The Ruthless Female Forensic Doctor's Husband-Destroying Story

Chapter 58

Xu Shirong thanked him and then said, "Your Majesty, I have dared to ask to see the remains of Lady Wanrong. I beg Your Majesty to grant me permission and pardon my offense."

These words caused an uproar, especially among Consort Yang, who stood frozen in shock. Even Emperor Renzong was quite surprised, giving her a careful look before asking, "What do you intend to do?"

Xu Shirong said, "Your Majesty, Lady Wanrong has passed away. I just heard a lot of arguments, so I wanted to check her body. Perhaps I can find something to clear up my doubts."

Emperor Renzong was astonished. He saw that her expression was solemn and she did not seem to be joking. He also guessed that she would not dare to joke like that. He glanced at Consort Yang beside him, and a thought struck him. He nodded and said, "I pardon your offense."

Xu Shirong kowtowed in thanks, then stood up. As if noticing the surprised and uneasy gaze from Consort Yang behind her, she turned her head and nodded slightly to her before walking towards the pond under the watchful eyes of everyone.

When Xu Shirong arrived at the pool, he ordered the eunuchs to step back and squatted down next to the corpse. He reached out and gently lifted the white cloth from the head. As soon as he got close, he could smell a faint stench of decay.

The woman's wet hair was tangled with a few strands of water plants. Her face was pale and slightly swollen from being submerged in water. Although her features were still discernible, none of her former beauty could be found. Her eyelids and lips were swollen, and upon closer inspection, her mouth and nose showed signs of slight drooping.

Xu Shirong's heart stirred. He reached out and pressed against the female corpse's jawbone, trying to open her mouth. It felt cold and slippery to the touch, as if coated with oil. He tried twice before he could pry it open. He saw that the mouth was clean and there was no mud or sand attached. He already had a certain understanding in his heart. He continued to pull back the white cloth and looked down. He saw that the skin on her palms had been soaked and swollen, and was white and wrinkled. He then lifted her right hand and turned it over. The back of her hand was the same. He was already certain that she had fallen into the water about two or three days ago.

Xu Shirong gently lowered one hand and noticed that all five fingernails were coated with nail polish, and the other four were long and sharp, except for the middle fingernail, which was broken off at the root. Judging from the fracture mark, it wasn't carefully twisted off, but rather a rough break caused by external force. Looking at the other hand, it was the same, with two nails broken off. After thinking for a moment, she raised the other hand again and carefully examined the remaining nail folds, and sure enough, she saw tiny, swollen foreign objects remaining.

Xu Shirong put down the woman's hand and stood up to say to Emperor Renzong, "Your Majesty, I have just taken a look and made some discoveries. I wish to examine the parts of Lady Wanrong's clothing that were covered. Please grant me permission."

Emperor Renzong had just witnessed her examining the corpse with practiced skill and without any fear, which surprised and impressed him. Hearing her say this now, he naturally approved it.

Xu Shirong beckoned two eunuchs over. One of them grabbed a corner of the white cloth, spreading it out to form a wall. He then ordered the two eunuchs to also turn their backs to the corpse. Only then did he loosen the corpse's collar and examine it. There were no wounds on the body. He then forcefully turned the corpse over and removed the clothing. His gaze immediately settled on the corpse's shoulders, back, buttocks, and calves, and he frowned in thought.

Xu Shirong gradually understood. After dressing the floating corpse properly, he ordered the two eunuchs to remove the cloth wall, took it himself, covered the corpse again, stood up, and met the many eyes that were staring intently at him. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt a tightness and nausea in his chest and almost couldn't stand up.

Seeing that her face suddenly turned pale and she seemed to sway slightly, Consort Yang hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Are you feeling unwell? We should quickly call the imperial physician to take a look."

Xu Shirong waved her hand and smiled, "Perhaps it was because I squatted for too long and then suddenly stood up, causing a temporary loss of blood circulation. I'm fine now, thank you, Your Highness." After saying that, she looked at everyone and asked, "Is there any place in the Imperial Garden where the ground is paved with pebbles?"

Her question caught everyone off guard, and they were all stunned for a moment. But soon, one of the concubines said, "Most of the paths in the garden are paved with bluestone, and there are some pebbles as well. However, there is only one place, at the rockery in the northeast corner, that is uneven and not often used by people..."

Emperor Renzong could no longer contain himself and interrupted the concubine, staring at Consort Xu and asking, "What exactly have you discovered?"

Xu Shirong said, "If my guess is correct, Lady Wanrong did not drown, nor is this the place where her soul departed. Someone must have harmed her first before throwing her body into the pool."

Chapter 72

Everyone was shocked. After a brief silence, a buzzing sound suddenly arose. Emperor Renzong made a gesture, and everyone fell silent again, all looking at Xu Shirong.

