I Want To Cut The Body Open

A harsh wind suddenly blew into the room, causing the candle flames to flicker violently and almost go out. The tiny remaining flame struggled for a moment before calming down again and slowly brightening up again.

Those were the same emotions that went through Wen Yuansi.

“Miss Song, what did you just say?”

He wanted to make sure he had heard her correctly. She said she wanted to cut the body open?!

Song Caitang raised her chin slightly, and the candlelight made her neckline gentle and beautiful, but her words were direct and energetic, “You didn’t hear me incorrectly. I said, I want to cut the body open.”

Wen Yuansi frowned, and his expression turned grim, “This is not something that has ever been done before.”

Song Caitang sighed inwardly.

She just knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

Over the past few days, she had read several books and found out that she was in the Da’an era, and this was the 25^th year. She had never heard of this era before, so the world she had arrived in was not the same one as those she had studied in history class before.

But they had their similarities.

This Da’an era was similar to the Song Dynasty that she knew.

After going through a flourishing era under a female emperor, the position of women in society had risen significantly. But after the era moved to the Da’an era, society had become harsher and stricter on women. Perhaps it was because the men were fighting back after being oppressed earlier, or perhaps it was just something that came with the heartless nature of history.

In previous decades, women could own their own businesses and pick up all sorts of trades, and they could walk about on the streets without any problem. But now, women were not allowed to show their faces in public unnecessarily and there were a lot of both written and unwritten rules about how females ought to conduct themselves. It seemed like women just needed to make sure they maintained a good and pure reputation, got married, and had children, and their lives would be complete. If they dabbled in just one extra matter, their actions would be seen as wrong.

Women were expected to be cautious in all things, to tread carefully. Having no talent was a virtue.

Doing any normal task was already hard enough, never mind examining the dead.

The fact that Song Caitang was willing to do such a job despite being a woman was already out of line. And Wen Yuansi daring to use her services was a bold decision that required him to take responsibility for anything she did.

And what was she saying now? She wanted to cut a body open?!

This was something unheard of, so not even Wen Yuansi dared to agree to it easily.

Song Caitang thought about it, then asked, “Magistrate Wen, how much do you understand about the human body?”

He didn’t respond.

She knew this was a difficult question to answer, so she didn’t wait for his response and continued trying to explain why she wanted to do this, “Our stomachs take a different amount of time to digest different types of food. The victim ate a lot of food before dying and based on Ma Sanniang’s statement, the men’s diet was very specific and different from one another. The face of the victim has been severely damaged, so any recognizable characteristics have been destroyed, and we can’t tell who he is. But if we can open up his stomach and check what’s left inside…we’ll know who he is.”

Wen Yuansi stopped to think. This logic…did make sense.

Song Caitang wasn’t done, “The spring winds have been very strong lately, and the temperature on the mountain has been very low. The patches and marks on the body look like the body has hardly been moved and has been preserved quite well, so it’s considered pretty fresh, and I don’t think the rotting inside the body is that bad. The things in the stomach can serve as evidence.”

Wen Yuansi looked down and paused to think for a long time but still did not give her any answer.

Song Caitang sighed, “I haven’t heard much about the case, but I think Ma Sanniang is hiding something from us. That third brother with a cold, An Pengyi – I assume you’ve also asked him to identify the body, yet you weren’t able to confirm who the victim is. I’m sure there’s a special reason for that. The cause of death is very obvious, and it’s not difficult to find out who his friends and relatives are once his identity is confirmed. Once that’s confirmed, the entire case will come to light. I’m not trying to put the blame on anyone, neither am I boasting, but as long as you don’t know the victim personally, not even the best coroner would be able to identify this man. But cutting open the body will definitely be of help to this case!”

“Also, cutting the body open isn’t really all that scary. I’m just going to cut the abdomen open, remove the stomach, cut that open, and retrieve any food that hasn’t been fully digested, then take a look…”

Song Caitang was trying to assure Wen Yuansi that the process wasn’t scary, but as she spoke, she noticed that he looked more and more uncomfortable, so she stopped.

She looked down, cleared her throat, and looked at the teacup in her hands, “I would like to remind you of one thing. The victim has died for at least five days now. The temperature is low, but time is still passing. Once the body goes into the full decomposition process…you’re very familiar with such things, so I don’t have to elaborate. I’m sure you know what’s going to happen.”

Wen Yuansi narrowed his eyes.

He did know what was going to happen.

As time passed, the body would no longer be freshly dead. Green patches would appear on the body, and pockets of air would form. It would slowly swell up, and blood and water would come out.

The entire inside would be nothing but blood and water.

The food in the stomach?

It’d become impossible to tell apart by then.

“The time left for me to cut the body open is not much.” Song Caitang’s brows relaxed, but her eyes gleamed brightly, “This might be your only chance to crack the case.”

Wen Yuansi narrowed his eyes, “Are you…really capable of this?”

Most people, never mind young ladies like Song Caitang, would be afraid of a badly disfigured body. Even strong men would be afraid. But cutting a body open? Was she sure she wouldn’t faint from fear?

There would be so much blood. And that stench…

Even the smell of ordinary vomit that one threw up when unwell was unbearable. The smell from the stomach of a corpse had to be…at a different level altogether.

