Just as Shen Li was about to speak, she heard a voice ring out before her. "That's because he's a corpse."
The words seemed rather out of the blue, as if someone was deliberately causing a ruckus. It was hard to believe, but Shen Li knew that Xuan Yuan Jue was telling the truth. His words had hit the nail on the head.
"I wonder what the young master meant by those words just now?" The coroner looked at the man standing on the outskirts of the crowd.
"What do I mean? Isn't it obvious?" Xuan Yuan Jue walked towards the main hall while twirling his fan. "This guy was really unlucky. He fell into the water, but fortunately, he was found early and rescued. But his luck was just too bad. When he fell into the water, he hit his head on a rock. So, the life he'd just managed to save was gone in an instant."
"How does the young master know all this so clearly? Do you have any evidence?" The coroner looked at Xuan Yuan Jue, who was standing there with a leisurely air, twirling his fan.
"Evidence? What evidence do I need?" Xuan Yuan Jue glanced at Qin An's body lying on the ground and pointed at it. "If you want evidence, just ask him!"
As soon as Xuan Yuan Jue said this, the onlookers outside burst into laughter. "This is the first time I've ever heard of asking a dead man for evidence and making him talk!"
Unlike the onlookers who were just there for the show, the coroner's face showed a hint of deep thought. "Does the young master mean that there's evidence on this corpse that reveals the real cause of the victim's death?"
"Right! Not bad!" Xuan Yuan Jue nodded at the coroner. "Since you seem to have some talent, I'll teach you a thing or two today. Listen carefully!"
"First, take a look at his face. Do you see any bluish-purple marks?"
The coroner shook his head, indicating that he didn't.
"That's right! People who are really strangled or hanged will have their faces turn bluish-purple due to difficulty breathing. But this victim's face is pale, with no sign of bluish-purple."
"Secondly, just as Shen Zhang has verified before, when a person is strangled, they will struggle desperately, especially with their hands, arms, and calves. On the corpse, this would mean that there might be bloodstains from the attacker under their fingernails, and the muscles in their arms and calves would be very tense, with the blood vessels thicker than normal."
"None of these signs are present on this body, which is why I say he wasn't strangled to death!"
After Xuan Yuan Jue finished speaking, the coroner was completely convinced. "Then how does the young master know the real cause of this man's death?"
Xuan Yuan Jue's eyes swept over the hair, hands, and feet of the corpse. He then said to the coroner, "Go and take a closer look. Are his hair, fingers, and toes a bit damp?"
The coroner did as he was told and indeed felt a faint dampness in the hair and moisture between the fingers. He took off Qin An's shoes and examined his toes carefully.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "His hair, fingers, and toes all feel a bit damp!"
Xuan Yuan Jue snapped his fan shut and tapped his left palm with the handle of the fan in his right hand. "That's right! This means he fell into the water!"
"But... but!"
"But when Qin An was found this morning, he was clearly wearing this set of clothes. If he really fell into the water, how did his clothes get so dry?"
Xuan Yuan Jue said what the coroner wanted to ask but was afraid to say.
As he spoke, he looked at Lord Liang sitting above. "It's quite simple. Someone just dried his clothes and dressed him again. But the shoes are new. I suppose it's because the boots got wet and are not easy to dry."
Lord Liang was now sweating not only on his back but also on his face. He quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped it twice.
"Prince Xuan Yuan, this is the job of the Prefecture of the Capital. You don't need to trouble yourself, Your Highness!" Lord Liang forced a smile on his face, but in his heart, he wished Xuan Yuan Jue would just disappear as far as possible!
Xuan Yuan Jue had a faint smile on his face, and his voice sounded righteous. "Lord Liang, there's no need to be so polite! I just happened to pass by and saw you handling a case, so I thought I'd come and help. I'm already satisfied if I can be of any help to you!"
"We're all working towards solving this case as soon as possible. Lord Liang, there's no need for such formalities. After all, our goals are the same, aren't they, Lord Liang?"
"Yes, yes, yes! The same! The same!" Lord Liang said while wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief.
As soon as Xuan Yuan Jue spoke, Shen Li had already left the main hall. Shen Zhang, however, remained inside. His suspicion still hadn't been cleared.
"Now that we've proven that the victim died after falling into the water and being hit on the head by a heavy object, all we need to do now is figure out who changed his clothes and made it look like he was strangled. The person who changed his clothes must be related to the murderer."
Xuan Yuan Jue spoke loudly and quickly. Lord Liang couldn't even stop him.
Lord Liang had no choice but to shift his gaze to Shen Zhang. Sensing Lord Liang's gaze, Shen Zhang realized what was going on and quickly said, "Lord Liang, as far as I know, there are no lakes or streams in the academy. Instead, you should investigate the people who drank with Qin An that night."
"You should also check the place where they drank. You can ask the shopkeeper and the waiters. Maybe you'll find something useful."
"Do I need you to tell me how to conduct the investigation?" Lord Liang no longer had the obsequious tone he had used with Xuan Yuan Jue when speaking to Shen Zhang. "You're meddling too much. I think you're the murderer, deliberately faking the scene of the victim's death."
"The coroner might have made a mistake, but the witnesses and evidence are all related to you. How do you explain that?"
Shen Zhang wanted to say that the evidence and witnesses could be faked or planted, but seeing Lord Liang's ugly face, he changed his words. "My lord, I lost my jade pendant a long time ago. There was someone who saw me looking for it in the school. He can testify for me that I lost it earlier."
Lord Liang didn't expect the case to be so full of twists and turns today. Now Shen Zhang was trying to prove that the jade pendant was false evidence. Lord Liang was extremely reluctant, but since they were in the middle of a trial, he couldn't reject a reasonable request from the suspect.