The Delicate Lady Coroner

Second Furen’s previous speech explicitly blamed Zhèng Wén Yàn for slandering Zhèng Wén Chén, and for having the motivation to kill, but once Huò Wēi Lóu voiced that question, Second Furen exhibited obvious panic on her expression, even going as far as lowering her head to hit Zhèng Xiāo once, “Xiāo’er, what nonsense did you spout!

“Third Younger Brother only harbours the intention of snatching the noble title, there is no saying of inauspiciousness.”

Second Furen lowered her eyes, gaze evasive, and her tone was tinged with fear. Huò Wēi Lóu’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, “Zhèng Wén Chén lost his life to someone who conspired against him. If you are hiding something, it might allow his murderer to hide even deeper, have you thought about that?”

The space between Second Furen’s brows wrinkled together, and she nodded her head. “Every word that min’fu has uttered is the truth, she does not dare to hide anything from Hou’ye.”

民妇 (pinyin: min fu) – commoner-woman.

Huò Wēi Lóu stared at Second Furen for a moment, then shifted his eyes to signal for Fu gonggong to continue.

Thus, Fu gonggong said: “On the night of Second Master’s death, why didn’t you go to Lao Furen’s mourning hall together?”

Once Second Furen recalled that night, anguish rose from the bottom of her eyes again. “That night, we were supposed to go together, but Husband resented having to go early, and he was in a difficult predicament. After Mother passed away, Third Younger Brother suspected that Mother’s death was related to Husband. Almost immediately, rumours about how Husband murdered Mother circulated through all levels of the residence, and even the servants looked at Husband differently. Husband had flown into a rage because of that, but it did not turn for the better in the slightest. After the first few days, he would stay in his room all day, refusing to go out, and on that night, he wanted to arrive at the mourning hall last.

“Husband was not willing to go early, but min’fu did not want to be improper. Our second branch was already in a difficult position; min’fu wasn’t just doing it for herself, she was forbearing it for the sake of Xiāo’er, so she left with Xiāo’er first, afterwards…”

Second Furen wiped the corners of her eyes. “Since it was said that Husband went to the Moon-Viewing Pavilion, min’fu brought along Xiāo’er and rushed there first under a maidservant’s lead. Upon arrival, [we] saw Husband standing in front of the third-floor railing. Min’fu was about to puzzle over it when she saw a person behind him…”

Fear emerged from Second Furen’s eyes, “Back then, [I] didn’t have the time to contemplate who it was before [I] watched with wide eyes as Husband fell down from the building, and just like that… Just like that… He fell to his death right in front of min’fu and Xiāo’er’s eyes.”

Tears poured down, and Second Furen could not help but choke up again. Since she was in front of Huò Wēi Lóu and the rest, she repressed her wails as much as she could, but the more she acted this way, the more distressed the others felt. Zhèng Xiāo buried his face behind Second Furen, sobbing quietly as well.

“If… If it were not for Third Younger Brother suspecting Husband, Husband would not be confronted with everyone’s suspicions, and he wouldn’t have dragged until the last moment before going, and he wouldn’t have died…” Second Furen clenched her eyes shut, the soft trembles of her cries brimming with pain and grief, but her resentment remained scarce, as if her slender body was a lamp nearly exhausted of its oil, and it no longer had the strength to harbour hate.

Huò Wēi Lóu asked: “Do you know why he went to the Moon-viewing Pavilion?”

Second Furen wiped away her tears as she shook her head. “Min’fu does not know, the Moon-viewing Pavilion is a place to admire the scenery. When Oldest Brother was still around, he would go there frequently, but once Oldest Brother passed away, he would occasionally call for everyone to admire the scenery and have a small gathering, though it premised on Mother being present and there being a good view first.”

Which made it even stranger; it was the night seven days after Mother’s passing, he clearly knew that the religious ceremony was about to begin, and yet he went to the remote Moon-viewing Pavilion alone.

The Moon-viewing Pavilion had not received visitors for a long time and dust had sheeted every surface. It was not plausible that he went there to get tipsy and admire the scenery. The only possibility was that he was invited or lured over, but Zhèng Wén Chén had a temper that was quick to rile, and his position in the residence was respectable as well, so what could have compelled him to go there?

“In the residence as a whole, is there anyone you suspect?”

After Huò Wēi Lóu asked that, Second Furen’s shoulders shrank, and fear was clearly written on her face in large letters, “Min’fu… Min’fu does not know. To say that someone hates and has a desire for revenge against Husband is out of the question, and the only possibility is the noble title…”

Second Furen used a tremendous amount of strength to finish saying those words, though she did not dare to point at Zhèng Wén Yàn directly.

