The mind-reading coroner drove the court crazy

Qin Miaoxi paced slowly in the courtyard, scanning her surroundings with sharp eyes.

She noticed that in the entire house, except for some traces of mud at the entrance, there were only fresh mud marks outside the door of the room where the body was found. Everywhere else was clean and spotless.

What is even more strange is that the deceased was not wearing any shoes and his feet were bare.

Was this a deliberate act by the murderer, an attempt to conceal some clue, or did the deceased take off his shoes before entering the room?

Qin Miaoxi frowned and fell into deep thought.

The two victims died within twelve hours of each other and were both between the ages of twenty-five. One of them was the nephew of the Minister of Rites. The murderer dared to target the children of officials, which shows that he was not just targeting ordinary people.

There must be a deeper reason behind this. Perhaps these victims all have something that the murderer covets.

But what was it, property? Vengeance? Or was it simply because their bodies attracted the murderer?

At this moment, a burst of hurried and chaotic footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, as if carrying an irrepressible anxiety and eagerness.

Then, Shi Xinzhe's calm yet respectful voice came clearly: "Greetings, Lord Wang."

Lord Wang, the Minister of Rites?

Qin Miaoxi's heart trembled, and with some confusion and curiosity, she subconsciously walked towards the door.

As soon as she got closer, she saw a picture - a man was standing in front of Shi Xinzhe with an angry face, emitting an uncontrollable resentment from his body, like a volcano about to erupt.

"Master Shi, my nephew..." Master Wang's voice trembled slightly, and the words stopped abruptly at his lips. His lips moved a few times, but he couldn't bear to say the rest of the words. His face was full of grief and he wanted to say something but stopped, which made people feel pity.

Shi Xinzhe's face was solemn and serious, and he said in a low and powerful voice, "Sir Wang, your nephew has passed away. I hope you will accept my condolences and take care of yourself."

Lord Wang's body swayed violently. If the attendant behind him hadn't quickly supported him, he would have collapsed on the spot. His eyes instantly became bloodshot, like an enraged beast, and his voice was hoarse and desperate: "What on earth is going on? My nephew has always been law-abiding. How could he have suffered such a disaster? Lord Shi, you must give me an explanation and bring the murderer to justice!"

Shi Xinzhe nodded slightly, his eyes filled with determination. "Don't worry, Lord Wang. We are fully investigating this matter and will definitely bring justice to you and the deceased. Our most urgent task right now is to ask you to cooperate with us and provide us with some clues. This is crucial to solving the case."

Qin Miaoxi stood quietly by, carefully observing Lord Wang's every move and every word. She noticed that when Lord Wang mentioned his nephew, in addition to grief, there seemed to be a subtle flash of panic in his eyes.

This subtle change in his expression immediately aroused her suspicion, and she stepped forward and asked, "Master Wang, may I ask if your nephew has behaved in any unusual manner recently? Has he made any enemies?"

Upon hearing this, Lord Wang slowly turned around and looked Qin Miaoxi up and down, his eyes full of suspicion and disdain: "How can a woman like you know how to solve a case? I think we should let Lord Shi ask."

Seeing this, Shi Xinzhe quickly explained, "Sir Wang, Qin is a specially hired coroner from the Dali Temple. Not only is she an expert at autopsies, she's also very skilled at solving cases. With her help, we'll definitely be able to solve this case as quickly as possible."

Lord Wang's eyes flashed, and he looked at Qin Miaoxi and exclaimed, "You are the young marquis's wife."

Marquis Xuanping married a wife who liked to perform autopsies. Could she be the one in front of him?

Qin Miaoxi nodded and said, "Yes."

Lord Wang's expression suddenly changed, and he quickly said, "Madam, my nephew is indeed normal and polite to everyone. I have never heard of him having any grudges against anyone. It's just..."

"Just what?" Qin Miaoxi asked.

"It's just that some time ago, he seemed to be preparing for something very important. I'm not sure what it was exactly. Every time he mentioned it, he seemed particularly mysterious and told me not to ask too many questions." Lord Wang frowned, trying to recall.

Qin Miaoxi and Shi Xinzhe looked at each other, and a hint of doubt flashed in their eyes.

This is obviously an important clue, perhaps related to the murderer.

"Lord Wang, please think about it carefully. Has he revealed any relevant information about this matter? Even just a few words." Qin Miaoxi continued to ask.

Lord Wang shook his head and said helplessly, "I really don't know. He has always been a deep-minded person. He likes to keep many things to himself and is unwilling to tell others."

