Cypress Boat Floating

"Have you heard?" An uncle carrying a basket of freshly picked vegetables on his shoulders, before he had time to put it down, he pulled another uncle who had just entered the city and whispered: "I heard that a body suddenly appeared in the city this morning."

"What!" The white-haired uncle obviously didn't know the news yet. He didn't even open his eyes. When he heard what the uncle said, his eyes widened like lanterns. "What's going on? Why is there a body?"

"When I first entered the city, I was terrified by what I saw at the city gate. The corpses were so miserable..."

The two walked away while exchanging gossip they discovered this morning.

Before dawn, Lu Zhixing, who received the news, brought officials from the Dali Temple to the city gate. Before more people discovered the body, he immediately blocked the place where the body was found and ordered people to transfer the body to the Dali Temple. He asked the coroner to examine the body. Now he could not get the autopsy results from the coroner for the time being, so he could only go to court first and then investigate after the court.

He had thought that the emperor would know about this, but he didn't expect that he would know it so soon. In the hall, before the ministers had spoken, the emperor was already in deep thought and had an unsightly look on his face.

After all the officials had paid their respects, they immediately asked Lu Zhixing about this matter: "I heard that a body was found at the city gate this morning. What happened?"

"Your Majesty, I have sent the body to the Dali Temple this morning. The coroner is currently examining the body and will get the result soon." Lu Zhixing, who was in charge of the Dali Temple, stepped forward immediately and informed the emperor of what he knew.

The emperor also knew that the time from the discovery of the body in the morning to now was too short, and it was impossible to find out what had happened so quickly, so he did not blame Lu Zhixing too much.

But such a major event happening at the foot of the imperial city is a challenge to the royal family. For various reasons, he must quickly investigate the matter and give the people the truth.

Lu Zhixing also knew that the matter was urgent and agreed immediately.

Starting with such an incident, seeing the emperor's worried look, other officials did not dare to bring up other things, and the morning court ended smoothly in silence. Everyone was worried about their safety, fearing that they would displease the emperor.

After the court session, everyone was still whispering about the female corpse as they walked out of the hall. Many people present had learned about this on the way to the court session, but Lu Zhixing's speed was fast enough that they couldn't find out too much. They could only discuss the matter with each other here, trying to learn more about the situation that they didn't know from each other.

Amid the discussion, only the Minister of War Du Guangyao looked worried. After everyone had left, he slowly walked to Lu Zhixing and said to him in a dilemma: "Your Majesty, I have an unwelcome request. I wonder if Your Majesty can agree to it."

After hearing Du Guangyao speak, Lu Zhixing and Lu Ciqiu stopped and looked at him in confusion: "Master Du, please speak."

"Your humble servant, your humble servant wants to go and see the female corpse." Du Guangyao's voice was trembling. His daughter had been missing for several days and there had been no news. Even though he comforted himself by saying that no news was the best news, after all, so many days had passed and he couldn't help but have some bad premonitions in his heart.

In addition, when the news of the discovery of a female corpse spread in the capital early this morning, his heart skipped a beat for no reason. He was always afraid that the female corpse was his daughter, so he wanted to confirm it.

Lu Zhixing and Lu Ciqiu were handling the matter of Du Guangyao's daughter's disappearance. They naturally knew how he felt. Lu Zhixing patted his shoulder comfortingly and nodded slightly to agree to his request: "Let's go together later."

After getting the consent, Du Guangyao followed the two and went to the Dali Temple to identify the body.

Under Du Guangyao's urgency, the few of them did not even have time to go home for dinner, and went straight to the Dali Temple as soon as they left the palace.

There is a room on the side of the Dali Temple that is specifically used to store corpses.

In addition to the three of them, Ren Hongbo, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, also came with them. As the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, he had the responsibility and obligation to come and check the body.

Entering the morgue, the stench of rotting corpses made the people who came to check the bodies cover their noses. Lu Ci Qiu and Du Guangyao, who had never come into contact with corpses, felt a little nauseous when they smelled the smell, but they held it back.

Among the few people, only Lu Zhixing and Dali Temple Shaoqing Ren Hongbo were used to it. There was no change on their faces. They just covered their noses with their sleeves to prevent the smell from entering their lungs.

The coroner followed Lu Zhixing's order and began to lift the white cloth. The moment the white cloth was lifted, Du Guangyao stood still, looking at the female corpse lying on the wooden board with an expression of disbelief.

