“Master, could you be mistaken? After my daughter died, the coroner came to examine her and determined the time of death was the morning before yesterday.” Master Zhou was puzzled.

The county magistrate also panicked a bit, leaning close to Ji Yunshu’s ear and whispering, “Yunshu, you mustn’t be wrong about this. The coroner did examine the body.”

“I am not wrong.”

She answered him directly.

The county magistrate was speechless and said nothing more.

Ji Yunshu looked at Miss Zhou’s shoulder bone, exposed by the cut she had made with the sharp knife, and said, “I mentioned before that a corpse may lie, but bones do not. The coroner judged based on the livor mortis that Miss Zhou indeed died falling from the building the morning before yesterday. However, this protrusion on Miss Zhou’s shoulder bone can only form within half a shichen after death. Based on the hardness, shape, and purplish-blue hue of this protrusion, it’s sufficient to prove that her time of death was the evening two nights ago.”

“Then why did the coroner say it was the morning before yesterday?”

“Because the coroner overlooked one point – the evening two nights ago, it rained heavily all night, and the temperature was only a few degrees below zero… it was very cold. This would affect the liver temperature of the body, which in turn affected the coroner’s judgment. But bones do not lie.”

It was all because this era lacked advanced technology – otherwise she wouldn’t need to expend so much effort and even cut open the flesh on Miss Zhou’s shoulder to prove her theory.

What a torment for a dead person!

Although the Zhou family didn’t understand those professional terms, they grasped Ji Yunshu’s meaning.

Tears streamed from Madam Zhou’s eyes as she asked tremulingly, “Then… then how did my daughter actually die?”

“Yes, how exactly did my daughter die?” Master Zhou was also becoming anxious.

Ji Yunshu was in no hurry to explain. Still wearing gloves, she inserted her fingers directly into Miss Zhou’s decayed mouth, stirred around a few times, then took a sugared lotus seed from her waist and tossed it in. After waiting a moment, she retrieved the sugared lotus seed from Miss Zhou’s mouth.

The originally orange-colored sugared lotus seed had turned blue.

“Miss Zhou died of poisoning.” Ji Yunshu announced her conclusion.

“Poisoning?” Master Zhou was astonished. “The coroner didn’t say she died of poison.”

“Of course. To test for poison, one must examine the throat, but this poison didn’t enter the throat, so naturally the coroner couldn’t detect it. Yesterday when I was painting Miss, I noticed a black spot on her inner teeth.”

As she spoke, she directly pulled out one of Miss Zhou’s loose black teeth and continued.

“This poison is called mi poison. It comes from the Western Regions. It doesn’t enter the throat, only the teeth. Just a tiny bit is lethal. The method to detect this poison is to use starch – when the poison encounters starch, it turns blue. The sugared lotus seed happened to have starch on it, and when it came into contact with this poison, it naturally turned blue.”

Master Zhou nearly lost his balance. His eyes widened and reddened as he asked in a trembling voice, “Who would want to harm my daughter? Who is the murderer? My daughter has been obedient and sensible since childhood, never stepping outside the inner quarters – she absolutely wouldn’t have offended anyone.”

“Don’t be anxious, Master Zhou. Since Miss never left the mansion, then she died within the mansion. It won’t be difficult to investigate.”

“Master Ji, you must help my daughter find her killer. You would be the benefactor of the Zhou family!”

“Master Zhou, you give me too much credit.”

Ji Yunshu felt somewhat uncomfortable and nodded faintly. She placed the tooth and the discolored sugared lotus seed to the side and removed her blood-covered gloves.

Walking up to the maid from earlier, she asked, “What is your name?”

The maid’s eyes were still brimming with tears. She raised her head and replied, “This servant is called Qiao Xin.”

“Miss Qiao Xin, let me ask you again – when your young miss fell from the tower, where exactly were you?”