The Delicate Lady Coroner

The incident at Xiangguo Temple did not cause any waves in the capital. At dawn, Wu Xiang took all the free staff in the office out of the capital and went straight to the bank of the Luohe River and the small town under the mountain of Xiangguo Temple.

Bo Ruo Youruo got up as usual and followed Cheng Yunzhi to watch the dowry list for the whole morning, and then couldn't put down the case, so he went out to the office. At this moment, only Hu Changqing and a few officials were left in the office. file.

She couldn't run around and investigate like the yacha, if Wu Xiang rushed out this time, at least she might be able to find clues by looking up the dossier.

Hu Changqing is now reinstated. He has worked harder than before. As soon as Bo Ruoyou entered the warehouse, he pointed out a few more cases. "There are three more cases here. I think they are very similar, but they are all five or six years ago. At that time, the work of the Yamen was not me, and I cannot be sure of the situation at that time."

Bo Ruoyou took the file and looked at it, and quickly frowned. Hu Changqing was the author. Compared with the official, looking at the testimonials can naturally make a more accurate judgment. These three cases occurred in Jian and 26 years, respectively. It was built for twenty-four years, and the last one was built for twenty years.

The three cases were all lost at first, and they all occurred in late autumn and winter. The three missing boys were between five and seven years old. The first two were born on the bank of Luohe River, and the third was born in Weiyang Lake. In the third case, three days after the child was lost, the body was found in Weiyang Lake. It was the twelfth lunar month when Weiyang Lake was frozen, and the child eventually drowned after stepping on the ice and drowning in the lake.

Compared with the Jianhe 17-year dossier, the 20-year old Jianhe dossier records are more detailed. Even if this is a case ten years ago, Bo Ruoyou found a suspicious point just by looking at the examination files.

"The child was drowned in the ice lake. The weather was freezing and the lake was icy, so the body was pale and bloodless. This seems to be nothing wrong. But here is the record that the child also has no blood on his face, and there is nothing in his mouth and nose. Abnormal, this is not right—"

After Bo Ruoyou finished speaking, Hu Changqing's eyes moved slightly: "Because the drowning person is in the water, the water is lower than the temperature of the human body, so the corpse spots are mostly pale, but it does not mean that there will be no corpse spots and drowning. The head is heavier, the head and face down, the face should be bruised, at least there should be some scars, but in ice water, the corpse spots will not dissipate so fast, as for the mouth and nose, it should be Some drowning and foaming are right—"

Bo Ruoyou nodded, "That's right, but this child is pale, scars on the corpse is almost invisible, and there are no major traumatic wounds, and the corpse is caused by the blood deposition of the deceased, so... at least it means that the child has lost blood. excessive."

Hu Changqing thought for a while, "Stepping on the broken ice and falling into the lake, if you lose too much blood in the lake, the nearby broken ice will definitely be contaminated, and you will definitely find when you salvage the corpse."

Bo Ruoyou grasped the knuckles of the dossier and closed it, "I don't know if I can find this family."

She turned back again, and then frowned: "Ping Ning Fang? I remember that this folk building was demolished a few years ago."

The folk square was demolished, and the family must have moved too, so it is difficult to find family members.

At this time, Hu Changqing thought of something and said, "You don’t need to find this family. There is an old government who has been in Yamen for many years. I recognize this person. This person was still a young man more than ten years ago. When I went to the government office two years ago, he Almost forty years old, I was injured and lame at that time, so I left the yamen and went home to provide for the old. Those yamen almost all retreated before I came. This was the only one who worked with me for a few days. According to the time he entered the yamen, he should have handled the case."

Bo Ruoyou's eyes suddenly brightened, "Do you know where you live? These cases have been old for a long time, and if you can really find the old officials of the year, that would be great."

Hu Changqing nodded, "I know! Just south of the capital, I visited him last year. I haven't been there for a long time, so I shouldn't move."

Bo Ruoyou glanced at the sky and saw the sun slanting westward, but it was still early in the evening, so he looked certain, "Then let's go!"

At this time, there were only some literary officials available in the Yamen. Bo Ruoyou thought that this trip was to meet the old office, there was no danger, so he made a decisive decision. Hu Changqing saw her doing this, and became angry, and soon followed her out. Yamen.

Hu Changqing walked on horseback, walking on the road, Bo Ruoyou couldn't help but lift the curtain and said: "This old yaman has been in the yamen for many years. He wants to know most of the cases?"

Hu Changqing smiled wryly when he heard the words, "The yamen's government officials change quickly. He has been in the yamen for a long time, but he also does other errands. I am not sure if he remembers this case. The girl should not be too hopeful. "

Hu Changqing didn't dare to speak too much, and Bo Ruoyou didn't know it, so he naturally responded.

The carriage came all the way to the south of the city, and although there was sun in the sky, the cold wind was still biting. When the carriage stopped, Bo Ruoyou's hands and feet were frozen cold. She got out of the carriage and rubbed her hands. A simple courtyard.

Hu Changqing stepped forward and knocked on the door, and soon there was a sound of footsteps in the park.

"Who--"

Accompanied by an old voice, the courtyard door was opened, and a wrinkled bronze face appeared inside the door.

Hu Changqing stepped forward and said, "Uncle Zhao, it's me."

Zhao He didn’t expect that it was Hu Changqing who came. After a moment of bliss, he saw Bo Ruoyou again and was a little puzzled. Hu Changqing hurriedly said: "Uncle Zhao, this is the girl who helped by the Yamen. We are here today for An old case."