The clothes on the female corpse were so tattered that they could no longer cover her body. The clothes were all stained with blood, and the exposed skin was also covered with scars. The blood on the scars might have solidified on the skin because too much time had passed. There was not a single healthy spot on her body, and all the visible skin was covered with scars. It was obvious that the skin under the only remaining clothes was probably not in much better condition.

That beautiful face had swelled more than twice its size at this moment, and it was covered in blood and maggots. The entire face was so rotten that it was unbearable to even look at.

The moment Lu Ci Qiu saw the female corpse, his face changed drastically. He covered his mouth and rushed out of the morgue. Unfortunately, he hadn't had breakfast yet, so he couldn't vomit anything except sour water.

This was his first time to come into direct contact with a corpse. This was different from the last time he went to South City and encountered those assassins who were killed by him personally. Those assassins were alive, and the blood sprayed on his face was still hot. Moreover, he was being chased at the time, so he didn't have too much mood to feel sorry for those assassins.

But what was now placed in front of him was a corpse that had been dead for who knows how long, with white maggots all over its body and a bloody mess. The two concepts were completely different.

When he thought of this, Lu Ci Qiu couldn't help it anymore. He covered his restless stomach and started vomiting acid again.

Du Guangyao, who was still in the room, stood there in a daze. Perhaps he was more sad than angry. He was trembling all over and didn't even have the strength to take a step closer to the corpse. The moment his feet moved forward, his whole body collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

When she looked over again, she saw that the usually gentle man now had tears streaming down his face. He trembled and supported himself with his hands and stood up with difficulty, then slowly dragged his weak legs to her side.

He wanted to go over and see if it was his daughter, but how could he identify the body when it was completely unrecognizable? Before he could take a closer look, he had already preconceived that the body was his daughter.

When he thought of his lively and lovely daughter who had suddenly turned into a horrible female corpse without his knowledge, and looked at the wounds on her body, Du Guangyao couldn't imagine what she had experienced or what she had encountered before she died, and why she had become like this.

Even after her death she was not given a proper burial, her body was thrown on the street for everyone to see.

Thinking of this, Du Guangyao couldn't breathe, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

"Hurry, call a doctor." Lu Zhixing remained calm in the face of danger. He took care of Du Guangyao before he fainted, and did not forget to instruct the coroner to find a doctor.

"Your Highness, could this lady be the missing daughter of Lord Du?" Ren Hongbo, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, asked curiously as he helped Lu Zhixing put Du Guangyao on a wooden board to rest.

Lu Zhixing looked at Du Guangyao's expression and thought it was almost certain. "I guess so, otherwise Lord Du wouldn't be so excited."

Upon hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but feel a little sad. They had thought it was just a missing case and they still held on to a glimmer of hope in their hearts, thinking that they would definitely find the person. But in the end, who knew that when they did look for him, they found a body.

"Brother, what should we do now?" Lu Ci Qiu stood at the door of the morgue and saw everything clearly. He felt very complicated. The appearance of the female corpse meant that the matter had reached another level and was no longer something he could handle.

"Let's send Lord Du back home first. We'll take a look at the results of Miss Du's autopsy."

Lu Zhixing covered Miss Lin with the original white cloth. She had encountered so many unfair experiences during her lifetime, and Lu Zhixing hoped to leave her a little dignity after her death.

Lu Ci Qiu was sent back to Prince Xian's Mansion by Lu Zhixing to rest, and asked to go to the Dali Temple to find him after he recovered. He also understood his brother. It was inevitable that he would behave like this when he saw a corpse for the first time, so he did not feel disappointed about Lu Ci Qiu's behavior today. He thought that his reaction was not much better when he saw this kind of corpse for the first time.

In the palace, Ye Jianqing sat in the side hall as usual waiting for Lu Ci Qiu to come back for breakfast, but he was obviously a little different today.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that he looked unhappy, Ye Jianqing didn't dare to say anything more and asked cautiously.

Lu Ci Qiu started to feel sick when he saw the food on the table. He had no appetite at all. "A body was found at the city gate this morning."

"Is that the corpse of Miss Du that you are looking for?" As for the corpse, to be honest, Ye Jianqing was not curious at all. After all, she had seen many before, and they had even had special training. How could they not be able to eat because of a corpse?

