Le monde des arts martiaux est un véritable cloaque

Chapitre 22

Yang Huan glanced at the charred corpse from afar and shouted, "How could a fire break out in the manor when everything was fine? Maybe someone got caught red-handed by that short-lived inspector and tried to kill him to frame Lord Lu?"

These words immediately startled everyone present. Prefect Lin only paused for a moment before remaining unmoved, while Supervisor Cao shouted, "Lord Yang, you are the magistrate of Qingmen County and have only been in Tongzhou for a few days. How can you speak so recklessly? Your two families are relatives, so it's not appropriate to protect each other like this."

Yang Huan glanced at him sideways and said, "I didn't point at you, why are you jumping out like that?"

The supervisor, Cao, was so angry that his entire body trembled with rage. He pointed at Yang Huan and roared, "You...you..."

Yang Huan spat and said, "What are you talking about? Maybe you were the one who set the fire in the dead of night!"

Supervisor Cao's expression changed. This obese man had actually leaped over and rushed over. Just as another argument was about to break out, someone suddenly said, "I've heard that Lord Yang is known as a righteous official in Qingmen County. He can even find clues and find the real culprit from a skeleton that has been dead for years. Since Lord Yang has this suspicion, he should produce evidence. Firstly, to clear Lord Lu's name, and secondly, so that we can all witness Lord Yang's extraordinary abilities."

Yang Huan looked in the direction of the voice and saw the speaker standing far behind the crowd. He hadn't noticed him before because he had been silent. Now, seeing him in a blue robe, hands behind his back, a faint smile playing on his lips, Yang Huan suddenly realized the man looked familiar. Upon closer inspection, he remembered—it was the man who had robbed him of his top-class room on the day they entered the city!

Chapter Thirty-Two

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look, and upon seeing the man in blue, smiles appeared on their faces. Prefect Lin stepped forward and greeted him with a smile, "When did Lord Xu arrive?"

The man smiled and said, "I drank a few cups of Lord Lu's birthday wine last night and went back to rest early. This morning, I heard that Lord Lu's residence had caught fire last night, so I was a little worried and rushed over. I didn't expect that all of you gentlemen had already arrived." As he spoke, he arrived in front of Magistrate Lu and whispered a few words of comfort.

Judge Lu looked ashen-faced, sighed, and nodded slightly as a sign of thanks.

Seeing that this man was addressed as Lord Xu and seemed to be familiar with all these people, yet was only dressed in ordinary clothes, Yang Huan glanced around, pulled Judge Lu aside, and lowered his voice to ask, "Who is this man?"

Lu Tongpan said weakly, "Third Master Xu, Xu Jinrong, your ancestral family is still from your Qingmen County..."

Yang Huan was startled and stared at Xu Sanye with a strange expression. Ignoring Lu Tongpan's crying face, he suddenly chuckled to himself.

"Nephew, what's wrong with you...?"

Judge Lu was somewhat puzzled.

Yang Huan waved his hand. He suddenly remembered the incident with Xu Dahu, where he had not only killed someone but also swindled a large sum of money from Xu's family. Although he had suffered a setback at the inn a few days ago, compared to that incident, this minor setback was insignificant. Seeing Xu Jinrong's imposing manner and the words he had just uttered, his competitive spirit was reignited. He was unwilling to admit defeat and strode over, raising his head and saying, "I think this fire is suspicious; there must be something fishy going on."

Cao Jiandang shook his head and sneered, "Lord Yang keeps saying it's suspicious, but he should at least provide some evidence to convince people. If this gets to the Emperor later, he can't just say it with this one statement, can he?"

"Go and summon the coroner from the prefectural government to examine the body."

As soon as Supervisor Cao finished speaking, Prefect Lin gave the same instruction to his attendant, who responded with a "yes" and hurriedly left.

Just then, everyone heard a woman's scream behind them. They all turned around and saw what appeared to be a woman's skirt swaying behind the screen in front of the hall. They assumed it was a female member of the Lu family and paid little attention to it.

The voice just now came from the maidservant beside Madam Lu. It turned out that Madam Lu had been so frightened that she hadn't slept all night. She was already terrified when she heard that the inspector had been burned to death. Now, hearing Cao Jian's words, she was both angry and frightened, and she fainted. Xu Shirong pinched her philtrum hard with her fingers, and she slowly woke up.

Seeing Madam Lu in this state, Xu Shirong disregarded any need for discretion and, along with Xiao Que and the maid, helped Madam Lu out from behind the screen and headed towards her own room.

Yang Huan, who had just been questioned by Supervisor Cao, was indignant and about to retort when he suddenly saw Xu Shirong emerge from behind the screen. He didn't care about anything else and rushed after her, muttering a complaint, "Didn't I tell you to stay in front? Why did you come over too?" Seeing that Xu Shirong ignored him and had already left the painting hall, he suddenly remembered something and grabbed her sleeve, saying, "Jiaoniang, that unlucky inspector burned to death here. If we don't find some excuse, I'm afraid Lord Lu's crime will be confirmed. You must think of a way quickly."

Seeing that Madam Lu had already been helped away by Xiao Que and her own maid, Xu Shirong stopped, glanced at him, and said indifferently, "I'm afraid you're trying to save face for yourself, aren't you?"