“On the seventh day of passing, when did Zhèng Wén Yàn arrive at the mourning hall, and did he leave in the middle? And when Zhèng Wén Chén met with his demise, when did he appear?”

Owing to the nature of the questions, Second Furen promptly raised her head, and as she was trying her best to recall the details, her eyes brightened slightly. “He arrived after Third Younger Sister-in-law; they didn’t come together. After waiting for [my] Husband for an extended period of time, he commanded the servants to look for Husband while he departed. He was managing the family then, there were many and varied miscellaneous matters to attend to, and he was not obligated to inform everyone where he was going. Min’fu is unaware of where he went, and after the boy-servant reported that Husband had gone to the Moon-viewing Pavilion, min’fu had rushed there in a hurry, and didn’t notice when he arrived, but impressionistically speaking, he should have arrived at the last moment—”

Her account corroborated with Zhèng Yún Ní’s statement. Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes congealed, “When did Zhèng Wén Yàn force both of you to hand over the folded booklet?”

A shred of hatred rose from the depths of Second Furen’s eyes at this moment. “The third day after Husband’s death. Husband has Xiāo’er after all, if Mother truly wrote the folded booklet, and as long as Mother personally wrote it and used the legally binding seal, min’fu can have it sent into the Capital, and the noble title will be inherited according to stated priority and land on Xiāo’er’s head then. It’s precisely because of this that he tried to force [us], he… even went as far as having his servants search our courtyard, but if we really had the folded booklet, why would we keep it instead of sending it into the capital? He didn’t manage to find anything, and I’m his second older sister-in-law when all is said and done; with so many people in the residence watching, he could only return without any gains.”

There were no other questions for the time being, so Fu gonggong said: “One will be troubling Second Furen to call in Third Furen and Third Master.”

“Call for Zhèng Wén Ān instead.”

Huò Wēi Lóu spoke, but it was to change the order of the interrogations. Fu gonggong faltered before coming to a subsequent understanding.

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The Fifth Master Zhèng Wén Ān had a warm and generous countenance. Once he stepped through the doors, he bowed respectfully, looking very much like a conformist of the rules and customs.

Fu gonggong asked the usual questions first, like the night of Lao Furen’s death, Zhèng Wén Ān was staying together with his wife, and seven to eight of their servants could testify, and on the night of Zhèng Wén Chén’s death, the married couple had reached the earliest, and they later headed to the moon-viewing pavilion with everyone else to search for Zhèng Wén Chén. With all that was said, the pair could be ruled out.

Fu gonggong then asked: “Does Fifth Master hold the suspicion that Second Master conspired against Lao Furen?”

Zhèng Wén Ān hesitated monetarily before saying: “Zaixia does not hold that suspicion.”

Fu gonggong raised his brows. “One would like to hear the details.”

Zhèng Wén Ān replied, “When Mother gave birth to Second Brother, it wasn’t easy, hence why she doted on Second Brother more ever since he was young, which led to Second Brother cultivating a somewhat disagreeable temper. When Oldest Brother was still around, it was better, since there was someone to suppress him, but after Oldest Brother left, Second Brother started balking at attempts to discipline him a little. However, irrespective of his short temper, he’s a cowardly person, he wouldn’t dare to kill someone.”

“In your residence, has the saying that Zhèng Wén Yàn is an inauspicious person been circulating around?”

In the face of Huò Wēi Lóu’s unexpected question, Zhèng Wén Ān’s eyebrows raised, as if he was slightly surprised, but he came back to his senses very quickly, “Hou’ye, why is that a question? How was the saying phrased?”

He seemed to be completely out of the loop. Fu gonggong stared at him for a long while, before glancing at Huò Wēi Lóu again. Upon seeing that Huò Wēi Lóu was simply unaffected, he said: “Fifth Master may leave, please invite Fifth Furen inside.”

Zhèng Wén Ān cupped his hands withdrew, while Fu gonggong murmured in a low voice: “Wasn’t it rumoured that Zheng er’ye (2nd) would raise his hand against his wife?”

Huò Wēi Lóu responded in an apathetic voice: “Only a cowardly and powerless man would raise his hand against his own wife.”

The Fifth Furen Liu-shi came in shortly after. Her account was no different from Zhèng Wén Ān’s, and the questions were quickly exhausted. Fu gonggong said: “Please invite the Third Master.”

氏 (pinyin: shi) – a suffix placed after a woman’s patronymic.