Lu Ci Qiu nodded silently, "It seems so."

Turning around and seeing Ye Jianqing still eating without any psychological burden, Lu Ci Qiu suddenly felt a little evil.

"Today's corpse is very scary. The face is swollen like a pig's head." Lu Ci Qiu pouted and waved his hands exaggeratedly, "And the face is full of maggots, and the body is also full of maggots. Aren't you afraid?"

Ye Jianqing looked up at him while eating, but the look in his eyes was as if he was looking at a fool, which made Lu Ci Qiu feel very unhappy.

"You haven't seen it, so you're definitely not afraid. If you had seen it, you would be so scared that you would vomit acid like me." Lu Ci Qiu crossed his arms angrily, not forgetting to make up for himself.

"Yes, yes, then do you want to eat something first? Are you going to continue investigating later?" Ye Jianqing put a piece of vegetable in his bowl with a smile.

"If that person is really Miss Du, it seems that I don't have to go." Having said that, Lu Ci Qiu sighed. He didn't want to face the corpse, but he didn't want to escape either.

"Then I'll accompany you to the Dali Temple later." Ye Jianqing glanced at him and probably knew what he was thinking, so he took the initiative to speak.

"it is good."

After breakfast, or rather, Ye Jianqing finished his breakfast, Lu Ci Qiu couldn't eat a single bite. He just washed his face and followed Ye Jianqing to the Dali Temple.

For him, facing the corpse again would be a huge psychological burden.

Standing at the gate of Dali Temple, Lu Ci Qiu built up his inner self countless times. Ye Jianqing did not disturb him, but just accompanied him quietly.

When they were training before, the instructors were not so gentle. Even if you don’t like it, you will be forced to like it because you will inevitably encounter it in future missions.

Ye Jianqing has become completely immune to things like corpses. There is no other trick. It all depends on his own inner strength. So now he can only rely on Lu Ci Qiu to prepare himself mentally so that he can be immune to all this.

The two were still preparing themselves mentally at the door, but it was Ren Hongbo, Shaoqing of Dali Temple, who came out first and saw them.

"Your Highness, didn't you go back? Why are you standing here?" Ren Hongbo looked at the two of them curiously.

"Master Ren, I... I just wanted to come and see if my second brother needs any help." Lu Ci Qiu forced a smile and gave it to Ren Hongbo.

"The King of Qin is inside." Ren Hongbo smiled and pointed him in a direction. "I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave first." After saying that, he left.

Lu Ci Qiu glanced at Ye Jianqing, turned his head, took a deep breath, then bit his lips and strode forward as if he was going to die.

Ye Jianqing followed him with amusement.

Lu Zhixing didn't expect Lu Ciqiu to come back so soon. He was a little surprised to see him: "Didn't I tell you to go back and rest? Why are you here?"

"I don't need to rest, second brother, I can do it." Lu Ci Qiu pretended to be calm and stood in front of Lu Zhixing, stubbornly saying that he was still fine.

"Okay, since you don't need to rest, then come and take a look at the coroner's autopsy results." As he said that, Lu Zhixing handed the thing in his hand to Lu Ci Qiu.

"The results are out so soon?" Lu Ci Qiu took the information he handed over in surprise.

"The coroners at the Dali Temple are all the best."

"Then, second brother, is that person really Miss Du?" Lu Ci Qiu hesitated for a moment, but still asked.

"I don't know, but after examination, this person is about the same age and height as Miss Du. At present, no one else has come to claim the body except Lord Du, and Lord Du has fainted at home and cannot come to confirm, so now there is still no way to confirm whether this person is Miss Du." Lu Zhixing rubbed his aching head.

Lu Ci Qiu opened the scroll in his hand and began to read it. Ye Jianqing also leaned over to read it together. Lu Zhixing had turned a blind eye to this situation. He could not control Ye Jianqing. Ye Jianqing gradually became bolder in front of him. He had no choice. Besides, he should say it or not. Sometimes Ye Jianqing could indeed provide some good suggestions, so he could only let her go.

"The fatal wound was on the face. Death was caused by violent beating. She also had many injuries from objects and fists and feet." Lu Zhixing closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Whenever he closed his eyes, the image of the body lying in the morgue came into his mind. When he thought of the autopsy results he had seen, he couldn't calm down for a long time.