A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 26 A Chance Encounter at the Clinic
It was a consensus between Mu Qingcheng and Lin Shuban that Li Mu was hiding a major secret.

So, the two men stared at the old butler with unspoken understanding. Seeing that they were determined to get to the bottom of things, the old butler had no choice but to reveal his shameful past.

"The man originally betrothed to my young lady was Liu Xiao, the second young master of the Ningyuan General's Mansion. My young lady had long admired Liu Xiao and was overjoyed at the marriage. Unexpectedly, on the eve of the wedding, news came that Liu Xiao had eloped with Wan Tang, a courtesan from Shuanghua Pavilion! My young lady was greatly shocked and decided to break off the engagement. However, the Ningyuan General's Mansion disagreed and proposed that their eldest son, Liu Pei, marry my young lady in order to preserve the reputation of both families!"

"The young lady was unwilling, but the master, who doted on her, rejected the absurd proposal from the General's Mansion. Who would have thought that Liu Pei would sabotage things and have someone frame the master for embezzlement? The master had no way to defend himself and could not produce any evidence to prove his innocence, so he had no choice but to be convicted and imprisoned. In order to protect the master, the young lady had no other choice but to marry Liu Pei."

Before this, Li Yunyao left them with the impression of being a kind person who did good deeds and a victim who committed suicide with her child. Now, her image has become more concrete.

Lin Shuban couldn't hold back any longer and angrily scolded, "No wonder Lord Li dislikes his son-in-law. No one would look down on such a thing!"

Mu Qingcheng sighed with her hands behind her back, "The eldest son acts despicably, and the second son acts recklessly. I really can't agree with the Liu family's family style." But then she changed the subject, "But Secretary Lin, as we are angry, we still need to be careful with our words and actions. After all, we are of lowly status, and it would be easy for Liu Pei to crush us if he wanted to."

"Yes, Coroner Mu is right, thank you for the reminder." Lin, the clerk, took a deep breath and clasped his hands in thanks.

Mu Qingcheng suddenly remembered something and said, "Old steward, I heard that Liu Pei is dead. Are you aware of this?"

"What?! The son-in-law is dead?" the old steward exclaimed in shock. "When did he die? What caused his death? No one has informed our household of his passing!"

Mu Qingcheng slowly uttered, "He died of illness half a year ago."

"impossible!"

The old butler blurted out excitedly, "Last month, Miss came home, but she neither wore mourning clothes nor mentioned her son-in-law's passing!"

Mu Qingcheng frowned, seemingly lost in thought, "Was last month the last time Miss Li returned to the Li family?"

"Yes, the tenth of last month. It was the Madam's birthday that day, and Miss returned to the manor to accompany Master to offer incense to the Madam." "Miss Li is pregnant, yet she still went to such lengths..."

"Miss is pregnant?" The old steward's eyes widened in surprise. "Miss didn't say anything. May I ask how you found out, sir?"

Mu Qingcheng pursed her lips and remained silent.

The old butler suddenly grabbed Mu Qingcheng's sleeve and said urgently, "Sir, is Miss really pregnant? Please don't tell Miss about Master's tragic death, I'm afraid it will shock her!"

Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Mu Qingcheng simply said, "Old steward, our Jingzhao Prefecture received a report yesterday that Miss Li Yunyao died at Yuntai Temple while pregnant."

The old butler couldn't catch his breath and fainted on the spot!

Lin, the clerk, helped the old steward up and called out to him several times, but the old steward did not respond. So he said, "Coroner Mu, I'll take the person to his room. Could you please go and fetch a doctor? Is that alright?"

Mu Qingcheng agreed and turned to walk outside.

……

Chunhui Hall.

"Doctor, please bring a few more packets of candied fruit. My young master hates bitterness."

As soon as Mu Qingcheng entered the room, she heard a familiar voice. She looked at the counter and saw Song Li getting medicine.

Thank you for your support, my darlings! See you in the next chapter!
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(End of this chapter)