Chapter 64: Strangle to Death

Could this woman actually be planning to perform the autopsy herself?

Suddenly, Shangguan Ning seemed to recall something, and let out a disdainful chuckle in his heart. He could believe that this woman indulged in eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring, but conducting an autopsy? He would just wait to watch her make a fool of herself.

"Reporting to the Princess, we have arrived at the morgue." The sound of reins being pulled tight rang out, immediately followed by the sedan bearer's voice.

"Mhm," Yun Qiange replied indifferently, stepping down from the carriage first. Knowing that Shangguan Ning detested her touch, she had no intention of asking for humiliation by offering her hand to help him down. Consequently, when Shangguan Ning caught sight of that receding black silhouette, his face turned livid with anger. Utterly devoid of manners! Still, it was just as well; he didn't like her touching him either. At this thought, Shangguan Ning felt a wave of relief wash over him, and he quickened his pace to catch up.

The morgue's coroner had long since received word of the Princess's impending visit and was waiting respectfully at the entrance. Upon seeing Yun Qiange arrive, the coroner bowed and ushered her inside.

This was her first time entering an ancient morgue, and surprisingly, it looked almost identical to those seen on television. It did not contain just a single corpse, but rather multiple bodies, all of which appeared to have been brought in within the last few days.

However, she had heard that corpses in the Tianyuan Dynasty could typically only be preserved for two days before decomposing entirely and having to be cremated. Because of this limitation, she had instructed the coroner to immerse the corpse in quicksilver. In ancient times, formalin did not exist; fortunately, she had discovered that quicksilver—though commonly used as a poison—was available in this era.

"You are truly a miraculous being, Your Highness! Ever since you had the corpse injected with quicksilver, it has truly avoided decomposition and remains as pristine as the day it arrived." Admiration filled the eyes of the white-robed coroner. Having lived for so many years, this was the first time she had ever witnessed a body being preserved in quicksilver and remaining entirely intact. The Princess had made a monumental contribution to their field of forensic examination.

"There's no need to flatter me; these are just basic facts. Tell me about this body," she said, shaking her head helplessly. After all, these were things even a child in the modern era would know. What a backward ancient world this was.

"Yes, Your Highness. Princess Li Goule died during the *shishi* hour [equivalent to 7:00 to 9:00 AM]. Judging from the scene at the time, the victim died from a sword wound located on the chest. Given the size of the bloodstains, it was a close-range assassination." Listening to the coroner's report, Yun Qiange donned rubber gloves and walked a circle around Li Goule's corpse. Bending down, she examined the head, finding no abnormalities; the external features were intact. She then scanned from the head down to the hands and instructed the coroner, "Lift her hands, carefully."

Once the coroner gently raised Li Goule's hands, Yun Qiange placed her surgical kit on a nearby table, took out a pair of tweezers, and painstakingly extracted a white thread from between Li Goule's fingers.

A white thread? And white gloves? Presumably, while struggling, Li Goule had snagged a thread from her gloves. She placed the thread into a pre-prepared small pouch, put down the tweezers, picked up the surgical scissors, and carefully cut along the seams of the garments.

After gradually removing the clothing, a deep sword wound was revealed on the victim's chest. It truly appeared to be a death caused by a sword wound. However, even if she had been ambushed while unaware, why were there signs of a struggle?

"Help the body up." As Yun Qiange gave the order, the epidermis around the corpse's shoulder blades peeled away.

"This is..." The coroner was startled. She had all along believed that the Princess had been stabbed by a sword; the marks on the neck, however, clearly indicated death by strangulation using a soft cloth strip. Without close, careful visual inspection, it truly would have been impossible to detect.

"She was strangled, though the ligature mark is quite faint."