Bone Painting Coroner

Ji Yunshu’s words reverberated throughout the court. The guards looked at each other in shock before their gazes finally settled on the heartless and sadistic Liang Da. How they wished they could bludgeon that scoundrel to death with their own hands!

Liang Da was calm, as if all these had happened to a stranger, and he listened, completely immersed into the story.

Zuo Yao fidgeted in his seat, “And then? What happened to that cat?”

Ji Yunshu took two steps towards Liang Da, looking down at him as she continued, “And then... he flung his cup onto the ground and went to pull the cat out of the corner of the room. As the cat caught the smell of dried orange peel on his hands, it scurried back and forth within the room to avoid it. As Liang Da chased after it, he accidentally knocked over the screen, leaving behind three scratch marks along the screen’s edge. After strangling the cat to death, he then quietly left the room, pushing all the blame onto the still unconscious Qiao Zihua, who was still lying on the floor.”

Cased closed, it seems. Then, it’s time to produce solid evidence.

Zuo Yao looked at Liang Da, “Is Teacher Ji correct?”

He cocked his head, “How dare a mere songstress like her seduce other men? Don’t tell me you thought she did not deserve to die? I truly regret it - I should have dragged her to the kitchen and carve off her flesh bit by bit and put them up for sale in the market at Butcher Rong’s.” He cackled excitedly, showing his extreme perverseness! It was chilling to the core.

Liang Da smirked at Ji Yunshu, “Do you have proof?”

Of course she did! Ji Yunshu’s gaze landed on his long right sleeve, “The evidence lies in the prosthetic arm of yours, hidden within your sleeve.”

Prosthetic arm? What was she talking about?

Zuo Yao shot a look at the men beside him, and two of them quickly scrunched up Liang Da’s right sleeve to reveal the steel prosthetic arm beneath it. His long metallic fingers gleamed coldly as if they were ready to gouge out their hearts without notice.

Liang Da made no efforts to resist, and even held up his fingers in admiration, slowly licking them one by one. The rusty taste of old blood gushed down his throat, making him tingle with excitement.

Jing Rong had enough - this man was beyond disgusting. He wanted to fling his teacup across the room at that revolting creature, but he thought against it as he didn’t want to ruin the sombre mood within the court.

Zuo Yao unknowingly gulped in fear, turning away from Liang Da to address Ji Yunshu, “How could that prosthetic arm be proof, Teacher Ji?”

Ji Yunshu slowly removed the corner she was holding inside her sleeve, pointing out the three scratch marks on it, “These marks were not caused by a human’s hand, but by Liang Da’s steel hand. The ladies of Zhichun Court often use dried orange peel to get rid of all sorts of unwanted odours, and the responsibility for preparing these fell onto Liang Da’s shoulders. Before he chased that cat up to the third floor, he must have been working with dried orange peel in the kitchen, which caused his metallic fingers to be stained by its scent. When he knocked into the screen and accidentally scratched this corner-piece, it left behind three scratch marks and the smell of dried orange peel.”

A yamen runner brought forth the corner-piece for Zuo Yao, who sniffed carefully. How strange, it did smell like dried orange peel!

Ji Yunshu continued, “This is just the first piece of evidence I have. The second piece of evidence is none other than Ye’er’s remains. When I used a mixture of cobblestone and soy sauce and applied it on them, several thin, long marks unveiled themselves on her cheekbones and wrist bones. They looked as if they were strangulation marks, but who in the world would have such strange fingers? Only Liang Da’s prosthetic hand could cause such damage.”

What?! This case finally made sense.

Liang Da could care less about what Ji Yunshu was saying; he continued licking his right arm, his tongue caressing every inch of that cold, hard steel. How disgusting!

However, Zuo Yao had his doubts, “Wasn’t Miss Ye’er defiled by him?”

“He didn’t do it! There were actually four men who entered her room that day - the man who defiled Ye’er, or... possibly consensually slept with Ye’er, had already escaped from the window after Qiao Zihua fainted and prior to Liang Da’s arrival.”

“I see... but wasn’t Miss Ye’er poisoned with Ludan Poison? If what you have said is the truth, then shouldn’t she have been poisoned with rat poison instead? That was what Liang Da used.”

Zuo Yao was digging his own grave.

Ji Yunshu snapped back in an accusatory tone, “If your official coroner had done his job properly and examined the cup by her bed, then he wouldn’t have written Ludan Poison in his report!”

Even a fool knew what Ji Yunshu was implying - that coroner must have been bribed by the Qiao Family, and must have concluded the case without any proper investigation. Zuo Yao sheepishly glanced at Jing Rong, but quickly withdrew his gaze, instead questioning Liang Da, “The evidence is conclusive - do you have anything else to say?”

Liang Da shrugged, casually sweeping some stray locks away from his face with his prosthetic arm, revealing his gnarly visage. A sense of relief overcame him instead, and he protested no further, “I had planned to kill that cat, but I ended up killing Ye’er as well - there’s nothing else for me to say. Imprison me as you wish, even better still, just take my head. I’ve wanted to die for such a long time now - and now I can finally have my wishes fulfilled. This is a blessing for me!” Come now, let me die!

Zuo Yao ordered for Liang Da to be brought forth, as he slammed his gavel the best he could while enduring the pain in his hands, “The criminal Liang Da has confessed. Throw him into the prison for the time being and report this to the Ministry of Justice. We will await their ruling.”

As soon as Zuo Yao finished, Liang Da’s maniacal laughter echoed through the court. He suddenly turned towards Ji Yunshu, “If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that you were in that room at that time. How else could you have explained all these in such detail?”

“How I wished I was there.” If so, she could have seen who the person who escaped from the window was! Who was that man who had defiled Ye’er?

After Liang Da had been taken into custody, Zuo Yao left his bench and gave Jing Rong and Ji Yunshu a courteous bow, “This case is finally closed thanks to Your Highness and Teacher Ji.”

Ji Yunshu was not as pleased as he was.

“Teacher Ji, shouldn’t you be happy now that the truth has been revealed?”

How could she be satisfied? She pondered, “Before Miss Ye’er passed away, she sought out Qiao Zihua urgently and wanted him to make a report on her behalf. But before she could do so, Qiao Zihua was already knocked out. What was it that she wanted to convey? If it wasn’t a matter of life and death, then why would she want someone else to file a report on her behalf? Why couldn’t she do it herself?”

Although the case had been resolved, Ji Yunshu had a niggling sensation that there was something more. This case only brought more questions to the table, as if she were travelling through a dense fog that would not be lifted.