Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 270 - 269: Encountering a Living Ghost

Zhu Cheng heard the words of the old coroner outside the door, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly signaled his personal soldiers to go in and help.

In his opinion, his son-in-law’s personality was somewhat unpredictable—aside from treating his daughter genuinely well, none of his actions were expected by others, and his attitude towards others carried a hint of arrogance. He was not unfriendly, but he couldn’t be considered amiable either.

Moreover, he was the Prince Xiaoyao, and it was unacceptable for some clueless old coroner to order him to move a corpse!

But by the time those two personal soldiers ran in to assist, Jia Jun’s corpse, hanging from the rope, had already been taken down by Lu Qing and placed steadily on the ground, ready for the coroner’s examination.

Zhu Yu stood nearby, watching Lu Qing settle Jia Jun’s body and leaned in to ask quietly, "Did he die limp or rigid? Is there any warmth left?"

"Stiffer than being knocked out, but not as rigid as a straight wooden board," Lu Qing provided Zhu Yu with an appropriate description, "No warmth, completely cold."

Zhu Yu nodded, refraining from further inquiries, standing by with curiosity as the old coroner examined the body.

She recalled a wedding feast where she had encountered an old coroner, akin to a dried walnut found from some government office, who panicked amidst the prominent guests, completely incapable.

This current coroner, however, wasn’t old enough to have shaky teeth, nor was he a mere beginner, and seemed quite confident, allowing her to observe.

The coroner solemnly instructed the personal soldiers who entered afterward to hang a curtain at the door to prevent outsiders from seeing too much, then looked up at the rope on the beam, examined Jia Jun’s attire from head to toe, muttered a recount, and squatted beside the body to begin removing Jia Jun’s clothes.

Zhu Yu watched the coroner busy himself, alternating his probing for warmth at Jia Jun’s neck and armpits, then feeling his skull, neck bones, all the way down to his ankles.

He even used a small wooden stick wrapped in cotton to clean Jia Jun’s nostrils and ears, and inserted a silver needle into the neck.

This bustling lasted quite some time, and it left the old coroner sweating profusely, as Zhu Yu’s gaze grew increasingly indifferent.

Finally, after a long time, the coroner resumed examining the strangulation marks on Jia Jun’s neck.

The front of Jia Jun’s neck was a mess of scratching marks, now dried black-red, scraping the skin beyond recognition. Yet, one couldn’t discern any strangulation marks there.

On the sides where the skin was intact, the strangulation marks appeared more evident—not only evident but somewhat messy.

One mark was faint in color, extending from behind the jaw towards the rear ear.

Another mark was slightly deeper, intersecting with the first and spreading towards the back of the neck.

After examining, the coroner hastily put Jia Jun’s clothes back, stood up, placed the still bright silver needle onto a cloth, and sweating profusely, bypassed the curtain to speak to Zhu Cheng outside: "Prince, I’ve examined closely; Mr. Jia has been dead for about an hour now, and the corpse isn’t stiff yet.

I inserted a silver needle into Mr. Jia’s neck, and it didn’t turn black, thus he did not die from poisoning.

There are claw marks on the front of Mr. Jia’s neck, fingernail blood and skin debris, and noticeable strangulation marks on the sides, which initially suggest death by hanging, as one often scratches their neck in such desperate moments.

However, there are two strangulation marks: one disappearing behind the ear, and the other intersecting at the back of the neck, which doesn’t fit.

Therefore, I suspect... Mr. Jia was..."

The coroner hesitated to continue.

Zhu Cheng frowned, urging, "Just say it directly, stop beating around the bush!"

The coroner quickly spoke as Zhu Cheng got impatient, "I suspect Mr. Jia was strangled by someone."

"Strangled?!" Zhu Cheng was taken aback, somewhat surprised by the result.

Nearby, Lady Jia Jun and two brothers from the Jia Family heard this and immediately knelt again.

"Prince! Chief Historian Zuo just left, and my husband was found hanging... If he was strangled, please, Prince, give justice to our family!" Lady Jia Jun pleaded tearfully from the ground.

The two Jia Brothers were equally filled with indignation, crying and pleading while kowtowing.

"Stand up, all of you! Stand up! Even if you kowtow yourselves to death here, will that resolve this matter?!" Zhu Cheng, feeling somewhat irritated, waved his hand, "Don’t remove the curtain from the study entrance yet. Go, bring Chief Historian Zuo to me!"

The two personal soldiers immediately took orders and stepped out.

Seeing Zhu Cheng speak, Jia Jun’s family stopped sobbing, stood up with help, sniffling.

"Prince... I..." the coroner cautiously asked from the side.

Zhu Cheng, not wanting to converse further with him, signaled for him to leave on his own.

Zhu Yu stood near the study’s entrance curtains, with no intention of leaving. After hearing the coroner’s conclusion, she instead let out a light laugh.

Her laughter, however, had nothing to do with amusement, sounding more like disdain and contempt.

Lu Qing questioned her with his eyes, and she nodded to him, "The coroner is quite an interesting person."

Understanding instantly, Lu Qing instructed the personal soldiers who came to help: "Find someone to follow the coroner, keep an eye on him secretly the next few days. Don’t alert him, and ensure he doesn’t encounter any trouble, remember who he interacts with."

Although the personal soldier didn’t know Lu Qing, he was aware that this person had been accompanying Prince Shuo during border patrols, with Shuo’s demeanor towards him more courteous than others, suggesting he was a crucial confidant, thus he acquiesced without hesitation and quickly followed outside.

Zhu Cheng observed the personal soldier secretly tailing the coroner, kept his expression unreadable, yet glanced at the study with a hint of curiosity.

Inside the study, with outsiders absent, Zhu Yu felt much at ease, approached Jia Jun’s corpse, squatted down, gripping his jawbone, attempting to open his mouth.

Yet, the upper and lower teeth seemed as if fastened together, unmovable, with the cheeks feeling rigid.

Jia Jun’s skin held an almost undetectable moistness and matched Lu Qing’s earlier description—ice cold, lacking living warmth.

"Dead for about an hour?" Zhu Yu chuckled sarcastically, "That’s a haunting notion indeed."