Chapter 55

"Romantic?" Lou Xiyan raised his eyebrows slightly, a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes. Zhuo Qing cursed herself for being an idiot; he probably didn't even know what the word romantic meant.

Just as Zhuo Qing was self-reflecting, her waist suddenly tightened, and Lou Xiyan's low, murmuring voice sounded in her ear: "I understand."

He understood what?! Zhuo Qing looked up in astonishment, only in time to see a dazzlingly handsome face approaching her. Zhuo Qing subconsciously retreated, but the hand around her waist didn't give her a chance to escape; instead, it tightened its grip. Zhuo Qing only felt a heat on her lips.

"Mmm—" All her exclamations were dissolved in the other's warm breath. Zhuo Qing's eyes widened, and her mind went blank in an instant. He kissed her.

He didn't seem to intend to let her continue to be dazed; the warm breath had his scent. His kiss was still gentle, but the arms around her waist pulled her tightly into his embrace. Not until she felt she couldn't breathe did Lou Xiyan release her lips. With his head against her forehead, his low, breathless, and hoarse voice sounded even more intoxicating: "Can you marry me now?"

Up to this moment, Zhuo Qing's mind was still a bit muddled. Wasn't he supposed to be as gentle as jade? Supposed to be modest and refined? Supposed to be full of tender affection? Someone tell her what was going on; this was the palace gate! There were so many guards behind them, and he actually just kissed her like that?!

Their breaths were still entangled. His perfect, long, and slightly upturned eyelids had an indescribable sexiness and charm. She was going crazy; she seemed even less able to resist this Lou Xiyan. She had to say, that hot kiss just now felt pretty good.

The summer morning light was already dazzling, shining directly onto the bed curtains through the half-open window lattice. The person on the bed grabbed the silk quilt beside her and covered her face, intending to continue her good dream.

Bang, bang, bang...

A series of intense knocks on the door were almost deafening. Even covering her ears, it was impossible to ignore, and the person coming seemed very persistent, with each knock heavier than the last. Zhuo Qing cursed under her breath and had to wake up from her beautiful dream!

Damn it, who was disturbing people's dreams so early in the morning! Opening her dazed eyes, Zhuo Qing struggled to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, she heard the anxious apology of Fei'er, the little maid sent by Lou Xiyan to take care of her: "I'm sorry, Madam! I'm sorry, this young lady just wouldn't wait for me to announce her and insisted on barging in herself. I'm sorry, Madam."

"Alright, alright." Zhuo Qing waved her hand. Seeing Gu Yun's grave face outside the door, Zhuo Qing guessed that something must have happened again, and for her to be in such a hurry to find her, could it be another murder case?

"Come with me." Grabbing her wrist, Gu Yun was about to pull her out.

Zhuo Qing grabbed her collar and said urgently: "Wait, Miss, at least let me put on some clothes!" The pajamas she was wearing now, while not exactly revealing, were just a thin cover-up.

Releasing her hand, Gu Yun said urgently: "Hurry up."

Gu Yun's complexion was extremely poor, and Zhuo Qing also felt the urgency of the matter. She grabbed a plain white long dress to put on and splashed some water from the basin on the bedside table onto her cheeks. Fei'er wanted to come forward to help her comb her hair, but Zhuo Qing waved her hand, and while casually braiding her long hair, she asked: "What happened?"

Gu Yun replied in a deep voice: "Li Zhi is dead."

Dead?! Zhuo Qing was startled and asked: "When? What was the cause of death?"

"Last night. Preliminarily determined to be poisoning. Dan Yulan is currently interrogating the guards who were on duty last night and the yamen runners who delivered the food. I want you to go examine the body; I want to hear your opinion." Li Zhi was actually poisoned to death in the Ministry of Justice prison; this culprit had great ability!

