Coroner's Diary

Lu Youxin was startled by the words. "Are you saying someone came in here in the middle of the night?!"

Qin Guan remained crouched. "Or perhaps he went out during the night."

Lu Youxin was momentarily stunned. She exchanged glances with Mommas Deng and Huang, both of whom showed surprise in their eyes.

Qin Guan continued examining the boots carefully. "After he returned yesterday afternoon, did he go out again?"

Lu Youxin frowned and shook her head. "No, he didn't go out. Shortly after he was brought to Wutong Garden yesterday afternoon, he pretended to be injured on the ground. Later, Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law came over. When they couldn't send him away, he was brought back here. First, he cried with his parents for a while, then a physician was called to examine his injuries. After that, he never went out again."

Qin Guan frowned. "When did the people who came to see him in the evening leave?"

Lu Youxin thought for a moment. "He was brought to Wutong Garden around half past Shen hour. After making a scene for quite some time, he was sent back around You hour. People came to see him intermittently throughout the evening. His parents stayed very late and didn't leave until almost the middle of Hai hour..."

A sharp glint flashed in Qin Guan's eyes. "When he returned in the afternoon, the Earth Dragon in the room must have been lit. Since he never went out again, his boots couldn't have gotten any wetter. From You hour to the middle of Hai hour—a full two and a half hours—with the Earth Dragon burning continuously, given the heat level of the Earth Dragon in Handan Hall, the boots should have dried long ago."

As she spoke, Qin Guan held up the soles of the boots for everyone to see. They observed that indeed, a thin layer of ice spikes had formed on the soles, and the heels had frozen solid, clearly indicating they had been wet for a long time without drying before freezing.

In the current weather, even clothes washed and hung outside wouldn't dry; they would freeze into icy lumps even if the sun was out. Thus, they could only be dried slowly by placing them near a stove or in a room with a functioning Earth Dragon. The warmth from the Earth Dragon in this room had long since dissipated, leaving it as cold as an ice cellar. Lu Youxin looked at Lu Jingcheng's pale, lifeless face and couldn't help feeling a chill in her heart, though she didn't fully understand Qin Guan's reasoning.

"What do you mean, Guan'er? What would he go out for in the middle of the night? Can you really conclude he went out based on this?"

Qin Guan shook her head at the question. "It's just one piece of evidence."

Setting down the boots, Qin Guan stood up and went to examine the top of Lu Jingcheng's head. His hair was tied in a topknot, appearing quite neat. Using some effort, she turned Lu Jingcheng over and immediately frowned. There was a distinct bruise on the back of his neck, and the collar of his robe seemed slightly damp.

Frowning, Qin Guan began unbuttoning Lu Jingcheng's collar.

Seeing that Qin Guan was actually undressing Lu Jingcheng, Lu Youxin and the others looked somewhat uncomfortable. However, Qin Guan's hands moved deftly. When she opened the inner garment, she indeed found that the collar, especially the back of the neck, was somewhat damp, as if from heavy sweating. Yet, given Lu Jingcheng's condition, it was unlikely to be sweat.

Glancing at the robe hanging on the nearby screen, Qin Guan asked, "Does he have any other clothes?"

The blue robe was covered in mud stains and dirt—something a person like Lu Jingcheng would never wear again. After Qin Guan asked, Mommas Deng and Huang both looked blank.Qin Guan then said, "Please ask the maidservants who attended to him closely—they should know. It would be best to clarify how many sets of clothes Lu Jingcheng brought this time, their styles, and whether any are missing."

Huang Momo looked at Lu You Xin, who nodded. Huang Momo hurriedly stepped out.

The servants had been sent to other courtyards, and Huang Momo rushed over to inquire without even taking an umbrella.

The room fell silent again. This time, Qin Guan not only unfastened Lu Jingcheng's collar but began to remove his entire garment. Soon, Lu Jingcheng's chest and abdomen were exposed. Lu You Xin frowned, her expression troubled, her lips twitching as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Fuling, watching from the side, slowly approached Lu You Xin and whispered, "Madam, to our princess consort, this corpse is merely flesh and blood, no different from pork."

Lu You Xin turned her sharp gaze toward Fuling, startling her so much that she shrank back. Fuling quickly curtsied and retreated to her original spot. Lu You Xin snorted, "Why would I need your explanation?"

Meanwhile, Qin Guan's frown deepened the more she examined. After inspecting the clothing and boots, she needed to determine the cause of Lu Jingcheng's death. Yet, there were no external injuries on his body, and for a moment, she couldn't identify the fatal cause. She checked his chest, abdomen, shoulders, and back, finding nothing unusual, then meticulously examined the top of his head. Removing his hairpin, she carefully felt his scalp but still found nothing. She proceeded to inspect his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

When she pried open Lu Jingcheng's eyelids, Qin Guan's eyes narrowed slightly. There were a few tiny bleeding spots on his corneas.

