A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 91 The key to breaking the situation

Song Shuyu's gaze suddenly fell on the window. On the wood shavings sticking up at the bottom of the window frame, there was a piece of dark brown cloth hanging. It was similar in color to the withered yellow leaves of the big tree outside the window, and it was very difficult to notice without careful observation.

Mu Qingcheng stepped forward, carefully removed the rag, smelled it, and then frowned.

Seeing this, Song Shuyu asked, "How is it?"

“This piece of cloth has been hanging here for too long, and it has been mixed with all sorts of strong smells, diluting the original scent so I can’t smell it,” Mu Qingcheng said. “However, I can confirm that it comes from women’s clothing.”

"Women's clothes?" Registrar Zhang was astonished. "The murderer who disposed of the body was a woman?"

Mu Qingcheng thought of that Eastern pearl, and pursed her lips. Could it be the same person? The same woman?
Song Shuyu pondered and said, "This clue is very important. The clothes that Li Mu was wearing are also a breakthrough point. We need to find a way to verify it."

Reminded, Mu Qingcheng quickly handed the scrap of cloth to Song Shuyu, "My lord, please take a look, what kind of material is it?"

Song Shuyu looked at it, then rubbed it between his fingers, and said in a deep voice, "It's Shu brocade."

"It's Shu brocade again!" Mu Qingcheng's voice rose a few decibels, her tone filled with excitement. "It must be related to the person who killed Li Mu!"

Song Shuyu nodded. "Let's search more carefully; perhaps we'll find something else."

The crowd scattered and conducted a thorough search, finally finding some bloodstains that had not been cleaned up in the walls and baseboards.

Registrar Zhang was so angry he laughed. "This body dumper is truly a meticulous person. Isn't he afraid of wasting time doing all this? What if someone comes in to use the outhouse? Wouldn't he be exposed on the spot?"

Mu Qingcheng sighed, "So, considering the difficulty of suspending the body with copper nails, there must have been two people who disposed of the body. One person transported the body, and the other cleaned up the scene. As for the person who transported Liu Xiao, it might have been a third person, or perhaps the two people took Liu Xiao away after they had disposed of the body."

"I think I understand why Liu Xiao was replaced in disposing of the body," Song Shuyu pondered. "Li Yunyao must know more than Liu Xiao, but Liu Xiao is a member of the Liu family, and he might not be willing to join forces with her to expose the truth after learning it. Therefore, Li Yunyao chose to conceal the truth from Liu Xiao, dragging him down with her to complete her heroic act of self-sacrifice. However, those who care about Liu Xiao neither want him to commit a crime and go to jail, nor do they want to disappoint Li Yunyao's wishes. Therefore, a body double was used, and the method of disposing of the body was upgraded, making this case famous overnight."

Following Song Shuyu's train of thought, Mu Qingcheng thought of a suspicious point: "If Li Yunyao wanted to expose the crimes and clear her name, why wouldn't she leave no clues at all? The evidence and clues we have found so far cannot directly point to the murderer... By the way, Sanhu, where did Li Yunyao get the dagger that she used to commit suicide? Do you know?"

Suddenly called out, Sanhu was stunned for a moment before gradually coming to his senses. He said, "The dagger belongs to the First Madam. As for its origin, you can ask Xia Yu. She was the First Madam's dowry maid and knows the most about the First Madam's affairs."

Something seemed to explode in Mu Qingcheng's mind, making her excited. "My lord, Xia Yu is the key to breaking the deadlock! Xia Yu is not among the two missing maids, which means that Li Yunyao must have made proper arrangements for Xia Yu before she went to her death. So, this is also the real reason why she had Liu Xiao impersonate Xia Yu to cover up the truth!"

(End of this chapter)