CHAPTER 40

Xiao Qinglang followed her finger and looked at that place, and there was nothing wrong with seeing it. However, when he saw Xu Chu's serious expression, his mind also flashed through the common sense about women's childbirth on various miscellaneous conversations, and said after a little thought: "I once read in a miscellaneous book, saying that there is a coffin that is born by disemboweling, so can you avoid the scar of the pubic symphysis?" ”

Cesarean section will indeed be different, but in this dynasty, who can really accept this method?

The female shopkeeper once said that the hibiscus of Tianxianglou would leave Yunzhou City only when she was invited by the nobles in the capital. If the skeleton belonged to Fleur, she would have been at least seven or eight months pregnant, and her body was extremely bulky and could not be tossed and tired. "Xu Chu often goes to Qing/Lou to solve cases, and he still has eyeliner like Chunxiang in Qing/Lou, so he also knows a lot about the rules of Qing/Lou, unless this Tianxianglou is not a place to buy laughter. Thinking of this, she turned back to Cui Husheng and asked, "Do you know, what kind of business does Tianxianglou make in Yunzhou City?" ”

"That is a famous Fengyue place in the city, and it used to be a teaching workshop in the previous dynasty, and most of them were selling their art and not selling their bodies. When Tianxianglou was at its most prosperous, it was simply difficult to enter. It's just that later, the singers in the city were frequent, and the exchanges were even more elegant, and Tianxianglou was compared to others, and finally entered the last stream. Cui Husheng thought for a while and continued to reply, "Speaking of which, Tianxianglou began to go downhill after the disappearance of its pillar of the family, the pipa girl Furong, twenty years ago. ”

The holy grandfather of the Great Zhou Dynasty set up the pear orchard in the forbidden, and was later changed by Emperor Wen to teach the workshop in the east and west cities of Kyoto, with the eunuch as the envoy, the hand of Hai excellent acrobatics, teaching customs and music, and also specially responsible for sacrificing the court with Taichang Yale, feasting at the age of the year. When he arrived at the first emperor, he ordered Yunzhou, Zhuozhou, Pengzhou and other officials in addition to the capital to rule the Qingming and rich places to add teaching workshops for the enjoyment of nobles. It's just that with the passage of time, the teaching workshops around the country have become less and less simple than they were originally established, and they will do more leather and meat business. One is to gain a foothold, and the other is to curry favor with the powerful.

It was not until he came to power today that he ordered local officials to investigate and cancel the teaching workshops in Yunzhou and other places. Only in the capital to set up the left and right teaching workshops, do the sacrificial court will use Taichang Yale, the year feast.

Xu Chu lowered his eyes, and speculated according to the time that when the bones in his hands were killed, it was a time when the teaching workshop was quite prosperous, and the number of dignitaries and nobles who went to seek pleasure and enjoyment was uncountable. If everything started with the fact that the hibiscus turned into a white bone, then what they have to do now is to confirm whether this skeleton is the Tianxianglou hibiscus. The second is to know why the deceased was pregnant and traveled long distances.

You need to know that according to the route, even if she was invited to the capital by the nobles, her body was already clumsy enough to give birth, could it be that she still played with a big belly? Not to mention how picky the person in the capital is to be a nobleman, it is extremely unrealistic to say that she just plays in labor.

Xu Chu frowned, a hibiscus white bone was involved in the burial pit, and a thief's den was dug out, and even the dignified prince was in danger. And now, she is even more suspicious, making her feel that the road ahead is difficult.

"Can you find out if she was disemboweled, or if she was killed after death?"

"It's a little hard...... Only bones remained, with no body surface features, and no flesh and blood viscera to refer to. In addition to being able to judge that she was pregnant before her death, it is difficult to see from the side. ”

Xiao Qinglang was stunned for a moment, and only after a moment did he realize why he was stunned. He was too accustomed to Xu Chu's surprises, and in the previous cases, it seemed that there was nothing she couldn't see, so subconsciously he would feel that Xu Chu would be able to solve all the problems.

It wasn't until he thought it clearly that he smiled bitterly in his heart, when would he be so irrational? Although Xu Chu is extraordinary, she is not omnipotent.

"Can you find out the cause of death?" Xiao Qinglang walked over to the wine urn and asked.

"Today's weather is just right, and I will bother the prince to prepare a lot of spirits and vinegar, as well as a red oil-paper umbrella." Xu Chu paused, glanced at the two rotten corpses in the distance that could not be examined even if the carrion was removed, and pursed his lips and said, "If you can, prepare two cauldrons and some firewood......

"Miss Xu, what are you doing here?" Wei Guangyin was guarding Xiao Qinglang, and he was naturally extremely close to the two of them at the moment, and when he heard her say this pile of things, it was like cooking, and he couldn't help but ask suspiciously.

"Steaming bones, boiling corpses......" Xu Chu's movements did not stop, and after placing a thigh bone, he replied concisely.

The guards turned dark because of these words, and they only felt that there were countless waves surging in their stomachs.