Yang Huan initially found it suspicious, but seeing that Magistrate Lu was terrified and pale, he thought that although the old man was about the same age as his own father, he treated him exceptionally well, better than ten biological fathers. So he thought of speaking up for him. Later, after being provoked by Xu Jinrong, he was only thinking about saving face for himself. Now that Xu Shirong had hit the nail on the head, he wasn't ashamed at all, and just lowered his voice and said, "Isn't the Lu family your relative? You should at least help them."

Xu Shirong thought for a moment before saying, "I think it's okay, but there are only two points that I need to explain to you first."

Yang Huan nodded hurriedly and said, "Tell me quickly, I'm listening."

"First, as for whether the observer was burned to death or how he died, I can only make a judgment based on my own experience. The Lu family is my relative, and I naturally hope that nothing bad has happened to them, but I cannot make up stories out of thin air."

Yang Huan was taken aback and scratched his head.

“Second,” Xu Shirong glanced in the direction the hall had passed and frowned, “After the coroner from the prefecture examines the body, no matter what his conclusion is, you must send everyone away for a while so I can go and investigate.”

Yang Huan was taken aback again, and scratched his head, saying, "Why...why is this?"

Xu Shirong snorted and said, "Didn't that fellow surnamed Xu just say that you are an upright official, famous for solving cases? What's the point of asking me to step in now? I might as well fulfill your reputation as an upright official. If I find anything unusual, I'll tell you, and you can show off in front of others."

Although Yang Huan was mocked, her words truly struck a chord with him. Firstly, he was somewhat reluctant for his wife to appear in public like that, and secondly, he was indeed concerned about his image. Being hit where it hurt, he wasn't angry at all; instead, he shamelessly chuckled. He then recalled how Xu Jinrong had kept staring at Jiao Niang at the inn last time, and how he had felt uneasy upon seeing her just now. Now, hearing her tone refer to Xu Jinrong as "that Xu fellow," he figured she didn't have a good impression of him either. Overjoyed, he had no reason to refuse and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

The coroner from the prefectural government office arrived quickly. He was an experienced man, and although the charred corpse was extremely gruesome, he did not flinch at all. He carefully examined it, and then examined the mouth, which was already unrecognizable, before he said with a serious expression, "It is indeed a case of being burned alive."

How do you know?

When the coroner saw that Prefect Lin was asking questions, he replied, "If a person is cremated after death, although their face is charred, their mouth and tongue will be exceptionally clean, without any soot. I just checked, and their mouth and tongue were also full of soot, which shows that they inhaled it when the fire started. Therefore, I deduce from this."

After the coroner finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement. Judge Lu had still held a sliver of hope that the coroner would say the person had died before the fire, so that at least the case could be reopened to investigate whether someone had committed the crime and then set the fire to cover it up. But hearing what he said, that last bit of hope in his heart was shattered. He was disheartened and could only lament his bad luck. He also blamed his wife for insisting on celebrating her fiftieth birthday, which had resulted in such a disaster.

Just as Prefect Lin was about to order the body to be carried away, Yang Huan suddenly spoke up to stop him, saying, "Wait. Since Lord Xu just asked me to examine it, it wouldn't be right not to. Let me examine it carefully, and if there are no doubts, then we can draw a conclusion." After saying that, he deliberately gave Xu Jinrong a look.

Xu Jinrong had only provoked him earlier, but now that he heard Yang respond to the provocation, he was taken aback. He then smiled and said, "If Lord Yang is willing, we are naturally delighted. We will wait and see."

Yang Huan coughed and said in a pretentious manner, "I have a peculiar habit when examining corpses: I must examine them by myself. If there are too many people around, I will be distracted. Please move outside and rest for a while. After I have finished my examination, please come back inside."

"That's strange. Why do we need to avoid people when we're conducting an inspection?" Cao Jiandang muttered under his breath.

Xu Jinrong glanced at Yang Huan, then smiled at Prefect Lin and said, "As long as it's for Lord Lu's good, avoiding Ying is fine. Lord Lin, don't you think so?"

Prefect Lin chuckled dryly, nodded, and said seriously, "Then you may all leave and wait outside the hall."

Since Prefect Lin had spoken in this way and had already started to walk out, the rest of the people followed him out.

While everyone was focused on listening to the coroner's explanation, Xu Shirong had quietly hidden back behind the screen. Now that everyone had left the main hall, she came out from behind.

She had her own reasons for asking Yang Huan to come forward. Tongzhou Prefecture was not like Qingmen County, a remote place where she could show her face without much trouble, and if word got out, she could simply blame it on Shi An. This was a prefecture, and if she were to examine the body without any discretion, not only would it be difficult to explain to others, but even to Madam Lu, let alone if word got back to Xu Jiaoniang's family in the capital. It would be even more shocking. That's why she asked Yang Huan to dismiss everyone before coming out to investigate.

Xu Shirong stepped over the pile of rubble and arrived at the charred corpse.

The corpse was severely burned; the head was burned down to half a skull, and the upper half of the skull had been shattered and splintered off. After searching for a while, a few fragments were found on the side.