Huang Xiaorou

"A female corpse?"

The young eunuch was anxiously waiting at the palace gate; something urgent must have happened. Xu Qi'an's only connection to him was the case of Consort Fu. Therefore, the female corpse must be related to the case of Consort Fu.

Xu Qi'an narrowed his eyes, a thought flashing through his mind, "Is it the missing palace maid from the Fufei case?"

The young eunuch was taken aback, then wholeheartedly admired him. "My lord is truly a master strategist; this servant is utterly in awe."

This statement was both a compliment and a heartfelt expression. After two days of surveillance, the eunuch discovered that Xu Qi'an was a famous constable who, despite his seemingly flamboyant appearance, possessed wisdom far exceeding that of ordinary people.

This wasn't some divine calculation; it was just simple deduction. Xu Qi'an nodded and said, "Take me to see the body."

The young eunuch hurriedly led the way.

"Which well was the body found in?"

"The backyard of Crab House."

"Crab Pavilion?"

Xu Qi'an didn't care what kind of terrible name it was.

"The Crab Pavilion is where the palace maids live," the young eunuch replied.

Palace maids were also divided into different ranks. Those with higher status were called female officials, and some even had ranks and titles, such as Jieyu, Meiren, Cairen, Yunu, Cainu, etc.

These palace maids had a chance to be favored by the emperor and become famous overnight. Of course, during Emperor Yuanjing's reign, none of them could hope to rise to prominence.

The next level up were the palace maids who served the imperial concubines.

The lowest class were the handymen who lived in the large dormitories.

Crab Pavilion was essentially a dormitory for palace maids.

As they walked and talked, they soon arrived at the palace morgue, a secluded courtyard in the south, where the bodies of those executed, died of illness, or died in accidents were kept.

On the simple bed, lay a slightly bloated corpse, its body soaked in water.

"Go and get the knives, I need to dissect the body," Xu Qi'an ordered.

He was somewhat eager to learn, as he had often been sent to observe forensic autopsies and act as an assistant when he worked in the government office in his previous life, accumulating a wealth of professional knowledge and experience.

From initial fear and vomiting to gradual acceptance, and then to calmly assisting, Xu Qi'an vaguely discovered that he quite liked dissection.

Since coming to this world, I've encountered many cases, but opportunities to perform autopsies are rare.

"Consort Fu is the old emperor's woman, I can't touch her, but surely I can disembowel this little palace maid. If only she were a bit fresher."

While thinking about it, he undressed the palace maid.

"You dog of a servant, you dog of a servant, why didn't you send someone to inform me when you entered the palace?"

Princess Lin'an's cheerful voice came from outside, and then a red figure rushed to a stop at the door.

"What are you doing?"

Lin'an's bright smile froze as he looked at Xu Qi'an clutching the woman's undergarment.

Behind her, Huaiqing, dressed in a flowing white dress, stepped across the threshold, glanced at Xu Qi'an, and then her gaze fell on the undergarment.

Slightly embarrassed, Xu Qi'an remained expressionless. "Examining the body, we plan to perform an autopsy."

"Don't touch that disgusting thing!"

Biao Biao stomped her feet repeatedly. She glanced at the naked upper body of the female corpse and immediately looked away.

Princess Huaiqing shared the same view and offered the suggestion. "Why not have a coroner do it?"

"Because I enjoy doing this," Xu Qi'an shook his head seriously and explained earnestly, "Your Highnesses, you know that I do everything myself and am meticulous in my work. If I can do it myself, I won't delegate it to others. In other people's eyes, this is a good quality of diligence, but in my opinion, it is indeed a trivial and ordinary thing."

Biao Biao greatly admired Xu Qi'an's work ethic. Huai Qing remained expressionless, seemingly not believing his nonsense.

"Your Highnesses, please go back and have some tea. Please wait a moment and do not linger here," Xu Qi'an said, trying to shoo them away.

Upon hearing this, Huaiqing did not leave, but instead gracefully walked to the female corpse.