Xu Chu didn't know how unbelievable her words fell on the ears of others, she only looked at Xiao Qinglang and explained: "This ancient method is rarely used for autopsy, but after steaming the bones, you can see whether there are any scars on the white bones and whether they are fatal." Boiling the corpse can remove the carrion, and when the sky is dark, you can also see whether the deceased was injured before his death......"

Long before the Song Dynasty cleared the injustices, there was this autopsy method. Later, in the collection of grievance records, it was also mentioned many times that the bone examination needs to be cleaned with water first, and then the shape is set with hemp, and the straw is placed. Put it in the steaming bone pit and burn it with charcoal until the ground is red. After that, the firewood was removed and two litres of liquor and five litres of vinegar were poured into the cellar. While the heat is rising, put the bones into the cellar...... After the bones are steamed, cover the bones with a red oil umbrella. At this point, the scars on the bones will be revealed.

If there is a beaten spot on the bone, there are red lines. Where the bone is broken, there is a blood halo at each end of its continuation; Looking at the scarred bones again, the red life is clearly marked before death. If there is no blood on the bone, but there is a wound, it is a mark left after death.

To put it bluntly, when a person is alive, he is injured, and the blood seeps into the bones, which naturally leaves traces. The principle is similar to that of ultraviolet light on a scar......

It's just that this method, she has traveled for decades, and she has never heard of it, let alone seen any of it. So all along, she has always been cautious, and she has never mentioned it.

"I just took all the bones and found that the bones had not turned black, indicating that these people were not poisoned. In addition to dying of illness, the rest depends on whether it is strangled by external forces or injured and dies. ”

"Is it really possible to find out the cause of death?" Xiao Qinglang asked hesitantly.

The dissection of a corpse is already a great disapproval of the world, and it is also a precedent in the law, even if it is not accepted by the world, it is not shocking. However, it is unheard of to cook the bones, regardless of how people were in ancient times, just saying that in this dynasty, since the establishment of the Three Dharma Divisions and the establishment of coroners to work with them, it is unheard of.

He thought about Xu Chu's whereabouts at the beginning, and also had a premonition of the predicament she would face in the future. However, if the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs of the imperial court knew that she would conduct an autopsy, she would not only dissect but even steam the bones, I am afraid that it would be ...... The speechless people who can humiliate people with their words are pedantic and stubborn......

Xu Chu nodded, looked at the first corpse that had been placed on the ground, and said: "As long as you die, you will inevitably leave traces, and the corpse is the only existence that can prove the cause of your death and never lie." ”

In fact, she knew very well in her heart that no matter how rigorous she was, it was difficult to guess the cause of death just by looking at the surface traces of the white bones. Even if you judge it empirically, the mistake is huge.

"Moreover, if the skull is to restore its former appearance, it is necessary to remove all the rotten flesh from the skull. Otherwise, I simply don't have a place to start......"

Restore the appearance of dry bones? As soon as these words came out, even a person like Xiao Qinglang, who has always been wise and calm, was inevitably shocked.

"Normally, human skeletal and muscular growth has a certain regularity. The skull is the structure of the deceased's face, and all the facial tissues are attached to the corresponding parts of the skull, and its growth is affected by the morphology and structure of each part of the skull. Therefore, on the basis of only the skull, referring to the conclusions of the autopsy speculation, it is possible to try to restore the appearance of the deceased. "In the past, technology was developing very rapidly, and the technology of skull restoration was very mature, so there was no need for such trouble. However, even with the development of technology, the former forensic instructors strongly recommended that they restore the skull according to the most primitive method. It is also thanks to the fact that because of the study of forensic medicine, there was very little communication, but she had enough time to study thoroughly and calmly.

Sure enough, after Xiao Qinglang heard this, he waved his hand without saying a word and asked people to prepare the vinegar and spirits she needed, and naturally there was also a cauldron and firewood for boiling corpses. When everything was ready, she commanded her to dig four large pits five feet long, three feet wide, and two feet deep, and then placed four skeletons in them and fumigated them.

On the other side, she had already put on gloves and asked a few guards with their hands wrapped in their clothes to help place the two carrion corpses in the boiling hot water pot. Then the fire continues to cook.

The soup in the pot was bubbling hot, and the head and body were gradually swallowed up, and finally emitted a foul smell.

It's past noon, but fortunately, the autumn weather is crisp, and the sun is still bright although there is not much heat.

Xu Chu covered the pot, and then did it on the spot, constantly adding firewood to the fire. Boiling corpses is a time-consuming task, and it is necessary to boil away all the carrion cartilage that remains on it......

Suddenly, there was a cramp in her stomach, and even the face that had just recovered from taking a break turned pale instantly. Cold sweat flowed on her forehead, and she smiled bitterly, sure enough, she was not allowed to eat three meals and the last one to suffer was herself.

"What's the discomfort?" Xiao Qinglang, who had been paying attention to her, noticed the abnormality when she took off her gloves and put her palm against her stomach. Immediately, he no longer cared about the coolness behind him, and stepped forward and bent down to touch her forehead.

Xu Chu turned his face slightly, avoided his touch, and whispered: "I'm very hungry, my stomach is uncomfortable......"