Because of the frown, Shangguan Yangyu's triangular eyes looked even uglier. He gently stroked the sparse beard on his chin and looked at Lin Ling with disgust. "Although you have taken the document to return to the capital from the Military Ministry, and the Imperial Center Administration has also proved your identity, so I will not punish you for leaving the military camp without permission, but you should know that this case has been closed for many days. What kind of argument is it to open the coffin and re-examine it because of your groundless words?"
Hearing this, Lin Ling knew that the conversation between them in the Chang 'an Local Government was not smooth, let alone pleasant. After a short silence, Lin Ling said softly, "Prefectural magistrate, if the Chang' an Local Government insists on not opening the coffin and re-examining it, I have to ask the Military Ministry for help."
"Are you using the Military Ministry to threaten me?" Shangguan Yangyu had never been a man of iron bones. But now that he had the opportunity to sit in the position of the head of the Chang 'an Local Government, he was not willing to lose face in front of his subordinates. He sneered and reminded, "The censor is buried in the tomb. Even if there is a change in the case, it is still a problem for the security of the capital. If I don't say anything, even the Military Ministry has no reason to intervene. Do you want me to go to court with your general?"
Lin Ling thought of the Military Counselor's advice before he left and looked at the prefectural magistrate of Chang 'an. He suddenly understood something and said with a smile, "Sir, I just found some doubts, so I told the Chang' an Local Government. I think since you are willing to come to the cemetery, you must have some intentions. But I don't know what you need me to pay attention to. Please tell me directly."
Shangguan Yangyu looked a little better. He stroked his beard and thought for a moment. Then he said expressionlessly, "There are doubts in any case, no matter if it's the censor or the common people. I'm in charge of the Chang 'an City's officials and people on behalf of His Majesty. Of course, I have to make a serious judgment. But you have to know that this has nothing to do with the Military Ministry or General Xiahou."
Lin Ling understood the hidden meaning in the prefectural magistrate's words. After thinking for a while, he lowered his voice and asked, "I have other business to attend to, but I accidentally found … something wrong with the censor's remains in the tomb?"
"That's right." Shangguan Yangyu glanced at him indifferently and said, "And you must remember that no matter what the result of opening the coffin is, before we find the real suspect, we can only investigate in secret. Especially, we can't let the lady in the censor's mansion know about it."
A subordinate heard this and said awkwardly, "Daren, if you want to open the coffin and examine the corpse, you have to inform the Censor's Mansion. Otherwise, if there is a lawsuit in the future, it will be very difficult for us to be on the side of reason."
Shangguan Yangyu listened to his subordinate's advice and didn't answer. He just looked at Lin Ling quietly. The meaning of this behavior was very clear. She didn't ask the victim's family and opened the coffin, so she had to take the blame.
Since he couldn't use the name of the Military Ministry and General Xiahou, he would have to take the blame if there was any disagreement afterwards. A bitter smile appeared on Lin Ling's face. He thought that the officials in Chang 'an City, whether it was the scribe he dealt with a few days ago or the prefectural magistrate who came in person today, were all so slippery.
If it was another situation, Lin Ling would definitely not be willing to take the blame. Without the protection of the Military Ministry and General Xiahou, even if he was a Psyche Master in the Seethrough realm, it would be a little troublesome to face the anger of the censor's mansion. However, the general had ordered him to do so, and he was very sure that there was something wrong with the remains in the tomb. So after a moment of silence and consideration, he looked at Shangguan Yangyu and nodded heavily, saying, "As you wish, Daren."
"Very good." Shangguan Yangyu looked calm, but he began to feel anxious deep inside. Since this Psyche Master from the Northeast Border Army dared to take such a big blame, it meant that he was very confident about the situation in the tomb. In this way, it seemed that there was really some conspiracy behind the death of censor Zhang Yiqi.
The works official, Hu Zuo, was waiting beside the censor's tomb with all kinds of tools. When the spring sun was in the middle of the sky and the Yang Qi was the strongest, with a shout, the workers transferred from the cemetery, under the command of the works official of the Chang 'an Local Government, turned the tomb that was cleaned by the family yesterday into a messy construction site.
The tomb was opened from the back, and a black coffin lay quietly in the slightly damp tomb. The workers put a wooden plank on top of the tomb and tied seven ropes to it. After shouting for a long time, they finally hoisted the heavy coffin up.
As the coffin was opened, Shangguan Yangyu quickly covered his nose with a handkerchief. After a while, he found that he didn't smell any stench. He frowned and looked inside through the crowd. He saw that the coroner was half bent over and attentively examining the body. He could vaguely see some bones or funerary objects.
After a while, the coroner walked out of the crowd and bowed respectfully to Shangguan Yangyu. He took off the oiled mask covering his mouth and nose, and his voice was accompanied by the strong smell of peppermint oil.
"Your Honor, I didn't find anything suspicious."
"Hmm?" Shangguan Yangyu heard this and looked at Lin Ling who was silent beside him. There was no anger or disappointment in his eyes after being flirted with. There was only questioning because he knew that things were definitely not so simple.
Lin Ling looked at the coroner and asked, "Did you check the censor's head?"
"Of course," the coroner didn't know his identity, so he answered very impolitely.
After a long silence, Lin Ling looked at Shangguan Yangyu and said, "There was a hard object in the censor's skull. Now I'm not sure if it was an iron nail or some other weapon."