"You just asked about the place with the pebbles. Could it be that that's where she met her end?"

Emperor Renzong stared intently at Xu Shirong, frowning as he asked.

Xu Shirong said solemnly, "We need to find evidence there before we can determine whether it is the place where we died. We'll know once we go and check it out."

Emperor Renzong said nothing more and headed towards the northeast corner of the garden. The Empress followed, and Consort Xu followed behind. After a few steps, Consort Yang quickly caught up and whispered, "Sister-in-law, you..."

Xu Shirong turned her head and saw that she was looking at her with a strange expression, as if she was worried and somewhat incredulous. She didn't say anything, but just nodded slightly to her. Before Consort Yang could react, she saw that she had already continued to move forward. She was stunned. She felt that she looked so confident, and even the anxiety she had just felt suddenly faded.

The Imperial Garden wasn't very large. We quickly arrived at the northeast corner the concubine had mentioned. Layers of artificial hills and winding paths led to secluded spots, with lush vegetation along the sides. The path was indeed different from the one we had just walked on; it was paved with countless pebbles. Perhaps because few people usually visited this place, the palace servants hadn't bothered to sweep or clean it, leaving only a few bits of grass and mud on the path.

Emperor Renzong stopped and turned to look at Consort Xu. Consort Xu said, "Please wait here for a moment, Your Majesty and the ladies." As she spoke, she stepped forward, the embroidered shoes with soft soles that felt slightly uncomfortable underfoot.

The cobblestone path wasn't long, winding its way along the artificial hill for a short stretch before ending at a high wall. Xu Shirong walked slowly along the path, carefully examining every inch of it, even rummaging through the roadside bushes, but found nothing.

The group of people watching at the intersection were both puzzled and impatient, and they couldn't help but whisper among themselves, which gradually grew louder.

Xu Shirong ignored them, her eyes continuing to search the road. As she rounded a bend beside a massive artificial rock towering above a person, her eyes suddenly lit up. She crouched down and carefully picked up a piece of nail stained with red nail polish from the gap between the rock and the road. She quickly found another piece in the nearby grass. After searching again, she couldn't find the third piece. But that was enough. Holding the nail fragments in her palm, ignoring the astonishment on everyone's faces, she hurriedly returned to where the body had been lying. She lifted the cloth covering it and pieced the nail fragments back together according to their shape and size, matching them perfectly to the missing fingernails of the floating corpse—one for each middle finger, sewn together flawlessly.

Those who had returned earlier were dumbfounded. Emperor Renzong couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Lady Xu, how did you know there would be broken armor on that pebble ground? And what evidence did you use to determine that Li Wanrong did not die from drowning?"

Xu Shirong stood up and met Emperor Renzong's gaze, saying, "Your Majesty, I just opened Li Wanrong's mouth and found it clean, without any mud or duckweed attached. Therefore, I can roughly conclude that Lady Li did not drown. Ordinary drowning victims, struggling in the water, would inevitably inhale mud and foreign objects from the water into their mouths and noses. Although there was nothing abnormal in her throat, I noticed her mouth and nose were slightly crooked, indicating she was suffocated by having her mouth and nose forcefully covered. As for my thought of the pebble-like surface, the reason is actually quite simple. When a person dies and is placed in a container, the soft, protruding parts of the body, such as the shoulders, back, lower back, and calves, will flatten due to prolonged contact with the hard surface lining the body after death, as the skin and flesh loosen. However, if these parts come into contact with a hard surface with markings, the body will..." Indentations corresponding to the hard surface will form on the skin. If the body is placed on a straw mat, the texture of the mat will be imprinted. Once these indentations are formed, they often do not disappear even if the body's position is changed, and will only fade when the body begins to decompose. I just unbuttoned her clothes at the back and saw that her shoulders, back, lower back, and calves were uneven, with shallow, round indentations all over the surface. Even though they had faded somewhat due to swelling after being submerged in water for two days, they were still discernible. From this, I infer that Li Wanrong must have been dead before being dumped here, and had been lying supine on a pebble-paved surface for quite some time. Because it was getting warmer in spring, her clothes were not thick, which is why the indentations of the pebbles beneath her were left.”

As she spoke, she referred to herself as "I" instead of "the common woman," without realizing it herself or anyone else. After she finished explaining, everyone was astonished, their eyes darting back and forth between Li Wanrong's corpse on the ground and her, and no one uttered a word.

Emperor Renzong was also hearing such remarks for the first time. He was both intrigued and curious. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "In your opinion, who exactly killed Li Wanrong?"

Xu Shirong's gaze swept over the faces of the many concubines behind him, and she quickly said, "This matter is of great importance. I really cannot make a hasty judgment. Please dismiss everyone, Your Majesty. I will report to Your Majesty alone, and then Your Majesty will consider and decide."

