There is a god in the sky

Chapter 173 The Dance Competition Scandal 8

In the blink of an eye, only Xiao Ji and the others, along with a thin, frail old man, remained in the morgue.

The old man walked to the corpse and stared at Shen Lan stitching up the abdomen she had just cut open.

"You must be very good at embroidery," the old man praised.

Shen Lan took a moment to reply to him: "I'm not very good at embroidery, but I'm good at sewing clothes."

She cut off the loose threads and tidied the deceased's clothes.

"This young lady is so meticulous. Should we do her makeup?"

Shen Lan turned around and saw a face full of wrinkles up close.

She asked earnestly, "Are you going to pay for her burial? I will."

The old man's lips twitched, he took a step back, and said disdainfully, "I have no money."

Shen Lan regretfully packed up her tools; she had lost another source of extra income.

"Girl, how did you know she was pregnant?"

Qingman's belly wasn't protruding; at most, it was just a little bit chubby, so most people wouldn't suspect she was pregnant.

"At first, we just checked her hymen and were surprised to find that she was not a virgin."

Later, I felt a lump in her abdomen, and based on my own guesses, I suspected she was pregnant.

"You dared to cut open her stomach with just a little suspicion, you're very bold."

"This verification is important; it may be helpful to the case."

Shen Lan saw Xiao Ji, who was also deep in thought.

"It seems that the maid Qiaoyu is still not telling the truth."

How could a personal maid not know that her mistress was pregnant?

The father of this child must be someone of extraordinary status.

The old man said gloatingly, "If what they say is true, and this child is the crown prince, then you're in for a rough time."

The old man walked out slowly with his hands behind his back.

Sui Feng stared at his retreating figure and asked Shen Lan, "Who is that old man? He looks so strange."

Shen Lan shook her head. She didn't know either, but he should know about autopsies.

Xiao Ji said to them, "If I'm not mistaken, he should be Ji, the coroner of the Capital Region Criminal Investigation Department."

Shen Lan wrapped up the dissected fetus and placed it next to the corpse.

The fetus is stillborn and has not yet formed, so it can be buried with the body.

"Let's talk outside." Shen Lan led the way out of the morgue.

"The deceased was about three and a half months pregnant. Logically speaking, she couldn't have been unaware of it."

But she still chose to go on stage to dance, which shows how much she valued this competition.

Her interpersonal relationships were more complex than we thought; crimes of passion and revenge killings were both possible.

"You said she didn't struggle before she died. Is it possible that there was more than one murderer?"

If it was a coordinated crime, then they could have easily held down the victim's hands and feet to commit the murder.

"It is indeed possible."

The two walked outside together, where the carriage was parked.

"I'll take you back first." It was already dark outside, and there was quite a distance between the yamen and the bookstore.

Shen Lan pushed open the courtyard gate and was about to call out to Xuan'er when she realized something was wrong.

It's so quiet, there's not a single light.

No matter how late she came back before, Xuan'er would always leave a light on for her.

She placed her toolbox by the door, held a small knife between her fingers, and quietly went inside.

"Clang!" The sound of something falling to the ground was followed by the lights coming on inside the room.

"Is it my sister who's back?" Xuan'er asked.

"It's me." Shen Lan put away the knife and waited for Xuan'er to open the door. Seeing that Xuan'er was wearing her daytime clothes and her face was flushed, she hurriedly went up and touched her forehead.

"You have a fever."

Xuan'er touched her face in confusion. "Do I have a fever? I don't feel anything. I just fell asleep while waiting for my sister at the table."

"I've told you many times, you don't need to wait for me to come back. If you're scared, let Xiao Ding stay with you for a while."

Shen Lan led her inside, first had her lie down, and wrung out a handkerchief to cover her forehead to cool her down.

"Lie down first, I'll go get you your medicine. Take two pills and you'll feel better after a nap."

A cold is a very common illness, but here, if you have a cold and fever, you have to go to get medicine and have it decocted. The whole process takes up most of the day.

So Shen Lan made the pills herself, with a formula similar to the cold medicine she often took in her previous life.

However, there are no fever-reducing medications available here, and pure traditional Chinese medicine is slow to reduce fever and requires a long treatment course.

Xuan'er obediently took the pills, lay down, grabbed Shen Lan's arm, and said, "Sister, I have an older brother who died from a cold."

"A cold is just a minor illness, you'll be fine. I'm here, you have to trust me."

"Mm." Xuan'er nodded trustingly.

She knew that Sister Shen was very capable, seemingly omnipotent.

After she fell asleep, Shen Lan went to boil water for a bath. Even with charcoal burning in the room, it still felt cold, so she quickly lay down in bed.

She clutched the stone to her chest, thinking: Perhaps I should wear this to see Miao Niang tomorrow; there has to be some result.

But her plan did not come to fruition. Early in the morning, Xiao Ji sent a carriage to pick her up.

The wind brought breakfast.

Shen Lan took Xuan'er's temperature, fed her a bowl of vegetable porridge, then placed the pills beside her and told her to take them in half an hour before going out with Sui Feng.

"If the cases keep piling up like this, my bookstore will have to close down," Shen Lan complained.

“Miss Shen’s main job is as a coroner; the bookstore is just an extra job. If you need a manager, I can arrange one for you.”

"No need, I can manage." Shen Lan knew very well that Xiao Ji had given her this shop to run so that she would have a place to stay.

Now that the bookstore is just starting to do well, she won't abandon it.

Halfway through the journey, Shen Lan remembered to ask, "Who is this dead person?"

"Qiaoyu, Qingman's maid."

"Wasn't she locked up in prison? If she's dead now, she's probably been silenced."

Shen Lan dissected a fetus from Qing Man's belly, something many people witnessed, and those who should know probably already know.

"She's dead, so it'll be very difficult to find out who the child's biological father is, right?"

Sui Feng smiled and secretly told her, "The adults were prepared in advance, so the one who died was a fake Qiaoyu. However, this matter cannot be told to others for the time being."

Shen Lan nodded blankly.

Didn't Xiao Ji come back with her yesterday? When did he arrange this?

Why would an official who was temporarily brought in to investigate a case be on guard?

"Your Excellency truly has foresight!" Shen Lan exclaimed.

"After all, the lord has reviewed all the cases in Bianjing over the past ten years. He once said that when handling cases involving important people, it is not important who is right or wrong, but who can control the direction of the case."

Someone wants Qiaoyu dead, and that person is most likely the child's father.

Xiao Ji had this guess last night.

Qiaoyu is the only one who might know who the child's father is. Assuming that Qingman was killed by that man, and now that the child's affair has been exposed, Qiaoyu certainly won't survive either.

"Let's assume that this was something Miss Shen said."

Shen Lan thought it made a lot of sense.

She never imagined that someone would actually kill her woman and child.

How cruel must one be?