Chapter 38: Palace Banquet Storm (8)

Dan Yulan came back to his senses and said, "Miss Qing, please."

Bypassing Dan Yulan and walking toward the golden silk carpet, Zhuo Qing lowered her voice and said hatefully, "You're ruthless!"

Dan Yulan was startled and couldn't help but smile bitterly. It seemed he had offended this Miss Qing today. If she found an opportunity, she definitely wouldn't let him off easily! It was just that the Emperor's performance just now was somewhat intriguing. Looking over again, the eunuchs were prostrate on the ground wiping the wine stains, and Yan Hongtian had also withdrawn his gaze and picked up a cup of wine again. Everything just now seemed as if nothing had happened.

Zhuo Qing walked to the Seventh Princess's side. Xu Xunsi sized her up and asked, "Who is she?"

"This is..." Dan Yulan glanced at Lou Xiyan before continuing, "Prime Minister Lou's family member. She knows some simple autopsy methods. If she examines the Princess, does the Third Prince have any objections?"

"Prime Minister Lou?" This woman was very beautiful, but she was in a guard's uniform, and her right cheek was disfigured. Could she be Lou Xiyan's family member?

Xu Xunsi looked at Lou Xiyan for verification. Lou Xiyan stood up generously, walked to Zhuo Qing's side, gently took Zhuo Qing's hand, and looked at Zhuo Qing with his usual gentle, shallow smile and eyes full of deep affection, saying, "She is indeed Lou's wife."

Ah?!

Zhuo Qing was covered in black lines. There was no need to try so hard to act~

Su Ling's hand holding the wine paused, but only for a moment, and he continued to drink his wine.

Dan Yulan had a thoughtful face...

Yan Ruxuan, who was kneeling on the ground, almost collapsed. Her watery eyes stared straight at the backs of Lou Xiyan and the woman standing together. When did he have a wife?! Then what about her? What about her?!

The eunuch pouring wine for the Emperor had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and his hands couldn't help but tremble slightly, because only he saw the blue veins on the Emperor's hand holding the wine bulging, and the wine cup was gripped by him until it made a squeaking sound...

The word "wife" was not to be used randomly! The stimulation received by the civil and military officials tonight was truly one after another. They only heard that the Emperor sent a beauty to the Prime Minister, when did the Prime Minister have a wife?! Looking at each other, the hall fell into dead silence once again.

Why did the Prime Minister's wife have such a face? This outfit? And why would she appear in the Great Hall? Everything made people suspicious, but in the Great Hall, the two were holding hands, and the Prime Minister's eyes were fixed on the woman without leaving for a moment. No matter how suspicious Xu Xunsi was in his heart, he could not question the woman's identity.

The Prime Minister's wife personally examined Seventh Sister's corpse; what else could he say? Xu Xunsi could only reply, "Since it is the Prime Minister's wife, this Prince naturally has no objections."

Slowly releasing Zhuo Qing's hand, Lou Xiyan said warmly, "Go, I will wait for you on the side."

She really couldn't handle such a "gentle" gaze. Zhuo Qing nodded quickly, walked to Dan Yulan's side, and asked, "Where should I examine her?"

Just as Dan Yulan was about to speak, Yan Hongtian's manic and gloomy voice rang out coldly: "Examine her right here in the Great Hall."

Good! Very good! Very, very good! The damn woman actually pretended not to know him! He wanted to see how that woman who was afraid even when seeing a dead rabbit would perform an autopsy! "Someone, pull up the curtains." Yan Hongtian whispered a few words to the eunuch beside him. The eunuch nodded quickly and ran out in a hurry.

In the Great Hall... perform an autopsy?

The ministers swallowed their saliva, but with the Emperor's uncertain appearance, no one dared to say more, and even Xu Xunsi stood there forgetting to object. When he reacted, four palace maids had already taken a piece of plain white cotton cloth two feet high and walked onto the main hall. The four surrounded Xu Yanyun's corpse in the middle, forming a square, but the cloth was only half a person high, just enough to cover the corpse lying on the ground.