As soon as she spoke, everyone behind Emperor Renzong, from Empress Guo down to the concubines, showed strange expressions, seemingly somewhat displeased. Without a second thought, Emperor Renzong immediately ordered everyone behind him to leave. Although extremely unwilling, they could not disobey, and could only leave in twos and threes, standing at a distance, leaving only the eunuch who had accompanied Emperor Renzong.

"Madam Xu, can we finally speak frankly now?"

Emperor Renzong looked at Xu Shirong and asked.

Xu Shirong said solemnly, "Based on my deduction, Lady Wanrong was likely suffocated three days ago by someone who forcefully covered her mouth and nose behind that artificial hill. Lady Wanrong fought back, her fingernails scratching the assailant's face and breaking three nails. The two broken nails we just found still have some flesh remaining on them, which is proof. Unfortunately, she couldn't overcome the assailant's strength and suffocated to death. After seeing her dead, the murderer dragged her to a secluded place and only moved her body to the pond to sink at night. Judging from the murderer's premeditation, he must have been a meticulous person. However, I noticed that there were no signs of binding on the body's hands and feet, which suggests that the murderer intended to have Lady Wanrong's body discovered, which is why he didn't tie stones to her limbs to weigh her down."

Emperor Renzong frowned and said, "So this means that the murderer should be a eunuch in the inner palace, and there should be scratch marks on his face and neck?"

Xu Shirong nodded and said, "Your Majesty is absolutely right. No matter how strong an ordinary woman is, she generally cannot cover the mouth and nose of the other person and suffocate them. It must be a man. How could an ordinary man enter the royal inner palace, become acquainted with Lady Wanrong, and lure her to such a secluded place? I see that the remaining flesh under the broken nail is blackish-purple, which means that it has already bled. No matter how good the medicine is applied, it will not heal in just a few days. All the eunuchs in the harem are registered and their names are recorded. If Your Majesty wants to find the real culprit, you only need to check the register one by one."

Emperor Renzong lowered his brows slightly, as if deep in thought, a hint of gloom settling over his face.

Xu Shirong understood this as well. Such incidents in the harem were commonplace, as had always been the case throughout history. Even if the murderer were found, the mastermind behind it was likely the real culprit. However, the harem was a treacherous place, and matters within the royal court could not be brought into the open. If Consort Yang hadn't been targeted today, she would never have personally intervened. This was why she had dismissed everyone and requested a private audience with the Emperor. Whether to investigate or not, whether to pursue the matter or not, was entirely up to the Emperor's will.

Emperor Renzong raised his eyes, his face no longer clouded with gloom, but instead showing a hint of curiosity. He looked directly at Xu Shirong and asked, "Madam Xu, you are the daughter of a Hanlin scholar. How do you know about the judgments and deductions of today's cases? Isn't that strange?"

Xu Shirong smiled slightly and said, "Since childhood, I have enjoyed reading various books and have read about this kind of principle. When I accompanied my husband to his post in Qingmen, there was a coroner in the county who was proficient in this field, and I learned a little bit from him. What happened today was truly my overstepping my bounds. However, Consort Yang has always treated me kindly, and I naturally felt a desire to repay her. Your Majesty is benevolent and I believe you will forgive my selfish intentions."

Emperor Renzong believed him without a doubt and sighed, “What a selfish motive! You say you have such a smattering of knowledge, how much more so must a coroner be? How can such a talent be buried in a small Qingmen County and confined to the position of coroner? He must be summoned to the Dali Temple in the capital to fully display his abilities.”

Xu Shirong smiled but remained silent. Although she was using Shi An as a shield again, in the past six months, she had seen that Shi An was indeed intelligent and eager to learn. Whenever she had free time, she would write down all the forensic investigation methods she could think of and send them to him. Shi An treasured them and studied them diligently. With his intelligence, even if he were to be promoted to a position in the Dali Temple, he would likely be able to handle things independently.

Emperor Renzong beckoned the eunuch over, whispered a few instructions in his ear, and the eunuch nodded and left. Emperor Renzong then smiled and said, "The Consort was frightened just now. I see that she is very close to you. Stay in the palace for one more night to talk with her and calm her down. You can leave the palace tomorrow. I will have someone tell you to grant me permission."

Xu Shirong had no choice but to bow and express her gratitude. Emperor Renzong grunted in acknowledgment, glanced at her carefully again, and then turned and left. A moment later, several eunuchs came and carried Li Wanrong's body away, saying that the Emperor had posthumously granted her the title of Taiyi and ordered a grand burial.

Xu Shirong watched as a few strands of black hair swayed in mid-air beneath the white cloth, quickly disappearing from sight. She couldn't help but sigh in her heart. What about Wanrong and Taiyi? Even if they won the throne of the empress, so what?