The Tang Dynasty’s Female Forensic Doctor

Chapter 99 – If You Take It Seriously, You Will Lose

The rain wasn’t heavy; it was fine and dense between heaven and earth. It was like a mist. When the wind blew, a light gauze curtain was lifted. It carried the fragrance of plants and trees that refreshed the hearts of the people. Every bit of it revealed the gentleness of Jiangnan.

The rain had soaked the soil, and the seemingly flat mountain road was easy to walk through.

Ran Yan pursed her lips and stepped over the low grass. She was walking briskly, while Wan Lu and Ge Lan followed with difficulty.

Along the way, apart from Wan Lu giving directions from time to time, there were no other unnecessary words spoken.

It wasn’t until she saw the guards from afar that Ran Yan suddenly realized that her palm was covered in water, sweat, or rain.

When the guards saw the three women approaching, they were just about to yell at them when Provincial Governor Liu came out to welcome them. He walked very quickly and the bailiff who was holding an umbrella for him followed.

Ran Yan looked at Provincial Governor Liu. His official uniform was crimson-colored, his hair was white, and his body was soaked in the rain. She suddenly thought of her grandfather and couldn’t help feeling miserable. An old man like him should sit at home and enjoy his time with his grandchildren. She could see that he wasn’t a person who was obsessed with power and status. Why was he still in a position that was too much for him? An old man hiding his ambition?

“Seventeenth Miss, this old man has been waiting for a long time!” Provincial Governor Liu’s next sentence made all of Ran Yan’s sympathy vanish. “Cut this corpse open. I’ll bear the burden if anything happens.”

Ran Yan glanced at him coolly. “You promised that no one would know about my autopsy last time. But before I even returned, everyone in Suzhou already knew that I never questioned Liu Cishi’s moral character. However, shouldn’t you investigate this person who deliberately ruined your character and harbored ulterior motives?”

Provincial Governor Liu responded with a righteous and indignant expression, “This person is certainly hateful. Lady Ran, don’t worry. I will not tolerate such a person.”

Ran Yan nodded her thanks but she obviously didn’t take his words to heart. She could only treat an old fox like Liu Cishi with one creed: ‘If you take him seriously, you’ll lose.’

“Let us look at the corpse first.” Ran Yan didn’t have the time to bicker with him about these things that wouldn’t yield any results. She and Liu Cishi were just mutually beneficial. As long as Liu Cishi could do one or two things in response to her request, even if she gave him face. If she really thought that helping examine two corpses would make Liu Cishi grateful, then it wouldn’t be too difficult to put him in his place!

Provincial Governor Liu wasn’t in the mood to dwell on these matters. He liked Ran Yan’s self-awareness. She had thought about every word she spoke and was straightforward. He once again regretted that she was a lady and hurriedly walked towards the corpse. Ran Yan followed him.

A shed was built above the body. Because it was on a half-slope, a mud wall was built above to stop the rain from flowing down the slope. In the shed, stood a skinny man in a light green official uniform. He was frowning as he looked at the corpse on the ground.

Ran Yan recognized that this person was Yu Bohao, the judge in charge of the prison.

She didn’t rush to greet him. Instead, she focused all her attention on the corpse on the ground. The corpse was tall and slender, wearing a wide gray cloth robe. It was lying prone, and its slender and fair fingers were covered with dirt and grass. It was obvious that it had experienced a painful struggle before its death.

The bodies at the scene couldn’t be moved without careful examination. Ran Yan took a slow, deep breath and bowed slightly to Judge Yu. “Greetings, Judge Yu. Would you please tell me about the condition of the body? Have you confirmed its identity?”

“There’s no need to be polite. As I was waiting for the maid to come, I ordered someone to check the surrounding area. I only checked the body roughly. It should be a young man in his twenties. Judging from his attire, he was a scholar. I didn’t confirm his identity,” Yu Bohao honestly replied.

Ran Yan immediately understood that she had been schemed against by this old fox. He1 didn’t even bring her around and was clearly waiting for her to come. He lured her! At that time, if anything happened, she wouldn’t be able to find anyone to settle the score—Because it was her own request to come over for an autopsy. No one forced her.

What made Ran Yan even more enraged was that Provincial Governor Liu had sent someone to investigate her. Even Sang Chen had been taken out. How could she hide the fact that she was treating prostitutes?

Ran Yan calmed herself down for a while and comforted herself. Fortunately, Provincial Governor Liu didn’t have any malicious intentions. If this matter were to fall into someone else’s hands, he might be able to hold her back.

In the end, she was still furious. She looked coldly at him. This glance was calm, but it felt like the calm before a storm. Even though he2 was a high-ranking official, he wasn’t someone who couldn’t be easily squashed!

However, apart from this gaze, she couldn’t openly threaten the provincial governor. However, she knew that Liu Cishi, who had been in the officialdom for decades, only needed her to properly show some anger and dissatisfaction and save him face. He wouldn’t go too far when she still had value to be used.