But Song Caitang merely laughed.

“I said this to Old Madam Li, and I’ll say this to you as well.”

The valiant look on her face and her bright black eyes seemed to contain all the intelligence of the world by just sitting here, “As long as you believe in me, I will make sure that everyone will be in awe of your incredibly keen eye!”

Wen Yuansi was taken aback. This young lady was incredibly confident and incredibly brave!

Song Caitang could see that Wen Yuansi was wavering but hadn’t changed his mind yet, so she decided to keep going.

“I know…” The corners of her eyes tilted slightly upward, which made her look a little sly, “It must have been very difficult for you to have gotten to this position at such a young age. You’re facing pressure from both above and below you, and so many people are waiting for a chance to pull you under. So, there are some matters in which you can bravely make your own decisions, but there are some matters where you have to be much more careful. I don’t know much about government, but I know that as long as you have enemies, you’ll also have friends. Why don’t you be a little more open-minded and strive a little more for the sake of your own performance and ideals?”

This time, Wen Yuansi was really surprised by her words.

She was a sheltered young lady from a well-to-do family, yet her knowledge and exposure to society were above many others. If you have enemies, you’ll also have friends? Was she saying that the enemy of your enemy was a friend? Was she trying to tell him that?

He couldn’t help but break into a smile.

She was young but so astute. How could he be so wishy-washy about it, then?

Besides, it wasn’t as if this reaaaaally wasn’t possible to arrange.

His gaze flickered.

Perhaps this process of cutting the body open could really help him.

Not only would it help him to crack the case, but it could also earn him a good reputation and enable him to get a promotion!

Song Caitang noticed the change in his expression and knew that she had convinced him, so she decided to stop talking and got up to take her leave, “That’s all I’ll say, do have a good think about it. It’s getting late, so I’ll take my…”

She got up a little too quickly, and her sleeve hit the teacup.

She reached out to grab hold of it, but Wen Yuansi moved way faster than her. He not only took the teacup away from her sleeve but made sure that none of the remaining tea spilled onto her. Not even one drop.

Song Caitang stared at him.

She had gotten up very quickly, yet he had reacted equally quickly. Had he been observing her subconsciously all this while?

He was able to be so considerate even when he was thinking about important things. This was probably a habit of his.

This Magistrate Wen truly had the same temperament as the meaning of his surname – he was gentle and meticulous.

Wen Yuansi didn’t think much of his own actions. He was just being gentlemanly. He placed a palm over his other fist and bade her farewell, “Have a good rest, Miss Song. I will look you up again tomorrow morning.”

Song Caitang’s eyes lit up. She got what he was trying to say. He was making a promise.

A promise that she would be able to conduct her dissection the next morning!

She couldn’t help but feel surprised.

Helping the authorities to examine dead bodies as part of a criminal investigation required one to write an autopsy report, and this report had to be properly signed by all parties since they were responsible for the things said in the report. This dissection could not be done in secret. Examining the body didn’t leave any traces, but dissecting it would, so it was a grave matter. Wen Yuansi would definitely have to talk to his superiors about this. Furthermore, she was a rare woman in this line of work.

And he could settle all of this within just one night?

She felt like…she had underestimated this Magistrate Wen.

After returning to her room, Song Caitang went to bed. But she was awakened by the moon in the middle of the night.

It was the 15^th of the month the next day, so the moon was becoming rounder and rounder, and prettier and prettier, gentler and gentler…it was as gentle as water.

She leaned against the window and basked in the moonlight. She closed her eyes and let out a happy sigh.

This was an era she knew nothing about, so she should have made a fool of herself and felt very out of place. Yet, strangely enough, she seemed to adapt very well and knew what to do at the right time…

The moonlight seemed to tremble slightly.

She opened her eyes and realized it wasn’t that the moonlight was trembling. There was a shadow of a human that had leaped diagonally from a courtyard further in front.

This person moved very nimbly and lightly, like a cat. But also like a muscular leopard.

Was that martial arts?

Oh right…martial arts…

She had forgotten about that.

Song Caitang tilted her head to think. The body she had seen today belonged to a man who was tall and strong and very muscular too. Yet someone literally beat him to death. Did the killer know martial arts?

That little distraction took her attention away for only one moment, but that was enough for that nimble figure to disappear beneath the moon. It was as though that figure had never appeared before.

“Young Mistress, you’re awake again.”

Qingqiao yawned, then made a pot of hot tea out of instinct and walked over.

She sat down and pricked up her ears, “Is that the sound of water?”

Song Caitang smiled. A gentle and bright smile.

“That’s right. There’s water.”

She cupped her chin with one hand and turned to one side to listen to the sound quietly.

The sound was coming from the north. It wasn’t near but not too far. The rhythm of the water was drawn out and trickled slowly. It was very pleasant to the ear.

It must be a very beautiful little stream.

She had to visit it once she found the time.

While Song Caitang was relaxing in her room and admiring the moon, Wen Yuansi had run into a problem.

A middle-aged man with a thick beard stared at him in disbelief, “A woman? Who wants to cut a body open?! Wen Yuansi, have you become stupid? Or possessed? How can such a thing be allowed?! I will not agree to this!”