As they lifted a white banner, the stench of decay grew stronger. On the wooden board inside lay a corpse, now a brown-colored mummy. The skin still retained some elasticity, allowing the facial features to be faintly discernible.
A long, gruesome scar ran from the female corpse’s brow to her chin. The surrounding skin had wrinkled along this mark, clearly revealing the violence she had endured in her final moments.
Following the order of placement, the degree of decomposition worsened towards the back. The last two bodies were little more than incomplete skeletons, covered with severely eroded silk. Several injured bones had been picked out, and even after years, the knife marks on the sternum were still visible.
“It seems all the bodies have the same injuries – hearts removed, and the women’s faces mutilated,” Zhu Yan quietly observed, reaching this conclusion after examining each corpse.
“These two skeletons are the oldest. When unearthed, wild animals had already damaged the wooden coffins, leaving the bodies incomplete and decayed. We’ve done our best to reassemble them, but it’s difficult to determine the time of death. According to the coroner, it was likely between five to ten years ago.”
A lacquered tray lay to the left of the male corpse, containing scattered ornaments found in the coffin – jade pendants, women’s hairpins, and pearls that had been inlaid in belts.
Shen Du stood before these two remains, his gaze falling on the lacquered tray. Noticing a gold token with cloud patterns, he looked at it intently. Jing Lin immediately understood, stepped forward with hands wrapped in white cloth, and presented the token to Shen Du.
The gold token was about half a palm in size, with a pixiu carved in the center and a line of small characters imprinted at the end. The engraving was shallow, with the first few characters obscured by grime, but the rest remained legible.
“Supervised in the seventh year of Fei Sheng,” Zhu Yan silently noted the line.
Seeing Shen Du’s furrowed brow and thoughtful expression as he examined the token, Jiang Ming couldn’t help but wipe the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
This young and capable Da Ge Ling was known for his tyrannical and ruthless nature, and indeed, he was extraordinary in person. His narrow phoenix eyes slightly raised, exuding a pressuring aura that made Jiang Ming’s legs tremble, fearing he might inadvertently offend this Yama.
“Does the Da Ge Ling have any instructions?” Sensing that Shen Du might have discovered a clue, Jiang Ming ventured to ask.
“The killer’s first act was six years ago,” Shen Du’s thin lips parted to utter these words.
Startled, Jiang Ming quickly took out a charcoal pen and a small notebook from his bosom to record Shen Du’s statement.
“Why?” Zhu Yan reflexively questioned.
Shen Du raised his eyes slightly, his gaze mocking. Zhu Yan lowered her head and rubbed her nose, saying, “This killer uses the same method each time, so the timing of the crimes must also have a pattern. As they say, ‘A miss by an inch leads to an error of a thousand miles.’ If we guess wrong, finding the true culprit won’t be easy. I’m just… considering the Da Ge Ling’s reputation.”
Lu Chuichui couldn’t help but chuckle at this, leaning close to Zhu Yan’s ear, she whispered, “I never thought I’d see you flatter someone like this. How rare!”
Zhu Yan turned to glare at her lightly. Lu Chuichui playfully stuck out her tongue, but the room’s atmosphere was so heavy that she quickly lost her playful mood, fearing she might anger the White Yama.
Shen Du’s brows furrowed, seemingly impatient with Zhu Yan’s words. He paced around the wooden board holding the bodies, then raised his hand to point at the outer robe on the male corpse: “This is the Treasure-Appearance Double Fish pattern.”
Although the coffins containing these two had been damaged, severely corroding the clothing on the skeletons, the golden thread pattern on the shoulders was still visible after cleaning.
Zhu Yan pondered carefully, but the pattern was unfamiliar to her. If this person had indeed been killed six years ago, she would have been only ten years old at the time, hardly interested in the patterns on men’s clothing, so naturally, she knew little about it.
She remained silent, waiting for Shen Du to continue.
Wu Taiming, the Minister of Justice who had been quiet until now, suddenly spoke up in surprise: “The Treasure-Appearance Double Fish pattern, could it be…”
These words seemed strangely familiar. Jiang Ming wracked his brains, and suddenly a thought flashed through his mind. He clapped his hands in shock and exclaimed, “Jin Xiu Fang!”
“This Treasure-Appearance Double Fish pattern was a special design from Jin Xiu Fang, once all the rage in the capital!”
“Ahem.”
Seeing Jiang Ming’s sudden excitement causing him to lose composure in front of Minister Wu and Shen Du, Zhu Yan couldn’t help but cough lightly as a reminder.
Jiang Ming came to his senses, realizing his reaction had been too intense and his behavior inappropriate. He composed himself and bowed, saying, “I beg the Da Ge Ling and Minister Wu’s pardon for my rudeness.”
“It’s fine, continue,” Shen Du’s expression was stern, but he showed no anger.
“Yes!”
Reassured by Shen Du’s words, Jiang Ming calmed down and continued with a more controlled tone: “Jin Xiu Fang was once the largest silk shop in the capital. Their fabrics were worth their weight in gold, and all the nobles and officials in the city considered Jin Xiu Fang’s clothing to be the finest. Jin Xiu Fang also presented silks to the palace on the first day of each month.”
“However…” Recalling the events of that time, Jiang Ming hesitated, but Shen Du’s gaze weighed on him like a mountain, forcing him to continue, “However, in the sixth month of the eighth year of Fei Sheng, Jin Xiu Fang was charged with treason for exceeding regulations in the summer clothes they presented to Princess Runing.”
Zhu Yan’s bright eyes lit up. So it was this incident!
She did have some recollection of the silk shop’s treason case. However, during those years, the Empress heavily employed cruel officials, and a culture of denunciation prevailed in the court. Every few months, there would be cases of people being accused of treason, their families investigated and property confiscated. So, the silk shop’s case didn’t leave a deep impression.
Although Princess Runing managed to keep her life in this incident, her husband was executed by waist-cutting. The facts of the matter were no longer something anyone dared to investigate. After her husband’s death, the Princess took the vows of a criminal at Mingsheng Temple, never to step out of the temple grounds for the rest of her life.
Overnight, the once-prosperous Jin Xiu Fang was reduced to ashes and all the female workers who had designed and made clothes for the Princess were executed. Men and women throughout the city hurriedly burned any Jin Xiu Fang clothing in their homes to avoid suspicion and denunciation.
Although Jin Xiu Fang’s silks were beautiful, they were also expensive. Doctor Zhu was known for his integrity and would never have allowed such extravagant fabrics to be purchased for his household. So the panic of closed-door cloth burning did not occur in the Zhu residence.
But from Jiang Ming’s narrative, Zhu Yan quickly understood one thing: after the sixth month of the eighth year of Fei Sheng, absolutely no one in the capital would dare to wear Jin Xiu Fang fabrics in public.
This male corpse must have died before the Jin Xiu Fang treason case.
“The eighth year of Fei Sheng was indeed six years ago, but this gold token was made in the seventh year of Fei Sheng. It’s possible this person died in the seventh year of Fei Sheng, isn’t it?” Jing Lin, understanding the connection, couldn’t help but voice his confusion.
“Impossible,” Shen Du’s tone was indifferent but carried an undeniable certainty. “The Treasure-Appearance Double Fish pattern was a spring clothing design created by Jin Xiu Fang in the eighth year of Fei Sheng, sold between the second and fourth months of that year.”