Zhong Li sat inside the carriage and urged the driver, Old Ma, "Old Ma, please hurry."
Old Ma nodded, raised his whip, and struck the horse's flank.
Following her carriage were four or five constables from the Dali Temple.
Early that morning, the Dali Temple received a report: a naked female corpse had been discovered on a small path leading to An Ding County in the southern suburbs of Jin Cheng. The corpse was inside a carriage, along with several pungent, foul-smelling sea fish.
Zhong Li had set out from the Dali Temple as soon as she received the report. However, the Dali Temple was in the north of Jin Cheng, while the corpse was in the south. Coupled with the time of the report, she feared the scene might be disturbed, hence her constant urging of Old Ma.
Half an hour later, the carriage arrived at the small path in the southern suburbs of the city.
A crowd had already gathered around the carriage. Judging by their attire, Zhong Li deduced they were likely workers and the proprietor from a small teahouse and inn nearby.
"The Dali Temple is investigating, civilians, please make way."
A young constable standing behind her shouted.
Zhong Li glanced at him. The constable smiled and softened his tone, "Please, step aside. We are from the Dali Temple."
The proprietor and workers parted to create a path.
Zhong Li looked at the carriage. Seeing the disordered footprints around it and noticing some decorations missing from the carriage, she couldn't help but ask, "Did you all touch the scene?"
The proprietor, being somewhat knowledgeable about the law, shook his head vehemently. "My Lady, we truly did not."
"Then these things..." Zhong Li pointed to the inlaid agate grooves on the carriage. "Look at the scratches here, all fresh. There's even powder left from a sharp blade cutting through the agate. So, did someone tamper with it?"
The proprietor replied, "To answer the Lady, last night a pair of peddlers came to the inn. As soon as they arrived, they claimed it was haunted. I sent a worker to take a look. After the worker returned, frightened, and reported the situation, I ordered him to report it to the authorities. This morning, when the workers and I, driven by curiosity, came to investigate, I, knowing better, did not let them get too close. As for the missing items, they might have been taken by those peddlers." httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"So, where are they?" Zhong Li asked again.
"They were terribly frightened and are resting at my establishment now. Especially the shorter one; his eyes looked quite disturbed. They were screaming all night, almost tearing the roof off my house," the proprietor, a chatterbox, couldn't stop talking once he started.
Hearing this, Zhong Li had a rough idea. She said to a constable beside her, "Take one man, use my carriage, and take those two peddlers to the Wu family medical hall."
"Are they injured?" the young constable asked, confused.
Zhong Li replied, "They should not be injured, but rather mentally disturbed by fright. I've heard the Wu family medical hall understands 'Zhuyou' techniques, taught by the former dynasty's Madam Si. I have questions for them, but only if they are in a normal state."
"Alright!" the constable said, preparing to leave.
"Wait," Zhong Li called out to him. "Take good care of their belongings as well and send them back to the Dali Temple. They likely contain evidence."
"Yes!"
After watching the constable leave, Zhong Li took two pairs of homemade cloth shoe covers from a subordinate and put them on before approaching the carriage.
As the informant had said, the carriage was opulent. Even with the agate removed, its craftsmanship alone suggested the owner's extravagance.
"My Lady, they said the body is inside the carriage," a young constable informed her, walking up to Zhong Li.
Zhong Li nodded. First, she inspected the horse harness ropes, then examined the wood used to build the carriage, and the fishy water stains on the ground beneath, which were no longer seeping but beginning to dry.
She wiped her hand and brought it to her nose, smelling it. After a moment's thought, she lifted the carriage curtain and looked inside.
"Ugh!"
Before Zhong Li could clearly see the situation inside, she heard a retching sound.
She turned to see Hua Yao standing beside her.
"When did you arrive?" she asked.
Hua Yao took a piece of dried ginger from her pouch and put it in her mouth, saying, "I arrived at the Dali Temple early this morning. They said you had already left, so I rushed to catch up."
Zhong Li nodded, her gaze returning to the carriage interior.
As she had anticipated, the carriage was filled with fish, likely large sea fish like yellow croaker and pomfret, whose scent was quite strong. In the center of the fish lay a nearly naked female corpse.
Why "nearly naked"? Because most of the corpse's clothing had been torn and discarded onto the fish. The intact sleeve cuffs were still wrapped around her body.
"Li'er? So there's a dead body, but why put the body with stinking fish?" Hua Yao, finding the ginger unable to mask the smell, couldn't help but ask.
Zhong Li replied, "Since you call them stinking fish, it's naturally to cover up the smell of the corpse."
As she spoke, she recalled how a certain notorious figure in history had been treated after death, and felt that criminals' methods of concealing their crimes were all remarkably similar.
"Someone, bring a container and remove all these fish from the carriage," Hua Yao, unable to bear the smell any longer, instructed the few Dali Temple constables remaining.
The men heard her and prepared to act.
Zhong Li thought for a moment, then decided to start herself.
Before long, the fish were cleared from the carriage, leaving only the female corpse and a few fish pressed beneath her.
Zhong Li looked at the carriage, which was almost entirely soaked in the foul water, and muttered, "There's a bit too much water, which is unusual." Then, she stepped into the carriage to examine the corpse.
Hua Yao also followed her into the carriage. After all, a corpse was heavy, and moving it without damaging the scene or with only the strength of a woman would be difficult.
"Let's turn her over first," Zhong Li handed the woman's clothes, piled to the side, to a constable outside, instructing him to keep them safe, and then said to Hua Yao.
Hua Yao nodded, her gloved hand already on the corpse's shoulder.
Zhong Li gave the instruction. They both applied force together. As the female corpse was turned over, Hua Yao's gaze inadvertently fell upon the corpse's face. Her pupils contracted violently, and she was so startled that she sat down abruptly inside the carriage.
"Ah!"
Zhong Li, hearing the scream, looked up towards the corpse's head.
She saw the corpse's mouth agape, its face a bloody mess. One of its eyelids was gone, and the eyeball bulged unnaturally, looking as if it would pop out with the slightest pressure.
Zhong Li was also startled, her heart racing for a while before it subsided. She took a few breaths, walked over to Hua Yao, and helped her up, asking, "Are you alright?"
Hua Yao nodded, then looked at her newly donned clothes, now stained by the foul fish water. Her gaze returned to the corpse. "I'm sorry, Li'er. I didn't expect her to look like this when turned over."
"It's alright!" Zhong Li said, gently patting her shoulder. The two then prepared to lift the corpse from the carriage onto a stretcher outside.
"By the way, when I saw her back just now, she had a slim waist, a rounded hip, and skin like refined jade. I thought she was a peerless beauty, but unexpectedly... alas..." Hua Yao spoke as she worked.
Zhong Li raised her eyes and swept them over Hua Yao. "Yao'er, do not speak carelessly at a crime scene."