After tying her hair, Zhuo Qing nodded and replied: "I'm ready, let's go." The two had only walked two steps when Zhuo Qing suddenly stopped and said to Fei'er, who was standing blankly at the doorway: "Later, go tell the Prime Minister that Qing Mo and I are going to the Ministry of Justice and will be back tonight." Although he had said she could freely enter and exit the Prime Minister's Mansion and he wouldn't interfere with or restrict her actions, since he could be so tolerant and trusting of her, she should also account for her actions.

"Yes." Fei'er nodded.

Gu Yun raised her eyebrows slightly. When had Qing ever been so obedient, even reporting her whereabouts? She remembered that back then, Qing was often so busy working that she would disappear for days and nights without a word, frustrating the corporate elite who had been chasing her for over two years until he finally gave up. Today, she was taking the initiative to explain her destination; Lou Xiyan was truly not simple.

If it were any other time, she would definitely tease her well, but unfortunately, today was not the time. Pulling Zhuo Qing, the two hurried out of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

On the small path beside the main gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion, the two who were about to go out stopped their steps because of the two figures leaving in a flurry.

"A woman, showing her face in public all day long, and you don't discipline her? Such a woman is not worthy of being your wife." With deep displeasure in his low voice, Lou Muhai's dark complexion fully declared his dissatisfaction. He had just returned to the mansion and heard that Xiyan was going to marry a wife; he didn't expect it to be such a woman who didn't understand etiquette and had a low status.

Smiling as he watched that plain white back—even with simple adornments, she was already so beautiful—completely unconcerned about how angry the person beside him was, Lou Xiyan smiled faintly and replied: "I think she's quite good this way."

If Qing Ling were also as cautious and careful in every word and deed as the so-called young ladies of noble families, he wasn't sure if he would still want to cherish her as uncontrollably as he did now.

Lou Xiyan's undisguised favoritism made Lou Muhai even more disgusted with Zhuo Qing. He raged: "If you really like her, just take her as a concubine. Princess Zhaoyang is dignified and beautiful, and she has admired you for a long time; she is the best choice for a legitimate wife. As a Prime Minister and a member of the Lou clan, you should consider more how to balance the relationships, instead of doing whatever you want in everything!"

Lou Xiyan snorted lightly. He had already done enough for the Lou family! With a flash of deep hatred and disdain in his eyes, Lou Xiyan replied coldly: "In two months, it will be the triennial Prayer Ceremony. I plan to marry Qing Ling after the ceremony. At that time, I will send the invitation to the Zhenxi General's Mansion."

"Lou Xiyan! I am your father!" Lou Muhai rebuked angrily. Every time he came back, he was either ignored or defied like this. Why couldn't they, as father and son, be like other fathers and sons?!

Father? Looking at the man in front of him who was glaring at him and flaunting his status, Lou Xiyan found it amusing. When Xiwu was born, during his growth process, and before his mother died, why didn't he see this father of his? Raising a mocking smile, Lou Xiyan said coldly: "I like this woman, and I am going to marry her as my wife, and she will be the only one. I am different from you; I, Lou Xiyan, don't need to rely on women to balance my official career."

After speaking, regardless of how the person behind him reacted, Lou Xiyan turned and left the Prime Minister's Mansion, leaving only Lou Muhai, with a livid face and eyes full of pain, staring blankly at that thin, lean back, unable to move for a long time.

The ice cellar was still as bone-chilling as ever, and the few oil lamps were still swaying violently. This was Zhuo Qing's second time in the Ministry of Justice's coroner's office.

There were ice blocks and coffins everywhere. Gu Yun simply sat on a coffin nearby, listening to Zhuo Qing's autopsy analysis.

"Based on early post-mortem phenomena such as rigor mortis and livor mortis, the time of death was ten to twelve hours ago."

"Uh... sorry, Madam Lou." The little yamen runner, who was curled up in a corner recording, asked in confusion: "What does this 'hour' mean?" What he did every day was record the coroner's examination results, which had to be detailed and accurate, especially for this Madam Lou. Master Dan had instructed that every word she said during the autopsy had to be recorded without missing a single one.

