NOVEL NEXT Chapter 106
In the days that followed, Song Zhen traveled back and forth between Yan's residence and the palace.
He always stayed in brothels, and Cui Mengzhu told him about it. Seeing this, Yan Liben invited him to live in Yan's residence. After all, there were too many houses to live in.
Moreover, it was convenient for the two to date each other on a daily basis.
Cui Mengzhu went out more and more often, often running out of Yan's residence under the pretext of looking for a teacher to learn painting.
In fact, she was dating Song Zhen in Yan's residence.
Song Zhen was playing the flute on one side, and she was sketching on the other side.
In the eyes of the people in Yan's residence, they were a pair of immortal lovers.
But Yan Zhaoping was envious! What about being single dogs together? You are so good, you found a husband first!
Oh, woman.
Song Zhen usually rode into the palace with Yan Liben, and left when they were busy at noon, because the musicians were also workers and needed to rest.
Days passed one by one.
Just today, when Song Zhen just came out of the palace gate of Ziwei City, he ran into Xue Zhengqing, the Dali Temple Secretary.
"Song Lang?"
"Xue Temple Secretary?"
"Long time no see, long time no see."
For some reason, Song Zhen felt that the other party's eyes were strange.
"You came to Luoyang, why didn't you tell me?"
"Didn't you know where you were?"
"It seems that you don't treat me as a brother."
"No, no."
Xue Zhengqing got off the horse, put his arm around Song Zhen's shoulders, and whispered: "You came at the right time, there is a corpse here that needs your help to examine."
Fuck, I knew that meeting you would be bad.
Song Zhen sighed helplessly: "Lead the way, let me make it clear that I am only responsible for the autopsy, not the investigation."
"That's natural, investigating the case is the job of the Dali Temple, you are just an external aid."
Wait, does the Tang Dynasty have the concept of external aid?
Xue Zhengqing led the way in front, and Song Zhen followed on horseback, and soon they arrived at the door of a magnificent building.
On the plaque, there were three large gold-plated characters [Dali Temple]
"Song Lang, please come in."
Xue Zhengqing told the guards at the door and led them in.
As soon as he entered the door, he shouted: "Everyone, look who I brought with me?"
Suddenly, three people appeared, as if they had seen their real father.
"Oh, this is the little detective that Old Xue often talks about, Song Shouzheng?"
"Please come in quickly!"
Song Zhen narrowed his eyes. He could guess from their expressions that this case must be an unsolved case.
There must be no unsolved cases in the Dali Temple, and there is a time limit for investigating the case.
If you can't do it, you will be fined at the least, or dismissed at the worst.
"Teachers, tell me about the case."
Xue Zhengqing put away his smile and said seriously: "Some time ago, an unknown skeleton was dug up at the west gate of Luocheng, Ziwei City, during construction."
Oh no, it was dug up near the palace? According to the superstitious thinking of the ancients, this is unlucky.
Anything involving the royal family cannot be a trivial matter.
"The biggest problem now is that we can't confirm who the deceased is. It has been five months and we are confused."
"We don't even know how the other party died."
"The saint gave us the order to find the real murderer within half a year and punish him severely."
This severe punishment is very interesting, with a double meaning.
Another temple secretary standing next to Xue Zhengqing looked very haggard. He sighed and said, "Originally, we heard from Old Xue that you are good at autopsies, so we thought about asking the Dali Temple to invite you from Bianzhou. Unfortunately..."
"What a pity?"
"It's a pity that Duan Siqing was so busy with Bi Zhengyi's affairs that he had no time to take care of this side."
Song Zhen thought about it and thought that it was probably because of Wang Yifang's case that the righteous Dali Temple Secretary Bi Zhengyi was forced to hang himself in prison by Li Yifu.
After this case came out, although Li Zhi did not punish Li Yifu on the surface, the matter originated from the Dali Temple's corruption and abuse of power, and almost all the Dali Temple secretaries were replaced. Dali Temple Secretary Duan Zhengxuan was not punished because of his meritorious report.
Xue Zhengqing escaped because he was not in Chang'an at the time.
However, in this way, the Dali Temple Secretary who was previously responsible for investigating the case was dismissed, making this unsolved case even more difficult to start.
"Where is the body?"
"Song Lang, please come this way."
Six Dali Temple officials escorted Song Zhen to the underground cemetery.
Xue Zhengqing lifted the white cloth and saw a clean skeleton lying in front of him.
Song Zhen looked closely and found that the skeleton had lost all its flesh and blood. It seemed that it had been buried deep underground for at least two years.
Generally, after two to three years, the skeletonization process of a body buried in the soil will be completed.
If the soil is dry, it sometimes takes seven to eight years to completely skeletonize. After about ten years, the bones will be degreased and dry.
"The excavatedWas there a coffin at the time? "
The Dali Temple Secretary standing next to Xue Zhengqing replied: "No, no, it was accidentally discovered by workers at the time, exposed in the soil."
Song Zhen nodded, and he first checked the skull for signs of violent damage.
There are variables, it is possible that it was damaged when the workers were digging.
Song Zhen carefully checked for half an hour, and the six Dali Temple Secretaries next to him did not dare to breathe, for fear of disturbing him.
"The cause of death cannot be seen on the surface." Due to violent excavation, there are many marks on the skeleton surface, and it is even incomplete and difficult to identify.
"Ah? What should I do?" Xue Zhengqing was dumbfounded.
"The deceased is about a twenty-year-old woman."
"How did you see it? "Everyone was shocked!
They could infer that it was a woman from the size of the skeleton, but Song Zhen could even tell the age of the deceased?
Isn't this amazing?
Song Zhen chuckled, picked up a piece of pubic bone and showed it to everyone: "Please look, this is the pubic bone."
"You can roughly judge the age of the deceased from the degree of wear on the pubic symphysis."
"How do you see it?"
Song Zhen looked around and asked: "Are there any other skeletons?"
"Yes, yes, yes." A Dali Temple official hurried over to look for them.
Song Zhen took out the pubic bones of the two skeletons and compared them to show them.
"You see, the pubic bones of young people have more and deeper grooves. When people get old and move more, the pubic symphysis will be worn flat."
"This piece of pubic bone is from a young age, and this one is from a sixty-year-old age."
Xue Zhengqing screamed: "My mother! It's amazing! I was in charge of the case of the skeleton. The deceased was really an old man in his sixties! "
If they had said that before, everyone would not take it seriously and think that Old Xue was bragging about how great Xue was.
But now, seeing it with their own eyes, they have to admit it!
Xue Zhengqing frowned: "No, it's useless even if we know the age of the deceased. We don't know the cause of her death, let alone what she looks like."
It's still a headless case.
Everyone immediately lost their joy.
But Song Zhen suddenly thought of someone, maybe she could help.
"Everyone, I'll go home first."
"Song Lang, don't leave, what should we do if you leave?" Xue Zhengqing held him pitifully.
Song Zhen chuckled and said, "I'll go back to Yan's Mansion and ask for an outside help. I'll be back in an hour."
"By the way, before I leave, I'll arrange for you to steam the bones."
......