Chapter 58 – Borrowing Another’s Eyes

Editor: kllua

Upon realizing that Zhuang Zhong was actually someone influential, everyone present was shocked. They had heard that a new county magistrate was ready to take office and he was a good-for-nothing wealthy young master. However, it seemed like besides being young, their expectations were all incorrect and that Zhuang Zhong did possess some skills. It was indeed unfortunate that the couple would end up offending an official while trying to carry out a scam, causing their village’s reputation to drop in the future.

Seeing this, the village head got anxious and hurriedly came forward. “My lord, I believe that there might be some misunderstanding regarding this matter.”

Zhuang Zhong coldly harrumphed. Although the village was located near the main road and the villagers lived close by, they still appeared too quickly. If it was not for his highly skilled bodyguards, he would have already been skinned by those villagers. Zhuang Zhong suspected that the village was used to targeting passer-bys and scamming them.

“A misunderstanding? The deceased died last night. However, her own son actually placed her in the middle of the road to scam others instead of putting her to rest. Such a disgusting character! We would need to investigate her death further. If we managed to find something, it could be determined that the couple was not only unfilial and took part in extorting others, but also possibly killed their mother! The court attaches great importance to filial piety and with such crimes stacking up, they deserved to be beheaded!”

Upon hearing that, the man became even more frightened. “My lord, I am wronged. I did not kill my mother. When she was alive, she was already physically weak and suddenly passed away last night. I initially wanted to bury her but this wretched woman said that we did not even have the money to buy a coffin. My mother was someone who raised me so how could I let her leave so miserably? In the end, I thought of this method but I was only momentarily misled due to my sadness. It was this woman who incited me to do so.”

The woman’s eyes widened. She did not expect that her husband would push all the blame onto her. Mustering some form of strength, she broke free from the guards restraining her and rushed up. She cursed at him, “You damn beast! It was you who got so tempted by money that you will not even let your mother go. This is also not the first time that you have done this and now you dare to push the blame onto me? In actuality, your mother could have lived on but it was you who refused to call a doctor for her, resulting in her death!”

Restrained by the guards, the man could not escape the attack from his wife at all. Embarrassed, he retorted, “You wrench, are you going against me?! If it was not you who made my mother do those labour-intensive tasks, how could she have died? You bitch, I should have divorced you. Marrying you really brought me eight lifetimes of bad luck!”

Like this, the couple relentlessly attacked each other, revealing each other’s unsavoury background to everyone. People nearby tried to mediate but the pair was too invested and ignored everyone else.

In the end, without any additional effort, Zhuang Zhong was able to determine what had happened. When he heard enough, he ordered someone to break them apart and escort them to the Yamen.

When the village head saw Zhuang Zhong instructing someone to carry the body away, he quickly remarked, “My lord, there is no need to take his mother’s body away. I will order someone to bury her well.”

Zhuang Zhong was noncommittal and only asked, “Is there anyone else in the deceased’s family?”

“No, she only has that son and in the end…” The village head shook his head and sighed, “These are just troubles that come with poverty.”

Hearing that, Zhuang Zhong was disgusted. Poverty was indeed a contributing factor and there were many poor people. However, how many would really do such a thing as to use their own mother’s corpse to scam others? Money does not fall from the sky. Instead of thinking of how to make money morally, they had decided on using crooked ways to do so. If everyone was like this, the world would be in chaos.

Despite thinking so and being escorted by guards, he was still in an unfamiliar territory. Taking care to be cautious, he said, “It is impossible to confirm whether the deceased died of natural causes or murder. Once it is determined, we will bury her.”

It was only here that the couple took notice of Zhuang Zhong’s words and claimed innocence.

“My lord, no matter how terrible I am, I would never kill my mother!”

“My lord, my mother-in-law had always been weak and was relying on medicine to extend her life. Recently, our family had no money to buy her medicine, so she was unable to hold on. We really did not kill anyone!”

The village head also injected, “My lord, these two people are not so vicious that they could kill their mother. Although they have made wrong decisions, they would not do such a damned thing like murder.”

