A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 351 Ending (20)

The words "new discovery" made Mu Qingcheng's eyes darken slightly, but she only glanced at the coroner and did not answer a single word.

Mu Qingcheng continued the autopsy.

The examination was very thorough, from head to toe.

It was an hour later when it was all over.

Mu Qingcheng took off her pigskin gloves and asked Liang Ruoming for the autopsy file. After reading it, she said, "Sir, the results of my examination are the same as those recorded in the coroner Chen's file. There are no new discoveries."

Liang Ruoming nodded. "Since there is no difference, let's conclude it this way."

The coroner breathed a sigh of relief without making it obvious.

Upon receiving Mu Qingcheng's signal, Liang Ruoming said, "Coroner Chen, you may leave now. Do not go out today; just wait in the yamen so that we may summon you for questioning at any time during the Three Judicial Offices' deliberations."

"Yes, sir!" Coroner Chen replied, bowed, and took his leave.

Once only the two of them were left in the morgue, Liang Ruoming quickly moved closer and asked, "Master Mu, what happened? Why is this corpse different from the one I saw yesterday? And what about Coroner Chen? What did you discover?"

Seeing his curious and anxious expression, yet also embarrassed to look directly at the naked corpse, Mu Qingcheng calmly pulled over the white cloth and covered the body again before saying, "Lord Liang, it was right of you to detain Coroner Chen. Let's not alert the enemy yet. Right now, there are two things I need you to arrange. First, summon Granny Sun, the midwife from the Dali Temple, and also summon the midwife from the Ministry of Justice to examine the deceased and verify whether she was a virgin. Second, I need to write the autopsy report. The autopsy results will be based on my findings. What problems Coroner Chen has will become clear once Lord Liang has read my conclusions."

Without hesitation, Liang Ruoming immediately agreed: "Alright, I will make the arrangements right away."

"Hmm, wait a moment." Mu Qingcheng suddenly thought of something, and a cunning glint appeared in her eyes. "Lord Liang, you should choose a clever confidant to secretly keep an eye on Coroner Chen. You should know in detail who he meets, what he does, and what he says, but you must not miss his whereabouts."

Liang Ruoming seemed to understand something. "You mean, like Lin Shuban, the coroner was bribed and betrayed?"

Mentioning Lin Shuban filled Mu Qingcheng with unspeakable disappointment. After so many years of struggling in the criminal field, she had seen through the wickedness of people's hearts, the joys and sorrows of good and evil. However, she still could not let go of Lin Shuban's betrayal.

Who could have imagined that one day, her adversary Liang Ruoming would become her partner, while her trusted colleague, someone she had fought alongside countless times, would suddenly become a despicable enemy?

Then she thought of the Duke of Song. In her past memories, he was a kind man who could be described as a "Confucian general". Why would he do such a terrible thing as poisoning his mother and persecuting his father?
Human nature, the human heart.

At that moment, it was as if a layer of mist had shrouded everything, making it impossible for her to see clearly.

Liang Ruoming didn't get an answer, so he stopped asking and went out. He asked someone to fetch blank files and writing materials, which he then personally delivered to Mu Qingcheng. After that, he arranged two other things.

Under Mu Qingcheng's supervision, Granny Sun and the two midwives from the Ministry of Justice took turns examining the deceased, and finally came to the same conclusion: the deceased was not a virgin!

Mu Qingcheng spent a little over two quarters of an hour completing the autopsy report.

After reading the record, Liang Ruoming was so shocked that he couldn't recover for a long time. His mind was a mess, and he didn't know what to do. "Master Mu, what should we do next?"

"To prevent the midwives from being silenced, Lord Liang, please hand them over to Lu Xun, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, for safekeeping."

“Alright.” “Next, we need to find the real Guo Yuanke and find out the true identity of this corpse. However, Lord Liang shouldn’t make too many moves, lest he attract the attention of the Empress Dowager and become unsafe. Therefore, I need…”

Mu Qingcheng's words were interrupted by the sound of footsteps that suddenly sounded outside the door. Immediately afterwards, someone reported from outside: "Lord Liang, Minister Qin has returned to his office after court. Please come to the council hall immediately."

Liang Ruoming was startled and quickly went to open the door, asking, "Besides Minister Qin, is there anyone else?"

"Lord Lu, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and Lord Ji, the Director of the Censorate, along with their deputies and clerks, have all arrived."

"Alright, I understand."

"I resign from my humble position."

After dismissing the person who had come, Liang Ruoming asked Mu Qingcheng, "What are you thinking? You know both Lord Lu and Lord Ji, do you dare to meet them directly?"

Mu Qingcheng nodded, "That's exactly what I was thinking."

As she left, she slowed her pace and pondered, "Lord Liang, send someone to guard the body and forbid Coroner Chen and anyone else from touching it!"

Liang Ruoming understood and was about to summon his subordinates when Mu Qingcheng stopped him again, saying, "Forget it, I don't trust the people in the Ministry of Justice. Who knows which one is a spy?"

"What should we do then?" Liang Ruoming looked nervous. No one knew how far the Empress Dowager's influence extended within the Ministry of Justice. If she managed to destroy the body while they were away, everything would be over.

Mu Qingcheng turned to look at the corpse, and after a moment, made a decision, "You and I will carry the body to the council hall, so that the three judicial departments can all take a look. After the council is over, we will hand the body over to Lord Ji to take back to the Censorate. In comparison, the Censorate is the most reliable."

Although the Dali Temple is currently under the administration of Lu Xun, Guo Xuan, having served for many years, must have left behind many loyal followers.

Liang Ruoming greatly admired Mu Qingcheng's meticulousness and thoughtfulness, but was it beneath his status and official dignity to ask him to personally carry the corpse?
However, Mu Qingcheng gave him no chance to refuse. She gripped the handles at one end of the stretcher with both hands and urged, "Hurry up!"

Liang Ruoming had no choice but to reluctantly walk over, lift the other end of the stretcher, and leave the morgue, heading towards the council hall.

As a high-ranking official, Mu Qingcheng held a prestigious position in the Ministry of Justice, second only to the emperor. Yet, he was doing menial work, which naturally shocked many. As a result, Mu Qingcheng became the target of public criticism and speculation.

Fortunately, she was dressed as a man and wore a mask.

Their actions were naturally reported to Qin Songyang immediately.

Qin Songyang was astonished. In his memory, Liang Ruoming was not very brave and rarely touched corpses. He always investigated cases based on the coroner's autopsy records.

So he didn't stop him; he wanted to see why Liang Ruoming had suddenly changed his mind.

As the two men carried the stretcher into the council hall, several pairs of eyes came at Liang Ruoming, who immediately felt as if he were being pricked by thorns!
After placing the body on the open ground, Mu Qingcheng turned back, closed the council hall door without permission, and then walked back to Liang Ruoming's side. Calmly greeting the high-ranking officials, she cupped her hands and said, "Greetings, Your Excellencies!"

"You...who are you?" Qin Songyang felt that the man's voice was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a moment. He shifted his gaze to Liang Ruoming's face and questioned, "Minister Liang, what do you intend to do?"

Liang Ruoming swallowed hard, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "This humble official greets Your Excellency! She, she is... she is the coroner I invited from outside, her surname is Mu."