Chapter 134: The Autopsy

The moment Wu Wei saw the dead man’s eyelids, her heart sank to rock bottom.

No doubt about it.

No matter how much she had slacked off in university, her family’s inherited knowledge wouldn’t fail her to the point where she couldn’t even recognize a case that had already been examined.

Wu Wei pried open the corpse’s mouth again—rose teeth.

In that instant, she felt a profound sense of helplessness, as if an invisible whirlpool was dragging her forcefully toward the abyss.

Aside from the external wounds on the body, the cause of death was almost identical to that of the guards who had died in last year’s Auspicious Omen Theft Case.

The limbs and joints were intact, with no fractures. The body had external injuries, but none were fatal. Yet the corpse’s eyelids showed signs of bleeding, it had rose teeth, and the neck… there were no signs of fractures, strangulation marks, or external trauma on the neck either.

Prince Yi watched Wu Wei. Seeing her seemingly lost in thought while staring at the corpse, he glanced toward the nearby wall, where a single landscape painting hung, and nothing else.

After a moment, Prince Yi spoke up first. “Well?”

Wu Wei let out a shallow breath. Why was it so hard to just live a peaceful life?

Since Prince Yi had gone to such lengths to bring her here for the examination, he must know something about the inside story. As royalty, and with family ties to Pingjia County Princess Gao Ningxue, it wasn’t surprising that he knew she had been the coroner in the Auspicious Omen Theft Case.

If she tried to brush him off or stay silent, she probably wouldn’t have to wait for future troubles—Prince Yi himself wouldn’t let her go easily.

The Bright Mirror Division had fallen, Dongfang Rui was missing, and Gao Ningxue was too far away to help in time.

A mere Zhang Kuan had nearly gotten her killed. What chance did she have against a feudal prince?

With that realization, Wu Wei decided survival came first. It might be best to pledge her loyalty early and trade it for some protection.

In this era, someone as insignificant as her had no real choices anyway. As long as the great powers overlooked her, she could live quietly like an ant. But once noticed… she wouldn’t even have bargaining chips.

Wu Wei turned, cupped her hands toward Prince Yi, and bowed deeply. “Your Highness, it’s my honor that you value my amateurish coroner skills. I’m more than willing to serve you, but…”

“Out with it. What are your conditions?”

Wu Wei was a bit surprised. Prince Yi was refreshingly straightforward.

“This lowly one just wants a quiet life. Let me handle the examination and report, and leave everything else to Your Highness. If you can keep my past as a coroner under wraps, I’d be eternally grateful.”

“Your request isn’t unreasonable. This prince agrees. Now, tell me… what happened?”

“In response to Your Highness, this case raises many doubts in my mind. The cause of death… isn’t something I can explain in a few words. I request permission to conduct a more thorough examination.”

“How thorough?”

Wu Wei thought for a moment before replying cautiously, “At minimum, we need to shave off part of the corpse’s hair. Full dissection might be necessary too.”

Such procedures might be routine for modern forensic experts, but in this era, people believed that the body, hair, and skin were gifts from one’s parents. Even in death, there were many ways to meet one’s end. Failing to leave a complete corpse, or damaging the remains, was no good death.

Not only would the family refuse, but even the common folk who heard of it would find it horrifying. That was one reason Wu Wei had never performed a dissection since arriving in this time.

Back then, the deaths of those escorting the auspicious omen had been highly suspicious. Wu Wei had her guesses but, constrained by local customs, hadn’t even dared suggest it.

As expected, Prince Yi’s expression changed after hearing her out. He sat rigidly in the grand chair, staring straight at Wu Wei, on the verge of unleashing thunderous rage.

“Do you know… this man was one of this prince’s troops? A meritorious soul who died in the line of duty?”

Wu Wei sighed softly, cupping her hands helplessly as she replied, “I suspected as much, but… if I say his fatal wound isn’t on the surface—it’s inside the skull—would Your Highness believe me?”

Prince Yi said nothing, neither confirming nor denying it.

Wu Wei pressed on. “The county yamen’s coroner must have examined him already, but their conclusion clearly didn’t satisfy Your Highness, or I wouldn’t be here. I have my suspicions, but would Your Highness believe me without seeing proof for yourself?”

“Speak.”

“I suspect the victim died from an extremely cunning and concealed hidden weapon technique—something like a silver needle. It pierced from the back of the skull, entering through a specific angle via a gap in the occipital bone. In theory, it’s very hard to pull off. However… the rose teeth and eyelid bleeding support my guess, though we need further verification. Those blade wounds on the body were from a fight with weapons. Perhaps after fierce combat, the victim had broken free. The killer pursued relentlessly. Seeing the victim about to reach the village, where it would be unsafe to strike again, he used the hidden weapon. After killing him, the murderer dragged the body into the dense woods and dumped it. The clothes are gone, and since the body was disposed of right after death, I can’t tell if it was dragged. That’s just speculation.”