“Have you found any clues?” Ran Yan glanced at Wan Lu and gestured for her to bring her box.

Wan Lu walked into the shed and put down the case. She took out the blouse, mask, and gloves and helped Ran Yan put them on. Ge Lan held the umbrella and stood outside the shed, quietly watching Ran Yan’s every movement, every slight change in expression. Coupled with what she had to do now, she couldn’t help but be secretly shocked. She thought about the warning last night and couldn’t help but re-examine Ran Yan.

“There were no traces on the top of the hill. Nonetheless, there were signs that the grass below had been rolled down. Many of the grass had been torn off, and the slope wasn’t steep. I’ve tried, and I can walk up directly. It looks like the victim’s body was injured, so it’s possible that he couldn’t walk but could only climb. However, no blood was found near the grass. Moreover, it rained heavily last night, so they might have been washed away,” Judge Yu explained everything that he had discovered. In the end, he said, “That’s all. We haven’t found anything yet. We’ve expanded our search scope, but we haven’t heard anything yet.”

“Yes.” Ran Yan squatted down and observed the corpse. She looked up and saw the document that was about to be recorded. “Male, age…” she said. “He’s about twenty years old. He’s seven feet long, and he’s well developed. His skin is white, and he’s wearing a wide gray robe with a round collar. He’s lying on his stomach. His lapels are scattered, and his hair is disheveled. There’s a large amount of moss on it, and two loose needles.”

When Provincial Governor Liu heard this, he turned around and ordered the two soldiers beside him to check the pine trees and mosses nearby.

Ran Yan ordered them to draw the body’s prone shape as a record, then slowly turn over his body. The body showed signs of decay. It could be inferred that the time of death was within three days, two days or more, which coincided with the time when Sang Chen appeared nearby.

Ran Yan subconsciously held her breath and her mind started to buzz. A drop of sweat appeared on her forehead and her hands didn’t notice the weight of the corpse.

At the same time, the corpse was turned over. Ran Yan suddenly closed her eyes and used her arms to support the ground.

“Miss.” Wan Lu worriedly rushed forward.

Ran Yan slowly opened her eyes and saw an unfamiliar face in front of her. Her eyes reddened and tears almost fell from her calm eyes. She understood that her worries about Sang Chen still accounted for a very small part of it. These were the after-effects of that incident, and she was extremely afraid of such a thing.

“I’m fine.” It only took Ran Yan two breaths to return to normal. She continued to examine the body and told them about its condition.

After his clothes were examined, Ran Yan naturally had to take off all the covers on him.

At this moment, the two bailiffs brought over a wooden board to help lift the corpse onto it.

Wan Lu and Ge Lan were two women that weren’t informed. They couldn’t help but open their mouths in surprise when they saw Ran Yan unceremoniously strip the man’s clothes. Thus, they immediately reacted and turned around.

Provincial Governor Liu looked at them and thought to himself, That is the norm for a young lady!

Ran Yan, on the other hand, was examining it carefully as if no one else was present. Yu Bohao was a little uneasy as if he himself had been stripped.

“On the back of the corpse, there was a wound in the middle of the back of the head. The wound has scabbed. It was caused by a blunt object when he was alive. The wound on his back is obvious. There is a long bruise on his back. It is three fingers wide and about a foot three inches long…”

This corpse could be said to be covered in scales and wounds. It was a horrible sight to behold. His arms were also covered in bruises from blunted weapons. His fingers were broken, and his fingernails were filled with dirt and grass. His chest wasn’t very well either. However, it seemed that the bruise on his chest was man-made. Some of the other bruises were corpse spots, and some might have been inflicted by the rocks and vegetation when he climbed the mountain.

“Huh?” When Ran Yan examined the lower half of the body, the corners of her lips – hidden under the mask – curled up slightly. She quickly flipped through the dead man’s pants and found irregular spots on them. She also found gray-white, paste-like objects near the waist of his pants.

“Found semen,” Ran Yan asked the bailiff to put its pants in a cloth bag as evidence, then took out tweezers and flipped through the private parts of the corpse. “Based on… my judgment.”

Ran Yan wanted to say ‘based on my experience,’ but she changed her words and continued, “Although after death, due to the stiffness and decompression of the internal organs, the body will produce excretions. In my opinion, this man must have had a sexual deed with someone before death and reached orgasm because his waist and abdomen were also contaminated. Generally, excretion after death won’t be affected there.”

Everyone present was stunned by Ran Yan’s words. What nakedness! There wasn’t a single hint of concealment. Even when a male was conducting an autopsy, he wouldn’t be so blatant!

Provincial Governor Liu’s expression stiffened for a moment before he asked, “In other words, he was on his way before he died… *Cough cough* After having sex, he hastily pulled up his pants and accidentally let… Uh, that thing stained his pants. In other words, he was with a woman before he died.”

Ran Yan slightly raised her eyebrows. “It’s not necessarily a woman.”

Everyone was stunned. What could she mean by that?