C79 Part1

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Murong Ci and Qin Ruo followed Shen Zhiyan into the Study Room, but the two Officials stretched out their arms to stop them,

"You two, this is a crime scene, and external people are not allowed to enter."

Shen Zhiyan quickly turned around and said:

"These two are..."

Seeing His Highness winking at him, he smiled calmly,

"These two are my subordinates."

The Head Official heard that they were also from the Dali Temple, so they let them in.

Murong Ci told Qin Ruo to wait outside, and then inspected the room in front of her with her cold eyes sweeping back and forth sharply:

The table, bookshelf, blue and white porcelain, etc...everything was in good order.

Everything except that there was a book on the ground on the left side of the table.

There were a few sheets of paper on the table facing the chair.

The top one was splashed with a large drop of ink.

Aside, the ink in the inkstone was half dry.

There were a few books on the other side of the table.

The books were all old, and there were a lot of comments and memos on it.

It could be seen that the owner of this study often flipped through these books.

The deceased Zhuang Qin was on the ground in front of the table, and his robe was still neat.

Shen Zhiyan put on his thin gloves and knelt down to check.

The Officials of the Jingzhao Palace squatted aside and said,

"Master Shen, we think that Lord Zhuang died for a few hours, and he should have been poisoned.

But we couldn't determine how Lord Zhuang was poisoned."

Shen Zhiyan nodded, but his eyes never turned from the corpse,

"I see, it seems the deceased Zhuang Qin died late at night around 11 p.m and 1 a.m.

He's too skinny, his complexion is dark, his pupils are retracted, his lips are cyanotic, and his fingers are purple..."

Murong Ci couldn't believe her eyes,

'How could Zhuang Qin become so thin?'

Although she had never seen Zhuang Qin in life before, no other person was as thin as him in her staff.

"Indeed Lord Zhuang must have been poisoned and died."

Shen Zhiyan came to a conclusion, stood up and took off his thin gloves.

"Can you determine what poison was used?"

she asked solemnly.

"I don't know yet."

He said to the Head Official.

"This case was originally entrusted to the Jingzhao Palace, but Master Zhuang died strangely.

I must take the deceased back to the Dali Temple for a more detailed autopsy, and perhaps we'd have to dissect the body to see and check thoroughly."

"Dissect the corpse?"

He was surprised since he'd never heard the word "dissection" before.

"All right, whatever the case, I'll send someone to the Dali Temple later.

As to whether the case will be transferred to the care of the Dali Temple or not, it will depend on the result of the autopsy done by the Dali Temple at that time."

The Head Official said cheerfully.

The two Officials quickly carried the deceased body out.

Murong Ci and Shen Zhiyan continued to inspect the Study Room, hoping to find useful clues.

The Head Official said:

"By the way, Master Shen, apparently Lord Zhuang died in the Study Room in the middle of the night, and the housekeeper came to the Study Room early in the morning, knocked on the door, only to find Lord Zhuang was dead."

She frowned slightly,

"Lord Zhuang didn't go back to his Sleeping Hall to sleep.

Didn't Mrs. Zhuang find it weird?

Didn't she send someone to the Study Room to check on him?"

He replied:

"This humble Official asked Mrs. Zhuang, and she said that Lord Zhuang often stayed up until very late when reading in the Study Room.

If it was already late at night, he'd eventually rest in the Warm Pavilion across that door of the study instead of going to bed."

Murong Ci and Shen Zhiyan looked at each other, then looked to the northeast, and there really was a small door.

The little door was covered to the eye by a bookshelf, so she didn't notice it before.

They entered the Warm Pavilion, which was very small, only half the size of the Study Room outside.

There was a bamboo couch and a small table beside the couch.

Her gaze condensed, and she picked up a carved pipe from the small table, with a delicate Jade pendant hanging from the pipe,

"Is this a opium pipe?"

Shen Zhiyan took it over and looked at it carefully,

"It should be."

In the Northern Yan Kingdom, nobody could smoke from a opium pipe, because the Imperial Court banned people from smoking it fifty years ago.

Once a person was found smoking from a opium pipe, they'd be arrested and their whole family would be punished.

The law was harsh, and law enforcement was even harsher, and if one dared to smoke opium they'd be sure to get in trouble afterwards.

Because of that no one had smoked from a opium pipe in the past few decades.

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END of CHAPTER 79 PART 1

.....................to be continued