A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 8 The deceased's father has disappeared!

Yuanbao was only thirteen years old, still a teenager. He had grown up in the temple and had never even seen a chicken killed, let alone a woman whose death was so gruesome.

Yuan Qing was filled with regret. "If I had known we would suffer this calamity, I shouldn't have let my junior brother go fetch water alone today."

“What is destined to happen will happen eventually. Why should Master Yuanqing worry about it?” Mu Qingcheng offered some words of comfort.

Yuan Qing bowed and said, "This humble monk thanks you for your guidance, benefactor!"

Mu Qingcheng looked to the side and spoke as gently as possible, "Master Yuanbao, what happened today? Please tell me in detail, okay?"

Yuanbao stammered, “Every day at dawn I get up and go out through this temple gate to fetch spring water from the stream behind the mountain to make tea and cook porridge for the temple. But today, for some reason, I got up about 15 minutes late. I was afraid of missing Master’s morning tea, so I hurriedly carried the water buckets to the back mountain. But to my surprise, there was a dead body hanging on the temple gate, which startled me. I tripped and fell, and the water buckets broke. Brother Yuanqing heard my cries and came over. He settled me down and then went to report to the authorities.”

"Why did you get up late? Are you feeling unwell?" Mu Qingcheng seized on the key point, "Did Master Yuanqing also get up late?"

Yuanbao shook his head, his eyes full of confusion. "The temple's daily routine is fixed at a fixed time. We don't get up late or go to bed early. I really don't know why today, and this humble monk is not feeling unwell."

Yuan Qing replied, "No, this humble monk also woke up later than usual, but I woke up a little earlier than Yuan Bao. After waking up, I felt dizzy and nauseous, and it took a while for me to recover."

Upon hearing this, Yuanbao suddenly realized, "I was running all the way here, my steps were unsteady, I thought it was because I was too anxious, but it turns out it was because I was dizzy, just like my senior brother! When I saw the corpse, I immediately felt nauseous and vomited..."

"My lord, I wish to search the residences of my two masters!" Mu Qingcheng interrupted the simple-minded Yuanbao and directly requested permission.

Song Shuyu nodded. "Go ahead, and be careful."

"Yes!"

The monks of the Yuan generation were the lowest in rank in the temple, and Yuanbao did odd jobs like chopping wood and carrying water, so his meditation room was arranged in the janitor's quarters, which was closest to the temple gate. Yuanqing moved in voluntarily to keep Yuanbao company, after all, he was young and timid.

Mu Qingcheng has always had a keen sense of smell, and as soon as she entered the door, she smelled an unusual scent!

She immediately withdrew, took a cloth from the autopsy toolbox, covered her mouth and nose, and then stepped back into the meditation room.

The monks' quarters were simple and unpretentious, containing only the necessary furniture and furnishings. Mu Qingcheng checked everything one by one, testing the remaining water in the water vat and teapot for poison. The results were all normal; the silver needles did not change color.

Yuan Qing, who was outside the door, saw what Mu Qingcheng had done and said, "Last night before we went to sleep, my junior brother and I did not eat or drink, and no one broke in during the night."

Mu Qingcheng walked around the room a few times and found that the closer she got to the bed, the stronger the barely perceptible smell became!
So she carefully picked up the pillow and found a dark blue sachet lying under it!

Mu Qingcheng smelled it and confirmed that the scent came from the sachet. In front of the two monks, she opened it, took out a vermilion bead, and asked with a deep gaze, "Where did this come from?"

Yuanbao immediately replied, "This sachet belongs to this humble monk. Yesterday, when I was going down the mountain, I met an elderly man who had twisted his ankle and was having difficulty walking. So I carried him down the mountain. To express his gratitude, the old man gave me this sachet, saying that the contents inside were a treasure obtained from the Buddha, which could ward off evil and disaster and protect peace."

"Junior brother, how many bowls of water are in your head? We are already disciples of Buddha, why are we afraid of evil spirits?" Yuan Qing was dumbfounded. How could he have such a brainless junior brother?

Yuanbao retorted, "How can we let such a kind offer go to waste?"

Seeing this, Mu Qingcheng no longer needed to worry about Yuanbao giving a false testimony; he was just a simple-minded monk without any guile.

Yuan Qing, too lazy to argue with Yuan Bao any longer, humbly asked Mu Qingcheng, "What exactly is it?"

“This bead was originally just ordinary carnelian, but it was soaked in a drug that causes dizziness for a long time and became contaminated with the drug, which is why you two were so drowsy and slept so late!” Mu Qingcheng sighed inwardly. “However, its medicinal properties are not strong and will not cause too much harm to your bodies, so you two can rest assured.”

Yuanbao was dumbfounded!

Yuan Qing's forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat. "Could it be that the old man did it on purpose, and did something during the two extra quarters of an hour that Yuan Bao slept..." He suddenly stopped talking. If that were the case, wouldn't Yuan Bao become an accomplice?
Mu Qingcheng pursed her lips and remained silent. It was obvious that the murderer had already figured out Yuanbao's movements. By delaying Yuanbao and Yuanqing for a quarter of an hour, not only was it enough time to dispose of the body, but the sound of hammering copper nails also wouldn't reach the ears of the two unconscious people.

If the murderer premeditated the crime, how could the kind and honest Yuanbao possibly escape it?

Mu Qingcheng thought for a moment and said, "Master Yuanbao, do you still remember what that old man looked like?"

"I remember, I remember." Yuanbao realized he had done something wrong, and felt both guilty and fearful.

"Alright, go find Master Yuansong's portrait now."

"Amitabha!"

Yuanbao bowed and hurried away, hoping to atone for his sins through good deeds.

Mu Qingcheng returned to the scene of the crime and reported the situation to Song Shuyu.

Song Shuyu snorted coldly: "What old man? He's obviously an imposter! That foolish monk Yuanbao, doesn't he ever think about it? What old man goes up the mountain alone?"

“My lord…” Mu Qingcheng smiled helplessly, “It’s not entirely impossible, it’s just that Master Yuanbao misjudged people and was deliberately used.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the constables who had been sent to search the temple returned, bowing respectfully to Song Shuyu. "Reporting to Your Excellency, nothing unusual was found in the temple!"

"Have you searched thoroughly?"

"We searched every hall, every room, and every nook and cranny, but we found nothing!"

Song Shuyu pondered, "It seems that the murderer simply chose the temple gate as the place to dump the body, thus harming Yuanqing and Yuanbao."

“My lord, if that’s the case, I have another idea.” Mu Qingcheng interjected, then quickly shut up. “Never mind, let’s wait until we find the evidence.”

Song Shuyu glared at her, annoyed. "Have you learned how to keep people in suspense?"

"grown ups!"

Just then, Constable Liu returned to report, "We found nine tracks on the mountain, which have been drawn up and down and are now being verified one by one."

Song Shuyu reminded, "Don't forget to check the horse-drawn carriages carrying rice, flour and vegetables at the Ningyuan General's Mansion."

"Yes!"

Liu, the head constable, was the best tracker in the capital. The Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review tried to poach him from their ranks, but Song Shuyu stopped them with a large reward.

Therefore, he was completely at ease entrusting this task to Officer Liu.

Half an hour later, Song Li finally returned. Surprisingly, Xu Chunshan, who had been forced to take a leave of absence, also returned.

"My lord, the father of the deceased Li Yunyao, Li Mu, a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, has been missing for several days!"

My darlings, remember to vote! Love you all!

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(End of this chapter)