, unable to finish his sentence.

"Where is he now? Is he still hanging inside?" Zhu Cheng asked.

"Yes," Lady Jia Jun replied, sobbing and nodding. "My second uncle said that my husband seemed perfectly normal these past few days, without any worries, so there’s no reason for him to suddenly seek suicide. There must be something strange about this, and he told us not to move the body ourselves..."

Zhu Yu silently observed Jia Jun’s two younger brothers nearby.

This situation is quite intriguing.

Whether it’s a true "hanging on a branch," or a deliberate setup, Zhu Yu had seen many cases.

It’s rare for the family of the deceased to react so calmly and sensibly.

In the past, most families would immediately take the person down from the rope upon discovering them hanging, patting their back, pressing their chest, and even frantically trying to revive them, causing more harm.

There hasn’t been a case where the family immediately concluded the relative was dead and opted not to disturb the scene.

Early on, upon hearing that the lifting officer responsible for weapon supervision had died at home, Zhu Cheng hurriedly brought people over, probably without fully processing the situation.

But Zhu Yu had already developed a new doubt.

Logically, when such an incident happened in the capital, with a Shuo Country official dead, the matter should be reported to the Judicial Military first or directly to the Chief Historian Zuo. Only if they found it difficult to handle should they report to the Vassal King, Zhu Cheng.

Yet here, the report bypassed both the Chief Historians and the Judicial Military, leading directly to Prince Shuo, as if certain that he would pay special attention and personally come to the crime scene. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Has a forensic examiner been called?" Zhu Cheng indeed hadn’t considered this layer and found nothing amiss, only feeling upset as the situation he hoped wouldn’t happen had indeed occurred.

"Your Highness, the forensic examiner should be on the way now," the personal soldiers quickly responded.

Zhu Yu glanced at the half-open study door nearby, and Lu Qing noted her gaze and said to Zhu Cheng, "Your Highness, let’s go over and take a look."

Zhu Cheng thought he meant he and Yan Daoxin, eagerly nodded, and gestured for them to go ahead.

But then he watched Lu Qing and Zhu Yu stride toward the study where the person had died, cross the threshold, and enter.

He was momentarily stunned, instinctively wanting to intervene, but recognized that Zhu Yu was dressed as a man. During his hesitation, the two had already entered Jia Jun’s study.

Unable to stop them, Zhu Cheng could only keep a composed face and stand quietly outside.

No matter how calm his face appeared, Zhu Cheng’s heart was in turmoil.

The recent details clearly showed Lu Qing’s affection for his daughter. As a father, Zhu Cheng was naturally pleased to see this, except...

Knowing that Zhu Yu was a woman, and still taking her to a place with a dead body, was quite reckless!

Zhu Cheng worriedly glanced in that direction, fearing that the next moment he would hear a scream and see Zhu Yu shocked and fleeing from the room.

If Zhu Ning were here, that scene would surely occur.

In that case, Zhu Yu’s identity would undoubtedly be exposed, leading to unthinkable consequences.

But after watching with his heart in his throat for a while, he didn’t notice anything amiss, the worrying scene didn’t transpire, and Zhu Yu and Lu Qing didn’t emerge after entering.

Feeling uneasy, Zhu Cheng wanted to see what they were doing inside, but being Prince Shuo made directly facing a corpse deemed inappropriate, so he refrained.

Meanwhile, Zhu Yu was paying no mind to Zhu Cheng’s concerns.

Upon entering the study, she found the room quite spacious, with a rack directly facing her, holding a row of long swords and spears shining coldly, exuding an intimidating aura.

Behind the weapons rack was a pair of feet suspended in the air, a pair of black leather Liuhe boots seemingly about to fall off.

Looking up from those feet, Zhu Yu saw the deceased lifting officer, Jia Jun.

Jia Jun wore only an undershirt, appearing clean, but his fingertips were stained with blood. Further up, his rope-tightened neck and chin had numerous blood marks.

It seemed that during his lifetime, he clawed at his jaw and neck in pain, scratching the skin open and getting blood and skin flakes lodged in his nails.

Jia Jun’s hair was disheveled, with some loose strands on his forehead and a slightly loose topknot.

Zhu Yu was about to take a closer look when Lu Qing stopped her.

"No rush. Let’s see what the forensic examiner says when they arrive." Lu Qing reminded Zhu Yu.

Zhu Yu nodded, knowing this wasn’t Jin Country, and Lu Qing couldn’t reveal his identity easily, and she was just posing as a guard beside her father.

The forensic examiner hadn’t arrived yet, and it wouldn’t be proper for the Prince Mansion’s guards to disturb the corpse first.

So she held back her doubts, examining Jia Jun’s body top to bottom repeatedly, forming some judgments, waiting for further confirmation.

Soon, the forensic examiner arrived hurriedly, knowing a lifting officer had died, it seemed something was off, and the examiner was an older gentleman with considerable experience.

The examiner respectfully greeted Zhu Cheng outside before entering Jia Jun’s study. Seeing Lu Qing and Zhu Yu inside, he assumed they were the Prince’s guards and courteously saluted them, "Dear officers, could you kindly assist me in taking down the body?

I’m quite old and unable to do it myself."