He had been dead for a day, and his corneas had begun to take on a grayish, dissolving hue. Even so, traces of blood were still visible. Qin Guan couldn't immediately determine whether the bleeding spots had appeared alongside natural blood vessels or at the time of death.

Puzzled, she moved on to examine his mouth and nose. There, she noticed something unusual: scattered ice spikes, like grains of sand, in Lu Jingcheng's nasal passages. Checking his ear canals revealed an even more surprising discovery—they too contained scattered ice spikes. Qin Guan was taken aback. Such signs on a corpse could indeed suggest death by freezing.

Qin Guan remained silent, leaving only the howling wind outside the window to fill the room. A cold draft slipped through the half-open door, causing the lamp in the attendant's hand to flicker and the shadows of those in the room to sway eerily, like ghostly apparitions. Lu You Xin couldn't help but ask, "Guan'er, what have you found?"

Qin Guan straightened up. "To determine the exact cause of his death, an autopsy is necessary."

Lu You Xin's heart skipped a beat. "What? An autopsy?! You want to dissect him?"

Hearing this and recalling Fuling's earlier comparison to pork, Lu You Xin felt a surge of nausea rise in her stomach, nearly causing her to retch.

Seeing Lu You Xin's expression, Qin Guan understood her thoughts and was about to reassure her when Huang Momo hurried back into the room, announcing, "Princess Consort, I've inquired thoroughly. They said the fourth young master brought six sets of clothes this time, with outer robes and inner garments all matched in sets. They are currently stored in the tall cabinet in his room."Hearing this, Qin Guan looked toward a corner of the room and indeed spotted two vermilion-lacquered cabinets. She then said, "Could you please check if there are still five sets of clothing inside, Momma?"

Huang Momo nodded and walked over to the cabinets. Opening the door, she inspected them and soon turned back with a puzzled expression. "Princess Consort, there are only four sets of clothes left!" She glanced around the room, which was quite limited in space, with only one set of clothes hanging on the screen. "How strange, one set is missing! That servant boy was very clear, saying the other sets were all in the cabinet..."

Qin Guan narrowed her eyes. "It seems my guess is not far off. The clothes were stored in the cabinet but disappeared—he must have taken them to wear himself."

Lu You Xin frowned. "If he took them to wear, why didn’t the servant boy by his side know about it?"

"Because he went out in the middle of the night. The set he wore during the day was already soiled, so he changed into a new one before going out at night."

Lu You Xin asked again, "Then why can’t we find it now? Even if he went out, he wouldn’t have just discarded the clothes outside, would he?"

Qin Guan looked at Lu Jingcheng’s pale, ashen face. "It’s not that he left the clothes outside, but that someone removed his outer robe."

Lu You Xin frowned, still confused. Qin Guan explained plainly, "There must be a reason he went out in the middle of the night. His boots were wet, but his clothes are missing—it’s highly likely that someone took the clothes away."

Lu You Xin glanced back at the door, where the broken latch Qin Guan had found earlier still lay.

Lu You Xin then said, "But when he was discovered this morning, the door was locked from the inside!"

Qin Guan nodded. "This inference isn’t absolute, so I’d like to perform a corpse examination to confirm."

Lu You Xin’s expression shifted again. Not only was it unimaginable for a delicate and beautiful young girl like Qin Guan to perform a corpse examination, but Lu Jingcheng was also the only son of the second branch. To die under unclear circumstances was one thing, but to damage his body further?

Without even asking, Lu You Xin knew her second brother and sister-in-law would never agree.

"This... but his parents would likely refuse."

Qin Guan showed no surprise at this. After a moment’s thought, she nodded. "I understand. In that case, I’ll hold off on the examination for now."

Turning back to Lu Jingcheng’s body, Qin Guan added, "I may need to remove all his clothing for inspection. If you find this inappropriate, Aunt, you may wait in the Warm Chamber."

Lu You Xin’s mouth fell open, and for a long moment, she couldn’t speak. Qin Guan had already undone the collar of Lu Jingcheng’s robe, leaving his chest and abdomen exposed in an undignified state. From the sound of it, Qin Guan intended to remove his trousers as well!

Nearby, Deng and Huang exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with astonishment.

After a moment’s consideration, Lu You Xin straightened her back. "I don’t see any issue with it. Do what you must." She then turned to the two lamp-holding servants. "Give the lamps to them and step outside."

The servants felt as if they had been granted a reprieve and quickly handed the lamps to Fuling before retreating.

Qin Guan nodded. "Very well. In that case, could you please fetch some rice wine and white vinegar for me, Huang Momo?"

Though puzzled, Huang Momo had noticed that Qin Guan seemed like a different person since entering the room. She was now completely intimidated by her and hurried off to comply.

Qin Guan instructed Bai Feng, "Help me remove his clothes."Bai Feng had previously witnessed Qin Guan's corpse examinations and promptly assisted with practiced efficiency. Once all the garments were removed, Lu Jingcheng's body lay completely exposed.