How could she have forgotten there was someone else? Seeing Gu Yun reminded her of when they worked together, and she had gotten used to saying "hours," so it just slipped out. After thinking for a moment, Zhuo Qing replied: "You can just write ten to twelve hours."

"Oh." The little yamen runner quickly lowered his head to record it.

"The deceased's complexion is blue-black, the eyeballs are protruding, and there is dirty blood flowing from the mouth, nose, and eyes. The body's skin is pale blue, the fingernails are blue-black, and the abdomen is slightly swollen."

The deceased had not undergone an autopsy. Zhuo Qing asked: "Has Dan Yulan examined the body?"

Shaking her head, Gu Yun replied: "Early this morning, I was just about to go find him when he sent someone to invite me. It wasn't until I arrived at the prison that I discovered Li Zhi was dead. Dan Yulan only took a simple look and said he died of poisoning, telling me to invite you over to examine the body, while he stayed in the prison to interrogate the guards who were on duty last night." Clearly, Dan Yulan was very aware that Qing's autopsy skills were far superior to his own.

Picking up the tools prepared on the side, Zhuo Qing carefully dissected the abdominal cavity for a deep autopsy.

"There is a small amount of black-red fluid in the thoracic cavity of the deceased, and the positions of the organs in the thoracic cavity are normal. The esophageal mucosa is slightly corroded, there is food residue in the stomach, the mucosa is adhered, and there are three corrosive holes in the stomach wall. The myocardium is stiff, there are a small amount of petechial hemorrhages on the endocardium, the kidneys are blue-black, and the capsule is peeled."

The cause of death was already very clear. Zhuo Qing gently took off her gloves and said: "The cause of death is indeed food poisoning. But there are no conditions to perform a specific toxicological analysis, so it cannot be determined for the time being what kind of toxin he died from."

When Li Zhi was thrown into the prison, it was impossible for him to have poison on him. Even if he really had it, if he wanted to commit suicide, he could have just taken the poison directly; he didn't need to eat it in his food. This case was undoubtedly a murder case.

"Let's go." Jumping off the coffin, Gu Yun left first, and Zhuo Qing followed her out of the ice cellar.

Along the way, Gu Yun remained silent with a grave expression. Zhuo Qing asked: "What are you thinking about?"

It was already midsummer, and the sun was somewhat piercing. Gu Yun stopped under a big tree by the road and leaned lazily against the trunk. Gu Yun replied in distress: "The opponent is far more powerful than we imagined. A prisoner in the Ministry of Justice prison actually died just like that, and it's such a coincidence that it happened just as he was about to reveal the inside story of the gold case! This person is truly omniscient and omnipotent. We are in the light, and he is in the dark; it won't be easy to drag him out."

"Do you suspect Dan Yulan?" After all, the person who knew Li Zhi was approaching a breakdown and could kill in the Ministry of Justice prison was most likely Dan Yulan.

"He shouldn't be stupid enough to that extent." Gu Yun shook her head and analyzed: "If he were the mastermind, he could have done this much more beautifully. I guess it was precisely because of Dan Yulan's intervention that the mastermind panicked and destroyed all evidence at any cost. Now Yang Lu is dead, Li Zhi is dead, and as for the two guards who were stationed at the rock cave together back then, one was transferred to the East Sea garrison, and the other has resigned from his official position and disappeared without a trace. The clues seem to be broken; we can only wait for news from Ye Mei and Ao Tian tonight."

Hopefully, they will have good news. But there are only three short days; can they find out about the long-sealed gold case? The evidence that should have been destroyed must have been destroyed long ago, right?

It was too hot. Fanning herself with her hand, Zhuo Qing's eyes suddenly lit up, and she smiled: "Actually, there is still one person who knows the truth who isn't dead, isn't there?"

There's another one?! Gu Yun snapped her fingers and smiled: "Right, let's go find her."

The two unconsciously quickened their pace, hoping she wouldn't meet with misfortune as well.

(End of chapter)