A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 230 Headless Female Corpse (18)

The next day.

Song Shuyu presented a memorial to the emperor, stating that with the year-end approaching, it was necessary to strengthen patrols inside and outside the city. This led to the revelation that he had been assassinated the previous night.

The emperor was furious. Under the very nose of the emperor, someone dared to assassinate a high-ranking official of the third rank in the street. This was utterly arrogant!
He then issued an imperial edict, ordering the patrol battalion to conduct a city-wide search and to increase manpower for patrols day and night. The captured mute assassin was detained in the Jingzhao Prefecture. The Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate all intervened simultaneously, determined to find the mastermind behind the scenes and bring him to justice!
As a result, within three days, the whole capital knew that someone wanted Song Shuyu dead!

The Song family was furious. Since the Duke of Song was not in the capital, they joined forces to put pressure on the Empress Dowager and beg for her protection!

As a result, countless eyes, both openly and secretly, appeared around Song Shuyu, forcing the Empress Dowager to temporarily abandon the idea of ​​eliminating Song Shuyu!
Having gained some breathing room, Song Shuyu began to swagger in and out of Shou Kang Palace, taking the opportunity to investigate the people there and observe whether there were any abnormalities in the Empress Dowager's facial skin.

However, Mu Qingcheng found dealing with the headless female corpse case particularly difficult.

Two teams were dispatched to visit all the villages around the Suhe River, but they found neither eyewitnesses nor any physical evidence!
It's as if the murderer who disposed of the body appeared out of thin air and then disappeared just as suddenly—it's extremely bizarre!

The search for the source of the body has also reached a stalemate.

After checking the case files for six months, no missing persons case could be matched with this case. More than ten days had passed since the incident, and no one had reported the case to any government office.

Liu's mother asked all sorts of matchmakers, but to no avail.

Huang Ying and Lü Shui did uncover many secrets about official families, but they couldn't find a woman who matched the deceased's characteristics!

Bai Zhizhi searched every brothel and theater, and found that not only the top courtesans who were pampered and favored by the madams, but also ordinary abused prostitutes, none of them had gone missing!
Mu Qingcheng and the Ministry of Revenue jointly investigated the people selling fake household registration certificates. They found that a clerk and an assistant director in charge of household registration in the Ministry of Revenue were colluding to commit the crime. Unfortunately, since Song Shuyu took office as the Prefect of the Capital, they were afraid of the Duke's Mansion and dared not sell fake household registration certificates again!
Zhao Chengsi, who went undercover, captured six tattoo artists and took them over to identify the dozen or so tattoo designs that Song Shuyu had separated. Surprisingly, none of them had ever seen them before!

Just when the case was at a complete standstill and there was no hope of solving it, news of the discovery of a headless female corpse in the Suhe River fermented day by day and spread throughout the city!
Left with no other choice, Mu Qingcheng had to post a notice to find the body, offering a large reward to encourage the public to provide clues!
Unexpectedly, on the second day after the notice was issued, Li Daguo, who was disguised as a beggar and mingling in the pawnshop, suddenly sent back good news!

"Master Mu!"

Li Daguo ran back, covered in sweat, and reported with great joy: "Just now, a vagrant came to Jixiang Pawnshop and pawned a pair of jade earrings, a red jade bracelet, and a gold hairpin!"

"Where is he?" Mu Qingcheng asked urgently, startled.

Li Daguo took a breath and replied, "It's almost the end of the year, and a lot of migrants from other places have poured in. They've all formed small gangs. There are only two of us, and I was afraid of causing a commotion and letting someone escape in the chaos. So I asked the pawnshop owner to help detain the person in the shop, and Brother Wang guarded the door. I rushed back to report the news!"

Hearing this, Mu Qingcheng was very pleased, "Not bad, Li Daguo, you've finally improved! You deserve credit!"

"Thank you, Master Mu!" Li Daguo grinned, revealing his bright white teeth.

Mu Qingcheng stepped out the door, instructing as he went, "Order Constable Jiang to take a team and head to Jixiang Pawnshop immediately!"

"Yes!"

"Notify Bai Zhizhi to come along!"

"Yes!" Li Daguo hurriedly went to relay the message, his excitement evident in his words.

A quarter of an hour later.

The soldiers of the Jingzhao Prefecture surrounded Jixiang Pawnshop!

Jiang Zhan led the constables to form a human wall, dividing and surrounding the refugees, and drawing their knives as a precaution.

Mu Qingcheng and Bai Zhizhi strode into the pawnshop.

"Master Mu, I'm here!"

Li Daguo led the way, and the two saw the refugees who were tied to the pillars by Wang Tianzhu in the back room!
Although the two women who arrived heard the address "Master Mu," the refugee immediately cried out for mercy: "Sir, spare my life! I know nothing!"

“Master Mu, these are the stolen goods pawned by the refugees, all of them women’s jewelry.” Wang Tianzhu took over a dirty wooden box and opened the lid.

Mu Qingcheng looked over, her brows furrowing slightly. "Zhizhi, can you estimate the value of these pieces of jewelry?"

The Bai family's business spans almost the entire industry, and Bai Zhizhi could see it all at a glance. She said, "The gold hairpin is the most expensive, worth around twenty taels of silver. The jade earrings and red jade bracelet are made of very ordinary materials and craftsmanship, and together they would only cost ten taels of silver at most."

Mu Qingcheng looked at the refugees, her eyes turning cold. "What's your name? Where are you from?"

“Sir, my surname is An, and I am the fourth in my family. People call me An Si’er. I am from Yang County and came to the capital two years ago to make a living,” the refugee replied, shrinking his head.

Mu Qingcheng approached An Si'er, hands behind her back, exuding an imposing aura without anger, "Where do you usually make a living? How do you make a living? Do you steal?"

"No, it's not theft. I wouldn't dare commit a crime. I'm... I beg for food, and sometimes I go to the mountains to collect things to exchange for money." An Si'er was so frightened that her face turned pale.

"In the mountains?" Mu Qingcheng narrowed his eyes, his expression turning stern. "An Si'er, tell me, which mountain could you find jewelry worth thirty taels of silver?"

"Sir, spare my life! I'm not lying, really, I really found it, it's here, it's here..." An Si'er's legs were so weak that if it weren't for the pillar behind him supporting him, he would have slid to his knees.

Mu Qingcheng shouted sharply, "Where are you?"

"In the mass grave!" An Si'er gasped for breath, as if afraid Mu Qingcheng wouldn't believe him, and swore, "I go to the mass grave every month to try my luck. Of course, usually I'm not lucky. The corpses thrown into the mass grave have nothing but a straw mat. But, there are exceptions. Occasionally I'll find a rich dead person. Some have copper coins and silver coins on their bodies, some wear silver locks and jade pendants, and... yes, that's right, those pieces of jewelry, I took them from a woman's head and hands! Really, I'm telling the truth, I would never lie to you, sir!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces lit up with joy; they had finally found a breakthrough!
However, Mu Qingcheng seized on a key phrase: "A female corpse's head? An Si'er, are you sure the female corpse you were picking up the jewelry had a head?"

An Si'er listened incredulously, "Of course it has a head! What dead person can be without a head? A headless ghost...wouldn't that scare people to death?"

(End of this chapter)