Provincial Governor Li Guangyi

Everyone’s eyes and mouths were wide open and they remained in a daze for a long, long time.

They watched as the round faced girl in a green dress kept everything efficiently, including the tiny knives that had handles that were thinner and longer than the blade itself, the shiny, sharp and tiny scissors, the tool with a sharp, hooked end that they didn’t know the name of…

Each item was washed properly, then wiped dry with a cotton cloth to absorb any remaining moisture and replaced in the wooden box.

The atractylodes and honey locust plants burning in the ceramic pot had already stopped burning. Faint wisps of smoke were left and those too, faded in the breeze.

Once the smoke dissipated, the air both inside and outside the room cleared up and the foul smells were gone. Even the rotting smell that had made everyone puke disappeared in an instant. Nobody could smell it anymore.

The February sun shone through the window and onto the floor. It was bright and alluring, filled with positive energy.

“Young Mistress.” The round face maid had finished packing and bowed respectfully to her employer. The young lady who had finished the dissection nodded with a soft grunt, then turned and walked out of the room.

The brilliant sunshine danced behind her. The tassels of her hair pins swayed in the spring breeze.

Not a single person dared to stand in her way or to even speak. All those doubts and threats had vanished.

All of them automatically took steps backward to stand in two neat rows along the side, leaving a wide, long corridor for Song Caitang to pass through.

Their hands were clasped and their heads slightly bowed. There was respect and admiration in their stance.

And perhaps, some fear.

Song Caitang didn’t bother herself with them and she didn’t care what they thought either. She quietly passed through the small residence with boldness, confidence and steadiness.

Once she got out of the residence, she raised her head slightly and took a deep breath.

The glaring sun, the sound of the wind…

That felt so good.

……

Dissecting of a body was something that nobody had ever seen or heard of before, so it raised a huge commotion. Everyone was going around telling everybody they knew, and in no time, even those who didn’t care about it or didn’t have access to a lot of information heard every single detail.

Ma Sanniang, who was temporarily staying in a guestroom, dropped her cup and her legs became so weak, she nearly collapsed to the floor.

D-d-disection of a dead body?

The young woman who questioned her knew how to cut a dead body open?!

And the identity of that body had been confirmed!

She gripped the table to steady herself. Her gaze flickered wildly and her lips were white from how hard she was biting them. It took her several gulps of saliva for her to calm down again.

After remaining silent for a few moments, an idea struck her. She tied her hair up, made sure her clothing was in good order and left the room.

……

In a room in the northern section of the east residences, An Pengyi finished his bowl of medicine and coughed a few times. His cheeks were red and his voice was hoarse, “The body was…cut open? And the victim was confirmed to be my Second Brother?”

The young man who was in charge of running errands around the temple took the bowl back from An Pengyi, “That’s right, and it was a young lady who cut him open, her surname is Song. She was really skilled! I heard that the abdomen of the victim opened with just one cut and you could see where the heart, the liver, the spleen, the lungs, the kidneys and all that were very clearly! It’s too bad I’m too skinny and couldn’t squeeze in to take a look. Those right in front ended up vomiting! HAHA! If I were there, I wouldn’t have puked!”

An Pengyi lowered his gaze a little and his voice calmed down slightly, “So amazing?”

“Super! And this Miss Song is really good! Just by looking at those stinky things in the stomach, she was able to determine who the victim was. And after looking at that face that was nothing but a mess of blood and flesh and bones, she knew that the victim had suffered blows from two different people before and after his demise. This skill of hers is really mind blowing…”

An Pengyi narrowed his eyes, “Done by two people?”

“Yep,” said the young man as he reached to place a palm against An Pengyi’s forehead, “You’ve not had a fever for five days in a row now, so this cold of yours has cleared up already. The coughing just now was because you choked on the medicine. So, I don’t have to send you anymore medicine next time?”

An Pengyi took a small piece of silver from among his belongings and smiled as he passed it to the young man, “Thank you for taking care of me during this time. Otherwise, I couldn’t have gotten well so quickly.”

“That’s no problem at all.” The young man kept the silver away carefully with a big smile, “It’s mostly because you look like a nice guy and you have a pleasant temperament. If it was one of your two brothers, I wouldn’t have dared to come anywhere near.”

……

In the northwest section of the temple, in the residence that right next to the main hall, had the largest floor area and the best scenery…

Provincial governor Li Guangyi was also keeping an eye on the results of this dissection.

Because this wasn’t just an autopsy. This was Zhang Gushen challenging him!

The hierarchy during this time placed governors right on top. He was the provincial governor, while Zhang Gushen was a prefectural governor, so he was an entire rank above Zhang Gushen and could be considered the other man’s superior. But the prefectural governor was in charge of the land under his care, including the military, governance, the grain and the taxes. That position took charge of everything and had the last say in those areas. The provincial governor seemed impressive since it was a higher position, but he was really just an overseer. In other words, if nothing happened in the territory he was overseeing, then he didn’t have to do anything and he could enjoy the status that came with his high position. But if something went wrong, or a major case occurred in his jurisdiction, like the death of this aristocrat…

That would give him more space to prove himself.

On most days, that idiot Governor Zhang either stopped him or blocked him from doing anything whenever he tried, and fighting was meaningless. Now that a big case had occurred, he wanted to get the most credit for it. But Governor Zhang was actually trying to snatch it from him!

Was this man blind? He didn’t care about his future anymore? Or was he tired of living?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Li Guangyi slammed his tea cup down on the table. An icy glint lit up his seething gaze, “They’re not done yet?!”

The young man standing next to him quickly replied, “Sir, don’t worry, I’ve already sent someone to keep a close watch. Once the results are out, he’ll come back to report immediately!”