"The body was retrieved last night. After it was identified as Huang Xiaorou, it was taken away by Eunuch Chang," Huaiqing said.

"I want to stay and take a look; perhaps we can find clues from the body."

Huaiqing seemed very interested in mentally taxing tasks, such as playing chess, compiling history, and now solving cases. Xu Qi'an turned his head and silently looked into the princess's clear, beautiful eyes.

Huaiqing's gaze sharpened slightly as she met his eyes. Her voice, sharp and pleasant, had a quality like ice striking ice. "Hmm?"

A simple "hmm" can imply: Hey bro, you have a problem with that?

Xu Qi'an withdrew his gaze, no longer looking at the princess's flawless face, and turned to Biao Biao, asking, "Where is the Second Prince?"

Biao Biao glanced at Huai Qing, then hesitated before saying, "What's the big deal? I'll stay too."

"OK!"

Xu Qi'an swiftly stripped the female corpse naked.

The woman's face flushed red, then turned pale, and she covered her face as she walked away.

"Second Prince, aren't you going to stay and watch?" Xu Qi'an called out.

Biao Biao covered her face and whispered, barely a whisper, "They're gone, they're gone."

Huaiqing glanced at the female corpse. Although it was well hidden, Xu Qi'an could still see the embarrassment in those clear, cold eyes.

This kind of awkwardness is like when Xu Qi'an was watching TV with his parents and the program happened to show the male and female leads in bed.

With a perfect appearance and top-notch configuration, and a very powerful core, Xu Qi'an made his assessment in his mind: the only problem was that the mileage was almost zero.

If we compare Huaiqing to a top-of-the-line sports car, it's brand new from the factory.

So, "Biao Biao" is basically a model car; its exterior is incredibly beautiful, but its core... well, let's just say it's hard to describe.

However, for men, women like Biao Biao, who are charming, alluring, and not particularly intelligent, are probably more popular.

"What's this?"

Huaiqing found a piece of dull yellow silk embroidered with a bright red lotus flower and a line of small characters in the personal clothing of the palace maid Huang Xiaorou:

Spring of the thirty-first year of the Yuanjing era.

"The fact that she kept it close to her body until her death shows that it was extremely important to her."

Huaiqing looked at Xu Qi'an, seemingly seeking confirmation, and asked, "What does Lord Xu think?"

Xu Qi'an hummed in agreement.

Huaiqing's lips curled slightly.

"Your Highness is so intelligent, why don't you take a look at this female corpse? What can you discern?"

Huaiqing couldn't help but glance at him. Xu Qi'an seemed to be testing her, so she couldn't help but suppress the smile on her lips, a feeling of unwillingness to admit defeat rising within her.

"Based on the paleness and swelling of the body, she did not jump into the well after the crime occurred," Huaiqing concluded.

"Within two days," Xu Qi'an gave a more precise reply.

"There were no obvious external injuries on her body, so she must have drowned. She was probably knocked unconscious." After saying this, the elegant and refined princess subconsciously looked at Xu Qi'an.

Seeing his expressionless face and lack of response, the princess felt somewhat unhappy and, as she lowered her head, she slightly pursed the corner of her mouth.

"Is there anything else?" Xu Qi'an asked.

Huaiqing thought for a moment and shook his head slightly.

"You've missed the most important step. Even when examining a female corpse, if there are obvious signs of death, never forget to check."

Xu Qi'an raised an eyebrow at Huai Qing, revealing a smirk.

Huaiqing was stunned for a moment, then, seeing Xu Qi'an's gaze fall on the forbidden area, she immediately understood, being as intelligent as she was.

Swish.

Her fair face immediately flushed red. The princess's eyebrows furrowed, and she gritted her teeth. "Xu Ningyan, how dare you flirt with me!"

Xu Qi'an readily admitted his mistake, his attitude sincere. "This humble servant had no intention of offending you, Your Highness, please forgive me."