Was this curtain pulled a bit too low? Everyone was suspicious in their hearts, and a few eunuchs brought up a piece of light gauze. Eight people pulled the light gauze open, surrounding the square formed by the four palace maids. The light gauze was raised above their heads, and under the two layers of obstruction, the corpse lying on the ground could no longer be seen.

Zhuo Qing stood outside the layers of curtains, looking depressed. What was going on? This was an autopsy, not a costume party; was there a need to make it so ethereal?

Zhuo Qing lifted the first layer of light gauze impatiently, and Dan Yulan's voice rang out behind her: "Miss Qing, please use these."

Zhuo Qing turned back. Beside Dan Yulan stood a servant holding a tray with a pair of plain white gloves and a pair of raw iron scissors on it.

She had just been thinking about this problem. Without medical gloves, it was hard for her to concentrate on the autopsy. Picking up the plain white gloves, she was quite satisfied with the soft and resilient texture.

On the table behind Dan Yulan, a young man dressed as a servant held paper and pen, waiting.

Zhuo Qing raised her eyebrows slightly. Dan Yulan was indeed hateful, but he was also truly professional. Sure enough, everyone's success was not without reason!

Taking the tray, Zhuo Qing lifted the light gauze, stepped over the half-meter-high cotton fence, and finally saw the corpse at close range. Squatting down, Zhuo Qing carefully cut open Xu Yanyun's clothes.

Under the light gauze curtains, Zhuo Qing's face was calm and cold, without a trace of panic. Everyone finally knew why two layers of curtains were needed. With the plain white cotton cloth blocking, no one could see the corpse on the ground, but the thin light gauze couldn't block anything at all. Everyone outside could see Zhuo Qing's every move clearly.

With the clothes removed, Zhuo Qing's bright and sharp eyes stared intently at the corpse in front of her, and a clear and slightly cold voice rang out in the hall: "The deceased is female, aged between sixteen and twenty-two. The body has not shown early corpse phenomena such as corpse spots and rigor mortis. The time of death is about half an hour. The deceased's complexion is blue-black, eyeballs are bulging, mouth is slightly open, and there is purple-black blood in the mouth, nose, and eyes."

Gently lifting the hands of the corpse, which were stiff due to excessive force before death, and checking them, Zhuo Qing checked the feet again, not missing any subtle details, and only after a long time did she say: "The skin of the deceased's body is light blue, the fingers and nails are blue-black, and the feet and toenails are light blue. The throat of the deceased is swollen, with obvious blue spots, and there are no abnormalities in the abdomen."

Strange. Generally, the color of the hands and feet of a deceased person who died from oral poisoning should be basically the same. And if the poison appeared on the body surface, besides the throat, esophagus, and stomach as the positions where the poison stayed the longest, there should be more obvious body surface characteristics! Could it be that the venom of that Red Ring Silk Worm was relatively abnormal? Without a venom analysis report, it was troublesome!

Without solid evidence, Zhuo Qing could only speculate in her heart, and her hands were not idle. Gently turning the corpse over, Zhuo Qing checked every tiny piece of skin on the back of the corpse intently and carefully before continuing to reply: "There are no abnormalities on the back, and there are no obvious external wounds on the skin surface."

Preliminary determination: it is a neurotoxin among snake venoms that inhibits the respiratory and vascular centers, causing respiratory and circulatory failure, while cytotoxins cause red blood cell lysis and tissue necrosis, leading to the deceased's death within a short period. However, Zhuo Qing always felt something was not quite right. Half-squatting beside the deceased, Zhuo Qing gently undid the deceased's high-piled bun, removed the gold hairpin from her head, and extended her fingers into the deceased's hair, parting it bit by bit to examine the skull.

Seeing her not speaking for a long time, Xu Xunsi said somewhat impatiently: "Are you done examining?!"