Zhuang Zhong explained, “The truth can only be determined after investigating and I did not specifically point out that these two people were murderers. What if the killer was someone else and they were not found? There could be a repeat of such a case. Don’t tell me that the villagers here are not afraid of having a killer run loose?”

Faced with such reasoning, everyone dared not speak up.

As the village was still a day’s journey from Mei county, it was not convenient to transport the body back and forth so Zhuang Zhong decided to conduct an autopsy on the spot. He ordered people to set up white cloth to surround the body, creating a makeshift enclosed area. The village head and the couple would remain inside while the outside was guarded by guards.

Zhuang Zhong proceeded to put on his clothes and gloves. Just as he was about to undo the deceased’s clothes, he was stopped by the deceased’s son. “What are you doing?!”

“If the deceased is not undressed, it will be difficult to discern things clearly and could lead to missing important things. Do you want your mother to have an undetermined death or for you to bear the responsibility of killing your mother?”

Despite that, the man remained unwilling and struggled desperately. The village head also added, “We should respect the dead. In the end, you are still a man. It is really inappropriate to do this… If his mother knew of this, she would not pass in peace.”

When others standing outside heard this, they attempted to peer inside. Those who were braver kept asking what had happened.

The advisor that Feng Huan assigned to Zhuang Zhong whispered to him, “My lord, Mei county is not like the capital so they are more sensitive to such taboos. Although we have guards, it will not be good to incite the public’s anger as the customs of the people here are still strongly held. There was also a precedent for killing the head of a county before.”

Zhuang Zhong frowned. “However, if I do not investigate, it will be difficult to know the truth. Perhaps we should transport the body back to Mei county? Ah, that is not good either. It will be easy for the body to be damaged along the way which will increase the difficulty of conducting an accurate autopsy.”

At this moment, Fang YingYing came over. “Brother, let me be your eyes.”

Zhuang Zhong was stunned. For Fang YingYing to stay inside for the autopsy was already surprising. He did not expect that she would dare to help out in such a way.

Lu Lian, who had summoned all courage to stay with Fang YingYing, hurriedly said, “Young lady, you cannot, it will bring bad luck.” After saying this, Lu Lian felt that her words were inappropriate. After all, Zhuang Zhong often touched corpses and that would mean that he brought bad luck. She backtracked, “That is not what I meant, I just…”

Fang YingYing raised her hand and interrupted, “What is there for me to be afraid of now? Besides, I am doing a good deed to help find out the truth of her death and let her pass peacefully.”

For Zhuang Zhong, to be unable to conduct the autopsy in person coupled with the lack of tools would mean that it would not be accurate enough. However, this seemed like the only way. Judging from various signs, he has already preliminarily inferred it as a natural death. It was the discipline of his profession that has prevented him from concluding so without a proper autopsy. Fortunately, science and technology were not as advanced in this world and these villagers should not be able to conduct advanced murdering techniques, reducing its difficulty.

“Sister, I would have to trouble you then.”

Zhuang Zhong instructed Fang YingYing to put on a pair of gloves. As it was the first time that she has experienced such a texture, she was curious. Nonetheless, she suppressed it and went to help take off the old woman’s clothes. As Lu Lian was so afraid, Wetnurse Li was the one who went forward to assist.

“Just now, I have checked the exposed parts of the deceased which includes the head, neck, and hands so you can ignore these parts. Do start to check from the neck downwards to see if there are any abnormalities. As it has been seven hours since her death, there should also be corpse spots and signs of livor mortis that should appear dark red to purple. All these are normal phenomena and should not be confused with other signs. She already has them on the back of her hand and you can use them as a point of reference.”

“Understood.” As instructed, Fang YingYing carefully compared them before beginning her careful examination.

“Are there any obvious wounds on her body? It is easy to identify the injuries caused by sharp tools. If she was hit with blunt tools, there should be some greenish-purple swelling.”

Although they were mentioned to be recognizable at a glance, Fang YingYing dared not miss anything. After a long time, she said, “At the front, there are no wounds except for some small ones that have been scarred. They appeared to be not fatal.”

“Then proceed to gently press on her bones to see if there are any signs of a fracture.”

