Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 28 Woman in White
"Dong-dong-dong." The night watchman yawned and walked slowly with his lantern in hand. "It's dry, be careful with candles."

The night watchman walked to the Chastity Archway, leaned against it, stood on one foot, took off his right shoe, and knocked on the archway to shake out the sand and stones inside. As the night watchman was about to put on his shoe, he suddenly saw a dark shadow on the archway, which seemed to be hanging something.

The night watchman was so frightened that he didn't even bother to put on his shoes. He bravely walked closer. Trembling, he raised the lantern in his hand. Under the dim light, he saw clearly - it was a female corpse in white!
"Ah!" The night watchman's legs went weak and he sat down on the ground. The lantern in his hand fell into the puddle, and the fire went out.

The moonlight was bright. The female corpse in white had her face covered by long hair and her white clothes were stained with blood. The blood flowed down the clothes to the pair of red shoes with red bottoms and peony embroidery. The blood dripped from the toes and dripped onto the wet bluestone slabs, blooming into a bunch of gorgeous peony flowers.

-

The red-soled peony-embroidered shoes made a slight "tapping" sound as they stepped on the wet bluestone road. The shoes jumped nimbly, crossed the threshold, and walked into the charity cemetery.

In the charity cemetery, Yan Mingzhang, Mo Yun, Changfeng and the coroner Old Man Lu were about to perform an autopsy.

Rong Wanyin wrapped herself tightly in a handkerchief, feeling both fearful and curious. "I just went to the government office to look for you guys, and the guards said you were at the charity cemetery. Did something happen?"

Mo Yun looked up and saw Rong Wanyin coming in. His eyes were instantly attracted by the pair of brand new embroidered shoes on her feet.

"Miss Rong, your embroidered shoes..." Mo Yun couldn't help but speak.

Hearing this, Rong Wanyin gently lifted her right foot, wiggled it, and said, "How are they? They're new, don't they look good? The boss said there's only one pair of each style, so they're unique!"

I could feel her pride even through the handkerchief.

When Yan Mingzhang heard this, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.

Mo Yun and Chang Feng exchanged a glance, with a hint of pity flashing in Mo Yun's eyes: "Miss Rong, you... may have been deceived... Your shoes are the same as the ones worn by the deceased this morning..."

"Ah?" Rong Wanyin's smile froze instantly, her eyes widening. "What?"

Rong Wanyin looked towards the wooden bed where the body lay. It was covered with a tattered white cloth, revealing a pair of feet. On them were the same red-soled peony-embroidered shoes as hers! The soles were barely worn, and they looked like they had been bought recently.

Mo Yun lowered his voice, deliberately trying to scare Rong Wanyin: "Last night, a night watchman on patrol spotted a dark shadow lingering on the Chastity Archway. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a female corpse, with long hair covering her face and blood dripping down..."

Rong Wanyin was so frightened that she quickly covered her ears: "Stop talking, I don't want to hear it!"

Yan Mingzhang kicked Mo Yun, who was feeling smug about his successful prank: "Get to work! Miss Rong, please help me record..." Mo Yun stuck out his tongue and followed suit.

"Oh, okay." Rong Wanyin was still in shock, but she still picked up the paper and pen, and several people did their jobs.

Old Man Lu took a deep breath and slowly peeled back the white cloth covering the woman's body. Instantly, everyone around him gasped. The woman looked no more than twenty years old. Her face, which should have been beautiful, was slashed beyond recognition, with bloodstains crisscrossing the body. She was neatly dressed, the bow tied neatly around her waist, but there seemed to be something stained on her sleeves. Yan Mingzhang bent down and sniffed, "What's that smell?"

Although Rong Wanyin was somewhat reluctant, she still tried to smell it. A salty and bitter smell mixed with a foul odor hit her nose, almost making her vomit.

How could a young woman, at the age when she loves beauty the most, let her sleeves get stained with these things?
Old Man Lu, however, paid no attention. He leaned over, approaching the corpse's face. He first examined her eyes carefully, gently prying open her eyelids with his rough fingers, his brows knitted into the shape of the Chinese character "川". Then, he pried open her mouth, examining her teeth and tongue, muttering to himself, "The tongue is white, and the teeth are normal. It doesn't look like she's been poisoned."

Then, Old Man Lu unbuttoned the clothes and examined the corpse inch by inch. He found a deep, purple-blue mark around the neck, with some finely broken skin around the edges. He gently pressed on it and said, "The mark is quite deep, with the flesh twisted. It must have been strangled by something like a rope, which was the cause of death. ... Hey, where's her bellyband?"

Rong Wanyin nodded while writing down the cause of death on the paper. When she heard this, her ears turned red and she felt a little embarrassed, but she pretended that she didn't care and buried her head in writing.

"The clothes are in perfect condition, but the bellyband is missing? How strange. Was it taken away by the murderer?" Mo Yun muttered to himself.

Old Man Lu shook his head, indicating he didn't know. He then carefully examined the corpse. After checking her limbs and back to make sure there were no other fatal injuries, he straightened up, cleared his throat, and said loudly, "In my opinion, this woman was strangled to death first, and then hung on the chastity arch. The time of death was probably last night at midnight."

Mo Yun pondered, "The deceased was found at 3:00 AM. Several hours passed between death and discovery. What was the murderer doing? What took so long? He seemed quite dawdling... Could it be that the crime scene was far from the Chastity Arch? This murderer is truly stubborn, why did he have to hang the body on the Chastity Arch?"

"It rained lightly at midnight last night, but the woman's clothes were dry, which means the body was hung after midnight," Yan Mingzhang speculated. "Because of the rain, many clues have been lost."

Rong Wanyin frowned, her eyes filled with confusion. "That's strange. Long hair covering her face? What does that mean? The chastity arch is so high, how did the murderer hang someone up there? And who was the deceased?"

Changfeng shook his head, but continued to grind for Yan Mingzhang. "Not yet. The deceased has no clues on her body that could prove her identity. In addition, her face is severely damaged, making it difficult to identify her at the moment. We haven't found anyone who knew her yet to report the case."

Yan Mingzhang picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and, his gaze fixed on the corpse's ravaged face, began carefully outlining it, attempting to restore the deceased's original facial features. Rong Wanyin, Mo Yun, Changfeng, and the others gathered nearby, not daring to utter a word, simply watching Yan Mingzhang's every move.

After a long time, Rong Wanyin felt her legs were a little numb. Yan Mingzhang finally finished painting two portraits. After the ink dried, Yan Mingzhang handed one of them to Mo Yun and instructed: "Mo Yun, find an artist to copy a few more and post them to see if anyone recognizes them."

"Miss Rong, Changfeng, let's go to the shoe store and ask to see if there are any clues." Yan Mingzhang rolled up the portrait in his hand, washed his hands, and wiped them carefully with a handkerchief.

(End of this chapter)