Huaiqing turned away, indicating that she did not accept his apology, and she was very angry.

Teasing the proud and aloof princess is far more satisfying than teasing Lin'an. Huaiqing's angry demeanor has a unique charm... Xu Qi'an coughed and said:

"It's true she drowned, but not in the well; she was held underwater and suffocated."

"How do you know?" Huaiqing didn't believe it, turned his head and questioned.

Well, as long as the discussion is about academic issues, she'll temporarily stop getting angry. Even top female students have their weaknesses. Xu Qi'an silently noted this down, remaining outwardly calm, and explained:

"Look at her face, it's purplish-red. A normal drowning victim's face is pale and swollen. Only when someone holds her underwater headfirst will blood flow back to the head at the moment of death, causing the face to become congested."

Huaiqing frowned, as if deep in thought.

"There's one more thing," Xu Qi'an grabbed the woman's wrist, "Look at her hand, clenched into a fist, which is consistent with drowning. But look closely, there's no sand or moss under her fingernails."

Huaiqing looked closely and saw that the crevices under his fingernails were indeed clean.

"This means she did drown, but not in the well?" she asked.

"Your Highness is truly too intelligent. Compared to you, Princess Lin'an is merely a younger sister." Xu Qi'an cupped his hands in admiration.

Although he knew the man was flattering him, Huaiqing still felt comfortable.

People love to hear compliments, and even saints are no exception. Besides, Princess Huaiqing has always been proud; she may outwardly dismiss flattery with disdain, but inwardly she'll secretly rejoice.

Huaiqing gave a reserved "hmm".

"So, she was silenced," Her Highness the Princess added.

Xu Qi'an nodded, and at the same time heard faint footsteps. He looked up at the door and saw the young eunuch coming over with a scalpel for dissecting corpses.

Rapid footsteps rushed in through the threshold. The young eunuch's first reaction upon seeing the female corpse was to scream sharply, "Ah!"

"Young eunuch, you've never seen a woman before, have you? Come, come, let me give you a lesson in physiology." Xu Qi'an teased in the tone of an old rogue.

The young eunuch ignored him, and feeling somewhat embarrassed, he lowered his head and placed the knife on the long table.

There were six knives in total, of varying sizes and thicknesses, wrapped in thick linen.

Xu Qi'an wanted to lick his lips to express his anticipation, but he felt that the gesture was too bizarre and shouldn't be shown in front of Huaiqing, so he had to hold back.

Honestly, when I'm doing some hobbies, I don't like having anyone watching. He selected a single-edged dagger about the size of a dagger, pressed the tip against the woman's throat, and slit open her trachea.

A stream of slightly murky water flowed out.

"Vomit"

With tender, red flesh exposed to his eyes, the young eunuch covered his mouth and couldn't help but gag.

Xu Qi'an then switched to a large knife, cut open his chest, and opened his lungs.

"Ugh!" The young eunuch fled.

It can't hold on any longer?

Huaiqing's jade-carved face revealed a vivid expression—horror and disgust. His eyelashes trembled as he averted his gaze.

"There's also fluid in his lungs. The cause of death is confirmed: drowning." Xu Qi'an put down the knife.

Huaiqing nodded and asked, "Is there anything else we need to check?"

"That's all, Your Highness, let's leave." Xu Qi'an said, then suddenly exclaimed "Huh?"

Huaiqing, who had already turned to leave, looked back and suddenly her eyebrows shot up. "What are you doing?"

"She was injured." Xu Qi'an frowned, and as he spoke, he flipped up the "fat mass" on the female corpse's chest so that Huaiqing could see what was under her breasts.

Huaiqing was stunned.

This palace maid named Huang Xiaorou has a deep scar on her lower left side, directly opposite her heart.

She immediately realized she had misunderstood Xu Qi'an and understood his doubts:

How could a palace maid suffer such a dangerous injury? And incredibly, she survived?