After saying this, he pushed out a young servant behind him and said, "This is my nephew's servant. He knows everything."

He turned to the servant and shouted, "Why don't you tell me what your young master has been doing recently?"

The servant boy was so frightened by Lord Wang's scolding that his entire body trembled, his legs weakened, and he fell to his knees with a plop. Beads of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead, and he said in a tearful voice, "Sir, my young master was indeed planning a big event some time ago. But he really didn't tell me directly, and only asked me to help him collect some strange books about ancient legends and mysterious relics."

Qin Miaoxi's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly asked, "What kind of ancient legends and mysterious relics? Can you tell me in detail? Where are these books now?"

The servant raised his head, wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve, and tried to recall: "Those books seem to talk about how to open treasures and some mysterious sacrificial rituals. My young master is particularly fascinated by them. He locks himself in his room all day to study those books, not allowing anyone to disturb him. Those books are still in his room."

Shi Xinzhe and Qin Miaoxi looked at each other, and they both understood that this clue might be the key to solving the case.

Qin Miaoxi turned to Shi Xinzhe and said, "Master Shi, we must hurry to the deceased's room and look at those books. Maybe we can find some useful clues."

Shi Xinzhe nodded in agreement and said to Lord Wang, "Lord Wang, we will go and check it out right away. Please rest here for a while. If we find anything else, we will inform you in time."

Lord Wang nodded with a complicated expression. "Then I'll have to trouble you two. You must bring the murderer to justice as soon as possible and give my poor nephew an explanation."

Led by the servant, Qin Miaoxi stepped into Prince Wang's study.

As soon as you enter the door, you will see that the bookshelf is filled with strange stories from all over the world. Most of the contents are mysterious legends about mountains, rivers, lakes and seas, and there is also a hand-painted treasure map among them.

She walked forward, picked up the treasure map with interest, and looked at it carefully.

The lines on the picture were drawn in great detail, but after careful observation, she discovered that these pictures were merely drawn based on the records in the book and were made out of thin air without any real evidence.

"Is this a painting by your son?"

Qin Miaoxi raised her eyes and asked the servant beside her.

The servant followed her gaze and nodded quickly, saying, "Yes, this is exactly my master's handwriting."

Qin Miaoxi nodded slightly, her eyes continued to wander around the bookshelf, and finally found a bamboo slip about sacrificial rituals at the highest point.

She reached out to take it down, carefully opened it and began to read it. After just a few glances, she couldn't help but gasp.

The bamboo slips recorded many mysterious things, and one of them instantly attracted her full attention - human sacrifice.

According to the bamboo slips, offering a human heart as a sacrifice would unlock the dragon vein in the treasure map, leading to untold wealth. However, if the dragon vein failed to be unlocked, it meant that the person had committed many evil deeds in his lifetime, and their flesh must be eaten to undo the desecration of the dragon vein.

At the bottom of the bamboo slips, there is a line of inconspicuous small words reminding: Never eat the internal organs of the sacrifice, because they are contaminated with foul air. Once eaten, you will suffer backlash!

Qin Miaoxi's heart trembled, and she suddenly realized: I found it, this is the reason why the two deceased were killed, it was human sacrifice!

But since Prince Wang knew all this, even if he was not the murderer, he was most likely an accomplice. Why did he become the victim in the end?

She subconsciously speculated that Prince Wang might have had an argument with the murderer, which led to him being reduced from a murderer to a sacrifice.

Qin Miaoxi stared at the servant with burning eyes and asked, "Who did your master meet before the accident?"

The servant shook his head in bewilderment and said, "My young master has been like a possessed man lately. He stays in the study all day long and hardly sees anyone except when he eats."

"Then where did these books and bamboo slips come from?"

"I don't know about that. Sometimes the young master goes out and doesn't let me follow him. I have no idea who he meets or where he goes."

"Then do you know when he brought these things back?"

The servant shook his head again, a look of helplessness on his face: "There are too many of these things, I really don't know."

Qin Miaoxi frowned slightly, feeling somewhat disappointed. Finally, she picked up the bamboo slip and asked, unwilling to give up, "What about this? Do you know anything about it?"

She had originally given up hope, but unexpectedly, the servant's eyes suddenly lit up and he said excitedly, "I know this! It was the Qiqiao Festival that day, and the young master was very happy when he came back. He even gave me some Qiaosu, so I was particularly impressed."

Qin Miaoxi murmured to herself in a low voice: "Qiqiao Festival..."