Qin Guan retrieved the deerskin gauntlets from Fuling and accepted the knife handed to her, then began her meticulous examination inch by inch—eyes, ears, mouth, nose, limbs, nails, even inspecting Lu Jingcheng’s genital area. Lu You Xin, standing nearby, eventually found it unbearable and slightly turned away. Deng Momo, having lived over half a century, felt her scalp prickle at the sight. Soon after, Huang Momo entered the room carrying rice wine and white vinegar.

Taking the rice wine, Qin Guan carefully applied it to Lu Jingcheng’s shoulders and back, where some abrasions were already visible. As the rice wine soaked in, new bruises gradually emerged. Qin Guan methodically identified each one, and by the time she completed the external examination, half an hour had passed.

Despite the room being cold enough to freeze water, Qin Guan had developed a light sweat on her forehead during this time. When she straightened her back, she instinctively paused, clearly suffering from soreness. Lu You Xin watched from the side, her expression shifting from uneasy suspicion to astonishment, then to admiration, and finally settling into heartfelt concern.

Ordinary young ladies struggled to focus even on refined activities like reading and calligraphy, yet Qin Guan devoted herself wholeheartedly to the Path of corpse examination. Though Qin Guan had finished, Lu You Xin, filled with pity for her, refrained from immediately asking questions.

After a brief rest, Qin Guan spoke gravely, "The cadaveric spots are very faint, mainly distributed on the back and buttocks. There are also thawing red marks on the body surface from frostbite, yet these frostbite injuries are also quite mild. This indicates that for a period after death, the deceased was in extremely cold weather; otherwise, the settling of cadaveric spots wouldn’t have been so slow. Fine ice spikes were found in the deceased’s mouth, nose, ear canals, and under the fingernails. These ice spikes aren’t formed from water but are granular like salt—likely snow particles. I infer that the deceased died in snowy terrain or was dragged through snow after death."

"Rigor mortis has set in. Combined with the degree of cadaveric spots and corneal clouding, the time of death was around Yin hour last night. The servant discovered him past Chen hour this morning, leaving a gap of roughly over two hours. During this time, the murderer moved the body indoors, cut off the Earth Dragon heating, removed the deceased’s outer garments, and staged the room to appear as if it had been bolted from the inside, leading everyone to believe he froze to death overnight."

Qin Guan spoke slowly, word by word, her tone still carrying that awe-inspiring chill. Her deductions were extraordinary, yet no one present dared to question or refute them—even Lu You Xin no longer wished to doubt. She had suddenly come to trust Qin Guan’s judgment entirely.

"As for the cause of death, the preliminary inference is suffocation."

After a pause, Qin Guan added another point. In ordinary investigations, time and cause of death were crucial, but without an autopsy, she couldn’t be entirely certain.

Lu You Xin swallowed with difficulty, "Suffocation?"

Qin Guan nodded, "Similar to being smothered, strangled, or hanging—all lead to suffocation. Since there are no obvious ligature marks on the body, I lean toward him having been smothered to death."Lu Youxin's heart trembled. She had been more inclined to believe Lu Jingcheng died of freezing—that would have made the case straightforward, requiring only the punishment of the servant who tended the Earth Dragon.

It wasn't that she valued human life lightly, but after all these years, she had learned to weigh pros and cons in all matters.

With the Lu family currently in the spotlight, a murder case would undoubtedly stir up turmoil and complications.

Lu Youxin pressed her lips together. "Are you... absolutely certain it wasn't freezing?"

Qin Guan shook her head. "No. Those who truly freeze to death mostly curl up, with frostbite marks particularly evident. Ordinary frostbite typically involves redness, swelling, and sores, but fatal hypothermia often produces blister-like wounds. Some victims even shed their clothing. An autopsy would reveal more internal organ changes as well. While his body surface shows frostbite traces and his complexion is unusually pale, this is because he was exposed to extreme cold immediately after death—when body temperature hadn't fully dropped and blood still flowed slowly, causing frostbite. The same principle applies to the Cadaveric Spots. In a warm room, postmortem blood circulation remains relatively rapid, accelerating lividity formation and producing purplish-red discoloration. His case is different."

Lu Youxin didn't fully comprehend, but her heartbeat quickened. "But... who would want him dead? His parents made quite a scene today, but I didn't take it seriously. That couple always blames others whenever they face difficulties. I truly thought... it was an accident... Never imagined... Though the boy wasn't entirely upright in his daily conduct, he shouldn't have incurred personal grudges. There are only so many people in this estate—it couldn't have been an outsider."

"It wasn't an outsider. The killer knows this courtyard intimately—otherwise, they couldn't have returned him unnoticed and staged the room as a locked chamber. To identify the murderer, we must first determine why he went out and where he went."

Qin Guan's calm tone soothed Lu Youxin's chaotic thoughts. Though experienced in many trials, this was her first murder case—with the killer lurking among them. The realization sent chills down her spine.