“The deceased is Lin Daxing, male, approximately five chi six cun in height…”
Qin Wan’s gaze was focused as her gloved hands touched Lin Daxing’s head.
Her eyes meticulously scanned every part of Lin Daxing’s face. She first pried open his eyes, then examined behind his hair bun, ears, and neck before speaking slowly, “The deceased’s eye membranes are cloudy, though pupils are still visible. There are contusions on the forehead, nose, and right cheek, with blue-purple patches but no open wounds or facial bone damage, likely caused by fist strikes.”
As she spoke, Qin Wan’s hand moved to Lin Daxing’s jaw. With slight force, his cracked lips parted. “There are substantial reddish-brown blood clots between the deceased’s lips and teeth, indicating heavy blood vomiting at the time of death.”
After speaking, she moved down the neck, her gaze suddenly intensifying. “Large bloodstains on the chest garment, with obvious tears at the shoulders, back, and knees, consistent with signs of physical altercation.”
As she finished speaking, Qin Wan began removing Lin Daxing’s clothes.
Her movements were swift, her expression solemn, but those watching from outside, including Madam Jiang, wore complex expressions.
Xu He, the only one among them who had performed multiple autopsies, quickly explained, “During an autopsy, the deceased’s clothes must be removed to examine injuries. This facilitates the inspection.”
Yue Qiong patted Madam Jiang’s shoulder. “Madam, perhaps you’d prefer to wait elsewhere?”
Madam Jiang pressed her lips together and shook her head. “No need. If Wan’er can perform the autopsy herself, surely I can bear to watch.”
Inside the room, Qin Wan quickly removed Lin Daxing’s upper garments. While the observers thought this would be the extent, to their surprise, after removing the upper clothing, Qin Wan moved to undo Lin Daxing’s trouser ties. Even Xu He’s eyes twitched at this—who could have imagined such a beautiful, delicate young lady could maintain composure while undressing a male corpse?
While the crowd was internally shocked, struggling to maintain their composure, only Yan Chi’s gaze grew increasingly deep. Though equally astounded, he seemed to know this was merely the beginning.
He felt both expectant and excited as if he had already determined that Qin Wan held limitless potential.
When Lin Daxing lay completely naked on the long table, Qin Wan’s expression grew even more solemn. While turning the corpse, she stated, “Purple livor mortis primarily distributed across the posterior surface of the back, buttocks, and legs, showing slight blanching on pressure. Rigor mortis present throughout the body. Based on the livor mortis and rigor mortis, the time of death occurred between the second and middle portion of the Chen Hour.”
Yue Qiong’s expression changed as he turned to Huo Huaixin. “Brother Huo, your examination report stated between Chen and Si Hours, yet Wei Wu and others specifically claimed Lin Daxing died around the third mark of Chen Hour.”
Xu He, standing nearby, flushed red and quickly knelt before Yue Qiong. “This humble one’s skills are inadequate. Please forgive me, Marquis.”
Yue Qiong waved his hand. “Now is not the time to discuss this.”
Xu He rose awkwardly, and when he looked back into the room, the disbelief in his eyes had intensified.
By now, Huo Huaixin had accepted that Qin Wan truly knew how to perform autopsies. He wiped the light sweat from his brow but still didn’t believe she could uncover anything significant about the case. “Marquis, though Xu He’s timing wasn’t precise enough, it… it doesn’t significantly impact the case. Unless Ninth Miss finds evidence, otherwise…”
Yue Qiong understood this reasoning and thus kept his eyes fixed on the room.
At the table, Qin Wan’s gaze carefully examined every inch of Lin Daxing’s body. She methodically inspected each wound from top to bottom, even examining and checking his male organ…
Outside, Yue Qing and the others couldn’t help but draw in sharp breaths, while Madam Jiang silently turned away.
Standing nearby recording, Yue Ning had maintained a serious expression and straight posture, appearing righteous and determined. However, by this point, even she couldn’t help but tremble and turn away, unable to continue watching.
Qin Wan noticed her unsteadiness and said sternly, “Record—”
That single word immediately made Yue Ning raise her head. At that moment, her proud martial spirit which she claimed matched any man’s was thoroughly humbled before Qin Wan. While she wavered, Qin Wan remained dignified and composed.
