There is a god in the sky

Chapter 162 Jifeng Study 5

Lai Bin died in his own study.

The study door was locked from the inside. His attendant came to bring him a midnight snack, but after knocking for a long time without getting a response, he reported it to Madam Lai, who then broke down the door.

The person was already dead when they were found.

"Judge Xiao arrived late, yet he wouldn't let us in to examine the body. What does this mean?"

A man dressed in official robes blocked the door to the study.

Xiao Ji coughed twice, then limply raised his hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm still recovering from serious injuries, so I arrived a little late."

"Ha, since you're seriously injured, you should be resting in bed. Why are you in such a hurry to come out and handle cases? Your health is more important," the other party mocked.

Anyone with eyes can see that the case was pushed to the Criminal Investigation Department because Minister Zhao was abusing his power for personal gain.

"I didn't know Magistrate Xu was here. Why don't you check first?"

Xu Yingwen snorted coldly, "How dare I?"

Investigating cases is the duty of the investigating officer, while the judge is responsible for the paperwork, but who can blame them when they have someone backing them up?

"Let's examine the body first." Xiao Ji stepped aside.

Shen Lan squeezed between the two and entered the crime scene. Instead of immediately examining the body, she first checked the ground for footprints, bloodstains, or similar marks.

"Is this a coroner?" Magistrate Xu asked in confusion.

Although he couldn't see Shen Lan's face clearly, he could tell from her height and build that something was wrong.

"Yes, this is my coroner, surnamed Shen."

“Lord Xiao, investigating cases is no joke. You can do whatever you want in other places, and even if the case is closed quickly, there will be people above to help you get it approved. But this is Bianjing, and the dead are officials of the current dynasty. It’s not something that can be easily fooled.”

Clearly, this Magistrate Xu did not believe in Xiao Ji's investigative abilities.

The more incredible the rumors, the more they question them.

"Sir, the deceased died of poisoning; the tea on the table has been poisoned."

After Shen Lan finished speaking, Xiao Ji and Xu Yingwen went inside at the same time.

Xu Yingwen said with a stern face, "The tea is poisoned, so the person who poisoned it must be a servant of the Lai family. We can interrogate the servants who served us yesterday one by one."

Shen Lan looked up at the roof and said, "I don't think it was done by the servants of the Lai family."

Xiao Ji walked slowly, and following her gaze, he looked up and saw a sliver of light coming from the roof.

The moonlight is beautiful tonight.

"You suspect that an outsider infiltrated and poisoned the area?"

Before Shen Lan could answer, Magistrate Xu rejected her suggestion.

"That's impossible! The study was locked from the inside, and the doors and windows were tightly shut. How could an outsider have sneaked in?"

Shen Lan pointed upwards, "No one needs to infiltrate; we just need to send the venom down from the roof."

"Ridiculous! How could this be possible?"

Shen Lan ignored him and squatted down to continue examining the clues on the deceased's body.

"The poison he was poisoned was very potent. From the onset of the poison to death, it would not have taken more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. He died around 9 PM."

Xiao Ji's gaze fell on the charcoal brazier next to the desk, which contained some burnt paper ash.

The Marquis of Pingyang filed a lawsuit against Vice Minister Lai, who should have been imprisoned pending trial, but the Ministry of Justice has not yet taken action due to a lack of evidence.

This gave the other party the opportunity to kill and silence the witness.

If the Minister of Justice weren't surnamed Zhao, Xiao Ji would have suspected him of colluding with the person behind the scenes.

Is he now pushing the case to the Criminal Division as an attempt to evade responsibility?

Xiao Ji knew he shouldn't doubt his future father-in-law, but the death of Vice Minister Lai was too timely.

"Around 9 PM, weren't there any servants outside the door? It's impossible for Lord Lai to be without symptoms after being poisoned, so why didn't he call for help?"

Xiao Ji summoned the attendant who had first discovered the dead man.

The other person replied through tears: "The master has been in a bad mood these past few days and won't let anyone serve him. Tonight after dinner, he locked himself in his study."

Wang Xu and I stood guard outside the door, knocking every half hour to go in and change the tea.

Around 9 PM, Wang Xu had a stomachache and went to the outhouse. I timed it and went to prepare tea.

When I brought the tea and knocked on the door, there was no answer, so I informed my wife.

Xiao Ji asked in confusion, "How did Vice Minister Lai's expression change last time the tea was changed? Was the tea touched?"

"He has had the tea. The master looks very irritable and his complexion is not good."

Magistrate Xu brought out the tea from the table and questioned, "This tea is poisoned. Did you poison it?"

The attendant cried out that he was innocent: "My lord, I would never dare to betray my master and kill someone!"

"That means someone poisoned the tea while you were preparing it. Who touched the tea at that time?"

The attendant shook his head. "No, the water was freshly boiled from the well, the tea was newly opened, and even the teacups were washed clean. No one has ever been to the tea room."

Magistrate Xu did not believe it.

Xiao Ji asked Sui Feng to go up to the roof to take a look. There were a few broken tiles directly above the desk, but it couldn't prove that anyone had stepped on them.

After examining the body, Shen Lan came out and said to Xiao Ji, "There are no other injuries on the body. He was in unbearable pain after being poisoned and slipped on the ground. His right hand probably scratched the ground, and his fingernails are a little worn. Other than that, there are no abnormalities."

After listening to Sui Feng's report, she asked the Lai family servants, "Could you find a reed pipe?"

The servant took a tube from the broom and gave it to her.

Shen Lan took a porcelain bottle from her toolbox and then climbed onto the roof.

Xiao Ji walked into the study and looked up at the activity above.

Not long after, he saw a pipe extending down from the hole.

He immediately placed a new cup on the table, where the water cup had been placed earlier.

"Drip..." A very slight sound, which Xiao Ji would not have heard if he hadn't been staring at the teacup.

There were ripples on the surface of the water in the teacup, but it quickly returned to calm.

Magistrate Xu immediately inserted the silver needle into the tea, and gradually, the silver needle changed color.

He looked up in horror and saw the reed pipe slowly retract without a trace.

"This……"

He wiped away his cold sweat and said uncertainly, "The murderer might not have poisoned the body in this way, right?"

As they were talking, Shen Lan came down, holding a tile with a chipped corner in her hand.

She instructed a servant to bring her a cup of water and used a cotton ball to wipe a mark on the tile.

"This poison is hemlock, which kills instantly upon contact with blood, and there is no antidote. Lord Xu, you can try feeding this cup of water to the small animal."

Xiao Ji led his men through the things in the study.

"The person behind this murder must have been afraid that Vice Minister Lai would say something he shouldn't have. Look carefully; perhaps there is some remaining evidence."

Seeing him frequently touching his wound, Shen Lan knew that it must be hurting.

She led Xiao Ji to the desk and had him sit down.

"Sir, you need to take care of your health. There's no rush to investigate the case."

Xiao Ji smiled and nodded, "It's alright, it can still hold up."

"Lord Lai has locked himself in his study; besides destroying evidence, he must also be trying to protect himself."

Shen Lan casually flipped through the papers scattered on her desk.

Xiao Ji and the others had already looked through these things; they were all blank sheets of paper.

Shen Lan took the first piece of paper from the paper, flattened it, and raised it to eye level to see if any marks were left.

Normally, when you write hard on one page, it will leave a mark on the next page.

When they were little, they also played a game of marking words with pencils.

She took a piece of charcoal from beside the charcoal brazier and spread it evenly, leaving some marks, but unfortunately, the characters were illegible.

Judge Xu glanced at her several times in surprise. Based on her actions tonight alone, he knew that she was indeed a skilled investigator.

However, since she is a woman, Lord Xiao's open use of a female coroner will surely draw criticism from others.