After a while, Fang YingYing replied, “There is nothing.”

“Wetnurse Li, do kindly help my sister to turn the body over.”

After that, Fang YingYing once again checked the back of the deceased carefully and did not find anything unusual.

The man sighed with relief, “I told you I did not do it. I just wanted some money but I would not go to the extent of killing someone. After all, she is my mother!”

Zhuang Zhong ignored him and continued, “Sister, do also check her private parts and anal opening.”

Besides the couple, Fang YingYing also exclaimed in surprise when she heard such an instruction. The village head flushed and stuttered, “There- there is no need to check such a place right?”

Zhuang Zhong did not argue and only stated, “I once took a case where the deceased was killed by his wife and another man who she was cheating with. He died due to the firecrackers stuffed into his anal opening. If you do not check it specifically, you will not be able to see any signs from the outside.”

Everyone who was present sucked in a deep breath. Although the case was a sensation in the capital, it was unheard of in Mei county.

With a red face, Fang YingYing examined the parts with the equipment provided by Zhuang Zhong. Although she felt extremely embarrassed, she remained serious. “There is nothing unusual.”

It was only here that Zhuang Zhong declared that the examination was finished. Although the autopsy was conducted a little too hastily this time, the results have brought them closer to the truth. After all, given the current situation, it was not possible at the present to cut open the deceased body and examine thoroughly. According to the statements of the couple, the testimony of others, and simple inspections, it should be pretty conclusive.

Zhuang Zhong concluded, “Although the deceased died naturally and was not killed by others, the couple has attempted to scam others using their mother’s body. This is a crime that they could not escape from.”

Meanwhile, after such an experience, the couple realized that the new young county magistrate was by no means an ordinary person. They did not dare to say anything more and pleaded guilty on the spot.

The village head also sighed and remained silent.

Zhuang Zhong added, “Although both of you were so unfilial, your mother must have loved you very much. I will give you two days. After you bury your mother, go to the county government office for your punishment. I will also order people to supervise you, so do not think of running away. Otherwise, according to the law, fugitives will not only be severely punished but also be punished together with their neighbors and villagers.”

The village head quickly declared, “My lord, there is no need for you to worry. I will keep an eye on them.”

Zhuang Zhong nodded his head. He announced loudly to those present, “Regarding today’s matter, I think everyone knows very well that such a scam is not something that could be done by the couple themselves. I will not be investigating further but do be aware that if I hear something similar in the future, I will not let everyone off that easily!”

As the villagers voiced their agreement, Zhuang Zhong turned towards the village head and advised, “Such momentary profits will only bring endless trouble. If your village makes a living by scamming others, who would dare to associate with you? No matter how capable the people in your village are, do they really have the ability to remain aloof from the rest of the world? Remember to leave a way for yourselves. Poverty is temporary but the loss of reputation will only harm your future generations to come.”

Someone in the crowd sighed, “But there is nothing that we can do cause we are too poor.”

The village head hurriedly injected, “Even so, since you are the new county magistrate, Mei county will be very different! Doesn’t everyone think so?”

Everyone echoed their agreements, elevating Zhuang Zhong to new heights. Although Zhuang Zhong was aware that this was a ploy of the village head, he did not care. After all, he came here as an official. If he did not accomplish anything, he might as well remain in the capital.

“It all depends on whether you listen to me and follow me or not.”

As soon as Zhuang Zhong said that, someone shouted, “Is there even a need to say that? My lord, for you to become a county magistrate at such a young age, you must be a smart man. Who do we believe if it is not you?”

“That’s right! Just now, a sentence from the county magistrate is way more useful than studying for ten years. With Zhuang magistrate in Mei county, we will continue to reach higher heights.”

As heaps of praises arose, everyone spoke with high enthusiasm and completely forgot about the dead body amongst them.

Zhuang Zhong smiled brightly. “Since you all look up to me like this, I, Zhuang Zhong, will not disappoint you in the future. I will also pay the most attention to your village. If the village does well, you all will be rewarded greatly. Otherwise, you all will have to suffer double the punishment!”

Hearing that, the group of people wailed mournfully.