When Zhèng Wén Yàn entered the room, his expression was already slightly unwell. Huò Wēi Lóu opened his mouth and questioned: “Why have the keys to the medicine storehouse disappeared?”

Zhèng Wén Yàn’s mien became bitter, “Reporting to Hou’ye, the residence has a reporting hall where household matters are dealt with, and the most important keys are always on [my] person, while less important storehouse keys are placed in a small study within the reporting hall, and the keys to the medicine storehouse were the same. The medicine storehouse has not been open for many days, zaixia has never checked to see if the keys were still there. When the Prefectural Magistrate said that he wanted it today, it was only then that someone was dispatched to retrieve it, but one did not expect that the keys were missing.”

Without beating around the bush, Huò Wēi Lóu asked: “On Lao Furen’s seventh day of passing, you arrived the latest, and then you left again, what were you doing?”

Zhèng Wén Yàn hurriedly said: “The late arrival was because I had to arrange the courtyard for the shifu who were conducting the religious ceremony, and I left again afterwards because I heard that Second Brother couldn’t be found anywhere. After giving orders to the servants, I suddenly remembered that Second Brother said that he didn’t hear anyone calling him from the outside whilst he was in the study last time, so I personally went to Second Brother’s study to find him. After I reached the place, I saw the study door open, but there was no one inside. Just as I came out of the study, I heard that he was seen going to the Moon-viewing Pavilion and I hurried over, but I didn’t expect that the accident had already happened.”

“Can anyone testify for you?”

Zhèng Wén Yàn revealed a difficult expression, “This… After I came out from the study, I encountered Steward Lin at the northwest flower bed…”

However, the northwest flowerbed was rather close to both the Moon-viewing Pavilion and Zhèng Wén Chén’s study courtyard, and even if the witness saw him, it could not prove that he did not go to the Moon-viewing Pavilion during that period of time.

“Did you go Zhèng Wén Chén’s study to look for Zhèng Wén Chén, or were you looking for the title succession folded booklet that your mother prepared for Zhèng Wén Chén?”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s gaze was like a knife, and after he fully verbalised the question, a layer of cold sweat appeared on Zhèng Wén Yàn’s face. He gritted his teeth and said: “Zaixia does not understand Hou’ye’s question, I really went to look for Second Brother.”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s gaze was unwavering, still mighty, oppressive, and dreadful.

With due haste, Zhèng Wén Yàn replied: “The night Mother died, zaixia was in his courtyard the entire night, zaixia has an alibi, Hou’ye shouldn’t be suspecting zaixia—”

Despite that, Huò Wēi Lóu rose to his feet. “Go to the medicine storehouse.”

Zhèng Wén Yàn wiped away a handful of sweat and agreed in a respectful manner. Huò Wēi Lóu lifted his foot and walked out, and as he was walking past Bó Ruò Yōu, his gaze swept past her face, “You’re following.”

Bó Ruò Yōu verbally complied, following behind Fu gonggong and Hè Chéng as they stepped out.

The group walked out of the side hall, and only saw that everyone inside the reception hall were wearing heavy expressions. Upon seeing the profusely sweating Zhèng Wén Yàn lead Huò Wēi Lóu’s entourage to head outside, they wanted to follow along, but they were stopped by the embroidered emissaries.

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The medicine storehouse was in the north. Because it wasn’t frequently used, the entire courtyard appeared a little desolate.

Once they entered the courtyard, Zhèng Wén Yàn pointed at the left wing-rooms and said: “These three rooms are the medicine storehouses. Hou’ye, look, the locks are still in place, it’s just that the keys are missing.”

Huò Wēi Lóu signalled to the embroidered emissary behind him. That embroidered emissary came forward, and it was unknown how he fiddled with it, but the lock was opened. Zhèng Wén Yàn was the first one through the door and he strode towards a row of medicine compartments on the left, homing in on the medicine drawer labelled as ‘Datura stramonium’ and opening it. “The Datura stramonium is placed right—”

Before he could finish saying “here”, Zhèng Wén Yàn’s voice was cut off, because the medicine drawer was empty. Why wasn’t there the slightest bit of Datura stramonium in there?

“This… This isn’t possible…”

He pulled open five to six medicine drawers that were conveniently within reach, only to see that it was full of ginseng, reishi mushrooms, so on and so forth.

The more valuable medicinal herbs were still present, and yet the Datura stramonium was gone.

Huò Wēi Lóu stared at Zhèng Wén Yàn, “It looks like you owe a proper explanation.”