Xu Qi'an spread out the coarse linen again, grasped the largest knife, and, following the scar, cut open the woman's chest.

Huaiqing looked like he wanted to watch but was afraid it would be too much for his eyes.

Xu Qi'an removed the heart, squinted at it for a moment, and said considerately, "Judging from the scars, the wound was very deep. The weapon was probably scissors or some other sharp object. It had reached the heart; she should have died from massive blood loss."

Huaiqing nodded, looked towards the door, and analyzed, "Only the Empress Dowager and concubines of the rank of Imperial Concubine can use the medicine that can heal this kind of wound."

"For anyone else who needs life-saving elixirs, they need the Empress Dowager's permission, or they themselves have received a reward from the Emperor; there is no need to divert them from the treasury."

The "other people" she mentioned naturally did not include princes and princesses.

After leaving the morgue, the two found a well in the courtyard. Xu Qi'an drew a bucket of clean water and carefully washed his hands.

Then, he vigorously rubbed the piece of yellow silk found on the woman's body a few times, spread it out to dry by the well.

"Tell the morgue attendant that I still have use for that corpse inside, and to send it to the ice cellar." Xu Qi'an dismissed the young eunuch.

"Xu Ningyan, fetch me a bucket of water." Princess Huaiqing stood gracefully to the side.

Based on her form of address, Xu Qi'an judged that she was in a good mood at the moment, calling him "Lord Xu" when she was being polite and distant, and "Xu Ningyan" when she was angry.

Huaiqing's tone at this moment was definitely not angry, so calling out to Xu Ningyan sounded more like addressing a friend.

Xu Qi'an carried a bucket of water for her. Huaiqing squatted down, rolled up her long sleeves, and dipped her fair hands into the water, her slender and graceful fingers gleaming.

"Those little hands are so pretty," he thought to himself.

After washing her hands, Huaiqing took out a silk handkerchief to dry them and said, "I will take you to the Imperial Pharmacy."

Xu Qi'an was about to nod when a thought suddenly popped into his mind: why throw the corpse into the Crab Pavilion?

Within the palace, there are at least dozens (censored, I don't understand why this is censored?) of wells, some even more hidden, such as the well in the Cold Palace, or the well in the morgue.

"Let's go to Crab Pavilion first."

Seeing the two emerge from afar, Lin'an approached with light steps and asked, "What have you discovered?"

"We did find something," Xu Qi'an told her about the autopsy findings. Lin An listened and nodded, her little face very focused, but as soon as Xu Qi'an finished speaking, her attention immediately shifted, clearly letting it go in one ear and out the other.

Lin'an pointed to the pale yellow silk drying by the well and exclaimed with delight, "You dog servant, doesn't the lotus flower on this look like you?"

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Qi'an suddenly screamed, clutching his head and rolling on the ground in agony.

Biao Biao and Huai Qing were startled and asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"

"My head, my head hurts so much!" Xu Qi'an clutched his head in agony, even letting his fur hat fall off to reveal his bald head, showing how severe his headache was.

"You wait, I'll go fetch the imperial physician right away!" The woman stamped her foot anxiously. Then she turned around and ran away, swaying her slender waist.

Princess Huaiqing, seeing that her annoying younger sister was gone, finally dropped her airs, squatted down beside him, and took his pulse. "I have some medical knowledge."

Upon checking his pulse, it was indeed beating very fast; Xu Tongluo's heart must be pounding even harder right now.

"Your Highness," Xu Qi'an said painfully, grasping Huaiqing's soft hand, "Since I entered the Spirit Refining Realm, I have suffered from headaches constantly. Duke Wei said it's because my Primordial Spirit Primordial Spirit is restless, and I might die from it leaving my body at any time."

Huaiqing was taken aback; she had no idea about this, so she didn't immediately pull her hand away.

When Biao Biao instructed the guards to fetch the imperial physician and returned to the courtyard, she found Xu Qi'an calmly brushing the dust off his clothes.

