Chapter 362: Chapter 358: I Might Have Seen This Woman Before

The corpse is still at the Xue Family.

Xue Shaojian did not trust the Ministry of Justice under Li Shu’s control, so he reached out to Tang Xiaobai, hinting at the beggar’s murder case from years ago.

Back then, the beggar Jia San was killed, and the corpse placed at the Wannian County Government almost got destroyed.

It was Yao He who preserved the corpse that time.

Within the dilapidated house of the Xue Family, the lights were dim and yellow.

The traveler from the worldly society finally took off the bamboo hat, but the exposed face was still unrecognizable from the once carefree youth, perhaps due to the fatigue from days of travel and the unkempt appearance, making him seem weathered and aged by decades.

“Ah He…” Mrs. Xue murmured.

Since Xue Shaoqin’s death, she had hardly spoken, her whole being wooden, until now, when she finally moved her eyes, as if coming to life.

Yao He stepped forward, gripping her hand, and moved toward Xue Shaoqin’s corpse.

The tools for the autopsy were already prepared aside.

Without asking much, Yao He silently turned over the corpse.

Tang Xiaobai stood outside with Tao Fen, watching from afar.

After an unknown amount of time, Yao He turned around and shook his head at her: “No external injuries.”

Mrs. Xue immediately covered her face and wept.

Without external injuries, an autopsy for internal injuries must be done.

Died a wrongful death, and the body is incomplete.

Tang Xiaobai’s eyes also welled up with tears.

Inside and outside the door, no one spoke, only Mrs. Xue’s crying echoed.

The crying was suppressed, akin to sobbing, afraid of attracting unintended attention.

She exerted all her strength to suppress the uncontrollable grief, but did not oppose it.

In such a situation, even a heart of stone would be moved.

“Or…” Tao Fen hesitantly began to speak, his voice slightly choked, “Or check the head again?”

“It’s been checked,” Yao He replied, “No obvious wounds on the head.”

“What if it’s a thin nail or needle-like weapon piercing through the top of the head? Baihui, Fengchi, Fengfu?” Tao Fen continued.

Yao He’s eyes flickered: “Then shave the hair and take a look.”

Since an autopsy is planned, shaving hair is nothing hard to accept.

After shaving off the hair, Yao He explored the head briefly, then looked closely with the lamp.

Suddenly, he trembled all over.

“How is it?” Tao Fen asked hurriedly.

Yao He did not answer.

He placed down the lamp, lowered his head for a moment, then turned around.

Tang Xiaobai watched his raised right hand.

Fearing attracting attention, they didn’t light the lamp too brightly.

Being separated by distance, it was unclear what he held between his thumb and forefinger.

“A thin needle in the Baihui acupoint, inserted more than an inch deep,” Yao He said.

Tang Xiaobai and Tao Fen both showed shocked expressions.

Inserted more than an inch deep, not perceptible by touch.

Yao He remembered something, then turned back again.

After a while, he turned back, looking at his fingers: “Each of the Fengchi and Fengfu acupoints also has a needle, more than two inches long, all inserted more than an inch deep—” he paused slightly, “Enough to be fatal.”

After speaking, he raised his eyes to Tao Fen.

Tang Xiaobai also turned to Tao Fen, asking straightforwardly: “Did Brother Tao think of it himself, or was someone reminding you?”

If Tao Fen had already known this possibility, he wouldn’t have waited for Yao He to come to say it.

Moreover, when he spoke just now, his tone and expression carried hesitation, as if uncertain.

Asked at this moment, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head, saying: “It was by chance mentioned by Chuchu—”

…

“I just heard it while listening to someone tell stories outside—” Zhong Chuchu, when asked, had a pale face full of surprise, “Is this really how they died?” Turning to Tao Fen, somewhat smug, “See, the storybooks aren’t entirely fake!”

When facing others, Zhong Chuchu appeared quite calm, but in front of Tao Fen, she always showed some mischievousness.

Tao Fen only replied with a “haha” laugh, half revealing helplessness, half showing indulgence.

Tang Xiaobai watched with a smile, feeling amused.