Shangguan Yangyu looked at him and sneered. He thought that his subordinates would never be greedy for this first credit. As long as it was delayed for a while, Lin Ling couldn't hold it anymore. He said indifferently with a slight mockery, "I heard that a Psyche Master using Psyche Power to check the remains of the dead is an extremely inauspicious and taboo thing. I can understand that you have been silent before."
Lin Ling's face was slightly pale. He laughed bitterly and said, "In order to maintain the dignity of the law of the Tang Empire and redress the grievances of the officials of the empire, some rules can only be ignored at this critical moment."
"Well said." Shangguan Yangyu raised his chin slightly and said indifferently, "So if there is anything else, you'd better tell us in advance. Don't let my people waste time and energy."
Lin Ling calmly agreed and no longer tried to cover up. He directly led Shangguan Yangyu and the coroner to the side of the black coffin. He raised his arm and pointed at the head of the corpse covered by the cloth. He said, "It should be shrunk into the scalp, so it can't be seen with the naked eye. You can find the problem if you remove all the fur and scalp."
The government coroner opened the coffin and examined the corpse. He also paid attention to the dead and rarely disemboweled, not to mention that the one lying in the coffin was the censor of the Tang Empire. Hearing that he was going to peel off his scalp, the coroner couldn't help but look at the prefectural magistrate awkwardly. He rubbed his hands and asked, "Your Excellency?"
"Do it." Shangguan Yangyu said indifferently, "If you can't find any problem, someone will naturally take the initiative to apologize to the imperial court. The anger of the censor's mansion will never fall on a nobody like you."
Lin Ling silently stood beside the coffin and shook his head with a bitter smile. He thought that this person didn't forget to emphasize it at this time. He didn't look like the prefectural magistrate of Chang 'an City, but more like a vulgar village official.
At this time, the officials and runners of Chang 'an Local Government all surrounded the coffin and drove away the curious cemetery workers. They looked at Qian Zuo's action and couldn't help but wonder what was under the scalp.
The censor's corpse in the coffin had long been rotten. The cloth that tied his hair was lost and the scattered and withered hair stuck to his scalp. Qian Zuo carefully removed the hair and the mud-like scalp below. Then he splashed water on the yellowish white skull and wiped it several times with a piece of cloth.
A very small wound appeared on the top of the skull. It was unknown whether it was dirty blood or congealed rotten flesh. As the cloth was wiped and the water was washed, it became clearer and clearer until the thing in the wound could be seen.
The officials and runners around the coffin all held their breath. Shangguan Yangyu frowned more and more. As the coroner moved the sharp tongs in his hand, everyone's body became more and more nervous and stiff.
Like a rusty knife being pulled out of a bone, a shrill and horrifying sound came from inside the coffin. The coroner's forehead was covered with sweat. One of his hands was pressed against the corpse's skull to prevent it from being torn off, while the other hand slowly exerted force. Finally, he pulled out the hard object hidden in the imperial censor's skull.
It was a very long iron nail. It was unknown whether it had been soaked in blood or corpse water for too long. The iron nail was covered with rust, but the front end was still extremely sharp.
Looking at the iron nail in Yuan Shizui's hand, the people around the coffin all sucked in a breath of cold air. It was as if they could see the horrifying scene of a cold iron nail being hammered into the head of an imperial censor on a certain day last year. They couldn't help but shake their heads in shock and horror. Some people even subconsciously shrank their necks.
Lin Ling stood next to the coroner in silence. Because among all the people present, only he could basically know what he would see at this moment. He looked at the prefectural magistrate of Chang 'an who had an extremely ugly expression and said calmly, "Your Excellency, the suspicious point has been revealed. The following investigation is the matter of Chang' an Local Government. I will no longer participate in it."
Shangguan Yangyu stared at the rusty nail for a long time and suddenly raised his head to look at the person. He said coldly, "Of course, I don't need you to participate in the investigation. But I have to remind you that I will report what should be reported to the Ministry of Penalty and what should be reported to His Majesty. But if I hear some words outside before I find out the real murderer, don't blame me for involving the general."
Lin Ling cupped her hands in acknowledgment and then left the cemetery.
…
…
Ning Que didn't know that the censor Zhang Yiqi's tomb had been reopened and the Chang 'an Local Government re-examined the body. The iron nail he had driven into Zhang Yiqi's skull had been found. So he didn't know that he had just embarked on the road of revenge for less than a year, and a thick haze had already covered his future.
He felt that his future was extremely bright, because the Second floor of the Academy would be opened in two days, and it was also the time when he was determined to fight.
On this day, in order to cheer for Xie Chengyun and the other six students of the course of magic skills to enter the Second floor, the students of the Academy went to a banquet in a noble restaurant. Among them was him, who was forcibly dragged there by Situ Yilan.
…
…
(Salem's "Armed Storm" is open again in the Qidian game channel. There's a heroic spirit system in it after level 32. Something fishy is one of the heroic spirit guardians. Those who are interested can go and play it.
PS: Something fishy in reality, that is, I arrived in Xiamen yesterday to deal with some private affairs and then fell ill. I was very uncomfortable, so I didn't pretend to be pitiful and sad. I just struggled to write it because I was worried that it would be too lousy. If it was really lousy, I would go back and revise it. But now I can't change it because I'm already so uncomfortable that I don't even know whether what I wrote is lousy or not. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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