[Chapter 162, War in Troubled Times-12]

Tonight's birthday party was really exciting. An assassin assassinated the prince in public, and then a maid hurriedly came to report that the eldest daughter of the prince's family had hanged herself. Such shocking news made all the guests look at each other.

Everyone whispered in private: "Miss? Is she the one who is engaged to the eldest son of the Lin family?" "She seems to be Mrs. Yun's daughter. She doesn't go out very often. I've never seen her before!"

"I heard that the eldest lady is indifferent to worldly affairs and has an indifferent personality. How could she suddenly commit suicide?"

"Could it be that the story of Young Master Lin going to Tianxiang House to redeem Miss Ye's life reached the ears of the eldest lady, and she couldn't bear the humiliation, so she committed suicide?" "It's possible. My fiancé visits the brothel every day, and he also wants to do it for Tianxiang.

The girl in the building redeemed herself. How could she, a young lady from the royal family, endure such humiliation? She committed suicide because she couldn't think about it. What a sin..."

Xiao Lou couldn't help but frown slightly when he heard these comments in the crowd.

He went for a walk in the backyard in the afternoon, and at a quick glance, he remembered that the eldest lady Qi Yiyao was a woman who was indifferent to fame and wealth. She was knocking on wooden fish and reciting Buddhist scriptures. She looked calm and seemed indifferent to everything in the outside world.

Would she hang herself because of the scandal of her fiancé molesting a brothel girl? This is impossible.

There must be other reasons.

Xiao Lou looked at the prince. At this time, the prince's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. First, he was disturbed by an assassin, and then he heard the bad news that his daughter had hanged herself. On this birthday, the prince was naturally very depressed. He stared at the maid.

, shouted angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about?!"

The maid turned pale with fright and said with trembling lips: "Slave, I saw with my own eyes that the eldest lady was hanging on the tree in the backyard..."

When the prince realized that something had really happened to his daughter, he immediately took a deep breath, tried his best to stay calm, looked at the guest seats, and said calmly: "Everyone, I have some family matters that need to be dealt with. Today's dinner will end here. The reception was not good.

Please forgive me for this."

Everyone bowed and said goodbye, and each one ran faster than a rabbit. Although everyone was curious about why the eldest lady committed suicide, they couldn't openly watch the prince's family jokes. If the prince got angry, ten heads would not be enough to cut off.

Of course, Shao Qingge, a son of a rich family, had no reason to stay in the palace and continue to watch the fun. He gave Yu Hanjian an "I'll leave first" look and turned to leave. When Xiao Lou passed by him, he said softly: "You go

The magistrate will pay a visit to Ye Qi in prison, and ask Ye Qi if he has discovered anything in Tianxiang Tower in the past two days."

Shao Qingge smiled and said: "Don't worry, little Ye Zi has never been in jail. I'll go give him something to eat to calm his shock."

Hearing Shao Qingge's gloating tone, Xiao Lou had no choice but to ignore him for the time being and continue to pay attention to the scene.

All the guests left quickly.

But Yu Hanjiang and his party, as well as Ninth Princess and Qu Wanyue, stayed where they were.

Yu Hanjiang took a step forward and whispered to the prince: "Your Majesty, since a murder occurred in Jiangzhou, Weichen, as the prefect of Jiangzhou, has the responsibility to investigate the whole matter. The cause of the eldest lady's death may not be simple. Can Weichen be tolerated?

Will you go and see the scene?"

The Eighth Prince thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Thank you, Lord Yu."

Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou, and Mo Xuemin followed the prince to the backyard, and the ninth princess and Qu Wanyue also followed.

The prince turned his head and saw these two people, and couldn't help but said coldly: "You guys are waiting for me, why don't you retreat?"

The Ninth Princess hurriedly explained: "Brother, it's me! Something happened to Ayao, and I want to go see it too!"

The prince recognized the ninth princess who was disguised as a man, and frowned slightly: "My dear princess, if you don't stay well in Kyoto, how can you behave like this and run around like this?"

The Ninth Princess said with a bitter face: "We will talk about this later. I had no choice but to slip out. How could Ayao commit suicide? I even sent her a letter some time ago. I want to go and see!"

The prince had no choice but to take her with him.

The maid led the way, and everyone hurriedly followed her to the backyard.

There are four small courtyards in the backyard of the palace. The layout of the entire courtyard is square and square, connected by a "back"-shaped corridor. The corridor is lined with green trees. There is an artificial pond and a rockery in the middle of the courtyard.

The backyard of the palace is very large. It was late at night and the trees in the courtyard were dense. Even if someone was hiding somewhere, it would be difficult to attract attention.

The place where the eldest lady hanged herself was on a tree behind the rockery.

That tree is the tallest and thickest tree in the whole yard. It has lush branches and leaves and can cast a large green shade on the ground. It is a good place to enjoy the shade in summer. Therefore, stone benches and tables are placed under the tree. In your free time,

The royal family members can sit here and drink tea and chat.

At this time, a woman dressed entirely in white was hanging from a tree, her limbs hanging down softly, and her body was swaying gently in the wind.

This scene made everyone present change their expressions.

Mrs. Yun immediately rushed over in a state of collapse, hugged her daughter's legs, and shouted: "Ayao, my Ayao! Why can't you think about it so hard! What can't you say to your mother? Why bother to commit suicide! You

If you just leave like this, what will your mother do..."

Her heartbreaking cries made the prince's face look even more ugly.

Although the prince did not have deep feelings for this eldest daughter, she was his own flesh and blood after all. Seeing her hanging on the tree in white clothes, as a father, the prince was heartbroken. He took a step forward and gently hugged Mrs. Yun's shoulders.

, whispered: "Stop crying, why did A Yao commit suicide?"

Mrs. Yun wiped her tears and said: "I asked her to change clothes in the afternoon and told her that Young Master Lin would definitely come tonight and asked her to dress up a little instead of wearing white clothes to meet her fiancé. That would be unlucky... She also

Didn’t say anything!”

The prince frowned: "Did you tell Yiyao about Lin Shaobo's scandal in the brothel?"

Mrs. Yun stammered for a moment, and finally nodded with tears in her eyes: "I, I accidentally let it slip." Her face instantly turned extremely pale: "Ayao couldn't think better of it, so she took advantage of it.

See you there?!"

The prince's face looked horribly gloomy.

Next to them, Mrs. Qing and Mrs. Han didn't know whether they were really sad or fake. They also took out their handkerchiefs and wiped their tears while sighing: "Why is Ayao so confused..." "That's right, how can you be so confused at such a young age?"

!" The two of them cried and came forward to comfort Mrs. Yun: "Sister, don't be too sad." "My condolences, be careful not to hurt yourself."

The three ladies cried together, while the ninth princess stood there with a blank look on her face, murmuring in confusion: "How could Ayao commit suicide? She even wrote to me some time ago, saying that the wedding date is scheduled for next month."

The prince sighed softly and said, "Go and carry down the body of the eldest lady and bury it someday."

The two maids immediately stepped forward, worked together to lift the eldest lady hanging from the tree, and laid her flat on the ground.

Xiao Lou quickly glanced at the marks on the body and gave Yu Hanjiang a wink.

Just as the maids were about to cover the corpse's face with white cloth, Yu Hanjiang suddenly stopped them: "Wait a minute."

The prince looked back at him: "Master Yu?"

Yu Hanjiang whispered: "Your Majesty, my wife once learned the art of autopsy from a widower. Can he take a closer look at the eldest lady's body? Wei Chen suspects that the eldest lady may not have committed suicide."

The prince was startled and looked at Xiao Lou with a frown: "Madam, can you really do an autopsy?"

Xiao Lou took a step forward and saluted politely: "Going back to your lord, the daughter of the common people has indeed studied with a widower for several years."

The prince nodded and asked him to take a look.

Xiao Lou took a step forward and was about to observe the body when Mrs. Yun suddenly rushed over and hugged her daughter tightly. She cried and said: "Don't touch her! My Ayao died so miserably. She didn't live a good life for a few days before she died.

I can’t be bullied by you like this again!”

Mrs. Yun was obviously stimulated by her daughter's sudden death and she lost her mind.

Xiao Lou said warmly: "Madam, please calm down. The eldest lady may not have committed suicide. Don't you want to find out the real cause of your daughter's death?"

Mrs. Yun was stunned and pointed to the bright red marks on her daughter's neck: "Didn't my daughter hang herself? She hung herself from a tree. The red marks on her neck from being strangled are so obvious. How do you want to do an autopsy?"

Xiao Lou said softly: "Hanging yourself will indeed leave strangulation marks on the neck. But if she is hanged from a tree after being murdered, it will also leave strangulation marks on the neck, right?"

Mrs. Yun suddenly became excited.

Because what this person said is right - what if he was hanged from a tree after being killed?

She immediately stepped aside, looked at Xiao Lou and said, "Master Yu, right? Come on, help my daughter take a look!"

The Ninth Princess and Qu Wanyue were also watching. Seeing Xiao Lou walking over calmly and leaning over to check the condition of the body, the Ninth Princess couldn't help complaining in a low voice: "Mrs. Yu can actually do an autopsy? No wonder Master Yu is unwilling.

Marry this princess, it turns out that he is so heavy-tongued and likes women who can do autopsies."

Qu Wanyue: "..."

The Ninth Princess's thoughts were so clear that Qu Wanyue didn't know how to answer, so she pretended not to hear.

With everyone watching, Xiao Lou carefully examined the corpse's pupils, skin, and nails, and turned the corpse's head, focusing on the red marks on the neck.

Everyone doesn’t understand autopsy, and they don’t know what Xiao Lou was looking at when he turned the body over and over...

Just when the prince was about to become impatient, Xiao Lou suddenly stood up, looked at Yu Hanjiang, and whispered: "It's not suicide."

Meeting his determined gaze, Yu Hanjiang certainly believed Xiao Lou's conclusion.

But others didn't believe it. After all, Mrs. Yu suddenly said she knew how to do autopsies. How many women in ancient times knew how to do autopsies?

The prince's face looked ugly: "Madam, you can't talk nonsense. What evidence do you have?"

Xiao Lou explained seriously: "The traces left on the body will be different between strangulation of the neck during life and strangulation of the neck after death."

He pointed to the marks on the neck of the deceased and said: "If the eldest lady committed suicide, then she was still alive when she hung herself on the white silk, and the blood inside her body was still circulating. Therefore, the constriction marks formed on the neck

, should be at the bottom, where the mark is the deepest, spreading to both sides, getting lighter as it goes up, until it finally disappears - this is a typical mark left on the neck of a person who hanged himself."

"However, the constriction marks on the eldest lady's neck are horizontal and circular. Except for the darker color where the throat is compressed, the depth of other parts of the constriction groove is very uniform. There is no phenomenon of rising incline, gradually becoming shallower, and finally discontinuing.

The reason for the formation of such marks is that there was no blood circulation in her neck at that time, and the skin was necrotic. The marks left after being strangled by Bai Ling will be the same depth."

Xiao Lou paused and looked at everyone: "The eldest lady was actually already dead when she was hung on the tree - this was murder."

After hearing Xiao Lou's words, everyone present took a deep breath.
To be continued...