But the questions had to continue: “When and where did you hear the storytelling? Do you remember who the storyteller was?”

Zhong Chuchu thought for a while, saying: “At the roadside tea stall outside the West City Gate, there are often storytellers from other places telling stories there, probably…” she frowned in deep thought, “Three months ago?” not too sure.

Tang Xiaobai knew of the tea stall outside the West City Gate.

The West City Gate sees many foreign merchants coming and going, and there are quite a few tea stalls along the official road outside the city gates, large and small.

The larger ones set up a simple stage for anyone to perform or sing a segment, earning rewards for the stall owner to take a cut.

Since it’s not a fixed storyteller and happened three months ago, there’s basically no hope of finding the person.

“Do you remember what the person looked like?”

Zhong Chuchu struggled to recall for a while, and still hesitantly said: “Thin and dry…with a goatee…height about seven feet less…”

Tang Xiaobai listened for a long time, yet didn’t hear any particularly useful information.

“I didn’t pay much attention at the time, just a passerby,” Zhong Chuchu apologetically said.

“No problem,” Tang Xiaobai shook his head, “I’m just being overly suspicious.”

“Why don’t you ask the Crown Prince for someone who can draw portraits, and have Chuchu cooperate to draw that person for a search?” Tao Fen eagerly proposed solutions, “Surely you’ll find someone at the Crown Prince’s place, go ask quickly!”

Hearing Tao Fen urge her to find the Crown Prince, Tang Xiaobai found it somewhat amusing and shook her head: “Perhaps it was just a passing person from the worldly society who mentioned this, ultimately helped us, no need to dig too deep.”

Tao Fen responded with an “Oh,” seemingly a bit disappointed, then asked: “Has the date for the betrothal ceremony been set?”

Tang Xiaobai shook her head: “This incident disrupted it, hasn’t been set yet.”

The murder involved her and Li Mu’s betrothal day, with various true and false sayings emerging.

Tao Fen heard a little gossip and grew anxious: “You need to make sure the Crown Prince pays attention, don’t let anyone cause trouble again.”

Tang Xiaobai laughed: “No, the date for the betrothal ceremony will be recalculated, won’t be delayed for too long.”

Her marriage, Brother Tao is more anxious than her own parents.

Speaking of marriage, Tang Xiaobai again thought of Xue Shaoqin’s mysterious fiancée.

Xue Shaoqin once mentioned that he met Yao He while bringing Su Zhenniang back to the capital, at that time, Yao He did not agree to attend Xue Shaoqin’s wedding, instead entrusted Xue Shaoqin to bring a gift to Tang Jiaojiao.

Which means Yao He must have seen Su Zhenniang?

…

“I haven’t met Miss Su—” Yao He said.

“You haven’t met her either?” Tang Xiaobai exclaimed in surprise.

This is too strange!

“I met with Brother Shaoqin and Miss Su on their return to the capital in Xingzhou, but at that time Miss Su did not appear, Brother Shaoqin said she doesn’t like seeing strangers, so I didn’t pay much attention,” while speaking, Yao He slightly frowned, his gaze showing some chill, “Are you suspicious of Miss Su?”

Today, Yao He was already freshened up and changed into new clothes, no longer like the weathered traveler he appeared yesterday.

After parting in the Northwest, two years passed.

Yao He’s appearance naturally matured significantly, his demeanor also settled down.

At this moment, due to a friend’s murder, his expression showed quite some gloominess, and the glance he gave Tang Xiaobai even carried a bit of sharpness.

Tang Xiaobai sighed inwardly, saying: “It’s not suspicion, just seems odd, Miss Su has been in the capital for months, very few people have seen her.”

Yao He pondered for a moment, saying: “In the past, I encountered similar people who rarely showed their faces, some were because of insecurity about their looks—”

“Those who have seen Su Zhenniang speak of her beauty,” Tang Xiaobai replied.

Yao He’s gaze deepened: “Insecurity about appearance is rare, more likely another situation—”

He paused slightly.

“Back in Xingzhou, I caught a glimpse of Su Zhenniang’s silhouette, at that time I had a feeling;”

“This woman, I might have seen before!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep