A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 255 Headless Female Corpse (43)

“As soon as I got back, you kept asking me how Lu Xun was. You clearly care more about Lu Xun than about me! We've pledged our lives to each other, you're my fiancée, shouldn't you care about me first? Shouldn't I come before Lu Xun? Mu Qingcheng, tell me yourself, did you do anything wrong?”

Song Shuyu's grievances overwhelmed Mu Qingcheng like a tidal wave!

He finally understood. Given Mu Qingcheng's slowness of perception, if he were to silently suffer in jealousy and sulk, all his efforts would be in vain! The best course of action was to clearly tell her what was wrong and then urge her to acknowledge and correct her mistakes!

"My lord..." Mu Qingcheng twisted her body, trying to break free from the man's restraints, but as soon as she moved twice, he shouted, "Don't move!"

Seeing that his gaze was becoming strange again, Mu Qingcheng quickly obeyed and dared not move. Now that she understood matters of love between men and women, how could she not feel ashamed and embarrassed?
"Sir, please put me down," she murmured softly.

Song Shuyu still had a murderous look on her face. "You tell me first, did you make a mistake? Will you do it again?"

"My lord, are you a jealous person?" Mu Qingcheng said helplessly. "Lu Xun is my brother. Is it wrong for me to care about him? My lord, just because I worry about him doesn't mean I don't worry about you. Can you please stop overthinking things?"

Song Shuyu lowered her eyelids and murmured, "I didn't mean to be angry with you. I just... Lu Xun has always been obsessed with you, and I'm worried that he will take you away from me, after all, you have a marriage arranged by your parents."

Mu Qingcheng was filled with melancholy. How could she explain or comfort Song Shuyu? She never imagined that once a man fell in love, he would be no less dramatic than a woman!

"Qingcheng, you've never said you liked me." Song Shuyu suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with fervent anticipation. "Do...do you like me?"

Mu Qingcheng was utterly embarrassed!
Their eyes and brows were instantly tinged with crimson. The two were so close that their heartbeats were exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

Mu Qingcheng's breathing gradually quickened. She opened her lips, but felt too shy to utter those four words.

But the expectation in Song Shuyu's eyes was bright and real. Her heart was burning with desire, and she couldn't help but move closer to him. For the first time, she took the initiative to kiss his lips.

Song Shuyu was taken aback, then overjoyed. He immediately returned her kiss and embraced her tightly.

However, after only a short while, he took the initiative to end the kiss, and the two looked at each other, both somewhat dazed.

"Is he so hard to coax?" Mu Qingcheng thought he was still angry or disappointed in her, so she frowned in distress.

Or, why not grant his wish and give him a kiss and a confession of love?
Song Shuyu said, "No, it's easy to coax. It's just..." He took a deep breath and said with a suppressed expression, "Qingcheng, go out for a while. I, I want to take a shower to cool down."

After he finished speaking, he finally released his hands that were wrapped around her.

Mu Qingcheng understood the double meaning in Song Shuyu's words, and immediately lost her previous composure, fleeing in embarrassment.

Song Shuyu smiled helplessly, reaching out to touch his burning forehead. He hadn't taken any potent drugs, so why was he so unable to control himself? Where had his usual self-control gone?
The desire to marry her had never been stronger than it had at this moment; he truly didn't want to wait a single second longer!

……

Mu Qingcheng went to the Office of State Affairs.

As they walked, a cold wind brushed their faces, finally dispelling much of the restlessness they felt. Lin Shuban, Zhang Zhubu, and Dou Zandian all stayed behind to unravel the secret left behind by Wang Ruhua, instead of leaving their posts.

Mu Qingcheng guiltily straightened her clothes and hair before casually stepping into the room.

"Master Mu!"

The three greeted each other in unison.

Mu Qingcheng nodded. "It's so late, haven't you gone home to rest yet?"

Lin, the clerk, replied, "I'm so worried about the case that I can't sleep even if I go back. Let's stay a little longer, discuss it together, and see if we can find any clues."

"Isn't there a map?" Mu Qingcheng asked in surprise, "Why couldn't we find Shenmo Village?"

Dou Zandian frowned, looking troubled. "Master Mu, we've searched every county under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture, but there's no such place as Shenmo Village. I'm wondering if it might be outside the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture? If so, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are tens of thousands of villages across the country, and we don't have maps of every prefecture or county!"

“It shouldn’t be too far from the capital,” Mu Qingcheng said thoughtfully. “Wang Ruhua’s reach can’t extend that far. She’s just a woman who lives in Xiahegou year-round and doesn’t spend much time away from home.”

Upon hearing this, the three immediately returned to the map, circled the lower river ditch, and then used the lower river ditch as the center point to search in the four directions of east, west, south, and north.

"White egrets float and fly, black egrets enter Wolf Mountain." Mu Qingcheng recited this line of poetry, and something suddenly flashed through her mind, but it was too fast for her to grasp.

A thought struck Zhang, "Does the fact that they float in the water mean that Shenmo Village is by the water? And that egrets fly over the water?"

"What about 'Wuhuan entering Langshan'?" Dou Zandian immediately followed Zhang Zhubu's train of thought and said, "The location of Shenmo Village has water and mountains, and there are wolves in the mountains?"

“I don’t think it’s that simple.” Lin Shuban was not so optimistic. He analyzed rationally: “If Shenmo Village is really hidden within the capital’s territory but not on the map, then the mystery of this village is definitely beyond the reach of outsiders. The way to solve it will definitely not be found on the surface of the poem.”

Mu Qingcheng nodded slightly, "Secretary Lin is right." After a pause, she took out a parchment scroll, "Take a look at this too, it was found by Lu Shaoqing in Wang Ruhua's swill bucket."

The three quickly opened the parchment scroll and studied it carefully. When they saw the hanging coffin on the wall, Zhang, the registrar, exclaimed excitedly, "I've seen hanging coffins before! Hanging coffin burials are very common in the area bordering Meishan County and Fengxian County. It's a type of cliff burial. Several holes are drilled in the cliff face, and wooden stakes are driven in to hold the coffin; or one end of the coffin is placed in a cave in the cliff, and the other end is supported by wooden stakes driven into the cliff face. People below can see the coffin, hence the name 'hanging coffin.'"

Dou Zandian's eyes lit up. "The border between Meishan County and Fengxian County? Isn't that within the capital's territory? It's under the jurisdiction of our Jingzhao Prefecture!"

"Master Mu's guess is correct. It seems that Shenmo Village is very likely hidden in the border area between Meishan County and Fengxian County! As for the bull's head and the big tree, they may be the specific references to the hanging coffins."

As Lin Shuban spoke, he deliberately glanced at Mu Qingcheng a few more times. Noticing that her lips were slightly swollen, he blurted out with concern, "Master Mu, it's dry in the cold winter, so be sure to drink plenty of water and be careful not to get a sore throat!"

Mu Qingcheng was stunned for a moment. Her fingers accidentally touched her lips, and she immediately blushed and her toes dug into the ground in embarrassment. "I... I will be careful. Thank you for reminding me, Secretary Lin."

(End of this chapter)