“The deceased shows patchy bruising on the chest and left lower ribs from strikes. Crescent-shaped bruises on the abdomen, thighs, and lower legs are consistent with kick impacts. Additionally, linear abrasions on the chest, thigh surface, knees, and ankles indicate falls or dragging. Furthermore, the knee wounds contain small sand particles, likely from the physical altercation at the time of the incident.”
As she spoke, Qin Wan’s hands moved to Lin Daxing’s chest and abdomen.
Though Lin Daxing had been dead for six hours with rigor mortis throughout and slight abdominal distention, Qin Wan, who excelled in medicine and had inherited Shen Yi’s teachings, the subtle abnormalities transmitted through her fingertips were precisely detected.
“The deceased’s third and fourth ribs on the right side are fractured. Whether they punctured internal organs remains unclear.”
At this point, outside, Xu He’s eyes grew even wider, watching every detail of Qin Wan’s examination without missing a single movement.
Though his examination results weren’t precise, he had at least checked these aspects. However, what came next was something he had never anticipated. He wanted to see how Qin Wan would help overturn the Second Young Master of An Yang Marquis’s case!
Everyone thought Qin Wan would immediately begin the dissection, but unexpectedly, she walked to the side to retrieve the pre-prepared white vinegar. She carefully applied the vinegar across Lin Daxing’s entire chest and abdomen.
Huo Huaixin frowned, looking at Xu He. “What is this for?”
Xu He shook his head in confusion. “This humble one only knows that old vinegar is sometimes sprinkled in morgues to remove odors, but has never seen it applied directly to corpses.”
Though the crowd outside spoke in hushed voices, with just a window between them and the window lattice open, Qin Wan could hear their conversation. While staring at the corpse with a cold expression, just when everyone thought she wouldn’t respond, she spoke, “Vinegar can penetrate the surface of the corpse, revealing deep injuries that are difficult to detect.”
Xu He’s eyes lit up as if discovering a treasure, hurriedly repeating this three times to himself.
Moments later, Qin Wan’s eyes focused intently. Among the abrasions and bruises on Lin Daxing’s chest, a deep purple bruise suddenly emerged!
“A circular deep purple bruise has appeared on the deceased’s left chest!”
Qin Wan narrowed her eyes momentarily and said coldly, “This was caused by a heavy impact from a hammer-like blunt object!”
Huo Huaixin’s eyes bulged, cold sweat pouring down his temples like rain.
Yue Qiong’s tone deepened, “Brother Huo, what is the meaning of this?”
Yue Qing, standing nearby, perked up and said, “Lord Prefect, my weapon is a long sword, which is always kept in the military camp. Today I only fought Lin Daxing with my bare hands, I did not use any blunt objects…”
Huo Huaixin’s hands trembled as he wiped his sweat, his voice barely maintaining strength as he said, “It’s just one injury. Lin Daxing was a laborer, occasional bumps and bruises wouldn’t be unusual. Besides, he died from vomiting blood today, and it’s not necessarily because of this injury. Moreover, Wei Wu and others all saw that he vomited blood and died after fighting with the Second Young Master…”
As Yue Qing frowned, about to speak, Qin Wan inside the room straightened up.
“The Prefect is correct. Finding one injury doesn’t prove anything. Although this injury is more severe than those left on Lin Daxing by the Second Young Master, his blood vomiting wasn’t necessarily caused by this injury.”
After saying this, Qin Wan took out Xu He’s box.
Xu He’s box contained a complete set of knives, hammers, pliers, and scissors. Qin Wan took the smallest knife and gathered herself briefly before standing before the long table. From her posture, everyone knew what she was about to do.
Yue Ning, closest to Qin Wan, unconsciously held her breath. She watched as Qin Wan bent down, pressed several times on Lin Daxing’s abdomen as if choosing the right spot, and then made her incision.
Lin Daxing’s pale, slightly distended abdomen was split by the sharp blade. To Yue Ning’s surprise, no fresh blood gushed out, but quickly, an acidic, putrid smell spread. Then, Yue Ning saw Lin Daxing’s bloody abdominal cavity and the cleanly cut cross-section of human flesh. Although Lin Daxing had been dead for hours, his external appearance covered by livor mortis and post-mortem gray pallor, his internal organs remained viscerally raw and bloody…
Yue Ning watched the composed and steady Qin Wan while desperately clenching her teeth, but as more and more blood seeped out from Lin Daxing’s organs, Yue Ning finally couldn’t hold back and ran out!
She ran straight out of the side room, and as soon as she passed through the door, she vomited with a “Wa!”