Unfortunately, no one in the whole hall answered him. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the blurry and serious beautiful figure inside the thin gauze.

No one paid attention to him. Xu Xunsi coughed awkwardly and said: "Alright, you've finished examining, I want to take Seventh Sister's corpse away."

Just as Xu Xunsi finished speaking, inside the curtain, a flash of brilliance flashed from the bottom of her eyes, and the cold female voice rang out again: "Wait."

She finally found it...

Carefully lifting the hair behind her head, Zhuo Qing continued calmly: "One inch above the hairline at the back of the deceased's head, a tiny needle-prick wound was found. The edges of the wound are neat, the surrounding scalp is blue-black, and a small amount of black pus and blood overflows when pressed."

How could there be a needle hole at the back of the head?

Whispers of discussion arose in the hall, while the few people standing near the curtain were silent, each with their own thoughts.

Dan Yulan was curious, who exactly was her teacher? Looking at her autopsy steps, her description of the corpse's characteristics, and the meticulousness of the examination, she was absolutely not inferior to any excellent coroner, even him!

Yan Hongtian was surprised and suspicious. Was the woman in the light gauze facing the corpse calmly and intently really the beauty like water he knew?! Did he really recognize the wrong person?! No, this was impossible! Over the years, her appearance had often lingered in his mind; he couldn't have recognized her wrong! But the person in front of him was so strange and yet still full of charm! How many sides did she have?!

Even more confused than Yan Hongtian was another person, and that was Qing Ling. The three of them grew up together, learned poetry and painting together, and danced and wrote together, but she never knew she could perform an autopsy? And she spoke so logically? What exactly was going on?!

Lou Xiyan stood quietly outside the curtain, but his mind was not on Zhuo Qing, but on Yan Hongtian, who had an abnormal expression today. Too many complex emotions were revealed in his dark and deep eyes, which made Lou Xiyan feel a bad premonition in his heart. Regarding the Qing sisters, there must be some hidden story.

Yan Ruxuan stared at the woman in the curtain without blinking, her hands tearing at her skirt. She could feel her heart trembling, but she didn't understand whether it was because of fear or heartache. Why did Brother Yan like a woman who played with corpses? Why didn't he choose her? Was it because she wasn't brave enough? Why...

Also lost in thought was Su Ling, who finally put down his wine cup. This woman should be Feng!

Interesting! One tried to assassinate the Emperor, her words sharp; one was an autopsy expert, calm and outstanding. Thinking of the Qing family's little sister whom he had only met once when he returned to the mansion and then threw to the back of his mind, he seemed to have a hint of interest!

"Silver needle." The cold female voice successfully pulled everyone's sanity back again.

A palace maid holding a cloth bag passed through the gauze curtain and handed the things in her hand to Zhuo Qing.

Zhuo Qing took out a long needle, avoided the oozing dirty blood, and inserted it gently. After a while, she took it out, and the silver needle had turned black. Putting down the long needle in her hand, Zhuo Qing analyzed calmly: "The silver needle turned black quickly after being inserted into the wound, and the poison reaction is obvious. Judging from the position of the wound and the characteristics of the poison presented, I suspect that what caused the deceased's death was not the poisoned wine, but this wound at the back of the head. The poisoned wine was just to divert attention."

Xu Xunsi scoffed and questioned: "You just found a needle hole and concluded this, isn't it too arbitrary?"

What kind of autopsy, it was clearly Qiongyue wanting to shirk responsibility!

Taking off the gloves in her hands, Zhuo Qing walked out of the curtain, met Xu Xunsi's questioning gaze, and replied loudly: "First, every wound on the deceased is very important, and any of them could be the fatal wound, especially for those who died of poisoning; second, I did not conclude that the deceased died from this wound, but suspected it, so I suggest performing a further autopsy."

Zhuo Qing's face was as usual, not angry, nor compromising. Her neither humble nor arrogant answer made Xu Xunsi unable to respond for a while. Lou Xiyan's woman was indeed not to be underestimated.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 39 =====