An Audience with the Emperor, Part Two

Though Sun Shaozong had attended to quite a few "side matters" these past few days, he naturally had not dared delay the major case assigned by Imperial Order.

By examining the old case files, along with the preserved physical evidence and testimonies, he had roughly sorted out some new evidence—not absolutely conclusive, perhaps, but certainly well-founded.

When Emperor Guangde questioned him about it, Sun Shaozong calmly asked for a writing brush. At a low table in the corner, he swiftly sketched out a topographical map of the Tiewang Mountain crime scene.

After some thought, he added drawings of several pieces of physical evidence in a blank space below it. Finally, he used a Cinnabar Pen to circle and mark all the crucial points before asking Palace Overseer Eunuch Qiu Shi'an to present it before the Emperor.

"Your Majesty."

Returning to his original place, Sun Shaozong bowed and said, "This subject has reviewed the earlier case files and found that the officials handling the case had endlessly debated whether it was accidental killing or murder. Therefore, this subject believes the first matter to establish is precisely that."

"To that end, this subject carefully examined all the testimony and evidence, and finally discovered several clues."

"Wei Ruolan was passionately fond of hunting, and his household did not lack wealth. Naturally, he equipped himself with fine horses and fine saddles—even the bows and arrows he used for hunting came in several different varieties."

"Since he had gone hunting in the mountains that day, Wei Ruolan had carried a specially made triangular arrow: long fletching, wooden shaft, heavy arrowhead. It was known for being steady, accurate, and ruthless, though its range was inferior to that of ordinary arrows."

"This was naturally because the mountain forests were dense. No matter how great the range, it