Chapter 1247

With the Ministry of Justice's official document, early the next morning, Chen Guanlou took the medical official Mu and the Heavenly Prison coroner to the Shuntian Prefecture.

Gu Yiyang brought a private secretary from the Gu Mansion, a steward, and three or five drinking buddies.

The plaintiff had arrived!

The couple from the third branch of the Nanguo Mansion, and the witnesses: the group of people who participated in the brawl that day.

The two sides were clearly divided, each standing on one side, hostile toward each other, but not arrogant; they were still very subtle. After all, this was the main hall of the Shuntian Prefecture, and both sides had decent family backgrounds and some brains, so they wouldn't start confronting each other the moment they met, leaving a bad impression on the Shuntian Magistrate and affecting the subsequent verdict.

After waiting for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the yamen runners finally shouted for the court to be in session!

Everyone faced the main seat of the hall, bowed slightly, and waited for the arrival of the Shuntian Magistrate.

Magistrate Ge of Shuntian walked out wearing his official robes, full of authority.

Everyone bowed in unison.

"No need for formalities! I believe everyone knows why we are holding court today. I will say this first: if you have any requests, state them in advance. If you disturb my trial halfway through, don't blame me for being heartless and throwing you into the jail."

"My lord, I have a request."

Chen Guanlou stood out first.

Magistrate Ge narrowed his eyes slightly; he recognized Chen Guanlou. Even if he hadn't seen him before, seeing that face, he was certain of the other's identity. Because the facial features of the Chen family were all similar, making them too easy to identify.

"So it's Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen; what request do you have?"

Chen Guanlou immediately proposed: "My lord, I request a re-examination of the corpse in court. For this, I have brought the medical official and coroner from the Heavenly Prison."

"I object! The medical official and coroner from the Heavenly Prison are naturally on his side. This move is suspected of being fraudulent."

As soon as these words were spoken, the medical official Mu and the Heavenly Prison coroner were immediately outraged.

"I have practiced medicine for fifty years, and the Mu family has been medical practitioners for generations, with a heritage of several hundred years. I dare to stake the Mu family's reputation and signboard on the fact that the autopsy process is factual and absolutely not fraudulent. Do you dare to do the same?"

"I also dare to stake my head on it. Do you dare?" The Heavenly Prison coroner also stood out. "My family has been coroners for generations; the coroners of all the major yamen in the capital know me and know my level and character. My lord can invite the Shuntian Prefecture's coroner to verify my autopsy conclusions in court!"

Both professionals had provided guarantees.

One was the family reputation and signboard, which were more important than life, and the other was his own head. People in this day and age believed in swearing oaths, believing that if they couldn't fulfill them, they would be fulfilled. Therefore, swearing an oath was more trustworthy than a contract in later generations.

Magistrate Ge looked toward the people from the third branch of the Nanguo Mansion. "What do you mean?"

"We..."

Before they came, they had made various contingency plans, but they never expected Chen Guanlou to request an autopsy in court.

Magistrate Ge's expression was serious and solemn, but in reality, he was looking at the official document issued by the Ministry of Justice on the table, requesting cooperation with the autopsy. The subtext was that if they didn't cooperate, the Ministry of Justice would take over this case.

Magistrate Ge was angry, but he couldn't ignore the face of the Ministry of Justice.

As the Shuntian Magistrate, he was like a foot-washing maid; any yamen could bully him, issue him official documents, and demand this or that. When encountering a lawsuit, it was fine if it involved ordinary people, but when it involved nobles, it was truly a headache.

Like right now!

The man surnamed Chen's surface identity was just a prison warden, but he himself was a Ninth-Rank warrior and a member of the Mansion's clan, someone personally guaranteed by Marquis Pingjiang. This background was solid enough.

Not to mention Gu Yiyang, the legitimate son of the Gu family's main branch; even if he wasn't favored, the Gu family wouldn't just watch him get into a legal mess.

Although the Nanguo Mansion had declined, in this case, it was clearly the Nanguo Mansion that was the bird sticking its head out. They didn't know which rich and powerful noble they had hooked up with, willing to offend the Mansion and the Gu family just to fight this lawsuit.

He didn't even dare to think deeply about this matter.

Thinking deeply would inevitably involve the palace.

He quickly shook his head, shaking off unnecessary thoughts.

"Since you have no objections, then we shall perform the autopsy in court!" Magistrate Ge decisively suppressed the Nanguo Mansion and gave the Ministry of Justice some face. The Nanguo Mansion was hiding its head and showing its tail, which was not as bright and clear as the Mansion and the Gu family.

Most fundamentally, he didn't want to get involved in the Nanguo Mansion's mud pit.

Not allowing the Nanguo Mansion to refute, the yamen runners followed orders, and soon the corpse was carried into the main hall. The Shuntian Prefecture's coroner and medical official also came to cooperate under orders. Despite their dissatisfaction, facing the big brothers from the Heavenly Prison, they had to swallow their pride and endure it.

Who told the Heavenly Prison to have a higher status than the Shuntian Prefecture jail?

The Heavenly Prison held prisoners from all over the world, while the Shuntian Prefecture jail was only responsible for holding prisoners in the capital region. This was the biggest difference. Moreover, the reputation of the medical official Mu was clear to the medical officials of all the major jails in the capital, even if outsiders didn't know it.

Fortunately, it was winter, and the corpse was well-preserved, so the smell wasn't too strong and could be endured.

As soon as the corpse was carried out, the couple from the third branch of the Nanguo Mansion started crying, so heartbroken, the old sending off the young.

The medical official Mu and the Heavenly Prison coroner ignored the others and began to perform the autopsy dutifully!

The two came with a mission and didn't miss any details. Although they couldn't perform an autopsy by opening the abdomen, they could accurately infer the situation at the time of the incident based on the marks on the body surface.

"There are at least three types of force on the deceased's body. That is to say, he suffered strikes from at least three people. The time intervals were not far apart, but they can still be distinguished."

The Heavenly Prison coroner didn't even look at Chen Guanlou, completely immersed in his profession.

He faced Magistrate Ge. "My lord, please look: these two marks were caused by two different people. The injuries are very shallow, only damaging the skin and flesh, and it's impossible for them to have damaged the internal organs, and the times are similar. They should have been left during the brawl. Warden Chen, please lend me your hand."

Chen Guanlou extended his right hand.

The coroner compared his hand with the injuries on the deceased. "These few injuries, without surprise, were all left by Warden Chen. But none of them damaged the lungs or internal organs. The remaining injuries are the truly fatal ones, and the time is definitely later than the brawl. Preliminary estimation: at least ten hours later! Medical official Mu, am I wrong?"

The medical official Mu nodded. "The deceased died of internal organ rupture caused by a strike, and it should have been an immediate death. I heard that after the brawl, the deceased continued to drink and make merry in the brothel. Then he didn't die from the brothel brawl, but suffered another fatal strike after returning."

The preliminary autopsy had a conclusion.

The whole hall was in an uproar!

"Impossible!"

"My son was beaten to death by you!"

"My son kept calling out in pain after returning home, and then he couldn't make it."

"Nonsense! We couldn't have killed our own son and then framed you."

"Please, my lord, make the decision for us!"

"Silence!"

Magistrate Ge had a coffin face and was very unhappy!

He looked coldly at the Shuntian Prefecture's coroner and medical official. "What is your conclusion?"

The two were trembling with fear. "Reporting to my lord, we... we accept the autopsy conclusion of the Heavenly Prison's medical official Mu and the coroner!"

"Absurd! Why didn't you detect the time difference in the injuries before?"