Zhao Heying and Zhao Heying were admitted to the hospital, and then into the upper room to take a seat. They were a little embarrassed when they came to tea, "You must not dislike it when you take a sip of crude tea."

Zhao He's left leg was really inconvenient, he limped when he walked, and although he hadn't been away from the yamen for a few years, his figure was already quite shaky, judging from the layout of his home, he would be fed and clothed.

After a few words of greeting, Bo Ruoyou entered the topic. When he heard the question about the case ten years ago, Zhao He was embarrassed. He carefully recalled that Hu Changqing couldn’t help saying: "Uncle Zhao, I remember it was Jianhe Shi The Yamen for seven years just don’t know if Uncle Zhao handled the case at the time."

Zhao He heard the words: "Every year, there are a lot of children lost in the capital. Half of them are really lost and can be found back. The other half have an accident. Other children are afraid of being abducted by kidnappers. Since then, there has been no news. You ask like this, I really can't remember..."

Both Bo Ruoyou and Hu Changqing were a little disappointed. She couldn't help but said, "Please think about it. Although there are many children who have accidents every year, there should be much fewer children drowning in the lake in winter than in summer. The child's surname is Chang. , Lived in the former Pingningfang, just south of the West Market..."

What Bo Ruoyou's words reminded Zhao He, his eyes lit up and said: "It's the downtown area not far from Weiyang Lake?"

Bo Ruoyou nodded immediately, and Zhao He said, "I think of it a little bit. The place in Pingningfang was close to Weiyang Lake. The family's child was lost. The government office went to Weiyang Lake to look for it. It was not that the child could not go to the lake to play by himself, so the government changed directions, but unexpectedly three days later, the child was found in the lake, but the person was gone. The child was the only child in the family. At that time, the family Funerals were organized for the children, and spirit flags were set up on the shore of Weiyang Lake, which made a lot of noise."

Bo Ruoyou hurriedly asked: "Can you think of other doubts in this case?"

Although there is a simple autopsy record in the file, it was finally determined as an accident, and there was no more detailed account. Zhao He thought about it for a moment, and suddenly his pupils dimmed. He was so pale, there were no injuries on his body, at most there were some bruises and cuts, which was scary to see, and some people said that the child was killed by a water ghost."

Bo Ruoyou straightened his back and leaned forward slightly, "Bruise? Where are the bruises?"

This stumped Zhao He, he thought for a long time with a bitter face, and finally said: "I can't remember this..."

Bo Ruoyou knew that after many years, it was indeed difficult to remember the details, and said: "In the following years, do you still remember any similar cases of accidental deaths of children? For example, they all happened in winter, and they were all in lively places. Lost and dead children are also very young."

"Children died unexpectedly and came to report to officials...This kind of case is not a lot of cases. Every year, the government will receive so many cases." Zhao He squinted his eyes and thought for a moment. "Similar to this Luohu case. In the following years, I can’t remember for a while, some cases were not handled by me. However, in the first year I entered the yamen, there was a case similar to this one."

Both Bo Ruoyou and Hu Changqing listened attentively. Zhao He said, "There is also a child gone. The child is heard to be only four years old, and he is still the little son of a big official. He is on the bank of the Luo River outside the city. They were a pair of sisters at first. My brother was missing, and everyone in the family thought that both children were abducted by the kidnappers, but I didn't expect my sister to show up by herself the next day, but my brother didn't come back."

Zhao He shook his head and sighed a little. "That sister was so frightened that she couldn't say a word, and she was always talking nonsense as if she had been upper body by a water ghost. The family asked her brother where she went, but they couldn't tell. Seven or eight days later, the younger brother’s body was found outside the city. The younger brother’s body was soaked in the Luo River in winter and was eventually sentenced to death by falling into the river.”

Bo Ruoyou twitched his eyebrows, "Is it falling into the river again?"

Zhao He sighed, "Yes, but it's two miles away from the place where the two brothers and sisters disappeared. There are dark rocks in that section of the river. It stands to reason that if a person falls into the river, the body will be washed along the river by the current. The whole body that would be hit by the stone was wounded, but you did not expect that although the body of the child was swollen, but there was no bruise on the body, only a few minor injuries, it did not look like falling upstream. He died, saying that he himself ran to the place where the body was found and jumped it was almost the same."

How Bo Ruoyou and Hu Changqing didn't understand that if they were bleeding and died, the wound would have been small, and if they were soaked in water for a few days, the only small wound would be ignored.

Hu Changqing couldn't help saying: "Then this is most likely not an accident!"

Zhao He shook his head helplessly, "But the child did not see any injuries, no fatal injuries were found, and there was no other evidence of being murdered. It can only be said that he fell into the river and died. It's a pity that the older sister seemed to be frightened stupid. In the end, I didn't even tell what happened that day, and then the incident disappeared. At that time, I had just entered the yamen, and the first time I saw the corpse of the baby, I have a deep memory."

Bo Ruoyou and Hu Changqing looked at each other, and both of them felt that the case might also be a murder case. Bo Ruoyou said, "Is it 18 years from Jianhe?"

"Yes, at the beginning of the eighteenth year of Jianhe, I entered the post after the new year. This should be around the Yuan Festival of the eighteenth year of Jianhe. At that time, I entered the yamen for a few days."

Bo Ruoyou naturally wouldn't let this opportunity go, "You said this family is a high-ranking official's house? Do you remember which one it is?"

Zhao He finally showed a calm look on his face, "I haven't forgotten this. Their family's name is easy to remember. It's not another family, but the Bo family of the Sanshangshu. I heard that the family was ransacked a while ago."

Bo Ruoyou's eyes dimmed with hope, and the blood on his face instantly faded away.