“How can you tell from the clothing?”

“Given the victim’s build, it’s hard for one person to carry him. The woods by Zhang Family Village’s post road are thick—even two people lifting him would leave scrape marks. Check the trouser legs, shoes, or clothes for fresh twigs, fallen leaves, or damage from brushing against the underbrush or ground.”

Prince Yi fell silent again, but this time he twisted the Yang Green Jade Thumb Ring on his thumb. Wu Wei was right: the corpse’s shoe heels did show drag marks of the sort she described. His men had found drag trails in the woods too. The Qinglu County Yamen’s coroner was utterly useless. With evidence like that, they still claimed his trooper died from blood loss in a fight, collapsing against a tree in the woods to rest.

After retrieving the body, Prince Yi had summoned Dongfang Rui. She had only given it a brief look before recommending Wu Wei.

Dongfang Rui had mentioned that Wu Wei once gave her a coroner’s handbook, with case details strikingly similar to this one. She had praised Wu Wei’s skills effusively.

What concerned Prince Yi and Dongfang Rui most was that the killer who murdered his trooper might be the same group—or even the same person—who slaughtered the auspicious omen’s escorts!

The auspicious omen had been stolen, every escort killed without exception, while the sleeping Pingjia County Princess mysteriously appeared unharmed in Qinglu County’s Charity Mortuary. It was an bizarre case from the start.

With the previous emperor’s passing, it had been shelved unresolved, uninvestigated.

But Prince Yi couldn’t ignore a lurking force around his fief!

Moreover…

Both Prince Yi and Dongfang Rui shared a suspicion: the Bright Mirror Division’s downfall wasn’t just fallout from power struggles. Some schemes had been brewing for a long time.

This case’s connections ran too deep, too intricate. Prince Yi felt a secret thrill.

His gaze toward Wu Wei shifted subtly.

She had barely touched the corpse before demanding a “lifeline” guarantee from him. It was hard not to suspect she knew more than she let on.

The thumb ring stopped turning. Prince Yi said to Wu Wei, “Do as you described… proceed.”

Wu Wei lowered her eyes and softly assented.

Those in power were all dangerous, she thought.

Just moments ago, he had called the man a hero. She wasn’t sure which words of hers had struck a nerve, but he had agreed just like that.

“Your Highness, please call in two men to flip the body over.”

“Guards!”

…

The two guards flipped the corpse and withdrew. Wu Wei held the razor aloft, but it hovered midway.

She knew the approximate location of the fatal wound. Her plan was to shave just around it to expose the needle hole. But then she reconsidered… If she did that precisely, what would Prince Yi think? Might he wonder how she knew so exactly? Who was her teacher? What if he suspected ties to the killer?

Wu Wei angled her wrist slightly. Soon, a palm-sized patch of scalp was exposed on the back of the corpse’s head. Right in the center was a tiny needle puncture—the silver needle had already been removed.

The strike had been so swift there was hardly any blood, just traces of reddish-white fluid.

“Your Highness, please look.”

Prince Yi stepped to Wu Wei’s side and examined the needle hole at the base of the corpse’s skull. He fell silent.

“Dare I ask, Your Highness—did the victim’s nose and ears bleed?”

“This prince doesn’t know. After the Qinglu County Magistrate learned he was one of my troops, he had someone tidy the remains.”

Wu Wei inwardly cursed the man as an idiot. She turned to fetch two bamboo splints, wrapping wet cotton at one end of each, then inserted them into the corpse’s nostrils and ear canals.

“What are you doing?”

“If the deceased’s skull had been violently shattered from the inside, blood would inevitably have flowed from all seven orifices. Those are crucial pieces of evidence that never should have been washed away,” Wu Wei murmured, seemingly without a care.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Prince Yi naturally overheard Wu Wei’s words. He had already learned from Dongfang Rui about the grudge between Zhang Kuan and Wu Wei. Now, hearing her deliver these remarks with such feigned nonchalance, he found the whole thing rather amusing.

In Wu Wei, Prince Yi glimpsed a brand of cunning from a lowly nobody—one he rarely encountered—and he rather admired her tit-for-tat mentality and her knack for turning others’ strength against them.

…

“If Your Highness has no further questions, this humble one needs to go write up the coroner’s report… er, the coroner’s notes.”

“Hold on.”

“Does Your Highness have any other instructions?”

“Cut it open for this prince. I want to see for myself exactly how this hidden weapon did its work.”

“…Yes.”

Thereafter, under Prince Yi’s direct supervision, Wu Wei performed her first autopsy since arriving in this era. Prince Yi watched the entire procedure without flinching, occasionally asking Wu Wei, “What is that?”

One had to admit, if Wu Wei’s father could see Prince Yi like this, he might well think he’d stumbled upon a gem and take the prince on as a disciple.

But to Wu Wei, anyone who could stay this composed during their first brush with dissection was pretty much a living King of Hell.