The annoying Huaiqing squatted down by the wooden tub to wash his hands.

"Are you alright?" Biao Biao asked in surprise.

"It's nothing, just contractions, it'll be over in a bit," Xu Qi'an waved his hand wearily.

Whew. I almost crashed. Luckily, I reacted quickly. Otherwise, if the two sisters knew that I wrote them the same love letter and gave them the same lotus petals, Huaiqing wouldn't stand for it, and neither would Biaobiao. My favorability rating would definitely plummet. Xu Qi'an did a great job, not only keeping the steering wheel steady but also holding Huaiqing's little hand. He cheered for himself in his heart.

Huaiqing kept her head down and didn't speak, her little hands were clenched so tightly they were red, as if still warm from Xu Qi'an.

Biao Biao looked at him suspiciously.

Crab Pavilion is located on the west side of the palace, far from the palace gardens where the concubines gathered. It is a large courtyard house.

At this hour, the palace maids had already left the Crab Pavilion and gone to work in various parts of the palace. Only one head maid was lying on a large chair, basking in the early spring sun.

The age spots on her face were clearly visible in the sunlight; her body was overweight and out of shape; her hair was gray; and she simply wore a jade hairpin.

"Granny Rong, Granny Rong!"

The young eunuch called out a few times, and the old nanny slowly woke up.

Rong Momo?!

Xu Qi'an's childhood memories were stirred up, and a famous line involuntarily surfaced in his mind:

Your Majesty, do you still remember Rong Momo by the Daming Lake?

"Your Highnesses have arrived," the young eunuch announced.

Upon closer inspection, Rong Momo realized that it was indeed the two most beautiful princesses in the palace, who had graced the palace with their presence.

She rose with a speed beyond her years, curtsied, and said, "This old servant greets Your Highnesses."

Huaiqing looked at her and said, "I accompanied Lord Xu here to investigate a case concerning the female corpse that was pulled from the well today. Tell me what you know."

Rong Momo nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Xu Qi'an broke his silence and asked, "Who pulled the body out of the water, and when was it discovered?"

"It was Xiaoyu who discovered it. This morning, she went to the well to fetch water and noticed that the sound of the bucket hitting the water was strange, a bit muffled. She peered into the well for a long time, and oh my goodness, it was a corpse!" The old woman's expression was very excited.

Xu Qi'an pointed to the stone well under the locust tree. "Is it that one?"

"Yes."

He walked to the well and looked inside. The well was deep and dark, and the water was as smooth as a mirror.

For an ordinary person, finding a body in such a dark well would indeed take a long time.

"Didn't anyone notice yesterday?" Xu Qi'an frowned.

The body of palace maid Huang Xiaorou had been submerged in water for more than 24 hours.

"It makes me so angry just thinking about it. This morning they found a dead body in the well, and those damned maids said that's why the sound was so strange when they were drawing water the day before yesterday," the old nanny said angrily.

"Not a single one of them bothered to gouge out the eyeballs and look inside, forcing this old servant to drink corpse water for two days."

The woman looked disgusted.

Xu Qi'an's lips twitched. "Granny, do you know that Huang Xiaorou?"

The old woman was taken aback. "Yellow what?"

Xu Qi'an said, "Huang Xiaorou."

The old woman's eyes widened. "What Xiaorou?"

Xu Qi'an retorted angrily, "I wasn't asking about Ma Dongmei, you don't need to answer me like that."

The old woman thought for a long time, then suddenly realized. "This old servant is just confirming again, this old servant recognizes Huang Xiaorou, recognizes her."

Huaiqing's eyes lit up; she realized why Xu Qi'an wanted to come to Crab Pavilion.

What's wrong with this little gong? It's spinning so fast!

"You know her?" Xu Qi'an reminded him, "She's a palace maid serving Consort Fu, how could you possibly know her?"

PS: Thanks to the leader of "Lanying Zicha" for the reward.

Please update first, then revise; please help me find any bugs, thank you.