The young man had thin brows, narrow eyes and an extremely square chin. He was wearing an official’s uniform – he was a prefectural judge.

Li Guangyi glanced at him. His foul mood could be heard in his displeased voice, “Prefectural Judge Guo, I put you in charge of this matter, you’d better not drop the ball.”

Judge Guo’s gaze flickered, “Sir, don’t worry, I will do my best for this case and I will not let anybody else interfere with it!”

Li Guangyi snorted but didn’t say anything.

The judge chose his words carefully and said, “Sir, you don’t have to be so worried. Prefectural Governor Zhang must have run out of ideas, so he’s doing something like this…”

“Even if you’ve run out of ideas, this is not the way to do things! He’s cutting a dead body open! And using a woman too!” Li Guangyi narrowed his eyes and sneered, “He’s made such a big commotion too – did he think I wouldn’t dare to interfere if he did that?”

Judge Guo clasped his hands together and lowered his gaze, but his lips curved into a slightly sarcastic smile, “Don’t worry, making everyone know about this is the most he can do. A woman? I’ve studied many criminal cases closely and I study both current and historical case files, but I’ve never seen anything like this. A woman dissecting a dead body is just a way of getting everyone’s attention, that’s all.”

He went forward to pick up the teapot himself and poured Li Guangyi a fresh cup.

Li Guangyi felt a little better after feeling the warm tea in his stomach.

“I understand if that Zhang fellow wants to steal the credit, since he’s a governor as well. But that Wen Yuansi’s a magistrate, someone with the authority to investigate cases, someone who can even bypass his higher ups to send confidential letters directly to the emperor. He should have been part of my faction, but every time I try to reach out to him, he dodges it and pretends he didn’t see it at all…” Li Guangyi rubbed the rim of the teacup with a mirthless smile on his face, “Well, look at him now. He’s gone to Zhang’s camp.”

He had tried to apply pressure on Wen Yuansi, hoping that Wen Yuansi would know what was good for him and obediently agree to be part of his faction. But to his horror, this young man wasn’t appreciative of his efforts and even decided to join Zhang Gushen’s camp instead. Did Wen Yuansi think he hadn’t noticed?

Wen Yuansi was doing that just because the new inspector was Zhao Zhi, someone approved by the emperor and someone who knew his grandmother.

But Wen Yuansi had forgotten that Zhao Zhi was also the nephew of the emperor.

He was of royal descent and was famous for causing chaos everywhere he went. And the things he did were unconventional, making everyone compliment him and he had also gained a lot of credit in battles. Would the emperor dare to put such a person in important positions? Were those stories of how much the emperor doted on him true?

Others might believe those stories, but Li Guangyi didn’t. He didn’t think anybody in the royal family would actually truly care for each other.

The fact that Zhao Zhi had been removed from the military, lost his job as the commander of the royal guard, and had been demoted to surveillance commissioner, a job that required him to travel all over the country, as a punishment was proof of that!

And Wen Yuansi was hoping to use this man as his springboard and make things difficult for him? What a fool.

Zhao Zhi no longer enjoyed the emperor’s favor! He couldn’t be relied on anymore!

Judge Guo had no idea what Li Guangyi was thinking about. He spoke hesitantly and carefully, “Magistrate Wen has acted foolishly as well, placing all his bets on a woman…”

“What do you know!” Li Guangyi wasn’t going to teach Judge Guo about what went on among court officials and he wasn’t going to share his personal network with this young man either, “Focus on cracking your case! It’s been so many days! Have you gotten any clues yet? How is the investigation going?!”

Judge Guo looked like he was in a very difficult position, “Sir, you know that a prefectural judge like myself needs to look at the autopsy report before being able to crack the case. But this case involves that…cursed baby, so…the coroners dare not do anything about the body.”

Li Guangyi flashed Judge Guo a sarcastic smile, “Oh? If you can’t get it done, you need me to find a woman to do it?”

“Of course not, of course not. Women wouldn’t know how to read a dead body.” Judge Guo forced himself to smile, “Actually, the coroners have been in discussion and they’ve made a few initial conclusions…”

“Enough of this empty talk! If you end up doing even worse than a woman and you embarrass me, then don’t talk about keeping your position! I’ll skin you alive and leave you to die!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The room was quiet for a moment. Li Guangyi changed the topic, “Where’s the inspector? Where did he go?”

Come to think of it, nobody had seen him since morning.

Judge Guo replied, “The inspector is a man of war and doesn’t know anything about criminal investigations. Maybe he’s feeling bored and has gone somewhere for a walk?”

Before he had even finished that last sentence, someone came running in to report. His expression was panicky, “The inspector has gone to watch the dissection!”

Li Guangyi’s expression froze for a moment, then he tsked at the subordinate, “And so what if he did? There’s no need to get all panicky.” There was no need to be this shocked.

“The inspector saw…he saw…” the man took a moment to catch his breath, then continued, “He watched as that woman successfully dissected the body!”

Li Guangyi stood up with a start and did not care that he had toppled the teacup in doing so and the tea had wet his robe. He stared intently at the subordinate, “What did you say? She dissected the body successfully?”

The subordinate’s teeth started chattering, as though he was still reeling in fear from what he had witnessed earlier, “She…was able to identify the victim from cutting his stomach open, and was even able to tell that the victim’s injuries were made by two different people just by observing that face that was smashed beyond recognition!”

“It seems like they’ll be able to crack this case in no time!”

Judge Guo’s heart sank and his legs felt like jelly. His expression was filled with disbelief…

He secretly peeked at Li Guangyi, who had exactly the same reaction as himself.