A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 251 Headless Female Corpse (39)

"Have!"

Upon hearing this, Liao's mother, who had been silent, suddenly pushed aside the housekeeper, rushed forward, and said urgently, "Ruyi has a small red mole behind her left ear!"

Mu Qingcheng paused for a moment, "The deceased is missing his head, so we can only identify him by his physical characteristics."

Mrs. Liao stumbled, but Mu Qingcheng acted swiftly, grabbing her arm and speaking in a deep voice, "Mrs. Liao, why don't you take a look?"

Despite having worked as a coroner for over a decade and witnessed countless life-and-death situations, Mu Qingcheng still couldn't remain calm and indifferent when facing the relatives of the deceased.

To reduce the visual impact, Mu Qingcheng wrapped the head area separately with a white cloth.

She slowly lifted the white cloth from top to bottom. When Butler Liao saw that the female corpse was naked, he quickly turned his back.

The cleaned body had wounds all over its back, but almost no wounds on its front. Liao's mother leaned over and examined it carefully, inch by inch, with a mix of nervousness and excitement. She looked from the upper body to the lower body, then from the legs down to the right foot!

Liao's mother looked at her right foot from side to side, her facial expression changing drastically. "Master Mu, she...she's not my daughter!"

Butler Liao shuddered, his voice trembling as he said, "Old woman, did you see clearly? Isn't it really not our Ruyi?"

Liao's mother said excitedly, "Husband, do you remember last autumn when Ruyi was doing farm work, she accidentally hit her instep with a hoe, leaving a scar more than half an inch long that has never fully healed."

Butler Liao slapped his forehead, his voice rising with joy, "Yes, I remember now, that's right. Her shoes and socks were covered in blood. We took her to the doctor, but because Ruyi's skin was delicate, she was left with an unsightly scar. Before she got married, we were so afraid that her husband's family would dislike her that we searched everywhere for folk remedies to remove the scar!"

"Yes, yes, it's a pity that those folk remedies didn't work. The scar is like it's grown on her foot, and it just won't go away!" Mrs. Liao nodded in agreement, then pulled the housekeeper over and pointed to the woman's smooth, brand-new right foot. "Look, husband, this corpse's foot doesn't have a single scar!"

Butler Liao glanced at it, then looked away and embraced Liao's mother, bursting into tears.

Mu Qingcheng watched this scene, unable to tell whether she felt joy or sorrow.

After the couple had finished crying, she checked again, "Besides the scar on the back of her foot, are there any other physical characteristics on Liao Ruyi's body?"

Mrs. Liao shook her head, but immediately nodded and said, "Yes, Ruyi has an oval-shaped black birthmark on her lower back."

Mu Qingcheng turned the body over and saw that there were no birthmarks on the left and right sides of the lower back, apart from the stick marks.

She smiled gently and said, "Alright, now that we've confirmed that this body isn't Liao Ruyi, you can go home and wait patiently. Our Jingzhao Prefecture will use all its resources to find Liao Ruyi. We will definitely send someone to inform you once we have any news."

"Thank you, Master Mu!"

The elderly couple knelt down with a thud, saying, "As long as we can find Ruyi, you and Lord Song will be Ruyi's second parents!"

Upon hearing this, the yamen runners waiting on the side widened their eyes. The phrase "rebirth parents" seemed ambiguous when applied to the adults and Master Mu.
Mu Qingcheng noticed out of the corner of her eye that the constable's expression was off. She pursed her lips slightly, and whether it was because the constable had been listening intently or not, she felt a little guilty. She cleared her throat and instructed the constable, "Take the body back to the underground cold room."

"Yes!" The constable couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Everyone in the yamen knew that the magistrate treated Clerk Mu with great favor, but the longer it went on, the more favoritism he showed. This favoritism extended beyond official duties to include personal comforts. If Clerk Mu said one thing, the magistrate would never say another, let alone reprimand him. Lately, his colleagues had begun to notice that the magistrate was not only biased, but also had become biased in his judgment. Whenever Clerk Mu appeared, no one else could escape the magistrate's notice!

Therefore, anyone who isn't blind can see that the master has ulterior motives towards Master Mu. As a result, everyone is secretly discussing whether the master will use his position for personal gain and bring Master Mu into the Duke's mansion.
Of course, Song Shuyu was unaware of this. If he knew that his subordinates looked down on him so much, he would probably be so angry that he would publicly declare that he was after a wife, not a concubine!

Mu Qingcheng had been walking around a lot, and she had already noticed things from Jiang Zhan to the yamen runners. However, it was best not to say anything about such things to avoid making things more awkward.

She personally saw the Liao family out.

As she passed Wang Ruhua's body, the events of last night in the ditch came to mind, and she slowed her pace.

"Why did Liao Ruyi's brother, Lin Jiao, entrust Liao Ruyi to your care? Does Lin Jiao have a family?"

Upon hearing Mu Qingcheng's question, Butler Liao paused for a moment before replying, "Actually, we don't know much about Lin Jiao's personal affairs. About ten years ago, on a winter night, I went out to collect debts and on my way back, I encountered thieves. My life was in danger when Lin Jiao appeared and saved me. He was very strong and chased the thieves away with his bare hands. I wanted to thank Lin Jiao, but he said that his parents had passed away, leaving behind a young sister who had no one to raise her, and he hoped that I could help him take care of her. Because of this life-saving grace, I adopted Ruyi."

Mu Qingcheng pondered, "Have you maintained contact over the past ten years or so? Has Lin Jiao ever come back to visit Ruyi?"

"No." Butler Liao shook his head. "It's quite strange. After Lin Jiao handed Ruyi over to us, he left. Once he left, it was as if he had vanished into thin air. There was no news of him until a month ago when Lin Jiao suddenly sent me a letter saying that he was coming to find Ruyi."

Mu Qingcheng had a vague suspicion, but felt the logic was off. If the man in black was Lin Jiao, it would make sense for him to seek out Wang Ruhua, but why did he cut off the head of the Suhe female corpse? And why did he hide it? What kind of relationship existed between the Suhe female corpse and Liao Ruyi? If the man in black wasn't Lin Jiao, why was he seeking out Wang Ruhua? Was it related to the girl Wang Ruhua had previously acted as matchmaker for?
Now many clues have emerged, but they seem unrelated, and there is no thread to connect them.

After seeing off Butler Liao and his wife, Mu Qingcheng returned to the morgue and summoned her two apprentices, He Ye and Wu Liu.

"You two clean the body of the deceased, Wang Ruhua."

"Yes!"

The two were particularly enthusiastic; this was the second job they had gotten from Mu Qingcheng after the headless female corpse.

After a day and a night, the corpse had stiffened completely.

After examination, it was found that apart from the stab wound to the heart, Wang Ruhua had no other injuries caused by external force, nor any signs of poisoning.

"The wound was slanted, penetrating deep into the heart, and stained with blood. Experience clearly showed that it was a fatal wound that led to death."

(End of this chapter)